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Uluslararası &Ccedil;alışma &Ouml;rg&uuml;t&uuml; ILO&rsquo;nun bu yılki 98. Konferansı'nın 19 Haziran g&uuml;n&uuml; yapılan oturumunda, K&uuml;resel İstihdam Paktı adlı &ouml;nemli bir belge kabul edildi. H&uuml;k&uuml;metlerin, sendikaların ve işverenlerin kabul ettiği pakt, ekonomik toparlanma ve reform konusunda bir &ccedil;er&ccedil;eve getirmektedir. 
 
Uluslararası Sendikalar Konfederasyonu (ITUC) Genel Sekreteri Guy Ryder, ILO &ccedil;er&ccedil;eve paketini ş&ouml;yle tanımladı: &ldquo;Yeni bir k&uuml;resel y&ouml;netim sistemi kurmayı ama&ccedil;layan teklifin &ouml;z&uuml;n&uuml; istihdam, iş&ccedil;i hakları, sosyal koruma &ouml;nlemleri ve s&uuml;rd&uuml;r&uuml;lebilirlik oluşturuyor.&rdquo; 
 

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ITUC Genel Sekreteri Guy Ryder 

K&uuml;resel sendikalar, ILO'nun tekrar işveren &ccedil;evrelerinin y&ouml;r&uuml;ngesine oturmasından ve uluslararası ekonomi kurumlarının başarısızlığı kanıtlanmış serbest piyasa anlayışını s&uuml;rd&uuml;rmesinden endişe duymaktadır. Bazı yorumcular, finansal krizin artık dibe vurduğunu ve toparlanmanın yakın olduğunu belirtirken, 19 Haziran'daki ILO oturumunda s&ouml;z alan temsilciler, kaybolan istihdamın etkilerinin kalıcı ve yıkıcı olacağını vurguladılar. 
 
İstihdam Paktı, krizin 50 milyon iş&ccedil;iyi işsizliğe, 200 milyon insanı yoksulluğa iteceği yolundaki şaşırtıcı ILO tahminlerine bir se&ccedil;enek olarak g&ouml;r&uuml;lmektedir. İklim değişikliğiyle m&uuml;cadele gibi, s&uuml;rd&uuml;r&uuml;lebilir istihdam yaratılması da hayatı bir &ouml;nem taşımaktadır. 
 
İstihdam Paktı'nın bir başka y&ouml;n&uuml;n&uuml; ise &uuml;&ccedil;l&uuml; diyaloga, sosyal diyaloga ve toplu pazarlığa b&uuml;y&uuml;k &ouml;nem vermesi oluşturmaktadır. &Ccedil;alışma koşullarıyla ilgili standartların y&uuml;kseltilmesi ve &uuml;cretlerin iyileştirilmesi, işsizlere y&ouml;nelik eğitim ve yetiştirme programlarıyla birlikte yaşamsal bir &ouml;nem taşımaktadır. İstihdam Paktı, kamu sekt&ouml;r&uuml;nde istihdam yaratma planlarının uygulanmasını &ouml;ng&ouml;rmektedir. 
 
K&uuml;resel İstihdam Paktı ileriye atılmış &ouml;nemli ve anlamlı bir adımdır ve hemen uygulanması gerekmektedir. ICEM 24-25 Eyl&uuml;l 2009'da ABD'nin Pennsylvania eyaletinin Pittsburgh kentinde yapılacak bir sonraki G20 toplantısından &ouml;nce somut sonu&ccedil;lar alınması talebini desteklemektedir.

ILO’nun İstihdam Paktı: Krizden Çıkış İçin Önemli Bir Açılım

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T&uuml;rkiye'deki ICEM &uuml;yesi 14 sendika, &ldquo;&Ouml;rg&uuml;tlenme ve Sosyal Diyalog&rdquo; konusunda bir dizi &ccedil;alışma toplantısından oluşacak kampanya projesini başlattı. ICEM'in geliştirdiği projeyi Hollanda ulusal sendikal merkezi FNV ile onun uluslararası birimi olan FNV Mondiaal desteklemektedir. 
 
