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At our 2005 Congress, we adopted an Action Programme setting out four main areas for action, which include:<ul><li>global structures to meet global challenges</li><li>strategies to engage transnational companies</li><li>solidarity and organising</li><li>a social dimension to economic globalisation</li></ul>In our commitment to creating global structures to meet global challenges, the IMF will: <ul><li>continue to build a global union able to co-ordinate and implement actions at all levels, wherever and whenever they are required;</li><li>continue to work with other Global Union Federations and the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and the Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD to pursue the interests of its affiliates;</li><li>encourage cooperation and build unity between unions; and</li><li>begin building information networks between affiliates and maintain and effective communications system.</li></ul>As we develop strategies to engage transnational companies, the IMF will:<ul><li><div>continue to focus on building and maintaining solidarity among trade unions and workers across the global production chains of metalworking companies and industries;</div></li><li>strengthen links between unions that represent workers across production chains in transnational corporations through the IMF World Company Councils and sector-based networks and action groups;</li><li>negotiate and implement international framework agreements with transnational corporations;</li><li>find and support other mechanisms that engage transnational corporations.</li></ul>As we strengthen solidarity and capacity to organise, the IMF will: <ul><li>defend and promote collective bargaining, assisting affiliates in bargaining on wages and working conditions, and on outsourcing, job security and other issues associated with corporate restructuring;</li><li>promote union building by co-ordinating and supporting projects as well as providing advice to its affiliates on issues such as organising strategies, unions structures and equal rights;</li><li>promote equal rights, including improving the representation of women in IMF structures;</li><li>protect and promote health and safety at work, including campaigning for a ban on asbestos;</li><li>take international solidarity actions in support of social achievements, workers&#039; rights, organising and collective bargaining; and</li><li>organise the unorganised, particularly of women, young workers and non-manual workers and in export processing zones and small- and medium-sized enterprises.</li></ul>To promote a social dimension to economic globalisation, the IMF will:<ul><li>cooperate with and be part of the social movement against globalisation that favours only the transnational corporations;</li><li>demand that all national governments implement internationally recognised Core Labour Standards, including the right to organise and bargain collectively, and that these rights are included in all trade agreements; and</li><li>fight for sustainable economic development and growth as described in the document Strategies for an alternative economic programme, based on the following four pillars: <ul><li>job creation and purchasing power</li><li>debt cancellation and development assistance</li><li>regulations capital movements</li><li>reform of the global institutions of governance</li></ul></li></ul>

Solidarity and organisation: the foundation of our work

NUMSA leadership has never shied away from criticizing South Africa democratic government led by African National Congress (ANC), the ruling majority party, and Irvin is no different. He believes some of the ANC's strategic decisions were erroneous. While he does not deny the victory the democratic breakthrough represents, Irvin believes ANC government needs to take responsibility for South Africa's growing inequality and the fact that infrastructure, education, water resources and health systems remain unfairly distributed across the societies of South Africa.In 1995 South Africa was granted membership in the World Trade Organization, and according to Irvin it cost South Africans many jobs as liberalization of trade destroyed industries. &quot;Under the ANC government, exchange control was removed with the hope that the capital will come and make investments. Instead the capital took money from the country and invested it in stock exchange speculations and no real investment happened in productive sectors of the economy,&quot; says Irvin.The fall of apartheid removed legal differences between the rights enjoyed by white and black South Africans, but &quot;access to those rights for people is determined by their economic position in our society,&quot; says Irvin.As South Africa grapples with the impact of the global financial crisis, Irvin is also critical of the double standards of government and business and their &quot;casino&quot; attitude to the economy. For years NUMSA has been calling for nationalisation in the interest of South African people, to no avail. However, now when the banks are in crisis, government and business have been willing to nationalise debts. Meanwhile profits remain private. Opposing this approach and calling for new solutions will be a priority for NUMSA under Irvin's leadership, along with other long-standing campaigns including opposition to the spread of precarious jobs and the AIDS pandemic. Maintaining continuity following recent changes with NUMSA is also important to Irvin. He points out that the new leadership elected at the recent National Congress are all long time NUMSA members and officials. Emphasising statements made at Congress, Irvin says, &quot;our responsibility is that our union should stay united and consolidated.&quot;<table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="1" align="center"><tbody><tr><td><a href="../main/index.cfm?n=103&amp;l=2&amp;c=19222&amp;mwId=19189">&lt;&lt; back</a></td></tr></tbody></table>

