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The details of the national collective contract are key to recruitment. With shrinking membership figures, it will be more difficult to maintain the collective contract, Inga-Lill points out adding, &quot;for that reason we must explain what a collective contract is. Many young people think that pay and overtime compensation and other working conditions are determined by law and not through negotiations between the unions and employers' organizations. &quot;The more workplaces lack members, the more difficult it is to defend conditions. For that reason there is a clear connection between membership and the ability to defend working conditions.&quot; Back to Snap-On in Bollnäs where Stefan Halvarsson, chairman of the IF Metall branch, is not satisfied that almost all metalworkers at the plant are in the union. He also participates in the union's organizing and recruiting project. &quot;We travel around to workplaces, and many people think it's fun when we come. They are happy to see us. Often it's a matter of showing yourself. And listening. We also get an opportunity to explain why we're here. We can inform people about the value of being in the union,&quot; Stefan says. The Swedish trade union movement is confronted with new challenges. For Stefan it is self-evident that the fate of the Swedish trade union movement is part of the global movement. He is chairman of the Snap-On company's European Works Council and through it he has close contacts with other European unions. Stefan is also participating in the start-up of a union project with the metalworkers' union in Namibia. &quot;International cooperation has been becoming even more important. Bollnäs and our plant are a part of the world - that has become ever more obvious in recent years, says Stefan. &quot;It is important to organize more people, both here in Sweden and around the world.&quot;<table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="1" align="center"><tbody><tr><td><a href="../main/index.cfm?n=103&amp;l=2&amp;c=19213&amp;mwId=19189">&lt;&lt; back</a></td><td> </td><td><a href="../main/index.cfm?n=103&amp;l=2&amp;c=19197&amp;mwId=19189">beginning</a></td></tr></tbody></table>

Feature: Download pdf file with illustrations >>

Swedish Unions revive recruitment efforts

Members not only have access to the local database, but also to a national database for Sveriges Ingenjörer throughout the country. &quot;The database is highly valued by our members and strongly contributes to our attractiveness as a union. Quite simply, they get a lot for their membership,&quot; she adds. The database also contains information on current union activities at ABB Corporate Research. The board of directors regularly publishes information on its activity, and all meeting minutes are also available. Hence, all members receive an electronic newsletter from the engineers' corporate department in all units throughout Sweden. All totalled, Sveriges Ingenjörer has some 2,000 engineers at ABB in various locations around the country. &quot;We know that the newsletter is very popular. It is a way of providing important information to members on, for example, equality and pay issues. It is also a way of getting members from various parts of the country to feel involved and to feel united,&quot; Shiva says. ABB is a global, knowledge-intensive group in the power and automation technology sector and employs people all over the world. Many engineers come to Sweden and to Västerås from elsewhere. The international character of the ABB Corporate Research Center, where some 30 countries are represented among the 180 engineers, is very much evidence. &quot;That doesn't mean that everyone with a foreign background comes directly from another country. Many were raised in Sweden,&quot; says Shiva. &quot;But more and more of them do come directly from another country. Just last year some ten foreign engineers were newly recruited at the ABB Corporate Research Center.&quot; These foreign engineers often choose to join Sveriges Ingenjörer at ABB.&quot;The response has been very positive. We have gained a lot of new members,&quot; Shiva adds. The level of organization among engineers at ABB is significantly higher than the national average. In Sweden as a whole, it is estimated that just over half - 54 per cent - of graduate engineers are members of Sveriges Ingenjörer. The total number of members is 120,000, which represents an increase of 3 per cent during the last year. <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="1" align="center"><tbody><tr><td><a href="../main/index.cfm?n=103&amp;l=2&amp;c=19208&amp;mwId=19189">&lt;&lt; back</a></td><td> </td><td><a href="../main/index.cfm?n=103&amp;l=2&amp;c=19197&amp;mwId=19189">beginning</a></td><td> </td><td align="center" valign="middle"><a href="../main/index.cfm?n=103&amp;l=2&amp;c=19212&amp;mwId=19189">forward &gt;&gt;</a></td></tr></tbody></table>

