Uday Mahale first entered the German picture of international union-networking at Siemens in 2006, when he took part in the 2^nd international meeting in Starnberg (see related Grundlage für globales Arbeitnehmernetzwerk bei Siemens) with his friend and colleague Girish Ashtekar. Since that day in January 2006, Uday returned to Germany regularily and the contact never broke - even after his retirement a few months ago.

Jörg Hofmann, President of the IG Metall and Industriall Global Union, wrote in his letter of condolence to SWU-President Girish Ashtekar:

"We were deeply saddened when we learned about the sudden passing away of our colleague and dear friend Uday Mahale. We mourn with his family and friends who must have been shocked of the sudden bereavement.

Brother Uday was a visionary and tireless fighter for the rights of workers, whether this was within the Siemens company, in support of other unions in India or on global level. During the turbulent history of the Indian labour movement in the last decades, the Siemens Workers Union (SWU) that he headed as General Secretary always defended democratic and independent unions. He and his colleagues always fought indefatigably for workers' justice. Furthermore, the SWU has played a leading role at the Siemens Employee Federation (SEF). Uday was a pioneer in setting up a union network in the Siemens company connecting workers and their representatives in many of the Siemens plants in India and around the globe.

Uday believed in life-long learning and studied only a few years ago at the Global Labour University in Germany to further enlarge his knowledge. He made his study-related internship at IG Metall and lndustriALL, was interested in different union policies and developed many ideas that he started to realize back home. He understood, that Global Framework Agreements can be used proactively and can become valuable tools in the hands of unions and the workers they represent to implement their rights and better working conditions.

Besides, he also took up a project on precarious work aiming mainly at the contract workers at Siemens who are working under documented in a mapping exercise to raise awareness and exert pressure on the company. He wanted to ensure equal rights and working conditions for all throughout the supply chain.

And he supported us at IG Metall with a mapping exercise on unions, industrial relations and working conditions in German-owned TNCs in and around the Pune Industrial Area and in coordination with the lndustriALL affiliate SEM that was meant as the starting point for joint union activities in this region.

The list can be continued. Whatever he did, we knew Uday as a humble, wise and principled person who was passionate about the working class and the deprived. Union leaders of his stature are needed more than ever in a global economy that plays workers off against each other for gaining more profits. He wanted to overcome the fragmented union movement and stood for unity.

We strongly believe that Brother Uday can inspire the Indian trade union movement to continue to live his high standard for the commitment for the workers. On behalf of all comrades in IG Metall, especially those who knew him personally, I send our heartfelt condolences to his family, friends and colleagues in SWU.

Update Dec. 1st:

» A letter from SWU's President Girish Ashtekar can be loaded via the link Uday_Mahale.pdf

<link http: www.siemensworkersunion.com com-uday-mahale memories1-1602 _blank external-link-new-window>» watch the photo gallery about Uday Mahale on SWU's website