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<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100" height="39"/>
The ICEM extended condolences today to its affiliate, the Russian Oil, Gas and Construction Workers’ Union (ROGWU) following this weekend’s sinking of the Kolskaya oil rig in the Sea of Okhotsk. The Kolskaya, owned by a subsidiary of the Russian state-owned company Zarubezhneft OJSC, sank in stormy waters while being towed from off the Kamchatka Peninsula to Sakhalin Island in Russia’s Far East. 
 
Fifty-three oil workers went down with the rig, while 14 were rescued by the icebreaker Magadan and the tow ship Neftegaz-55, which were bringing the rig to port. The rig sank in icy waters 1,042 metres deep (3,400 feet) in the Sea of Okhotsk. Only four bodies were recovered and the rig’s four rescue boats were found, but with nobody in them. 
 
The Kolskaya had been drilling for Gazprom subsidiary Gazflot on the West Kamchatsky shelf since September before this tragedy in which it was capsized in a storm and sank in 20 minutes. 
 
The ICEM calls immediate attention to this oil rig disaster as another example of the perilous work that offshore oil workers must endure to meet world energy supplies.

ICEM Mourns Deaths of 53 Oil Workers off Russia

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100" height="39"/>
From the International Metalworkers’ Federation 

In a unanimous vote, the 300-member Central Committee of the International Metalworkers’ Federation (IMF) moved to convene an extraordinary Congress in June 2012 to create a new global union for industrial workers. The action occurred on the second day of the Central Committee’s meeting in Jakarta on 8 December. 

The new global union organization will unite workers of metal, mining, chemicals, energy and textile industries, and will bring the IMF together with the ICEM and the International Textile, Garment, Leathers Workers’ Federation (ITGLWF). The new global union, which will represent 50 million workers in 140 countries, will be launched on 18-20 June 2012 in Copenhagen, Denmark. 

Introducing the discussion on creation of the new global union, IMF President Berthold Huber said: “Many of our members are working in companies that cut across different industrial sectors. We need to bundle up our forces to speak with a single voice of workers in the manufacturing industries.”
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Berthold%20Huber%20IG%20Metall.jpg" width="142" height="158"/>
Berthold Huber
In a lively debate, delegates expressed hope about building a stronger counter-power to transnational corporations, and more focus and resources for organizing, fighting precarious work and defending trade union rights. Speakers emphasized the need to further improve gender balance in the different structures, including a 30% minimum share of women on statutory bodies and other forums. 

The Central Committee returned the proposal on presidents of IMF’s industrial departments back to the Executive Committee in order to find a better gender and north-south balance.

IMF Central Committee Moves on Dissolution, Merger Congresses

<img alt="" height="39" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100" />

	From the International Metalworkers' Federation

	Trade unionists around the world will mobilize during the week of February 19-25, calling on the Mexican government to stop its attack on workers and implement steps to allow for workers to organize independent democratic trade unions of their choosing. 
	 
	Last year more than 50,000 union members, students and human rights activists from some 40 countries participated in the Global Days of Action, launched on February 14 in Mexico and Australia simultaneously. For six days union members came together in an unprecedented show of solidarity. Thousands of letters were sent to the Mexican government, more than 50 meetings were held at Mexican Embassies throughout the world, and massive demonstrations throughout the week, inside and outside of Mexico, marked the strength and urgency of our message: STOP the attack on workers, we demand Trade Union Rights in Mexico, NOW! 
	 
	The impact of our global actions were felt around the world. On February 24, just weeks after Global Action Days launched, political prisoner Juan Linares of the National Miners’ and Metalworkers’ Union of Mexico was released from jail after being unjustly imprisoned for more than two years. Building on our 2011 actions, independent unions in Mexico, together with their respective global union partners, have come together as a movement of force, challenging retrogressive labour legislation, Mexico’s scandalous “Protection Contract” system, and exposing corporate and political corruption.

