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Glyphosate, known by its International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) name phosphonomethylamino or acetic acid, is manufactured for use as a herbicide. Depending on specific purpose, it may be used as such, or as an ammonium salt, isopropylamine salt, or potassium salt. 
 
It is most well-known as the main active ingredient in the chemical company&rsquo;s Monsanto's &quot;Roundup.&quot; But since the Monsanto patent has expired, it is also used in similar formulations by a number of manufacturers. It works as a plant hormone inhibitor, by interfering with this metabolic process in plants, it kills the plants. 
 
In handling glyphosate, it is essential to have an up-to-date Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS), which can be obtained from a company that manufactures products with it in it. It is also essential to minimise exposure through engineering controls, isolation, effective ventilation, and where worker exposure is unavoidable, personal protective equipment. 
There are two stories on glyphosate, one by its original manufacturer, Monsanto, and unfortunately accepted by most regulatory agencies worldwide, the other by opponents of glyphosate use, who claim much information about it has been suppressed. 
 
As Monsanto tells it, glyphosate is generally considered to be one of the safest herbicides. There is a fairly well-established potential for temporary skin and eye irritation, and gastrointestinal irritation if ingested. These can even be severe if the chemical is encountered in its pure form and not promptly washed off the skin. A survey of recent MSDSs reveals that it is officially considered practically non-toxic, and, in several animal studies, has produced no officially recognized evidence of carcinogenicity, mutagenicity, or teratogenicity. 
 
However, MSDSs are often less than complete. There are some rather alarming suggestions of a link between glyphosate exposure and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) by some researchers. Monsanto's claim that there is no severe adverse effect has been traced back to Swedish researcher Hans-Olov Adami, who in turn has been linked to a consulting group called Exponent. 
 
Exponent has ties to Monsanto and other chemical companies and is known for its rebuttals of concerns about chemicals in the environment. Findings about glyphosate that contradict Monsanto have rarely been given much attention. 
 
There are suggestions that it may be an endocrine disruptor or a genotoxin. For example, Gilles-Eric S&eacute;ralini, a French biochemist, has claimed that his studies of the effects of glyphosate on human embryonic cells, fetal cells, and placental cells; and that glyphosate is likely an endocrine disruptor in humans. This effect was shown for &ldquo;Roundup&rdquo; formulations, rather than pure glyphosate. Indeed, one of the issues with any chemical testing is how it will affect humans or the environment in the complex mixture of chemicals encountered in the real world, as compared with its study in isolation in a laboratory. 
The statistical significance of the association between glyphosate and NHL is low. Monsanto's defenders have suggested that errors in the assessment of exposure levels, or chance, are the likely explanations for the association between glyphosate exposure and NHL. As for S&eacute;ralini's observations, it is unclear whether the effects S&eacute;ralini observed were due to the glyphosate, or the surfactants (detergents) that are always part of a pesticide formulation. 
 
Regardless, from a pure occupational health point of view, the best way to handle any chemical is with caution. Minimise the opportunities for worker exposure with the best possible engineering designs that isolate the chemical from human contact. Install effective drainage and ventilation systems to safely remove any chemical that escapes from the closed system. Finally, since despite these precautions some chance of exposure may remain, appropriate personal protective equipment must be provided and maintained. 
 
The safest level of exposure is always no exposure.

Handling and Use of Pesticide Glyphosate: Things to Know

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A preliminary hearing of the Royal Commission over the Pike River mine disaster opened in Greymouth on April 5. The inquiry, which will begin hearings and full deliberations on 23 May, will run for 15 weeks. 
 
On November 19, 2010, a massive methane gas blast inside Pike River Coal Ltd.&rsquo;s colliery killed 29 miners, including 11 members of ICEM affiliate Engineering, Printing, and Manufacturing Union (EPMU), in the worst Kiwi mining disaster in 119 years. 
 