Profile of Irvin Jim Download pdf file with illustrations >>

Confronting the legacy of apartheid remains vital for South African workers

-------------------------------------------------------------------------Text and photo / Alex IvanouIn 1991, on only his second day at work, Irvin Jim&#039;s fellow workers at Firestone Tyres nominated him as their union representative. Irvin laughs as he recounts the shock of company management when a general meeting was called to elect the young rubber worker. Aged only 23, Irvin turned down the nomination that day but within three months had taken on the role of shop steward, and was well on the path to becoming one of South Africa&#039;s most senior trade unionists. In October 2008, Irvin was elected General Secretary at the Congress of the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA). Despite his smiling manner, Irvin immediately conveys the impression of a person who has his own views and convictions and is ready to defend them. Irvin&#039;s rapid ascension within the union was assisted by the skills he gained as a student activist in South Africa&#039;s youth movement in the late 1980&#039;s. Following the fall of the apartheid regime in 1994, Irvin became the NUMSA regional chairperson for the Eastern Cape region. He was at that time the youngest member of the NUMSA Central Committee and remained Regional Secretary until his election to the leadership role last year.The fight against the apartheid regime has been a central theme for both Irvin and the union he now heads. NUMSA was formed in 1987 as a result of a merger between four unions to unite different sectors into a single metalworkers&#039; union. The IMF played a key role in the creation of the union and continues to work closely with NUMSA, which represents southern Africa at IMF Executive committee meetings. &quot;Politically and economically we&#039;ve been a very fortunate country, a country that succeeded to win solidarity with the people of the globe,&quot; says Irvin. &quot;The biggest challenge now is to ensure that the very same globe appreciates that the legacy of apartheid has not been dealt with.&quot;<table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="1" align="center"><tbody><tr><td align="center" valign="middle"><a href="../main/index.cfm?n=103&amp;l=2&amp;c=19224&amp;mwId=19189">forward &gt;&gt;</a></td></tr></tbody></table>

The new leader of the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa brings a long history of activism to combat old and new challenges.

