English

Español

Français

Aerospace

Automotive

Base metals

Chemical, pharmaceutical and bio-science

Energy

Glass, cement, ceramic and associated industries

ICT, electrical and electronics

Mechanical Engineering

Mining and DGOJP

Pulp and paper

Rubber

Shipbuilding and shipbreaking

Textile, garment, shoes, leather and textile services

Sectors

Action Plan 2025-2029

Action on textile and garment industry

Clean up shipbreaking

Ratify ILO C176

United for a just future - time to pay up!

Disinvest from Myanmar

Campaigns

Global Framework Agreements

Union building

White-collar workers

Health & safety

Industry 4.0

Women

Youth

LGBTQI+

Gender, equality, diversity and inclusion (GEDI)

Just Transition

Organizing with industriALL

What we do

Affiliates

Statutes

Elected Officials

Executive Committee

Geneva head office

South East Asia

Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Caucasus

Latin America and the Caribbean

Middle East and North Africa

South Asia

Regional offices

About us

Global worker No1 2022

Global worker No2 2022

Publications

Resources

Press

HONDURAS: The Honduran people, victim of a military coup against the President of Honduras, Manuel Zelaya, last Sunday, is resisting but is subject to tremendous intimidation, says Napoleón Vallecillo, president of the Federación de Trabajadores Mineros y Metalúrgicos de Honduras (Miners and Metalworkers Federation of Honduras), affiliated to the IMF.Napoleón told the IMF that &quot;all FETRAMIMH affiliates have joined the resistance to the coup.&quot; He said there has not been such fierce repression for 30 years and the coup was a backward step. &quot;Some people have disappeared, others have been killed and wounded and the authorities have a black list of 600 leaders they are looking for.&quot;&quot;There is a tremendous amount of intimidation in the country and the government has suspended constitutional guarantees, such as personal freedom, freedom of movement (between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m.) and the freedoms of association, expression and information. Moreover, individuals can be arrested without charge.&quot;He also explained that the people are engaged in a national strike of popular resistance, which the federation has joined. The Honduran people are permanently in the streets &quot;demanding the return of President Zelaya and the punishment of those who carried out the coup.&quot;FETRAMIMH thanks IMF affiliates and the IMF Regional Office for the solidarity they have given.The IMF Regional Office offered its solidarity to our mining and metalworking colleagues in Honduras, condemned the military coup and called on all affiliates to take action in solidarity with the Honduran people by writing letters or taking other initiatives to demand the immediate reinstatement of President Manuel Zelaya and the return of democratic institutions to Honduras.

The Honduran trade union, FETRAMIMH, affiliated to the IMF, has joined the resistance to the coup.

