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<img height="39" alt="" src="" width="100" />
Further industrial action at the Grangemouth petrochemicals complex in Scotland by Unite is not likely, following negotiations last week between the union and Ineos owner Jim Ratcliffe. 
 
Reports surfaced over the weekend that Ratcliffe has agreed to maintain the final pension scheme for all workers. Ineos had proposed that, effective in August, the final pension plan would be closed off for new hires, and that full pension benefits would not be awarded to staff choosing to retire at age 60. The company had proposed full pension benefits only at age 65.
<img height="239" alt="" src="" width="220" />
&nbsp;Unite Joint General Secretaries Tony Woodley and Derek Simpson&nbsp; 
 

Ineos has agreed to withdraw the letter to staff announcing the pension changes. The union reportedly has agreed to make efficiency changes in order to achieve cost savings, efficiencies that will not include redundancies. Unite is expected to poll union members on the revised proposal soon. 
 
A two-day strike on 27-28 April by 1,200 Unite members gained global attention when it crimped fuel supplies in Scotland and caused a ripple effect on nearby energy installations, including the shipment of gas from BP&rsquo;s Forbes Field in the North Sea. Grangemouth is a refiner of polyolefins and oil derivatives used for various fuel sources. 
 
On 29 April, Ratcliffe and Tom Crotty of Ineos began the first of a set of constructive and meaningful discussions with Unite Joint General Secretaries Derek Simpson and Tony Woodley to resolve the dispute. Ineos is a fast-growing energy concern that was created in 1998. In late 2005, it bought Grangemouth from BP&rsquo;s Innovene chemicals division.

Accord Near to Protect Final Pension Scheme for All Workers at Grangemouth

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Babatunde Ogun, a 17-year member of Nigeria&rsquo;s senior staff association PENGASSAN, was elected president of the union on 30 April for a three-year term. His election and the elections of several others occurred at the white-collar union&rsquo;s Second Triennial Delegates&rsquo; Conference in Abuja that was attended by 470 branch and zonal leaders. 
 
The two-day conference featured a sharp exchange on the opening day, 29 April, between Minister of Labour and Productivity Dr Hassan Lawal and fiery Adams Oshiomhole, the former president of the Nigeria Labour Congress, who is governor-in-waiting in Edo State.
<img height="146" src="" width="220" alt="" />
&nbsp;PENGASSAN members at May Day rally in Abuja 
 

Oshiomhole, who was duly elected a year ago but awaits taking office in Edo due to a legal challenge by the former incumbent governor, called on PENGASSAN to extract no more crude oil at US$120-per-barrel &ldquo;if the proceeds are to be shared by irresponsible political leadership. That will not be patriotic,&rdquo; he said. Oshiomhole was referring to alleged corrupt practices of former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo. 
 
Following the reading of a prepared text from current President Umaru MusaYar&rsquo;Adua by Lawal, the Labour Minister took exception with Oshiomhole&rsquo;s comments. He stated that such a call &ldquo;was out of place, especially since Comrade Oshiomhole has acknowledged the good works President Yar&rsquo;Adua is doing, especially trying to right some of the wrongs of the immediate past government.&rdquo; 
 
Lawal added that if the country&rsquo;s oil workers stopped drilling, the government would take it upon itself to contract such drilling with outside providers. Labour Minister Lawal also remarked on the PENGASSAN upstream strike against Mobil Producing Nigeria, and his efforts to resolve the strike by 1,400 trade union members. He called Mobil&rsquo;s two-year wage offer of 10% &ldquo;totally unfair and unacceptable.&rdquo; 
 
PENGASSAN did present a series of constitutional amendments to delegates, including a new fees formula between the National Secretariat and branches, but due to a logistical glitch, the amendments were not acted upon. Delegates also heard from Dr Muhammad Auwal Umar of Bayero University in Kano, who delivered a stirring address on why labour unions must reposition themselves for a greater role in civil society. 
 
Babatunde Ogun won election to the union&rsquo;s top over two other candidates, including incumbent Peter Esele. A mechanical engineer who has been employed by Mobil Producing at the Qua Iboe crude export terminal in Eket, Ogun state, for the past 12 years, Comrade Ogun was Deputy President three years ago when he challenged Uche Okoro for the presidency. He lost in that election, held early in 2005, and Esele, elected then as Deputy Vice President, became PENGASSAN&rsquo;s president when Comrade Okoro was killed in an airplane crash on 10 December 2005 near Port Harcourt.
<img height="147" src="" width="140" alt="" />
&ldquo;Our oil and gas policies have to have input in the marketplace,&rdquo; said the 42-year-old Ogun, following his election. &ldquo;We must close the gap between government and business on the one hand, and labour on the other. We must also close the gap globally in order that multinationals utilise Nigerians and local content in their operations.&rdquo; 
 
Re-elected Deputy Vice President was Mustapha Nuhu Wali. The union also elected its first Woman in PENGASSAN, which now is an elected position on the Central Works Committee. That post was won by Orji I. Rose of Chevron Nigeria Ltd. Elected Treasurer was O. Uka Ethelbert, and elected Industrial Relations Officer was Steve Ereyukomhen. 
 
PENGASSAN, an ICEM affiliate numbering 6,000 members, is composed of four zonal offices and some 80 branches, each representing a company segment of Nigeria&rsquo;s oil and gas industry.

PENGASSAN Elects New Leader in Babatunde Ogun

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Three major Turkish trade union confederations, T&Uuml;RK-İŞ (the Confederation of Turkish Trade Unions), DİSK (the Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions), and KESK (the Confederation of Public Employees&rsquo; Trade Unions) &ndash; all affiliates to both the ITUC and the ETUC &ndash; defied the government&rsquo;s ban on May Day activities last week, and jointly celebrated International Workers&rsquo; Day across Istanbul.
The celebration was scheduled to occur at Taksim Square in Istanbul, but heavy police force prevented trade unionists from reaching that point.
Taksim Square is symbolically important to the Turkish trade union movement, because it was there on May Day, 1977, that 37 workers were killed during celebrations. This year&rsquo;s programme was scheduled to see participants meeting at Şişli at 10h00 with a march to Taksim. At 11h00, they were to lay laid flowers at Taksim Square in a democratic and peaceful way.
<img height="135" alt="" src="" width="200" />
Turkish police gassing the headquarters of DİSK in the early morning hours of 1 May
Prior to last Thursday&rsquo;s event, the presidents of three confederations met with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to facilitate the demonstrations. But he rejected the peaceful demonstration, and the governor of Istanbul ordered the trade unions not to march to Taksim, with threat of force to prevent the commemoration. But unions carried out street demonstrations across Istanbul instead. 

