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ICEM Contract and Agency Labour Newsletter

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Twenty delegates from ten nations attended meetings in early May in Lom&eacute;, Togo, intended to lay the groundwork for dissolution of the former World Federation of Industry Workers&rsquo; (WFIW&rsquo;s) Pan African Federation of Industry Workers into the ICEM&rsquo;s Sub-Saharan African Region. 
 
Resolutions were passed to that effect, and full integration of the two regional structures will occur at next week&rsquo;s ICEM regional meeting in Accra, Ghana. The meeting was attended by Italo Rodomonti, former WFIW General Secretary and ICEM Vice President, and Rayford Mbulu, ICEM&rsquo;s Sub-Saharan African Region Chairman, who also is President of the Mineworkers&rsquo; Union of Zambia.
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Togo&nbsp;
Among some of the resolutions passed includes a recommendation to establish networks within the ICEM region to counter the power of multinationals, and one asking the ICEM region to encourage synergy within countries between former WFIW trade unions and ICEM affiliates. Also, a recommendation was passed requesting observer status for the former WFIW regional unions on the ICEM&rsquo;s Presidium, Executive Committee, and Sub-Saharan African Regional Women&rsquo;s Committee. 
 
Former WFIW delegates attending the meetings came from Togo, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Guinea, Senegal, Sierra Leon, Morocco, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, as well as Rodomonti from Belgium and Jan Voets from ACV Hout en Bouw, also 
of Belgium.

Structure of Former WFIW Absorbed Into ICEM’s Sub-Saharan Africa Region

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Zonguldak is the capital of Turkey&rsquo;s hard coal region, an area in the West Black Sea region of the country. First production of coal was in 1848, after the mineral was first discovered by a soldier named Uzun Memet in 1845. 
And it was there, on 26-28 May, in which ICEM affiliate Genel Maden-İş co-hosted the 16th National Coal Congress of Turkey, called by union President Ramazan Denizer of the Zonguldak Mine Workers&rsquo; Union (Genel Maden-İş). ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda delivered the opening address. 
 
The Congress was also hosted by the Zonguldak Branch of the Mining Engineers Chamber, a 10,000-member organisation of mine technicians and engineers. The Zonguldak Branch numbers 1,200 engineers.
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Manfred Warda Speaking at the Turkey's Hard Coal Conference
Warda gave a detailed presentation on recent developments in the global coal industry, and presented conclusions from the late 2007 International Coal Mining Conference in Calcutta, India. The underlying fact, he said, is that while energy prices continue to increase, the demand for hard coal escalates. 
 
&ldquo;Subsidies for coal mines must be a joint decision by governments and by tax-payers as insurance against a future downturn,&rdquo; said Warda. &ldquo;Without secure domestic coal production, we cannot secure our future energy supplies, and the security of our jobs and the industry.&rdquo; 
 
Warda then announced that the ICEM is in full support of 5,000-member Genel Maden-İş&rsquo;s position for more jobs in the growing production pits of Zonguldak. In the 1960s, 65,000 miners worked in the area. Today, that employment figure is 10,000. 
 
Turkey&rsquo;s hard coal production is 20 million tonnes per year, with 5.5 million tonnes used in domestic steel production.
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At grave of Semsi Denizer (At right, Maden-Is President Ramazan Denizer, younger brother of Comrade Semsi Denizer)
The ICEM General Secretary&rsquo;s visit drew large press attention, with Warda doing a live television broadcast. The visit also was personal for him, because he was present in Zonguldak in 1991 during a mass strike and protest march conducted by Genel Maden-İş. The ICEM leader visited the grave of strike leader Semsi Denizer, as well as to a memorial erected on behalf of the 4,500 miners who have perished in the region&rsquo;s mine pits.

ICEM Forefront at Turkey&#039;s Hard Coal Conference

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A statement distributed at the US shareholders&rsquo; meetings of ExxonMobil and Chevron by the Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions (IFOU), representing 30,000 workers at some ten oil and related enterprises connected to the Southern Oil Co., demands that the multinationals cease their lobbying efforts for an ill-advised Hydrocarbons Law in the Middle East nation. 
 