Whenever the company hires new staff, the branch holds an information meeting for new employees. &quot;That gives us an opportunity to explain what the union stands for and why we are needed. It usually results in a useful dialogue with the new employees, who are frequently young people and often do not know much about the union's values,&quot; Stefan adds. But a good introduction is not enough, says Stefan. The union must be alive all the time. The union must be visible and accessible for the members, who must be kept properly informed and have an opportunity to participate. The Bollnäs plant branch has found a new approach. &quot;If we gather everyone together at a big meeting in the dining hall, usually only two or three people will take the floor. The rest keep quiet,&quot; says Stefan. &quot;For that reason we have tried another way.&quot; Member meetings take place on a small scale so that as many people as possible have an opportunity to speak. Members are divided into small groups of about 15 people. To bring the union even closer to employees, they hold annual IF Metall meetings at the plant. A number of issues are discussed in small groups and they also conduct a survey among the members. In that way the branch gets answers on how union work can be improved and developed. Approximately one out of four branch members attend the IF Metall meetings. &quot;Through the IF Metall meeting we get to know what the members expect of the union,&quot; Stefan says, noting &quot;that puts pressure on us and lays the basis for the branch's action plan. In addition, it gives us a good basis for working with our superiors. We can show the survey results and point to what needs to be changed at the workplace.&quot;It is also important that elected officials be equipped to work effectively for the members. During the first year an elected official sits in on meetings to listen and learn. Then he or she undergoes a training program which includes law, contracts and negotiating techniques. All officials are given their own areas of responsibility. <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="1" align="center"><tbody><tr><td><a href="../main/index.cfm?n=103&amp;l=2&amp;c=19197&amp;mwId=19189">&lt;&lt; back</a></td><td> </td><td><a href="../main/index.cfm?n=103&amp;l=2&amp;c=19197&amp;mwId=19189">beginning</a></td><td> </td><td align="center" valign="middle"><a href="../main/index.cfm?n=103&amp;l=2&amp;c=19199&amp;mwId=19189">forward &gt;&gt;</a></td></tr></tbody></table>

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Text / HARALD GATU Photos / LARS HALVARSSONIn Sweden most people belong to a union and the level of organisation is among the highest in the world. But joining a union is no longer taken for granted. The proportion of union members is declining, forcing unions to make an effort to recruit new members. Stefan Halvarsson is 38 years old and president of the IF Metall union at one of the American Snap-On factories in Sweden. All workers, except one, are organized in the union. &quot;They used to come and ask to become members, now we need to motivate them to join,&quot; he says.A few hours' drive north of Stockholm lies Bollnäs, a small town in an idyllic setting of vast forests and beautiful lakes. The American firm Snap-On has a plant here that makes handsaws. There are 137 workers at the plant, and all but one are union members. The fact that so many people are members does not mean that the union can relax and expect that every employee will spontaneously join. &quot;No, it's not so simple,&quot; says Stefan Halvarsson. &quot;Not any longer. It used to be that people spontaneously came and asked to join. Now we have to seek people out and argue for our cause. They want to know what the union can do for them.&quot;Halvarsson is 38 years old, a bowling fan, and has worked at the plant for 14 years. Prior to that he worked in healthcare, and he believes that the healthcare job involving contact with people has made it easier for him to engage in union work. &quot;Being a union activist means working with people, building relationships and trust,&quot; Stefan says.After a few years at the plant, he was asked if he wanted to undertake a union assignment. He said yes. Today Stefan is the chairman of IF Metall's branch for the company. &quot;We must always explain why one should join the union. And first and foremost, the union must always be visible. The union must be present among its members.&quot;<table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="1" align="center"><tbody><tr><td align="center" valign="middle"><a href="../main/index.cfm?n=103&amp;l=2&amp;c=19198&amp;mwId=19189">forward&gt;&gt;</a> </td></tr></tbody></table>

In Sweden most people belong to a union and the level of organisation is among the highest in the world. But joining a union is no longer taken for granted. The proportion of union members is declining, forcing unions to make an effort to recruit new members.

GLOBAL: On the eve of the April meeting of the Group of 20 in London Global Union Federations have released  a special publication &quot;Getting the World to work: Global Union Strategies for Recovery.&quot; The joint publication is the result of  work by all Global Union Federations together with the International Trade Union Confederation and the Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD. Each organisation has contributed  their vision on the ways to recover from the world economic crisis and to make changes in the world system to prevent it from happening again.In the preface to the publication Aidan White, editor of the publication and the General Secretary of the International Federation of Journalists, writes: &quot;At this critical moment, trade unions are mobilising. They have developed a vision for the world economy that goes beyond tinkering with regulation and repairing broken models of free trade&quot;. The publication represents a collection of visions of unions speaking on behalf of workers employed in different sectors of world economy. All of them are united with the idea of the necessity to revise the current global financial system so as to provide workers and their families with a fair and sustainable global economy based on humanitarian values serving future generations as a strong basis for development.&quot;The crisis can be resolved and a return to decency is possible, but that will not happen unless we give voice to those at work,&quot; writes Marcello Malentacchi, IMF General Secretary in his article 'Decency for a change'.&quot; That involves making sure that the right to organize and the right to bargaining are the foundation stones of a new economic and social structure that will provide us with the means to ensure that we are never again held hostage by slick and shady global marketeers.&quot;The publication in English is posted on the Global Unions website <a href="http://www.global-unions.org/spip.php?article253">http://www.global-unions.org/spip.php?article253</a>, French and Spanish translations will follow shortly.

Global Union Federations push for alternative strategies for recovery from the world economic crisis.

