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In North American paper bargaining, national leaders of Communications, Energy, Paperworkers (CEP) of Canada are attempting to get a New Brunswick provincial mediator to re-start talks in the seven and- a-half month strike of UPM Kymmene&rsquo;s mill in Miramichi. After some progress was made in three-day mediated bargaining sessions late in June, company negotiators abruptly walked out of the final day&rsquo;s talks without submitting a promised discussion document intended to lead to a final settlement. UPM Kymmene told CEP Local 689&rsquo;s leaders that they can expect bargaining to resume in September.

Progress Noted in CEP&#039;s Strike Talks with UPM Kymmene

Nigerian unions welcomed a recent ruling from the Abuja Federal High Court that struck down the controversial Public Order Act, which required citizens to obtain a police permit before staging any protest. Nigeria&rsquo;s 1999 Constitution gave citizens the right to assemble and protest peacefully, and the court&rsquo;s ruling supports that.
&nbsp;Said Nigerian Labour Congress President Adams Oshiomhole, &ldquo;We have always believed the Constitution is superior to any other Act. If the colonial masters had cause to enact that law, a democratic government doesn&rsquo;t need it because it makes a society of democratic right through police licensing. 
Like any licensing, it can always be abused, as it has been abused.&rdquo; Added Peter Akpatason, president of ICEM affiliate NUPENG, &ldquo;The actual challenge is for the court to be able to implement or ensure that the ruling is obeyed because in Nigeria of today, it is obvious that obedience to court judgments has become selective.&rdquo; 
Labour leaders in Nigeria were sharply critical of acting Inspector General of Police Sunday Ehindero who publicly stated the police would appeal the High Court ruling.

Nigerian Unions Applaud Court&#039;s Free Assemby Ruling

Contents: 
	 
	1. 280 million women are victims of inequality in Latin America 
	2. Brazil - Women&#039;s Leadership in For&ccedil;a Sindical 
	3. Brazil - FETIESC seminar on discrimination 
	4. Russia - 100 years of trade union women 
	5. Finland - Gender gap narrowing 
	6. Germany - sustainable family policies 
	7. United States - men doing more housework? 
	8. Resources 
	 
	 
	1. 280 million women are victims of inequality in Latin America 
	 
	A recent Argentine study reveals that more than 280 million women in Latin America suffer from inequality compared to men. The author of the study claims that 20% of women in the region cannot read and write, and 30% of women are heads of household. One other detail is that only 36 out of the 100 most important companies in Latin America have women at the highest level on boards, and in only 5.1% are women in middle management. In Mexico only three major companies are managed by women, which means that it ranks third in the region behind Venezuela and Brazil. At worldwide level the country ranking first in this connection is the United States and last Japan. 
	 
	 
	 2. Brazil - Women&#039;s Leadership in For&ccedil;a Sindical 
	 
	On the eve of the For&ccedil;a Sindical Congress in Sao Paulo, the women&#039;s department held a conference attended by 100 women leaders from 30 July to 1 August. 
	 
	 
	3. Brazil - FETIESC seminar on discrimination 
	 
	FETIESC held a seminar on discrimination against women at its school from 3 to 5 August to discuss the changes in the world of work and how they affect relations between women and men and their impact on the family, the union and society. The seminar was attended by women from CLAMT, the Latin American Women Workers&#039; Commission, made up of representatives from Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil. Debates focused on collective bargaining and challenges to end discrimination in terms of gender and race, as well as the struggle to end violence against women. 
	 
	 
	4. Russia - 100 years of trade union women 
	 
	A conference was held in Moscow from 30 June to 2 July on Women for Unions - Unions for Women to celebrate the centennial of Russian trade unions. A book was published on women&#039;s leadership with the history of women in trade unions and biographies of key women, including ICEM Vice-President Evgenia Esenina. Much of the history of Russian trade unions was written by women. Even today women make up more than 50% of trade union members. Gender equality is a major part of the work done by the FNPR confederation and is the object of Congress resolutions. Gender equality is relevant among other things to the labor market, social guarantees, health and safety, unemployment. Women and men must commit themselves to it. 
	 
	 
	5. Finland - Gender gap narrowing 
	 
	In the fourth quarter of 2004 the wages of men in Finnish industry were 22% higher than women&#039;s. This meant a relative improvement over 2002, when the gender-related pay gap still amounted to 24%. 
	 
	 
	6. Germany - sustainable family policies 
	 
	On 28 July 2005 IGBCE adopted a position paper on successful family policies together with the Federal Minister for Families, Seniors, Women and Youth that involve family policies for works councils and define trade unions&#039; roles for a future with more children. Trade unions and politicians are both responsible for sustainable family policies to combine equal opportunities with economic dynamics. The Alliance for the Family made up of industry, trade unions and political parties supports modern family policies to achieve better work-life balance. Industry needs the potential offered by well trained women. Parental leave, family allowances and childcare are elements of family friendly policies that can be achieved by company agreements and collective agreements. 
	 
	 
	7. United States - men doing more housework? 
	 
	In dual-earner couples, the dominant family form in the United States, men&#039;s handling of household chores and childcare has increased steadily since 1977, according to a recent study by the Families and Work Institute. Moreover, the time women in these couples spend in such tasks has either decreased or stayed the same over the same period. For example, in 1977 employed fathers in dual-earner couples with children spent on average 1.3 hours per workday on household chores compared to 3.7 for employed mothers. By 2002, the comparable figures were two hours per day for fathers and three for mothers. The researchers speculate that if these trends continue, the housework gap will close entirely. 
	 