The IFOU also called on the world to support passage of a new Labour and Social Security Law in Iraq, and for the world community to press for repeal of two draconian decrees inside Iraq. The 1987 Public Law No. 150, a Saddam-era decree still enforced by the occupational forces, prohibits workers employed in the public sector, including ICEM sectors oil, gas, and electric generation and distribution, from joining or forming unions. 
 
And the occupation&rsquo;s own Decree No. 8750 severely limits trade unionism in Iraq by prohibiting trade unions from holding funds, and denies unions the legitimate right to collect dues and maintain assets.
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IFOU President Hassan Juma&rsquo;a Awad 
In the statement, IFOU President Hassan Juma&rsquo;a Awad said: 
 
&ldquo;The Ba&rsquo;athist legislation of 1987, which banned trade unions in the public sector and public enterprises (80% of all workers), is still in effect and continues to be enforced against us. Our union offices have been raided. Union property has been seized and destroyed. Our bank accounts have been frozen. Our leaders have been beaten, arrested, abducted, and assassinated. Our rights as workers are routinely violated. This is an attack on our rights and the basic precepts of a democratic society. It is a grim reminder of the shadow of dictatorship still stalking our country.&rdquo; 
 
In a four-point demand, IFOU seeks withdrawal of all foreign troops; passage of the Labour and Social Security law; an end to meddling in Iraq&rsquo;s economic affairs by the US, UK, International Monetary Fund, and energy multinationals; and an end to efforts to pass the oil law, a measure that will pour further profits into the pockets of oil companies, while denying the Iraqi people the necessary funds to rebuild their country. 
 
The ICEM also believes the Iraqi people are the ones who should decide and control their oil resources and revenues.
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In a mid-May letter to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) also called for passage of the 2006 draft labour law, which was drafted with the assistance of the ILO. ITUC General Secretary Guy Ryder said the Iraqi government must allow for a pluralistic trade union framework, and said the proposed law is consistent with core global labour standards.

Iraqi Oil Union Makes Case at Shareholders’ Meet of Two US Supermajors

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Some 500 truck drivers of two contract firms attached to Royal Dutch Shell in the UK voted overwhelmingly for industrial action last week. The drivers, represented by Unite and employed by Hoyer and Suckling Shell, haul petrol and other refined products for the multinational across the UK. 
 
Ron Webb, Unite&rsquo;s National Secretary for Road Transport, said the votes &ndash; 95% at Hoyer and 87% at Suckling Shell &ndash; reflect drivers&rsquo; feelings of increasingly being short-changed. &ldquo;These drivers are paying a hefty price for Shell&rsquo;s stratospheric profits,&rdquo; said Webb, noting they work 48-hour weeks and take home a mere &pound;23,000 after taxes.
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Unite is seeking a minimum gross salary of &pound;36,000 per year, about &pound;2,000 more than Shell drivers&rsquo; current gross pay. &ldquo;Shell would be far better placed if they were to stop stuffing their shareholders&rsquo; pockets and ensure their contractor Hoyer had the resources to conclude a deal that is acceptable to our members,&rdquo; said Webb. 
 
Unite and Hoyer are expected to meet for further negotiations in order to break the pay deadlock. The drivers work out of several UK terminals of the oil giant, and work under Shell fuels distribution contracts.

Contract Tank-Truck Drivers for Shell at UK Vote Industrial Action

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After 14 long months of struggle and dispute with American consumer products company Procter &amp; Gamble, 350 workers represented ably by Sindicato de Trabajadores de Procter &amp; Gamble Industrial Peru (SINTRA P&amp;G) have won their first collective agreement through arbitration. 
 
In the agreement, the union secured fundamental workers&rsquo; rights principles guaranteed under ILO standards, particularly the right of freedom of association and the right to bargain collectively. In making the announcement, the Peruvian union thanked the ICEM and other organisations for assistance and solidarity since the new union began organising at the chemicals, soaps, and detergents factory in San Isidro, near Lima, in March 2007.
<img height="105" src="" width="140" alt="" />
&nbsp; 
The contract became viable through arbitration with the Ministry of Labour and Employment Promotion. Procter &amp; Gamble Peru management had resisted going to arbitration throughout, despite the fact that it had engaged in previous such sessions with a predecessor union. 
 