At 06h15 on 1 May, police attacked the headquarters of DİSK, where 1,500 demonstrators were spending the night. Police used pepper spray and red-dye water cannons to disperse the demonstrators. The red-dye water served as a burning agent when combined with the pepper spray. 

Trade unionists were hosed with this burning agent, and they soon felt burns and rashes on their skin. Many of them were hospitalised. Later, police were indiscriminate in their beatings of persons on the streets of Istanbul. They also attacked journalists and beat a photo-journalist, breaking his camera which had captured the barbaric brutality of the police. 

Nonetheless, thousands of Turkey&rsquo;s citizens clashed with police in order to enter the historic site of May Day celebrations. Workers, their unions, and the left, turned the entire city of Istanbul into Taksim Square, and the popular slogan became &ldquo;Each Square in Turkey Becomes Taksim Square.&rdquo; 

Some did manage to get into the square, but not by their own free will. They were moved there through arrests because police &ldquo;arrest vehicles&rdquo; were parked in the square. Those arrested were beaten unmercifully. Reports cited that over 530 were arrested, but because many of those detained were not processed, the numbers were many times higher.
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May Day 2008 in Turkey has come and gone, but the events of that day in Istanbul lead us to think seriously about trade union rights and freedom of association in Turkey. This is crucial, as the country prepares for membership negotiations with the European Union. 

In his protest message over last week&rsquo;s government repression of workers to Turkish Prime Minister Erdoğan, ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda said, &ldquo;Turkey does not deserve such a picture. On the eve of integration with the EU, your policy and the behaviour of your government and security forces is not acceptable. We vehemently protest and urge you to take the necessary steps in order to adhere to freedom of association and basic trade union rights that in line with the fundamental ILO conventions.&rdquo;

Turkish Police, Government Take Extreme Measures to Halt May Day Demonstration

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An eight-day strike by 1,400 upstream workers of Mobil Producing Nigeria ended on 1 May, following mediation over wages, benefits, and alternative forms of payment for a two-year period. The talks were concluded in the capital of Abuja after mediation by both the Nigeria National Petroleum Corp. (NNPC) and the Ministry of Labour and Productivity. 
 
The strike by PENGASSAN, ICEM&rsquo;s white-collar oil and gas workers&rsquo; affiliated trade union in Nigeria, had shut in 860,000-barrels-per-day of oil production. The settlement is expected to establish the upstream pattern for major oil and gas producers in Nigeria for 2008 and 2009. Only Total&rsquo;s upstream workers had reached agreement earlier.
<img height="160" src="" width="240" alt="" />
&nbsp;PENGASSAN's Mobil Producing Bargaining Committee 
 
The strike settlement, however, has no bearing on a dispute between PENGASSAN and Mobil Oil Nigeria Plc. in the downstream sector. That dispute has to do with discrepancies on compensation regarding redundancies. 
 
The strike in the upstream sector was brought on by Mobil Producing&rsquo;s intransigence in reaching a new deal following the 31 December 2007 expiration of a prior agreement. The company refused to budge from a total compensation offer of 10% over a new two-year period. NNPC and the Labour Ministry intervened in mediation efforts once the strike began on 24 April. 
 
Mobil Producing is jointly owned by NNPC and US-based ExxonMobil, with ExxonMobil serving as the operating partner in what is currently Nigeria&rsquo;s largest crude exporter, as well as lowest operating cost producer. 
 
PENGASSAN&rsquo;s Mobil Producing Branch Chairman Olusola George-Olumoroti said four of the five major points on the union&rsquo;s agenda were resolved in marathon talks on 30 April, but it took the two Nigerian parties &ndash; NNPC and Labour Ministry &ndash; to move the multinational company from its low 10% offer.
<img height="210" src="" width="140" alt="" />
&nbsp;Branch Chairman Olusola George-Olumoroti 
 

On 1 May, the union&rsquo;s branch committee accepted a 20% total pay package, which is retroactive to 1 January and includes benefits and other remuneration items. PENGASSAN&rsquo;s Mobil upstream branch committee also included members of the Mobil Producing Contract Staff Branch, since a major point on the union&rsquo;s agenda was casualisation. 
 
The union charged Mobil Producing with over-extending service professionals in work that could be more efficiently done by full-time staff. George-Olumoroti casual staff work under two-year contracts, and some worked in such status for as along as 19 years. In negotiations on 30 April, the two sides agreed to set up a joint committee to review contract staffing, and then compare Mobil&rsquo;s record with that of other companies in the industry. 
 
Another major concern was the inconsistency of Mobil&rsquo;s defined benefit plan to Nigeria&rsquo;s Pension Reform Act of 2004. That issue met resolve by the two sides agreeing to a team of independent actuaries to examine the company&rsquo;s current pension plan. 
 
Other issues included the rapid influx of expatriates that violate the government&rsquo;s quota regulations, and hazardous equipment and facility deterioration, particularly in the company&rsquo;s western area of operations along the Niger Delta. The PENGASSAN branch cited leakages at two offshore oil pipelines of the company &ndash; Idoho and Edop &ndash; in February. 
 
The Nigerian government has agreed to conduct an audit regarding expatriate quotas, while a joint committee will be put in place immediately to develop a charter and recommendations on facility deficiencies. That committee will be on a stringent time frame, with reporting on or before 30 June.
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In the downstream sector, Mobil Oil Nigeria Plc., also jointly owned by NNPC and ExxonMobil, and the PENGASSAN branch there are in dispute over terms of a redundancy package negotiated late in 2007. The company made 67 of 170 senior staff members redundant, and intentionally targeted PENGASSAN members and activists for sackings. 
 
At question is a miscalculation in the redundancy package. In implementing a new information technology programme, ExxonMobil has eliminated jobs in Nigeria and moved them to Egypt, Taiwan, and Hungary. All the workers made redundant are to be paid their full salaries until 31 May, at which time the severance package is scheduled to take effect. The ICEM has demanded that the American company rectify its error.