	The nurturing gap has also closed considerably. In 1977, employed fathers in dual-earner couples allocated 1.9 hours per work day to their children compared to 3.3 hours for employed mothers. By 2003, when the comparable figures for dual-earner couples were 2.7 hours for fathers and 3.5 hours for mothers, the gap had narrowed by 57%. 
	 
	American men seem to do more housework and childcare than men in other industrialized countries such as France, Italy, Germany and Japan, according to the Council on Contemporary Families. The US government, however, was last on the list in providing programs and benefits for families. Other research tells us that men, especially young men, want more time with their families. Men between the ages of 20 and 39 were more likely to give family matters top billing over career success, a national survey by the Radcliffe Public Policy Center found. 82% put family first, and 71% said they would sacrifice part of their pay to have more time with their families. This agrees with surveys conducted by DuPont and Merck and Co. 
	 
	 
	8. Resources 
	 
	For websites on gender issues, please see www.eldis.org/gender/ and www.socialwatch.org, which is also available in Spanish. 
	 
	 
	&nbsp;

ICEM Women’s bulletin No. 3 - August 2005

Contents: 
	 
	1. Africa - Gender Equality Protocol 
	2. Australia - Gender Wage Gap Grows 
	3. Brazil - FETIESC - Gender and Labor Market 
	4. Colombia - Message from Beatriz Chinchilla 
	5. France - New Anti-Discrimination Panel 
	6. Iceland solves the Problems of an ageing Society? 
	7. Italy - Violence Hot-Line 
	8. Norway - Boardroom Equality 
	9. WHO - Avoiding Maternal Deaths 
	10. Resources 
	 
	 
	1. Africa - Gender Equality Protocol 
	 
	A petition was handed over to Navin Ramgoolam, Prime Minister of Mauritius and Chairman of the Southern African Development Community, to demand a protocol for accelerating gender equality in the region. It was signed by 100 civil society leaders and regional groups. The regional bloc adopted a 1997 Declaration on Gender and Development, but the petitioners believe it has not achieved its objectives. Only South Africa and Mozambique have achieved the target of 30 percent female representation in parliament, for example. The groups want the declaration elevated to a legally binding protocol that would include new targets, such as appointing women to 50 percent of decision-making positions by 2010. It would also require member states to guarantee gender equality in their constitutions, take legislative aciton and allocate funds to fight gender violence, and ensure that constitutional law takes precedence over customary law. The proposed protocol enjoys broad support and has already been endorsed by senior officials. 
	 
	 
	2. Australia - Gender Wage Gap Grows 
	 
	The wage gap between men and women in Australia has widened by 2 percent in the past decade, as announced by the Australian Social Trends report. The report found that as of 2004, females earned only 92 percent as much as their male counterparts, resulting in a gender wage gap of 8 percent. Ten years earlier the gap was only 6 percent. But it also found that women aged 20-24 who have recently entered the workforce actually earned 7 percent more than their male counterparts, although the figure slips back behind men as they get older. The report compared men and women on the basis of hourly average weekly earnings, rather than overall earnings, to allow for the fact that women were more likely to work fewer hours because of family responsibilities. Only full-time employees who worked in non-managerial positions were considered, to allow easier comparison across different sectors. But there was a 23 percent gap between male and female workers in the finance and insurance sector, while women are 21 percent worse off in the mining sector, although recent pay increases for women in the mining sector have outstripped those of men. 
	 
	 
	3. Brazil - FETIESC Gender and Labor Market 
	 
	FETIESC held a seminar on gender and the labor market on 5 August, where ex-state deputy Pedro Uczai conducted the debate on gender and stated that, &quot;women have to manage conflict at work and at home in order to combat discrimination.&quot; For him, workers have internalised the exploitation so that they double output in the same time, which results in work-related illnesses such as RSI, repetitive strain injury. &quot;Pay discrimination is huge to the extent that women&#039;s pay is subordinate to men&#039;s; the men are comfortable with this because they have internalised on-the-job discrimination.&quot; According to Professor Cristiani Bareta da Silva, we are living in an emergency for women as individuals. &quot;In Brazil it is inadmissible for women to earn 30% less than men, even with higher educational levels.&quot; The situation is even worse in the case of black women - they earn half what men earn. Cristiani Bareta da Silva calls it age and racial inequality. For her the solution is to revitalise domestic space, to create more convivial areas, to raise children with gender equality and to do away with the idea that women have a monopoly on the home. 
	 
	 
	4. Colombia - Message from Beatriz Chinchilla 
	 
	&quot;I would like to say that in my union we have already started working on the action plan that we adopted in Sao Paulo in May. We reported to the national executive, and next 11 August we have a national meeting of CONAMUS, our national committee in SINTRAELECOL, to develop the plan. On the other hand, I would like to say that the government took away from men and women workers the possibility to have a collectively agreed pension, and they left only one scheme where women have to contribute much more money and much longer time, which means very little possibility for a pension. The women&#039;s groups are asking for abortion to be decriminalized in case of rape or fetus malformation.&quot; 
	 
	 
	5. France - New Anti-Discrimination Panel 
	 
	President Jacques Chirac inaugurated a new panel to monitor and fight discrimination on the basis of race, gender, religion, age, sexual orientation, beliefs or physical disability. The 11- member panel, headed by the former chief executive of automaker Renault, includes leaders of women&#039;s rights groups, labor unions and the French Red Cross. The panel will have an annual budget of 10.7 million euros. 
	 
