Jyrki Raina valdes till generalsekreterare för Internationella Metallfederationen under IMFs 32:a kongress, i maj 2009.

Innan dess arbetade han i Sverige som generalsekreterare för Industrianställda i Norden (IN), en funktion som han innehaft sedan år 2006.

Jyrki Raina är född i Helsingfors år 1960. Hans första arbete med fackföreningar var som jurist och förhandlare för Kemifacket i Finland år 1985.

Sex år senare flyttade han till Bryssel för att arbeta som forskare för ICEF (Internationella kemi-, energi- och fabriksarbetarfederationen), innan han fick ansvaret för facklig policyutveckling och nätverksarbete i energisektorn. År 2000 blev han organiseringschef på ICEM (Internationella kemi-, energi-, gruv- och fabriksarbetarefederationen), och hjälpte ICEMs generalsekreterare med strategisk planering.

Mellan år 2001 och 2003 arbetade Jyrki för finländska industriförbund som konsult i Helsingfors.

År 2003 flyttade han till Stockholm igen, och började som generalsekreterare för Nordiska Metall. Han var också suppleant i IMFs exekutivkommitté och i EMFs styrkommitté.

Jyrki Raina wurde anlässlich des 32. IMB-Weltkongresses im Mai 2009 zum Generalsekretär des Internationalen Metallgewerkschaftsbundes gewählt.

Seit 2006 war er Generalsekretär der Nordic IN in Schweden.

Jyrki Raina wurde 1960 in Helsinki geboren. Er begann seine gewerkschaftliche Karriere 1985 als Jurist und als Tarifverhandlungsbeauftragter für die finnische Chemiearbeitergewerkschaft.

Sechs Jahre später zog er nach Brüssel, wo er für die ICEF (Internationale Föderation von Chemie-, Energie- und Fabrikarbeiter-Verbänden) in der Forschung arbeitete und später die Grundsatzpolitik und Vernetzungsarbeit in der Energiebranche übernahm. 2000 wurde er zum Organisierungsleiter der ICEM (Internationale Föderation der Chemie-, Energie-, Bergbau- und Fabrikarbeitergewerkschaften) ernannt und unterstützte den Generalsekretär in der strategischen Planung.

Von 2001 bis 2003 diente Jyrki als Berater für finnische Industriegewerkschaften in Helsinki.

2003 zog er zurück nach Stockholm, wo er zum Generalsekretär von Nordic Metal sowie zum Ersatzmitglied des IMB-Exekutivausschusses und des EMB-Lenkungsausschusses ernannt wurde.

INDONESIA: The situation for more than 700 members of IMF-affiliate Federasi Serikat Pekerja Metal Indonesia (FSPMI), on strike at PT Toshiba Consumer Products Indonesia, intensified yesterday as police and 30 hired thugs attacked strikers outside the company gates.

FSPMI members have been on strike since April 16 after the company refused to recognize the collective labour agreement signed both by the union and management. Toshiba Indonesia also fired 15 elected trade union leaders at the plant despite stern recommendations from the Indonesian government to withdraw threats of employment termination.

On April 24, the company sent a letter to all employees saying that those who take part in the strike action will be terminated. Since that time the company has shut down production and stopped health insurance coverage to all strike participants.

The IMF has been working closely with our affiliates in Japan and Indonesia to bring a resolution to the dispute, however despite these efforts local management in Indonesia is refusing to meet with FSPMI members.

The IMF and our affiliates have sent letters to Toshiba management in Japan and Indonesia as well as Indonesia’s Minister of Manpower and Transmigration.

Workers on strike at Toshiba Consumer Products Indonesia are demanding that the company honours the collective labour agreement and registers it with the Indonesian government and that all fired workers are reinstated immediately and without sanction.

The IMF is calling on all affiliates to urge Toshiba to resolve this dispute quickly and fairly and to ensure that fundamental labour rights are protected and respected at all Toshiba worksites.

Send letters to:

Mr. A. Makino
Managing Director
PT. Toshiba Consumer Products Indonesia
EJIP Industrial Park Plot 5G
Cikarang Selatan – Bekasi 17550
Indonesia
T. +62 21 897 0462
FAX: +62 21 897 0465
Email: [email protected]

Mr. Erman Suparno
Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration
Email: [email protected]

Toshiba Corporation
FAX: +81 3 3456 1631

FSPMI
FAX: +62 21 841 3954
Email: [email protected]

IMF Southeast Asia and Pacific Office
Email:  [email protected]   

Listen UP Cochlear!

The AMWU has represented Cochlear workers for over a decade, delivering a high standard of wages and working conditions. This year Cochlear management initiated a union-busting campaign. Despite workers voting for a union-negotiated collective agreement in two separate secret ballots, the company has refused to bargain. Recently Cochlear management moved to use Australia's unfair workplace laws to force employees into a non-union agreement, conditions the workers have repeatedly rejected. These unfair working conditions will come into effect on the 6th of November. 

As part of the global campaign to support Cochlear workers' right to union representation, the International Metalworkers' Federation, to which the AMWU is an affiliate, and Public Services International, which represents workers at clinics where Cochlear hearing devices are distributed, are urging affiliates to take action in one or more of the following ways:

• Unions should contact local clinics that distribute Cochlear hearing devices and urge them to press Cochlear to respect a worker's right to union representation.
• Pass out flyers at local distribution clinics to educate the public about Cochlear's refusal to honour its workers' right to union representation.
• Employees at clinics that distribute Cochlear hearing devices can wear badges in solidarity with Cochlear manufacturing workers in Sydney and speak with management about the dispute.
• Send letters of support to Cochlear workers fighting for the right to union representation, and letters of protest to Cochlear CEO Chris Roberts.
• Publicise the campaign in your union publication and on your website. 

