Towards the end of June, Helsinki will be awash with international conferences. The Central Committee of the International Metalworkers Federation, IMF, will meet on the 23rd and 24th June 1999. Then follows the ETUC Women's Committee Conference on the 28th June and then the 9th Statutory Congress of the ETUC from 29th June to 2nd July. The ETUC Congress will be held in Finlandia Hall, the premier conference centre in the heart of Helsinki.

Representatives of all 176 IMF affiliated unions will attend the IMF Central Committee Meeting. IMF has affiliated unions in 94 countries, with approximately 20 million members in total. There are four IMF member organisations in Finland, these being the Finnish Metalworkers Union, the Union of Salaried Employees in Industry in Finland STL, the Union of Technical Employees and the Finnish Association of Graduate Engineers TEK. Application for membership has also been made by the Union of Professional Engineers of Finland.

IMF is the largest of the International Trade Secretariats and represents the metal industry, the shipbuilding industry, the automobile industry, the aviation industry and the electrical and electronic industries. At present the topics of globalisation, union recruitment, trade union rights, multinational companies, international solidarity, employment and job opportunities along with sustainable development and growth of the economy are the central issues on which IMF is focussing its activities.