Kasım 2008'de ICEM T&uuml;rkiye Koordinasyon Kurulu'nun onayladığı proje, 15-16 Haziran'da Ankara'da d&uuml;zenlenen konferansla başladı. 100'&uuml; aşkın sendika y&ouml;neticisi, uzman ve temsilcinin katıldığı konferansta, sendikal &ouml;rg&uuml;tlenmeyi kolaylaştıracak ara&ccedil; ve y&ouml;ntemler, &ccedil;eşitli &uuml;lkelerdeki deneyimler &uuml;zerinde duruldu. 
 

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FNV Bondgenoten Başkanı Henk Van der Kolk 

A&ccedil;ılış oturumunda FNV Bondgenoten'in Başkanı Henk Van der Kolk sendikal &ccedil;alışmada uluslararası işbirliğinin &ouml;nemini vurguladı. &ldquo;Sendikalar d&uuml;nyanın her yerinde g&uuml;&ccedil; kaybediyor&rdquo; diyen Van der Kolk s&ouml;zlerini ş&ouml;yle s&uuml;rd&uuml;rd&uuml;: &ldquo;İşe başladığınızda bir sendikaya katılmak artık olağan bir şey değil. ILO s&ouml;zleşmelerinde &ouml;ng&ouml;r&uuml;len temel insan ve iş&ccedil;i haklarına saygı olmadan sosyal bir Avrupa, sosyal bir d&uuml;nya olamaz. &Ouml;rg&uuml;tlenme &ouml;zg&uuml;rl&uuml;ğ&uuml; ve toplu s&ouml;zleşme &ouml;zg&uuml;rl&uuml;ğ&uuml; temel haklardır. Aynı şey asgari &uuml;cret, g&uuml;venli iş ve sosyal koruma hakları i&ccedil;in de s&ouml;z konusudur.&rdquo; 
 
Hollanda ve T&uuml;rkiye sendikalarına teşekk&uuml;r ederek s&ouml;zlerine başlayan ICEM Genel Sekreteri Manfred Warda &ouml;rg&uuml;tlenmede uluslararası &ccedil;alışmanın &ouml;nemini belirtti. &ldquo;Bu alanda &ccedil;ok &ouml;rnek vardır ve bunlardan biri i&ccedil;in T&uuml;rkiye'ye bakmak yeterlidir&rdquo; diyen Warda devamle şunları vurguladı: &ldquo;Novamed &ouml;rneği ve Antalya serbest ticaret b&ouml;lgesindeki bu şirketin cesur kadınlarına verilen destek bunun somut &ouml;rneğidir. Bu t&uuml;r &ouml;rneklerle T&uuml;rkiye'de ve d&uuml;nyada sendikal hareketi g&uuml;&ccedil;lendirmemiz gerekiyor.&rdquo; 
 
ILO ve OECD'nin mekanizmaları, BM K&uuml;resel Haklar Anlaşması ve D&uuml;nya Bankası'na bağlı Uluslararası Finans Kuruluşu'nun performans standartları, ayrıca &ccedil;okuluslu şirketlerdeki sendikal ağlar ve k&uuml;resel &ccedil;er&ccedil;eve s&ouml;zleşmeler konuları ele alındı. 
 
Konferansa Asya/Pasifik B&ouml;lgesi'nden, Almanya, Fransa, İspanya, Hollanda, Danimarka ve ABD'den delegeler de katıldı. Hepsi T&uuml;rkiye'deki sekt&ouml;r sendikalarıyla &ouml;rg&uuml;tlenme ve sosyal diyalog konusundaki deneyimlerini paylaştılar. 
 
16 Haziran'daki son oturumda, T&uuml;rkiye'deki sendikaların temsilcilerinden oluşan bir tartışma grubu T&uuml;rkiye'deki durumla ilgili bir değerlendirme yaptı. 
 
Ankara'daki bu ilk konferanstan sonra, proje, sendikaların yerel &ouml;rg&uuml;t temsilcilerinin ve işyeri temsilcilerinin katılacakları b&ouml;lge seminerleriyle s&uuml;recek. İlk seminer 8-9 Ekim'de İzmit'te, ikincisi ise 5-6 Kasım'da İzmir'de yapılacak. 
 