The AMWU has prepared a list of all the locations where Cochlear hearing devices are distributed. It is available on this site for download as well as flyers, protest letters and other solidarity resources. For additional information and news about the campaign, visit: http://www.amwu.asn.au/.

Toyota Philippines: Reinstate them NOW!

In March 2001, Toyota Philippines fired 227 union officers and members and suspended 64 others for taking part in a peaceful union assembly. The workers were demonstrating in front of the Department of Labour and Employment to protest the company's refusal to collectively bargain with the union, the Toyota Motor Philippine Corporation Workers Association (TMPCWA). Of the original group illegally fired, 136 still seek reinstatement.

In September 2003, the Supreme Court of the Philippines ordered Toyota management to begin collective bargaining. Two months later the International Labour Organisation (ILO) called on Toyota management to reinstate the workers and bargain in good faith with the TMPCWA. Despite both of these rulings Toyota Philippines has not recognised the union, reinstated the workers,  nor negotiated a collective bargaining agreement.

The International Metalworkers' Federation and its affiliates have launched an international campaign calling for the immediate reinstatement of the workers. The workers are also demanding that Toyota Philippines recognise their fundamental right to form a union and to bargain collectively.

On September 12, 2006 IMF affiliates around the world took part in a global day of action.

Despite these efforts, the fight for justice at Toyota Philippines continues.

Globalisation is not just about how things are made, bought and sold. It's also about people. Transnational companies want cheap and flexible workers. So they have shifted from secure to insecure employment – making all jobs more "precarious".

Precarious work is bad for all workers. It creates cut-price labour that drives down wages for all. It increases the gap between the rich and poor and amplifies the unfair practices that already disadvantage women, young and migrant workers.

Good jobs are what trade unions bargain for. Around the world, unions are mobilising, organising and bargaining for better, more secure work. That means challenging the legal and political ruses that allow precarious work to flourish. It means mobilising globally and taking union action against precarious work.

Work started it. Unions will stop it.

Occupational cancer is the most common work-related cause of death. The International Labour Organisation estimates the human toll at over 600,000 deaths a year – one death every 52 seconds.

At least 1 in every 10 cancers – probably many more – is the result of preventable, predictable workplace exposure. Today, more people face a workplace cancer risk than at any other time in history. It’s just that most of them don’t know it.

Unions have won recognition of causes of occupational cancer, restrictions on their use and compensation for their victims. By finding out about workplace risks and taking action to eliminate, substitute or control the risks, workers and their unions can make the workplace safer.

Occupational Cancer/Zero Cancer is a global union campaign to prevent occupational cancer. On this campaign page you will find links to campaign materials, background information and other relevant resources, including:

• Trade union guide to preventing occupational cancer 
• Trade union guide to a prevent cancer campaign
• Asbestos kills. Ban it now – campaign page

Workers at the Sinter Metal Imalat Sanayi A.Ş plant, located in the Dudullu Organized Industrial Zone in Turkey, are fighting for their jobs and basic labour rights.

On 18-19 December 2008, management at Sinter Metal Imalat Sanayi A.Ş used false pretexts to fire 38 workers involved with trade union activity. Fellow workers immediately joined the union in a show of solidarity with the dismissed workers, and called for their reinstatement. In response, the company fired an additional 312 workers, most of whom the company had learned were trade union members.

The Labour Ministry in Turkey issued a report on 12 January, 2009 upholding the union’s assertion that the reason for the dismissal of the 350 workers was not the economic crisis as the employer attempted to claim, but rather their trade union membership. Sinter Metal’s actions contravene ILO conventions 98 and 87.

The International Metalworkers’ Federation and the European Metalworkers’ Federation are calling on Sinter Metal to immediately reinstate unjustly dismissed workers, stop violations of workers’ rights, and in good faith consider the workers’ demands and promptly start negotiations to reach a fair and just settlement.

Take Action in support of Sinter Metal workers NOW!

In February 2009, violent threats were made against Eugeny Ivanov, leader of the Interregional Trade Union of Autoworkers (ITUA) local union at the GM plant near St. Petersburg.

One week after the trade union organization at the facility was founded on 12 January 2009, Eugeny and his family began receiving anonymous phone calls threatening aggression if he continued his trade union activity. Despite having notified police of the threats, on February 8 Eugeny was assaulted near his home, requiring treatment for concussion.

This is not the first time threats were followed by reprisals towards ITUA union activists.

In June and July 2008, Alexei Gramm and Sergey Bryzgalov were attacked in Taganrog and in November 2008 the union leader Alexey Etmanov in Vsevolozhsk was assaulted following similar threats.

So far the IMF has not received any clear indication that the authorities have commenced proper and thorough investigations in any of the cases.

The IMF joins with its affiliates in an appeal to the Russian authorities and heads of law enforcement agencies of the Russian Federation, urging them to carefully, thoroughly and promptly investigate all threats and attacks on our brothers and sisters, union leaders and activists, and to punish those who ordered and carried out these acts.

In recent times the world’s shipbuilding industry has faced many challenges, which have impacted on workers’ rights. The challenges include health and safety, outsourcing, subsidies and the use of contract labour. This department adresses these problems by promoting a unified trade union view that puts workers’ rights first.

Kan Matsuzaki, [email protected], is director for shipbuilding.