NEW ZEALAND: The IMF-affiliated Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union reports that the 100 workers at the Tenix shipbuilding yard in Whangarei were informed on May 16 that 45 of them would be laid off on May 18. Tenix, which is manufacturing modules for frigates in Whangarei, had told workers several weeks ago that job losses were likely as work under their frigate building contract with Anzac was nearing an end.
The national secretary for the EPMU, Andrew Little, said although it was known that the work for Anzac would not last forever, it was regrettable that other work had not been found to fill the gap for these highly skilled workers.
With average pay at NZ$50,000 (US$21,234) a year, the job losses will be taking more than NZ$2 million a year out of the local economy in wages alone and contribute to the brain drain there. Little commented that several of the shipyard workers were already going abroad to find work, and others would follow if New Zealand was unable to secure more shipbuilding work.
The collective agreement for the shipyard workers provides up to 12 weeks’ redundancy pay.

FINLAND: An all-important trade union merger has taken place in Finland. The Union of Technical Employees and Union of Salaried Employees in Industry, both affiliated to the IMF, have joined with the Federation of Private Building Employees and the Swedish Association of Technicians and Foremen in Finland to form the Union of Salaried Employees – TU (Toimihenkilöunioni).

The first TU congress is being held in Tampere on May 18, under the motto "Yhdessä on vastaus" ("Together is the answer") and gathering 700 delegates. With this merger, the new organisation has become the largest white-collar union in Finland, with approximately 130,000 members, who work in industry and industrial services as well as in the building sector.

Metal, with 35,000 members, of whom about 30 per cent are women, will represent the largest branch in the new organisation.

ARTICULO 7
El Congreso es la más alta autoridad de la Federación. El Congreso se reunirá siempre que sea necesario, pero, por lo menos, cada cuatro años; lo convocará el Secretario General, conforme a la decisión del Comité Central. El lugar, la fecha y el orden del día serán fijados por el Comité Central. Las convocatorias deberán enviarse con cuatro meses de anticipación por lo menos. Los informes y mociones que se quieran presentar al Congreso deberán remitirse al Secretario General tres meses antes de celebrarse el Congreso. El Secretario General deberá comunicar las mociones a todas las organizaciones afiliadas, con tiempo suficiente para que puedan informar de su contenido a todos sus miembros, antes de la reunión del Congreso. Tendrán derecho a presentar mociones las federaciones afiliadas y el Comité Ejecutivo. Para que las tareas del Congreso puedan prepararse debidamente, el Comité Central está facultado para constituir comisiones, compuestas de tal manera que se garantice una representación equitativa de los miembros de la Federación y de los distintos continentes. La confirmación definitiva incumbirá al Congreso. El Secretariado procederá cuando sea necesario a convocar a las comisiones antes de Congreso. ARTICULO 8
El Congreso de la FITIM estará integrado por los representantes de las organizaciones nacionales afiliadas a la Federación. Cada organización deberá fijar el número de sus representantes y sufragar los gastos de su representación. Un delegado podrá representar a varias organizaciones de su país. Esa delegación de poder deberá comunicarse por escrito al Secretario General, firmada por el principal dirigente del afiliado que delegue la representación. ARTICULO 9
Cada organización afiliada tendrá derecho de voto en el Congreso, siempre y cuando haya pagado su cuota del año en curso. Si la cuota anual vencida no se hubiera pagado en el plazo de seis meses se considerará que el afiliado no ha cumplido sus obligaciones financieras y no tendrá derecho a asistir al Congreso ni al Comité Central ni a participar en el Comité Ejecutivo. El número de votos estará determinado por el número de miembros que sirvió como base para calcular la cuota. El Congreso tomará sus resoluciones por mayoría simple; sin embargo, para modificar los Estatutos se requerirá una mayoría de dos tercios.

WEST AFRICA: Trade unions in the West African region have been strongly urged to join their respective government’s fight against the HIV virus and AIDS. The call came from Napoleon Kpoh, the general secretary of Ghana’s Industrial and Commercial Workers’ Union, during a two-day IMF conference held in early May in Accra for West African metal trade unions. In addition, Kpoh, speaking to delegates from Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire, Gabon, Burkina Faso and Sierra Leone, underlined the importance for regional political leaders to seriously tackle issues related to globalisation and structural adjustment.
Also addressing the Accra meeting, the IMF assistant general secretary, Brian Fredricks, stated that with modernisation Africa had become more marginalised than ever. Governments of the region, he said, “should not allow globalisation and the lack of capital inflow to continue to marginalise the continent. The IMF is prepared to assist unions in their capacity-building efforts to enable them to influence political, economic and social decisions.” He urged trade unions to guard against outside influence and control which could affect their independent decision-making and to push their respective governments to work more vigorously towards efforts to cancel Africa’s debt.

