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Proiezione il 7 ottobre del documentario evento Yes Men- sotto la guida di UNI e sostenuta da altre GUF.

GINEVRA

Am 7. Oktober 7 wird der Dokumentarfilm ‚Yes Men' vorgeführt - veranstaltet von der UNI mit Unterstützung anderer GUFs.

GENF

KOREA: Over 3000 armed riot police with use of water cannons, ladder trucks and helicopters, have stormed Ssangyong Motor Pyeongtaek plant where some 800 laid off workers have been holding a sit-in strike for 61 days after the company announced mass dismissals without notice or union input.The sit-in strikers, members of the Korean Metal Workers' Union (KMWU), are currently located in the paint shop building of the plant.  A recent report from the KMWU shows the urgency of the situation. &quot;This morning, riot police surrounding the paint shop narrowed the perimeter from 100 meters to 70 meters. Riot police have been dropping teargas on the sit-in protestors by helicopter since this morning and all day, toward evening, they began the operation to take out the sit-in protesters. The situation is getting extremely urgent and we are not sure how long the sit-in strikers can hold out. It is already 8:30 pm here, and the operation is continuing despite the fact the sun has set and amid a protest gathering outside the plant.&quot;Workers have been cut off from water, food and medical supplies for more than a week. On July 16, riot police used excessive force and rampant arrest to block KMWU unionists and family members from delivering basic supplies to the strikers. A total of 82 were arrested and held for two days. Strikers' families have reported that company managers are visiting workers' homes and threatening family members with the imprisonment of their spouses and confiscation of their homes and assets to pay the company back damages for the strike. Under Korea's current criminal law Penal Code 314, employers can pursue imprisonment or initiate enormous lawsuits against individuals and unions for &quot;Obstruction of Business&quot;.  According to the KMWU, Ssangyong Motors is targeting 192 unionists to sue for obstruction of business, two KMWU officials have been arrested and another 15 arrest warrants have been issued for KMWU officers related to this strike action.Ssangyong Motor has repeatedly violated the Collective Bargaining Agreement, including unilaterally stopping all payment of welfare provisions in the CBA and failing to pay wages for production workers dating back to March.The IMF is urgently requesting IMF affiliates to take action in support of Ssangyong Motor workers on strike by sending letters to local Korean embassies or consulates urging the Korean government to end its use of violence and repression to solve industrial disputes and immediately call off the riot police currently surrounding the Ssangyang Motors plant, withdraw all lawsuits and charges against KMWU members supporting the strike, and urge negotiations between government, the company and the KMWU for a fair and just resolution.

International labour community urges Korean government to call off riot police and water cannons immediately and to stop using violence to resolve industrial disputes.

TAKE ACTION: Tell the Korean government to withdraw all riot police

IF Metall solidarity letter Sssangyong Korea

IMF letter to Korean President

Sit-in strike intensifies as police surround Ssangyong Motor

RUSSIA: A German delegation headed by Berthold Huber,  IG Metall president and president of International Metalworkers' Federation, accompanied by representatives of  VW and ThyssenKrupp Steel Works Councils paid visit to Russia 6-11 July.In meeting with Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister of Russia, Berthold Huber informed him about the role German trade unions are playing during the current economic crisis. Huber also raised with Putin the growing concern among the IMF and IMF affiliates about recent attacks against Russian trade union leaders and asked Putin to ensure that the crimes are thoroughly and transparently investigated.In February 2009, Eugeny Ivanov, leader of the IMF-affiliated Russian Interregional Trade Union (ITUA) local union at the GM plant near St. Petersburg was assaulted outside his home and in June and July 2008, ITUA local union leaders Alexei Gramm and Sergey Bryzgalov were attacked in Taganrog. ITUA union leader Alexey Etmanov was also attacked in November 2008 in Vsevolozhsk. To date, no one has been charged with any of these violent crimes.The delegation paid visit to the VW plant in Kaluga. Within the plant the delegation met plant management, ITUA activists and members of the Automobile and Farm Machinery Workers' Union of Russia (AFW). Representatives of both unions raised similar issues. ITUA informed the delegation about their demands to the  VW management. Negotiations on a number of issues should start soon. Both unions and IG Metall agreed on further contact and cooperation between trade unions' representatives at the plant level at Volkswagen in Russia and Germany, recognizing that an exchange of information is important for both sides. At the visit's end Huber and Mikhail Tarassenko, President of the Miners' and Metallurgical Workers' Union of Russia (MMWU) and a member of the IMF Executive Committee took part in a press-conference that was held at the national information agency RIA-Novosti and was nationally broadcasted.

