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The International Trade Union Congress (ITUC) today launched the third and final stage of a new Youth Campaign. The campaign video was released 18 March, and that can be seen <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWvuOqCEU9U">here</a>. 
 
On 19 March, the campaign blog and brochure were released, so visit the blog <a href="http://youth.ituc-csi.org/ITUC-launches-Youth-Campaign-STEP,224 ">here</a> and view the brochure <a href="http://youth.ituc-csi.org/IMG/pdf/Youth_EN_Final.pdf">here</a>. 
 
The Youth Blog has been redesigned and modernised, with new functionalities such as Facebook and Twitter. The brochure is a best practice guide on organising young people, informing young people about trade union work at the global, as well as national level. 

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The ITUC calls on supporters to redistribute the materials of its Youth Campaign, and to share the video and become involved via online social networking platforms. For hard copies of the brochure, contact the ITUC here <a href="mailto:youth@ituc-csi.org">youth@ituc-csi.org</a>. 
 
The various tools made available through this campaign are of valuable use for trade unions throughout the world in order to complement their existing organising work for new young members. The tools will especially assist unions in illustrating the international side of their work. 
 
Today, the new Youth Campaign website will be made available online. Visit the page <a href="http://www.changetheworld-now.com/ ">here</a>.

ITUC Launches Youth Campaign

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The International Textile, Garment, and Leather Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITGLWF) is calling on the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers&rsquo; and Exporters&rsquo; Association (BGMEA), as well as sourcing companies that use the Garib &amp; Garib knitwear factory in Gazipur, Bangladesh, to better compensate the families of 22 workers killed and 50 others injured in a factory fire on 25 February. 
 
The ITGLWF is demanding that the BGMEA and multinational sourcing companies join the Global Union Federation in setting up a relief scheme that fully meets the needs of families of the deceased, as well as those injured at Garib &amp; Garib in Gazipur, some 30 kilometres outside of Dhaka. 
 
To date, the BGMEA has stepped forward with payment of 200,000 taka (&euro;2,085) to each family, while owners of the Garib &amp; Garib have given a mere pittance to families to cover funeral expenses &ndash; 2,085 taka (&euro;150). 

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Left, ITGLWF General Secretary, Patrick Itschert
Said ITGLWF General Secretary Patrick Itschert, &ldquo;The establishment of a multi-stakeholder team to determine the needs of those affected, on the basis of field research into the demographics of the victims&rdquo; is essential for fairness. &ldquo;Involving the (BGMEA) in this exercise in particular is an important means of making them aware of the level of compensation necessary to assist families in such circumstances,&rdquo; he added. 
 
The ITGLWF is offering to hold a round-table meeting in Dhaka with the employers&rsquo; association and the brand names to implement the compensation scheme. The union federation said that in 2005, following the collapse of the nine-story Spectrum garment factory that killed 64 and seriously injured 84 others in Savar, Bangladesh, ITGLWF and Spanish retailer Inditex established a compensation protocol that could serve as the model for victims and workers of Garib &amp; Garib. 
 
To date, only H&amp;M of Sweden and Teddy SpA (Terranova) of Italy have confirmed they source from Garib &amp; Garib, but neither company has yet to announce its compensation to victims. 
 
In the evening of 25 February, an electric short-circuit on the second floor of the factory caused a fire, trapping workers because stairwells were blocked by goods and production materials. Many of the workers retreated up several flights of stairs, where they were consumed by rising black smoke and heat. Reportedly, security guards on duty did not know how to operate fire extinguishers and water hydrants. Of the 22 victims, 15 were women. 
 
Only seven months before, in August 2009, another fire at the Garib &amp; Garib factory in Gazipur killed a firefighter and injured seven workers.

ITGLWF Demands Proper Pay Protocol in Aftermath of Deadly Bangladesh Apparel Fire

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The latest in a series of Caspian Sea Oil &amp; Gas Workers&rsquo; Network meetings took place in Baku, Azerbaijan, on 22-23 February, again with support fro the German Friedrich-Ebert Foundation (FES). FES&rsquo;s local representative in Baku, Rashad Huseynli, actively participating in the event. 
 
Lars Myhre, chair of ICEM&rsquo;s Energy Industries Section and a founder of Norwegian affiliate Industri Energi (IE), again headed this year&rsquo;s discussions. IE has played a strong role in the network since its inception and has carried out extensive bilateral programmes and exchanges with the host union, the Oil and Gas Workers Union of Azerbaijan. 