	 
	6. Iceland solves the problems of an ageing society? 
	According to OECD figures, 45% of the population of the European Union will be over 65 in the year 2020. One small country in the North Atlantic seems to have a solution, Iceland. Iceland ranks first in Europe in the birth rate, and it is a pioneer in women&#039;s participation in working life in addition. At the same time it has the lowest unemployment figures, both for women and men. Part of the solution can be found in its generous treatment of parents. In Iceland parents are entitled to a total of 8 months of parental leave at 80% pay. Both fathers and mothers are entitled to parental leave. A similar system exists in Sweden. About 80% of fathers in Iceland do take advantage of parental leave. Both men and women are able to work and enjoy family life. This means that for employers it is just as &quot;risky&quot; to hire a man as to hire a woman. The concerns about rising unemployment were also relieved, since unemployment amounts to about 3%. In our ageing societies we need to have a debate on a social model in which taking care of children and working life can be combined as they should be. 
	 
	 
	7. Italy - Violence Hot-Line 
	 
	The Italian government has set up a hot-line for women victims of violence. It is a 24-hour service, which will put women into contact with all help agencies, from police to psychologists. In the last three years 118,000 women have been victims of sexual violence in Italy, although the figure is likely to be higher since many cases are certainly not reported. 
	 
	 
	8. Norway - Boardroom equality 
	 
	Get more women on your board or we will shut you down, is the message from the Norwegian government to companies. Norwegian women have a tough time getting seats on boards. In Norway over 15 % of board members in private sector companies are women, but in a country where over a third of MP&#039;s and 8 out of 19 cabinet ministers are women, the figure is too low. Last year the Norwegian parliament passed a bill to force private companies to have at least 40% women on their boards. Companies had until July to boost participation of their own accord. If the number are insufficient, which the government will decide by August, then sanctions will be applied. From September new companies that do not comply will not be able to register, while existing firms will have another two years to find women for their boards. If they do not, they will be closed down. Already more than half way to its goal of 40%, Norway has the highest female participation rate in the world, ahead of Sweden and the United States. 
	 
	 
	9. WHO - Avoiding Maternal Deaths 
	 
	One out of 16 women will die of birth-related causes in poor countries. The WHO, World Health Organisation, calculates that every minute a woman dies during childbirth. The worst is that 90% of these deaths are avoidable. The situation has to do with the difficulty that women have in exercising their rights in connection with education and health, the right to work and the right to equal opportunities. Ten years after the Cairo summit women&#039;s needs are still not the priority of governments. Poverty, conflicts and natural disasters worsen the reproductive situation. Some countries such as China, Egypt, Honduras, Mexico, Jamaica and Tunisia have achieved a better record in maternal mortality. But resources will have to be earmarked for campaigns and sanctions to protect maternal health. Everything is linked - education is vital. When a woman can go to school, have access to adequate training, and a dignified job, she will be prepared to make an informed decision about motherhood. 
	 
	 
	 10. Resources 
	 
	For a website on gender issues, please see www.awid.org/wrec/ , Women&#039;s Rights and Economic Change, which is also available in French and Spanish.

ICEM Women&#039;s bulletin No. 4 - September 2005

The links below are only a small selection of the wide range of websites of organisations which are engaged in the fight against the pandemic. For more details on these organisations and further information on resources and funding you can refer to the <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/0701ICEMHIVAIDSGuideEN.pdf">ICEM Guide on HIV/AIDS Resources and Funding</a> which is available on this website. 
 
International Labour Organisation - ILO 
 
<a href="http://www.ilo.org">www.ilo.org</a> 
 
ILO Programme on HIV/AIDS and the World of Work (ILO/AIDS) 
 
HIV/AIDS is a workplace issue because it affects workers and their families, enterprises and communities which depend on them. At the same time, the workplace has a vital role to play in the wider struggle to control the epidemic. Workplace programmes support prevention, expand access to care and treatment and promote non-discrimination. 
 
The key document is the <a href="http://www.ilo.org/aids/Publications/lang--en/docName--WCMS_113783/index.htm">ILO Code of Practice on HIV/AIDS and the world of work</a>, which was adopted by the ILO Governing Body in June 2001. The Code exists in some 50 languages. The 10 key principles of the Code are essential elements of any HIV/AIDS workplace policy. For training purposes the publication Implementing the ILO Code of Practice on HIV/AIDS: an education and training manual (also available as CD-Rom) was developed. The manual exists in English, French and Spanish. 
 
ILOAIDS has published leaflets, toolkits and posters, which serve as useful education materials. ILO field offices, some with a focal point on HIV/AIDS, in your country or region can help with material and identifying resources and extend technical assistance for training. 
 
The International Labour Conference, at its 99th meeting in June 2010, adopted <a href="http://www.ilo.org/ilc/ILCSessions/99thSession/texts/lang--en/docName--WCMS_142613/index.htm">Recommendation 200</a> concerning HIV and AIDS and the World. This new Recommendation is a strong international human rights instrument to deal with all aspects of HIV and AIDS with special reference to the workplace. The Recommendation is accompanied by a Resolution for its follow-up, promotion and implementation. The ILO Governing Body, at its 310th session in March 2011, adopted a <a href="http://www.ilo.org/gb/GBSessions/lang--en/docName--WCMS_151293/index.htm">Global Action Plan</a> to promote implementation of <a href="http://www.ilo.org/ilc/ILCSessions/99thSession/texts/lang--en/docName--WCMS_142613/index.htm">Recommendation 200</a>. 
 
 
UNAIDS 
 
<a href="http://www.unaids.org">www.unaids.org</a> 
 
UNAIDS &ndash; Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS brings together the efforts and resources of ten UN system organisations (co-sponsors). UNAIDS, which was launched in 1996, is the main advocate for global action on the epidemic. 
 
UNAIDS publishes an extensive range of materials on HIV/AIDS. The AIDS Epidemic Updates (jointly with the WHO) are published annually in December. In September 2006, UNAIDS published in its Best Practice Collection &ldquo;Global Reach: how trade unions are responding to AIDS&rdquo; with case studies of union action. In his foreword to the publication, Peter Piot, the then Executive Director of UNAIDS, recognises the vast potential of unions to fight the pandemic at the workplace and in communities. 
 