A German delegation travelled to Russia to meet with the country's prime minister and Russian unions.

Go to Stop the Violence Against Russian Trade Unionists campaign page

TAKE ACTION: Help Stop the violence Against Russian Trade Unionists!

IMF and affiliates take stand against attacks on Russian unionists

New attacks on ITUA co-chairman

Russian  union leaders  attacked

IMF raises rights abuse issues with Putin

MEXICO:  Leaders of mining and metal workers' unions from around the world condemned the Mexican government's failure to bring justice to the families of the 65 mineworkers who died in an explosion at the Pasta de Conchos mine on 19 February 2006.&quot;The Mexican labor authorities are guilty of a triple failure,&quot; said Jyrki Raina, General Secretary of the International Metalworkers' Federation (IMF).  &quot;They failed to prevent the disaster at Pasta de Conchos, they have failed to accomplish justice for the families of the victims, and they have failed to take the necessary measures to prevent future disasters.&quot;A special committee of the International Labor Organization (ILO), in a report issued in April, concluded that &quot;the Government of Mexico did not do all that was reasonably expected of it to avoid or minimize the effects of the Accident which had such devastating effects with the loss of life of as many as 65 miners.&quot;The union leaders from Argentina, Canada, Peru, South Africa, and the United States met with family members of the victims and with the rescue team that is working to recover the 63 bodies that remain entombed in the mine. At the entrance to the mine, they placed wreaths in memory of the workers who died.&quot;Mineworkers around the world are one family,&quot; said Tim Baker, an occupational health and safety specialist for the United Mineworkers of America.  &quot;We mourn the deaths of our brothers at Pasta de Conchos and we are outraged that Grupo Mexico and the labor authorities who are responsible for their deaths have gone unpunished, while the government continues to attack the Mineworkers' Union.&quot;United Steelworkers District 3 Director Steve Hunt pledged his union's support for the families' effort to recover the bodies of the victims, and challenged other unions to commit their resources to the cause.The delegation was organized by the IMF, the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM), and the United Steelworkers.

International trade union leaders demand justice for the widows of Pasta de Conchos.

Demanding justice at Pasta de Conchos

The ILO estimates that the present financial crisis is likely to lead to the loss of some 20 million jobs worldwide and conservatively estimates that the number of working poor living on less than a dollar a day could rise by some 40 million, with those at two dollars a day rising by more than 100 million. Even now, before the full effect of this crisis is known, over one-third of the world's workforce is jobless or underemployed. The so-called modernisation of labour laws that governments and business interests are seeking to introduce is also part and parcel of the neo-liberal agenda and a direct attack on workers. Not only is there a rise in unemployment worldwide, but also employment creation increasingly comes at the expense of quality jobs.  More and more workers are finding the search for full-time, permanent employment a fruitless quest.  Precarious work is becoming the norm, spreading in all sectors of the economy including in professional groups.  Others find their jobs are outsourced, misclassified, and lack protection from existing labour laws. In many developing countries, workers have been squeezed out of regular employment into the so-called informal economy due to severe economic crises, widespread privatisation programmes, and the job destruction resulting from economic restructuring. The unregulated economy is expanding and a growing number of people struggle to survive on poverty level wages. Unemployment and poor living conditions spur migration within countries and across national boundaries, creating a multitude of tensions in many parts of the world.  Precariously employed workers face job insecurity and an uncertain future, low wages, limited or no access to social benefits, such as health or pension schemes, and increased health and safety risks at work. Precarious workers are also frequently denied rights at work, such as the right to join a union or bargain collectively. The rise of precarious employment is creating a two-tier workforce, which is undermining social cohesion and weakening trade unions.  This is part of a larger union-busting strategy used by employers in their well orchestrated anti-union campaigns.