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Some of the participants at the Caspian Workers&rsquo; Network 
Delegates attending came from the Russia Oil &amp; Gas Workers&rsquo; Union (ROGWU), led by President Lev Mironov, and included representatives from the trade union structures of both Gazprom and Rosneft. The host union delegation, led by President Jahangir Aliev, included a representative from the Lukoil trade union in Azerbaijan, as well as the newly-elected chairman of the trade union branch at the Caspian Shipyard Company. 
 
Workers here had seen the success of oil workers&rsquo; organising at various contract company operations and began organising themselves. The union is the latest branch structure to affiliate to the Oil and Gas Workers&rsquo; Union of Azerbaijan, which has successfully organised over 400 of the 650 workers at the shipyard. Apologies for absence were received from ICEM affiliates Petrol-Iş of Turkey and the Oil Workers of Kazakhstan, active members of the network. Both unions were unable to attend because of important meetings in their respective countries. 
 
After an opening session and delegate introductions, updates were given on ICEM activities in Eastern Europe/Central Asia by ICEM Regional Coordinator Anatoly Surin. Jim Catterson, ICEM&rsquo;s Energy Industries Officer, gave an overview of the oil and gas sectors globally. Delegates then shared detailed information on the latest situations in their country&rsquo;s energy sectors, covering such issues as organising, terms and conditions of employment, and recent investments by various multinational companies. 

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Front, from left: Oil and Gas Workers&rsquo; Union of Azerbaijan Leader Jahangir Aliyev, ICEM&rsquo;s Anatoly Surin, and Lev Mironov, President of ROGWU 
Lars Myhre gave a detailed presentation on the various agreements that IE has covering Statoil in Norway. 
 
The previous meeting of the Network had formulated a declaration of common social standards to aim for in national negotiations, and this meeting focused on the potential for engaging the multinational companies operating in the Caspian region in a regional social dialog forum. Detailed presentations covering their operations in the Caspian were given by management representatives of both Statoil of Norway and SOCAR, the state-owned company of Azerbaijan that is in the process of expanding regionally, having recently purchased a refinery in Turkey. Both presentations led to lively question and answer sessions. 
 
After a general presentation by Jim Catterson on ICEM activities regarding Social Dialog including Global Framework Agreements (GFAs), presentations were made by Myhre and Lev Mironov on the GFAs that ICEM has with Statoil and Lukoil. 
 
In conclusion, delegates emphasized that the meeting had been extremely useful and had led to a considerable exchange of valuable information. It was time, however, to make the work of the Network more comprehensive and to ensure an effective information exchange occurs between network meetings. 
 
With this in mind, ICEM was asked to create a section of the ICEM website which would initially include the background material and presentations made at the meeting, as well as a report on the discussions. ICEM would also circulate a questionnaire asking all network members to detail the companies that operate in their section of the Caspian and give information on workforce numbers, trade union organization, and terms and conditions of employment. 
 
The results of the questionnaire would also be published. The study would also give a basis as to which companies to approach in order to establish routine social dialog at this regional level. Since ROGWU is considering introducing a system of video-conferencing for routine communication with regions across the Russian Federation, ICEM will also explore the use of this technology for more frequent exchanges. 
 
The work of the Caspian Sea Oil &amp; Gas Workers&rsquo; Network will also form part of the agenda of the forthcoming ICEM World Conference for the Energy Industries, to be held in Stavanger, Norway, from 6-8 September.

Energy Workers’ Network of Caspian Meets in Baku

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The ICEM reported on 22 February in InBrief No. 150 that the affiliated mining union the National Miners&rsquo; and Metalworkers&rsquo; Union (FNTMMSP), the country&rsquo;s largest mining union federation, has taken strike action at three mines of the precious metal producer Buenaventura. Peruvian law stipulates that companies must share a minimum of 8% of its profits with workers. The union claims Buenaventura are hiding financial information of the period 2006-2009 in order to avoid profit payments to the 4,000 workers during a global price boom. 
 
With the Peruvian Ministry of Labour siding with the company, and announcing the strike illegal, workers were forced back to work to avoid losing their jobs. This decision by the government has led FNTMMSP to go on short, rolling strikes. Workers will again down tools this Friday, 26 March, at the Antapite gold mine, and the next day at the Uchucchacua silver and Orcopampa gold mines of Buenaventura. 

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A FNTMMSP local leader at the Orcopampa mine stated that the demands of the strikers include improvements in working conditions, and the rehiring of a miner fired during an earlier strike, as well as a larger share of profit-earning bonuses. 
 
