Geneva / Switzerland, 8 November 2005: Under the banner of Building a united global trade union movement in construction, wood and forestry, delegates of the International Federation of Building and Wood Workers (IFBWW) will gather at the 22nd World Congress in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Hosted by the IFBWW¹s Argentinian affiliates, our congress will debate and decide on issues of historic importance.
The Congress will feature notable speakers including Argentinian President, Dr. Nestor Kirchner and Minister of labour, employment and social security, Dr.Carlos Tomada. In addition, there will be many contributions from the trade union movement, such as the Argentinian General Secretary of the Chamber of construction industry, EI General Secretary, Director Bureau for Workers' Activities (ACTRAV) and other dignitaries. IFBWW President, Roel de Vries, will deliver the keynote speech on the subject of Building a united global trade union movement in construction, wood and forestry.
Around 600 delegates from the 278 IFBWW-affiliated organisations will attend the IFBWW congress which will review the achievements of our Federation in the past four years and discuss the process towards creating a new Federation, Building Wood Workers International (BWI) between the World Federation of Building and Wood Workers and the IFBWW.
The BWI founding congress will create on the 9th of December a united global new organization for the building, building materials, wood and forestry workers worldwide as a response to the need for greater international solidarity, unity and strength in order to confront corporated-driven globalization. In this connection, delegates will discuss BWI's action plan 2005-2008 on negotiating for sustainable industrial development, organising a global trade union movement and campaigning for international solidarity. Delegates will also elect the new leadership and adopt the new Statutes.