This month&rsquo;s preliminary hearing began with a one minute silence in memory of the 29. It was also marked by the unsettling announcement by receivers of the bankrupt company that it did not have the funds to fully participate in the inquiry. An attorney for the receivers, PricewaterhouseCoopers, said its priority is to repay secured creditors, not to provide witness briefs and compilations of others documents to the Royal Commission. 
<img alt="" src="" width="160" height="80" />
The Commission, headed by Judge Graham Panckhurst and including Stewart Bell, Queensland, Australia, Commissioner for Mine Safety and Health and a recognised expert on methane gas in coal mines, will conduct the inquiry under four phases: context, search and rescue, what happened at Pike River, and policy aspects. 
 
Parts of those issues were introduced on April 5. An attorney representing the EPMU said New Zealand&rsquo;s mine regulations were two decades behind developed mine safety programmes, such as what exists in Australia. &ldquo;Our members want to see a significant increase in the safety and health standards required for working in mines,&rdquo; said Nigel Hampton, representing the EPMU. 
 
The EPMU is also asking that the expertise and counsel that exists in Australian mineworkers&rsquo; unions and the mining industry be heard before the Commission. One question that surely will arise is why an Australian mine rescue team that was on-site 36 hours after the blast occurred on 19 November was sidelined by local police who were supervising the rescue. 
 
Another will be the location of large ventilation fans inside the Pike River mine, an unusual placement for electrical charged equipment when methane gas is prevalent. Initial reports state that an electric outage shut the two ventilation fans in the minutes before the explosion. 
 
The issue of deception and disrespect to families in the days following the November 19 explosion will also be heard. An attorney for the families said at the opening that families only want the truth and clarity on how and why the disaster happened. 
 
In his opening statement, Judge Panckhurst said the mission is to find out &ldquo;what happened at the mine, why it did happen and what can be done to prevent it happening again. In short &hellip; why and what must change for the future good.&rdquo; 
 
The mine was sealed in January and the bodies of the 29 have not been recovered. PricewaterhouseCoopers has assessed the mine, which contains seams of premium coking coal, to be worth NZ$6 million, but it could take 20 times that to re-start it. The global firm is hoping to have it sold in June.

Royal Commission Convenes over Pike River, New Zealand, Mine Deaths

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While basking in world admiration following the successful rescue of 33 workers from inside the San Jos&eacute; copper mine, Chile President Sebasti&aacute;n Pi&ntilde;era announced on October 18, 2010, on BBC&rsquo;s HARDtalk, to a global television audience, that his country would ratify ILO Convention 176 and reform a disjointed national mine safety programme &ldquo;within 90 days.&rdquo; 
 
It turned out to be a lie. 
 
Near that 90-day mark in mid-January, ICEM President Senzeni Zokwana and General Secretary Manfred Warda met with senior government officials in Santiago and were told there is nothing on the agenda to reform internal safety standards or to adopt global standards. And, indeed, since there has been no movement inside Chile for reform, except from the trade union federations there who are now working hand-in-hand with the ICEM. 
 
In February, the ICEM organized a three-prong campaign to pressure Pi&ntilde;era to fulfil his promise. Over 4,000 messages were delivered by ICEM affiliates and our friends in the labour movement! The Pi&ntilde;era government is being forced to answer embarrassing questions about why his government has so far reneged on a promise made in the celebratory aftermath of the San Jos&eacute; rescue. 
 
The ICEM continues to be optimistic that the Chilean government will remember how important reality is; that the country is only one mining accident away from losing the good-will and technical credibility it won by marshalling a rescue of historic dimensions. 
 
And the Pi&ntilde;era government must face another reality: if it is world-class in any way, it is as a world-class producer of minerals, especially copper, and that means it must develop and implement world-class safe mining practices. So far it hasn&rsquo;t. 
<img alt="" src="" width="191" height="128" />
San Jos&eacute; Mine Rescue
In the days just preceding Pi&ntilde;era&rsquo;s brash HARDtalk declaration, the President fell back on a culture dating to the Pinochet regime. In the commission he set up to investigate San Jos&eacute;, no trade union representatives were invited to sit on it. ILO Convention 176, the Safety and Health in Mines Convention, states that workers and their trade unions shall participate in mine inspections and accident investigations. 
 