Mobil Nigeria Upstream Strike Settled; Downstream Dispute Still Festers

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G8 Campaign in Full Swing 
AIDS G8 Japanese Embassy Campaign Continues to 30 May 
The Global Union AIDS Programme (GUAP) has extended its campaign to contact Japanese Embassies until 30 May 2008. The approach to Japanese Embassies is to urge the Japanese Government, as the current G8 President, to ensure that the next G8 Summit takes action to strengthen health care systems and to create an accountability mechanism on the G8 Nations&rsquo; promises regarding HIV/AIDS. Model letters to be delivered to the Japanese embassy in your country can be found&nbsp;here in <a href="http://www.global-unions.org/pdf/ohsewpT_11Ba.EN.rtf">English</a>, <a href="http://www.global-unions.org/pdf/ohsewpT_11Ba.FR.rtf">Fran&ccedil;ais</a>&nbsp;or&nbsp;<a href="http://www.global-unions.org/pdf/ohsewpT_11Ba.SP.rtf ">Espa&ntilde;ol</a>.
<img height="130" alt="" src="" width="158" />
Three years ago, the Global Unions HIV/AIDS Programme launched its campaign to convince Heads of State, who were attending the G8 Summit, to create a high-level Working Group on HIV/AIDS, with the technical support of existing bodies such as UNAIDS and its co-sponsors. 
 
Thanks to the tremendous efforts by so many trade unions, last year the German Presidency issued a first report on meeting G8 targets for HIV/AIDS. We believe this paves the way for the production of annual reviews and for establishing a mechanism that, at long last, will provide recommendations for action to subsequent G8 summits. 
However, we are convinced that combining our request, in connection with the need for health system strengthening and overall trade union issues for public and occupational health, will make our case much stronger. 
 
We want to build upon our successes of previous years, and we are asking you to organise some activity around the delivery of a letter to the Japanese Embassy in your country, and to insist that your government also request support for this G8 HIV/AIDS mechanism. 
 
For your information, the G8 is composed of governments from the following countries: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russian Federation, United Kingdom, and the United States. The G8 Summit will take place from 7-9 July 2008, and will be hosted by the Japanese Government in Toyako, Hokkaido. 
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ICEM Assessment Missions and Sub-Regional Workshops
More than three years into the HIV/AIDS project, the ICEM will conduct sub-regional workshops and assessment missions in three African sub-regions: English-speaking West Africa (Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone), French-speaking West Africa (C&ocirc;te d&rsquo;Ivoire, DR Congo, Mali) and southern Africa (Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia). 
 
The first sub-regional workshop, with participants from Ghana, Nigeria and Sierra Leone, will be organised in Lagos from 21 to 23 July. Prior to the workshop, Ghana, Sierra Leone, and Nigeria will be visited to assess the impact of the HIV/AIDS programmes in these countries. 
 
Assessment missions for southern and East Africa will visit Zambia, Uganda, Namibia, Botswana, Tanzania, and South Africa in August and September. The sub-regional workshop will take place in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, from 14-16 October. 
 
A workshop for the French-speaking sub-region will be organised in Abidjan, C&ocirc;te d&rsquo;Ivoire, in the fourth quarter of this year, together with an assessment mission to Mali, DR Congo, and to C&ocirc;te d&rsquo;Ivoire. 
 
The HIV/AIDS resolution of the ICEM&rsquo;s 4th World Congress called on the ICEM to continue to fully prioritise HIV/AIDS. Assessment of the current project will also identify national priorities and objectives for an extension of the present project. 
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ILO Recommendation on HIV/AIDS and the World of Work
In March 2007, the Governing Body of the ILO decided to place on the agenda of the International Labour Conferences for 2009 and 2010 an item intended for &ldquo;the development of an autonomous Recommendation on HIV and AIDS in the world of work.&rdquo; 
 
The ILO has begun work towards the adoption of a Recommendation in 2010. Under the Constitution and Standing Orders, five reports have to be prepared within specific time limits and each report to contain specific information. The first report, called a &ldquo;Law and Practice Report,&rdquo; provides an overview of national and international measures taken with respect to HIV/AIDS. This report was published and sent to governments in January 2008. 
 
The Law and Practice Report, which is available at <a href="http://www.ilo.org/aids">www.ilo.org/aids</a>, also contains a questionnaire to which governments, in consultation with employers&rsquo; and workers&rsquo; organisations, are to provide replies to the ILO by the end of July 2008. Consultation usually occurs through national trade union centres. 
The ICEM calls on its affiliates to get fully involved in this process and make sure that substantive replies, with comments which reflect the views of workers, are provided in time. It is only in this way that the second report, which will be prepared by the ILO on the basis of the replies received, reflect the views of workers and their unions. It is worth noting that workers&rsquo; organisations may also provide their comments directly to the ILO. 
&nbsp;<img height="35" alt="" src="" width="25" />
AIDS in Brazil 
Over the past 20 years, the Brazilian government has had an impressive achievement in keeping the HIV/AIDS epidemic under control. 
 
The energetic response has taken three forms: 
 
First, there has always been an insistence on the need to wear condoms, particularly in carnival time when the usual supply of free condoms increases by 40%. The World Bank recently helped the government buy a billion condoms &ndash; around a tenth of the world&rsquo;s total annual supply. 
 
Second, the government funds free treatment for anyone with AIDS. This has involved side-stepping patents on anti-retroviral drugs to keep costs down. 
 
Third, NGOs have been good at publicising the cause and at holding federal and local governments to their promises. 
 
Recently, the disease has spread, however. Although the total number of people affected is still low at 620,000 (in a total population of 190 million), which represents 0.6% of those aged 15 to 49, the change in the profile of sufferers makes the fight harder. 
 
HIV/AIDS has gone from being an almost exclusively male disease to one that does not discriminate by sex. The responsibility in this lies in drug users sharing used needles and bi-sexual men. As a result, women now account for 40% of all new cases. Among teenagers, more girls have the disease than boys. 
 
(Source: The Economist, 15 March) 
&nbsp;<img height="35" alt="" src="" width="25" />
World Bank Rewards Safe Sex 
Thousands of people will be paid to avoid unsafe sex under a groundbreaking experiment backed by the World Bank that is aimed at halting the spread of HIV infections. 
 
The trial will counsel 3,000 men and women in southern rural Tanzania over three years, paying them on condition that periodic laboratory test results prove that they have not contracted sexually transmitted infections. The proposed payments of US$45 equates to a quarter of the annual income of some participants. The programme also guarantees free treatment for any participants found to be infected. 
 
