The 3rd meeting of the Standing Conference of Euro-Mediterranean Metal Industry Unions, co-organised by the Turkish Metal Union, Italian Metal Union FIM-CISL and Italian Trade Union Development Association Sindnova, was held in Didim between 3-5 October 2019.
The Standing Conference of Euro-Mediterranean Metal Industry Unions started with the opening speech of the late General President Pevrul Kavlak. In his speech, President Pevrul Kavlak started by touching upon the establishment of the Euro-Mediterranean Metal Industries Union Standing Conference: ‘I would like to express with happiness that these meetings have now become a tradition. Its meaning has deepened day by day. The presence of countries and trade unions participating for the first time this year makes us hopeful for the future. It is a very important step for all of us, who live around the same sea and share a common destiny, to come together to share our problems that are increasing day by day, to discuss them together, to produce common solutions, and to meet at the same brotherhood table.’
The following are the lines from the speech of President Pevrul Kavlak
‘IndustriALL membership has been an important line of struggle for us.’
Continuing his speech by reminding that Türk Metal has recently become a member of IndustriALL Global, General President Kavlak said; ‘The importance of IndustriALL membership for Türk Metal Union is as follows: We are organised in multinational companies operating in our country. In other words, the vast majority of our employers are European, American... For this reason, it is necessary to negotiate with these employers at the international level, to be together with our western class brothers and sisters working in the workplaces of the same employers, and to unite our struggle. IndustriALL membership constitutes an important line of struggle for us beyond a mere membership relationship. We need to fight not only for workers' rights and freedoms, our jobs, wages or social rights, but also for a better world to live in and for the future of our children. I believe that we will achieve this together.’
‘The task of the trade union movement today is to improve working conditions in the workplace.’
President Kavlak stated that with globalisation, the trade union struggle has transcended the borders of the country and added: ‘Achieving equal rights and freedoms for labourers and sustaining the welfare of everyone should be one of the main goals. The fight against poverty, hunger, exploitation, oppression and inequality must be at the forefront of labour's global goals. The task of the trade union movement today is to improve working conditions in the workplace. It is to raise the living standards of workers and their families. It is to ensure the fair distribution of income within and between countries.’ President Kavlak continued his speech by drawing attention to the increase in income inequality in our country and all over the world with globalisation as follows ‘The world economy is growing, trade is increasing exponentially, profits are exploding, but the share of the labour that creates all this is gradually decreasing. The share of workers, wage earners, labourers, those who live off their labour, who create all material wealth, is decreasing day by day. Unemployment and poverty are becoming more widespread in the world. The economic migration caused by these is affecting the whole world. Desperate people who migrate from their countries for a better life migrate to developed countries at the risk of death. The main cause of poverty, all conflicts, social problems such as migration and hunger in the world is the unfair distribution of wealth. Our main task is to change this unjust order and build a fairer world together.’
‘We must put a stop to this order as soon as possible.’
General President Kavlak concluded his speech by stating that as workers and labourers, we can put a stop to the bad trend in the world; ‘We who work with labour must put a stop to this order as soon as possible. Otherwise, there will not even be a world to live in, let alone industrial relations. Look, all scientists say that the worst is yet to come. They say that the issue of migration, which is one of the most current problems today, is nothing compared to the wave of migration that may occur in the near future. If global warming continues at this rate, we will witness the migration not of thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, but of millions. Such a migration will make the world a place where chaos and conflict will dominate, rather than a habitable place. Therefore, we must stop this trend as soon as possible. Well, who will say it? We will say it, we. Workers, labourers will say it. Our unity, our international solidarity. Because only we can say this. Only we have this power and conscience. From here I appeal to the entire working class: If we want to leave a livable world to our children, if we want to give them back the trust we have taken from them, then we will stand up while there is still time and before it is too late. We will stand up and say stop. As in the marvellous slogan of the climate strike: ‘Change the system, not the climate’. This is the duty we all have. I believe that this meeting will ignite the fuse of this task. I believe that beautiful days, hopeful days, a peaceful and peaceful world awaits us. We will never lose hope. We will take our strength from our unity. This is why we are together under the roof of the Euro-Mediterranean Permanent Conference. We will continue to be together and to struggle. Because, as I have always said, the struggle of the working class against globalisation can only be successful if it is effective at the international level. We can be stronger if we can be together with our class brothers and sisters in Europe, in the Balkans, in Eurasia and even in the Middle East, which is going through a great drama today. In other words, if we can organise an international working class solidarity, if we can make this solidarity permanent, we will increase our chances of success against this process. I think that this meeting will make important contributions to this common will and effort.’