You can access information on individual countries and find out about the UN Theme Group and UNAIDS Coordinator in your country on the website. 
 
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria 
 
<a href="http://www.theglobalfund.org">www.theglobalfund.org</a> 
 
The objective of the Global Fund is to dramatically increase resources to fight three of the most devastating diseases and to direct resources to areas of greatest need. The Fund is a partnership between governments, civil society, the private sector and affected communities. 
 
The Global Fund is a funding organisation that defers to local ownership and capacity for the design and implementation of programmes. Proposals are submitted through a national Country Coordinating Mechanism (CCM). The Fund only has an office in Geneva; it does not operate field offices. Principal recipients in a country implement the projects. 
 
Calls for proposals are made at regular intervalls. Since the Global Fund was registered in January 2002, and up to December 2009, it has committed USD 19.3 billion in 144 countries. On the website of the Global Fund you can access details of the grants made to your country. 
 
In a letter of agreement signed with the ILO in April 2003, the great potential of workplace initiatives with the involvement of workers&rsquo; and employers&rsquo; organisations is stressed. 
 
World Health Organisation &ndash; WHO 
 
<a href="http://www.who.int">www.who.int</a> 
 
The WHO serves as the agency within the UN system for HIV/AIDS treatment, care and support. It has a wide range of publications, including useful guidelines on testing and counselling and on antiretroviral treatment. 
 
The conclusions of a meeting between Global Unions and the WHO in October 2005 specifically state that unions have unique comparative advantage to mobilise their constituencies in the fight against HIV/AIDS and calls on country representatives to support unions. 
 
The WHO operates a large number of country offices, most of them with HIV/AIDS specialists. 
 
Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and the World Economic Forum 
<a href="http://www.businessfightsaids.org">www.businessfightsaids.org</a> and <a href="http://www.weforum.org">www.weforum.org</a> 

The Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria leads the fight against the three diseases by companies. It serves as the focal point for the private sector at the Global Fund. The World Economic Forum launched its Global Health Initiative in 2001. You can find case studies on the HIV/AIDS policies and activities of your company on these websites. 
 
ACCA (AIDS Control in Companies in Africa) 
 
<a href="http://www.gtz.de">www.gtz.de</a> and <a href="http://www.acca-toolbox.org">www.acca-toolbox.org</a> 
 
The website of the German GTZ gives information on workplace interventions. The ACCA (AIDS Control in Companies in Africa) Toolbox is a collection of information and implementation tools for workplace interventions against HIV/AIDS. GTZ also operates the BACKUP Initiative which provides needs-oriented support to improve coordination, access and implementation of programmes financed through global funding mechanisms such as the Global Fund and the World Bank&rsquo;s Multi-country Aids Program (MAP). 
 
World AIDS Campaign 
 
<a href="http://www.worldaidscampaign.org">www.worldaidscampaign.org</a> 
 
The Global Unions work closely with the World AIDS Campaign and signed a Memorandum of Understanding in 2005. Among others, WAC has mounted a worldwide campaign to fulfil the Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS adopted by the UN General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS in June 2001. It is also the leading international NGO to organise campaigns on World AIDS Day, 1 December every year. 
 
Global Unions 
 
<a href="http://www.global-unions.org/hiv-aids">www.global-unions.org/hiv-aids</a> 
 
The Global Unions have a joint programme to fight HIV/AIDS. The programme&rsquo;s objectives are to mainstream HIV/AIDS as a priority for trade unions, to help unions to take action in their organisations and at the workplace, to develop partnerships with relevant organisations at all levels and to mobilise resources. 
 
The Education International (EI) &ndash; <a href="http://www.ei-ie.org/efaids">www.ei-ie.org/efaids</a> and the International Transport Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITF) &ndash; <a href="http://www.itfglobal.org">www.itfglobal.org</a> have developed extensive HIV/AIDS programmes and materials for their respective sectors.

ICEM Overview of Links to Useful HIV/AIDS Related Websites

Rio de Janeiro, 
April 12th, 2002 
 
Statement by ICEM Latin America and the Caribbean condemning the coup in Venezuela 

1. The International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers&rsquo; Union in Latin America and the Caribbean vehemently condemns the coup perpetrated in the early morning of April 12th 2002 against the constitutional government of Venezuela. 
 
 
2. We call upon all our affiliates in Latin America and the Caribbean, especially those in the oil sector, to similarly condemn the forces that carried out the coup, and to close ranks in defence of the Rule of Law and of Human and Trade Union Rights. 
 
 
3. We urge international forums, the United Nations and the Organisation of American States to conduct an immediate investigation into reports of violations of Human Rights perpetrated by the putschist forces. 
 
 
4. Finally, we call upon governments whose countries are OAS members not to recognise the &ldquo;provisional government&rdquo;, but to testify to its unconstitutionality and to take an unequivocal stand in defence of the Rule of Law. 
 
 
Luiz Gonzaga Ulhoa Ten&oacute;rio 
Regional President

Statement by ICEM Latin America and the Caribbean on the coup in Venezuela

Amandla Awethu 
&quot;Power is Ours and we will Unite and Organise.&quot; 
 
With that ringing call, John Maitland closed the World Congress of the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Unions (ICEM) in Durban, South Africa, today. 
 
Some 800 union leaders from all continents took part in the Congress, which mapped out a labour response to globalisation. 
 
Maitland, from Australian miners' union the CFMEU, is the newly elected President of the ICEM. 
 
