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RUSSIA: On April 7 workers at the Nissan plant near Saint-Petersburg formed a union affiliated to the Interregional Trade Union of Autoworkers (ITUA), an IMF affiliate. Vladimir Ivanov, a forklift operator, was elected as the president of the new union.Opened in June 2009, the Nissan plant in Kamenka produces Teana and X-Trail cars. As of April 1, the  total number of workers at the plant was 1,116.&quot;We hope that the new ITUA union will promote cooperation and dialogue between the workers and the administration and will allow Nissan workers to achieve real improvements in the field of employment,&quot; said the chair of ITUA Council Alexei Etmanov.On April 14 union members met with the administration of the plant, where both sides committed to constructive dialogue.The union and the administration agreed upon the list of the representatives of the management to negotiate with the union. In the future the meetings between the management and the workers' representatives may become regular.&quot;We are very glad that we achieved common understanding with the management. We hope for continued cooperation and constructive dialogue,&quot; said the president of the union Vladimir Ivanov.

Workers at the Nissan plant in Kamenka near Saint-Petersburg formed a union affiliated to ITUA. Nissan management committed to good faith negotiations with the new union.

Nissan workers in Russia form a union

GLOBAL: On today of all days trade unionists around the world demand fresh steps to reform the global economy in favour of social justice, investment in jobs and fairness in society. This is no time for business as usual.Workers are being asked to pay an intolerably heavy price for recovery programmes that favour bankers and the old guard of the global economy. Millions of workers are losing their jobs or have been thrown into precarious work. Social safety nets are being torn apart. Public spending that provides for cohesive communities is being savagely cut.With all of this in mind, Global Unions call on policymakers and democrats everywhere to support a new paradigm of recovery and social justice that will: <ul><li>Reassert in government at all levels the primacy of public interest over private gain and ensure that the protection of citizens' rights is made a cornerstone of social and economic development; </li><li>Defend the rights of workers and unions and mobilise the creation of sustainable, secure and good quality jobs across all sectors of the economy; </li><li>Ensure that social justice is a central mission of government and take concrete measures to reduce income disparities and increase equality, in particular gender equality. </li><li>Eliminate market abuse through short-term speculation and manipulation of financial markets by imposing binding and effective regulation;</li><li>Promote sustainable development with job-centered policies, effective social protections and reversal of global warming and environmental degradation;</li><li>Renew commitment to public service values in society and enhance the contribution of quality public services to fairer and more efficient societies and to finance these services through progressive systems of taxation that provide sufficient resources while improving social equity;</li><li>Commit to education for all and provide resources needed to achieve the enrichment of society that comes from high quality education and training;</li><li>Improve the quality of people's lives by providing universal access to health care and other vital social welfare services and breathing new life into efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. </li></ul>May Day 2010 is a moment to change course, to meet the aspirations of workers and communities for a new beginning, to put to flight self-serving politics and corporate greed, and, above all, to build anew solidarity in society in support of people-centered values that will enrich the lives of all.Visit Global Unions' website at <a href="http://www.global-unions.org/">http://www.global-unions.org/</a>.

Global Unions, the voice of the global labour movement, today issued a joint statement to mark May 1st 2010.

Jobs, Justice and Public Service -- Getting the Economy to Work

RUSSIA: On April 19 workers of Alexandrinskaya Ore Mining Company in Chelyabinsk affiliated to a large trust Russian Ore Mining Company expressed their protest against the anti-union behavior of their employer. For several months the primary organization of the Miners' &amp; Metallurgical Workers' Union of Russia (MMWU), an IMF affiliate, has been under strong pressure. The employer carries out layoffs at the enterprise and primarily dismisses trade union activists. Deputy chair of the union committee Natalya Kniazkova was dismissed twice. Both times she was reinstated upon court orders. However, a new order of dismissal has been issued on her name again. Threatening workers with dismissals the employer forces them to withdraw from the trade union. In addition, since last year the management has not fulfilled terms of the collective agreement particularly the clauses regarding wage increases.For a long time the workers did not express their outrage for fear of loosing their jobs. However their patience is over now. &quot;Stop pressure against trade union members!&quot; reads one of the main demands brought forward by miners who came from Chelyabinsk and expressed their indignation in front of the company's office. Miners from Alexandrinskaya Ore Mining Company received solidarity support from the two other enterprises affiliated to the same trust, Kyshtym Copper Electrolytic Plant and Karabash Copper Plant, whose representatives joined the action and other metalworking enterprises of Chelyabinsk. At Kyshtym Copper Electrolytic Plant the collective agreement is not respected either and its workers joined the miners demanding to restore governance of law at their enterprise. MMWU regional committee in Chelyabinsk renders organizational support to the protesters.

