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15 March, 2001A report from the IMF Executive Committee meeting in Geneva in December 2000.
BY STIG JUTTERSTRÖM
Rudy Porter, field representative of the International Trade Union Center, an institute of the AFL-CIO, was a guest speaker at the IMF Executive Committee meeting in Geneva in December 2000. The Center is housed in Montenegro but covers Serbia and Montenegro and is a joint project of the ICFTU and AFL-CIO.
Paying tribute to IMF work in the region, Porter told the meeting that the visits of IMF representatives had been very important. This was borne out by a success story in the three months between October and December. The trade union partner in Serbia, Nezavisnost (meaning "Independence"), had grown since October 6 from around 200,000 members to 500,000, showing that if there was democratic freedom of choice, workers would choose a free and independent trade union.
The Nezavisnost metalworkers' union during the same time had grown from 20,000 to 35,000 members. Should this growth continue, declared Porter, it would become the largest trade union in Serbia.
The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia had regained a seat in the United Nations and the trade unions would again participate in the ILO, the first time for many years. At confederation level, there are three organisations: Nezavisnost, which suffered incredible repression and coercion over nine years; the old, official Confederation of Trade Unions of Serbia (pro-Milosevic); and the Association of Free and Independent Trade Unions (AFITU), the majority of whose membership is concentrated in the metal industry.
Porter explained that the trade unions are facing a number of legal obstacles, one being the government's intentional delay in the registration of new unions which, until they are registered, have no collective bargaining rights.
The most common request for help is for education programmes. Membership in the old unions was secured by the belief that being in the official union prevented plant closures and the regime would distribute food through the unions. Members now joining real unions have no idea what unions are about. New unions want a programme of basic training courses for stewards throughout the country. Collective bargaining and the improvement of working conditions would be the main tasks. The Yugoslav Republic is made up of Serbia and Montenegro. In Montenegro there is also an ICFTU affiliate, a confederation which had gone through significant reforms. The metalworkers' branch is the largest in the confederation. Around 50 per cent of the production of Montenegro is directly connected to the production of aluminium. Under the Milosevic regime, the Yugoslav army was used to cut off trade and these barriers still exist. A loss of jobs and income has been the result.
Under the former regime, both government and employers controlled the unions. All three confederations are now being forced into a position of independence where the unions have to defend members at work.
Rudy Porter, field representative of the International Trade Union Center, an institute of the AFL-CIO, was a guest speaker at the IMF Executive Committee meeting in Geneva in December 2000. The Center is housed in Montenegro but covers Serbia and Montenegro and is a joint project of the ICFTU and AFL-CIO.
Paying tribute to IMF work in the region, Porter told the meeting that the visits of IMF representatives had been very important. This was borne out by a success story in the three months between October and December. The trade union partner in Serbia, Nezavisnost (meaning "Independence"), had grown since October 6 from around 200,000 members to 500,000, showing that if there was democratic freedom of choice, workers would choose a free and independent trade union.
The Nezavisnost metalworkers' union during the same time had grown from 20,000 to 35,000 members. Should this growth continue, declared Porter, it would become the largest trade union in Serbia.
The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia had regained a seat in the United Nations and the trade unions would again participate in the ILO, the first time for many years. At confederation level, there are three organisations: Nezavisnost, which suffered incredible repression and coercion over nine years; the old, official Confederation of Trade Unions of Serbia (pro-Milosevic); and the Association of Free and Independent Trade Unions (AFITU), the majority of whose membership is concentrated in the metal industry.
Porter explained that the trade unions are facing a number of legal obstacles, one being the government's intentional delay in the registration of new unions which, until they are registered, have no collective bargaining rights.
The most common request for help is for education programmes. Membership in the old unions was secured by the belief that being in the official union prevented plant closures and the regime would distribute food through the unions. Members now joining real unions have no idea what unions are about. New unions want a programme of basic training courses for stewards throughout the country. Collective bargaining and the improvement of working conditions would be the main tasks. The Yugoslav Republic is made up of Serbia and Montenegro. In Montenegro there is also an ICFTU affiliate, a confederation which had gone through significant reforms. The metalworkers' branch is the largest in the confederation. Around 50 per cent of the production of Montenegro is directly connected to the production of aluminium. Under the Milosevic regime, the Yugoslav army was used to cut off trade and these barriers still exist. A loss of jobs and income has been the result.
Under the former regime, both government and employers controlled the unions. All three confederations are now being forced into a position of independence where the unions have to defend members at work.