Power is Ours is the translation of the Congress motto - Amandla Awethu. 
 
Unite And Organise is the ICEM's slogan. 
 
Both messages were powerfully put across when trade unionists from all over the world marched through the streets of Durban on Thursday. 
 
 
Main Congress decisions: 
 
GLOBAL TRADE UNIONISM 
 
The ICEM will &quot;build a global trade unionism so as to challenge the globalisation of corporate power and its supportive institutions,&quot; the Congress unanimously decided. 
 
To achieve this, the ICEM will: 
<ul>
 <li>Set up &quot;permanent networks between organised workers in key multinational companies.&quot; These union networks will exchange data on pay, conditions and other relevant issues within each global corporation. They will also be a focus for joint solidarity action where needed. 
 </li>
 <li>Dialogue with senior management of leading corporations &quot;wherever possible&quot;, so as to help resolve disputes, to seek information on long-term investment strategies and to ensure that social goals are central in corporate strategy. 
 </li>
 <li>Negotiate global agreements with multinationals. These agreements are to include &quot;recognition of workers' right to organise and collective bargaining.&quot; Recognition of these rights will be linked to the key Conventions of the UN's International Labour Organisation (ILO). The agreements will also guarantee &quot;common 'best practice' standards for health, safety and environmental protection throughout the company&quot;. Provision must be made for joint union-management training on the implementation of the agreements. The agreements must include &quot;regular monitoring and enforcement procedures&quot;. Drives to negotiate global agreements will have a &quot;particular focus on corporations from developing countries like Angl-American, Billiton and Old Mutual.&quot; 
 </li>
 <li>Progressively extend the global agreements to cover each company's contractors and suppliers. 
 </li>
 <li>Dialogue with &quot;environmental, women's, community, human rights, indigenous peoples' and other relevant organisations, as appropriate to the task of reinforcing the trade union role as a bulwark for broader social freedoms.&quot; 
 </li>
 <li>Participate in the planning and implementation of the programmes of intergovernmental agencies such as the World Bank, the OECD, the United Nations Development Programme, the ILO and the World Trade Organisation (WTO), so as to &quot;ensure that their resources are only directed to sustainable social outcomes and to increase transparency and democracy within these multinational institutions in general.&quot; </li>
</ul>
These drives will be carried out in close cooperation with the unions' other sector-by-sector International Trade Secretariats, as appropriate. 
 
 
UNION-BUILDING AND DEVELOPMENT WORK 
 
Much of the ICEM's union development work is through projects. These are usually designed to strengthen affiliated unions or potential affiliates. Activities include research, organising, campaigning, training, building sectoral networks and multinational councils. 
 
All projects should serve the ICEM's central aim: UNITE AND ORGANISE. This is emphasised in a detailed policy document on trade union development adopted by the Congress. 
 
In today's globalised economy, old distinctions between developing country unions and developed country unions no longer apply, so ICEM projects &quot;may involve South/South links or North/South links, East/East links or East/West links or any combination of these.&quot; 
 
In line with the ICEM policy of mainstreaming women's interests [cf. WOMEN WORKERS below], the ICEM will ensure that women and women's issues and rights are fully integrated into its project work. This will be achieved with the support of the ICEM Women's Committee. 
 
As part of the ICEM's alliance-building with other social and campaigning organisations [see under GLOBAL TRADE UNIONISM above], it should develop &quot;exploratory and innovative projects&quot; that &quot;bring together unions and non-governmental organisations working together with the wider community.&quot; 
 
Outside funding &quot;will be accepted exclusively for ICEM projects and programmes&quot; and the ICEM &quot;will not be used as a conduit for the aims of other organisations or influences, regardless of their origin or alliances.&quot; 
 
The ICEM will cooperate &quot;with other friendly international trade union organisations on projects where it makes sense to do so.&quot; 
 
 
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN ICEM INDUSTRIES 
 
As a defender of industrial workers and their communities, the ICEM &quot;has an obligation to participate fully in defining, promoting and refining the concept of sustainable development&quot;. It aims at &quot;economic, social and environmental harmony&quot; and recognises that the dynamics between these three imperatives &quot;will change over time&quot;. 
 
So the ICEM will help to &quot;develop 'Just Transition' policies and strategies which address the transitional needs of workers and their families in the pursuit of more sustainable development&quot; - particularly where &quot;large-scale moves from old to newer, more friendly, technologies are involved.&quot; The Congress emphasised the international context of Just Transition. In particular, support is needed for workers and their families in developing and newly restructuring countries. 
 
There should be transitional funding from industry and public sources, the ICEM says, in order to &quot;support the process of industrial change and relieve workers from carrying the burden of cost and insecurity that has accompanied the process of change to date.&quot; 
 
In its global agreements with multinationals [see GLOBAL TRADE UNIONISM above], the ICEM will insist on the highest possible standards of health, safety and environmental performance - no matter where the company concerned is operating. 
 
The ICEM will also boost its work on priority concerns such as &quot;the prevention of environmental dumping, the development of more efficient and cleaner use of energy and the 'sunsetting' of obsolete and/or unwanted products and processes.&quot; 
 
Here too, the need for cooperation both with other union internationals and with citizens' groups is stressed. 
 
 
WOMEN 
 
Women workers are crucially important to the ICEM's future. They now make up more than 30 percent of the international's membership, and the number of women in ICEM industries is continuing to grow. 
 
&quot;Job segregation is, however, commonplace,&quot; the ICEM says, &quot;and the gap between women's and men's earnings remains wide.&quot; 
 
Within trade unions, too, women are often disadvantaged. The Congress recognised that much more needs to be done to secure full equality for women within the trade union movement - including at all levels of the ICEM. A start has already been made on this, through adjustments to the structure of the ICEM's governing bodies. One result is that, for the first time, the Congress elected two women Vice-Presidents - Margaret Prosser from the UK and Rosa Novoa from Chile. 
 
