The Conference of the metalworkers' unions of the countries of Mediterranean Europe kicks off this morning, promoted in Istanbul by the national Fim Cisl together with the TÜRK Metal union and the SindNova Institute. The works were introduced by the speeches of Pevrul Kavlak and Marco Bentivogli, respectively president of TÜRK METAL and general secretary of the FIM-CISL, followed by those of Patrick Itschert of the CES and Luis Colunga, deputy general secretary of industriAll Europe.
At the Conference, which will close on Friday 5 May, various trade union representatives from the south-west region (Spain and France) and the south-east region of the Balkans (Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro and Serbia) take part, as well as from Italy and Turkey. Among the speakers, in addition to figures from the academic world of Turkey and Italy, also representatives of European trade unionism (industriAll and CES) and international trade unionism (IndustriALL Global Union).
The general secretary of the Fim Cisl Marco Bentivogli, at the opening of the proceedings, underlined how the purpose of this conference is to strengthen cooperation and the trade union network in the European countries of the Mediterranean area: "Because - he explained - we increasingly need a union capable of negotiating beyond national borders : the extension of collective bargaining and a strong role of trade unions, in fact, are correlated factors. To achieve this goal – continued the Fim leader – everyone needs the other. The multinational companies present in our countries and globalization also represent a resource, are not negative elements in themselves, but they can become so if politics gives up and if the union will not be able to anticipate and accompany the changes. However, companies operating on the global market must not take advantage of the disparities existing in our countries in terms of working conditions and standards of social protection. Because the enhancement of people must be one of the objectives of their mission".