	<img alt="" height="160" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1202.mexico days of action.jpg" width="113" />

	Despite an escalation in action and outcry from unions in Mexico and at the international level, workers continue to be denied fundamental rights, independent unions face violent and political attack, and corporate impunity is at an all time high. 
	 
	During the week of February 19-25, 2012, in honour of the Pasta de Conchos miners who died in a mine blast on February 19, 2006, members of the international labour movement are again asked to take action. 
	 
	POSSIBLE ACTIONS INCLUDE:

	Request a meeting with Mexican Embassy/Consulate representatives to discuss trade union rights in Mexico.
<ul>
	<li>
		<div align="justify">
			Organize a small delegation to deliver a statement or letter to your local Mexican Embassy/Consulate.</div>
	</li>
	<li>
		<div align="justify">
			Send a letter to your local Mexican Embassy/Consulate.</div>
	</li>
	<li>
		<div align="justify">
			Engage national policy makers to join meetings with</div>
	</li>
	<li>
		<div align="justify">
			Embassy representatives or to send similar letters to the Government of Mexico.</div>
	</li>
	<li>
		<div align="justify">
			Publicize actions taken in defense of trade union rights in Mexico on your union’s website and in its publications.</div>
	</li>
</ul>

	Print-ready posters and model letters are available to be used for actions and mobilizations. Posters are available in English, French, Spanish and Russian. The original In design artwork file is also available upon request if you wish to add logos or additional information, contact: <a href="mailto:unionrights@imfmetal.org">unionrights@imfmetal.org</a>. Model letters are available in English, Spanish, French, Russian and German. 
	 
	Please be sure to keep us informed of all actions taken, send photos, letters, and reports to: <a href="mailto:unionrights@imfmetal.org">unionrights@imfmetal.org</a> and <a href="mailto:tom.grinter@icem.org">tom.grinter@icem.org</a>.

Mexico Days of Action 2012, February 19-25

Meeting in Johannesburg, South Africa, on 9 February, the ICEM’s Sub-Saharan African Regional Organisation (SSARO) adopted a moving statement that denounces violence against women in the workplace, most specifically a rape and murder earlier this week inside Anglo American Platinum Ltd.’s (Amplats) Khomanani Mine in Rustenburg, North West Province.

	ICEM affiliate National Mine Workers (NUM) of South Africa has given North West police until the end of this week to arrest those responsible for this horrific act of violence. The SSARO statement follows:

	“On the morning of 6 February, a 28- year-old female worker was violated and murdered underground at Khomanani Mine, which is owned by Amplats, a wholly owned subsidiary of Anglo American.

	“This barbaric and neanderthal act against an innocent young worker is the most glaring case of gender-based discrimination against women and abuse of power. Sexual assault is cruel, inhuman, horrible. A mineworker underground on a daily basis has to deal with death or injury that can come from a rock fall or machines. Having to deal with death and violation against your person sexually and otherwise compounds the insecurity of a human being. A fellow worker who was supposed to act as a fellow human being acted as an animal.

	“The National Union of Mineworkers has been fighting to enable women to work in mines. This and similar incidents should not be misconstrued to undo the progress that women have made to achieve equal employment rights.”

	He who does not love a woman, who does not respect a woman, despises his own mother having come out of a kind womb of a woman.

	“As the ICEM African Executive Committee and the ICEM African Women's Structure, we strongly condemn this atrocious act of barbarism.

	“Mines and all workplaces must be safe environments for women and men. It is up to the employer to ensure that the workplace is safe for all. We will be holding the employer accountable for this tragedy.

	“We call for a speedy and thorough investigation into these crimes. We are confident that the perpetrators will be brought to justice, whoever they are. We call on the police to do a thorough investigation as the mine has records of who works what shift. We call on them to use all the forensic technology at their disposal to find out who the perpetrator is. We will be following up on this case and checking that justice is done. We also call for a tough sentence for the perpetrator or perpetrators once found.