The programme marks an important step in the fight against AIDS. In spite of billions of dollars spent annually on treatment and prevention worldwide, there were about 2.5 million new HIV infections in 2007, the majority of them in Africa. 
 
Conditional cash transfers have been used in other programmes elsewhere, such as motivating school attendance, vaccination, and visits to health clinics. The designers of the Tanzanian programme believe that payment of US$45, when combined with careful counselling, could play an important role in reducing HIV infections, especially among young women. 
 
(Source: Financial Times, 26-27 April) 
&nbsp;<img height="35" alt="" src="" width="25" />
Global Fund Agrees on Early Launch of Round 9 
In an unexpected development, the Board of the Global Fund, meeting in Geneva on 28-29 April, agreed in principle that Round 9 will be launched nearly six months earlier than had been anticipated. The Board also agreed that CCMs, whose Round 8 proposals narrowly fail to be approved, will be permitted to resubmit those proposals as part of Round 9, after they address shortcomings pointed out by the Technical Review Panel (TRP). Prior to this board meeting, it had been assumed that the Round 9 Call for Proposals would be made in March 2009. 
 
In Rounds 8 and 9, as in the past, the TRP will divide proposals into four categories, as follows: 
&bull; Category 1 and 2: TRP recommends Board to approve the proposal 
&bull; Category 3: Not worthy of approval as it stands; but worth improving and resubmitting. 
&bull; Category 4: TRP recommends Board to reject the proposal. 
 
However, the Board's decision includes some important changes from past procedures, which affect not only Round 9 applicants, but also Round 8 applicants (for which the deadline for submission is 1 July 2008). When the TRP writes its comments in September on Round 8 proposals that it assigns to Category 3, it will not just list strengths and weaknesses, it will, in the words of the Board decision, &quot;recommend the types of changes that need to be made to strengthen the proposal for resubmission.&quot; 
 
(Source: Global Fund Observer Issue 89, 30 April 2008. GFO is a free service of Aidspan <a href="http://www.aidspan.org">www.aidspan.org</a>. To receive GFO, send an email to <a href="mailto:receive-gfo-newsletter@aidspan.org">receive-gfo-newsletter@aidspan.org</a>)
&nbsp;<img height="35" alt="" src="" width="25" />
New South African Musical Centred on Mining Life 
A new South African musical, Shosholoza, revolves around life in the gold-mining community. The setting is a fictitious mine called The Highveld Gold Fields Mines, in Johannesburg, and the production touches on issues such as the plight of mineworkers, HIV and Aids, and mine safety. 
 
Shosholoza centres on the highs and lows of a newly recruited mineworker, Jabulani Makhathini, who is from a rural village in KwaZulu-Natal. Jabulani becomes a heavyweight stick-fighting champion during his times as a mineworker and he falls in love with a woman, named Mavi, who also works at the mine. 
 
(Source: The Mercury, South Africa, 15 April) 
&nbsp;<img height="35" alt="" src="" width="25" />
News from ILOAIDS 
The second report on the International HIV/AIDS Workplace Education Programme, SHARE (Strategic HIV/AIDS Responses in Enterprises), entitled &ldquo;Saving Lives, Protecting Jobs&rdquo; was launched in April. The report explains the tripartite approach, under the chapters: 
&bull; Building a multi-sectoral response: working with ministries of labour 
&bull; Mobilising the private sector: employers and their organisations 
&bull; Using powerful networks: workers and their organisations. 
 
It describes lessons learned from the SHARE pioneer countries such as India, Benin, Cambodia, and Ghana, and sets out plans for sustainability. 
 
In an interview on 14 April, Dr Sophia Kisting, ILOAIDS Director, stressed the importance of the workplace as a key delivery point for HIV prevention, treatment, and care programmes. She pointed out that in the five years since its inception, the SHARE programme is now collaborating with 650 enterprises, reaching an estimated one million workers in 24 countries. 
 
Kisting emphasised that behaviour change programmes are an essential and central element in enterprise-level initiatives within SHARE. Many workers do not know enough about HIV to protect themselves, while others do know but still do not change their behaviour to reduce the risk of infection. 
 
She also referred to the Recommendation on HIV and AIDS in the World of Work, which is to be discussed at the 2009 International Labour Conference and which will provide a framework for national policy development and action. 
 
(Source: ILOAIDS website where the report can be downloaded) 
&nbsp;<img height="35" alt="" src="" width="25" />
News from the Global Union Programme and Global Unions 
In its most recent HIV/AIDS Updates (Nos. 39, 40, and 41 of 15 March, and 1 and 15 April) the International Transport Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITF) (<a href="http://www.itfglobal.org">www.itfglobal.org</a>) reports, among other items, on the preparations of the UN high level meeting on HIV/AIDS to be held on 10-11 June. A Civil Society Task Force, of which the ITF Global HIV/AIDS Project Coordinator, Dr Syed Asif Altaf, is a member, has been set up to support effective participation and contributions from civil society and the private sector, including unions. 
 
According to a recently released resource book of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), large transportation and infrastructure projects financed by the ADB could fuel the spread of HIV in some parts of the region. Such projects employ workers in remote areas where they are separated from their families. Commercial sex workers and drug and human trafficking follow workers. 
 
The April newsletter of PSUFASA www.psufasa.org, the southern Africa public sector unions&rsquo; project on HIV and AIDS, reports on the extension of the project to 2011. The union UNISON of the UK has received substantial project funding from the Department for International Development, DFID.

ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin

<img height="40" alt="" src="" width="100" />
The on-and-off recognition by US-based Ross International of joint representation by ICEM affiliate Sintravidricol at three of its Colombian metal moulding plants is on again after a 23-day strike by union members. With intervention from Colombia&rsquo;s Ministry of Social Protection, Ross agreed to recognise the union at three of five plants at a common bargaining table. 
 
The company agreed to that once before, in October 2007, but changed course the very next month by walking away from talks. Local management cited US owner Larry Ross&rsquo;s unwillingness to sign any union agreement. That caused the strike, which began late in November at the three worksites, Moldes Medellin Ltda., Andes International Tooling, and Andes Cast Foundry Metals.
<img height="92" alt="" src="" width="200" />
Ross opened the latter two plants in 2004, along with two other enterprises, and staffed the operations with contract workers. That was the direct result of staff at Moldes Medillin organising with Sintravidricol, the leading glass workers&rsquo; union of Colombia. With support and assistance from the ICEM and the United Steelworkers and its Flint/Glass Division in the US, Sintravidricol successfully brought the union message to the contract workers in the new plants. 
 