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Following the speech of President Pevrul Kavlak, Kemal Özkan, IndustriALL Global Deputy Secretary General, Marco Bentivogli, General Secretary of Italian Metal Union FIM-CISL, Pedro Ayllon, General Secretary of Spanish Metal Union FI-USO and Tunç Soyer, Mayor of İzmir Metropolitan Municipality took the floor and delivered speeches. The opening programme of the 3rd meeting of the Permanent Conference of Euro-Mediterranean Metal Industry Unions also included a video message from Pedro Hojas, General Secretary of the Spanish Metal Union UGT-FICA, with his views on the conference and sustainability issues. Following the opening programme, the first day of the Euro-Mediterranean Standing Conference of Industrial Unions was completed with two panels titled ‘Economic Development and Sustainability’ and ‘Economic, Social and Environmental Impacts of the Concept of Sustainability and Trade Union Views’. On the second day of the conference, four panels titled ‘Manufacturing Industry, Environment and Sustainability’, ‘Sustainability, Environment and Concrete Cases Faced by Trade Unions’, ‘Green Economy, Environment and Production Policies’ and ‘Company Policies on Sustainable Development’ were organised.
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The Euro-Mediterranean Standing Conference of Metal Industry Unions was completed with the seventh and final panel titled ‘International Trade Union Movement and Sustainability’ held on Saturday, 5 October 2019. During the three-day conference, a total of 36 presentations were made in 7 panels. In the last panel, Luis Colunga, Deputy Secretary General of IndustriALL-Europe, made a presentation on Global Governance, the transformation of Industry and Manufacturing in the Context of the Global Economic, Political and Social System, and Patrick Itschert, Advisor to the General Secretary for Mediterranean Policy of ETUC, made a presentation on the current situation of ETUC in promoting Sustainability.
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The conference concluded with the speech of Yücel Top, Coordinator of the Euro-Mediterranean Metal Unions' Standing Conference (EMUIC), who shared his assessments on the formation, development and future of the Standing Conference, and Barbara Arsieni, Director of the International Relations Department of the Italian Metal Union FIM-CISL, who read the final declaration of the conference.
In the final declaration of the conference, it was pointed out that the third meeting of the Euro-Mediterranean Standing Conference of Metal Industry Unions, which convened in Didim on 3-4-5 October 2019, constituted a very important platform for reflection and exchange of views on common points in globalisation processes.
In the declaration where the message of unity on both shores of the Mediterranean was given; ‘A significant part of the public opinion is of the opinion that the Mediterranean is not a bridge but an ordinary sea. However, we believe that the Mediterranean is not a wall but a sea of friendship between its two shores as it was in the past. In order to realise these views, we believe that all the important actors of the society should work together. We declare that we can work with everyone around the principles of freedom, democracy, solidarity and responsibility towards future generations, in favour of equal opportunities and the elimination of existing inequalities.’
The declaration drew attention to the United Nations' 2030 goals, stressing that this programme aims at economic, social and environmental sustainability. It was also stated that this programme is in line with the policies advocated by the trade unions and the importance of the rational use of existing energy and natural resources was mentioned. The declaration advocates a transition from a flat economy based on the extraction of raw materials from the earth and their consumption to a transformational economy based on the recycling and reuse of waste and the use of renewable energy sources: ‘In the transition from a flat economy to a transformational economy, we can create an economy of 1 trillion 800 billion Euros by 2030 and increase the gross national product by 7% and ensure 3% efficiency of resources.’
