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Justice was finally delivered last week for Australians after shareholders of building materials company James Hardie on 7 February voted by over 99% to fund a A$4 billion asbestos compensation fund. The vote, and the 9 February transfer by the company of the first A$184 million into the Asbestos Injuries Compensation Fund, is the final victory in a six-year fight that will assure victims of asbestos are adequately compensated. 
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The James Hardie asbestos saga has become one of Australia&rsquo;s greatest corporate fights, with trade unions, victim rights&rsquo; groups, and the state government of New South Wales taking on an arrogant company. In 2001, James Hardie announced plans to shift its headquarters from Sydney to The Netherlands in a move designed to avoid its legal obligations to thousands of people diagnosed with asbestos-related diseases. In 2003, it made the move. 
That was after James Hardie CEO Peter Macdonald created an underfunded Medical Research and Compensation Fund, and declared to investors, &ldquo;There will be no future provisions required,&rdquo; adding that future liability will not impact company profits. In 2004, with revelations of deceptive stock market practices, including misleading investors, Macdonald departed the company. 
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This came as part of a comprehensive campaign by Australian labour unions, particularly AMWU and CFMEU, organisations such as Australia&rsquo;s Asbestos Diseases Association, and hundreds of other civil society groups. The coalition staged shareholder protests, launched a global boycott on James Hardie&rsquo;s products, and brought such intense public pressure to the company, that it was forced to acquiesce to a fair settlement. 
 
The settlement, A$4 billion into the fund over 40 years, was negotiated with James Hardie by Australia&rsquo;s trade unions, the asbestos victims&rsquo; groups, and the government of New South Wales, which did exemplary work to bring the case to a successful close. 
 
&quot;The pressure of unions, along with the NSW Government and the tireless work of the victim support groups and the community has been crucial to the success of this campaign,&rdquo; said Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) Secretary Greg Combet.

James Hardie Asbestos Case Finally Concludes Successfully

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A delegation that returned recently from Guatemala said that serious concerns exist in the investigation of Pedro Zamora, general secretary of the STEPQ Dockers&rsquo; Union in Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala. The 10-member delegation, headed by the International Transport Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITF) and the ITUC, found there was vital evidence missing and that police failed to properly secure the crime scene. 
 
Zamora, 43, was killed in a hail of bullets on 15 January after gathering his children, ages 3 and 5, from medical appointments. As the STEPQ union leader lay critically wounded in the front seat of his car, one of the assailants came up to him at close range and shot him in the face. His 3-year-old son was severely wounded in the attack.
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&nbsp;Port workers in Quetzal, led by Zamora, have been campaigning to preserve their trade union in the face of privatisation. STEPQ is seeking job security and decent work for port workers through a programme of investment and modernisation, but government and port officials have ignored workers&rsquo; expertise on the port&rsquo;s expansion. 
 
The trade union delegation, in Guatemala from 28 January to 2 February, also found that police were pursuing only a single line of investigation &ndash; that of a family and domestic violence case, thus ignoring telephone death threats and suspicious followings, which occurred before the 15 January death of Zamora. 
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While in Guatemala, the delegation, comprised of Spanish, US, and Venezuelan unionists, along with ITF and ITUC leaders, called for the reinstatement of 9 STEPQ members at the port. They were fired in October for their trade union activities. 
 
&ldquo;One of the key recommendations to come out of the visit is that the global union campaign for justice for Zamora should be expanded to support STEPQ and its leaders whose lives remain under threat,&rdquo; said ITF Assistant Gen. Sec. Stuart Howard. The ITF and ITUC have submitted a formal ILO complaint against the Guatemalan government on the assassination of Zamora and infringement of trade union rights. 
 
Trade unions and activists are encouraged to join the ITF&rsquo;s Guatemalan Charter for Justice Campaign by visiting: <a href="http://www.itfglobal.org/campaigns/zamora.cfm">http://www.itfglobal.org/campaigns/zamora.cfm</a>.