Organizing women and bringing them into leadership positions is central to the IMF Action Program. In 2005, the Congress voted to expand the Executive to 25 seats; six are reserved for women and are to be equally distributed among the regions. The plan also set a 20 percent target for women's participation in the Central Committee and Congress, and called for holding a Women's Conference in conjunction with the Congress. Regional structures such as the Latin American Gender Council, East Asian Women's Committee and the Macedonian Women's Section have been set up. In Brazil and the Dominican Republic, the increasing role of women is changing union cultures. The ILO recently recognized the Canadian Auto Workers' (CAW) historic struggle for gender equality. In some cases, progress is directly linked to the crucial task of organizing more women. Women are the predominant workers in EPZs the world over, and in Indonesia, the IMF affiliates' success in EPZ organizing are largely due to strong advances in bringing women into leadership positions.Global labor at a turning pointRight now, the world is mired in the most serious economic downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930s. As the IMF repeatedly underlined, neo-liberalism was a disaster waiting to happen. Deregulation, privatization, weakening of social safety nets, neglect of public investment, and hostility to worker and human rights by many national governments, the Bretton Woods institutions, and the World Trade Organization (WTO), led to the stagnation of living standards for the popular classes and enormous riches for a few. The basic elements of the crisis were growing indebtedness and unregulated financial speculation in a now global financial market. The current crisis is a disaster for the world's poor and working people. Declining production, even when mergers and bankruptcies can be avoided, will bring unemployment and loss of incomes to billions of workers. Union membership is bound to decline in the short run and will have to be rebuilt.Nevertheless, there is a bright side to the debacle. For decades, unions swam against the stream, but now the failure of neo-liberalism is obvious to all but those who will not learn. Leaders of banks and industries - the former cheer-leaders for neo-liberal &quot;reforms&quot; - now beg for government hand-outs. Deficit spending is advocated even by conservative experts and public ownership is on the rise. This is a great opportunity for the IMF, international labor, and its progressive allies. Although the current crisis is economic, its roots are political. Discredited policies can be reversed by a new push for respect of core labor standards not only nationally but in world trade, by demanding the rebuilding of social safety nets, stricter environmental safeguards (including a switch to clean energies), re-regulation of finance and industries, and effective economic intervention by government that will counteract depression even as it improves infrastructures and promotes sustainable industries and services. The future IMF must seize this opportunity and meet these challenges.<table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="1" align="center"><tbody><tr><td><a href="../main/index.cfm?n=103&amp;l=2&amp;c=19220&amp;mwId=19189">&lt;&lt; back</a></td><td> </td><td><a href="../main/index.cfm?n=103&amp;l=2&amp;c=19215&amp;mwId=19189">beginning</a></td></tr></tbody></table>

Download the pdf file of the special report with illustrations >>

IMF - The last twenty years

In Latin America, unions began to see the fruits of their decades-long struggle against dictatorships. Together with political and civil society allies, unions ultimately succeeded in electing progressive governments in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Uruguay, and Venezuela. At its 1989 Congress, the IMF had 19 regional affiliates, but none in the economically powerful Brazil and only three medium-sized organizations in Mexico. By 2005, the IMF counted 35 metalworking unions, including the two largest in Brazil, and seven significant unions in Mexico including the powerful mine workers (SNTMMSRM). This positive turn in Mexico was largely due to an increase in IMF activities after 2000. Nevertheless, much work remains to be done there - a conservative government and a majority corporatist union movement still inhibit the formation of independent unions.The Asia-Pacific Region saw strong economic development during the last twenty years. For unions, particularly metalworkers, there were some important successes. There were affiliations in Hong Kong, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Nepal, but most notably, the large metalworkers' organization in Korea (KMWF, now KMWU) and important unions in Indonesia (FSPMI and Lomenik-SBSI) joined the IMF. In 2000 the IMF expelled the Thai union and assisted in the formation of a new independent union called TEAM. Through workshops organised annually since 2003 for the then Vietnam National Union of Industrial Workers (VNUIW) the IMF has consolidated its relationships with the successor organisation, the Vietnam National Union of Workers in Industry and Trade (VUIT), which has recently applied for affiliation to the IMF.The IMF's engagement with China began with a 1994 fact-finding mission which was followed by a high-level mission to China in 2000 and 2006. After a long process of discussions, a small meeting with the Chinese Machinery, Metallurgical and Building Materials Workers' Union (CMMBMWU) was organised at the beginning of January 2009 and a joint workshop on collective bargaining has been planned for April 2009. Nevertheless, these gains cannot obscure the enormous obstacles that independent unionism faces in Asia, including China. However, the IMF is committed for the long term, and persevering efforts are necessary to make further progress in the future. In India, independent unionism is relatively weak in the private sector, and a number of important unions linked to Communist parties are not yet prepared to follow their counterparts in Europe and the former Soviet Block and join, or at least work with, the IMF. In cooperation with its affiliates, the IMF has launched a number of projects, which include union-building among shipbreaking workers and targeted educational activities. The IMF is also working with Indian unions to advance organising in fast growing sectors such as steel and automotive industries. Nevertheless, strengthening and uniting metalworker unions in this rapidly developing part of the world remains one of the key challenges confronting the IMF.<table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="1" align="center"><tbody><tr><td><a href="../main/index.cfm?n=103&amp;l=2&amp;c=19216&amp;mwId=19189">&lt;&lt; back</a></td><td> </td><td><a href="../main/index.cfm?n=103&amp;l=2&amp;c=19215&amp;mwId=19189">beginning</a></td><td> </td><td align="center" valign="middle"><a href="../main/index.cfm?n=103&amp;l=2&amp;c=19218&amp;mwId=19189">forward &gt;&gt;</a></td></tr></tbody></table>

