IMF-Ford working group underlines priorities

GERMANY/GENEVA: Delegates from the USA, Canada, Germany, Spain, Sweden, the UK and Mexico met on October 16 in Cologne, Germany, to discuss auto industry developments and their impact on Ford’s global operations. One of the principal challenges is that transnational auto producers, such as Ford, expand their activities around the world through investment, mergers, acquisitions and alliances, but the development of global union structures to facilitate effective information exchange and cooperation has not kept pace.
The working group adopted the following recommendations:

• An IMF-Ford World Steering Group (WSG) should be formed and meet in 2002.
  
• The WSG should include union representatives from all world regions with automotive operations which are majority-owned by Ford.
  
• An internet/fax-based communications network for union representatives, including a webpage, will be set up within the Ford Alliance.
• The WSG’s priorities should include:
  – ensuring solidarity support in collective bargaining struggles;
  – promoting effective information exchange and cooperation, especially in collective bargaining and union-building;
  – working towards the implementation of a Code of Conduct in Ford;
  – assisting in union-building and organising projects within the Ford Alliance’s global operations.