Buenaventura managers have so far refused to negotiate, with Buenaventura CEO Carlos G&aacute;lvez stating that only shareholders have the power to increase workers&rsquo; wages. He said management is powerless to avoid the rolling strikes. 
 
Uchucchacua is located in Lima's Oy&oacute;n province, Orcopampa in Arequipa region, and Antapite in Huancavelica region. Buenaventura operates four other mines and has a controlling interest in mining companies Cedimin and El Brocal. El Brocal workers went on a separate strike 13 March in response to management failing to pay agreed pay raises. 
 
Elsewhere in the Peruvian mining industry, 630 workers at Doe Run&rsquo;s Cobriza copper mine have ended a strike after one day, as company officials immediately began tripartite negotiations with FNTMMSP and the Labour Ministry. 

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FNTMMSP General Secretary, Luis Castillo Carlos
FNTMMSP General Secretary Luis Castillo has led the negotiations for the mineworkers of Doe Run. Castillo argues that the collective agreement has not been fulfilled by management, whereas it has been by workers, a year after it was signed. 
 
Doe Run Peru has been hard hit by the financial downturn. The operation, which is a unit of the US-based Renco Group, had its credit line cut six months ago. 
 
The company was expelled from the country&rsquo;s National Association of Mining and Energy for not completing a government-mandated clean-up at the metals processing complex in the central Peruvian city of La Oroya, which environmental organizations say is one of the world&rsquo;s most polluted places. 
 
Earlier this month, Doe Run Peru signed a letter of intent with Swiss mining multinational Glencore. If the agreement on a sale goes through, Glencore will provide Doe Run with a credit of some US$100 million, and will also finance the environmental clean-up demanded by government. 
 
The Peruvian mining industry&rsquo;s US$16.36 billion in foreign sales last year amounted to nearly 61% of the Andean nation&rsquo;s total exports.

Peruvian Miners Struggle for Fair Profit Share Continues

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Two global trade union federations whose affiliates represent over 45 million workers, together with four Norwegian trade unions, have asked the Council on Ethics of the Government Pension Fund of Norway to divest its holdings in the Mexican mining conglomerate Grupo Mexico because of alleged labor and environmental violations. 
 
The International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mining and General Workers&rsquo; Unions (ICEM) and the International Metalworkers Federation (IMF) sent a <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/Ltr_to_Ethical_Council-Mexico.pdf">letter</a> requesting the divestment to the Council on Ethics, which is charged with overseeing responsible investments of the Government Pension Fund, the second largest pension fund in the world. Grupo Mexico is accused of labor rights violations, environmental destruction and shareholder fraud. The letter also requests divestment in Southern Copper, Grupo Mexico&rsquo;s wholly-owned subsidiary. 

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Arve Bakke, Fellesforbundet President
&ldquo;We are supporting this action on behalf of trade unionists in Mexico to call attention to the extreme abuses of Grupo Mexico and to ask the Council on Ethics to drop Grupo Mexico as an investment in accordance with the Fund&rsquo;s very high standards and Norwegian law,&rdquo; said Fellesforbundet President Arve Bakke. &ldquo;The wealth of future generations in Norway must not be invested in companies which systematically attack labor unions and damage the environment, as Grupo Mexico has done.&rdquo; 
 
Manfred Warda, ICEM General Secretary, stated, &ldquo;We have national mining unions in over 60 countries, and nowhere have we found more despicable behavior than that demonstrated by Grupo Mexico.&rdquo; 
 
The overt attempt by Grupo Mexico to crush the National Union of Mine and Metal Workers of the Mexican Republic (SNTMMSRM or Los Mineros) and gross violations of workers&rsquo; rights to freely associate and collectively bargain as defined by the International Labor Organization are core arguments for divestment set forth in the letter. 
 
&ldquo;The illegal practices of Grupo Mexico, unfortunately supported by a corrupt Mexican government, include seizing the union&rsquo;s assets, attempting to replace the legitimate union with one selected by the company, and launching a protracted campaign of repression against the union&rsquo;s leadership,&rdquo; said IMF General Secretary Jryki Raina, 
 
In August 2007 the government and Grupo Mexico forced workers at eight mines to join a company-sponsored union using &ldquo;elections&rdquo; in which workers had to vote publicly in front of their employer. One union leader has been imprisoned without bond since December 2008. There are also credible allegations that Grupo Mexico is responsible for the violent deaths of two workers on two separate occasions. 
 
Despite these attacks, Los Mineros continues to negotiate wage increases across the country that average twice the government-imposed wage cap, which unions believe is a major motivation for Grupo Mexico&rsquo;s attacks. It is especially noteworthy that Los Mineros maintains non-confrontational labor relations with most employers and has some 70 collective bargaining agreements with multinational employers such as Goldcorp, Bombardier and ArcelorMittal. 