IMF - the last twenty years

Post Cold War Union BuildingUnder new leadership, the IMF immediately addressed these challenges. By December 1990, a &quot;Plan of Action&quot; identified Czechoslovakia, Poland and Hungary as key transition countries and focused on preparing them for the role independent unions play in democratic market-based societies. In 1991, seminars were held in the target countries as well as Romania and Bulgaria, and in December the first IMF conference in Eastern Europe took place in Brno, Czekoslovakia on the issue of migration. Starting that year, millions of metalworkers in Central Europe began to join the IMF, and by the time of the centenary congress in 1993, metalworking unions from Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland and Romania were IMF members. The Slovenian metalworkers became members that same year. By 1997, IMF affiliates in this region by-and-large took over responsibilities for their own programs. The first IMF office opened in Central and Eastern Europe in Budapest in 1997 and efforts turned to South-eastern Europe, where the rebuilding of cooperative relations after years of war and ethnic conflicts was a priority. Affiliations, mostly in the countries of the former Yugoslavia, soon followed. IMF attention then turned to the former Soviet Republics and the Baltic states. Plans for a Project Office in Moscow were developed and implemented over several years. A new milestone was passed with the affiliation of unions in Belarus, Russia and the Ukraine in 1999. In 2001, the IMF Executive was enlarged to include a representative from Central and Eastern Europe. By 2004, the 12 regional affiliates the IMF counted in 2001 had grown to 19, including a first affiliation from Central Asia (Kyrgyzstan). Since 1989, strong metalworking unions have been built throughout the former Soviet Bloc, but many challenges remain. Entrenched regimes still regard independent unions with hostility, particularly in Belarus, where the Lukashenko dictatorship tries to crush them. Economic difficulties persist in many countries, and even where there has been some progress, metalworkers' gains are sure to be threatened by the deepening economic crisis that began in 2008.Eastern and Central Europe was not the only world region where the IMF and the movements it had assisted, progressed. In South Africa, combined international and domestic pressures forced the apartheid state to release Nelson Mandela, who was elected to lead the country in 1994. South African metalworkers were already well represented in the IMF in 1989, particularly by the huge NUMSA, but in the rest of Africa, there were only 13 affiliates and none in Mozambique, Angola or Nigeria. That number grew by 2005. Excluding South Africa, there were 24 affiliates in Africa, including important unions in Mozambique and Angola as well as countries on the Mediterranean. Unfortunately, despite this membership growth and a few bright spots, there was no significant economic development in post-colonial Africa.<table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="1" align="center"><tbody><tr><td><a href="../main/index.cfm?n=103&amp;l=2&amp;c=19215&amp;mwId=19189">&lt;&lt; back</a></td><td> </td><td><a href="../main/index.cfm?n=103&amp;l=2&amp;c=19215&amp;mwId=19189">beginning</a></td><td> </td><td align="center" valign="middle"><a href="../main/index.cfm?n=103&amp;l=2&amp;c=19217&amp;mwId=19189">forward &gt;&gt;</a></td></tr></tbody></table>

