The move marked a further decline in the influence of the once-mighty metalworkers' union.

ECONOMIST: Germany

The metalworkers' union, which kicks off Germany's annual wage negotiations, generally sets the tone for other trade unions' claims.

ECONOMIST: Germany

Organised by the metalworkers' union FIOM and the CGIL union, Saturday's peaceful march and rally drew supporters from across the country.

BBC: Italy coalition: Thousands rally in Rome against cuts

The metalworkers' proposals could improve matters, at least for big companies.

ECONOMIST: Brazil's labour laws: Employer, beware | The

He was president of a state-registered trade union, the unlikely sounding Union of Nomadic Metalworking Gypsies, but this may have arisen simply because his clanspeople were metalworkers.

ECONOMIST: Ion Cioaba

About.com was founded by Scott Kurnit, who saw in the early internet an analogy to the spirit of cobblers and metalworkers had in the sixteen and seventeen hundreds.

FORBES: About.com - Flashback To When The Web Was Young

Among those that did not: Isource Metals, a dot-com-flavored bi-monthly aimed at metalworkers, and Surplus News, which was supposed to bring together buyers and sellers of excess goods.

FORBES: Staying On Target

Maurizio Landini, secretary-general of Fiom-Cgil, a metalworkers' union which has fought hard against Fiat's new working conditions, says his main fear is that Fabbrica Italia only exists on paper.

ECONOMIST: Italy worries that its biggest manufacturer may leave