In the declaration, it is emphasised that the public sector has a responsibility as well as the private sector in renewable energy and green economy, and that sustainability has a social dimension and that attention should be paid to this. It was also emphasised that the metal unions in the Mediterranean Region can work together to create alternative policies to the current policies and that resources and forces should be combined for this purpose. In the last part of the declaration, it was proposed that the next conference be held in Italy in 2020.
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The conference was attended by the Italian Metal Union FIM-CISL, Italian Trade Union Development Association Sindnova, Spanish Metal Union FI-USO, Spanish UGT-FICA Union, FGMM Metal Union of the French CFDT Confederation, FTM Union of the French CGT Confederation, CFE Union of the French CGC Confederation, Representatives from Serbia Industry Union, Serbia Autonomous Metal Union, Serbia IER Nezavisnost Union, British Community Union, British Unite Union, British GMB Union, Montenegro Metal Workers Union, Tunisia FGME-UGTT Union, Kosovo SPMK Union and TRNC Kamu-İş Union attended the conference. Didim Mayor Ahmet Deniz Atabay, Oyak Renault HR Director Murat Tolga Görgülü, Renault Industrial Relations Manufacturing and Logistics Professions Department Manager Neslihan Akkozak, Renault HR Industrial Relations Department Chief Ömer Başaran, BOSCH HR Director Hakan Oktar, BSH HR Director Osman Faruk Kapı, Borusan Human Resources Group President Nursel Ölmez Ateş, Beyçelik Gestamp Production Manager Abdulkadir Öztunç, Beyçelik Gestamp HR Manager Abdurrahman Çam, Siemens Production Manager Veli Turgut, Siemens HR Manager Gizem Gilik, TOFAŞ HR Director Cem Temizarabacı, Man Turkey Personnel Manager Serdar Kamışlı, Ford Otosan Industrial Relations Manager Selçuk Borakay, Mercedes-Benz Türk Deputy Chief Executive Officer Bülent Acicbe, Mercedes-Benz Türk HR Manager, İNDESİT Geenl Manager İlyas Kil, Erdemir Industrial Relations General Manager Mustafa Cem Çelebi, BOSCH Rexroth HR Manager Serra Yüksel, Arçelik Pazarlama Aş End. Relations. Okan Yosunlu, Arçelik Washing Machine Plant HR Manager Ersun Şahin, CMS Wheel HR Manager Armağan Akça, Ege Endüstri HR Manager Aslı Oğuz, Mahle Filter General Manager İdris Özkurt, Turkish Metal Union Vice Presidents Yusuf Ziya Odabaş, Uysal Altundağ, Halil Faki Erdal, General Financial Secretary Murat Salar, General Secretary Taliphan Kıymaz and Dr. Naci Önsal, President of the Turkish Metal Research and Training Centre.
During the three-day conference, Prof. Dr. Fabrizio Zucca, Lecturer at the Italian Research University, Prof. Dr. Necdet Sağlam, Lecturer at Anadolu University, Prof. Dr. Necdet Sağlam, Lecturer at ILO Turkey, Prof. Dr. Dr. Naci Önsal, President of the Research and Training Centre of Türk Metal. Prof. Dr. Fabrizio Zucca, Lecturer at the Italian Research University; Prof. Dr. Necdet Sağlam, Lecturer at Anadolu University; Ali Emre Yılmaztürk, ILO Turkey Office Expert; Efe Erdem, Director of the MESS Technology Centre; Guiseppe Provenzano, UfM Expert at the Union for the Mediterranean Association; Enrico Molinaro, President of the Italian Communication Network of the Anna Lindh Foundation; Thomas Blasi from the Italian Industrial Consultancy, Training and Evaluation Organisation; Matteo Rıccı, President of the Union of Italian Municipalities; Helmut Lense, Former Board Member of the IG Metal Union; Hakan Özyıldız, Former Deputy Undersecretary of the Ministry of Treasury; and Ahmet Altan from Izmir Metropolitan Municipality took part as panelists.