At San Jos&eacute;, Union No. 2 of Campa&ntilde;ia Minera San Esteban repeatedly warned of safety hazards and once even presented a legal challenge to close the mine. But the common refrain from both government and industry when unions warn on safety and health conditions is that the union&rsquo;s duty is to negotiate economics, not to take part in safety or health matters. 
 
After a miner was killed in 2007, San Jos&eacute; was shut for a brief period by SERNAGEOMIN, the National Service of Geology and Mining. But it quickly reopened on orders from another government official who failed to read the closure report, and relied on the owner&rsquo;s pledge that deficiencies would be corrected. 
 
One such pledge was to install a ladder through a ventilation shaft as a second exit, a standard in Convention 176. That was not done, there were no follow-up inspections, and the lack of a second exit, in fact, led to the 69-day entrapment of the 33 miners. 
 
SERNAGEOMIN is not a health and safety inspectorate. It plays that role, but so do bureaus inside six Chilean ministries. Chile has overlapping safety agencies inside the six that cover all sectors of work. None of them have judicial powers to enforce the few regulations there are in mining and all are without the technical capabilities to inspect and prevent accidents before they happen. 
 
In short, all prerequisites of Convention 176 are missing in Chile: regular inspections, set procedures to report and investigate dangerous occurrences and accidents, trade union consultation, regulatory bodies with the authority to shut dangerous mines, the right to refuse unsafe work, workers&rsquo; ability to select their own safety representatives, and employer obligations to provide training. Convention 176 places responsibility on employers to not only remove workplace hazards, but to remove the causes of those hazards. 
 
Despite the Chilean government&rsquo;s &ldquo;head-in-the-sand&rdquo; approach to mine safety now that the cameras and microphones so prominent at San Jos&eacute; have disappeared, the ICEM will continue to press Pi&ntilde;era alongside a renewed coalition we have developed with the mineworkers&rsquo; federations of the country.

ICEM Will Continue to Press Chile over Mine Safety Standards

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ICEM, as the pre-eminent global union for miners, continues its campaign for the ratification of ILO Convention 176 on Safety and Health in Mines, and the adoption of its associated Recommendation 183. 
 
Although progress is slow, the Ukraine was finally persuaded to ratify Convention 176 in February of this year. The ICEM has meetings fixed or planned in several countries this year to push for ratification of this important ILO instrument. 
 
The year 2010 saw the world witness the dramatic rescue of 33 trapped miners from the depths of a mid-sized copper mine in Chile. It also saw the gruesome deaths of 29 miners at the Pike River coal mine in New Zealand, caused perhaps by ventilation fans located inside mine shafts instead of outside. Twenty-nine miners also died in the US on 5 April 2010 at the Upper Big Branch mine in the state of West Virginia, a tragedy that saw mine owner Massey Energy and its CEO shift blame &ndash; unbelievably &ndash; to the stringent safeguards enshrined in the US Mine Safety and Health Act. 
<a href="/en/209-ILO"><img alt="" src="" width="175" height="247" /></a>
Click here for ICEM 176&nbsp;Campaign
There were also mass mining deaths in Russia, Turkey, and the Ukraine in 2010. Mine deaths still occur on a weekly basis in China, and in South Africa, despite a somewhat decline from the highs of 2006-2008, mining deaths still occur regularly and public statements of satisfaction and accomplishment by the Chamber of Mines is delusional and fraught with contempt. 
 
The tragedies from 2010, as well as the deadly coal mine blast in Pakistan just last month, prove there is much left to be done to make the world's mines safer. It can start with ratification of Convention 176. But it can only occur with full implementation and then practice of the convention&rsquo;s principles. 
 
