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<ol type="A"><li><div>The highest authority of the Federation is the Congress.</div></li><li><div>The Congress takes place as often as seems advisable, but at least every four years, and is convened by the General Secretary on the decision of the Central Committee.</div></li><li><div>The place, date, and agenda are determined by the Central Committee.</div></li><li><div>Notification of the convening of Congress must be given to affiliates at least four months beforehand.</div></li><li><div>The Congress is composed of representatives of the national organisations affiliated with the Federation.</div></li><li><div>Each affiliated organisation shall determine the number of representatives at the Congress and shall bear their expenses. Affiliated organisations requiring financial assistance to secure participation should make arrangements with the General Secretary well in advance of Congress.</div></li><li><div>A delegate may also represent several of the organisations of his or her country. </div></li><li><div>Such authority shall be in writing to the General Secretary signed by the Principal Officer of the affiliate delegating the representation.</div></li><li><div>Each affiliated organisation, which has fulfilled its financial obligations to the IMF, has the right to vote at the Congress.</div></li><li><div>For the first 200,000 members, affiliates have voting rights according to their membership.  For membership above 200,000, voting rights are in proportion with the subscriptions ratio paid under Article 7.</div></li><li><div>The Congress shall review reports, motions and resolutions offered by affiliates and the Executive Committee.</div></li><li><div>All reports and motions for the Congress must be received by the General Secretary three months before the opening of Congress<em>.</em></div></li><li><div>The General Secretary must notify all affiliated organisations of the Federation of the motions, allowing enough time for them to be brought to the notice of their members before the Congress meets.</div></li><li><div>Reports, motions and resolutions of the Congress are to be adopted by a simple majority of the eligible votes, while alterations of the Rules must require a two-thirds majority of the eligible votes.</div></li><li><div>Each regular Congress shall elect by simple majority of eligible votes<em> </em>the President of the Federation who holds an elected position within his or her organisation.</div></li><li><div>Each regular Congress shall also elect by simple majority of eligible votes the General Secretary of the Federation.</div></li><li><div>Each regular Congress shall also elect by simple majority of eligible votes the Vice President of the Federation who holds an elected position within his or her organisation.</div></li><li><div>Each regular Congress shall also elect with simple majority of eligible votes one or more Assistant General Secretaries of the Federation.</div></li><li><div>Each regular Congress shall also elect by simple majority of eligible votes<em> </em>the Executive Committee members.</div></li><li><div>Each regular Congress shall also elect by simple majority of eligible votes<em> </em>the Auditing Committee members.</div></li><li><div>The Congress determines its own standing orders.</div></li></ol>

2.     The Congress

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PROTEST LETTER (thanks)

text

PROTEST LETTER (to send)

<p>Visit the IMF website for regular updates on the IMF campaign to end labour rights abuses in Korea or sign up for <a href="../index.cfm?n=669">IMF Action Alerts</a> to be notified of urgent solidarity requests and campaign developments immediately when they arise.</p><p><strong>This page will reload to the protest letter again in 5 seconds</strong></p>

Thank you for taking ACTION!

<p>Dear President Lee Myung-bak, </p><p>I am writing to express my deep concern over the mass arrests of workers and members of the Korean Metal Workers' Union who took part in a sit-in strike at the Ssangyong Motor plant in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi province.</p><p>I have been shocked to witness your government's brutal response to this legitimate industrial dispute, specifically, the dropping of corrosive chemicals from helicopters, brutal attacks from taser guns that have inflicted life threatening injuries and the denial of access to food, water and even basic medical treatment for the injured. Violating human rights by denying their citizens food, water, medicine is unacceptable behavior from the state in any situation.  </p><p>I strongly urge you to: immediately release all imprisoned union leaders and Ssangyong workers; drop all charges (criminal and civil) against individuals and organisations involved in the strike; and take a role in ensuring good faith, genuine negotiations towards guaranteeing the KMWU Ssangyong Motor members employment security.</p><p>Sincerely,</p>

Release all jailed Ssangyong strikers immediately!

PROTEST LETTER TEXT (to send)

<p>Alexei Etmanov, the leader of the Ford-Vsevelozhsk trade union and co-chairman of the Interregional Trade Union of Autoworkers (ITUA) has been the target of two brutal attacks on November 8 and 13, 2008. An anonymous caller following the first assault contacted the union and warned Etmanov to stop his union activities or &quot;we will take away your life,&quot; the caller said. No one has been charged for the crimes. Other members of the ITUA have been assaulted, including the leaders of the local ITUA of Taganrog automobile plant, Alexei Gramm and Sergei Brizgalov. Those incidents were not investigated either. </p><p>The International Metalworkers´ Federation is carrying out a campaign to protect the leaders of ITUA, demanding that the Russian authorities conduct a complete investigation of all cases of the assaults and to punish the guilty ones - both those that took part and those who ordered the crimes to be committed.</p>

Demand authorities conduct a complete investigation into all cases of violence and threats of violence against trade unionists in Russia.

Help Stop the Violence Against Russian Unionists!

