4 October, 2010
The annual Regional Conference for the Eastern Europe/Central Asia Region of the ICEM was conducted in Moscow on 23 September. Participating affiliated trade unions came from Azerbaijan, Moldova, Ukraine, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Belarus.
The meeting was chaired by ROSUGLEPROF – the Russian Independent Coal Employees’ Union – President and ICEM Vice President Ivan Mokhnachuk. Each delegation briefed participants on today's situation in their respective country and union. ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda spoke on the process of building joint structures with the International Metalworkers’ Federation (IMF) and the International Textile, Garment, and Leather Workers’ Federation (ITGLWF). The idea of creating a new Global Union Federation was supported by Mikhail Tarasenko, President of the Russian Mining Trade Union, a union invited as a guest to the meeting.
The ICEM’s Regional Contact Person for the Eastern Europe/Central Asia Region and the Central Europe Region, Anatoly Surin, gave a report on the activities in the region since the last regional Council in September 2009, in Kiev, Ukraine. The participants of the meeting adopted a resolution of support to the miners of the enterprise “STRATEX” of Moldova in a struggle for fair wages.
The ICEM’s Regional Conference in 2011 will take place in Uzbekistan.