Convention 176 demands that employers perform risk assessments, and control identified hazards at source, through good engineering design and through personal protective equipment. Mines must be properly engineered, designed, and constructed for safety, with provision of at least two separate means of exit and adequate communications systems. Sufficient ventilation with monitoring for contaminants and fire prevention, detection, and firefighting systems must be provided. Emergency response plans must be developed and maintained, and if serious dangers are detected, operations must be stopped and workers evacuated. Workers are to be provided with information and training on the hazards and how to work safely. 
 
Accidents must be investigated and corrective actions taken. Workers have the right to report, and receive reports on, accidents and dangerous occurrences and hazards. Workers can request workplace inspections from employers and the regulatory authorities. Workers have the right to refuse unsafe work, and remove themselves from dangers. In addition, workers can select workplace health and safety representatives and they have the authority to participate in investigations and inspections, monitor health and safety matters, have recourse on advisers and experts, and consult with the employer and the government regulators. 
 
Within Convention 176, governments are expected to create a legislative and regulatory framework that protects workers&rsquo; safety and health. This is to be accomplished by requiring employers and workers to comply with the specifics of ILO Convention 176. In addition, the responsible authorities are expected to maintain adequate regulatory mine supervision and inspection, and require the reporting of accidents and maintenance of statistics. 
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Mining is one of the world&rsquo;s most dangerous occupations and regulatory safeguards are essential. The following list prepared using mostly ILO statistics from the UN agency&rsquo;s LABORSTA database indicates the most dangerous countries for miners and workers in quarrying, as ranked by fatal injuries per 100,000 employees for a period from 1999-2008. 
<blockquote dir="ltr"><blockquote dir="ltr"><blockquote dir="ltr">
1. Turkey 
2. Korea, Republic of 
3. China 
4. Pakistan 
5. Cyprus 
6. Kyrgyzstan 
7. Togo 
8. Hong Kong, China 
9. Ireland 
10. Taiwan, China 
11. Costa Rica 
12. Lithuania 
13. Portugal 
14. Ukraine 
15. Philippines 
16. Spain 
17. Nicaragua 
18. Chile 
19. Argentina 
20. Malta 21. Moldova, Republic of 
22. India 
23. Brazil 
24. Bulgaria 
25. United States 
26. Tunisia 
27. Estonia 
28. Zimbabwe 
29. Slovenia 
30. Burkina Faso 
31. Denmark 
32. Romania 
33. Czech Republic 
34. Canada 
35. Finland 
36. Italy 
37. Kazakhstan 
38. Myanmar 
39. Austria 
40. Poland 41. France 
42. Latvia 
43. Slovakia 
44. Croatia 
45. Azerbaijan 
46. Australia 
47. Egypt 
48. Japan 
49. Sweden 
50. United Kingdom 
51. Sri Lanka 
52. Hungary 
53. Norway 
54. Trinidad and Tobago 
55. Bahrain 
56. Belgium 
57. Luxembourg 
58. Macau, China 
59. Mauritius 
60. Singapore
</blockquote></blockquote></blockquote>
The list, however, does not contain relevant statistics for all countries, thus the rankings of China, Ukraine, and Chile are estimated based on reports from private websites. There are no reliable estimates for Russia even though Russia is an extremely important mining country. 
 
A few explanations are in order in assessing the list. First, even the ILO database which is the most authoritative on such matters, is extremely unreliable. The ILO can only cite what member countries send them. And then there are difficulties from under-coverage, such as most countries report only compensable deaths, to under-reporting, such as many deaths, even traumatic ones, are simply not recorded as occupational. Then there is outright fraud, since without question it is in the economic interests of employers to under-report. It is also in the political interests of many countries to under-report. 
 
Furthermore, occupational disease claims more workers' lives than traumatic accidents &ndash; even in hazardous occupations like mining. Occupational cancer alone almost certainly kills more miners than accidents, and there are many other diseases (lung, skin, nervous system) that are fatal but are not cancer. These diseases are universally under-diagnosed and under-reported. 
 