The details of the national collective contract are key to recruitment. With shrinking membership figures, it will be more difficult to maintain the collective contract, Inga-Lill points out adding, &quot;for that reason we must explain what a collective contract is. Many young people think that pay and overtime compensation and other working conditions are determined by law and not through negotiations between the unions and employers' organizations. &quot;The more workplaces lack members, the more difficult it is to defend conditions. For that reason there is a clear connection between membership and the ability to defend working conditions.&quot; Back to Snap-On in Bollnäs where Stefan Halvarsson, chairman of the IF Metall branch, is not satisfied that almost all metalworkers at the plant are in the union. He also participates in the union's organizing and recruiting project. &quot;We travel around to workplaces, and many people think it's fun when we come. They are happy to see us. Often it's a matter of showing yourself. And listening. We also get an opportunity to explain why we're here. We can inform people about the value of being in the union,&quot; Stefan says. The Swedish trade union movement is confronted with new challenges. For Stefan it is self-evident that the fate of the Swedish trade union movement is part of the global movement. He is chairman of the Snap-On company's European Works Council and through it he has close contacts with other European unions. Stefan is also participating in the start-up of a union project with the metalworkers' union in Namibia. &quot;International cooperation has been becoming even more important. Bollnäs and our plant are a part of the world - that has become ever more obvious in recent years, says Stefan. &quot;It is important to organize more people, both here in Sweden and around the world.&quot;<table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="1" align="center"><tbody><tr><td><a href="../main/index.cfm?n=103&amp;l=2&amp;c=19213&amp;mwId=19189">&lt;&lt; back</a></td><td> </td><td><a href="../main/index.cfm?n=103&amp;l=2&amp;c=19197&amp;mwId=19189">beginning</a></td></tr></tbody></table>

Feature: Download pdf file with illustrations >>

Swedish Unions revive recruitment efforts

Members not only have access to the local database, but also to a national database for Sveriges Ingenjörer throughout the country. &quot;The database is highly valued by our members and strongly contributes to our attractiveness as a union. Quite simply, they get a lot for their membership,&quot; she adds. The database also contains information on current union activities at ABB Corporate Research. The board of directors regularly publishes information on its activity, and all meeting minutes are also available. Hence, all members receive an electronic newsletter from the engineers' corporate department in all units throughout Sweden. All totalled, Sveriges Ingenjörer has some 2,000 engineers at ABB in various locations around the country. &quot;We know that the newsletter is very popular. It is a way of providing important information to members on, for example, equality and pay issues. It is also a way of getting members from various parts of the country to feel involved and to feel united,&quot; Shiva says. ABB is a global, knowledge-intensive group in the power and automation technology sector and employs people all over the world. Many engineers come to Sweden and to Västerås from elsewhere. The international character of the ABB Corporate Research Center, where some 30 countries are represented among the 180 engineers, is very much evidence. &quot;That doesn't mean that everyone with a foreign background comes directly from another country. Many were raised in Sweden,&quot; says Shiva. &quot;But more and more of them do come directly from another country. Just last year some ten foreign engineers were newly recruited at the ABB Corporate Research Center.&quot; These foreign engineers often choose to join Sveriges Ingenjörer at ABB.&quot;The response has been very positive. We have gained a lot of new members,&quot; Shiva adds. The level of organization among engineers at ABB is significantly higher than the national average. In Sweden as a whole, it is estimated that just over half - 54 per cent - of graduate engineers are members of Sveriges Ingenjörer. The total number of members is 120,000, which represents an increase of 3 per cent during the last year. <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="1" align="center"><tbody><tr><td><a href="../main/index.cfm?n=103&amp;l=2&amp;c=19208&amp;mwId=19189">&lt;&lt; back</a></td><td> </td><td><a href="../main/index.cfm?n=103&amp;l=2&amp;c=19197&amp;mwId=19189">beginning</a></td><td> </td><td align="center" valign="middle"><a href="../main/index.cfm?n=103&amp;l=2&amp;c=19212&amp;mwId=19189">forward &gt;&gt;</a></td></tr></tbody></table>

