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The IV National Delegate Congress convened by Sintime was held in Chimoio, Mozambique 22-23 October 2007. Over fifty nine delegates and various national and international guests participated at the event. Bro Mateus Filipe Muianga was elected General Secretary of SINTIME.  The new national office bearers include workers from the shop floor, one of whom is a woman, from strategic plants in Mozambique. The congress provided a good platform to discuss many challenges facing workers and the union. The action plan approved in the last congress was not fully implemented during the period between May 2000 and May 2007 by former union office bearers and delegates were deeply concerned about the situation. They also noted lack of interaction between union structures and also between shop stewards and workers from different plants across the country.   Some delegates claimed never have seen union leadership visiting their provinces and providing them any assistance. They reported that in the last five years many workers have been retrenched without compensations from their employers. Workers in some companies have salaries in arrears. Although they do have union plant committees, those are very weak and fragmented with shop stewards not trained in union activities. The congress resolved to set up a shop stewards forum to enable shop stewards from different companies to meet every three months to interact themselves and share their experiences. The congress also resolved to set up an organizing department in the union.    The congress resolved to set up within the union a department to deal with youth workers issues. It was indicated that a young worker from Mozal plant will be responsible for this department .He has participated in IMF training and also attended a health and safety workshop in Canada with the assistance of the IMF and Numsa. Whilst the country has experienced economic growth in the last few years, this has not trickled down to workers and communities and poverty is still rife. HIV and AIDS prevalence also remain high and is one of the challenges facing workers and unions in the country. The current industrial minimum wage is just 1.443 meticais (USD 55.7) a month, which unions say cover only 50 per cent of the most basic needs of a worker and his or her family.    Trade unions in Mozambique have been burdened by downsizings and redundancies. Since Mozambique's first structural adjustment programmes, most of the country's large state owned companies have been replaced by smaller private firms, which pose difficulties for unionization and the mediation of labour conflicts.   New labour laws have been approved recently by Parliament but is not yet in force as it is still subject to correction before publications. The employers and unions reached consensus on most clauses in the bill, but the unions are still fighting to maintain favourable redundancy pay terms that are in the current legislation. Employers however claim that decent redundancy term affect their competitiveness and they want to make it much cheaper to fire workers. OTM-CS, the biggest national centre in the country has encouraged unions to merge and form strong, democratic and self reliant unions.  However, former SINTIME leadership has not seriously engaged in discussions with other unions to merge. It is hoped that under new leadership, SINTIME will once again pursue a merger.

Mozambique Affiliate SINTIME Holds Its Fourth National Congress

Last year, IMF affiliates in Africa recommended that special attention be given to the Chinese presence in various countries of Africa, with regard in particular to the impact of its fast growing trade and investments on development and on workers' life. In response, IMF held a workshop in June 2007 bringing together African affiliates, trade experts and IMF secretariat and regional staff to discuss the impact of Chinese trade and investment in Southern Africa. The workshop provided metalworkers unions, especially those in Southern Africa with an opportunity to learn from others, including trade unionists from Asia and Latin America, about the reality of China's expansion  and discuss the fast growing Chinese presence in Africa and its impact on employment, workers' rights and development. The meeting served as an opportunity for trade union leaders in the region to share their experiences and better understand an increasingly complex situation of foreign investments and trade that have direct repercussions on the working and living conditions of their members. Main themes were the evolution of the Chinese presence in Africa; comparing trade union experiences of the growing protagonism of China in different areas of the world; Chinese companies in SADC countries; regional integration processes and South/South relations; Chinese loans to African countries. Presentation was also made by the Southern Africa Clothing and Textile Workers Union on their experience with Chinese investment in the clothing and textile sector. The comparison of trade union experiences in different sectors and countries proved very interesting and useful. The discussions built on the participants' concrete experiences and remained focused on the repercussions on workers jobs, employment conditions and  organising even when more abstract issues of macro-economic policies were addressed by the speakers. The question of violations of fundamental human, workers and trade union rights in China and by Chinese investors abroad emerged as a major concern in all discussions. The interests and the development model that are clearly visible behind the various forms of Chinese presence in Africa were the subject of much of the debate throughout the programme. Participants worked on building a trade union response to Chinese trade and investment that included national strategies for quality employment, renewed South-South and North-South solidarity and regional and international metalworkers' campaign actions. The strategic importance of regional co-operation was addressed and the need for trade unions to play an active role in it was stressed. Participants also agreed that the presence and influence of China in Africa needs to be kept under scrutiny and trade unions must interact with governments and have a say on the conditions for foreign investments as well as on their governments' policies with regard to loans and aid and development projects. However the key and primary responsibility for IMF affiliates is at the national level, where their action must focus on the employment and working conditions at Chinese companies. Unions should ensure that workers employed by Chinese or other foreign investors are organised, in particular where jobs are precarious and laws are not respected. &nbsp;