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The company is accused of gross health and safety violations at the Pasta de Conchos mine, where 65 workers died in an explosion in 2006, and the copper mine at Cananea, where workers have been on strike since July 2007. 
 
Studies of Grupo Mexico smelter operations in Mexico illuminate the company&rsquo;s shameful environmental record where abnormal levels of toxic minerals such as lead, zinc, copper, cadmium, mercury, and magnesium were found among the general populations, including high levels of arsenic and cadmium among children. In Peru, Grupo Mexico was forced to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to remediate its contamination of water and air. In Chile the company is accused of developing a mining project on indigenous land without consultation with local natives or assessing environmental damage. 
 
According to sources cited by the trade unions submitting the letter, the cost to shareholders of Grupo Mexico&rsquo;s abysmal labor practices exceeds $3 billion (USD) on top of the hundreds of millions required to remediate the company&rsquo;s environmental destruction in Peru. Grupo Mexico was convicted by a U.S. court in 2009 of defrauding shareholders of a wholly-owned subsidiary. Another subsidiary has been linked to drug trafficking. 
 
Covalence Ethical Quotation System, which tracks the ethical reputation of multinational companies, ranked Grupo Mexico 573rd out of 581 global companies in 2009. 
 
The trade unions and labor federations submitting the request for disinvestment anticipate that the Council on Ethics will thoroughly investigate the information and make an expedient decision to divest. 
 
Los Mineros is affiliated with both the ICEM and IMF. The Norwegian trade unions signing the letter include Fellesforbundet, Handel og Kontor i Norge, Industri Energi and Norsk Arbeidsmandsforbund. 
 
The ICEM represents 467 trade unions in 132 countries and the IMF covers over 200 trade unions in 100 countries. 
 
For more information see the <a href="http://www.imfmetal.org/index.cfm?n=663&amp;l=2 ">IMF</a> and <a href="/en/67-Search-ICEM-site?keywords=los+mineros">ICEM</a> websites. 
________________________________ 
 
For further information, please contact: 
Dick Blin, ICEM, +41 22 304 1842 
Anita Gardner, IMF, +41 22 308 5032

Trade Unions Ask Norwegian Pension Funds to Divest of Grupo Mexico Shares

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The 30,000 technical and professional employees of PEMEX, Mexico&rsquo;s large state-owned petroleum company, finally won the right to unionize upon their third attempt. The new union, &ldquo;Uni&oacute;n Nacional de T&eacute;cnicos y Profesionistas Petroleros&rdquo; (UNTyPP), received its registration on 16 December, and its leadership was officially recognized for the period beginning 18 March, 2008 through 17 March, 2012. The first two attempts at unionization (ONTCIP and UNTCIP) were denied registration by the government and the leaders fired. 
 
Following the successful court battle, culminating in registration from the Secretary of Labor and Social Welfare&rsquo;s office for the Registration of Associations (STPS), members of the new union were informed by company management that in order to retain their jobs they were required to sign two documents, one calling for the cancellation of the registration and the other a resignation from the union. 
 
Those who refused, along with organisers of the UNTyPP, were fired and violently removed from their workstations by paramilitaries, including the entire National Executive Committee of the union1. These workers must be immediately reinstated, and their rights respected under both Mexican and International law. PEMEX is also being urged by the international labour movement to accept union calls to come to the bargaining table and establish a working relationship with them. 
 
UNTyPP organisers have faced continued intimidation and threats throughout their campaign for registration. 
 
PEMEX is the 10th largest oil company in the world, and is the sole supplier of all commercial petrol and diesel stations in Mexico. Annual company revenue is US$78 billion. 
 
Visit the Labourstart site to write to President Calder&oacute;n and the PEMEX management, condemn the violations of labour and human rights of members and officers of the new UNTyPP trade union.

Mexican PEMEX Workers Win Registration for New Union, Face Continued Repression

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ICEM Hungarian affiliate, the Federation of Chemical Workers Union at the MOL B&aacute;ny&aacute;sz Szakszervezet (MOL RT), held its Congress in Budapest, 27 March. 
 
The Congress unanimously elected L&aacute;szl&oacute; Biri as the new President of the union. He replaces the outgoing J&oacute;zsef Kudela, who has retired. In letters between outgoing J&oacute;zsef Kudela and ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda, each of the two thanked the other for a long period of friendship and close cooperation, protecting the interests of Hungarian oil and gas workers, and developing international trade unionism in the region. 