‘Serious Concerns’ in Murder Investigation of Guatemalan Dockworkers’ Leader

Two tragic coal mine explosions in Colombia over the past nine days illustrates again how deadly the combination of high coal demand is with inadequate safety methods. Thirty-two miners perished in a methane gas explosion on 3 February at two inter-connected mines in Sardinata, Norte de Santander state, while eight people died at an illegal mine near G&aacute;meza, Boyac&aacute; state, on 6 February. 
 
Among the G&aacute;meza fatalities was a 13-year-old boy, killed with 3 others by an initial blast some 160 metres underground. Four others were either killed by a second explosion, or asphyxia, when they entered the mine shaft in a rescue attempt. The proprietor of the illegal mine, as well as the three others, including the wife of one trapped miner and the brother of another, were killed in the rescue attempt. 
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In the deadly 3 February explosion at the San Roque and La Preciosa Mines, colleries without union representation, miners were trapped and perished 400 metres underground. Two days after the blast, authorities were investigating whether or not the mines had the proper permits for operating. 
 
The two mining catastrophes come at a time when Colombia&rsquo;s government fails to adopt labour protections, as stated under ILO standards, into the nation&rsquo;s labour code. The mining deaths also occurred just days before a 90-day review process opens on the US-Colombia Free Trade Agreement, a market pact in which civil society is demanding those same labour standards be included. 
 
The Norte de Santander death toll of 32 nine days ago is the worst mining day in Colombia in 30 years, dating back to 1977 when 100 miners perished at the Amag&aacute; mines in Antioquia state. There are some 200 underground mines now operating in Norte de Santander state, which lies along the Venezuelan border. The high price and high demand for coal means operators are striving to meet maximum output, with little or no time for safety. 
 
The equipment at the San Roque and La Preciosa Mines was described as antiquated and rudimentary, while equipment at the G&aacute;meza mine was nearly non-existent. Mining there was artisan. Operators at nearly all of Colombia&rsquo;s small and mid-sized collieries employ short-term contract workers. 
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In Boyac&aacute; state, in central Colombia, it is estimated that some 100 coal mines operate illegally. In many, children between the ages of 10 and 18 are digging or carry coal to the surface. Many of the mines are unregistered collectives, unaffiliated with any company or enterprise. 
 
Much of the blame for last week&rsquo;s deaths can be placed squarely with the federal government, as can countless other safety deficiencies causing death and injury in Colombia&rsquo;s mines,. With a rigid priority of attracting foreign investment to Colombia, the Uribe government has been remiss to adopt global labour standards, while focusing instead on neo-liberal deregulation. 
 
Statutory changes, for instance, have weakened the role of state governments in monitoring and regulating work conditions, while federal oversight has been slow or non-existent. The proliferation of illegal mining in remote portions of different Colombian departments bears this out. 
 
The ICEM expresses its sincere condolences to the families of the 40 miners in Colombia, and promises to remain vigilant on the global front in pressing the Colombian government for safety and security, both on and off the job.
Click here for a joint ICEM-ITUC letter, in <a href="/en/?id=5&amp;doc=2146&amp;la=EN">English</a>, or in <a href="/en/?id=5&amp;doc=2146&amp;la=ES">Spanish</a>, to the President of Colombia on the disasters.

13-Year-Old Child Among 40 Dead in Colombian Mine Disasters

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The ICEM has a new Norwegian affiliate, the result of a merger between oil and gas union NOPEF and chemicals union Norsk Kjemisk. On 4 September in Oslo, the two unions officially merged during a day-long joint Congress to form Industri Energi. 
 
The merged union, with a combined membership of&nbsp;45,000 members, will have its headquarters in Oslo. 
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NOPEF President Leif Sande was elected Industri Energi&rsquo;s first president, while Liv Undheim, former Deputy President of Norsk Kjemisk, won election as Vice President. After a long and successful career as Norsk Kjemisk President, Olav Stoylen took a well deserved retirement, effective with the 4 September Congress. 
 
The union marriage marks the second such merger this year among Norway&rsquo;s trade unions. Last January, ICEM affiliate Fellesforbundet took in the Norwegian Graphical Workers&rsquo; Union, creating one big union for the pulp, paper, graphical and cardboard industry.

