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14 May, 2000Erkki Vuorenmaa is taking over the helm from Per-Erik Lundh.
FINLAND: The 18th Congress of the Finnish Metalworkers' Union, which opened Sunday, May 14, in Tampere, the industrial heartland of Finland, has elected Erkki Vuorenmaa to replace retiring president Per-Erik Lundh. Vuorenmaa has worked for the union 24 years, the last eight of which he headed the Organising Department. Lundh currently still represents the Nordic countries in the IMF Executive Committee.
In his opening speech, Lundh emphasised the union's promotion of the long-term interests of its members through tri-partite cooperation, but he warned the Finnish government not to tear up a compromise agreement on a proposal for a new labour law. In the fight against unemployment, vocational training remained essential, and solidarity must continue to be the underlying principle in all union activities. Only a globalised trade union movement could balance globalised capital, he declared, and core labour standards had to be incorporated into international trade agreements, which the Finnish Metalworkers were actively promoting in the IMF and EMF.
The Finnish prime minister, Paavo Lipponen, commended the union for its contribution to the renewal of Finland's metal industry. The union, he said, has been shouldering responsibility far beyond the metalworkers, to workers in general and the society as a whole, earning respect within the country and internationally.
The IMF's general secretary, Marcello Malentacchi, stated that free markets cannot solve the problems of our times. "We must globalise the social dimension," he insisted. To achieve this, trade unions have a role to play alongside governments and employers. Malentacchi called for a reform in the Bretton Woods institutions and the WTO, so that social dialogue should be extended to all levels. "The IMF Congress in 2001 will discuss globalisation and what kind of union structures we need... We must link our trade union work inside companies to our international work," he continued. Malentacchi expressed his gratitude to Finnish Metal for its exemplary support for IMF organising and education projects, as well as to Per-Erik Lundh who had admirably represented Nordic countries in the IMF, and looked forward to continuing cooperation with the union's new leadership.
In his opening speech, Lundh emphasised the union's promotion of the long-term interests of its members through tri-partite cooperation, but he warned the Finnish government not to tear up a compromise agreement on a proposal for a new labour law. In the fight against unemployment, vocational training remained essential, and solidarity must continue to be the underlying principle in all union activities. Only a globalised trade union movement could balance globalised capital, he declared, and core labour standards had to be incorporated into international trade agreements, which the Finnish Metalworkers were actively promoting in the IMF and EMF.
The Finnish prime minister, Paavo Lipponen, commended the union for its contribution to the renewal of Finland's metal industry. The union, he said, has been shouldering responsibility far beyond the metalworkers, to workers in general and the society as a whole, earning respect within the country and internationally.
The IMF's general secretary, Marcello Malentacchi, stated that free markets cannot solve the problems of our times. "We must globalise the social dimension," he insisted. To achieve this, trade unions have a role to play alongside governments and employers. Malentacchi called for a reform in the Bretton Woods institutions and the WTO, so that social dialogue should be extended to all levels. "The IMF Congress in 2001 will discuss globalisation and what kind of union structures we need... We must link our trade union work inside companies to our international work," he continued. Malentacchi expressed his gratitude to Finnish Metal for its exemplary support for IMF organising and education projects, as well as to Per-Erik Lundh who had admirably represented Nordic countries in the IMF, and looked forward to continuing cooperation with the union's new leadership.