The Honduran people resist

<a href="/wp-content/migration/imf/RelatedFiles/Rules_EN.pdf">Download IMF Rules as a pdf file</a><a class="imagetext" href="/wp-content/migration/imf/RelatedFiles/Rules_EN.pdf" title=" "><img alt="IMF Rules in pdf" border="0" src="" style="width:25px;height:25px;margin-bottom:-7px" /></a> Table of contents <a href="../index.cfm?c=20019&amp;l=2">ARTICLE 1 - PURPOSE OF THE FEDERATION</a> <a href="../index.cfm?c=20020&amp;l=2">ARTICLE 2 - MISSION OF THE FEDERATION</a> <a href="../index.cfm?c=20021&amp;l=2">ARTICLE 3 - STRUCTURE OF THE FEDERATION</a> <a href="../index.cfm?c=20021&amp;l=2">1. Overall Structure</a> <a href="../index.cfm?c=20022&amp;l=2">2. The Congress</a> <a href="../index.cfm?c=20023&amp;l=2">3. The Central Committee</a> <a href="../index.cfm?c=20024&amp;l=2">4. The Executive Committee</a> <a href="../index.cfm?c=20025&amp;l=2">5. The Finance Committee</a> <a href="../index.cfm?c=20026&amp;l=2">6. The Auditing Committee</a> <a href="../index.cfm?c=20027&amp;l=2">ARTICLE 4 - EXECUTING BODIES OF THE FEDERATION</a> <a href="../index.cfm?c=20027&amp;l=2">1. Federation&#039;s Secretariat</a> <a href="../index.cfm?c=20027&amp;l=2">2. Industrial and Organisational Departments</a> <a href="../index.cfm?c=20027&amp;l=2">3. Regional Structures</a> <a href="../index.cfm?c=20028&amp;l=2">ARTICLE 5 - DUTIES OF THE PRESIDENT, VICE PRESIDENT, GENERAL SECRETARY AND ASSISTANT GENERAL SECRETARIES</a> <a href="../index.cfm?c=20028&amp;l=2">1. Duties of the President</a> <a href="../index.cfm?c=20028&amp;l=2">2. Duties of the Vice President</a> <a href="../index.cfm?c=20028&amp;l=2">3. Duties of the General Secretary and Assistant General Secretaries</a> <a href="../index.cfm?c=20029&amp;l=2">ARTICLE 6 - NATIONAL SECTIONS AND COMMITTEES</a> <a href="../index.cfm?c=20030&amp;l=2">ARTICLE 7 - ADMISSION, RESIGNATION AND EXPULSION</a> <a href="../index.cfm?c=20030&amp;l=2">1. Admission</a> <a href="../index.cfm?c=20030&amp;l=2">2. Suspension and Expulsion</a> <a href="../index.cfm?c=20030&amp;l=2">3. Resignation</a> <a href="../index.cfm?c=20031&amp;l=2">ARTICLE 8 - FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTIONS, ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTIONS, SPECIAL CONTRIBUTIONS</a> <a href="../index.cfm?c=20032&amp;l=2">ARTICLE 9 - SUBSCRIPTIONS IN ARREARS AND EXONERATIONS</a> <a href="../index.cfm?c=20033&amp;l=2">ARTICLE 10 - REVISION OF RULES </a> <a href="../index.cfm?c=20034&amp;l=2">ARTICLE 11 - IMF HEADQUARTERS</a> <a href="../index.cfm?c=20035&amp;l=2">ARTICLE 12 - DISSOLUTION OF THE FEDERATION</a>

amended at the  32nd IMF World Congress
Gothenburg, Sweden, May 24-28, 2009

IMF RULES

<ol><li>Funding for the Federation consists of: <ol type="A"><li>Statutory annual subscriptions from affiliated unions as determined by the Congress, and</li><li>B. Voluntary contributions.</li></ol></li><li>The annual subscription of CHF 1.10 per member is payable according to Gross National Product (GNP) on the basis of the six groups below. For the purpose of these rules, GNP is as determined by the United Nations.</li><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="402"><tbody><tr><td width="100" valign="bottom">Subscription Groups</td><td width="151" valign="bottom">GNP per Capita</td><td width="151" valign="bottom">Subscription Ratio / Amount of subscription per member per year</td></tr><tr><td width="100" valign="bottom">Group 1</td><td width="151" valign="bottom">Over USD 10,000 </td><td width="151" valign="bottom">100% / CHF 1.100</td></tr><tr><td width="100" valign="bottom">Group 2</td><td width="151" valign="bottom">USD 5,001-10,000 </td><td width="151" valign="bottom">60% / CHF 0.660</td></tr><tr><td width="100" valign="bottom">Group 3</td><td width="151" valign="bottom">USD 2,501-5,000 </td><td width="151" valign="bottom">30% / CHF 0.330</td></tr><tr><td width="100" valign="bottom">Group 4</td><td width="151" valign="bottom">USD 1,001-2,500 </td><td width="151" valign="bottom">15% / CHF 0.165</td></tr><tr><td width="100" valign="bottom">Group 5</td><td width="151" valign="bottom">USD 501-1,000 </td><td width="151" valign="bottom">5% / CHF 0.055</td></tr><tr><td width="100" valign="bottom">Group 6</td><td width="151" valign="bottom">Less than USD 500 </td><td width="151" valign="bottom">2% / CHF 0.022</td></tr></tbody></table><li>The minimum annual subscription by any affiliate shall be no less than CHF 250.</li><li>Subscriptions to be paid for the first year by newly affiliated organisations shall be calculated in proportion to the organisation's date of affiliation.</li><li>Subscriptions are to be paid in the first half of each year, on the basis of the number of members at the end of the previous year.</li><li>To the extent that these subscriptions should not be sufficient, the Central Committee is entitled to raise them accordingly.</li><li>The Executive Committee will determine guidelines to apply for the transition to the subscription system in this Article.</li></ol>