Whenever the company hires new staff, the branch holds an information meeting for new employees. &quot;That gives us an opportunity to explain what the union stands for and why we are needed. It usually results in a useful dialogue with the new employees, who are frequently young people and often do not know much about the union's values,&quot; Stefan adds. But a good introduction is not enough, says Stefan. The union must be alive all the time. The union must be visible and accessible for the members, who must be kept properly informed and have an opportunity to participate. The Bollnäs plant branch has found a new approach. &quot;If we gather everyone together at a big meeting in the dining hall, usually only two or three people will take the floor. The rest keep quiet,&quot; says Stefan. &quot;For that reason we have tried another way.&quot; Member meetings take place on a small scale so that as many people as possible have an opportunity to speak. Members are divided into small groups of about 15 people. To bring the union even closer to employees, they hold annual IF Metall meetings at the plant. A number of issues are discussed in small groups and they also conduct a survey among the members. In that way the branch gets answers on how union work can be improved and developed. Approximately one out of four branch members attend the IF Metall meetings. &quot;Through the IF Metall meeting we get to know what the members expect of the union,&quot; Stefan says, noting &quot;that puts pressure on us and lays the basis for the branch's action plan. In addition, it gives us a good basis for working with our superiors. We can show the survey results and point to what needs to be changed at the workplace.&quot;It is also important that elected officials be equipped to work effectively for the members. During the first year an elected official sits in on meetings to listen and learn. Then he or she undergoes a training program which includes law, contracts and negotiating techniques. All officials are given their own areas of responsibility. <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="1" align="center"><tbody><tr><td><a href="../main/index.cfm?n=103&amp;l=2&amp;c=19197&amp;mwId=19189">&lt;&lt; back</a></td><td> </td><td><a href="../main/index.cfm?n=103&amp;l=2&amp;c=19197&amp;mwId=19189">beginning</a></td><td> </td><td align="center" valign="middle"><a href="../main/index.cfm?n=103&amp;l=2&amp;c=19199&amp;mwId=19189">forward &gt;&gt;</a></td></tr></tbody></table>

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Text / HARALD GATU Photos / LARS HALVARSSONIn Sweden most people belong to a union and the level of organisation is among the highest in the world. But joining a union is no longer taken for granted. The proportion of union members is declining, forcing unions to make an effort to recruit new members. Stefan Halvarsson is 38 years old and president of the IF Metall union at one of the American Snap-On factories in Sweden. All workers, except one, are organized in the union. &quot;They used to come and ask to become members, now we need to motivate them to join,&quot; he says.A few hours' drive north of Stockholm lies Bollnäs, a small town in an idyllic setting of vast forests and beautiful lakes. The American firm Snap-On has a plant here that makes handsaws. There are 137 workers at the plant, and all but one are union members. The fact that so many people are members does not mean that the union can relax and expect that every employee will spontaneously join. &quot;No, it's not so simple,&quot; says Stefan Halvarsson. &quot;Not any longer. It used to be that people spontaneously came and asked to join. Now we have to seek people out and argue for our cause. They want to know what the union can do for them.&quot;Halvarsson is 38 years old, a bowling fan, and has worked at the plant for 14 years. Prior to that he worked in healthcare, and he believes that the healthcare job involving contact with people has made it easier for him to engage in union work. &quot;Being a union activist means working with people, building relationships and trust,&quot; Stefan says.After a few years at the plant, he was asked if he wanted to undertake a union assignment. He said yes. Today Stefan is the chairman of IF Metall's branch for the company. &quot;We must always explain why one should join the union. And first and foremost, the union must always be visible. The union must be present among its members.&quot;<table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="1" align="center"><tbody><tr><td align="center" valign="middle"><a href="../main/index.cfm?n=103&amp;l=2&amp;c=19198&amp;mwId=19189">forward&gt;&gt;</a> </td></tr></tbody></table>

In Sweden most people belong to a union and the level of organisation is among the highest in the world. But joining a union is no longer taken for granted. The proportion of union members is declining, forcing unions to make an effort to recruit new members.

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