In the country ranking above, Turkey and Korea become the countries with the most dangerous mines, ahead of China. This may seem surprising, but Turkey, which is not a major mining country has both an extremely poor safety record and perhaps a better record of reporting than other countries on the list. As for China, the statistics are estimated from on-line sources of unknown origin and can only be assumed to be gross underestimates. The real number could be double, or even triple, the reported rate. 
 
Finally, mining statistics often can be found in the form of deaths per million metric tonnes of ore/coal produced. This type of reporting tends to skew the statistics so that low-productivity mining nations such as China look relatively worse compared to highly mechanised mining nations such as the US, because more miners are required to produce the same number of tonnes of product. An example of <a href="http://nextbigfuture.com/2007/08/two-chinese-coal-miners-lived-179-did.html ">this type of rating</a> can be seen here. 
 
The ICEM prefers to look at mining fatalities per 100,000 workers because what matters to a miner in considering whether a mine is safe or unsafe is whether he or she goes home intact at the end of the day. The number of tonnes mined in that day is secondary to that fact. 
 
Overall, safety statistics revealed above should be considered to be of only the most marginal value.

Mine Safety and ILO Convention 176: A Continued Priority for the ICEM

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Every April 28, the labour movement remembers the fallen. April 28 is known as International Commemoration Day for Dead and Injured Workers and is marked by trade unions and safety and health groups in over 140 countries. 
 
Globally, 2.3 million workers die as a result of their work every year, according to the ILO. The ICEM considers this number, shocking as it is, to be understated by at least a factor of ten. Many millions more are injured or made ill due to occupational disease. Every one of these deaths, injuries, and illnesses is needless; in fact, senseless. 
 
ICEM affiliated trade unions work in some of the most dangerous and toxic workplaces on the planet. High-profile tragedies such as explosions and fires at oil and gas facilities, out-of-control nuclear power plants, methane gas blasts and cave-ins at mines, and untold number of equipment failures in manufacturing that cause death, limb loss, other injuries are all part of a sad culture that the ICEM aims to reverse. 
<img alt="" src="" width="360" height="90" />
The continuing toll of deaths, injuries, and illnesses is quite simply unacceptable to the ICEM. That is why the ICEM is there to assist its affiliates on any occupational health and safety issue. It is the reason that the ICEM has led the way in bringing occupational health and safety into Global Framework Agreements. It is why the ICEM has an ongoing campaign for the ratification of ILO Convention 176, a long-standing project on HIV/AIDS, and it is also why the ICEM engages other international organizations for better standards and better cooperation in occupational health and safety. 
 
What would make workplaces safer? While employers and governments spend enormous sums seeking magical solutions, the ICEM knows that the answer is really quite simple, although burdensome to some in implementing: workers have rights, employers have obligations. 
 
Here then, is the answer. 
 
&bull; Unions make work safer, therefore the first and most important workplace health and safety programme stems from a strong union. To achieve this, we demand respect for the ILO Core Labour Conventions, especially those protecting freedom of association, the right to organize unions, and the right to collective bargaining. 
&bull; Workers&rsquo; rights: the fundamental rights of workers with respect to occupational health and safety include: the right to know about the hazards of work and to receive training in how to do the job safely; the right to refuse &ndash; and shut down, if necessary &ndash; unsafe work; the right to participate in the formulation and implementation of workplace health and safety policies, programmes, and procedures. This right is best achieved through a Joint Health and Safety Committee (JHSC) that plays a central and obligatory role in an employer's internal responsibility system. 
&bull; Employers&rsquo; obligations: Employers should concentrate their efforts on making work safer. This means process safety management, identification and use of best available technologies, industrial hygiene, ergonomics, occupational disease recognition and investigation, and a precautionary approach to chemical, biological, physical and other hazards. 
&bull; Employers&rsquo; prohibitions: Employers should not be allowed to use methods and practices whose principal purpose is to blame victims, or suppress the reporting of accidents and artificially improve statistics in order to gain improved workers' compensation experience ratings, premium reductions and rebates, and public relations points. This includes prohibiting behaviour-based safety programmes, workplace drug and alcohol testing (particularly post-incident), safety incentives that encourage under-reporting of accidents, and waging fights against recognition of workplaces diseases. 
 