Industri Energi the Result of NOPEF, Norsk Kjemisk Merger in Norway

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Despite a compromised wage proposal by the union, ICEM affiliate Oilfield Workers&rsquo; Trade Union (OWTU) and Trinidad and Tobago&rsquo;s state oil company, Petrotrin, are no closer to an agreement on a new three-year contract, dating from 2005 to 2008. 
 
The two sides, however, with assistance from the Labour Ministry, continued intense negotiations through last week. 
 
Some 1,500 OWTU members at the company&rsquo;s lone refinery carried out another wave of industrial actions in the nine-month dispute, staging short work stoppages on 7 and 8 September. The action effectively shut production at the Pointe-a-Pierre refinery, and was the fourth such industrial action taken by OWTU members at the refinery since last March. 
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On 5 September, refinery workers marched on Petrotrin&rsquo;s main offices in Pointe-a-Pierre. They were joined by many of the 3,500 other members employed at Petrotrin, who also await updated labour agreements. 
 
In bargaining in early September, OWTU lowered its wage demands from 32% over three years, but Petrotrin has not moved upward from its 10% proposal. OWTU is attempting to negotiate fair and equitable settlements in five labour agreements, covering 5,000 workers. 
 
The credit ratings agency Moody&rsquo;s, meanwhile, has placed Petrotrin&rsquo;s foreign currency issue rating under review for possible downgrade due to the labour dispute. The review will &ldquo;assess the company&rsquo;s operations and debt servicing capabilities in light of its current labour unrest and the highly uncertain dynamics of labour negotiations,&rdquo; said Moody&rsquo;s in a statement. Roughly a quarter of refined output from the former Texaco refinery at Pointe-a-Pierre is for domestic use, with the remainder exported to eastern Caribbean islands, South America, and the east coast of the US.

Dispute in Trinidad and Tobago’s Oil Industry Continues

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Over 200 trade union leaders and activists throughout Zimbabwe were arrested last week, on 12 and 13 September 2006. A large number of them were treated in an extremely violent way by the police forces while in detention. 
 
Victims include the three top leaders of the national centre Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU). ZCTU President Lovemore Matombo and Secretary General Wellington Chibebe were so brutally assaulted that they could not stand up afterwards. First Vice President Lucia Matibenga could no longer walk. She was, as were others, severely beaten on the soles of her feet. 
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ZCTU General Secretary Wellington Chibebe
After being ill-treated at the Matapi Police station in Mbare on 13 September, the three top leaders were refused immediate medical attention. They were released later on bail. Speaking from his hospital bed, Brother Chibebe told the press afterwards he had been unconscious for over half a day. Police from Matapi later simply denied that the arrested were assaulted. 
 
Reportedly, their physical shape was such that senior police authorities refused to take them in custody at Harare&rsquo;s Central Police Station. Comrade Chibebe has a broken arm. Both he and Comrade Matombo suffered cranial/facial bruising and other head injuries. Many other arrested trade unionists equally suffered from the police violence, having their heads bashed against prison walls and being stamped and kicked in the head. 
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Police reports from last week suggest that the trade unionists could be charged under the Public Order and Security Act (POSA), a commonly used law to deter trade union activists in Zimbabwe. 
Ruling party Zanu PF militia had started the repression last week by intimidating and blocking union marchers in many cities, including in Harare. The ZCTU&rsquo;s demonstration was against the country&rsquo;s inflation rate of 1,000 %, in demand of higher incomes, lower taxes and better access to antiretroviral drugs needed to fight HIV/AIDS. 
 
Some 256 ZCTU activists were arrested in total, in at least 16 cities. ZCTU offices were blockaded and sealed by the army and police forces. Meanwhile, the union leaders vow to continue their protest.

Bloody Repression against Trade Union Leaders in Zimbabwe

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Nigeria&rsquo;s two oil workers&rsquo; unions, PENGASSAN and NUPENG, suspended a three-day warning strike after day two on 14 September. The unions received assurances from the government and its oil ministry that security concerns along the Niger Delta and other grievances would be addressed. 
 
The assurances included establishing a commission to investigate the kidnapping and death last month of PENGASSAN member Nelson Ujeya, who was killed in a hail of gunfire by a military task force as he was about to be released. 
 