SINTRA P&amp;G has now pledged to take up the cause of 39 trade unionists at the factory who had been fired for asserting their right to form a union. SINTRA P&amp;G stated that despite the resistance from management to form a union, &ldquo;It is now time to turn the page and encourage all to move forward on the right path&rdquo; of active trade unionism, referring to organising and collective bargaining. 
 
The union&rsquo;s intention now is work toward an improved second collective agreement, and SINTRA P&amp;G has opened its doors to all workers who seek healthy work lives. Procter &amp; Gamble Peru also utilizes 400 indirect workers in its production and distributions operations. 
 
The ICEM welcomes the recent success of its future Peruvian affiliate!

SINTRA P&amp;G Successful in First Contract at Procter &amp; Gamble Peru

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Prior to IF Metall&rsquo;s First Ordinary Congress in mid-May, ICEM&rsquo;s Swedish affiliate held a charged and enthusiastic two-day conference entitled &ldquo;Decent Working Conditions for All &ndash; Fair and Just Globalization.&rdquo; The conference, held 11-12 May in Stockholm, brought together hundreds of local Swedish trade union representatives with international union leaders. 
 
In opening the conference, IF Metall National President Stefan L&ouml;fven stressed that the 400,000-member union favours global free trade, but only if free trade ensures good and favourable work conditions for all. The conference heard from Jan Eliasson, chairman of Sweden&rsquo;s Social Democratic Party&rsquo;s Foreign Affairs Advisory Committee, and Kari Tapiola, Assistant Director-General of the ILO.
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IF Metall President Stefan L&ouml;fven 
It also featured a number of workshops on day two, including &ldquo;Trade Union Solidarity in a State of Change,&rdquo; &ldquo;Global Cooperation in Practice between Companies and Trade Unions,&rdquo; &ldquo;The Political Platform of the EU &ndash; Today and in the Future,&rdquo; and &ldquo;The State of the International Trade Union Movement &ndash; a Challenge and Need for Change.&rdquo; 
 
Participating on panels across those workshops were ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda; General Secretary Neil Kearney of the Textile, Garment, and Leather Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITGLWF); Horst Mund, Head of International Department, IG Metall, Germany; G&ouml;ran F&auml;rm, Swedish Member of the European Parliament, representing the Social Democratic Party; and Ingrid Schullstr&ouml;m, Head of Corporate Social Responsibility for H&amp;M, the Swedish department store chain. 
 
Earlier, on day one, International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF) General Secretary Marcello Malentacchi delivered an address on &ldquo;Activities of the Global Union Federations,&rdquo; emphasizing that today, international trade union work is a part of everyday life on the local level. He shared a session with AB Electrolux President and CEO Hans Str&aring;berg, called &ldquo;The Role and Task of Multinational Companies in a More Global World, Their Contribution Towards a Fairer Globalization.&rdquo; 
 
During IF Metall&rsquo;s Congress proceedings, Malentacchi and the union&rsquo;s International Secretary, Mats Svensson, denounced Swedish multinational Ericsson AB&rsquo;s contract labour practices in Bangladesh. Recently in Bangladesh, a contract worker fell into an unprotected zinc and acid tank. Ericsson manufactures components for telephones in Bangladesh.
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&nbsp;IF Metall International Secretary Mats Svensson

IF Metall and IMF used a press conference to insist that Ericsson go beyond its own code of conduct by engaging in discussions toward a Global Framework Agreement with the IMF. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s clear in this case that (Ericsson&rsquo;s) unilaterally adopted rules for the environment and security of employees is not working,&rdquo; stated Svensson. 
 
He added that if decent work conditions are to become real, there must be cooperation between multinationals and employees&rsquo; global union representatives. &ldquo;An agreement signed between a multinational and an international trade union organisation is a tool for social justice,&rdquo; said Svensson. &ldquo;The company puts itself at the negotiating table, and creates a tool that ensures&rdquo; proper and decent work conditions are observed. 
 
At the Congress itself, IF Metall&rsquo;s 300 delegates ratified initiatives supporting Global Framework Agreements and for Sweden to adopt ILO Convention 94, the Labour Clauses (Public Contracts) Convention. Fifty-nine countries have ratified the 1949 Convention, which calls for social and labour clauses to be inserted into public procurement clauses, but Sweden has not.
<img height="160" alt="" src="" width="240" />
&nbsp;Raising of the Flag: Solidarity, Socialism, Equality 

In other Congress business, IF Metall delegates called for a change of government in Sweden&rsquo;s next elections, and criticised the centre-right coalition that currently rules the government for its sharp reductions in unemployment insurance. 
 