But &quot;quotas should be accompanied by other positive action measures to boost women's participation,&quot; says the women's programme unanimously adopted by the Congress. Action could include &quot; campaigns to organise women workers, work to strengthen women's leadership skills, providing childcare at work and in union activities, mainstreaming gender perspectives in all activities.&quot; 
 
&quot;Mainstreaming&quot; is the key to the ICEM's gender policies. This means including &quot;the dimension of equality between men and women in all areas of policy&quot;. 
 
Increasing women's participation at all levels of the ICEM &quot;cannot just be left up to goodwill and voluntary mechanisms,&quot; the programme insists. Rather, &quot;some binding arrangements must be introduced&quot; and &quot;compliance with them must be monitored.&quot; 
 
A number of industrial issues are of particular concern to women, and the ICEM will give priority to tackling these. They include pay inequality, job segregation, the lack of affordable childcare, sexual harassment, inadequate training and promotion for women, the need for active employment policies that could improve women's job prospects, the need to protect homeworkers, and proper maternity protection for women workers worldwide. 
 
Women are one of the most promising groups for new organising, the programme points out. &quot;Trade unions have to do their part to motivate women to join unions, and once they have joined, to take over responsibility. For this, however, trade unions have to be more women-friendly.&quot; 
 
 
CUBA 
 
The US blockade of Cuba is &quot;unjustified and illegal&quot; and must be lifted, the Congress declared. &quot;Overall, it is the people of Cuba, poor and working people, who are suffering.&quot; 
 
The ICEM will campaign actively to end the blockade. 
 
Contacts will be developed with appropriate Cuban trade unions, with a view to possible ICEM affiliation at some stage in the future. 
 
 
CHERNOBYL 
 
The Chernobyl nuclear power station disaster of 1986 is still causing serious health problems and social consequences, the Congress recalled. 
 
The state of the &quot;sarcophagus&quot; covering the damaged reactor gives cause for particular concern, and poses &quot;the danger of repeating the Chernobyl disaster,&quot; the ICEM warns. 
 
Together with the Ukraine, the G7 countries, UN member governments, the international financial institutions and the world community must reach a decision on the future of the damaged reactor and must &quot;fully finance all necessary works and activities,&quot; the ICEM Congress insisted. 
 
Before the closure of Chernobyl, Ukraine must receive &quot;financial and other relevant assistance&quot;, both to develop new power sources and to ensure &quot;a comprehensive solution to the social problems of the personnel&quot; who will lose their jobs as a result of the closure. 
 
Assistance must also be given to the Belorussian, Russian and Ukrainian populations evacuated from the contaminated zones. These people &quot;badly need effective medical treatment and improvement of their living conditions.&quot; 
 
 
SMALL-SCALE MINING 
 
Small-scale mining employs more than 13 million people and is still expanding. 
 
These workers, who include many women and children, are unprotected and subject to &quot;extreme exploitation,&quot; the Congress said. There are also &quot;an unacceptable number of accidents, occupational diseases and the premature physical aging of child labourers.&quot; 
 
Together with the UN's International Labour Organisation (ILO), the ICEM will develop a comprehensive policy for this sector. Points will include an immediate stop to all forms of child labour and bonded labour and to the exploitation of women working in small-scale mines. Enforceable safety regulations must be introduced, compliant with ILO Convention 176 on mining health and safety. Poverty alleviation is an important factor in ending the exploitation of workers in small-scale mines, and the ICEM insists on full union participation in a World Bank programme for this sector. 
 
 
ICEM REGIONAL STRUCTURES 
 
The ICEM will &quot;intensify its activity toward establishment of clear and distinct regional structures in all of its regions&quot;. 
 
 
PLACER DOME 
 
The Congress approved the launching of a global ICEM campaign on mining multinational Placer Dome. The Canadian-based company recently retrenched about 40 per cent of its South African workforce and has taken an anti-union stance in a number of countries where it operates. Its environmental record has also been severely criticised.

ICEM Unites And Organises To Face Global Power

Leaders of gold mine workers worldwide today drew up proposals for safeguarding the future of the industry. 
 
Gold mining is a major employer in a number of countries, but the recent instability of the gold price and uncertainties about gold's future role have put jobs at risk. 
 
That is why the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM) convened today's World Gold Forum in Durban, South Africa. The host country is the world's biggest gold producer. 
 
Before drawing up their recommendations, the union leaders had heard detailed presentations from South African Minerals and Energy Minister Phumzile Mlambo-Ngucka and from senior officials of the companies' World Gold Council, the Chamber of Mines of South Africa and the South African Reserve Bank. 
 
The unions' recommendations will now be sent to the World Gold Council, national banks and others whom the unions wish to engage in a continuing dialogue on the future shape of the industry. The proposals will also go to the ICEM's governing bodies for ratification. 
 
The mining unions' main conclusions: 
 
The need for gold reserves must be reaffirmed. Recent sales of gold reserves have occurred at a time when the world economy, and particularly the US economy, has experienced growth. However, the unions emphasise that the current boom - based mostly in the USA - is the result of rising share prices and cannot be sustained indefinitely. 
 
The release of above-ground bullion stocks should be regulated. Central banks hold about a quarter of the world's above-ground gold. Central banks have a primary obligation to help achieve stable economic growth. They cannot do this through speculative investment in the financial markets. All current plans for gold sales, announced or unannounced, should be publicly abandoned by the central banks, the unions insist. 
 
