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10 August, 2005ICEM News release No. 41/2001
Forced labour in Burma and union-busting in the USA - Norwegian oil workers' union NOPEF is helping to fight both.
Behind the campaigns is the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM), to which NOPEF is affiliated at the global level.
BURMA
NORWAY'S PETROLEUM FUND SHOULD HALT INVESTMENTS, UNION SAYS
Norway's state-run Petroleum Fund must avoid investing in companies that operate in Burma, says NOPEF President Leif Sande. His call follows revelations that the Fund, which is a big international investor, had put money into foreign companies with interests in Burma.
The Burmese military regime is involved in the systematic, widespread and brutal use of forced labour, as well as in other human rights violations and the worldwide trafficking of illegal narcotics.
Last November, the UN's International Labour Organisation (ILO) approved a resolution urging members to "review their relations with Burma" and "ensure that such relations do not perpetuate the system of forced or compulsory labour in that country." The ILO brings together representatives of the world's governments, employers and unions.
NOPEF's call is part of a worldwide lobby by the ICEM and other union internationals to halt foreign investment in Burma until forced labour ends and democracy is restored.
The ICEM's Burma campaign - with a special screensaver - is online now.
The Norwegian Petroleum Fund was set up in 1990 to administer and invest the State's revenues from the oil industry. Rising oil prices, a 78 percent taxation rate on the oil sector and investment of the proceeds have rapidly stocked up the Fund. By the first quarter of this year, it was worth 424.9 billion Norwegian kroner - over 45.5 billion US dollars. So it is a significant force on international capital markets.
Norway is often quick to criticise human rights violations, NOPEF's Leif Sande pointed out. So the Petroleum Fund's involvement with companies operating in Burma is "not only hypocrisy, it is totally unacceptable.
"Where is the sense of decency and business ethics?" Sande asked. The Norwegian State should "establish ethical regulations for its investments," he insisted.
U.S. UNION-BUSTING
NORWEGIAN OIL COMPANIES PRESS TRICO MARINE
Urged on by NOPEF, Norwegian oil companies are now pressing Trico Marine Services to end its union-busting in the USA.
In both the US and Norway, Trico supplies shipping to the oil industry. In Norway, Trico respects workers' right to organise, but in the US, it is actively anti-union.
Norwegian oil company Norsk Hydro has halted negotiations with Trico on the chartering of vessels. Hydro had been due to extend its charter of two Trico vessels and sign a new contract for a third. But "Hydro has shown great understanding for our point of view," says NOPEF shop steward Geir Nilsen. "The contracts, which were to have been concluded on 30 June, have now been postponed for an indefinite period."
Nilsen was on a delegation of Norwegian union reps who visited Louisiana last month to look into the situation at Trico. They found that the company was engaged in "very serious trade union busting" there. The Norwegians also complained that they were prevented from entering relevant sites, and said they were repeatedly harassed by the police.
Statoil is another Norwegian oil company that hires Trico vessels for use in the North Sea. "Statoil must use its position vis-a-vis the Norwegian Trico to press the US company Trico to accept the freedom to organise," NOPEF insists.
"Our aim is that Trico Norway and Trico USA must talk to each other in order to settle the question," says Svein Erik Hansen, NOPEF shop steward at Statoil. The Statoil management has asked for his proposals on follow-up.
Statoil has a clear policy of promoting trade union rights worldwide. In 1998, the ICEM, NOPEF and Statoil signed the oil sector's first-ever globally applicable agreement on industrial relations. This covers basic trade union rights, health, safety and the environment, information and training. In March 2001, an updated and further strengthened version of the agreement was concluded. This new agreement takes full account of the UN's Global Compact initiative, under which multinationals commit themselves to promote trade union rights and other human rights.
The ICEM, in cooperation with the International Transport Workers' Federation, has been fully involved in the Trico campaign. ICEM General Secretary Fred Higgs has been in contact with senior Statoil management on this issue and has emphasised that Statoil, as a major Trico customer, could use its influence to help resolve the question of trade union recognition in the US.
Also on last month's visit to Louisiana were Ingard Haugeberg, NOPEF shop steward at BP Amoco, and Arild Theimann, who chairs the NOPEF oilworkers' section in Transocean Sedco Forex. Both have raised the Trico case with their company managements.
"On Trico and on Burma, NOPEF's response has been rapid and effective," Fred Higgs said today. "These are good, practical examples of global solidarity in action."
NORWAY
OIL STRIKE FROM TONIGHT?
Back in Norway, meanwhile, NOPEF could be involved in strike action from midnight tonight. Along with two other unions, it has served notice of a strike on eight mobile drilling units operated by eleven offshore contracting companies. About a thousand workers would be called out. At issue is a union claim for shorter working hours. The employers' last offer was "no proposal at all - in fact, it was back to the Stone Age," said NOPEF President Leif Sande. A final attempt at mediation began at 11.00 this morning. If no agreement is reached by midnight, the strike could go ahead.