Workers of the Alexandrinskaya Ore Mining Company in Chelyabinsk held a picket line in front of the company's representation in Ural.

Workers picket Russian ore mining company

The ILO estimates that the present financial crisis is likely to lead to the loss of some 20 million jobs worldwide and conservatively estimates that the number of working poor living on less than a dollar a day could rise by some 40 million, with those at two dollars a day rising by more than 100 million. Even now, before the full effect of this crisis is known, over one-third of the world's workforce is jobless or underemployed. The so-called modernisation of labour laws that governments and business interests are seeking to introduce is also part and parcel of the neo-liberal agenda and a direct attack on workers. Not only is there a rise in unemployment worldwide, but also employment creation increasingly comes at the expense of quality jobs.  More and more workers are finding the search for full-time, permanent employment a fruitless quest.  Precarious work is becoming the norm, spreading in all sectors of the economy including in professional groups.  Others find their jobs are outsourced, misclassified, and lack protection from existing labour laws. In many developing countries, workers have been squeezed out of regular employment into the so-called informal economy due to severe economic crises, widespread privatisation programmes, and the job destruction resulting from economic restructuring. The unregulated economy is expanding and a growing number of people struggle to survive on poverty level wages. Unemployment and poor living conditions spur migration within countries and across national boundaries, creating a multitude of tensions in many parts of the world.  Precariously employed workers face job insecurity and an uncertain future, low wages, limited or no access to social benefits, such as health or pension schemes, and increased health and safety risks at work. Precarious workers are also frequently denied rights at work, such as the right to join a union or bargain collectively. The rise of precarious employment is creating a two-tier workforce, which is undermining social cohesion and weakening trade unions.  This is part of a larger union-busting strategy used by employers in their well orchestrated anti-union campaigns.

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

Financial capital has come to dominate productive capital. Short-term speculative investment has gained the upper hand at the expense of long-term investment in job creation, skills development, research and innovation, and sustainable development. The current food, fuel and financial crises, are neo-liberal policy failures, that have drastic consequences for working people and the poor, and that are now dragging the world economy into a severe recession. Over the past few years the globalisation of finance has taken on a new dimension with the proliferation of novel speculative products that escape monitoring and regulation. Speculative funds are fed by banks and institutional investors such as insurance companies, mutual funds and pension funds. Some part of private equity assets also come from sovereign wealth funds with huge resources at their disposal, and with a deliberate lack of transparency as to their political and economic objectives, as well as to their practices and investment strategies.Never before has the influence of private equity and hedge funds on markets and enterprises been so strong.  Many of them are located in tax havens, which deals another blow to already declining public income from corporate taxation. The financial economy based on short-termism and high rates of return is increasingly disconnected from the real economy with devastating consequences for workers.Today, hardly any company is immune from takeover by private equity funds. In most cases, these funds take control of enterprises without any industrial plans, and for the sole objective of boosting share prices and extracting maximum returns over a short period. The potentially high short-term gains attract institutional investors, including pension funds. Thus workers who have put their retirement savings in these pension funds find themselves unwittingly involved in speculative finance that is destroying jobs. Many workers have already watched their savings dissolved by corporate scandals.    The instability of the world's financial markets is not just a problem due to a few speculators - the whole system requires new rules.

