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Thank you for taking ACTION!Visit the IMF website for regular updates on the Sinter Metal campaign or sign up for IMF Action Alerts to be notified of urgent solidarity requests and campaign developments immediately when they arise.<h3>This page will reload to the protest letter again in 5 seconds</h3>

Visit the IMF website for regular updates on the Sinter Metal campaign.

Thank you for taking ACTION!

Dear Mr. Tanberk,I join with the International Metalworkers&#039; Federation, European Metalworkers&#039; Federation and Birlesik Metal-IS in demanding that Sinter Metal immediately stops and remedies violations of worker and trade union rights at its operations located in the Dudullu Organized Industrial Zone in Turkey. I am increasingly alarmed that such violations continue to undermine workers&#039; rights to form and join a union and to collectively bargain, enshrined in ILO conventions 98 and 87, to which Turkey is a signatory. I demand that Sinter Metal management immediately reinstates the dismissed workers, stops violations of fundamental worker and trade union rights, and in good faith considers the workers&#039; demands and starts negotiations to reach a fair and just settlement with the union.Sincerely,

protest letter to send

Thank you for taking ACTION!Visit the IMF website for regular updates on the campaign to Stop the Violence Against Russian Unionists or sign up for IMF Action Alerts to be notified of urgent solidarity requests and campaign developments immediately when they arise.This page will reload to the protest letter again in 5 seconds

PROTEST LETTER (thanks)

USA: The IMF Ford Network met the 22nd to the 24th of April in Detroit, bringing together 37 delegates from 12 countries representing all regions, to discuss how to further effective means of solidarity for workers across the company&#039;s production chain. The meeting sought ways to built on efforts underway since 2007.Trade unions agreed to a number of concrete steps. Outcomes included means to furthering the network&#039;s coordination capacities, making progress towards an international framework agreement, exploring ways to support organizing Ford and supplier workers and defending trade union rights, as well as facilitating information exchange. Participants were informed about two important struggles involving workers at Ford suppliers, which were brought directly to the attention of Ford management. Significant gains have been subsequently won by the workers and unions. The first was the dramatic fight for justice for 610 Visteon workers, members of Unite the Union in the UK, who had been sacked with only a minute&#039;s notice, in the process denied their rightful redundancy pay and their pensions hit. Workers&#039; fight-back for just compensation went beyond even the Ford redundancy terms and included as well the right to be considered for jobs at Ford, the former employer of the vast majority of the workforce.In Thailand, workers involved in a two-month dispute at Siam Michelin were strongly supported by the IMF affiliate TEAM and by rubber workers of the Petroleum and Chemical Workers&#039; Federation affiliated to ICEM. The dispute was favourably resolved on 28 April though settlement of a collectively bargained agreement, the release of 20 jailed workers with all charges against them dropped, and required payment of the annual bonus in May.

Trade union network representing Ford workers across all regions emerges stronger.

IMF Ford Network builds cross-border solidarity

Market opening should be an instrument for sustainable development. This requires that the promotion of quality employment becomes the primary goal of trade liberalisation, with a fair distribution of the wealth for the workers who create it. The sustainable growth we stand for cannot happen at the expenses of weaker parties. The IMF, particularly through its Working Party on Trade, Employment and Development, works to build solidarity and harmonize the legitimate interests of workers in the North and the South, and to promote a transparent debate on the concerns arising from trade liberalisation.

Trade, employment &amp; development

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, <a href="mailto:kmatsuzaki@imfmetal.org">kmatsuzaki@imfmetal.org</a>, is director for shipbuilding.

Shipbuilding, Shipbreaking

Engineering covers many sectors, including the manufacturing of jet engines and tooling machinery and the production of machines for the recycling sector. IMF activities in this sector aim to bring trade unions in these areas together to improve the exchange of information and to develop common positions and strategies. Anne-Marie Mureau, <a href="mailto:ammureau@imfmetal.org">ammureau@imfmetal.org</a>, is director for this sector.

Mechanical engineering

Scrapping ships is one of the most dangerous jobs on earth, yet most workers in this industry have little or no protection from the risks involved. Toxic-laden 'ghost ships&#039; are usually beached at ports in Asia and Turkey, ready for scrapping.In 2003 the International Metalworkers&#039; Federation started a pilot project in Mumbai, India, where some 6,000 shipbreaking workers earn less than one US dollar a day.Working with a local trade union, the Mumbai Port, Dock &amp; General Employees Union, the project began by providing workers with clean drinking water, safety advice, and first-aid training and equipment.  Project organisers also taught workers about their rights and encouraged them to form a union.<h3>Improving worker conditions</h3>At the same time, the International Metalworkers&#039; Federation worked with the International Labour Organisation to establish new guidelines to help improve the safety and health of these workers. The guidelines were approved in March 2004.In 2006, the project extended to organising the shipbreaking yards further north in Alang. Early in 2008, some 250 workers organized a strike under the banner of the Alang Sosiya Ship Recycling and General Workers Association, the trade union established as a result of the project, after learning that their employer had arbitrarily cut wage rates. The 24-hour strike proved successful. The employer met with union officials and conceded to pay wages at the former rate, a significant step towards building a strong union and defending the rights of shipbreaking workers.<a href="../shipbreaking">http://www.imfmetal.org/shipbreaking</a>

Reducing Shipbreaking Hazards in India

In Mexico, the country&#039;s largest mining company, Grupo México, and the Mexican government were both found to have violated Mexican law and international standards when they attempted to crush the IMF-affiliated National Miners&#039; and Metalworkers&#039; Union of Mexico (SNTMMSRM). <h3>Union secretary forcefully removed</h3>In February 2006, Napoleon Gomez Urrutia, the democratically-elected general secretary of the Mexican miners&#039; union was forcefully removed from his position after speaking out against the government and Grupo Mexico in response to a tragic mining accident in Pasta de Conchos that left 65 miners dead. The government appointed a new general secretary - who was not a member of the union - and seized all assets of the SNTMMSRM and Mr.Gomez.Inquiries into theses actions revealed that the government had used falsified documents, concealed evidence, and coerced officials to issue baseless arrest warrants against the union leader. Grupo México and the government then tried to divide the union, granting overnight recognition to a pro-company union and holding 'elections&#039; in which workers were forced and coerced to join its ranks.<h3>Unions protest globally</h3>The IMF strongly objected to this abuse of workers&#039; rights and urged the Mexican government to end its attack on the SNTMMSRM. Unions from around the world held protests at Mexican embassies and consulates denouncing the government&#039;s interference in the legal functioning of a union. The IMF launched a complaint with the International Labour Organisation against the Mexican government citing violations of ILO convention 87. The IMF Executive Committee decided to investigate both the circumstances surrounding the accident at the mine and the interference of the government in union affairs.Gómez was officially reinstated as general secretary on April 11, 2007, after a federal court ruled the Labour Ministry had overstepped its authority and failed to comply with established procedures. However, Gómez remains in exile due to unfounded pending charges and intense safety and security threats against him and his family.The IMF and its affiliates continue to provide solidarity support to the Mexican union in their struggle for independence and recognition of workers&#039; rights. <a href="../mexico">http://www.imfmetal.org/mexico</a>

Calling for justice in Mexico

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Global action against precarious work

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