Behind the campaigns is the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM), to which NOPEF is affiliated at the global level.
BURMA
NORWAY'S PETROLEUM FUND SHOULD HALT INVESTMENTS, UNION SAYS
Norway's state-run Petroleum Fund must avoid investing in companies that operate in Burma, says NOPEF President Leif Sande. His call follows revelations that the Fund, which is a big international investor, had put money into foreign companies with interests in Burma.
The Burmese military regime is involved in the systematic, widespread and brutal use of forced labour, as well as in other human rights violations and the worldwide trafficking of illegal narcotics.
Last November, the UN's International Labour Organisation (ILO) approved a resolution urging members to "review their relations with Burma" and "ensure that such relations do not perpetuate the system of forced or compulsory labour in that country." The ILO brings together representatives of the world's governments, employers and unions.
NOPEF's call is part of a worldwide lobby by the ICEM and other union internationals to halt foreign investment in Burma until forced labour ends and democracy is restored.
The ICEM's Burma campaign - with a special screensaver - is online now.
The Norwegian Petroleum Fund was set up in 1990 to administer and invest the State's revenues from the oil industry. Rising oil prices, a 78 percent taxation rate on the oil sector and investment of the proceeds have rapidly stocked up the Fund. By the first quarter of this year, it was worth 424.9 billion Norwegian kroner - over 45.5 billion US dollars. So it is a significant force on international capital markets.
Norway is often quick to criticise human rights violations, NOPEF's Leif Sande pointed out. So the Petroleum Fund's involvement with companies operating in Burma is "not only hypocrisy, it is totally unacceptable.
"Where is the sense of decency and business ethics?" Sande asked. The Norwegian State should "establish ethical regulations for its investments," he insisted.
U.S. UNION-BUSTING
NORWEGIAN OIL COMPANIES PRESS TRICO MARINE
Urged on by NOPEF, Norwegian oil companies are now pressing Trico Marine Services to end its union-busting in the USA.
In both the US and Norway, Trico supplies shipping to the oil industry. In Norway, Trico respects workers' right to organise, but in the US, it is actively anti-union.
Norwegian oil company Norsk Hydro has halted negotiations with Trico on the chartering of vessels. Hydro had been due to extend its charter of two Trico vessels and sign a new contract for a third. But "Hydro has shown great understanding for our point of view," says NOPEF shop steward Geir Nilsen. "The contracts, which were to have been concluded on 30 June, have now been postponed for an indefinite period."
Nilsen was on a delegation of Norwegian union reps who visited Louisiana last month to look into the situation at Trico. They found that the company was engaged in "very serious trade union busting" there. The Norwegians also complained that they were prevented from entering relevant sites, and said they were repeatedly harassed by the police.
Statoil is another Norwegian oil company that hires Trico vessels for use in the North Sea. "Statoil must use its position vis-a-vis the Norwegian Trico to press the US company Trico to accept the freedom to organise," NOPEF insists.
"Our aim is that Trico Norway and Trico USA must talk to each other in order to settle the question," says Svein Erik Hansen, NOPEF shop steward at Statoil. The Statoil management has asked for his proposals on follow-up.
Statoil has a clear policy of promoting trade union rights worldwide. In 1998, the ICEM, NOPEF and Statoil signed the oil sector's first-ever globally applicable agreement on industrial relations. This covers basic trade union rights, health, safety and the environment, information and training. In March 2001, an updated and further strengthened version of the agreement was concluded. This new agreement takes full account of the UN's Global Compact initiative, under which multinationals commit themselves to promote trade union rights and other human rights.
The ICEM, in cooperation with the International Transport Workers' Federation, has been fully involved in the Trico campaign. ICEM General Secretary Fred Higgs has been in contact with senior Statoil management on this issue and has emphasised that Statoil, as a major Trico customer, could use its influence to help resolve the question of trade union recognition in the US.
Also on last month's visit to Louisiana were Ingard Haugeberg, NOPEF shop steward at BP Amoco, and Arild Theimann, who chairs the NOPEF oilworkers' section in Transocean Sedco Forex. Both have raised the Trico case with their company managements.
"On Trico and on Burma, NOPEF's response has been rapid and effective," Fred Higgs said today. "These are good, practical examples of global solidarity in action."
NORWAY
OIL STRIKE FROM TONIGHT?
Back in Norway, meanwhile, NOPEF could be involved in strike action from midnight tonight. Along with two other unions, it has served notice of a strike on eight mobile drilling units operated by eleven offshore contracting companies. About a thousand workers would be called out. At issue is a union claim for shorter working hours. The employers' last offer was "no proposal at all - in fact, it was back to the Stone Age," said NOPEF President Leif Sande. A final attempt at mediation began at 11.00 this morning. If no agreement is reached by midnight, the strike could go ahead.