RUSSIA: This week, two metalworkers' unions held congresses in Moscow, the Automobile and Farm Machinery Workers' Union of Russia, with 900,000 members, and the Engineering Workers' Union of Russia, with 650,000 members. Both unions have opted to apply for affiliation to the IMF.
The applications will be discussed and decided at the IMF's next Central Committee meeting, on June 21-22, in Birmingham, England.
At present, the IMF has one Russian affiliate, the Miners' and Metallurgical Workers' Union of Russia, with 1,360,000 members.