7 December, 2011The IMF Executive Committee met in Jakarta on December 6, one day prior to the Central Committee, to discuss IMF's position on the political goals and statutes of the new global union organization to be established in June 2012.
INDONESIA: IMF Executive Committee members gathered in Jakarta on December 6 prior to the meeting of the Central Committee to discuss and resolve further issues concerning the founding of a new global union organization.
One of the hot topics at the meeting concerned the Statutes for the new organization that will bring together affiliates of the IMF, the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM) and the International Textiles Garment and Leather Workers' Federation (ITGLWF). In particular members argued about and gave suggestions for the structure of the decision-making bodies, the composition of the leadership, voting rights and affiliation fees of the new organization. It was proposed that the Statutes Working Group incorporate the suggestions debated and present them for final consideration at the joint meeting of IMF, ICEM an ITGLWF executive bodies on February 28-29 in Geneva.
Presenting the Action Plan for the new organization Jyrki Raina, IMF General Secretary noted: "We want the new organization to be more dynamic, responsive and inclusive." According to the plan the new organization, uniting across supply chains in a wide range of sectors such as metalworking, mining and textiles, will have far-reaching goals. These will include building strong unions, organizing, fighting for union rights, and combating precarious work. The organization should also confront global capital, and promote sustainability, social justice, equal rights, safe workplaces, democracy, and inclusiveness at national and international levels. The Action Plan received strong support from the Executive Committee members.
Talking about the name of the future organization Jyrki Raina explained that 70 different proposals were submitted during the name competition launched in September. The list will be shortened and presented with graphic designs for consideration at the February meeting of the three executives.
At the meeting on December 6, the IMF welcomed four new unions as affiliates:
- National Trade Union Federation (NTUF) in Pakistan
- All Nepal Federation of Trade Unions (ANTUF), Nepal
- Norwegian Society of Graduate Technical and Scientific Professionals (TEKNA), Norway
- Danish Society of Engineers (IDA), Denmark
The IMF Executive Committee was also informed that following the resignation of staff members of the regional office in Africa in September, Herman Ntlatleng has been appointed as the new Regional Officer. The Committee also took a principal decision to move the regional office from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore in July 2012.