	“This young woman was only 28 years old and had one child, and her future and dreams were destroyed by a barbaric act of violence by a male counterpart. This is the triple oppression that we need to continue to fight against to attain true liberation for African women.

	“We call on comrades to rally around this slogan: Not Another Woman Must Be Reaped, Not Another Woman Must Be Murdered.

	“We call upon affiliates and sister organisations of ICEM to post this statement on their websites and to disseminate it widely to the press.”

ICEM SSARO Condemns Grisly Rape, Murder of Woman inside Amplats Mine

<img alt="" height="59" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBriefAlert.jpg" width="120" />

	Just over a year after a People’s Revolution shook Egypt, a glimmer of legislative light regarding trade union freedoms and formation of independent unions has come to the country. On 8 February, the Draft Law on Trade Union Freedoms was submitted to the People’s Assembly, the lower house of Egypt’s Parliament.

	After months of promises to leaders of the Egyptian Democratic Labour Congress (EDLC) and the Centre for Trade Union and Worker Services (CTUWS) for such legislation, it was introduced just over two weeks from the time the People’s Assembly opened its session following elections.

	If enacted, the law would codify many of the core ILO Labour Conventions that Egypt has ratified over the years, but has failed to implement due to draconian laws and decrees by the Mubarak regime, and more recently the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF). Continuing Revolution Party Parliamentarian Aboul Ezz Al-Hariry is said to be championing the new law, and the EDLC and CTUWS – as well as the newly formed Independent Union of Workers in Electricity and Energy—are hopeful some provisions of it can still be strengthened.

	The draft law was prepared by Minister of Labour and Migration Ahmed Hassan El-Borai and had been discussed in eight tri-partite meetings of Egypt’s Manpower Committee before it was submitted to SCAF, which was silent on it.

	Now officially in Parliament, it will go before the Committee for Suggestions and Complaints and then to special Committees on Manpower and Legislative in public sessions.

	Foremost, the law would guarantee the right of freedom of association and encourage free and independent trade unions to thrive. It is hoped that other debate in Egypt will also occur on adopting an effective minimum wage policy, giving permanent contracts to temporary employees, and lifting bans and penalties on sit-ins, demonstrations and other forms of freedom of expression.

	“A year has gone by since the people of Egypt – most specifically workers’ groups – have stood and demanded their freedoms,” said ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda. “We are encouraged by the Trade Union Freedoms draft law and fully intend to support an Egyptian labour law that is in full compliance with global labour standards.”

ICEM Encouraged by Draft Labour Law in Egypt

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBriefAlert.jpg" style="width: 130px; height: 63px" width="390" />

	Some 250 European trade union militants turned out today at Unilever's Rotterdam headquarters in the Netherlands to protest the world's third largest consumer products company's unrelenting shut-off of a final salary pension scheme for 5,200 UK workers. 
	 
	The manifestation, under the banner “Unilever, Don’t Make Workers Pay for Your Profits”, saw representatives from no less than 23 European trade union organisations, as well as from the ICEM and the International Union of Food and Agriculture Workers' Association (IUF). 
	 
	For three months now, Unilever has been trying to bully UK's Unite the Union, GMB, and the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (USDAW) into conceding a final salary pension scheme, to replace it with an average career earnings pension plan effective 1 July 2012. Unilever CEO Paul Polman’s 2010-11 salary and bonus pay-out equaled €8 million, while Unilever’s UK employees face a slash of between 20-40% on their pension earnings.

	<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1202-unilever-rotterdam-2-web.jpg" style="width: 208px; height: 150px" width="390" />

	At today's manifestation, led by Unilever's European Works Council (EWC), the European Mine, Chemical, Energy Federation (EMCEF), and the European Federation of Food, Agriculture, Tourism Trade Unions (EFFAT), rally leaders presented Unilever executive Rupert Chatwin with a declaration. 
	 
	In part, it read: "We are very concerned that Unilever has been pursuing an approach of uncompromising unilateralism in the UK, which may be indicative of a change for the worse in Unilever's corporate culture. 
	 