Working Together...IMF Workshop On Chinese Trade And Investment In Africa

Although contact and trade between China and Africa dates back to the 15th century and indirect trade some 3000 years, China has not played the same role of dominance and destruction in Africa as the traditional colonial powers. China's modern engagement begins after the 1949 revolution. During the cold war period China supported Africa's liberation movements the impact of which however was undermined by the destructive effects of the cold war on Africa and rivalry between China and the Soviet Union in their dealings with the continent. Chinese involvement in Africa has been relatively limited for the past few decades during the time of domination of the Washington Consensus. This is changing. Most agree that this renewed engagement in Africa is driven by China's economic needs for raw materials to fuel industrialization and markets. In this way it has similarities to the European scramble for Africa in the 19th Century and subsequent colonial and neo colonial periods and is quite different from China's previous engagement which tended to be more ideological. If China's motivation for engagement with Africa is now similar to that of the West, what are the likely direct and indirect impacts into the future and how different will these be from what Africa has come to be used to from the West? The indirect impact of China's growth, and India's for that matter, has already been significant for Africa. China has grown by 9% per year for the last 10 years. China's need for raw materials is indeed very large. China alone was responsible for 40% of the global increase in oil demand between 2000 and 2004. As a number of observers have commented, the change in foreign engagement by China is quite visible at the point at which China became a net oil importer towards the beginning of the decade. Africa has certainly started to gain indirectly from the growth of China and India's economies and markets. As these economies demand huge quantities of raw materials the price of these commodities has gone up. Africa as a supplier of raw materials has benefited. According to the African Economic Outlook Sub-Saharan Africa's real GDP (i.e. after inflation) increased by an average of 4.4% in 2001-04, 5.5% in 2005 and is expected to increase further in 2006/7, as compared with 2.6% between 1998 and 2000. But growth has not been equal, with the same publication pointing out that oil exporting countries faired better than other countries. The other caution is that whilst there has been significant economic growth this has been slow to impact on social indicators. Opinions on the potential impact of more direct forms of Sino-African engagement are quite divided. One argument says, it is a bad thing that will lead to erosion of rights and a swamping of Chinese goods and labour into Africa taking African opportunities for local industrial development and jobs. This opinion is explained by deputy chairman of the South African Institute of International Affairs Moletisi Mbeki in 2005, saying, "Africa sells raw materials to China and China sells manufactured products to Africa. This is a dangerous equation that reproduces Africa's old relationship with colonial powers. The equation is not sustainable for a number of reasons. First Africa needs to preserve its natural resources to use in the future for its own industrialisation. Secondly China's export strategy is contributing to the de-industrialisation of some middle-income countries." Others feel that China presents a new development model for Africa. This view tends to see China as a salvation for Africa in terms of infrastructure development and relatively condition free loans to cash strapped African Governments still labouring under years of failed policy interventions of the international finance institutions such as the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and many western donors and their agencies. Whilst China's growth in influence clearly is beginning to provide an alternative to the Washington consensus, that has achieved nothing but deepening poverty and misery in Africa, there are also some cautions being sounded here.   One such caution states that the undemocratic nature of China which is still enjoying significant growth would serve as a support for undemocratic regimes in Africa who are able to argue that democracy is not a precursor for development. Zimbabwe's Look East campaign a case in point, Sudan another questionable engagement. It of course depends on whether you define development in terms of social indicators or GDP. Liberal democracy is not a human development precursor, as Cuba has repeatedly demonstrated and neither is it a guarantee against human and labour rights abuses. Other commentators have pointed to the fact that China's non interference (respect of sovereignty policy) in effect interferes very deeply on the side of ruling elites in divided societies. As such some have argued that India as another rapidly emerging giant, with stronger democratic tendencies also provides alternate models which should be examined. Another caution in regard to the Chinese model as applied to Africa lies in China itself. Stephen Marks in African Perspectives of China in Africa refers to "Even official sources in China and abroad are aware of the social costs of China's free-market great leap forward. Members of the legislature have warned of the country's impending employment crisis and the World Bank has confirmed that China's poor are getting poorer. As for the environment, no less a figure than Pan Yue, deputy director of China's State Environmental Protection Administration, sparked controversy with a recent essay On Socialist Ecological Civilisation when he openly charged that: 'The economic