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ICEM congratulates L&aacute;szl&oacute; Biri on his election, and looks forward to continuing good relations and successful work together. 
 
The MOL Group is an integrated oil and gas company, also present elsewhere in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. With 34,000 employees in total, MOL is the second largest company in Central and Eastern Europe.

Hungarian Chemical Workers’ Congress Elects New President, József Kudela Retires

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ICEM&rsquo;s Norwegian affiliated union, Industri Energi (IE), has established a trade union rights award in the name of the late trade unionist, Arthur Svensson. The award, to come with a cash prize, will be given to a person or organization for outstanding contributions for promoting trade union rights and the strengthening of trade unionism on the international and national levels. 
 
Deadline for nominations for this initial Arthur Svensson International Award for Trade Union Rights is 1 May 2010. The announcement of the winner will be made on 11 October 2010. 

<img alt="" src="" width="150" height="168" />
Arthur Svensson
The award comes with a prize of NOK 500,000, equal to &euro;61,016 or US$82,784. ICEM Vice President Liv Undheim (also Vice President of IE) is coordinated the award. Nominations can be sent to her at <a href="mailto:liv.undheim@industrienergi.no">liv.undheim@industrienergi.no</a>, or faxed to +47 23 06 1360. 
 
Arthur Svensson was a long-time leader of Norsk Kjemisk Forbund, the Norwegian Chemical Workers&rsquo; Association, which merged with NOPEF on 4 September 2006 to form IE. Svensson died in 2008, but left a legacy in Norway and beyond as a man who promoted global peace, disarmament, and a nuclear weapons-free world. 
 
He was also a driving force from his leadership positions of Norsk Kjemisk Forbund in Norwegian environment law, and a strong proponent of clean energy to drive clean industries. But first and foremost, he was a dedicated trade unionist, maintaining membership in LO-Norway for 61 years, the final 48 of those years with the Chemical Workers. 
 
Announcement of the award can be found <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/industrienergi_annonse_ENG.pdf">here</a>.

Norway’s IE Union Announces Arthur Svensson Labour Rights Award

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Mobil Producing Nigeria (MPN), the subsidiary of ExxonMobil, has begun dialogue with ICEM affiliate PENGASSAN to address the growing use of casual and temporary workers among its contractors in the upstream oil and gas sectors of the country. But it still refuses to take responsibility for the abuse and sudden disposal of casual workers of it contractors. 
 
That is according to Bayo Olowoshile, the General Secretary of PENGASSAN. In talks with Mobil Producing, the company has stated that it is willing to be an observer if contractors and labour brokers do choose to sit down with the union, but not to be an active participant. 

<img alt="" src="" width="150" height="225" />
Bayo Olowoshile, PENGASSAN General Secretary
&ldquo;That is unacceptable,&rdquo; said Olowoshile. &ldquo;The use of these workers is a disguise for MPN. They use Mobil&rsquo;s equipment, they use Mobil&rsquo;s facilities, and they perform the same work that full-time PENGASSAN members perform.&rdquo; He added that PENGASSAN&rsquo;s mandate is equal pay for equal work, and making all casual workers regular, rostered, and full-time employees with the multinational. 
 
Olowoshile said MPN uses 12 such companies, easily characterized as labour brokers, which utilize some 600 casual workers. They earn 40 to 50% less than regular workers, and are denied most social benefits, as well as the right to join a union. 
 
There has been some progress, however. Since an early February strike by PENGASSAN and junior staff belonging to NUPENG, and an ICEM intervention with US-based ExxonMobil over the issue, MPN has converted some 10% of all casual workers to full-time staff. The company has also encouraged its contractors to talk with the union. 
 
PENGASSAN is waiting on the federal Ministry of Labour to issue a ruling on the casualisation issue under Nigeria&rsquo;s local content policies. 
 
Meanwhile, NUPENG&rsquo;s Petroleum Tanker Drivers&rsquo; Division is preparing to strike another multinational&rsquo;s subsidiary over the same issue. NUPENG&rsquo;s Western Zonal committee could take industrial action any day against Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Co. for using contractors to employ casual workers, who are then retrenched at will without payment of entitlements. Similar to MPN, Shell uses contractors to disguise the employment relationship, with NUPENG saying that such &ldquo;pay masters&rdquo; gain far more money than what is paid casual workers.

Mobil Producing Nigeria Takes Some Steps to Address Casualisation

ICEM International Women’s Day Bulletin: 8 March 2010 / Boletín de la ICEM

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