	"We believe that Unilever workers in Europe and around the world have good reason to fear for their futures. We have noted (CEO) Paul Polman's pledge to double Unilever revenue over the next ten years while promoting 'sustainable living' but that he says nothing about sustainable employment."

	<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1202-unilever-rotterdam-1-web.jpg" style="width: 200px; height: 150px" width="390" />

	Rally leaders present Declaration 
	From left, Michael Wolters, Simon Cox, Unilever's Rupert Chatwin

	Unilever EWC Chairman Hermann Soggeberg told the gathering, including scores of the company's UK staff, that on behalf of 30,000 European workers, "We stand by your side in this dispute. You are on the front lines of what is just the beginning of bigger problems facing workers in Western Europe. 
	 
	"The struggle you face in the UK is a struggle we must all tie into." 
	 
	Other speakers included EMCEF General Secretary Michael Wolters, EFFAT EWC and Transnational Companies' Coordinator Simon Cox, as well as Unite Convenor Bill Hodgson from Unilever's Port Sunlight plant. 
	 
	Among some of the unions taking part: FNV Bondgenoten of the Netherlands, IGBCE of Germany, PRO-GE of Austria, FGA-CFDT of France, NGG of Germany, Petrol-Is of Turkey, FGTA-FO of France, FITAG-UGT of Spain, CGT of France, FLAI-CGIL, FAI-CISL and UILA-UIL, all of Italy, CNV of the Netherlands, and FGTB/ABVV of Belgium.

	  <img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1202-unilever-rotterdam-3-web.jpg" style="width: 95px; height: 160px" width="390" />  

	The Rotterdam manifestation comes just days two weeks after Unilever posted a strong set of financial numbers in its latest results and three weeks after UK workers from several Unilever sites descended on Davos, Switzerland, where Polman served as one of the co-chairs at the World Economic Forum.

	Unilever UK management did finally agree to meet with the unions on 9 February with the assistance of UK’s Advisory, Conciliation and Mediation Services (ACAS), but the company is still adamant on closing the final salary pension scheme effective 1 July 2012.

Spirited Rotterdam Rally Calls on Unilever to Save UK Pensions

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" style="width: 100px; height: 39px;" width="390" />

	Schlumberger, the world’s largest oil services company, has been scrambling to defend actions of local management in Egypt who sacked the entire leadership of a nascent trade union.  Pressure has been exerted by the ICEM and its affiliated Norwegian and Canadian unions, IndustriEnergi (IE) and the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union (CEP/SCEP), on senior management to intervene and remedy this unacceptable violation of rights in Egypt.

	Schlumberger employs around 2,500 workers in Egypt, 40% of whom are workers of subcontractors at 10 different worksites. 

	In April 2011, the process to establish an independent company-level trade union at Schlumberger Egypt was begun, as part of the Egyptian Federation of Independent Trade Unions (EFITU), the trade union centre established during the final days of the Mubarak regime. In May 2011, signatures and required documents were collected to complete the legal process of establishing the union.

	On 11 May, local management was informed of the new union structure, at which time management responded with threats leading to the dismissal of General Secretary Mohamed Abd Elrahman. On 3 July, the day of the union’s general congress, local management dismissed the union’s President, Brother Essam. On 5 July, local management summoned union members to the head office and threatened them with dismissal if they did not leave the union. And then on 7 July, local management followed through on an earlier threat and dismissed the union’s Assistant General Secretary, Ayman Abd Elmonem.

	 <img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1202-egypt-schlumberger-sacked-pres-and-other.jpg" style="width: 195px; height: 161px;" width="390" /> 

	ICEM’s Jim Catterson with Sacked Union President, Brother Essam, at left

	No reason or dismissal letter was given to Abd Elmonem, he was simply blocked from entering the workplace. On 12 July, another union member was dismissed in similar circumstances, Mr. Hossam Al-deed Mostafa, again no written dismissal notice was produced.