Meeting in a joint National Executive Committee (NEC) session on 14 September in Abuja, leaders of the two unions requested that 20,000 Nigerian oil and gas workers return to their jobs the following day after government officials promised earnest dialogue to find lasting solutions to security matters and other concerns. The first such discussion forum will be held 21 September. 
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The strike on 13 and 14 September caused domestic disruptions as fuel depots shut, petrol stations closed, and fuel tanker lorries stayed off roads. Oil marketing companies in Lagos, Abuja, Warri, and Port Harcourt all stopped business. The strike also hampered oil and gas exploration and production facilities, although some offshore oil production and crude exports were allowed to continue. 
 
Besides the concerns over security, in which the government has failed to provide a safe and peaceful work environment, PENGASSAN and NUPENG seeks an honest and transparent process on the privatisation of state-owned assets. They cite the recent sale of the Eleme Petro Chemical Ltd. (EPCL) refinery in Port Harcourt and how the facility was under-valued and sold to a start-up company with little experience in the petrochemical business. (In meetings with Nigerian Minister of Petroleum Resources, Dr. Edmund Daukoru, on 13 September, the NEC did receive a commitment for work guarantees for all current staff of EPCL.) 
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Other demands of the two ICEM-affiliated unions include social commitments that jobs and skills development will occur in the country&rsquo;s oil patch for young Nigerians. They also demand strict adherence to past agreements made by energy companies and the government on expatriate quotas in the oil, gas, and related industries. The unions also object to merging the Petroleum Training Institute into the University of Benin. 
 
PENGASSAN and NUPENG demands must now be met or further and longer strikes will occur in the immediate future. The short warning strike last week achieved the unions&rsquo; objective to gain the government&rsquo;s attention to the serious security concerns that oil and gas workers in Nigeria face.

Nigerian Warning Strike Succeeds in Grabbing Government’s Attention

Comrade Peter Esele 
President 
PENGASSAN 
PENGASSAN House 
288, Ihorodu Road, Anthony 
PO Box 10433 
Marina-Lagos 
NIGERIA 
 
Dear Comrade Peter, 
 
The ICEM has learned of the tragic and senseless death of one of PENGASSAN&rsquo;s members, Nelson Ujeya, earlier this week in the vicinity of Brass Creek or Biobou Creek, Bayelsa State. We understand that Brother Ujeya had been kidnapped on 8 August 2006 in Letugbene while performing his employment duties for Shell Petroleum Development Corporation. 
 
We also have unconfirmed reports that he died in a violent gun fight between Nigeria&rsquo;s Joint Military Task Force and militant youth groups on 20 August 2006 as he was about to be released after negotiations. 
 
The 20-million-member ICEM, the Global Union Federation for oil and gas workers, finds it reprehensible that such indiscriminate use of force by Nigerian government militia be used in such a situation. The ICEM stands firmly behind PENGASSAN in holding both the government of Bayelsa State initially responsible for the abduction of Brother Ujeya while in the presence of state officials, and the federal government for its new policy of &ldquo;force by force&rdquo; in dealing with kidnappings that occur in the Niger Delta. 
 
The ICEM calls on all energy companies operating in Nigeria to apply the same effort and resources in securing the release of kidnapped Nigerian workers as they do for their foreign national employees. 
 
Next week, on 30 August 2006, PENGASSAN and NUPENG will conduct a joint National Executive Council (NEC) in Benin City to discuss this and other security matters in the Niger Delta. The ICEM recognises that the combined voice of NUPENGASSAN in Nigeria has been one of reason and soundness in stemming the social instability occurring along the Niger Delta. We know that this combined voice has stood for education, skills training and other social development initiatives that will increase employment opportunities in the oil and gas sectors for Nigerians. We commend and fully endorse that stand. 
 
We would look forward to having a report from the NEC&rsquo;s deliberations as soon after 30 August as possible in order to publicise your sensible positions on the global level. 
 
In conclusion, please convey sincere condolences from the ICEM and its family of global trade unions to the family of Wilson Ujeya. We are very distraught on the circumstances of his horrific death. Also, please express our deep concern to all trade union members of PENGASSAN and NUPENG, who are forced to work in such a difficult and terrifying environment. 
 