Following last month&rsquo;s company acquiescence to a four-year labour agreement at the three plants, all workers previously on fixed-term contracts became full-time staff. And that included a majority of the 240 workers at the three plants. Additionally, equal rights and conditions will exist between all workers. Union rights were won, with strict provisions outlining union representation and union activities. 
<img height="188" alt="" src="" width="250" />
Talks froze at Ross in November 2007
The company also agreed to withdraw all court actions against the union and workers. Sintravidricol called the December 2007 agreement an achievement of the basic objectives that launched the international campaign some three years ago. &ldquo;This is due not only to the unity and capacity for struggle of the union, but also the enormous international support, which resulted in this conflict becoming a problem for the central government, with international repercussions,&rdquo; said Sintravidricol in a statement. 
 
The ICEM heralds the persistence of our Colombian affiliate, as well as workers and leaders in Sintravidricol&rsquo;s Sabaneta and LaEstrella regional structures. The on-again, off-again bargaining table developments at Ross in Colombia in late 2007 can be found <a href="/en/?id=78&amp;doc=2450&amp;la=EN">here</a> and <a href="/en/?id=78&amp;doc=2496&amp;la=EN">here</a>.

Persistence Pays Off for Ross Glass Workers’ in Colombia

<img height="40" alt="" src="" width="100" />
A lockout by Canadian petroleum company Petro-Canada will hit the two-month mark on 17 January, with no talks occurring between the company and the Communications, Energy, Paperworkers (CEP) Union since the start of the lockout. The lockout of 267 union members at an oil refinery in Montr&eacute;al, Qu&eacute;bec, is an attempt to reverse Petro-Canada&rsquo;s own pattern-setting energy bargaining established at a company refinery in Edmonton, Alberta, on 13 May 2007. 
 
The ICEM-affiliated CEP and Petro-Canada there agreed to a three-year contract for 300 workers. Since May 2007, the CEP has signed labour accords with other companies set by the Petro-Canada/Edmonton agreement, including Petro-Canada operations in Ontario province. The CEP established Petro-Canada as the lead company in its National Energy and Chemical Bargaining Programme for 2007-2008, nearly one year ago. 
<img height="225" alt="" src="" width="380" />
Managers at the Point-aux-Trembles refinery in the east end of Montr&eacute;al are insisting on a six-year labour agreement, and they seek contract revisions that will reduce health and safety personnel. The company also seeks to erode workers&rsquo; rights concerning scheduling and assignments, and wants an accelerated training and progression system in which job safety will be jeopardised. Petro-Canada is attempting to operate the refinery during the lockout with 130 managers and scabs, contrary to Quebec&rsquo;s labour law. 
 
In 2007, under CEP staffing, the refinery experienced an average production increase to 130,000 barrels-per-day, from 105,000 b/d in 2006. In a statement immediately following the 17 November lockout, Petro-Canada said the lockout was necessary because the refinery was in a &ldquo;constant state of standby&rdquo; from the labour talks. The company later admitted it had been training managers since September 2007 to run the facility, apparently anticipating the lockout. 
<img height="266" src="" width="200" alt="" />
Local 175 rally, 9 January
&ldquo;Running an oil refinery requires highly specialised skills and dedicated safety training,&rdquo; said CEP President Dave Coles, who joined workers on picket lines and in a mass meeting on 9 January. CEP Local 175 &ldquo;members are on the front lines of the fight to protect pattern bargaining, which is at the very foundation of our union,&rdquo; added Coles. 
 
In a protest in front of the refinery on 21 December, the CEP issued a warning to the Montr&eacute;al community that 130 managers cannot adequately replace 260 skilled workers in a safe and hazard-free manner. The ICEM has joined the CEP in calling for support to the locked-out workers of Local 175, and on calling on Canada&rsquo;s third largest oil company to adhere to terms it had initially negotiated in the current pattern settlement.

Canadian Petrol Refinery Lockout Nears 2-Month Mark

Contract and Agency Labour, a global phenomenon &hellip; 
 
Throughout the entire one-day global ICEM conference on contract and agency labour, which took place just prior to the start of the three-day-long 4th ICEM World Congress in Bangkok, Thailand, speaker after speaker confirmed that the phenomenon of contract and agency labour (CAL) - and of many other forms of precarious employment - is vastly, and rapidly, increasing throughout the whole world. Particularly often mentioned was the continuing trend of using non-permanent, and non-protected, labour in developing countries. 
 
Welcomed by ICEM General Secretary, Manfred Warda, as well as by Vesna Rodic, FES Resident Director, and chaired by Brother Sjaiful from FSP KEP Indonesia, the almost 300 participants at the third global ICEM conference on contract and agency labour heard contributions and presentations by trade unionists from all corners of the world. With little to no exceptions, they all, albeit to varying degrees, mentioned their own problems with contract labour, agency labour and, on a wider level, the wide-ranging difficulties associated with the lack of a (good) employment relationship. 
 
CAL itself is known under a wide range of different names, including temporary work, self employed work, informal work or outsourced work, casual or contingent work, all terms that are used, in one way or another, to describe a fundamental change in the relationship between the workers and employers. 
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What has been changing primarily are the previous &ldquo;normal&rdquo; relationships between employers and workers. For a large segment of the world&rsquo;s workforce, this relationship has become one of a &lsquo;much lesser&rsquo; quality. For many others, such the increasing contingent of &ldquo;self-employed&rdquo; workers, it has changed from an employment relationship to a commercial relationship, with the worker taking all the risks. As a result, many of the protections that workers have fought for, often over a very long time, such as social protection or anti-discrimination rules, are simply lost. 
 
This point was emphasised by, among others, Jim Baker, coordinator of the Global Union Council, who referred to the Philadelphia declaration of 1944 which says that labour is not a commodity. Labour can therefore not be sold as any other market product. He also described the situation of fear that many CAL workers are living in. Where workers do not have any rights, they are afraid. Protesting can have serious consequences under those circumstances. 
 
Individual contracts were also mentioned by Jim Baker, a practice widespread in Australia, among other countries. Another point made was on the value of industry and national bargaining, certainly where guarantees for contract and agency labour workers are needed. 
 
