On June 15-16, 2004, an IMF seminar on trade union rights was held in Chiatura, Georgia. The participants were trained by IMF trainers Elena Eskova (REPAM, Belarus) and Aleksandr Shemyakov (REU,Ukraine). They acquainted the Georgian metalworkers with main ILO Conventions and shared experience in methods of exposing the violations of union and workers� rights. It was the first seminar on this issue for Georgian metalworker union activists, who expressed their willingness to take part in future such seminars.

On June 29-30, 2004, a seminar on the role of unions in ensuring safe working conditions was held in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. The educators were Nina Filatjeva and Nickolay Shesterin (local union organisation �AutoVAZ�, AFW, Russia), who had earlier been trained during a joint project of the Finnish Metalworkers� Union, the IMF and AFW. They gave presentations on how health & safety work is organized in Russia, on public control of health & safety in a plant, and acquainted the audience with the �Elmeri� system for evaluation of working conditions, developed by the Finnish Metalworkers� Union. During a workshop, participants implemented the �Elmeri� system to evaluate the working conditions at �Tyanshan-Lada� (local union is affiliated to the AAM Kyrgyzstan). It was decided to hold a follow-up seminar on this topic and to invite the same educators.

Currently in the CIS countries, six projects are running for training trade union educators (three in Russia and three in Ukraine). Two more projects, in Ukraine and in Russia, are planned to start soon.