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Global unions worldwide condemned the government of Iran&rsquo;s brutal suppression of bus drivers in Tehran and surrounding areas on 15 February. The condemnations came from the Global Union Federations, national unions and the ICFTU, but also were heard strongly from transport and oil unions in Jordan, Egypt, Iraq, Morocco and Tunisia. Rail workers and maritime unions in some of those North African and Middle East countries also participated in the Day of Action in support of Iranian bus drivers.
The government&rsquo;s Intelligence Ministry and its security militia, Basij, has deployed brute force since spring 2005 to put down strikes by drivers who have been seeking unpaid wages. And since December, the repression has become more violent with the government using a variety of means to silence drivers&rsquo; protests. 
On 28 January, 30 drivers were seriously injured and up to 1,400 were jailed for demonstrating. A few days later, family members and spouses of the jailed drivers gathered outside Iran&rsquo;s parliament, Majiles, and were met by security forces. The leader of the Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Co. (Sherkat-e Vahed), Mansour Osanloo, has been held since the government arrested leaders of the union on 22 December.
Because Iranian security teams have used beatings to force drivers out on routes, workers have resorted to a continual &ldquo;lights on&rdquo; protest of buses to draw attention to the violent crack-down of workers&rsquo; rights by Iran&rsquo;s authorities. The ICEM sent a strong letter of protest to the government of Iran on the 15 February Day of Action, which can be found at <a href="/index.php?id=24&amp;doc=1658.&amp;la=EN">/index.php?id=24&amp;doc=1658.&amp;la=EN</a>

Iranian Bus Drivers Given Global Union Support

Nepalese King Gyanendra&rsquo;s statement over the weekend that he has invited political parties for dialogue on democracy will be a hollow promise unless the monarchy frees all trade union and political prisoners. The king yesterday, 19 February, used a new twist to deflect mounting international pressure and growing pro-democracy protests at home, with an offer to the seven-party political coalition &ldquo;to come forth to fully activate, at the earliest, the stalled democratic process.&rdquo;
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The king&rsquo;s first public statement in his now year-long absolute rule that suspended basic rights, came in a state-run newspaper just before 3,000 demonstrators took to the streets in another set of peaceful protests challenging the monarchy. 
Gyanendra&rsquo;s rhetoric is meaningless, the ICEM believes, until all trade union leaders of GEFONT and NTUC are released, as well as other human rights activists who have been imprisoned without cause. Several trade unionists were released last week after weeks of detention, but some leaders of the two labour federations&mdash;plus several leaders of education unions&mdash;remain incarcerated.
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GEFONT, NTUC and another labour federation, DECONT, on 13 February, gave the government a 35-day deadline to act on its and the ILO Actrav&rsquo;s Charter of Demands for both formal and informal work. The Charter calls on the government to strengthen the labour code on wage increments, adopt an integrated social security fund, formalise basic labour rights commitments, and implement non-discrimination practices, particularly regarding women workers.

King’s Rhetoric in Nepal on Democracy Belies Trade Union Arrests

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Things are definitely changing in the industrial gases sector. Mergers and acquisitions are decreasing the number of global players. In addition, there is a rising demand in industrial gases for the steel and petrochemical sector, with the biggest investments in new plants taking place in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Asia. 
 
At the conference on industrial gases, organised by ICEM affiliates Centrale G&eacute;n&eacute;rale (Belgium) and FNV Bondgenoten (Netherlands), in Blankenberge, Belgium, on 14-15 December 2005, the ICEM presented an overview of the economic situation in the sector, as well as of the big 5 global players. The presentation also includes a brief forecast for the next years. 
 
The continuous growth in the industrial gases sector and the many new applications for industrial gases, for example in the medical sector, are good news for employees. The shift from manufacturing plants to so-called low-cost countries, however, is a real challenge for the workers and their unions. 
 
The presentation explains how workers in the sector from different countries can cooperate and how a communication network can be built between the workers&rsquo; representatives in the different European countries. Another important question that is touched upon is how the different systems of industrial relations work in each country of the EU. 
 
Click <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/0512michaelindgases.ppt">here</a> for the complete presentation.

ICEM Powerpoint Presentation on Industrial Gases

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ICEM affiliate and Russian power workers&rsquo; union El&egrave;ctroprovsoy&ugrave;z held its Congress in Moscow on 7-8 December. Debate centered on electric utility RAO UES&rsquo;s reform plan.
RAO UES is dividing the utility&rsquo;s assets in the drive for profits, which brings a severe threat to jobs and workers&rsquo; protections. Val&egrave;ry Vakhr&ugrave;shkin was elected president, and the union reinforced its commitment to international trade union cooperation through the ICEM in the face of globalisation.
El&egrave;ctroprovsoy&ugrave;z, which numbers 775,000 members, celebrated 100 years of trade unionism in Russia at this Congress, which drew 310 delegates of whom more than a third were women.