Equally mentioned was the need for unions to emphasise the positive aspects of having a good and satisfied &ndash; which, in most cases, means a unionised, but also permanent &ndash; workforce. It is possibly one of the best arguments against CAL labour, and certainly one that unions should make. 
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Christine Nathan, representing the ILO, talked about how, particularly in Asia, governments are willing to discuss the issue of CAL. However, they only want to do this when the end result is likely to be a set of voluntary guidelines, which they then can ignore. 
 
She further mentioned the fact that, in many countries, the labour situation has become so extremely complicated, with sub-sub-sub contractors and other complicated forms of work relationships, that, even where law makers want to legislate, they find it very difficult to do so. 
 
Nathan was just one of the speakers who picked up on the &ldquo;seven-headed monster&rdquo; image. Through that comparison, spokespersons indicated that it appears to be so that whatever we do, whatever solution we find for whatever problem, another problem seems to resurge, with employers being very creative in finding new ways to avoid responsibilities. 
&hellip;.throughout all regions and continents&hellip; 
 
In Asia, contract and agency work was reported to have been increasing in virtually all sectors and all countries. One particular example given was the Indian mining and diamond sector, where almost all workers work on CAL contracts. Thailand and Korea were cited as examples of other Asian countries where CAL work is omnipresent. 
 
Africa was described as the globalisation&rsquo;s playing ground, with increasing investment, for example in the mining sector, bringing - besides possibilities for organising - mainly across-the-board problems caused by investors who seem to think anything is possible on the continent. The example was given by a representative from Tanzania, where gold company Barrick dismissed close to 1.800 contract and agency miners after failed negotiations on the respect of ILO core labour standards. Standards which are clearly included in Tanzanian labour law. 
 
In almost all countries, women were said to disproportionately suffer from the CAL phenomenon, a point raised by many that spoke, including Evgenia Esenina, chair of the ICEM women&rsquo;s committee. She also spoke of the fact that women, as they are more often unemployed, are more often forced to accept lower quality jobs. 
 
Poverty, a situation which, in many countries, appears to be the direct result of precarious work, was also said to affect women more than men. 
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Migrants were frequently mentioned as another category of workers confronted with the worst excesses of CAL. In numerous countries, migrants have to combine two &ndash; or even three &ndash; precarious jobs, just in order to survive. Many have a sad story to tell and it is no secret that they are often discriminated. As CAL workers, they are, in addition, frequently fired for belonging to a union, they often face an almost total lack of health and safety protections, and/or have little to no social benefits. 
 
The above-mentioned CAL related problems all come on top of another main reason why employers claim they want to need contract and agency labour: it is easy to terminate the workforce. 
 
CAL difficulties are by no means limited to the non-OECD countries. Problems in North America and Europe were also talked about. Contract and agency labour is heavily used in those regions as well, albeit not always at the same level. 
 
In the context of North America, the problem of &lsquo;permatemps&rsquo; was mentioned - a problem by no means limited to this region. 
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US unions, in spite of the fact that they do not exactly work under the easiest of circumstances, also made some progress, including limited progress on the rights to information for contract workers. 
 
In Japan, since the 1990&rsquo;s, limitations on the use of agency labour have been removed. One third of the total workforce in Japan is said to be working in precarious work situations. One typical result has been an increase in average working hours. Another one has been the polarisation of the labour force. Through their national trade union centre, Japanese unions are currently campaigning on CAL issues as one of their key priorities. One successfully used tactic is to establish union subdivisions that concentrate on CAL workers. 
 
In Europe, an estimated average of 4 to 5 percent is working as a contract or agency worker, varying from rather low percentages in the Nordic countries to 33% in Spain. A call was therefore made on the European trade union federations to get involved more in the discussions on this issue. 
 
Agency workers were said to be also increasingly used outside of the &ldquo;more traditionally outsourced&rdquo; sectors, such as cleaning, catering, security, agriculture or construction. In many of the ICEM sectors, for example the energy or the chemical sector, CAL work in core workplaces is ubiquitous. 
&hellip; not all is bad, however &hellip;. 
 
The conference also heard from various participants about cases where unions and trade unionists have been able to fight back. 
 
Until 4 years ago in Brazil, there were three CAL workers for each Petrobras permanent worker. At the time, there was an average of three lethal accidents per month. Today, after years of negotiations &ndash; where it helped that the Lula government was supportive &ndash; the Petrobras CAL ratio is 1 permanent Petrobras worker for every 1.5 CAL worker. 
 
In Chile, a new law, &rdquo;Ley 20123&rdquo;, was passed recently. On the one hand, the law makes it easier now for companies in Chile to outsource work. On the other hand, however, it also gives CAL workers a much better protection than before, including in the area of pension rights and health and safety security, areas where the company where the work is actually done is now clearly responsible. An agency is also being set up, with wide ranging powers, to make sure that the rules and regulations for all CAL workers are applied. 
 
Contract work in Chile can only be used in certain cases, such as to replace workers on holiday, or workers on sick leave. The law forbids using contract labour in case of a strike. Unfortunately, bringing the law into practice has not always been easy so far. 
<img height="71" alt="" src="" width="50" />
Similar limitations on the use of contract and agency labour exist in many countries, all around the world. The same can be said, unfortunately, for the non-respect of many of these rules. 
 
In Uruguay &ndash; another example of a country with a new government &ndash; a bill for a law on outsourcing, drafted by the trade unions, was recently adopted by the government. 
 
In Africa, for example in South Africa, several unions have been able to organise CAL workers. In this region, as well as in many others, there is a clear and direct link between union successes and union strength. 
 
Equally in Africa, Mauritius was presented as a country where the law covers CAL workers and where all workers are, in addition, covered by national collective bargaining. However, recent political powers want to change all that, and deregulate. 
 
In Europe, progress has been made through pressure on governments and companies. Agreements on CAL have been entered into collective bargaining agreements as well, including, for example, in the UK and in Denmark. 
<img height="71" alt="" src="" width="50" />
From Finland came the example of how a campaign on a Taiwanese company failed as the union didn&rsquo;t take the 40% CAL workers into account, and, as a result, didn&rsquo;t get sufficient support for its actions. The union learned from it, and managed to get CAL workers involved in its disputes and collective bargaining after that. 
 
The EU Directive on fixed-time work already says that fixed-term workers have the same right as regular workers. On agency work, there is still no directive on agency labour, in spite of years of trying. 
 
In Central Europe, for example in Croatia and Macedonia, laws do exist to make sure that contract or agency workers are not used to the detriment of the permanent workforce. However, collective bargaining agreements and laws are all too often violated in the region. 
 