The theme, &ldquo;Unions Make Work Safer&rdquo; on April 28 and on every work day, is sometimes known as Workers&rsquo; Memorial Day. It is fitting because a major role that trade unions play in everyday work-life is to monitor &ndash; and improve &ndash; occupational safety and health. Trade union activists are encouraged to find an activity and to take meaningful action to better safe work practices through the strength of their union.

Commonality of April 28: Unions Make Work Safer

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Metalliliitto, Finland&rsquo;s Metalworkers&rsquo; Union, has reached a tentative agreement with KMW Engineering, preventing for now a blockade on construction of the nuclear power reactor Olkiluoto III. On 13 April, the Polish air-conditioning subcontractor agreed to compensate workers for shortfalls in pay required under the Finnish labour standards. 
 
Under the agreement, KMW Engineering did give an accounting that showed arrears in Sunday and overtime pay. It agreed to compensate back wages and pledged to uphold Finnish terms of employment in the future. It also agreed to correct its deficient safety and health standards on the 1.6 gigawatt (1,600 megawatt) nuclear plant.
&nbsp;<img alt="" src="" width="337" height="190" />
Construction of Olkiluoto III 
Photo: YLE/Termonen Tapio&nbsp; 

Metalliliitto had given the subcontractor until 15 April to comply with Finnish social standards, or face a construction-wide blockade that would have halted all work on Finland&rsquo;s fifth nuclear reactor. (See <a href="http:// /en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4343-Finland’s-Metalworkers-close-in-on-Blockade-of-Nuclear-Plant-Work">ICEM report</a> from 28 March.) A Metalworkers&rsquo; blockade had endorsement and would have been honoured by Finland&rsquo;s Construction Trades Union, the Electrical Workers&rsquo; Union, and Proliitto, the union for salaried workers of Finland. 
 
A regional state labour agency of Finland&rsquo;s South-West found in late March that KMW did not keep overtime records as required under the working hours act. It also determined that payment of wages for Sunday and overtime work varied. Failure to comply could have brought state sanctions to the nuclear construction site, which would have affected other contractors. 
 
Metalliliitto Compliance Officer Jyrki Virtanen said the union will now fully monitor future social conduct by KMW Engineering. The Olkiluoto III nuclear power station is owned by private-sector energy concern Teollisuuden Voima Oy (TVO), and has as general contractor Areva of France. Olkiluoto III, a &euro;3.95 billion project that is now &euro;1.5 billion over budget, is the biggest investment in the history of Finnish industry.

Polish Engineering Firm Concedes to Finland’s Metalliliitto at Nuclear Plant

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
The shocking Contract and Agency Labour (CAL) documentary on conditions facing exploited contract workers in the cement industry in India is now available in French. 
 
Watch the <a href="http://labouredu.blogspot.com/2011/04/salaries-temporaires.html">film</a> on the website of the Thai Labour Education Centre here.&nbsp; 
 
The international campaign, launched by the Building and Wood Workers&rsquo; Federation (BWI) and ICEM, for regularisation of CAL workers at Holcim&rsquo;s subsidiaries in India continues. Hundreds of trade union organisations around the world responded to the call for messages to be sent to Holcim&rsquo;s CEO, ahead of the multinational company&rsquo;s annual general meeting on 5 May. 
<img alt="" src="" width="146" height="66" />
On 1 May, an industrial strike was conducted in the industrial area of Bhilai in solidarity with the struggle of contract workers of ACC-Holcim, The following demands were put forward: 
 
&bull; No to Contract Labour 
&bull; The Right to Organize 
&bull; A Living Wage 
&bull; Safety at work 
&bull; 8- hour work day 
 
On 4 May, a cross-sectoral group of local and regional trade unions held a demonstration outside the corporate headquarters of Holcim India, in Churchgate, Mumbai. 
 