and environmental inequalities caused by a flawed understanding of growth and political achievement, held by some officials, have gone against the basic aims of socialism and abandoned the achievements of Chinese socialism.' The march of neo-liberalism within China and its impact on the Chinese people has advanced hand-in-hand with China's growing imperialist role abroad." The unemployment crisis he refers to as reported in China's daily on line is 34.5 million people new entrants to the labour market between 2006-2010. To balance this impression, bear in mind China's economically active population is around 760 million, approximately half of whom are agriculturally based, while the total population is 1.3 billion, again about half of whom are agriculturally based. China measures unemployment in urban areas. Unemployment in urban areas has increased from 3.1% in 1999 to 4.2% in 2005. Dorothy Guerrero makes a similar point arguing, "China is now the world's fourth-largest economy and many developing countries envy its record of economic progress. However, China's phenomenal growth is producing a big misconception in that it is viewed as a big winner of globalisation. Although it is true that market reforms and China's opening to the global economy gave millions of people there an increased standard of living, more Chinese people are suffering the consequences of its rapid transition to a market-based economy. The majority of the Chinese people are not too concerned about when China will become the world's largest economy. Rather, they are asking, 'When will the benefits of China's rise to superpower status start to affect our lives positively?" Another argument that has been raised is the human and labour rights abuses commonly associated with Chinese investment. The reality is whilst the track record of many of these companies is appalling it is probably in terms of global impact quite small in comparison to the violations committed all over the world by western MNCs. While some companies have reformed their public image in fear of loosing market share or investment this has largely meant the use of subcontracted supply chains where the pressure around production targets and delivery guarantees the abuse of worker and social rights in any event. The corporations then cynically deny responsibility. Similarly China increasingly makes noises about improving human and labour rights issues as they become more integrated global players. On the eve of the First Africa summit the state council, China's cabinet, issued 'Nine Principles' to 'Encourage and Standardise Enterprises' Overseas Investment'. The principles require Chinese companies operating overseas to 'abide by local laws, bid contracts on the basis of transparency and equality, protect the labour rights of local employees, protect the environment, implement corporate responsibilities and so on'. As state backed companies from china begin to brand and become global players they too will become more sensitive publicly to these issues as result of market influences. In both instances though, the system that drives these superficial changes is itself brutal, quite literally inhuman, always answering to the logic of competition and increasing returns. In time there will be little to distinguish these investment forms save perhaps the tendency for China to want to export labour along with investment and development initiatives. There is also a position that the west has never done as well as the economies developing in the east in providing goods cheap enough for Africans to buy. Bicycles, blankets etc. The West has however dumped huge quantities of used clothes, used cars, used parts, used machinery, used computers and the list goes on, on Africa. All have made these commodities more accessible to people, still allowing a tidy profit off of the waste of these societies. Against these two sets of goods, cheap consumer goods from the vast and often super exploitative factories of the east and the scraps of the societies of the west, African industrial development has not progressed. People must buy these cheap things as they have no jobs to buy anything else whilst the price of the things we really need; houses electricity, water and health care go up and become more unreachable. People live in debt to buy the few consumer items they can and in the mean time the social fabric of communities is constantly broken down by competition for scarce jobs and resources. The rolling back of public service provision has only aggravated this situation.   Whilst there are clear similarities to be found in the motives, practices and potential impacts of Chinese and Western contemporary engagement with Africa the introduction of an alternate power centre (for trade and development engagements) and rising commodity prices certainly presents some significant strategic opportunities for Africa. The stranglehold International Finance Institutions and economic imperialist nations have had on economic policy for over two decades is being challenged. More capital should be available as well as technical cooperation. Increased prices mean a stronger bargaining position in trade terms as well. Achieving positive social benefits from this window of opportunity will however very much depend on Africa's ruling elite making decisions and taking actions that serve the people and not those of their own pockets and/or egos or the interests of the traditional and emerging global economic dynasties. Internal trade and development must play a central role in spreading the benefits across countries in Africa to avoid these opportunities simply creating new enclaves of wealth and power in an otherwise sea of poverty and destitution. Civil society in Africa has an historical role to play in ensuring this.