Measures must be taken to increase the consumption of gold. Better marketing of gold is needed, the unions say. In particular, this entails promoting the use of gold in jewellery. Noting that gold jewellery has a rather old-fashioned image, the unions suggest that the World Gold Council should create a prize for young designers of gold ornaments. Restrictions on the private ownership of gold in a number of countries should be lifted, the unions recommend. 
 
Restructuring will continue to take place within the gold industry, but this must be in full prior consultation with the trade unions concerned. Special programmes must be introduced to minimise the social impact. The unions point out that job cuts in gold mining are particularly disastrous for developing economies, where each gold mining job directly supports ten people and indirectly creates employment for many more in some of the world's poorest countries. It is also the case that the first gold miners to be retrenched are usually the least skilled, with the slimmest prospects of finding alternative employment. Among the most vulnerable gold miners are those who work in small-scale mining in a number of developing countries. The international community must ensure that small-scale miners either can operate in a healthy, safe and viable manner or have access to alternative sources of income. 
 
 
The gold miners' leaders also unanimously called for an ICEM global campaign on the world's third-biggest gold producer, Placer Dome. The campaign will be aimed at reversing Placer Dome's job cuts and pressing the multinational to repair the serious environmental damage that it has caused in a number of countries. 
 
The World Gold Forum precedes the ICEM World Congress (Durban, 3-5 November). This will map out a trade union response to globalisation. 
 
Speakers at the Congress session on 4 November will include South Africa's President Thabo Mbeki.

World&#039;s Gold Workers Chart A Future For The Industry

THE FOUNDATION of the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions, the ICEM, is a new departure for world trade unionism. Member organisations of the former MIF and ICEF will blend the best of their traditions and aspirations into a new international trade union federation. This new international will be a powerful body capable of acting decisively on behalf of the workers it represents into the 21st century and beyond. A global organisation, it will focus on achieving practical results and gains for its members. Strength is its sinew, service its duty, action its day-to-day business. Solidarity in practice, permanently renewed and strengthened, is the ICEM's driving force. 
 
The ICEM represents workers who extract, transform and produce vast quantities of the world's requirements and riches. Its membership works at the forefront of industrial activity in a wide range of industries including: chemicals, energy, mining and quarrying, pulp and paper, rubber, glass, ceramics, cement, environmental services and other services. It represents manufacturing and production workers, administrative, clerical, scientific, professional, supervisory and technical staff in these industries. The industrial logic and breadth of its coverage represent a major source of the ICEM's strength and legitimacy. 
 
The grip of transnational corporate power on the world economy is a phenomenon which did not exist when the ICEF and the MIF were created. Under the new and powerful influence of the transnational corporations, governments have often become mere agencies to facilitate the free flow of capital, technology, information and products. The real needs and wants of working men and women are ignored in the balance sheets of corporate giants. Unemployment and destitution are still on the increase. Child labour and forced labour continue to shame human decency. Wars and conflicts are still raging. The arms race is not yet over. 
 
National, regional and local trade union issues must now be addressed from an international perspective. Within the sectors it represents, the ICEM will face these issues squarely, with effective policies and programmes. 
 
Exploitation of workers continues. In many parts of the world, this abuse is at least as crude as anything seen in the last century. Combating exploitation, discrimination and poverty today and in the future requires powerful and refined means, as well as a renewed sense of urgency and commitment. The ICEM will develop both the means and the commitment needed to champion change in defence of its members. Similarly, it will spearhead the promotion and defence of trade union rights in its sectors as an integral part of the broader fight for basic human rights. The ICEM will have the resources to develop a new power relationship with the real decision networks of an ever more integrated world, whether those networks be corporate or governmental. The ICEM will actively represent its members in all fora where their interests are at stake. It will forge the necessary alliances with other groups of international civil society sharing the same basic aims. 
 
The ICEM is committed to safeguarding the health and safety of its members and the sustainability of the world environment. In this respect its commitment goes beyond the immediate interests of its members and encompasses the interests of their offspring, their families and the broader community. 
 
In all its activities and in its decision-making, the ICEM will actively promote equal rights and opportunities for women, not least by making women's contribution more visible. 

The ICEM hereby dedicates itself to the following six principles: 
 
COMMITMENT 
 
The trade union movement has a soul. The ICEM is driven in its activities by the will to right wrongs and injustice. It has at heart the real lives and problems of people. 
 
The ICEM is committed to achieve positive and progressive change in the lives of working men and women, in their communities and in society at large. It is morally engaged on the side of the exploited, the poor, the downtrodden and the victims of discrimination. This commitment will express itself in prompt responses to the requests of all member-organisations and in untiring efforts to reach the goals set by its Congress of members. 
 
SOLIDARITY 
 
International trade union solidarity is about finding shared solutions to problems that arise. It is the single most important weapon for winning improvements globally. It is a permanent and pro-active process of sharing resources, companionship and objectives. Solidarity is not just proclaimed. It must be built, permanently consolidated and demonstrated in practice. 
 
Through its global relations with the rest of the international democratic trade union movement, the ICEM will be an essential link in the vast chain of international workers' solidarity. The ICEM will be a unique means for member organisations to give and receive international solidarity. It will seek constantly to improve the quality and effectiveness of its own solidarity action. It will favour the forging of direct ties with like-minded individuals and organisations. 
 
Justice is not to be found everywhere and forever. It is won by continuously fighting oppression in all its forms. Both within the organisation and in its relations with the rest of the world, the ICEM will fight for justice and equality and will itself be even-handed and just. 
 
The ICEM will be its member unions' watchdog to ensure acceptance and application of relevant international law and standards. 
 