See the prior <a href="/en/21-Materials-glass-ceramics-cement/4404-Global-Campaign-Launched-for-Indian-Cement-Contract-Workers">ICEM report</a> here, and follow this link to write to Holcim&rsquo;s CEO Markus Akermann.&nbsp;

ICEM CAL Film on India’s Cement Workers, Now in French

<img src="" width="100" height="39" alt="" />
ICEM&rsquo;s affiliated trade union in Indonesia&rsquo;s pulp, paper, and packaging sector, Federasi Serikat Pulp dan Kertas (FSP2KI), conducted its Third Congress in Bandung, West Java, from 22-24 April. The union, with some 20 branches and 15,000 members, amended its structures at this Congress and made the decision to affiliate with Indonesia national labour centre KSPI, the Indonesian Trade Union Confederation. 
 
The Congress pledged to continue growing in the burgeoning Indonesian pulp and paper industry, and it resolved also to work to eliminate temporary or precarious labour in favour of full-time employment in the sector. 
<img src="" width="251" height="161" alt="" />
Re-elected President of FSP2KI was Irzan Zulpakar, while Etin Rodiana was re-elected General Secretary. Guests to the Congress included Somahsundram Bala of the Malaysian Pulp and Paper Products Manufacturing Employees Union (PPPMEU), Mikale Lilja of the Swedish Paperworkers&rsquo; Union, Pappers, and Bambang Surjono of Indonesian SPKEP-KSPI. 
 
FSP2KI holds membership among workforces of a number of companies, including Asia Pulp and Paper&rsquo;s (APP) PT Pinto Deli mills in Karawang, APP&rsquo;s Kiat tissue mill in Tangerang, West Java, Asia Pacific Resources International&rsquo;s (APRIL) PT Riau mills, the PT Lontar tissue mill in Jambi, Sumatra, and Japanese-based Marubeni&rsquo;s mill in Kab. Maura Enim, South Sumatra.

Indonesian Pulp, Paper Union, FSP2KI, Holds Congress

<img src="" width="100" height="39" alt="" />
ICEM&rsquo;s Asia Pacific Rubber Workers&rsquo; Unions held its second meeting on 22-23 April in Seoul, South Korea. The meeting was attended by 30 trade union representatives from Japan, Indonesia, India, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Nepal, Sri Lanka, China, and South Korea. 
 
Two affiliates of the ICEM, the Federation of Korean Chemical Workers&rsquo; Unions (FKCU) and Korean Chemical and Textile Workers&rsquo; Union (KCTF) hosted this meeting of the Network, supported by the German Friedrich-Ebert Foundation (FES). The meeting also welcomed the ICEM Secretariat and the Japanese Affiliates&rsquo; Federation (ICEM-JAF) to Seoul. 
 
&ldquo;Given the growing importance of the Asia Pacific region in the rubber industry, our network has a very crucial role in unifying the unions of the sector,&rdquo; said Toshiaki Hojo, President of Japanese Rubber Workers&rsquo; Confederation (GOMU RENGO), who chairs this Asia Pacific workers&rsquo; network. 
<img src="" width="359" height="164" alt="" />
&ldquo;The meeting coincided with a very critical time in South Korea because of modifications to South Korean labour code have potential dangers on rights and freedoms,&rdquo; said the FKCU Vice President Yoon Jinsoo. &ldquo;Mobilizations at Kumho Tire&rsquo;s two plants in South Korea gave us a burning need for solidarity in the rubber industry,&rdquo; added KCTF General Secretary Im Youngguk. 
 
The meeting also received a detailed report from ICEM-JAF General Secretary Yoshio Sato on the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. Sato thanked all ICEM affiliates who showed solidarity to Japanese unions by sending messages and donations. 
 