Russia’s Electric Power Workers’ Union Holds Congress

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The issue of changing the work schedule for contract employees of Esso Australia Resources Ltd. and BHP Billiton Resources in the offshore oil and gas industry will likely reappear in talks now underway between employers, including the ExxonMobil subsidiary, and Australian unions.
In spring 2004, Esso and the contractors locked out workers for a three-week period in an attempt to terminate the enterprise labour agreement in order to impose a two-week on, two-week off work schedule. The Australian Industrial Relations Commission rejected the application, and Esso and contractors, led by Halliburton&rsquo;s KBR subsidiary, the joint venture of Worley Group and ABB, and Corke Instrument, appealed the decision.
The current work schedule is a seven-day roster, which workers and their unions contend is more family friendly. Esso and BHP operate oil and rigs in waters of the Bass Straight off Victoria, and Esso also runs energy processing plants in Longford and Long Island Point, Victoria.

ExxonMobil and Contractors in Australia Return to Bargaining

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Halliburton, the US construction and oil services company, continues to restrict union representation of the unaffiliated Chemical, Energy, Mines, Oil &amp; Gas, and General Workers&rsquo; Union (FSP KEP) in Jakarta, Indonesia.
&nbsp;The company is attempting to withdraw certification of the Jakarta branch union of FSP KEP because branch leaders elected include workers from the information technology department. Halliburton Energy Services of Indonesia claims IT workers have access to sensitive company data, thus should not be eligible to hold union office.
Halliburton delayed a collective agreement for FSP KEP members for a two-year period up until recently because of management turnover and attempts to cut workers&rsquo; benefits. Halliburton is deployed as a contract services provider to several multinational oil companies doing business in Indonesia, including state-run Pertamina, the Chinese government&rsquo;s CNOOC, ConocoPhillips, BP, Total and Caltex.

Halliburton Interferes with Indonesian Union’s Elected Officers

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The USW in the US supports the decision by the federal Labor Department to refer the consequences of BP&rsquo;s fatal 23 March 2005 explosion at an oil refinery in Texas City, Texas, to the US Justice Department for possible criminal indictments.
Fifteen workers&mdash;all contract employees&mdash;were killed and another 170 were workers injured when the blast occurred during start-up of an isomerisation unit at the former Amoco refinery. BP issued its final report on the US&rsquo;s worst industrial disaster in two decades last week by identifying root causes, including &ldquo;Processs safety &hellip; had not been set and consistently reinforced by management.&rdquo;
In September, the US Labor Department&rsquo;s Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited the firm with over 300 &ldquo;egregious and willful&rdquo; violations and fined the British firm US$21.4 million.

BP’s Texas Oil Refinery Blast May See Criminal Indictments

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The United Steelworkers (USW) in Canada has endorsed the mega-mining merger of Inco Ltd. and Falconbridge Inc., two Canadian mining houses that combined would comprise the world&rsquo;s largest nickel producer.
The C$13 billion friendly takeover was given approval at a USW press conference in Sudbury, Ontario, on 7 December with the announced formation of a Steelworker Inco/Falconbridge Council made up of 8,500 workers at 15 USW bargaining units.
USW said the merged company will be &ldquo;good for Canada, good for communities and good for building bargaining power across the continent.&rdquo;
The merger is threatened by a possible hostile bid by Swiss-based Xstrata Plc., the Glencore International-controlled mining giant which purchased a 20% stake in Falconbridge in August. Inco has extended to 27 January its offer to Falconbridge shareholders, who must sell at least two-thirds of the company&rsquo;s outstanding shares to Inco before the deal becomes final.

USW in Canada Endorses Inco, Falconbridge Mining Merger

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&nbsp;Electricit&eacute; de France (EDF) announced last week that it would eliminate 6,500 jobs through the end of 2007 in an apparent attempt to boost the share price of the newly privatised company.
The French government placed shares totalling 15% of the company on the Paris bourse 21 November in hopes of raising capitalisation of &euro;7 billion. It offered EDF shares at &euro;32 to small investors and &euro;33-per-share to institutional investors.
On 7 December, prior to the job cuts announcement, EDF stock was selling at &euro;31.66. EDF said the jobs would be lost by not replacing roughly 70% of the 9,000 workers expected to retire by the end of 2007.

EDF Announces Job Cuts to Boost Share Price

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German affiliate IGBCE focuses its attention even harder on Continental&rsquo;s broken promises. On 6 December, 30,000 workers of the tyre maker held stop-work meetings at 26 locations throughout Germany to protest the announced closure of the St&ouml;cken plant in Hannover and the resulting loss of 320 jobs by year-end 2006.
IGBCE agreed with Continental on more flexible working rights, including work weeks of 40 hours without additional pay, in exchange for a pledge of no job cuts. Continental Chief Executive Manfred Wennemer broke that pledge last month with the announcement on the fate of the St&ouml;cken plant.
IGBCE will now terminate ten programmes inside Continental that were established jointly with the company to save some &euro;42 million annually.

IGBCE Rescinds Cooperation Efforts with Continental Tyre

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