DEMOCRACY 
 
The legitimacy of the international trade union movement derives from its elected structures and the democratic nature of its decision-making. Policies of the ICEM are decided and owned by representative national and local trade unions and their members. This specific feature distinguishes the international trade union movement from many other voluntary organisations and confers on it authority, credibility and responsibility. 
 
The ICEM will constantly strive to strengthen the checks and balances that are essential to internal democracy. The organisation secures its income from fees paid by its members. It will ensure the proper management of its income and the implementation of the decisions of its governing bodies in an accountable and transparent way. 
 
As part of its efforts to strengthen internal democracy and bring the decision-making process as close as possible to its members, the ICEM will introduce a regionalised structure and increase regional exchanges and activities. 
 
INFORMATION 
 
The ICEM will base its activities on a unique mastery of the policies, facts and figures which matter for its member organisations. This capability will deliver good, timely data and analyses which are relevant to its members and are not readily available elsewhere. The ability to provide data on collective bargaining, wages, industry trends and corporate changes can help member organisations to improve the working and living conditions of their members. This is the ultimate objective of all the ICEM's information and research. 
 
This aim can be achieved only if all participate in the global effort. Member unions will express their needs and will provide structured information when requested. They will also show preparedness to share, with others who need it, the expertise that has been built within their organisations. The ICEM itself will concentrate on gathering and analysing sector-specific data with a strong emphasis on labour conditions and related matters. 
 
ORGANISING 
 
An organisation founded on deeply-held principles still needs to build the power to act on them. Acquiring know-how and the capacity to articulate clearly their needs and wants, building strong and sound organisations, and promoting and defending the rights and conditions of all workers are therefore vital to the empowerment of workers and their organisations. 
 
The strength of argument and the argument of strength go hand in hand when combating exploitation and poor working conditions. Acquiring the capacity to propose their own solutions and the power to oppose, influence or enter into partnerships, as and when necessary, is what unions need in order to be effective at local and national level. 
 
The ICEM will be at the forefront of this struggle internationally. 
 
EFFECTIVENESS 
 
The ICEM's resources will remain limited, but the needs of its affiliates are immense. In allocating resources and carrying out activities, the ICEM will constantly seek to make the best possible use of its resources in order to achieve the best possible results. Professionalism, commitment and quality will be the hallmark of the ICEM's services, and each of its campaigns and programmes will be strategically planned with a view to being result-oriented. 
 
The ICEM's agenda and programmes will be set with the sole aim of assisting its affiliates. It will also join campaigns and participate in events which are of direct relevance to its affiliates and their members. 
 

To achieve these aims, trade unions everywhere must unite the organised workers and organise the unorganised. 
 
Therefore, on this historic founding day of a new industrial trade union international, the ICEM and its affiliated trade unions worldwide solemnly recommit themselves to 
 
UNITE AND ORGANISE

Founding Declaration of the ICEM

Placer Dome, the world's third-biggest gold miner, faces a global trade union campaign aimed at reversing the company's recently announced job cuts and pressing it to repair the severe environmental damage that it has caused in a number of countries where it operates. 
 
Gold mining workers' leaders from around the world unanimously adopted a resolution to that effect this afternoon, at the close of a World Gold Forum held in Durban, South Africa. The event was organised by the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM), whose membership includes gold mine workers on all continents. 
 
The forum also agreed proposals for safeguarding the future of the world gold industry as a whole. 
 
The World Gold Forum precedes the ICEM World Congress (Durban, 3-5 November). This will map out a trade union response to globalisation. 
 
Today's resolution was sponsored by South Africa's National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), which is campaigning for the reinstatement of 2,895 workers recently retrenched at Placer Dome's Western Areas joint venture near Johannesburg. The sackings represent a cut of around 40 percent in the company's South African workforce, and are a potentially explosive issue in a country which has an unemployment rate of about 30 percent. 
 
Seconding the action call was Australian mining union the CFMEU. In solidarity with the South Africans, CFMEU members will picket Placer Dome offices in Australia next Monday morning - just a few hours after an NUM rally at Western Areas on Sunday 31 October. 
 
Full text of today's resolution: 
 
 
Noting that: 
 
1. Placer Dome is a Canadian transnational having mining interests in many countries. 
 
2. Placer Dome has a terrible record of destroying jobs and the environment and a disregard for the communities, wherever they have invested, in pursuit of profits. 
 
3. The owners and management have a history of union bashing while projecting itself as the best gold mining company on the earth. 
 
 
Believing that: 
 
1. Global investment should be socially responsible and must not undermine human rights, trade union rights, the community and the environment. 
 
2. In those countries where investments are made, collective bargaining conventions must be respected. A balance between global rules and the scope of domestic regulation has to be struck. 
 
 
We therefore resolve that: 
 
1. Placer Dome be targeted for an international campaign by the ICEM. 
 
2. This campaign should entail demands on the reinstatement of retrenched workers in the Western Areas Gold Mine Joint Venture; and restoration of the environment destroyed in the Philippines, Chile, Peru, Papua New Guinea and Australia. 
 
3. Placer Dome be pressured to sign a Global Agreement on Industrial Relations with the ICEM. 
 
4. A solid foundation for this campaign be built by organising a workshop early in the year 2000 for representatives from countries where Placer Dome has operations. A common platform for worker rights and working conditions and a programme for international worker solidarity must be agreed at this workshop. 
 
5. Unions affiliated to the ICEM must, where necessary, make available organisers and leaders to give direct practical assistance to worker struggles and organise the unorganised in Placer Dome operations throughout the world.

Placer Dome: Unions Launch Worldwide Campaign

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ICEM Unites And Organises To Face Global Power

World's Gold Workers Chart A Future For The Industry

Founding Declaration of the ICEM

Placer Dome: Unions Launch Worldwide Campaign

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