Managing change in the MEE industries

GENEVA: The International Labour Organisation is holding a Tripartite Meeting on Lifelong Learning in the Mechanical and Electrical Engineering (MEE) Industries next week (September 23-27). The International Metalworkers' Federation and affiliated unions organising workers in these industries, which cover a wide spectrum of activities ranging from the manufacture of heavy machinery to highly sophisticated electronic equipment, will represent the vast majority of worker delegates at the week-long meeting. Discussions will center around the need for lifelong learning and training in the MEE industries, which saw a huge increase in trade in their products in the 1990s, but suffered to varying degrees from skills shortages. Additionally, the 2001 recession in the information and communications technology sector of the industry was witness to an unprecedented number of job cuts. Specific topics proposed by the IMF for panel discussions will be:

• the economic performance of the MEE industries: 2001 recession and outlook;
• the social impact of restructuring the MEE industries;
• lifelong learning in the MEE industries: concepts and examples;
• the right curricula for the various aspects of lifelong learning;
• the roles of the social partners and governments in lifelong learning and beyond in the MEE industries - implications for the ILO.

Countries represented by IMF affiliates at the meeting are: Algeria, Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Japan, Korea, Poland, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden and the USA. Other countries present at the meeting are China, Costa Rica and Indonesia. A report to be used as a basis for discussion has been prepared by the ILO and can be accessed on the associated link.