Preface

3. GLOBAL SOLIDARITY IN ACTION

3.3 Defend and protect workers rights

1. OUR MISSION

2. THE WORLD TODAY

2.1 Profits over people

2.2 Unemployment and job insecurity

2.3 Unions under attack

2.4 Fundamental workers´ rights denied

2.5 Spreading influence of Transnational Corporations

2.6 World trade system in disarray

2.7 An unsustainable future

2.8 Alliances, resistance and opportunities

3.1 Build strong national trade unions

3.1.1 Organise the unorganised

3.1.2 Strive for trade union unity at the national level

3.1.3 Build unions through education, training and effective exchange of information

3.2 Strengthening collective bargaining

3.3.1 Fight for trade union rights

3.3.2 Fight for Equal Rights

3.3.3 Fight for safe workplaces

3.4 Build a counterweight to the power of transnational corporations

3.4.1 Strengthening union solidarity and cooperation across sectors and TNCs

3.4.2 Advance fundamental rights through International Framework Agreements

Financial capital has come to dominate productive capital. Short-term speculative investment has gained the upper hand at the expense of long-term investment in job creation, skills development, research and innovation, and sustainable development. The current food, fuel and financial crises, are neo-liberal policy failures, that have drastic consequences for working people and the poor, and that are now dragging the world economy into a severe recession. Over the past few years the globalisation of finance has taken on a new dimension with the proliferation of novel speculative products that escape monitoring and regulation. Speculative funds are fed by banks and institutional investors such as insurance companies, mutual funds and pension funds. Some part of private equity assets also come from sovereign wealth funds with huge resources at their disposal, and with a deliberate lack of transparency as to their political and economic objectives, as well as to their practices and investment strategies.Never before has the influence of private equity and hedge funds on markets and enterprises been so strong.  Many of them are located in tax havens, which deals another blow to already declining public income from corporate taxation. The financial economy based on short-termism and high rates of return is increasingly disconnected from the real economy with devastating consequences for workers.Today, hardly any company is immune from takeover by private equity funds. In most cases, these funds take control of enterprises without any industrial plans, and for the sole objective of boosting share prices and extracting maximum returns over a short period. The potentially high short-term gains attract institutional investors, including pension funds. Thus workers who have put their retirement savings in these pension funds find themselves unwittingly involved in speculative finance that is destroying jobs. Many workers have already watched their savings dissolved by corporate scandals.    The instability of the world's financial markets is not just a problem due to a few speculators - the whole system requires new rules.

Since the IMF Congress in 2005, metalworkers and the whole trade union movement have been confronted with an increasingly hostile political, economic and social environment. Corporations have led globalisation to maximise the global reach and profits of their operations with the support of governments and international institutions by promoting neo-liberal policies, which feature deregulation of capital and labour markets, privatization of public services and assets, a reduction in employment growth in many regions, an erosion of social security systems and the frequent denial of worker and human rights.  Even today, a large proportion of the world's metalworkers do not enjoy the fundamental right to have a union.While the world economy has grown and created vast amounts of wealth, the divide between rich and poor has widened.  Ever more workers have been faced with deteriorating working and living conditions, job insecurity and an erosion of their rights. Capital has gained huge profits, while the purchasing power of most workers has fallen or at best stagnated.