Konferans programı i&ccedil;in <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/FNV%20Turkey%20agenda%20Turk.pdf">burayı</a> tıklayınız.

Hollanda Sendikal Merkezinin Desteklediği ICEM Örgütlenme Projesi Türkiye&#039;de Başladı

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In Bandung, Indonesia in mid-July, the ICEM contributed to a two-day ILO Sectoral Conference on Chemicals. The ICEM presentation was on &ldquo;Benefits of Social Dialogue and the Roles of Unions,&rdquo; and the overall conference served as an effective regional follow-up to an ILO meeting entitled &ldquo;Instruments, Knowledge, Advocacy, Technical Cooperation, and International Collaboration on Hazardous Substances.&rdquo; 
 
Other subjects presented included the ILO&rsquo;s chemicals convention, the convention on Prevention of Major Industrial Accidents, the ILO&rsquo;s health and safety framework, and various green jobs initiatives. Safety and health issues common inside Indonesia also were discussed. 
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The workshops endorsed improved social dialogue techniques, better information gathering and sharing, and heightened promotional activities on safety and health, and sustainability. The forum provided a valuable set of learning tools to ICEM&rsquo;s Indonesian affiliates. 
 
The ICEM presentation in Bandung was made by Brian Kohler, Health, Safety, Sustainability Officer.

ICEM Participates in ILO Indonesian Forum

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ICEM Latin America/Caribbean affiliate Oilfields Workers&rsquo; Trade Union (OWTU) of Trinidad and Tobago was proud to have ICEM President and National Union of Mineworkers (South Africa) President Senzeni Zokwana keynote its 24-25 July Delegates Conference. Over 300 militant OWTU members attended the conference inside the proud union&rsquo;s headquarters in San Fernando, with OWTU terming opening day and Zokwana&rsquo;s keynote a &ldquo;momentous occasion.&rdquo; 
 
His theme was &ldquo;The Only Way Out of the Global Economic Crisis: an Independent Workers&rsquo; Agenda and Solidarity Actions.&rdquo; Comrade Zokwana highlighted the need for independent trade unions to engage political activism and collective mass action in solidarity with workers everywhere. He also addressed the necessity for unions to fight hard to always retain the right to strike and other protests. 
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Ancel Roget and Senzeni Zokwana
&ldquo;Your conference is taking place at a critical time when the global political economy is facing major challenges,&rdquo; said Zokwana. He added that the crisis has sent sharp signals to trade unions and citizens in the developing world &ldquo;that capitalism as a system cannot deliver.&rdquo; 
 
The Delegates&rsquo; Conference also reviewed the OWTU&rsquo;s Report of the General Council, which confirmed that the country&rsquo;s most powerful union, led by General President Ancel Roget, is continuing OWTU traditions of placing workers&rsquo; interests first on the agenda of Trinidad and Tobago. 
 
The conference ended on a high note on 25 July with delegates&rsquo; expressing full commitment to OWTU&rsquo;s &ldquo;Rescue Mission,&rdquo; a programme whereby the OWTU lends solidarity to all workers in struggles, with a series of community meetings held in areas affected by employer neglect and labour strike.

ICEM President Zokwana Addresses OWTU Delegates’ Conference in Trinidad/Tobago

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Last week, ICEM North American affiliate United Steelworkers (USW) pulled out of talks with the American Petroleum Institute on developing two new safety standards, worker fatigue and a set of process-safety performance indicators. 
 
The discussions originated with a 2007 US Chemical Safety Board report investigating BP&rsquo;s deadly Texas City, Texas, oil refinery explosion, which killed 15 contract workers in March 2005. The Safety Board recommended that labour unions and the industry lead a working group to develop the two standards in the aftermath of the disaster. 
 
