Unions manage to secure talks over IMF policies

The Cgil, Csil and Uil unions have ensured that they will be involved in talks over the future of the Italian Red Cross. The unions have been concerned that the organisation would be restructured and parts of it privatised with no consultation with the unions. The three unions will now discuss the plans for the service and what provisions are being put in place to protect workers' pay, conditions and jobs and workers' rights in relation to mobility and potential transfer to other organisations. [Read more at > Cisl-Fp (IT)->http://www.fp.cisl.it/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id

Dun Laoghaire council in Dublin has agreed to meet with the SIPTU union and the other three councils in the Dublin area to resolve a dispute over waste privatisation. SIPTU has threatened strike action over the council’s unilateral proposal to outsource its waste collection. The union argues that this contravenes the recently negotiated “Croke Park” national agreement that set out clear procedures for negotiations over privatisation and restructuring in local government. [Read more at > SIPTU (EN)->http://www.siptu.ie/PressRoom/NewsReleases/2010/Name,11821,en.html] [And > earlier developments-

The global trade union confederation, ITUC, has published a short briefing on the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that demonstrates how the institution continues to argue for labour market deregulation and to include labour market reform in its loan negotiations. The ITUC says that: "Throughout southern and eastern Europe, the IMF has formulated country-level policy advice or lending conditions that have pushed countries to deregulate labour markets and dismantle or weaken collective bargaining institutions on the pretext that it will make their economies more “competitive” and increase