IndusriALL: Foundation of new Global Union

A new global union to fight for human rights of working people will be founded on June 19 in Copenhagen, Denmark.

More than 1,000 unionists from every corner of the globe are meeting in Copenhagen June 18 to 20, 2102 to form IndustriALL Global Union, representing 50 million workers in 140 countries in the mining, energy and manufacturing sectors.

"Among the delegates are heroes who have been on the front-line of the fight for democracy and workers' rights," said Jyrki Raina, the in-coming general secretary of IndustriALL Global Union.

"Bashed, imprisoned and their lives threatened they come to Copenhagen to adopt a new Action Plan to ensure globalization delivers for the 99 per cent not just the 1 per cent.

"Workers and their unions, members of IndustriALL, have been at the forefront of the Arab Spring fight for democracy, the struggle against despots.

"In Copenhagen we will form a new union family of heroes, with strong bonds, ready to stick together through thick and thin - a new force in global solidarity taking up the fight for better working conditions and trade union rights around the world.

"IndustriALL will challenge the power of multinational companies like Rio Tinto and BHP," Jyrki Raina said. "We hope to negotiate on a global level with the global giants.

"IndustriALL will fight for a new model of globalization, a new economic and social model that puts people first, based on democracy and social justice."

On 25 May 2012 , the flag of IndustriALL Global Union was installed on Mount Everest by the courageous climber Dorje Khatri, member of the central committee of the Union of Trekking Travel Rafting and Airline Workers in Nepal.

IndustriALL will be founded in Copenhagen on 19 June 2012. The new organisation will bring together affiliates of the former global union federations: International Metalworkers' Federation (IMF), International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM) and International Textiles Garment and Leather Workers' Federation (ITGLWF).

IndustriALL Global Union will represent workers in a wide range of sectors from extraction of oil and gas, mining, generation and distribution of electric power, to manufacturing of metals and metal products, shipbuilding, automotive, aerospace, mechanical engineering, electronics, chemicals, rubber, pulp and paper, building materials, textiles, garments, leather and footwear and environmental services.

The new website, http://www.industriall-union.org , will go live on 19 June 2012.