Fraternally, 
 
 
Fred Higgs 
General Secretary

ICEM letter to Pengassan

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A strike by glass workers in New Zealand enters its second week today. About a dozen night-shift workers at Pilkington Glass in the Auckland suburb of Mt. Wellington began the strike late on 30 August. They were joined by the plant&rsquo;s 50 other workers the next morning. 
 
The glass workers are represented by ICEM affiliate Engineering, Printing &amp; Manufacturing Union (EPMU). Workers are seeking the standard 5% contained in nearly all EPMU-negotiated collective agreements, but Pilkington, now a subsidiary of Nippon Sheet Glass, is offering only 4%. Union members are also seeking an increase in the daily shift allowance from NZ$3.25 to NZ$10.00. 
<img height="152" src="" width="100" alt="" /> 
EPMU National Secretary Andrew Little
&ldquo;(Workers) claims are quite modest &ndash; nothing more than the going rate,&rdquo; stated EPMU National Secretary Andrew Little. &ldquo;The company says it can&rsquo;t afford it, but the New Zealand operation made a NZ$14 million net profit in the year up to March 2005, with a global profit of more than NZ$600 million.&rdquo; 
 
The 60 glass workers started industrial action during the week of 7 August when they conducted two stop-work actions. The next week saw EPMU members begin a ban on all overtime work.

Pilkington Glass Workers in New Zealand Strike for 5% Pay Gains

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The mining world&rsquo;s largest stop-work action so far in 2006 ended on 31 August when Chilean copper miners of the Escondida Workers&rsquo; Union No. 1 voted, 1,607 to 121, to accept a 40-month collective agreement. 
A settlement, which ended the 25-day strike, occurred the day before when the union and BHP Billiton, the lead company in Minera Escondida Ltda., agreed to salary and bonus terms with the regional Labour Ministry serving as mediator. The Escondida mine is located in Chile&rsquo;s northern Region II. 
 
Miners won a satisfactory share of the huge profits made by the world&rsquo;s biggest copper producer. The union&rsquo;s 2,052 miners will receive a salary increase of 5% above Chile&rsquo;s inflation rate, or 8%, and a one-off bonus of US$17,000 per miner. The union had amended its demands in last week&rsquo;s bargaining to 8% above the inflation rate and a bonus of US$29,000. 
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The new agreement also includes universal health care coverage, education allowances, and interest-free loans, totalling about US$4,000 per miner. Workers began returning to their jobs late last week, with full production expected by the end of this week. 
 
Under Chilean labour law, workers can sign individual contracts and return to work after 16 strike days. BHP Billiton was hoping this would occur as it called for strike-breakers and a return to normal production. However, the company&rsquo;s scab plan failed and it increased a final pay offer when it became apparent that only a handful of miners &ndash; estimated at 20 &ndash; abandoned the strike. 
 
BHP Billiton, a 57.5% stakeholder in Minera Escondida, said in a statement that it is &ldquo;convinced that the final result of this large process will prove beneficial to both sides.&rdquo; The company and other stakeholders have seen profits triple from Escondida during the first six months of 2006, from US$936.9 million in the first half of 2005 to US$2.92 billion. The strike at the operation producing 8% of the world&rsquo;s copper supply stoked fears of a global shortage of the red metal. The current copper market is one of high demand, causing high pricing. 
 
The settlement will now loom large in negotiations between Chilean state-run copper company Corporacion Nacional del Cobre (Codelco) and its unions, covering 17,000 miners. Codelco&rsquo;s workers are among the lowest paid miners in Chile, while Escondida workers are now the highest. Negotiations between Codelco and unions at three of its four divisions begin in October 2006, with contract expirations coming on 30 November and 31 December. 
 
Codelco stands as the world&rsquo;s biggest copper company, with huge reserves at its Andina, Norte, El Salvador, and El Teniente mines. Some 25% of the world&rsquo;s total supply of copper originates from Chile.

Chile’s Copper Strike at BHP Billiton’s Minera Escondida Ends

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