China In Africa

TURKEY: Sinter Metal workers demonstrated in Taksim Square on August 5 following a court ruling which furthered delayed a decision that would decide the fate of some 350 workers who were fired for belonging to the union, Birlesik Metal-IS, an affiliate of the International Metalworkers' Federation (IMF).For over 7 months now, the 350 workers of Sinter Metal Imalat Sanayi A.Ş have been struggling to get their jobs back. On Tuesday, August 4, the judge announced that the case would be delayed again by three months. The next court hearing is scheduled for November 13. &quot;According to the Turkish Constitution we are certain to win the case, but the employer is doing everything to drag out the process - something that they are good at doing, too. Again we reiterate: 'Justice delayed is justice denied!!' We will not let the employer break our resistance in front of the company,&quot; said Elif Sinirlioglu of Birlesik Metal-IS.Tony Murphy from the European Metalworkers' Federation (EMF) served as an international court monitor and participated in the demonstration. Addressing the crowd at Taksim Square, Murphy explained that, &quot;Sinter Metal workers are not alone, and millions of EMF and IMF affiliates are with them&quot;. He went on to say that the problem is not just the Sinter case, but a larger one involving a long list of violations of workers' rights in Turkey. He called on the Turkish government to stop all violations of workers' right.Murphy delivered a solidarity message on the IMF's behalf. &quot;Your fight goes beyond the courthouse and company gates. Yours is the global fight for fundamental labour rights and worker protections that all workers should enjoy, but that so many of us must struggle for: the right to join a union, the right to collectively bargain, and the right to strike&quot; an IMF statement read.On July 16, Klaus Preignitz from IG Metall, Alexander Todic from Serbia, Nina Berg and Susanne Dörflinger from DGB Bildungswerk, and Manfred Wannüffel from Bochum University expressed international solidarity and participated in a demonstration in front of the company in Dudulu Organized Industrial Zone. The IMF and EMF launched a joint campaign in support of Sinter Metal workers in March 2009. <a href="../index.cfm?n=692&amp;l=2">CLICK HERE</a> for more information about this campaign.

Workers demonstrate in Turkey's Taksim Square denouncing the decision of the court arguing, "Justice delayed is Justice denied!"

Go to IMF's campaign page in support of Sinter Metal workers

Court delays Sinter Metal judgement

KOREA:  A tentative agreement was reached this morning between the KMWU and Ssangyong Motor after weeks of intense and often times brutal struggle by 700 autoworkers holding a sit-in strike within the plant.According to the Korean Metal Workers' Union, an affiliate of the International Metalworkers' Federation, currently some 50 workers who participated in the strike have been taken by the police to area jails and the KMWU speculates that by the end of the day the number of strikers imprisoned will reach 100. Medical care at the police jails are limited at best, many of those imprisoned need thorough hospital care immediately. Outside the plant, tensions remain high where a number of company-hired security forces are waiting for sit-in strikers to walk out. Police have been inside the plant conducting investigations which includes the questioning of each striker and in many cases, transporting workers to jail. Workers have not seen their families since going on strike on May 21.The tentative settlement announced today includes the company agreeing to a &quot;48% : 52% ratio&quot; with 48% of restructured people maintaining employment with Ssangyong Motor and 52% having to accept dismissal (early retirement). However, other important issues remain outstanding including the persecution of those involved in the strike and how the '100%' of which the ratio is applied is decided. Negotiations are continuing.The IMF is urging affiliates to voice their concerns at Korean embassies around the world and call on the Korean government to:<ul><li>immediately release all imprisoned union leaders and Ssangyong workers;</li><li>drop all charges (criminal and civil) against individuals and organisations involved in the strike;</li><li>take a role in ensuring good faith, genuine negotiations towards guaranteeing the KMWU Ssangyong Motor members employment security.</li></ul>

Following the tentative agreement reached this morning between the KMWU and Ssangyong Motor, police are interrogating and jailing sit-in strikers rather than transporting them to local hospitals.

UPDATE: Ssangyong Motor Plant on fire

Water and electricity cut off at Ssangyong Motor

TAKE ACTION: Tell the Korean government to release all jailed Ssangyong strikers!