The USW formally withdraw from the process on 4 August, citing skewed industry representation on the committee and lack of earnestness toward transparency issues, overtime work, and contract labour questions inside US refineries regarding safety. 
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Gary Beevers 
&ldquo;This industry will simply not get serious about developing standards that have real meat in them,&rdquo; said USW Vice President and ICEM Executive Committee Member Gary Beevers. He added that USW realised its work on the committee was being met by industry wanting &ldquo;as few regulations and mandates as possible.&rdquo; 
 
USW sought to introduce transparency measures by proposing to make public all safety failures in facilities. The union also wanted manning levels monitored and increased due to an industry practice of constant overtime and continuous work that has led directly to worker fatigue. USW was met with resistance on this, saying industry has called it strictly a &ldquo;management rights issue, and their solution is to force overtime.&rdquo; 
 
In a news release announcing the withdrawal, the USW was sharply critical of an American Petroleum Institute statement claiming injury rates inside refineries average less than in other manufacturing sectors. In fact, the union said, the industry drew data only on refinery workers that are directly employed by a primary energy operator, and failed to account for injuries, accidents, and deaths of contract employees. 
 
The work group is charged with developing two new standards for the American National Standards Institute. It had been composed of representatives from 22 oil companies and only three trade union representatives, with government and other stakeholders serving as well. 
 
The American Petroleum Institute responded defensively to USW&rsquo;s withdrawal. In a statement, also issued on 4 August, it charged the union with undermining the process and &ldquo;trying to silence the voices of other stakeholders on the committee.&rdquo; Beevers, in an interview with the Houston (Texas) Chronicle newspaper, called industry&rsquo;s assertion &ldquo;absolutely ridiculous.&rdquo; 

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Leo Gerard
Amerca&rsquo;s largest industrial union forewarned of management&rsquo;s recalcitrance to improve safety and health inside the downstream oil and gas sector in collective agreement talks that concluded early in 2009. After making health and safety the primary topic in the negotiations, USW was stonewalled on the issue, with USW President Leo Gerard saying &ldquo;the industry refused to allow us to be equal partners with them in resolving health and safety problems.&rdquo; 
 
The USW will now conduct a survey related to the two proposed standards and then use it in a direct and targeted campaign in order to get the US Chemical Safety Board to recommend proper fatigue and process-safety standards.

Steelworkers Say US Oil Industry Tainting Safety-Practice Standards

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Contract workers at a Petrobras refinery called Get&uacute;lio Vargas, in Araucaria, Paran&aacute; state, achieved considerable advances in working conditions and salaries, following a strike. The 17-day work stoppage ended Monday, 27 July, after agreement was reached between the Central &Uacute;nica dos Trabalhadores do Paran&aacute; (CUT-PR) and the state-run company. 
 
The talks chaired by the National Ministry for Labour. 
 
Gains achieved by the unions include a minimum monthly salary of US$726, a 10% increase, a new food and housing allowance of US$150, and improvements to overtime. Overtime from Monday to Saturday will be paid at 60% above regular work rates, and on Sundays and holidays, 120%. Workers will now also receive a hazard allowance, health and life insurance, and bonuses linked to profits made by Petrobras. 
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Roni Anderson Barbosa 
&quot;The negotiation has fulfilled its purpose. We gained a good collective agreement for most workers,&quot; stated Parana State President of CUT, Roni Anderson Barbosa. 
 
There are 31 contract companies operating at the two plants in Araucaria, employing around 10,000 workers. The CUT Parana mobilised support and solidarity, nationally and internationally, for the workers of Repar Fosf&eacute;rtil, during negotiations.

Agreement Ends Oil Workers’ Contract Strike in Brazil

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A full season of biannual wage negotiations is nearly complete, following several fierce but short strikes in a handful of ICEM sectors. Other sectors, including public service and the construction trades witnessed raucous strikes in July. 
 
In mining, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) settled major gold and coal contracts covering 200,000 miners without strikes, while another ICEM affiliate, the Chemical, Energy, Paper, Printing, Wood, and Allied Workers&rsquo; Union (CEPPWAWU) was forced to take industrial actions against companies in the chemicals, pulp and paper, pharmaceutical, and fast Moving Consumer Goods in order to achieve wage objectives. 
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One set of negotiations that remains contentious is in electricity, with ICEM affiliates NUM and the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) poised to take protest and industrial actions this week against Eskom. The state-run utility, Africa&rsquo;s largest electrical provider, and the unions are not far apart in negotiations, talks now being conducted by South Africa&rsquo;s Commission for Conciliation, Mediation, and Arbitration (CCCM). 
 