The global economy is in the throes of a unique crisis. The ideology that unbridled greed for profits is the driving force behind human progress has been discredited. What we need is a new approach where politics and economics serve the development of society and quality employment. The current crisis is not only the result of misjudgements and misguided developments in the market, or the result of overheating financial markets. It is entirely the result of the ideology of an unrestrained market and economic and political policies directed at maximising  short term profits.  On a positive note however, while undoubtedly the next four years of the International Metalworkers´Federation work will be tough and difficult, the current economic situation also provides us with a real opportunity to create a new international development model that rivals that of neoliberalism and is based on regulation, fairness, equality, sustainability and decent trade union and labour rights.Therefore, the fundamental mission of the trade union movement is more than ever to improve workers' wages, working and living conditions, and to ensure that workers and workers' rights are respected. The mission of the IMF is to work towards the achievement of these goals in metal­working and related industries by working with its  affiliates and on the global level.Today, corporate-led globalisation is still massively infringing on the rights of workers. The policies promoted by employers, most governments and the international institutions they dominate have resulted in increased economic inequality, precarious employment and a reduction in the bargaining power of working people around the world. Recognizing that union building/organising and collective bargaining are at the heart of our work, metalworker unions must organise and mobilise union members to challenge the neo-liberal agenda of corporations and most governments, and ensure working people have a fair share in the wealth generated through economic growth. The goal of the IMF is to support, coordinate and strengthen the activities of its affiliates to:<ul><li>Improve workers' wages, working and living conditions;</li><li>Organise new members into democratic workers' unions throughout the world;</li><li>Build and strengthen national metalworking unions;</li><li>Ensure that internationally recognized Core Labour Standards are applied in every country and that national laws are changed to reflect these standards; </li><li>Defend and protect workers' rights; </li><li>Fight for safe and healthy working conditions;</li><li>Make women's rights, interests, and representation one of the highest priorities;</li><li>Struggle for sustainable economic growth that protects the environment and improves social conditions; </li><li>Strengthen the power and unity of trade unions to build a counterweight to the power of transnational corporations (TNCs), including their power over the allocation of employment and investment; </li><li>Struggle for fair trade, social justice and the elimination of poverty; and</li><li>Support and build solidarity with countries and governments who promote progressive policies aimed at delivering fairness, equality and social sustainability.</li></ul>It is clear that trade unions cannot achieve these goals only at the national level.  National initiatives must be complemented with international action in order to be successful For this reason the role of the IMF is to:<ul><li>Unite national metalworking trade unions in a global union structure capable of mobilising its membership in solidarity at all levels wherever and whenever required;</li><li>Bring unions together to share information, overcome conflicts of interest and build common strategies;</li><li>Coordinate solidarity and support for affiliates during major disputes or when fundamental workers' rights are infringed;</li><li>Provide information on developments that affect the activities of metalworker unions; </li><li>Actively voice the concerns and interests of metalworkers in effective and innovative ways that involve and mobilise trade union members and bring the IMF into the daily activities of affiliate unions; </li><li>Direct resources and solidarity support towards building strong national unions in countries where unions are weak or non-existent;</li><li>Support trade union education that tackles core trade union activities such as organising, collective bargaining, defending workers' rights and international solidarity;</li><li>Coordinate an international strategy for building unionism in TNCs and their suppliers at the sectoral and enterprise levels.  Challenge the power of TNCs by developing the capacity to bargain collectively at the international level - based on a case by case mandate from the affiliates and by such means as sharing information and experiences among affiliates  and building on the work of negotiating, implementing and monitoring International Framework Agreements (IFAs);</li><li>Expose and challenge governments that violate fundamental trade union rights or interfere in the functioning of independent trade union bodies;</li><li>Represent the interests of metalworkers in international bodies which take decisions affecting jobs and employment conditions, such as the International Labour Organization (ILO), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), International Monetary Fund, World Bank and the World Trade Organization (WTO);</li><li>Work with other Global Union Federations (GUFs), the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and the Trade Union Advisory Committee (TUAC) to the OECD to pursue closer cooperation and action in the interests of affiliates; and</li><li>Build, whenever possible, dialogue, alliances and joint actions with appropriate political and social organisations. </li><li>Affiliates of the IMF will make significant contributions to the attainment of our goals by:</li><li>Strengthening their political influence, capacities, and resources through organising and collective bargaining at the national level;</li><li>Sharing information and actively communicating with the IMF and other affiliates at the national, regional, and international level;</li><li>Engaging in the regional and global structures of the IMF;</li><li>Supporting each other during disputes or when fundamental workers' rights are violated;</li><li>Participating in international actions and international networks organised through the IMF; and</li><li>Giving visibility to international trade union action by incorporating IMF co-ordinated activities in day-to-day trade union work. </li></ul>Ultimately, to achieve our goals, the IMF must go beyond simple coordination and become a truly global trade union organization that is able to counteract social and economic challenges and is based on the principles of independence and democracy following the mandates given by the decision-making bodies.

In the process of developing a new Action Programme we see the strengths of the International Metalworkers' Federation. We find that the things that unite us are much greater than the things that divide us.  In the borderless world of today, we share common experiences, challenges and an analysis of the situation facing workers globally. This common ground helps the IMF family to decide upon the direction we will take in order to tackle the problems metalworkers confront every day. The fact that this Action Programme was adopted in the midst of a global economic crisis is not insignificant. But we didn't need the global crisis to understand that the neoliberal model that used to dominate the world was destructive to workers' rights and social development. This IMF Action Programme adopted at the 32nd World Congress puts increased emphasis on concrete action and what IMF affiliates can accomplish together through global solidarity. In order to maximise our influence we need to mobilise the forces of the whole IMF family.We have to invest more resources in organising everywhere.  We will systematically target transnational companies that are reluctant to allow workers to exercise their fundamental rights.The campaign against precarious employment becomes solidified in this document.  The Programme recognises that we need to say and do more on the question of sustainable development and combating global warming. Building trade union networks in transnational companies offers a possibility for exchange of information and joint action to make sure that enterprises behave well wherever they operate.  Union building programmes help us strengthen trade unions where they are weak.This Action Programme contains exciting and challenging new commitments for IMF affiliates to respond with real and effective action to build stronger unions and when workers' rights are violated.  If we work together to implement this Action Programme, we can achieve our mission. In solidarity,Jyrki Raina, IMF General SecretaryJune 2009

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