Labour related news
Swedish IF Metall Congress re-elects it President
The first ordinary congress of Swedish IF Metall is held in Stockholm on 13-16 May 2008.
The congress re-elected its President Stefan Lofven and Leif Ohlsson was elected first vice President.
More information about the elections can be found here.
Congress slogan:
Starka tillsammans – för rättvisa lokalt och globalt
Stronger together - for justice on a local and global level
Raising issue of rights violations in Mexico at EU/LAC Summit
Ongoing trade union rights violations of miners at the hands of the Mexican Government and mining company Grupo México have called for the EMF and IMF to approch members of the European Parliament.
A Night of Labour Film Shorts
A Night of Labour Film Shorts, hosted by the international labour movement in celebration of May Day.
May 1, Grütli Theatre, Rue du General-Dufour 16, Geneva
Long term safeguarding of Astra plants
Long-term safeguarding of Astra plants and plant in Antwerp by European Framework
Carl-Peter Forster, President of General Motors Europe, Klaus Franz and Rudi Kennes, Chairmen of the European Employee Forum (EEF) of General Motors Europe, signed a framework for the next-generation Astra/Zafira and a new SUV vehicle to be produced at the Antwerp plant in Belgium.
International Workers' Memorial Day
28 April is International Workers' Memorial Day.
Workers' Memorial Day is an opportunity to highlight the preventable nature of most workplace accidents and ill health and to promote campaigns and union organisation in the fight for improvements in workplace safety.
Volvo Bus Finland personnel to be sacked claim a substantial redundancy payment
TU News
Metalworkers’ Union of Finland
Salaried Employees’ Union TU
Federation of Professional and Managerial Staff YTN
The personnel disappointed on the result of the co-operation negotiations which came to an end on Tuesday had a demonstration in Tampere
Trade unions demand a redundancy payment to be included in the security scheme in case of changes
Organising the hi-tech ghettos of globalisation
Article to be published in “International Journal of Labour Research”
Vol.1, 2008/1 on “Trade Union Strategies on Global Production Systems. ILO (Geneva).
By Jenny Holdcroft, Director Equal Rights, EPZs, International Metalworkers’ Federation.
Unions want Nokia to sign a Global Framework Agreement
TU News
The agreement would secure the basic rights of Nokia’s employees world-wide.
CWA and Ver.di Form First-Ever Union to Unite and Represent Workers in U.S. and Europe
CWA and ver.di, Germany's largest union, officially established the first-ever union to unite and represent workers in the U.S. and Europe -- T Union, a joint affiliate of both organizations.
Euro-demonstration on 5 April in Ljubljana
The European trade unions will demonstrate on 5 April to demand increased pay. This is the date of the European finance ministers’ meeting (ECOFIN) in Slovenia.
GM European Employee Forum Pressemitteilung
Heute trafen sich in Frankfurt die dem Europäischen Metallgewerkschaftsbund (EMB) angehörenden Vertreter der nationalen Gewerkschaften und des Europäischen Arbeitnehmerforums (EEF) von General Motors Europa, um über die vom Management vorgelegten Pläne zu „Produktivitätsverbesserungen“ und Auslagerungen zu beraten. Sie vereinbarten gemeinsam die folgenden Punkte:
Labour Unions Mass for General Strike in Slovenia on 12 March
A broken social accord by employers’ groupings in Slovenia has caused the nation’s largest trade union federation, Zveza Svobodnih Sindikatoc Slovenije (ZSSS), to call a mass strike for this Wednesday, 12 March. The strike, which could bring up to 200,000 workers and their families to the streets and eclipse Slovenia’s largest mass strike ever, on 17 November 2007, will be joined by union members from other Slovenian national trade union centres.
ETUC launches a European campaign on wages
The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) launches today a European campaign on wages demanding more purchasing power and more equality. The key event of this campaign will be the Euro-demonstration due to be held 5th April in Ljubljana (Slovenia).
Real salaries in Europe are on a downward spiral. The share of wages as a proportion of national income (Gross Domestic Product – GDP), continues to fall. By contrast, companies’ profits have been rising. Wealth exists, but it is more and more unequally shared.
The European Trade Union Confederation says “stop” to the repeated calls for wage moderation aimed at ordinary workers alone but not at board rooms, and “stop” to governments and employers who too freely resort to lower wages as the only means of adjustment.
Consequently, the ETUC is launching a Europe-wide campaign for fairer wages including minimum wages, and organising a Euro-demonstration on 5 April 2008 in Ljubljana to demand higher pay. This is the message the European trade union movement will be sending to European finance ministers meeting in Slovenia on the same day.