Background and additional information: Urgent Appeal, Ssangyong motor

Agreement reached, Ssangyong Motor sit-in strikers jailed

THAILAND: After a two week strike at a Kawasaki Motors plant in Thailand an agreement was reached between the union and management on July 3, 2009.The agreement between the plant union, which is affiliated to TAW/TEAM, and Kawasaki was reached with assistance from IMF-JC and the International Metalworkers' Federation. About 900 workers at the Kawasaki plant in Chonburi/Rayong Eastern Seaboard Industrial Zone went on strike on June 22 after management unilaterally changed the working time and then sacked all 11 shop stewards who opposed the change.Seeking to reduce costs, the company introduced a new working time on May 11, moving from 8 hours per 5.5 days a week to 8.5 hours per five days a week. While the company claimed they had a tripartite agreement for the change, no written agreement existed.  The company then dismissed 11 shop stewards accusing them of agitating the workers and the general public about the changes to the working time.Both parties have agreed on the reinstatement of all 872 workers, including the 11 union leaders, with workers returning to work on July 6. The agreement sets out further discussions on adjusting working time, subject to the approval of the workers by a vote in August.IMF representatives visited the plant on June 24 where they met senior management personnel and urged them to resolve the dispute through negotiations and in good faith. IMF-JC has also actively intervened in the dispute to assist the union and company in reaching this agreement.

Strike at Kawasaki Motors Enterprise (Thailand) ends as workers and management reach agreement.

Strike ends at Kawasaki, Thailand

TURKEY:  Metalworker unions in Germany, Italy and the U.S. have written to four major auto companies that use components supplied by Sinter Metal, via the auto parts supplier Gertag, urging them to demand an end to the violation of workers' rights at the plant in the Dudullu Organized Industrial Zone in Turkey.In December 2008, Sinter Metal used false pretexts to fire 38 workers involved with trade union activity. Days later, the employer refused to allow the remaining workers to enter the plant, firing 312 of them, most of whom the company had learned were trade union members. The Labour Ministry in Turkey issued a report on January 12, 2009 upholding the union's assertion that the reason for the dismissal of the 350 workers was not the economic crisis as the employer attempted to claim, but rather their trade union membership.Despite repeated requests from the IMF and the <a href="http://www.emf-fem.org/Press/Labour-related-news/Affiliates-increase-pressure-on-Sinter-Metal">EMF</a>, the company has not considered the workers' demands, reinstated the dismissed workers or commenced negotiating with the union, Birlesik Metal Is. As Sinter Metal ships parts to Gertag, which in turn supplies BMW, Daimler, Ford and Fiat, IMF and EMF affiliates in Germany, Italy and the U.S. are reaching out to the first tier manufacturers urging them to seek an end to the violations at Sinter Metal in Turkey. BMW and Daimler have both signed International Framework Agreements with the IMF, which state that the companies expect suppliers to recognise workers' rights as a criteria for lasting business relationships.

IMF and <a href="http://www.emf-fem.org/Press/Labour-related-news/Affiliates-increase-pressure-on-Sinter-Metal">EMF</a> seek an end to the violation of workers' rights at Sinter Metal in Turkey as affiliates reach out to first tier companies that use Sinter Metal components.

Affiliates increase pressure on Sinter Metal

IMF affiliates in all regions are fighting to protect workers, their families and communities through collective negotiations with employers, by mobilizing for government actions to defend and support employment and incomes, and pushing for industrial policies to advance the sector's recovery and progress towards a lower carbon future with good jobs. Affiliates have put forth programs and positions on what needs to be done economy-wide and for the automotive sector. Metalworking union demands and actions call for:<ul><li>Prompt adoption of stimulus programs that benefit and protect workers economy-wide. This should include and be based on broad public investments to renew and expand transport and technology infrastructures, strengthen public education and universal health care, and expand training and upgrade skills for workers. Support should be coordinated regionally and provide needed resources at both national and local levels.</li><li>Full implementation of measures to prevent redundancies and retain workers in jobs with company and government-financed benefits that secure workers' income and purchasing power. Coverage should include not only large companies, but SMEs as well. When needed, allowable time periods for such benefits should be extended. At the same time, safeguards should be in place to ensure that employers do not abuse short-time work, temporary downtime, or partial and administrative unemployment as preludes to permanent redundancies.</li><li>All alternatives should be considered and if any restructuring is unavoidable, it must be done in a sustainable and socially acceptable manner. Regardless of ownership and enterprise structure, it is essential that companies negotiate with and governments involve unions from the outset to ensure a long-term commitment and employment safeguards for workers and their communities. Trade unions strongly oppose layoffs and plant closures.</li><li>Effective restoration of access to credit lines for automotive and metalworking companies across the sector's production chains, as well as loans for households and enterprises to finance the purchase of new cars and trucks and other final products. Regulatory protections should ensure that no publicly provided or guaranteed capital is used to fund payouts to shareholders, to pay excessive executive compensation, or to subsidize the outsourcing or shifting of production to the detriment of workers.</li><li>Acceleration of investments in R&amp;D, design and production of advanced motor vehicle and fuel technologies that lower emissions of carbon dioxide and other pollutants. Government policies that support reducing the industry's carbon footprint over time should do so via means that generate and maintain high quality jobs for metalworkers. </li><li>Rejection of attempts by employers and government to exploit the crisis to undermine trade unions and workers' rights.</li></ul>With challenges for workers and their unions as great as any time in decades, it is imperative to strengthen solidarity. Effective actions are needed to broaden and deepen trade union efforts to organize workers across metalworking enterprises, to block attempts by companies to substitute precarious jobs for permanent ones in the aftermath of the crisis, and to mobilize for coordinated and concerted policies that protect and advance the interests of workers, their families and communities.<table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="1" align="center"><tbody><tr><td><a href="../index.cfm?c=20068&amp;mwId=20047&amp;l=2">&lt;&lt; back</a></td><td> </td><td><a href="../index.cfm?c=20060&amp;mwId=20047&amp;l=2">beginning</a></td></tr></tbody></table>

