IndustriALL-European Trade Union Born Today with Merger of Three Federations

In Brussels today, 16 May, the European Mine, Chemical and Energy Workers’ Federation (EMCEF), European Metalworkers’ Federation (EMF), and the European Trade Union Federation for Textiles, Clothing, Leather and Footwear (ETUF-TCL) formally merged to become IndustriALL-European Trade Union, a new union federation representing seven million workers.

The Congress took place in the Square Brussels Meeting Centre with 270 delegates from 125 trade unions taking part. Another 375 guests and visitors witnessed today’s historic founding Congress.

The new federation, to officially take effect 1 June, will become a fighting force as a dynamic workers’ structure aimed at making European industry the motor for both job growth and sustainable economic growth. The three current federations vowed that social progress and the European social model will no longer be victimised by past neo-liberal policies.

EMCEF General Secretary Michael Wolters called the timing of the Congress ideal, considering recent elections in France and Greece which he said will turn back the harmful austerity measures undertaken by governments.

“What Europe needs is a quality of growth based on more public spending and mandates for worker-friendly and socially-enriching initiatives that drive our economies forward,” said Wolters. “The work that starts here today is focused on just that.”

Michael Vassiliadis, President of Germany’s IGBCE, was elected President of IndustriALL-European Trade Union, while current EMF General Secretary Ulrich Eckelmann was elected to the position of General Secretary.

Anders Ferbe of IF Metall, Sweden, Renzo Ambrosetti, UNIA, Switzerland, and Valeria Fedeli, CGIL FILCTEM, Italy, were elected Vice Presidents, while Sylvain Lefebvre, EMCEF, Bart Samyn, EMF, and Luc Triangle, ETUF-TCL, were elected to the posts of Deputy General Secretaries.

IndustriALL-European Trade Union’s structure will consist of four policy committees – Collective Bargaining and Social Policy, Company Policy, Industrial Policy, and Social Dialogue Policy. It will also be composed of eight regions: South, Benelux, Central, South-East, Eastern, British, Nordic/Baltic, and South-West.

Regarding industrial policy, IndustriALL-European Trade Union will focus on sustainable industrial growth, with the intent to create more jobs and better quality jobs in Europe. The company policy platform will focus on work within some 600 European Workers Councils.

Collective bargaining and social policy will key on achieving economic balance and also social and distributional balance. The new European trade union federation will consist of 11 sectoral social dialogue bodies that will be overseen by a policy coordination committee.