	Under Egyptian law, workers can only be dismissed from their employment following a due legal process and a court ruling. The court procedure cannot even be initiated without justifiably serious reasons. Arbitrary unilateral decisions such as these cannot stand. Four sacked workers have been without income for several months now.

	“I write seeking your immediate intervention to remedy shocking violations of labour rights at Schlumberger operations in Egypt. In a vicious attack on workers’ rights to organise and bargain collectively, Schlumberger employees’ nascent trade union has been illegally dismantled through the sacking of its leaders,” stated ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda in a letter to Schlumberger.

	Register your protest to Schlumberger Chairman Andrew Gould, CEO Paal Kibsgaard, and Egypt Area Manager Amr Essawy by clicking <a href="mailto:gould1@exchange.slb.com; pkibsgaard@exchange.slb.com; AEssawi2@exchange.slb.com">here</a>.

	    <img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/NorwayIE.jpg" style="width: 80px; height: 107px;" width="390" />    

	The company has responded to ICEM and IE calls with an investigation into the sackings.  ICEM will continue to monitor the situation closely and will mobilise the next phase of the campaign with Schlumberger’s clients, the oil and gas multinationals that use Schlumberger’s services, if positive action by the company is not taken soon.

	IE of Norway organises Schlumberger employees, and those workers registered their protest with Norwegian national management and local managers over the last ten days. Local Schlumberger union reps in Norway are meeting today with the ICEM.

	Egyptian activists in Paris on 18 February conducted a picket at Schlumberger headquarters and met with the manager of Schlumberger France, who has also now been mobilised to intervene into the case.

Oil Services Giant Schlumberger Pressured over Egyptian Union Busting

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" style="width: 100px; height: 39px;" width="390" />

	Swiss-based cement multinational giant Holcim continues to anger the ICEM with its illegal treatment of contract workers in India. Attempts by contract and agency workers employed at Holcim’s subsidiaries, ACC Ltd. and Ambuja Cement Ltd., to organise and establish collective bargaining with management are being crushed with intimidation, coercion, and dismissal.

	On 12 January, the ICEM joined a complaint to the OECD submitted by the local union Pragatisheel Cement Shramik Sangh (PCSS).  PCSS is a member of the ICEM global family and represents 1,500 contract workers in the state of Chhattisgarh.

	The complaint focuses on a number of breaches of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises at Holcim’s cement companies. Other than the clear violation of the contract workers’ right to organise and bargain collectively, Holcim is also cited for refusing to engage in collective bargaining with PCSS, which is officially registered as the trade union representing workers at the cement installations.  Further violations are outlined in the complaint with respect to the surrounding communities around the Holcim plants.  The companies acquired land from local farmers and went on to destroy living conditions in local communities, namely shoddy water management and destruction of homes by blasting and mining. The subsidiaries also refuse to give permanent jobs to locals.

	 <img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1202-holcim-india-press-conference.jpg" style="width: 245px; height: 160px;" width="390" /> 

	Today in New Delhi, ICEM participated in a press conference with the Building and Woodworkers’ International (BWI) and PCSS and their national federation, New Trade Union Initiative (NTUI).  ICEM Asia-Pacific Representative Phee Jungsun said at the press conference, “It is through such practices as these that clearly violate workers’ basic rights to representation of their choice, as guaranteed by the UN, OECD and ILO, as well as the Indian constitution. That Holcim has doubled its profit margins through Indian operations stand as further disrepute in terms of the rights’ abuses of contract and agency workers.”

	Holcim celebrates its 100th anniversary this week and claims “We have placed Sustainable Development at the heart of our business strategy for many years, because we believe it contributes in adding value and ensuring continued success.”

	Holcim is in breach of Indian legislation, namely the Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act that stipulates that contract workers may only be hired to perform non-core functions, and that those who perform the same or similar kinds of work as regular workers must receive equal treatment in terms of wages and conditions.