The agency presented a mediated offer of 9.5%, but the unions, including a third one, seek an increase in housing allowances on top of a first-year 9.5% increase. Eskom has remained fixed on offering only 8%, but that is likely to change this week as industrial actions draw closer. Some 29,000 workers are employed at Eskom, with NUM representing 16,000 and NUMSA covering 5,000. On 5 August, the two unions held a joint strategy meeting and charted a common course of action for the coming days. It will start with a march and mobilisation scheduled for Thursday this week, 13 August. 
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It is unclear what shape industrial actions will take against Eskom since, by law, the power generator and supplier is considered an essential service. A majority of workers at Eskom would be exempt from striking. But the unions are prepared to stretch the law in order to win fair wage gains. &ldquo;Our workers are angry, they are very angry and they are prepared to get fired by Eskom if need be,&rdquo; said NUM&rsquo;s Eskom Chief Negotiator, Paris Mashego. 
 
Elsewhere in South Africa, wage discussions that now are complete show better than inflation gains. The Consumer Price Index had been 8% or higher during most of the second quarter, but dropped to 6.9% late in June. The rand has weakened of late, which should help the country&rsquo;s export-oriented economy and the major hope is that the jobs situation will improve. 
 
CEPPWAWU used nine-day rolling strikes against several employers to win wage increases ranging from 8% to 10% for 45,000 workers. Companies that faced walkouts included industrial chemicals firms Sasol, Omnia, and Afrox; pulp and paper producers Sappi and Mondi; pharmaceutical companies GlaxoSmithKline, Pharma, and Indigo Cosmetics; and Fast Moving Consumer Goods, such as Unilever, Colgate, and Tiger Brands. Strikes lasted from 20 July to 29 July. 

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CEPPWAWU negotiates with industry associations or companies in ten separate areas, including petroleum, glass, sawmilling, tissue and allied, particle board, and Sasol Mines. In petroleum, a two-year accord was reached with such companies as BP, Shell, PetroSA, Engen, and Chevron&rsquo;s Caltex without a strike. The agreement calls for a 9.5% increase effective 1 July, with another 0.5% hike coming in January 2010 that will be based in June 2009 wages. 
 
In 2010, petroleum workers will receive the South African inflation rate then, plus 1.5%. They will get another 0.5% increase in January 2011. 
 
A priority for CEPPWAWU in this set of talks was extending paid maternity leave, and abolition of labour brokers and upgrading jobs held by casual workers to permanent status. In pharmaceuticals, where 10% gains were realised, and in Fast Moving Consumer Goods, maternity leave was extended to six months, at 33% of pay. 
 
As for the NUM, the gold and coal contracts were concluded for the first time without dispute resolution involvement by the CCCM. On 28 July, NUM settled with the mining houses in both sectors. In gold, with AngloGold, Harmony, and Goldfields leading the way, miners will see 10.5% for lower-classified staff and 9% for those in the higher categories. In 2010, the increase will be inflation plus 1%, with a minimum increases of 7.5% guaranteed. 
 
In coal mining, where BHP Billiton, AngloAmerican, and Xstrata dominate, lower-tiered miners receive 11% retroactive to 1 July, with higher classified workers getting 9%. 
 
The NUM is in dispute with Murray and Roberts, a contract mining and construction services company, and with Two Rivers Platinum, jointly owned by African Rainbow Minerals and Impala Platinum. Talks with the major platinum producers are continuing. 
<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="103" />
Fierce strikes were waged by the NUM in mid-July against construction companies, specifically on the FIFA 2010 World Cup stadium, and by the South African Municipal Workers&rsquo; Union (SAMWU) late in July. Satisfactory wage terms were reached in both, ending the strikes. The Communications Workers Union (CWU) is still in dispute with several companies, including Telkom.

Eskom Strike Looms, But South African Pay Talks Wind Down

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The mining strike in Canada by members of the United Steelworkers (USW) against Brazilian Vale-Inco intensified on 1 August when 450 staff at Voisey&rsquo;s Bay in the eastern province of Labrador and Newfoundland struck. Those nickel, copper, and cobalt mining and processing workers join 3,500 USW nickel and smelting staff of Vale, who have been on strike in Ontario since 13 July. 
 