Since the IMF Congress in 2005, metalworkers and the whole trade union movement have been confronted with an increasingly hostile political, economic and social environment. Corporations have led globalisation to maximise the global reach and profits of their operations with the support of governments and international institutions by promoting neo-liberal policies, which feature deregulation of capital and labour markets, privatization of public services and assets, a reduction in employment growth in many regions, an erosion of social security systems and the frequent denial of worker and human rights.  Even today, a large proportion of the world's metalworkers do not enjoy the fundamental right to have a union.While the world economy has grown and created vast amounts of wealth, the divide between rich and poor has widened.  Ever more workers have been faced with deteriorating working and living conditions, job insecurity and an erosion of their rights. Capital has gained huge profits, while the purchasing power of most workers has fallen or at best stagnated.

The global economy is in the throes of a unique crisis. The ideology that unbridled greed for profits is the driving force behind human progress has been discredited. What we need is a new approach where politics and economics serve the development of society and quality employment. The current crisis is not only the result of misjudgements and misguided developments in the market, or the result of overheating financial markets. It is entirely the result of the ideology of an unrestrained market and economic and political policies directed at maximising  short term profits.  On a positive note however, while undoubtedly the next four years of the International Metalworkers´Federation work will be tough and difficult, the current economic situation also provides us with a real opportunity to create a new international development model that rivals that of neoliberalism and is based on regulation, fairness, equality, sustainability and decent trade union and labour rights.Therefore, the fundamental mission of the trade union movement is more than ever to improve workers' wages, working and living conditions, and to ensure that workers and workers' rights are respected. The mission of the IMF is to work towards the achievement of these goals in metal­working and related industries by working with its  affiliates and on the global level.Today, corporate-led globalisation is still massively infringing on the rights of workers. The policies promoted by employers, most governments and the international institutions they dominate have resulted in increased economic inequality, precarious employment and a reduction in the bargaining power of working people around the world. Recognizing that union building/organising and collective bargaining are at the heart of our work, metalworker unions must organise and mobilise union members to challenge the neo-liberal agenda of corporations and most governments, and ensure working people have a fair share in the wealth generated through economic growth. The goal of the IMF is to support, coordinate and strengthen the activities of its affiliates to:<ul><li>Improve workers' wages, working and living conditions;</li><li>Organise new members into democratic workers' unions throughout the world;</li><li>Build and strengthen national metalworking unions;</li><li>Ensure that internationally recognized Core Labour Standards are applied in every country and that national laws are changed to reflect these standards; </li><li>Defend and protect workers' rights; </li><li>Fight for safe and healthy working conditions;</li><li>Make women's rights, interests, and representation one of the highest priorities;</li><li>Struggle for sustainable economic growth that protects the environment and improves social conditions; </li><li>Strengthen the power and unity of trade unions to build a counterweight to the power of transnational corporations (TNCs), including their power over the allocation of employment and investment; </li><li>Struggle for fair trade, social justice and the elimination of poverty; and</li><li>Support and build solidarity with countries and governments who promote progressive policies aimed at delivering fairness, equality and social sustainability.</li></ul>It is clear that trade unions cannot achieve these goals only at the national level.  National initiatives must be complemented with international action in order to be successful For this reason the role of the IMF is to:<ul><li>Unite national metalworking trade unions in a global union structure capable of mobilising its membership in solidarity at all levels wherever and whenever required;</li><li>Bring unions together to share information, overcome conflicts of interest and build common strategies;</li><li>Coordinate solidarity and support for affiliates during major disputes or when fundamental workers' rights are infringed;</li><li>Provide information on developments that affect the activities of metalworker unions; </li><li>Actively voice the concerns and interests of metalworkers in effective and innovative ways that involve and mobilise trade union members and bring the IMF into the daily activities of affiliate unions; </li><li>Direct resources and solidarity support towards building strong national unions in countries where unions are weak or non-existent;</li><li>Support trade union education that tackles core trade union activities such as organising, collective bargaining, defending workers' rights and international solidarity;</li><li>Coordinate an international strategy for building unionism in TNCs and their suppliers at the sectoral and enterprise levels.  Challenge the power of TNCs by developing the capacity to bargain collectively at the international level - based on a case by case mandate from the affiliates and by such means as sharing information and experiences among affiliates  and building on the work of negotiating, implementing and monitoring International Framework Agreements (IFAs);</li><li>Expose and challenge governments that violate fundamental trade union rights or interfere in the functioning of independent trade union bodies;</li><li>Represent the interests of metalworkers in international bodies which take decisions affecting jobs and employment conditions, such as the International Labour Organization (ILO), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), International Monetary Fund, World Bank and the World Trade Organization (WTO);</li><li>Work with other Global Union Federations (GUFs), the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and the Trade Union Advisory Committee (TUAC) to the OECD to pursue closer cooperation and action in the interests of affiliates; and</li><li>Build, whenever possible, dialogue, alliances and joint actions with appropriate political and social organisations. </li><li>Affiliates of the IMF will make significant contributions to the attainment of our goals by:</li><li>Strengthening their political influence, capacities, and resources through organising and collective bargaining at the national level;</li><li>Sharing information and actively communicating with the IMF and other affiliates at the national, regional, and international level;</li><li>Engaging in the regional and global structures of the IMF;</li><li>Supporting each other during disputes or when fundamental workers' rights are violated;</li><li>Participating in international actions and international networks organised through the IMF; and</li><li>Giving visibility to international trade union action by incorporating IMF co-ordinated activities in day-to-day trade union work. </li></ul>Ultimately, to achieve our goals, the IMF must go beyond simple coordination and become a truly global trade union organization that is able to counteract social and economic challenges and is based on the principles of independence and democracy following the mandates given by the decision-making bodies.