	However, contract workers in both plants are employed to carry out tasks which are fundamental to production, but receive only one third of permanent workers’ wages. 

	Holcim-ACC last year refused to respect a Chhattisgarh State High Court ruling that it is using “sham and bogus” contracts, and should regularise 27 contract workers. It was proven that contract workers at the plant do not have basic personal protective equipment, such as gloves, boots and masks, and are denied access to medical facilities, including basic first aid, in the factory.

	Between September 2010 and March 2011, 80 members of PCSS were dismissed by Holcim-Ambuja. Management of the plant repeatedly refused to participate in conciliation efforts by the Regional Labour Commissioner in Raipur.

	The Chapters and Paragraphs of the OECD Guidelines in violation are: Chapter II ( General Policies) specifically paragraphs A (1), (4),(9); Chapter IV (Human rights) specifically paragraphs 1, 2; and Chapter V specifically paragraphs 1 (a), (b), (d), (e), 3, 5.

	See the full text of the PCSS OECD complaint <a href="http://cal.icem.org/images/documents/OECD%20Complaint%207%201%202012.pdf">here</a>.

	See more information on the BWI Company Monitor webpage <a href="http://blogs.bwint.org/mnc/category/mnc-info/holcim/">here</a>.

Holcim’s Violations in India Taken to OECD

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" style="width: 100px; height: 39px;" width="390" />

	The Australian High Court recently refused to hear an appeal by Rio Tinto over the company’s illegal non-union collective agreements imposed on iron ore miners in West Australia. The denial is a victory for ICEM affiliate Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU), which took the case forward, and a victory for legitimate collective bargaining rights.

	It also stands as a rebuke to Rio Tinto in its efforts to avoid 2009 changes in Australian labour law.

	The 10 February ruling not to hear Rio’s appeal to a 25 July 2011 determination by the full bench of the country’s Federal Court means Rio’s sham labour agreement from July 2008 is not a genuine collective agreement. (See <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4571-Australia-s-CFMEU-Wins-Major-Bargaining-Ruling-Against-Rio-Tinto" type="internal">ICEM report</a> on Federal Court decision from 1 August 2011.)

	 <img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1202-cfmeu-iron-ore-mining.jpg" style="width: 145px; height: 160px;" width="390" /> 

	It also serves as an invitation for iron ore miners – and others – in West Australia’s rich Pilbara region to take membership in the CFMEU, with the aim to negotiate real enterprise labour agreements through the union.  The High Court ruling will also negate other mining firms such as BHP Billiton, which also converted individual work agreements into non-union labour agreements that were intended to keep trade unions away from workers and workers without a union voice.

	In Rio Tinto’s case, it brought ten new hires of its Pilbara Iron Company Pty. Ltd. subsidiary into a bogus Pilbara Iron Employee Agreement for a five-year duration that was meant to include all other new hires during that time. The ploy was done to avoid changes in law that took effect with the July 2009 effective date of the Fair Work Australia law.

	Some 20 such delusionary labour agreements are said to have been put in place to avoid the Fair Work law, and Rio Tinto’s legal failure last week is expected to strike the ones that are still in effect null and void.

	“Rio Tinto made a cynical attempt to circumvent their obligations under the Fair Work laws,” said CFMEU Mining General Secretary Andrew Vickers. “It has tried to dodge its obligation to recognise the rights of its workers to genuinely collectively bargain for future pay increases and improved conditions.

	“It has been a long legal battle, but it’s been worth it to safeguard the rights of our members in the Pilbara and demonstrate that Rio Tinto is not above the law,” added Vickers.

Australian High Court Denies Rio Tinto’s Appeal to Evade Union Contracts

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" style="width: 100px; height: 39px;" width="390" />

	Some 250 European trade union militants turned out today at Unilever's Rotterdam headquarters in the Netherlands to protest the world's third largest consumer products company's unrelenting shut-off of a final salary pension scheme for 5,200 UK workers. 
	 