ICEM Chemical and Rubber Industry Officer Kemal &Ouml;zkan presented major developments and challenges in the global rubber industry and profiles on the multinational companies. The rubber industry did start to recover following the global financial crisis, but such recovery is no cause for celebration due to continued high unemployment and deteriorating pay and work conditions. 
 
Participants then gave country reports. According to the report of GOMU RENGO, the Japanese rubber industry suffered severely from the economic crisis and now from the accident, reflected by automobile production dropping by 600,000 units, which now is causing extreme after-shocks in the global supplier segments. 
<img src="" width="285" height="162" alt="" />
In Indonesia and Malaysia, performing union activities is difficult. Representatives of China&rsquo;s Chemical and Energy Workers&rsquo; Union reported that the union at Bridgestone successfully established a collective wage consultation system, in which in 2010 saw salaries increase by 16%. A Sri Lankan delegate spoke on organising against transnationals such as Trelleborg, Ansel, and Loadstar. 
 
The Thailand report included review and dissection of problems at Michelin, Goodyear, Sumitomo, and Yokohama companies. Vietnam is also attracting investment in the rubber industry. The country&rsquo;s national chemical company, Vinachem, operates five rubber factories, including two Vietnamese-Japanese joint ventures, Yokohama and Inoue. The Korean Metal Workers Union (KMWU) reported on its struggle with Kumho and thanked the ICEM for support. KMWU identified three areas of difficulty in Kumho in Korea, namely wage, bargaining, and disciplinary actions. 
 
The meeting also produced an extensive discussion on the rising trend of Contract and Agency Labour. It was agreed that the network should continue to handle precarious employment issue as one of its main working areas. 
 
Delegates broke into working groups according to their companies, with the Goodyear and Bridgestone working groups establishing details to continue further communications. Korean and Vietnamese participants agreed to closely cooperate on Kumho, since the Vietnamese operations are organized. 
 
The meeting also adopted two resolutions: one to <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/1105.Resolution%20on%20Solidarity%20with%20Japan.pdf ">support Japanese workers</a> in the aftermath of the great natural accident and the second to <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/Resolution%20on%20Keum%20Ho%20Tire.pdf ">support the KMWU in Korea on its struggle at Kumho</a>. Participants, most of whom are local level union representatives, collected symbolic donations for their Japanese sisters and brothers. 
 
The next meeting of ICEM&rsquo;s Asia Pacific Network is scheduled in 2013 in Malaysia.

ICEM Asia-Pacific Rubber Workers’ Network Held in Seoul Last Month

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The sixth meeting of the Mercosur Union Network of Belgian chemical and plastics producer Solvay met 18-21 April in Bahia Blanca, Argentina. The meeting saw 25 representatives from all plants of Solvay in Argentina and Brazil, as well as municipality authorities from Bahia Blanca and representatives of CUT Brazil. 
 
The meeting marked the first-ever meeting held in Argentina. This gave an opportunity for more Argentine workers to learn the goals, functions, and actions of the important regional network. Brazilian participants learned of some Argentina processes that do not exist in Brazil, and about union organizing and the collective bargaining process in Argentina. 
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The major issues discussed included health and safety, the ICEM&rsquo;s Global Framework Agreement (GFA) with Rhodia and the future of that GFA now that Solvay has initiated a friendly takeover of Rhodia, and the Horizon Plan, which was put in place by Solvay late last year and is to create 800 dismissals worldwide by the end of 2012. Mercosur network members requested ICEM&rsquo;s support in linking up with global trade unions and Solvay&rsquo;s European Works Council in order to soften the effects of this restructuring. 
 
As is regular custom from previous meetings, the participants were welcomed by local management of Solvay. The group after toured the production areas. The meeting was finalized with expectation of a renewed dialogue with the company.

Mercosur Region Meeting of Solvay Meets in Argentina

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