The Congress reaffirmed its approach on sustainable development, that an integrated approach must take hold that includes research, innovation, new technology, and lifelong learning and skills development. The Congress also called for a halt to the decommissioning of nuclear power facilities. 
 
President Stefan L&ouml;fven was re-elected President, and Veli-Pekka S&auml;ikk&auml;l&auml; won election as the new National Bargaining Secretary. The Congress featured an address by the President of Colombian ICEM affiliate Sintracarb&oacute;n. Jaime Deluquez Diaz thanked the Swedish union for providing strength and knowledge to his 4,000-member coal miners&rsquo; union in Colombia.

‘Fair and Just Globalization’ Workshops Organised by IF Metall in Sweden

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ICEM Turkish trade union affiliate Lastik-İş made good on its 8 May strike notice by calling 4,000 tyre manufacturing workers out at four factories, operated by three multinational tyre companies. The strikes began late on Saturday, 31 May. 
 
Negotiations continued until the early morning hours of that day, with the employers&rsquo; association offering last-minute wage and social payment proposals to avert strikes. Those offers were presented to rank-and-file members of Lastik-İş, but were rejected by an accumulative 80% vote.
<img height="178" alt="" src="" width="180" />
Lastik-İş President Abdullah Karacan 
 

The strikes then began at factories of Bridgestone Brisa Sabanci and Pirelli, and two plants operated and majority- owned by US-based Goodyear Tire &amp; Rubber Co. The four tyre plants are in the Turkish cities of Izmit and Adapazari. The union and management association has been negotiating since September 2007 on a new labour agreement. 
 
&ldquo;The decision to strike was taken by workers and I believe we shall overcome the employers&rsquo; intransigence,&rdquo; said Lastik-İş President Abdullah Karacan. &ldquo;The salary offer made by employers is far from meeting the work performed by tyre workers. Our decisiveness for gaining our demands is resolute.&rdquo; 
 
The union is seeking a 12% wage increase for the first six-month period of a two-year labour agreement, and the Turkish rate of inflation for each six-month period thereafter. The tyre companies are resisting inflation-rate payments for the three six-month periods. The two sides differ also on various social payments customary in Turkish work schemes.
<img height="240" alt="" src="" width="360" />
Striking Rubber Workers at Pirelli Factory&nbsp;
All agenda items within the 59-article labour contract, save for the wage and social payment items, have been agreed upon by the two sides. 
 
Goodyear operates an auto, light truck, bus, and heavy equipment tyre plant in Adapazari, employing 800 rubber workers, and a truck, bus, and agriculture tyre plant in Izmit, where 500 workers are employed. Bridgestone Brisa Sabanci, jointly owned by Japanese-based Bridgestone and Sabanci Group of Turkey, manufactures auto, truck, and heavy equipment tyres in Izmit, employing 1,500, while Italian-based Pirelli has another auto and truck tyre plant in Izmit, in which 1,200 workers are employed.

4,000 Turkish Rubber Workers Strike Bridgestone, Goodyear, and Pirelli

The ICEM, a 20-million-member Global Union Federation covering trade unions in the Mining Sector, welcomes the settlement reached today between the Mineworkers&rsquo; Union of Namibia (MUN) and Skorpion Zinc, a wholly owned subsidiary of London-based Anglo American PLC. 
 
The two parties came to terms today in Windhoek in mediation successfully completed by the head of Namibia&rsquo;s Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare&rsquo;s Labour Commission, Bro-Mathew Shinguadja.
<img height="120" alt="" src="" width="120" />
The settlement ends a lockout by Skorpion management that started 23 May at the mining and smelting operation in the country&rsquo;s southern Karas Region. It also resolves the central issue behind that lockout &ndash; the company&rsquo;s insistence that the MUN drop its claim to overtime pay in a to move to continuous shift operations, daily work shifts of 12 hours, with seven days on and then seven days off. 
 