In the process of developing a new Action Programme we see the strengths of the International Metalworkers' Federation. We find that the things that unite us are much greater than the things that divide us.  In the borderless world of today, we share common experiences, challenges and an analysis of the situation facing workers globally. This common ground helps the IMF family to decide upon the direction we will take in order to tackle the problems metalworkers confront every day. The fact that this Action Programme was adopted in the midst of a global economic crisis is not insignificant. But we didn't need the global crisis to understand that the neoliberal model that used to dominate the world was destructive to workers' rights and social development. This IMF Action Programme adopted at the 32nd World Congress puts increased emphasis on concrete action and what IMF affiliates can accomplish together through global solidarity. In order to maximise our influence we need to mobilise the forces of the whole IMF family.We have to invest more resources in organising everywhere.  We will systematically target transnational companies that are reluctant to allow workers to exercise their fundamental rights.The campaign against precarious employment becomes solidified in this document.  The Programme recognises that we need to say and do more on the question of sustainable development and combating global warming. Building trade union networks in transnational companies offers a possibility for exchange of information and joint action to make sure that enterprises behave well wherever they operate.  Union building programmes help us strengthen trade unions where they are weak.This Action Programme contains exciting and challenging new commitments for IMF affiliates to respond with real and effective action to build stronger unions and when workers' rights are violated.  If we work together to implement this Action Programme, we can achieve our mission. In solidarity,Jyrki Raina, IMF General SecretaryJune 2009

PREFACE

SWEDEN: Executive Committee members of the International Metalworkers' Federation met in Gothenburg on 21 May to discuss building closer cooperation with Global Union Federations and proposed candidates to lead the IMF for the next four years. Proposed rule changes, if adopted by Congress delegates on 25 May, will allow for the election of one or more IMF Assistant General Secretaries as well as IMF Vice-President. Elections will also be held on Monday for the position of IMF President and IMF General Secretary. Committee members discussed concrete steps for closer cooperation and coordination with Global Union Federations and all agreed such measures should be taken up by the new IMF leadership as a priority of future work.Three unions were unanimously approved for affiliation to the IMF: the Vietnam National Union of Workers in Industry and Trade (VUIT) with a membership of 40,597; the Metals Industry Committee of Industrial Union of Serbia (ISS) representing 7,000 members; and the Mining and metallurgy Trade Union of Kyrgyzstan (MMTUK) representing 7,200 workers.Marcello Malentacchi, IMF general secretary, delivered the secretariat report noting the many current struggles metalworkers are engaged in as Congress opens on Sunday and the need for strengthening our solidarity efforts in defence of labour rights around the world.

Executive Committee members met in Gothenburg to discuss future cooperation with Global Union Federations and put forward candidates to be elected by the IMF Congress delegates on Monday.

IMF Executive proposes candidates for Congress 2009 elections

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