ARTICLE 1 - PURPOSE OF THE FEDERATION

ARTICLE 2 - MISSION OF THE FEDERATION

ARTICLE 3 - STRUCTURE OF THE FEDERATION

ARTICLE 4 -- EXECUTING BODIES OF THE FEDERATION

ARTICLE 5 - DUTIES OF THE PRESIDENT

ARTICLE 6 - NATIONAL SECTIONS AND COMMITTEES

ARTICLE 7 - ADMISSION

ARTICLE 8 - FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTIONS

ARTICLE 9 - SUBSCRIPTIONS IN ARREARS AND EXONERATIONS

ARTICLE 10 - REVISION OF RULES

ARTICLE 11 - IMF HEADQUARTERS

ARTICLE 8 - FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTIONS,ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTIONS, SPECIAL CONTRIBUTIONS

<ol type="A"><li>Affiliated organisations shall have responsibility for carrying out decisions following from the IMF mission and the maintenance of contacts between the Federation and affiliated organisations.</li><li>National sections or committees may be established - at the expense of the organisations concerned - in countries where the IMF has more than one affiliate in order to maintain relations between them and with the IMF Secretariat.</li><li>The expenses of the national committees shall be borne by the affiliated organisations in the country concerned.</li></ol>

<ol><li>Duties of the President <ol type="A"><li>The President shall preside over all meetings of the Congress, Central Committee, Executive Committee and Finance Committee.</li><li>The President shall ensure that all business of each such meeting is conducted in accordance with the Rules of the Federation.</li><li>The President shall, jointly with the General Secretary, be responsible to the Federation for the supervision and general direction of the work of the Assistant General Secretaries and Department Heads. The President shall perform any such other duties in accordance with decisions of the Congress, Central Committee and Executive Committee.</li><li>In the event of the President leaving office prior to completion of his or her term, the Vice President shall serve in a temporary capacity as Acting President until a Central Committee or Congress elects the new President.</li><li>If required, an extraordinary Central Committee will be convened as soon as practicable to elect the new President. </li></ol></li><li>Duties of the Vice President In the event of the President leaving office prior to completion of his or her term, the Vice President shall serve in a temporary capacity as Acting President until a Central Committee or Congress elects the new President. </li><li>Duties of the General Secretary and Assistant General Secretaries <ol type="A"><li>Subject to the direction of the Congress, Central Committee, Executive Committee or Finance Committee, the General Secretary shall: <ol type="i"><li>Act as the principal spokesperson of the IMF.</li><li>Implement the policy and decisions of the Congress, Central Committee and the Executive Committee.</li><li>Safeguard at all times and in every respect the interests of the Federation and ensure its legal representation.</li><li>Act as the general administrator of the Federation, including managing and directing operations and handling all staff and other personnel issues, including appointment of Regional and Project Office Representatives.</li><li>If necessary, prior to Congress, call meetings of the committees that have been established by the Central Committee for the preparation work of Congress.</li><li>Direct the financial administration of the Federation, including the collection of annual dues from affiliates, and direct and implement all financial and other business operations and transactions involving the Federation.</li><li>Keep all proper financial accounts and records current, including information with respect to all income and disbursements in accordance with Federation policies and Rules.</li><li>Appoint, in consultation with the President, Department Heads.</li><li>Engage staff who shall be under the control and supervision of the General Secretary and shall perform such duties as may be assigned to them.</li><li>Perform such additional functions as are set out in these Rules or as may be determined from time to time by Congress, the Central Committee, or the Executive Committee, or as agreed upon with the President.</li></ol></li><li>The Assistant General Secretaries shall, unless otherwise engaged in Federation business, or unavailable, attend all meetings of Congress, Central Committee and Executive Committee.  They shall perform such duties as may be assigned to them by the General Secretary in cooperation with the President.</li></ol></li></ol>