ITALY: Due to the failure of recent bargaining talks for a new collective contract, Italian metalworkers have decided to put pressure on the employers’ association through strike action this Friday morning, May 18. Rallies and demonstrations will be held at local level throughout the country.
The three metalworkers’ unions — FIOM, FIM and UILM — have made a joint demand for a general increase in monthly wages of 135,000 lire (US$61) to cover real inflation for the last two years, but employers claim that compensation should be limited to so-called programmed inflation, in other words the rate estimated by the government.
At the heart of this conflict, however, is the right to negotiate countrywide collective agreements. The employers, of course, want to breach the trade unions’ unity by forcing them to accept collective agreements negotiated at enterprise level. This is a threat for the entire trade union movement, which is based on the principle of solidarity.
The IMF’s general secretary, Marcello Malentacchi, declared that “the IMF supports the struggle of our members in Italy and we will do everything possible to help them win their case.” Malentacchi will be addressing a rally in Turin on Friday, where thousands of metalworkers from the auto and supplier industry are expected to gather. The general secretary of the European Metalworkers’ Federation, Reinhard Kuhlmann, is also expected to address a rally in Milan, where great numbers of metalworkers will be on strike.

ITALY: The IMF and metal trade unions from all corners of the globe will join the Italian metalworkers’ union FIOM-CGIL in celebrating its 100 years of existence during the upcoming FIOM International Conference.
The meeting, on May 18-19 in Milan and entitled “From one century to another, crossing the borders,” will hear an exchange of experiences between European metalworkers’ unions and those of the South on globalisation — its impact on work, the struggle for sustainable development and social justice. Also in relation to globalisation, the conference will examine the phenomenon of trade unions worldwide crossing not only geographical borders, but joining with other actors in civil society to challenge neoliberal globalisation and to establish dialogue on issues of common interest.
The South African metalworkers will describe the shift from their fight against apartheid to the struggle for sustainable development. Brazil will highlight workers’ rights vis-à-vis the might of the multinational companies. Korean metalworkers will focus on the trade union struggle in that country for jobs and democracy in the industrial restructuring process.
There will also be a European debate as well as a roundtable discussion on old and new global contradictions regarding industry and the environment, the global economy and workers’ rights, equality/gender, and international institutions and democracy.
The IMF and its 23 million metalworkers worldwide join together in wishing the FIOM a Happy 100th Birthday!!

Ihr seid gut beraten, Eure Visa rechtzeitig zu beantragen Für Staatsbürger gewisser Länder kann ein Antrag für ein Visum mehrere Monate in Anspruch nehmen ! Der IMB kann Euch nicht helfen, wenn Ihr ohne Einreisevisum in Australien ankommt. Bitte notiert auch, dass Euer Reisepass noch für drei Monate nach Eurer Ausreise aus Australien gültig sein muss. Teilnehmer aus einigen Ländern müssen auch gewisse Impfungen vorweisen können, weshalb ich Euch raten möchte, Euch diesbezüglich rechtzeitig zu erkundigen.

Alle Hotelreservierungen müssen über das IMB-Sekretariat laufen, und die Bestätigungen erhalten die Delegierten oder die Organisation direkt. Wir möchten Euch bitten, uns Eure Ankunfts- und Abreisedaten so rasch wie irgend möglich bekannt zu geben. Bitte beachtet, dass der IMB keine Reservierungen garantieren kann, die nicht bis allerspätestens 15. September bei uns eintreffen. Die Vertragsbedingungen der Hotels sind sehr strikt: Wird ein Zimmer nicht spätestens sechs (6) Tage vor Ankunft abbestellt, wird es der Person oder der Organisation berechnet. Um die Vorbereitungen für die Sitzungen zu erleichtern, gebt uns bitte Euer genaues Ankunftsdatum in Sydney bekannt und berücksichtigt bitte, dass ein direkter Flug von Europa nach Sydney zum Beispiel etwa 23 Stunden dauert. Wenn Ihr Europa an einem Donnerstag Abend verlasst, werdet Ihr in Sydney nicht vor Samstag Morgen ankommen. Da ein Zimmer nicht vor 12 Uhr mittags bezogen werden kann, wäre es vielleicht gut, es vom Vortag an zu reservieren.

Wenn Ihr uns Eure Ankunfts- und Abreisedaten nicht rechtzeitig mitteilt, können wir Euch diese Deckung nicht zusichern.

Vi consigliamo di prevedere un lasso di tempo sufficiente per adempiere tutte le formalità necessarie. Per i cittadini di certi paesi, potrebbero essere necessari alcuni mesi per ottenere un visto! La FISM non potrà fornirvi assistenza se arrivate in Australia senza visto. Non dimenticate inoltre che la data di scadenza del vostro passaporto non deve intervenire nei tre mesi successivi alla vostra partenza dall’Australia. I delegati provenienti da determinati paesi avranno bisogno di un certo numero di vaccini. Vogliate prendere tempestivamente le disposizioni necessarie prima della vostra partenza.