MUN will support Skorpion&rsquo;s application to the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare for a labour code exemption, which, if granted, will allow the longer work shifts. But the issue of overtime pay was resolved by the company agreeing to comply with a pending court case brought by the MUN regarding overtime pay for work performed beyond nine hours per day. 
 
&ldquo;We believed throughout that Skorpion must honour Namibian labour code regarding payment of overtime for additional work,&rdquo; said ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda, &ldquo;and we shared that belief with mining unions across the world. We commend the MUN, Skorpion, and Anglo American for reaching this agreement, and thank the many trade unions around the world who promptly responded to our call. 
 
&ldquo;We now ask miners and Skorpion management at this important Namibian enterprise to seek reconciliation and move forward from what has been a bitter labour dispute.&rdquo;
<img height="193" alt="" src="" width="140" />
ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda
Skorpion agreed to lift the lockout immediately, with miners returning to work on Monday, 2 June. The agreement will be jointly presented to the 600 miners on Monday by MUN local branch leaders and Skorpion management. 
 
The one-year labour agreement will be backdated to 1 April 2008, and contains a 12% pay increase for miners. 
 
The ICEM drew global attention to the dispute when Skorpion reversed terms of a near settlement on 19 May, an agreement then that would have ended an 11-day strike by miners. The next day, MUN suspended the strike but three days later &ndash; on 23 May &ndash; Skorpion management imposed its lockout, seeking a waiver on all overtime pay. 
For further information, contact: Dick Blin, ICEM Information Officer, +41 22 304 1842, +41 79 734 8994 (mobile), or <a href="mailto:dick.blin@icem.org">dick.blin@icem.org</a>

Skorpion Zinc Lockout Ends with Global Mine Union Pressure

The ICEM, the Global Union Federation representing workers in the Mining and Energy sectors, has expressed deep concern over the mine tragedy in the central Donbass region of the Ukraine that occurred yesterday. The Geneva-based federation of trade unions understands the Karl Marx mine near Yenakiyevo to be a low producer of coal and questions whether necessary safety and methane-detection equipment were in place at the time of the blast. 
 
The ICEM has reached out to one of its mining union affilates in the country, the Coal Mining Workers&rsquo; Union of Ukraine (PRUPU), whose members work this particularly mine. The mine produces a low-yield tonnage of coal each day and has a steep gradient of coal veins, which could enhance safety risks if proper safeguards are not met. 
 
&ldquo;We understand this particular mine is barely economically viable, and we question why this mine was even operating,&rdquo; said ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda. &ldquo;Certainly any mining operation that produces coal in Ukraine should and must have proper methane detection devices and other modern safety equipment in place,&rdquo; he added.
<img height="115" alt="" src="" width="250" />
This is the second major mine tragedy to have occurred in the Ukraine in the past seven months, and the ICEM calls on the government of the country to take immediate steps toward ratification of International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention 176, the Safety and Health in Mines Convention. 
 
In the ICEM letter to PRUPU today, the Global Union Federation expressed condolences to the families of miners who have died and extended &ldquo;our greatest hope that rescue efforts will succeed for those who might still be alive inside the mine. 
 
&ldquo;The 20-million-member ICEM stands behind PRUPU in calling on the new Minister of Coal and other Ukrainian authorities to conduct a full investigation of this tragedy.&rdquo; 
 
The Geneva-based International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine, and General Workers&rsquo; Unions (ICEM) represents, on a global level, 467 trade union affiliates in 132 countries, including some 125 national unions in the mining sector.

ICEM Expresses Concern over Latest Ukrainian Coal Mine Blast

Archive

ICEM Contract and Agency Labour Newsletter

Structure of Former WFIW Absorbed Into ICEM’s Sub-Saharan Africa Region

ICEM Forefront at Turkey's Hard Coal Conference

Iraqi Oil Union Makes Case at Shareholders’ Meet of Two US Supermajors

Contract Tank-Truck Drivers for Shell at UK Vote Industrial Action

SINTRA P&G Successful in First Contract at Procter & Gamble Peru

‘Fair and Just Globalization’ Workshops Organised by IF Metall in Sweden

4,000 Turkish Rubber Workers Strike Bridgestone, Goodyear, and Pirelli

Skorpion Zinc Lockout Ends with Global Mine Union Pressure

ICEM Expresses Concern over Latest Ukrainian Coal Mine Blast

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