The global crisis and restructuring in automotive and metalworking industries

Previously existing
restructuring pressures

Global downturn hits

Worldwide vehicle 
demand plummets

Effects transfer down 
the supply chain

Repercussions across metalworking

Widespread job loss and 
working hour reductions

Consolidations and mergers

Industrial policies and 
government measures

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Metalworking union actions and responses

An International Metalworkers' Federation analysis, shown in the chart over the page, provides a summary of the types of government measures proposed, adopted or implemented for the motor industry in 19 countries, as well as the EU. It is clear that more effective support from governments and commitments by employers are needed to ensure protection of workers and a broad based recovery of the industry. For EU countries, some policies are subject to review by the European Commission. In this regard, the European Metalworkers' Federation has stressed the vital importance of European-level initiatives, and that national-level measures should be consistent with a coherent industrial policy strategy for the sector and thus avoid possibilities for cross-border social dumping. Table: Government policies for the automotive sector (proposed, adopted and/or implemented as of June 2009)<img src="" alt="" width="600" height="276" />  Source: press articlesGovernment measures generally are addressing the following objectives:<ul><li>Stimulating motor vehicle demand including incentives to promote the purchase of cleaner new ones in exchange for older less efficient vehicles (shorter to medium-term) </li><li>Protecting employment, income support and skills development (immediate to long-term) </li><li>Addressing company solvency and restoring credit (shorter to medium-term)</li><li>Making progress on cleaner vehicles and fuels (shorter to long-term)</li></ul><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="1" align="center"><tbody><tr><td><a href="../index.cfm?c=20067&amp;mwId=20047&amp;l=2">&lt;&lt; back</a></td><td> </td><td><a href="../index.cfm?c=20060&amp;mwId=20047&amp;l=2">beginning</a></td><td> </td><td align="center" valign="middle"><a href="../index.cfm?c=20069&amp;mwId=20047&amp;l=2">forward &gt;&gt;</a></td></tr></tbody></table>

Industrial policies and government measures

Congress adopted changes to the IMF Rules to create two new elected positions. Previously filled by appointment, the IMF Vice President and Assistant General Secretary roles will now be elected every four years, along with the General Secretary and President positions. Incumbents Tom Buffenbarger, Fernando Lopes and Hiroshi Kamada were elected Vice President and Assistant General Secretaries respectively on the first official day of Congress. The elections of President and General Secretary however brought two new leaders to the head of the IMF. IG Metall President Berthold Huber, a former toolmaker, was elected President of the IMF, taking over from outgoing President Jürgen Peters. Nordic IN General Secretary Jyrki Raina was elected General Secretary, replacing Marcello Malentacchi, who retired after 20 years as IMF General Secretary. Raina pledged to make the Action Programme the central policy of the IMF.Raina identified the issue of precarious work as a key priority for the IMF, noting that in developing countries typically 50 to 80 per cent of employment is informal and elsewhere atypical work is exploding. Raina warned of the risk that during economic recovery good jobs that have been lost will be replaced by precarious jobs. <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="1" align="center"><tbody><tr><td><a href="../index.cfm?c=20057&amp;mwId=20047&amp;l=2">&lt;&lt; back</a></td><td> </td><td><a href="../index.cfm?c=20056&amp;mwId=20047&amp;l=2">beginning</a></td><td> </td><td align="center" valign="middle"><a href="../index.cfm?c=20059&amp;mwId=20047&amp;l=2">forward &gt;&gt;</a></td></tr></tbody></table>

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