ARTICLE 5 - DUTIES OF THE PRESIDENT, VICE PRESIDENT, GENERAL SECRETARY ANDASSISTANT GENERAL SECRETARIES

<ol type="A"><li><div>The Congress shall elect an Auditing Committee consisting of four persons, who need not be delegates to the Central Committee.</div></li><li><div>The Auditing Committee shall oversee both external and internal audits as well as related procedures, policies, and methods utilised for such audits, and issue a report to the Central and Executive Committees. The Committee shall also undertake other responsibilities as directed by the Executive Committee.</div></li><li><div>Responsibility for accepting the financial accounts of the General Secretary and the Executive Committee rests with the Central Committee.</div></li></ol>

6.     The Auditing Committee

At its Central Committee in 2003, the IMF adopted a policy stating that equitable and sustainable growth and development must be based on the following four pillars: <ul><li>Job creation and purchasing power;</li><li>Re-regulation of the global financial market, including among other instruments a Tobin Tax;</li><li>Debt cancellation; and</li></ul><ul><li>Reform of the WTO and international financial institutions.</li></ul>Today more than ever, these are the indispensable components of a development agenda based on social justice, an adequate strategy of fighting against poverty, fair international rules to regulate trade and investments, and an effective multilateral system. This is what the IMF will continue to pursue together with its affiliates, other international trade union organisations, and like-minded social and political organisations.It has to be recognised that very little has been achieved by the international trade union movement since our last Congress in terms of democratic world governance, respect of human and workers' rights, and the fight against poverty and workers' exploitation. This applies in particular to trade negotiations: governments give no consideration to workers and pay no more than lip service to employment and development concerns.Even if the joint efforts of trade unions internationally have achieved some progress, like the integration of social standards into the principles of the World Bank's International Finance Corporation, it is difficult to see any positive concrete implementation. In practice, the International Monetary Fund continues to advocate deregulatory policies that undermine labour rights. The IMF strongly reiterates the trade unions' demand to incorporate fundamental labour rights in bilateral and multilateral trade agreements. This however is not enough without effective enforcement mechanisms that take into account the particular situation of countries with poor legal protection for the right of workers to organise and bargain collectively.The opening of markets should be an instrument for sustainable development. For this to be possible, industrial policies that promote employment are indispensable. In fact, the fundamental link between market opening and sustainable growth is still missing. That link is jobs, good jobs for all, and a fair distribution of the wealth for the workers who create it.In its actions on trade, the IMF working with its affiliates will focus on employment and economic development and search for fairness by taking into account possible conflict of interests between workers caused by market opening. Creating quality employment for all to generate wealth and redistributing income to reduce inequalities is an objective that is equally important for industrialised and developing countries. The IMF will coordinate its affiliates' efforts to make this the priority in the trade policies of all governments. The sustainable growth we stand for cannot happen at the expenses of others, and we will fight for balanced solutions that do not damage weaker parties. It is the role of the IMF, particularly through its Working Party on Trade, Employment and Development, to build a solidarity strategy to help harmonize the legitimate interests of workers in the North and the South. The IMF will continue promoting a transparent debate among its affiliates to address the concerns arising from trade liberalisation that may impact negatively on jobs and rights in some countries while protecting employment in others.Governments have to include development and labour rights issues in trade negotiations. These must include explicit consideration of the expected employment repercussions of trade liberalisation. Together with its affiliates the IMF will continue to demand that governments give serious estimates of potential new jobs generated by market opening and foreign direct investment agreements. This is indispensable to avoid ungrounded or misleading evaluations of the impact of increased trade The IMF, in close collaboration with other GUFs, the ITUC and TUAC, will work to influence international institutions to adopt a democratic system of multilaterally agreed rules that fairly take into account the different needs and conditions of countries, and of different groups within countries. The lack of a real development agenda has made any progress in the Doha Round negotiations impossible, while bilateral Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) increasingly promote the interests of corporations and their allies at the expense of workers and citizens. Since the last IMF Congress there has been successful resistance often led by trade unions to some of the proposed agreements. These struggles, are important examples of unity and solidarity between workers in different regions on which the IMF can build future actions.Sustainable development should be a key objective in the strategies of developing countries for attracting foreign investments. It should also be an indicator of success, along with the creation of quality employment and of a fair system of public social protection. The IMF will coordinate joint action and promote solidarity between its affiliates in developing and industrialised countries against the establishment of special economic zones where the incentives granted to TNCs cause the suppression of fundamental human and worker rights and make workers' living and employment conditions extremely precarious.The IMF will work in close collaboration with other GUFs, TUAC and ITUC, and other like-minded social movements to ensure that:<ul><li>Global financial markets are regulated, including as an initial step better disclosure of transactions, strengthened monitoring schemes and regulation of leveraging; </li><li>Sustainable development be brought into trade and investment deals, access to markets be fair and balanced, and transparent monitoring mechanisms of already signed agreements be put in place;</li><li>Impact and sustainability assessments along the social and economic development dimension of possible trade agreements be carried out prior to the conclusion of negotiations;</li><li>Employment repercussions of trade liberalisation be considered by governments in the negotiations of multilateral and bilateral trade agreements and assessed with full involvement of trade unions; and</li><li>Universal respect of fundamental workers' and trade union rights as set out in the ILO 1998 Declaration be included in all bilateral and multilateral agreements on trade and investments along with effective enforcement mechanisms.</li></ul>The IMF and its affiliates will work together to:<ul><li>Unite metalworkers at the regional and international level in the search for fair solutions to conflicts of interests in trade liberalisation that would damage weaker parties;</li><li>Build solidarity among affiliates against the possible negative effects of market opening on employment in developing as well as industrialised countries;</li><li>Challenge government resistance to transparently assess, together with social partners, the potential employment impact of trade deals; and</li><li>Promote information and awareness raising campaigns among workers and citizens on the economic advantages that companies, as well as the countries where they operate, can get from the respect of fundamental workers' rights everywhere.</li></ul>The IMF will assist its affiliates in:<ul><li>Monitoring the impact of FTAs on employment and working conditions in metal working industries; </li><li>Mobilising their memberships, in cooperation with their respective national centres, and like-minded political parties and social movements, against proposed FTAs that would undermine development, workers rights, good jobs and public services for working families; and</li><li>Fighting against precarious employment conditions caused by foreign investments.</li></ul>