In Macedonia, following an SIER campaign, workers now have the right to be informed on what is going to happen at their workplace in relation to contract labour. This includes the right to be informed about any upcoming outsourcing plans. 
<img height="71" alt="" src="" width="50" />
New forms of employment, including contract and agency labour, are also making headway in Eastern Europe. One consistent problem quoted there is that regulation in this area simply does not exist. Russia, Ukraine and Moldova were said to be among the countries were CAL work is being used the most. 
 
In Russia, for example, private employment agencies noted an increase in demand of around 10 percent a year recently. The latest development is that it is the Russian-owned companies that are now calling on agency labour, where it was mainly foreign companies that made use of CAL labour before. 
 
Hassan J&rsquo;Aama, President of new ICEM affiliate IFOU (Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions) spoke on the difficult situation for workers in Iraq. He mentioned not only the overall security situation, but also the distressing fact that several former anti-union laws in Iraq have not been changed since the fall of the previous regime. Both the occupation forces and the Iraqi government were particularly blamed for not abolishing Decree 150, which bans unions in public enterprises, including in the oil sector. 
 
As a result of this continuing anti-union legislation, many Iraqi unions find it very difficult to organise, something which helps explaining why employers in Iraq are using contract labour almost everywhere. Iraqi contract workers, as they do in many other places, often work for a minimum wage, or less, without much protection of any labour code or any real pension rights. 
&hellip; some conclusions &hellip; 
 
One overall conclusion is the clear need for the ICEM to continue and intensify its campaign. Various campaign strategies were emphasised, including on one of the primary goals of the campaign, i.e. to make sure that employers do not sign any contracts with a third party that could affect the employment status of their direct employees, prior to consulting with the employees&rsquo; union representatives. 
 
The importance of networking was highlighted, as was the need of sharing information at a global scale. The exchanging of good examples was mentioned as being very useful. Good examples were those where unions are successful in dealing with the CAL problem, be it in avoiding contract and agency labour, or in finding ways to work with it. 
 
Most participants agreed that trade unions, in the majority of countries, will not be able to get CAL to disappear. Nor do they want that necessarily to happen. Some union members simply prefer short-term contracts. 
 
However, we need to make sure that CAL workers do get the same rights as permanent workers. This includes social protection benefits, pensions, health coverage, and other social benefits. And, obviously, it also includes equal pay for equal work, as part of the struggle for equal rights in general. 
<img height="71" alt="" src="" width="50" />
Also stressed at the meeting was the importance of establishing legal guidelines and regulations on contract and agency labour, preferably at national level. The principles from the ILO Recommendation 198 (the Employment Relationship Recommendation) are an important tool in all this &ndash; a recommendation that still needs to be ratified by a many countries. 
 
One other unambiguous observation, mentioned throughout the meeting - in spite of the fact that this was an ICEM conference, with mainly ICEM participants - was that the phenomenon is not only a global one, but also one affecting nearly all sectors and industries. It was made clear that the ICEM is already cooperating, under the umbrella of the Global Unions Council, with the other Global Union Federations, looking at issues in regard to the employment relationship. The leadership role that the ICEM is taking in this effort needs to be continued, and strengthened. 
 
Finally, it was said by many that unions need to be open to CAL workers. In too many countries, CAL workers have been facing resentment by other trade union members, as they are perceived as the enemy. Setting up unions, or union divisions, for CAL workers, or &ndash; by many the preferred option &ndash; simply bringing CAL workers into the normal union structures, is seen as a very important and needed accomplishment.

ICEM Contract and Agency labour Conference

The Global Union Federation ICEM today commends the Liberian Supreme Court's 21 December to certify the Firestone Agriculture Workers' Union of Liberia (FAWUL)&nbsp;as bargaining representative for workers at Firestone Rubber Plantation in Harbel. ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda called the decision start to &quot;ardent reconciliation that will finally give workers the fairness and equity they deserve.&quot;
The ICEM agrees with a statement on the Supreme Court's decision issued by the US-based United Steelworkers (USW), a union that has supported plantation workers at Firestone in&nbsp;organising their democratic and responsive Labour Union. &quot;The legal decision in favor of FAWUL signals a new day in Liberia,&quot; said USW President Leo Gerard and&nbsp;International Vice President&nbsp;Fred Redmond. The ICEM also joins the USW in calling on Bridgestone/Firestone management to begin earnest engagement with FAWUL in collective negotiations.
<img height="129" alt="" src="" width="280" />
In early July, a sizeable majority of some 5,000 plantation workers voted for FAWUL, which is now an ICEM&nbsp;affiliate. Liberia's Labour Ministry supervised the election, and a Special Elections Committee monitored the balloting.
On 10 December, after delays in certifying FAWUL, ICEM's Warda wrote Liberia President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: &quot;In the name of Free Trade Unions worldwide, we call on you to use your influence inside the Liberian government to recognise the legitimacy of the Firestone Agriculture Workers' Union. We insist that you certify the elected leaders of FAWUL, and ensure that local management at the Firestone plantation&nbsp;engages in full and meaningful collective negotiations with this union.&quot;
The ICEM welcomes the 21 December Supreme Court decision in Liberia, and, together with the USW and&nbsp;other worldwide unions,&nbsp;will continue to stand with the USW&nbsp;in aiding and assisting the&nbsp;FAWUL.
&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;

ICEM Welcomes Liberia&#039;s Certification of Legitimate Firestone Union

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ICEM Women&rsquo;s World Conference Decides on 7-Point Programme 
 
The ICEM Women&rsquo;s World Conference was held on 17 and 18 November 2007 in Bangkok. Some 150 women from all continents listened to presentations and worked on their priorities in working groups. Women from Burma, Colombia, Iraq, Nepal, Palestine, Uzbekistan and Zimbabwe presented their work in crisis situations and the fight for peace. All presentations are available in the original languages from ICEM. 
 
One special highlight was the presence of Hashemiyya Muhsin Hussein, President of the Electricity Workers&rsquo; Union for the Basra region, Iraq. In an interview conducted by ITUC she said among other things that, &ldquo;There is a great deal of women working in this sector. During the war between Iran and Iraq, the men left for the front and so women replaced them on a wide scale, which is why there are so many of them now&hellip; 
 
People write slogans on the walls of the markets and other public places against women, against women who work and against women who do not wear the veil. The simple fact of working is dangerous for a woman. But many women have no alternative, because of their financial difficulties. Yes, the fact that I am a woman has made things very difficult as well, but I didn&rsquo;t want to give up and so I fought for this position, even though I received death threats against myself and even against my son.&rdquo; Hashemiyya was elected to the ICEM Executive and women&rsquo;s committee. 
 