	The manifestation, under the banner “Unilever, Don’t Make Workers Pay for Your Profits”, saw representatives from no less than 23 European trade union organisations, as well as from the ICEM and the International Union of Food and Agriculture Workers' Association (IUF). 
	 
	For three months now, Unilever has been trying to bully UK's Unite the Union, GMB, and the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (USDAW) into conceding a final salary pension scheme, to replace it with an average career earnings pension plan effective 1 July 2012. Unilever CEO Paul Polman’s 2010-11 salary and bonus pay-out equaled €8 million, while Unilever’s UK employees face a slash of between 20-40% on their pension earnings.

	<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1202-unilever-rotterdam-2-web.jpg" style="width: 208px; height: 150px;" width="390" />

	At today's manifestation, led by Unilever's European Works Council (EWC), the European Mine, Chemical, Energy Federation (EMCEF), and the European Federation of Food, Agriculture, Tourism Trade Unions (EFFAT), rally leaders presented Unilever executive Rupert Chatwin with a declaration. 
	 
	In part, it read: "We are very concerned that Unilever has been pursuing an approach of uncompromising unilateralism in the UK, which may be indicative of a change for the worse in Unilever's corporate culture. 
	 
	"We believe that Unilever workers in Europe and around the world have good reason to fear for their futures. We have noted (CEO) Paul Polman's pledge to double Unilever revenue over the next ten years while promoting 'sustainable living' but that he says nothing about sustainable employment."

	<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1202-unilever-rotterdam-1-web.jpg" style="width: 200px; height: 150px;" width="390" />

	Rally leaders present Declaration 
	From left, Michael Wolters, Simon Cox, Unilever's Rupert Chatwin

	Unilever EWC Chairman Hermann Soggeberg told the gathering, including scores of the company's UK staff, that on behalf of 30,000 European workers, "We stand by your side in this dispute. You are on the front lines of what is just the beginning of bigger problems facing workers in Western Europe. 
	 
	"The struggle you face in the UK is a struggle we must all tie into." 
	 
	Other speakers included EMCEF General Secretary Michael Wolters, EFFAT EWC and Transnational Companies' Coordinator Simon Cox, as well as Unite Convenor Bill Hodgson from Unilever's Port Sunlight plant. 
	 
	Among some of the unions taking part: FNV Bondgenoten of the Netherlands, IGBCE of Germany, PRO-GE of Austria, FGA-CFDT of France, NGG of Germany, Petrol-Is of Turkey, FGTA-FO of France, FITAG-UGT of Spain, CGT of France, FLAI-CGIL, FAI-CISL and UILA-UIL, all of Italy, CNV of the Netherlands, and FGTB/ABVV of Belgium.

	<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1202-unilever-rotterdam-3-web.jpg" style="width: 95px; height: 160px;" width="390" /> 

	The Rotterdam manifestation comes just days two weeks after Unilever posted a strong set of financial numbers in its latest results and three weeks after UK workers from several Unilever sites descended on Davos, Switzerland, where Polman served as one of the co-chairs at the World Economic Forum.

	Unilever UK management did finally agree to meet with the unions on 9 February with the assistance of UK’s Advisory, Conciliation and Mediation Services (ACAS), but the company is still adamant on closing the final salary pension scheme effective 1 July 2012.

Archive

ICEM Mourns Deaths of 53 Oil Workers off Russia

IMF Central Committee Moves on Dissolution, Merger Congresses

Mexico Days of Action 2012, February 19-25

ICEM SSARO Condemns Grisly Rape, Murder of Woman inside Amplats Mine

ICEM Encouraged by Draft Labour Law in Egypt

Spirited Rotterdam Rally Calls on Unilever to Save UK Pensions

Oil Services Giant Schlumberger Pressured over Egyptian Union Busting

Holcim’s Violations in India Taken to OECD

Australian High Court Denies Rio Tinto’s Appeal to Evade Union Contracts

Spirited Rotterdam Rally Calls on Unilever to Save UK Pensions

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