Preface

3. GLOBAL SOLIDARITY IN ACTION

3.3 Defend and protect workers rights

1. OUR MISSION

2. THE WORLD TODAY

2.1 Profits over people

2.2 Unemployment and job insecurity

2.3 Unions under attack

2.4 Fundamental workers´ rights denied

2.5 Spreading influence of Transnational Corporations

2.6 World trade system in disarray

2.7 An unsustainable future

2.8 Alliances, resistance and opportunities

3.1 Build strong national trade unions

3.1.1 Organise the unorganised

3.1.2 Strive for trade union unity at the national level

3.1.3 Build unions through education, training and effective exchange of information

3.2 Strengthening collective bargaining

3.3.1 Fight for trade union rights

3.3.2 Fight for Equal Rights

3.3.3 Fight for safe workplaces

3.4 Build a counterweight to the power of transnational corporations

3.4.1 Strengthening union solidarity and cooperation across sectors and TNCs

3.4.2 Advance fundamental rights through International Framework Agreements

3.5 Fight for sustainable trade, development and employment

The IMF will seek to challenge TNCs and their supply chains by using IFAs, ILO instruments, OECD Guidelines on Multinational Enterprises, increased union cooperation and, in addition to international solidarity, cooperation with NGOs that share our aims to protect and promote worker and trade union rights.  Trade union organization of worksites is an essential precondition to monitor and implement workers' rights. IFAs, however, do not replace the need for binding intergovernmental regulations to enforce core labour standards, or the need for national laws to enforce labour standards and to regulate the activities of the TNCs more effectively. As instruments negotiated at the international level by GUFs in cooperation with their affiliates on one side and a TNC on the other, IFAs are important tools that the IMF and its affiliates can use to establish minimum labour standards across the operations of TNCs and their supply chains. The IMF has adopted a model International Framework Agreement along with policy recommendations covering four key areas: improving the content, initiating, negotiating, and implementation and enforcement.Drawing on the experiences of the IFAs already negotiated with TNCs, the IMF will:<ul><li>Strengthen implementation, monitoring and enforcement through IMF structures and regional offices, and by training and involvement of affiliates with the aim of achieving best practices across TNCs that have signed framework agreements;</li><li>After consultation with unions covered by the agreements, identify opportunities to strengthen existing agreements, and the options and means that are optimal for pursing improvements of their content;</li><li>Coordinate the involvement of affiliates in negotiating additional IFAs;</li><li>Explore possible strategies to encourage resisting TNCs to negotiate, implement, and comply with IFAs; and</li><li>Implement a training programme on IFAs, including a guide, to help affiliates use these instruments in accordance with IMF policy.</li></ul>Cooperation of affiliates, particularly those in the home country of a TNC, is instrumental to such efforts.