Decency for a change

Global unions provide strategies for recovery

AUSTRALIA: Building on the recently adopted steel climate change policy (Tokyo 2008) the International Metalworkers' Federation's steel department held its second climate change meeting on March 24-25 in the lead up to Copenhagen 2009. The most widely known global agreement trying to cut global emissions, Kyoto is approaching the end of its life and in Copenhagen, Denmark, governments will try to make a new deal on emission cuts between 2012 and 2020. An international approach to tackling climate change is essential and steel unions have called for an international response that avoids unfair trade conditions and guarantees a level playing field. The argument that the world faces a serious threat from environmental degradation is no longer open to serious challenge. At the IMF meeting in Australia, steel unions from 5 regions held discussions with business leaders, governmental ministers, trade union partners, think tanks and environmental NGO's in order to build partnerships and further develop the IMF's approach on this vitally important issue. Representatives from the Chinese All Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU) were also invited to attend but unfortunately were unable to participate. The outcomes of the meeting were as follows:<ul><li>IMF will promote a metalworkers' position in the International arena including Copenhagen 2009.</li><li>IMF will produce some practical materials for distribution amongst affiliates.</li><li>The IMF Steel section will present a resolution on this issue to the IMF Congress in May 2009.</li><li>IMF will continue to build relationships with other interested parties.</li><li>IMF will develop strategies to engage with national and international agencies such as UNFCCC, OECD, ILO, etc.</li></ul>

Metal unions meet in Australia to craft strategy for enhanced engagement in the climate change debate in preparation for Copenhagen 2009.

Climate Change- Taking the power back

The core mission of the International Metalworkers' Federation is to improve workers' wages, working and living conditions, and to ensure that workers' rights are respected, particularly in the metal industry. The IMF represents blue- and white-collar workers in industries such as steel, non-ferrous metals and ore mining, mechanical engineering, shipbuilding, automobile, aerospace, electrical and electronics.The IMF brings together metalworker trade unions at national and international level to help members challenge the neo-liberal agenda of corporations and conservative governments and to ensure all share in the wealth generated through sustainable economic growth.By working with other organisations, the IMF aims to<ul><li>Build a global metalworkers' movement.</li><li>Organise the unorganised.</li><li>Strengthen international solidarity.</li><li>Engage with trans-national corporations.</li><li>Negotiate international framework agreements.</li><li>Secure workers' rights, including the rights of women workers.</li><li>Fight for sustainable economic development, and</li><li>Promote fair trade, social justice and the elimination of poverty.</li></ul>See our <a href="../index.cfm?n=673">2009-2013 Action Programme</a> for full details.

Improving workers&#039; wages, conditions and rights

The International Metalworkers' Federation (IMF) represents the collective interests of 25 million metalworkers from more than 200 unions in 100 countries. The IMF is a federation of national metalworkers' unions - a 'union of unions' at world level, and one of the oldest Global Union Federations. The IMF aims to improve metalworkers' wages, working and living conditions and defends the rights of metalworkers at a global level.To achieve this, we work with <a href="index.cfm?n=628">national affiliates</a> with the aim of building a strong international labour movement.Worldwide activities of the IMF are co-ordinated from our <a href="index.cfm?n=630">headquarters</a> in Geneva, Switzerland together with our network of <a href="index.cfm?n=631">regional offices</a>.<h3>Solidarity in action</h3>Read about the work of the IMF in action, as showcased in our case studies: <ul><li><a href="index.cfm?c=17919">Global action against precarious work</a></li><li><a href="index.cfm?c=19354">Asking for justice in Mexico!</a></li><li><a href="index.cfm?c=19355">Reducing shipbreaking hazards in India</a></li><li><a href="index.cfm?c=19356">Release Korean Unionists!</a></li><li><a href="index.cfm?c=19357">Organizing women workers in Indonesia</a></li><li><a href="../index.cfm?c=20712">Building sustainable unions in Africa</a></li></ul>

For a strong international labour movement

The IMF has affiliates in 100 countries. Click on any country below to learn about affiliated organisations.

IMF Affiliates

In 1957, the IMF opened an office in Tokyo for the Japanese metalworkers' unions. In 1960 the IMF opened its Latin America office, now in Montevideo, Uruguay.In 1966, the first meeting of the World Company Councils for the automobile industry was held in Detroit, USA. Today, Company Council meetings are held as the need arises. In 1969, the first IMF regional office opened in New Delhi, India. In 1982, two white South African affiliates were expelled. The IMF was fully committed to supporting the new independent trade unions in South Africa. This support was strengthened with the opening of a new IMF office in Johannesburg in 1984. In 1991, the IMF Central Committee decided to admit trade unions from Central and Eastern Europe as affiliates. In 1993, a 100-point Action Programme was adopted at the IMF Centenary Congress in Zurich, Switzerland. In 1998 the IMF opened a regional office for Southeast Asia in Kuala Lumpur, MalaysiaIn 2001, the 30th IMF Congress was held in Sydney, Australia. A new Action Programme for 2002-2005 was adopted. In 2002, the IMF signed its first International Framework Agreement in the auto industry with Volkswagen. In 2005, the IMF Congress adopted changes to the IMF Rules, increasing the participation of women in IMF structures, and updating the Action Programme. In 2002-2003, the IMF and its affiliates successfully campaigned for the release of imprisoned Korean trade unionists.In 2006, the IMF launched an international solidarity campaign in support of the Mexican miners' union.

Milestones in IMF history

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