<p>Dear Mr. Chaika,<br /><br />I am deeply alarmed by attacks and threats made to trade union leaders and activists in Russia. I am gravely concerned about the authorities&#039; indifference to violations of fundamental human and labour rights and the failure to act promptly and effectively to ensure these rights are fully upheld and protected against any such attack.</p><p>I urge you to apply all your efforts in order to carry out an immediate, unbiased and transparent investigation into the attacks against  Alexei Etmanov, the leader of the Ford-Vsevelozhsk trade union and co-chairman of the Interregional Trade Union of Autoworkers (ITUA) and the leaders of the local ITUA of Taganrog automobile plan Alexei Gramm and Sergei Bryzgalov, as well as the death threats made to Vladimir Lesik, vice chair person of the ITUA union at Ford-Vsevelozhsk plant.</p><p>Sincerely,</p>

Violation of trade union rights in Russia

Text of the protest letter

<p>All workers should enjoy equal rights. Yet workers throughout the world continue to be subject to discrimination, resulting in many being denied their right to join a union. Discrimination also means that women and young workers are over-represented in precarious employment.</p><p>IMF activities focus on assisting affiliates to develop specific organising strategies to improve unionisation rates among women, migrant workers and young workers. Strategies focus particularly on electronics production workers and workers in EPZ, areas where young women and migrant workers predominate, labour rights are abused and trade unionism is repressed.</p><p>Women&#039;s representation at all levels of trade union organisation is still too low. IMF has taken steps towards improving the level of participation within the organisation and will continue to work with affiliates to assist them to remove barriers to women&#039;s representation in their unions.</p>

Equal rights

<p>GLOBAL: Metalworker trade unions from around the world are calling on the Mexican Government and mining company Grupo México to end their repression of independent trade unions in Mexico.</p><p>The country's largest mining company, Grupo México, and the Mexican government, first under President Fox and now under President Calderón, have systematically and repeatedly violated Mexican law and international standards in an attempt to crush the National Miners' and Metalworkers' Union of Mexico (SNTMMSRM).</p><p>Attacks on the union have included withdrawing legal recognition of the union's democratically elected General Secretary Napoleón Gómez Urrutia and other elected leaders based on forged evidence and issuing baseless arrest warrants against Gómez. The government and Grupo México have attempted to divide the union by granting overnight recognition to a pro-company union and holding elections in which workers were forced to join its ranks. Meanwhile, Grupo México seemingly is able to murder, torture, intimidate and abuse workers with complete indemnity.</p><p>SNTMMSRM is an affiliate of the International Metalworkers' Federation and Gómez sits on its Executive Committee.</p><p>The IMF, representing 25 million metalworkers in 100 countries around the world, is calling on the Mexican government to:</p><ul><li>Release all union funds illegally seized by the government;</li><li>Lift all charges still pending against Napoleón Gómez Urrutia and other members of the SNTMMSRM;</li><li>Prosecute in a court of law, immediately and transparently, all those responsible in the corruption of documents and facts, and</li><li>Investigate Grupo México's involvement in the murder of Reynaldo Hernández González and the detention and torture of 20 SNTMMSRM members in Nacozari, Sonora.</li></ul><p>These rights abuses are documented in &quot;<em>An Injury to One: The Mexican Miners' struggle for union independence</em>&quot;, a White Paper and an 18 minute video on the situation in Mexico, both published by the IMF. On April 23, IMF affiliates from Europe, Latin America, and Mexico's NAFTA partners, Canada and the US, delivered the White Paper and documentary to government officials in their respective countries, urging them to raise this issue with their Mexican counterparts. </p><p>For more information about the IMF's campaign for union independence, go to: <a href="../Mexico">www.imfmetal.org/Mexico</a>. </p><p><a href="../main/index.cfm?n=47&amp;l=2&amp;c=17550">Click here</a> to download the White Paper or view the documentary.</p>

IMF White Paper and documentary exposing deadly rights violations and corruption on the part of the Mexican Government and mining giant, Grupo México, has metalworkers mobilized.

Metal unions call on governments to press for change in Mexico

<p>SOUTH AFRICA:  A Chinese ship, owned by the large state-owned company COSCO, called AN YUE Jiang arrived on Wednesday, April 16, at Durban, South Africa. The Bleeds newspaper reported it was carrying nearly three million rounds of ammunitions for small arms and AK-47s, about 3,500 mortars and mortal launchers and 1,500 rockets for rocket-propelled grenades. The paper said it had a copy of the ship&#039;s cargo documentation, finalized on April 1 three days after the Zimbabwe national election. </p><p>A South African government official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, had confirmed that there were weapons on board but gave no further details. </p><p>The weapons were packed in large red and blue containers piled high on the ship&#039;s dock.</p><p>The ship came as Zimbabwe began a partial recount of votes from the March 29 elections. It is generally believed that they show Mugabe&#039;s ruling ZANU-PF party clearly losing its majority to the opposition Movement for Democratic Change for the first time.</p><p>The recount of 23 of 210 constituencies could overturn the results of the Parliamentary elections, which have not so far been officially announced.  </p><p>According to the South African President Thabo Mbeki, the 77 tonnes of weapons aboard AN YUE Jiang were legal cargo and would be transported 1,000 miles overland northwards to Zimbabwe.</p><p>But Randall Howard general secretary of the South African Transport union (SATAWU), to which the Durban Dockers belong, warned, &quot;as far as we are concerned, the containers will not be offloaded.&quot;</p><p>An Anglican archbishop argued the arms were likely to be used to crush the Zimbabwe opposition following the disputed March 29 elections.  </p><p>Human rights groups had petitioned for a block on the arms and dock workers had refused to unload the shipment. </p><p>The IMF Regional Office, in collaboration with other GUF&#039;s in the region, is currently engaged in a real solidarity campaign with many civil society organizations and unions in the region to stop the Chinese vessel cargo from using the Angolan port or any other port in the region, to offload Mugabe weapons.  </p><p>Letters have been sent to the IMF affiliate in Angola, the national center and the transport union requesting them to work with other civil society organization in the country to put pressure on the Angolan government to prevent the Chinese vessel cargo from using the Angolan port.  </p>

Workers in South Africa forced a Chinese ship carrying arms destined for Zimbabwe to leave the South African port of Durban after failing to unload.

Unions block arms delivery to Zimbabwe

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