Every year more than two million people die from occupational accidents or work-related diseases. The safety of work varies enormously between countries, economic sectors and social groups. Deaths and injuries take a particularly heavy toll in developing nations.  Downsizing, outsourcing, sub-contracting and temporary labour create bad working conditions. Although the physical workplace environment has improved considerably during the course of the last decades, millions of men and women around the world are still working in hazardous conditions.  Therefore, based on the primacy of prevention, defending and promoting health and safety at work is a fundamental trade union task that all IMF affiliates should prioritise. Alongside the difficulties to ban well-known hazards, such as asbestos, the introduction of new chemicals and new technologies, without sufficient research, constitutes new threats to the health and well-being of workers.  The precautionary principle should also apply to nanomaterials, the hazardous nature of which has become more apparent in the light of many recent studies. Such precaution is all the more urgent because of the fact that these materials are used in many products, including clothes, cosmetics, composites, automobiles, spectacles, paint etc.Occupational cancer is by far the most common work-related cause of death. It is a problem that does not ring alarm bells for corporate executives who only answer to shareholders at annual general meetings. Causes are covered up, bodies are buried, companies evade legal liabilities, and the killing continues as a result of preventable and predictable work-place exposures. The IMF and affiliates must increase efforts to stop this from happening. It is essential to have effective health and safety committees in every workplace with knowledge of the workplace-specific hazards. Preventive actions must be based on research, evidence and strong health and safety laws that are properly promoted and enforced.  Health and safety is a very important issue for trade unions.  In general, organized workplaces are safer workplaces with better working conditions.The international trade union movement must work in order to ensure that ILO conventions and codes of practice are incorporated into national legislation and collective bargaining agreements, and are respected in practice. The IMF will encourage affiliates to develop organising strategies around safer and better workplaces. Such strategies can be linked to the campaign for decent work. The campaign for decent work should be extended to include the pursuit of fixed wages and permanent employment contracts, healthy and family-friendly working hours, protection against excessive demands on performance, the preservation of the workers' employability, preventive and participatory health and safety, and training and development.The IMF will:<ul><li>Co-operate with ITUC, TUAC and GUFs to ensure that the ILO assists governments, employers and trade unions to improve knowledge and information about existing legislation on health and safety at work;</li><li>Address occupational health and safety at regional, sectoral and company meetings;</li><li>Continue to build the campaign for Zero Occupational Cancer;</li><li>Keep campaigning for an international ban on the production, import, export and use of asbestos; and</li><li>Continue to put pressure on national governments to implement transition programmes for workers displaced by the banning of asbestos, and to ensure that the treatment and compensation costs of workers suffering from asbestos-related diseases are borne by employers.</li></ul>The IMF will assist the affiliates to:<ul><li>Inform and educate instructors on basic workplace health and safety, who will then teach and train stewards at plant level;</li><li>Ensure that effective health and safety committees are set up in all workplaces; </li><li>Use health and safety as a tool for organising workers and building strong unions; and</li><li>Develop strategies around HIV/Aids and other new epidemics.</li></ul>