There, USW Locals 6500 and 6200 in Sudbury and Port Colborne are resisting affronts to their work standards by Vale, including deep reductions to pension benefits, downgrading a production bonus, loss of value in cost-of-living increases, and greater company flexibility on outsourcing, something that stands as a serious threat to job security. The same set of concessions is before USW Local 9508 in Voisey&rsquo;s Bay in talks over a separate labour agreement. 
<img alt="" src="" width="347" height="138" />
(Visit the strike website here <a href="http://www.fairdealnow.ca">www.fairdealnow.ca</a> to learn more.) 
 
Although no formal talks have been held, USW and Vale-Inco in Ontario came to a picket-line protocol ten days ago that gives union officials on-site monitoring of contractors in order to protect bargaining-unit work. With the strike in Ontario hitting its one-month mark this week and global nickel prices starting to creep upward due to the walkout, the USW has launched a global campaign to pressure profitable Vale to drop demands that most certainly would bring social depravation to Canadian miners and their communities. 
 
The USW has rapidly activated the 150,000-worker Vale Union Network, a workers&rsquo; network started in 2006 with the &ldquo;Sudbury Accord&rdquo; that linked then-CVRD trade unions in Brazil, Canada, Indonesia, Mozambique, and New Caledonia with one another. The network has expanded since, and with the start of the Canadian strike, mining and other unions in Australia, Germany, Peru, Sweden, South Africa, and within other countries have picked up the call of support. 
 
The &ldquo;Sudbury Accord&rdquo; contains six basic priorities, including stronger collective agreements, capitalisation by the company to ensure job security for miners, and the elimination of outsourcing and contract labour. 
<img alt="" src="" width="284" height="113" />
In the company&rsquo;s home country, the Brazilian labour federation Central &Uacute;nica dos Trabalhadores (CUT) reaffirmed its support of the unity accord by issuing a strong statement condemning Vale&rsquo;s corporate conduct. &ldquo;With the current international financial crisis, workers don&rsquo;t need to pay for a crisis they didn&rsquo;t create,&rdquo; said CUT President Artur Henrique da Silva Santos. CUT, the USW, and the entire Vale Union Network has designated 14 August as an International Day of Struggle on behalf of the Canadian strikers. 
 
The USW has dispatched teams of strikers to Brazil to explain the stakes, and the Canadians have been convincing in questioning Vale&rsquo;s rationale in its proposed social cuts. 
 
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva also weighed in on the company social conduct. In a news magazine article, he scolded CEO Roger Agnelli for Vale&rsquo;s job-slashing and investment curtailments. Lula threatened to unleash the state development bank&rsquo;s investment arm and state-run pension monies on Vale in order to force better corporate behaviour. 
<img alt="" src="" width="150" height="151" />
Wayne Fraser
In northern Ontario, public sentiment around the Sudbury and Timmons mining towns is running strongly in favour of the strikers and of the belief &ndash; in the words of USW&rsquo;s lead negotiator and District Six Director Wayne Fraser &ndash; that the USW and local communities will not &ldquo;walk backwards&rdquo; with Vale&rsquo;s plans to negatively change the social culture of the region. 
 
Several Canadian unions have sent delegations to join picket lines in Ontario. Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) Mine, Mill Local 598 in Sudbury, a union itself in a jobs dispute with Xstrata and one with a contrct expiration coming early in 2010, marched alongside USW strikers in a 24 July manifestation and contributed C$5,000 to the local USW strike fund. A public employees union in Ontario joined picket lines and contributed C$2,800. 
 
Delegations from another USW branch representing Vale-Inco workers in Canada, Local 6166 in Thompson, Manitoba province, arrived last week in northern Ontario and lent valuable support. The same outpouring will now be extended to USW Local 9508 in Voisey&rsquo;s Bay. 
 