One other focus for the conference was work-life balance. The topic was introduced by women representing ICEM affiliates in Japan. Maternity protection was one of the priorities decided on for continuing work. 
 
One example of work in connection with hazardous substances and the dangers they represent for maternity as well as babyproofing the workplace was presented by Margreet Pasman from the Netherlands. FNV Bondgenoten has made folders available on these themes, and they can be accessed from ICEM or Margreet. Gender perspectives on women&rsquo;s health were presented by Edeltraud Gl&auml;nzer from Germany, and work on bullying, violence, HIV/AIDS and abortion was explained by sisters from Brazil. 
 
A publication on maternity protection with different case studies from all continents is available in English, French, German, Japanese, Russian, Spanish and Swedish from ICEM. 
 
A session was held and facilitated by Ramona Parra from FITEQA-CCOO, Spain, to have an exchange with women from Europe. The conclusion was that more work has to be done in cooperation between EMCEF and ICEM. 
 
The conclusions from the conference work fed into the 7 points that were decided for ICEM&rsquo;s future work. The points are as follows: 
 
1. Do research and exchange information on best practices of maternity protection. Information on paternity leave is particularly interesting. 
2. Provide information and guides on how to bargain for paternity leave and work-life balance. 
3. General work must continue on maternity protection and work-life balance. 
4. Strengthen ICEM&rsquo;s work on informal workers, migrant workers and contract and agency workers, especially since a majority of these tend to be women. 
5. Build alliances with NGO&rsquo;s and civil society in order to change mentalities and expand gender equality. 
6. Expand women&rsquo;s leadership training and broaden women&rsquo;s leadership. 
7. Work will continue on Burma, Colombia, Iraq, Nepal, Palestine, Zimbabwe and all others where fights are on-going for human and trade union rights. 
 
The women&rsquo;s conference confirmed Evgenia Esenina as chair of the women&rsquo;s committee and vice-president of ICEM and elected Angeline Chitambo from ZEEWU, Zimbabwe, as vice-chair and ICEM vice-president. 
 
ICEM Congress was held from 22 to 24 November. A record number of women attended the Congress, although some delegations from developed countries were notable in their absence of women delegates. Some examples were very encouraging, however, such as Spain, Sweden, South Africa and Brazil among others. Japan must be lauded for including more women in their Congress delegation each time. Congress passed a motion on women&rsquo;s participation. The ICEM women&rsquo;s committee will be monitoring its implementation. 
 
On the last day of Congress Elena Guti&eacute;rrez, Sitrapequia Costa Rica, called for a minute of silence in memory of the many thousands of women worldwide who have died as a result of violence. This commemoration took place on the eve of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, explained below.
PLEASE FORWARD TO ICEM ANY INDUSTRIAL CONFLICT WITH A HIGH LEVEL OF WOMEN&rsquo;S INVOLVEMENT THAT YOU FEEL SHOULD BE HIGHLIGHTED BY ICEM ON THE OCCASION OF 8 MACH 2008, INTERNATIONAL WOMEN&rsquo;S DAY. 
<img height="31" alt="" src="" width="25" />
ICEM Colombia Committee Organises Gender Workshop 
 
On 18 July the ICEM Colombia Committee organised a workshop on gender in Bogot&aacute; with 70 men and women participants. The group worked on the construction of patriarchy and the different attributions associated with women and men as well as maternity and paternity. The participants analysed the theory of gender and discussed socialization, abortion and quotas in government in groups. 
 
There were some prejudices such as the idea that gender only refers to women or that gender divides trade unions or that gender is a distraction from the class struggle. There are differences in concepts between gender, feminism and women&rsquo;s movements, and it is important to understand these differences. 
 
Some of the men participants felt threatened in their power position. Since the seminar was mixed, men and women together, the women participated less than the men. ICEM Colombia considers this work to be fundamental and women and men must be involved at all levels of debate. 
<img height="31" alt="" src="" width="25" />
ITUC Seminar on Diversity, Racism and Xenophobia 
 
The ITUC held a seminar on diversity, racism and xenophobia from 4 to 7 December in Geneva. This is a topic that has very strong gender perspectives. Migrant women are generally over-represented in low-skilled employment. 
 
The World Bank reports that women make up about 50% of the migrant population worldwide. The UN calculated in 2006 that about 190 million people live outside their country of origin. 
 
The meeting deplored the fact that racism seems to be on the rise worldwide and that racist policies can be used for electoral gain. ITUC will be developing activities to lead up to the conference in 2009 to follow up the 2001 Conference on racism held in Durban, South Africa.
<img height="31" alt="" src="" width="25" />
Resources 
 
<a href="http://www.ccoo.es/webCCOO/temp/recursos/1/44630.pdf">Good Practice Guide for Non-Sexist Language in Collective Bargaining</a> (in Spanish)&nbsp; 
 
<a href="http://www.uso.es">For an explanation of equality plans in Spain&nbsp; 
</a> 
<a href="http://www.un.org/womenwatch">United Nations Inter-Agency Network on Women and Gender Equality</a> 
 
<a href="http://www.unhabitat.org/pmss/getPage.asp?page=latestPeriods">For a look at the urban informal economy in UN Habitat</a>
<a href="http://www.homeworkersww.org.uk ">HomeWorkers Worldwide</a>
<a href="http://www.lo.no/lobasen/Content/122971/14-06-LO-magasin-eneglsk-skjerm.pdf">For a publication on Women in the South</a> 
 
<a href="http://www.all-together.org">Men and equality and work-life balance</a>

ICEM WOMEN’S BULLETIN 27

Archive

Accord Near to Protect Final Pension Scheme for All Workers at Grangemouth

PENGASSAN Elects New Leader in Babatunde Ogun

Turkish Police, Government Take Extreme Measures to Halt May Day Demonstration

Mobil Nigeria Upstream Strike Settled; Downstream Dispute Still Festers

ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin

Persistence Pays Off for Ross Glass Workers’ in Colombia

Canadian Petrol Refinery Lockout Nears 2-Month Mark

ICEM Contract and Agency labour Conference

ICEM Welcomes Liberia's Certification of Legitimate Firestone Union

ICEM WOMEN’S BULLETIN 27

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