The universal and fundamental right of workers to form and join independent trade unions and to bargain collectively with their employers is the basis of trade union organisation. The IMF has always given the highest priority to fighting against the repression of trade unions and the violations of workers' and human rights. Binding intergovernmental rules in order to implement the core labour standards remain a fundamental demand of the IMF.  The core labour standards of the ILO must be integrated both into the agreements of the WTO and in bi- and multilateral trade and investment agreements.  In order to monitor the ILO standards in the WTO agreements, the existing ILO monitoring mechanisms need to be strengthened and extended, as demanded in 2008 in the ILO Declaration on Social Justice in a Globalized World.  These demands will require stronger efforts from the IMF and its affiliates, together with other GUFs, the ITUC and TUAC. We have to become more visible, particularly in voicing our support of trade unionists who face grave risks including intimidation, assault, abduction, imprisonment, and even murder.It is the main responsibility of the community of states and national governments to finally put into practice binding and sanctionable intergovernmental rules in order to enforce and implement a social dimension of globalization.  Commitment of companies, such as IFAs, may represent an additional protection for workers.In the age of globalisation, not only has the opportunity for international solidarity action increased, but its role in the fight for the advancement of  trade union rights has become much more critical. Solidarity action is only as powerful as the collective force behind it. To be effective, it requires a two-pronged strategy, on one hand to put pressure on governments that systematically violate trade union and human rights, and on the other to take action against the anti-union behaviour of companies. For this purpose, it is particularly important to put pressure on employers along the companies' supply chain.Furthermore, employers must not be allowed to profit from labour laws that render them immune from prosecution for violations of fundamental rights, as is the case in the Republic of Korea, where the criminal code also allows companies to sue unions and seek incarceration of union leaders under the charge of &quot;obstruction of business&quot;. Such situations require carefully designed actions based on a systematic and close collaboration between the IMF, its affiliates, the other GUFs, TUAC and ITUC. Most important, however, is international workers' solidarity with a strongly committed organisation at the local level, failing which, no international solidarity action can be effective.The IMF and its affiliates must go beyond mere coordination. Campaigns to effectively respond to violations of workers' rights by TNCs or certain countries and regions must be promoted and led by the IMF. To make this possible, affiliates must be fully committed to mobilising their members and be capable of implementing common strategies in the context of their respective countries, which includes ensuring a communication flow to their members to support their mobilisation efforts. We can only respond to rights violations as soon as they arise if we have an effective system and membership support and understanding. IMF will collaborate with its affiliates and with other GUFs, TUAC, ITUC and Non-governmental Organisations (NGOs) to:<ul><li>Enforce the protection of worker and trade union rights through IFAs, OECD guidelines, ILO instruments, and trade agreements that include the ILO core labour standards and social minimum standards as well as sanctions in case of non-compliance to complement mobilisation efforts on the ground; </li><li>Develop strategies and promote joint actions to achieve binding intergovernmental regulations on the enforcement of minimum social standards. This will include mobilizing and additional efforts at international and national levels to promote the universal respect in law and practice of the ILO's fundamental Conventions;</li><li>Expose governments and companies that exploit workers and violate trade union rights, and develop issue-specific solidarity actions to reduce precarious work, subcontracting, two-tier wage systems, and legislative initiatives that seek to undermine workers' rights;</li><li>Disseminate information about trade union rights abuses immediately and effectively through a rapid response system;</li><li>Establish solidarity networks locally, regionally and internationally;</li><li>Establish a solidarity page on the IMF website to serve as a resource for solidarity action and information, including ILO complaint guidelines and campaign status updates, news and other materials; and</li><li>Provide affiliates and partners with information on actions, outcomes, evaluations of achievements, and strategies for future work regarding the advancement of trade union rights.</li></ul> IMF will assist its affiliates to ensure that:<ul><li>Rapid response is organised to any TNC attack on workers' rights through information and mobilisation of the employees of the same company in all its countries of operations, and united action is taken while also pursuing cooperation among the IMF affiliates in these countries.</li></ul> IMF affiliates will:<ul><li>Mobilise their members in support of unions fighting company-sponsored unions, anti-union legislation, union-busting tactics and industrial relations disputes;</li><li>Ensure that immediate information on rights violations is fed into the IMF's rapid response system, and that there are timely updates on developments and local actions;</li><li>Commit themselves to actively participate in campaigns developed by the IMF and take joint actions with other national unions and other like-minded social actors;</li><li>Include rights issues in training and educational materials to ensure that solidarity actions and rights awareness reach the shop-floor; </li><li>Publicize rights abuses, solidarity efforts and action taken internationally; and</li><li>Ensure that no benefit guaranteed to the employees of a TNC in one country is based on an attack on the rights of its employees in another country.</li></ul>

Archive

About IndustriALL

Follow us

Contact us