As for the ICEM, which closely monitored last spring&rsquo;s negotiations and then the extended contract talks in both Ontario and Labrador from May to July in unsuccessful USW efforts to move Vale off the destructive proposals, it calls on global unions and all of civil society to resist Vale&rsquo;s agenda in Canada. 
<img alt="" src="" width="140" height="193" />
Manfred Warda
Noting the company&rsquo;s overall profitability and its role with two other major mining houses to ratchet up iron ore prices worldwide, ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda said, &ldquo;We demand that Vale return to negotiations and retreat from this harsh social agenda, an agenda that is socially irresponsible of a national company that is aggressively entering global mining markets. 
 
&ldquo;The ICEM and its global family of trade unions worldwide say &lsquo;no&rsquo; to Vale&rsquo;s assault on the living standards of Canadian workers and we call on Vale to fulfil the social promises that it made when it acquired Inco in 2006.&rdquo; 
 
Further, the ICEM notes that Vale boasts of its reduced operating margins, as measured by earnings minus tax and interest. In first quarter of 2009, operating margins have decreased a full 12%. That is just one reason why Canadian miners have drawn a line in this struggle by refusing to accept social cuts and contractual take-aways. 
 
As markets now begin to be affected by these Canadian strikes, the ICEM reaffirms its global support to the 4,000 strikers of Vale-Inco, and encourages all unions to provide visible help. The fight by USW Locals 6500 and 6200 in Sudbury and Port Colborne, Ontario, and USW Local 9508 in Voisey&rsquo;s Bay, is a flash-point inside the financial crisis &hellip; and more specifically, recovery. Preserving social benefits that protect people is a fight, at this particular time, that deserves broad support. 
 
Again, please visit the strike website here <a href="http://www.fairdealnow.ca">www.fairdealnow.ca</a> and learn what you can do to help.

No Talks, But Solidarity on the Rise in Canadian Nickel Strike

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Young trade unionists around the world marked International Youth Day, on 12 August, around the theme, &ldquo;Sustainability: Our Challenge, Our Future.&rdquo; As young workers struggle everywhere for the right to have sustainable, decent, green jobs, the days was marked as such. 
 
The youth of the international labour movement are focusing more and more on the issue of sustainable jobs in the face of climate change. Climate change is the cause of increased frequency and severity of extreme weather events, of the loss of biodiversity, of the future&rsquo;s food and water supplies, diseases, and employment. These impacts will hit the poor and vulnerable hardest. 

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The voice of the International Trade Union Congress (ITUC) Youth Committee called for intra and inter-generational solidarity in solving climate change. Measures must be taken to move more quickly towards a low-carbon economy. Young trade unionists want to be part of the solution for a fairer, environmentally responsible society, one that respects trade union rights. 
 
Organisers of the International Youth Day stressed the need to support and assist the most vulnerable, and the need to build a sustainable green economy that creates new jobs that combat social inequalities and environmental damage.

Global Labour Celebrates International Youth Day, 12 August

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Golden Misabiko, President of the Association Africaine de d&eacute;fense des Droits de l'Homme in Katanga province (ASADHO/Katanga), has been released from&nbsp;custody in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), following his arrest last month. His organization had recently published a report alleging state complicity in illegal uranium mining in the country. 
 
State intelligence services arrested Misabiko on 24 July in the provincial capital of Lubumbashi, in the south east of the country. He was charged with &ldquo;threatening state security&rdquo; and &ldquo;defamation.&rdquo; Bail was initially rejected, following suspicions that the judiciary bowed to political pressure to keep him in custody. Subsequently, he has been released.&nbsp; 

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Golden Misabiko
The charges against Misabiko relate to the report published by his human rights organization on 12 July. The report alleges that the Shinkolobwe uranium mine, which was closed in January 2004 on national and public security grounds, had been the site of illegal mining in which the government was complicit. The mine should have been secured by the government, but instead mining was continued by parties from the military and from civil society. 
 
The report also criticised the national government for its role in the 26 March agreement with French nuclear energy company AREVA. The agreement grants the company the right to prospect and mine for uranium in the resource-rich country, and the agreement was criticized for a lack of transparency. 
 
Peaceful protests against Golden Misabiko&rsquo;s detention have been carried out in Katanga. 
 
ICEM&rsquo;s 12 mining affiliates in the DRC repeatedly come up against police force and arrests during labour disputes.

Leading DRC Human Rights Defender Arrested

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Global Labour Celebrates International Youth Day, 12 August

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