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ICEM affiliate in Trinidad and Tobago, the Oilfields Workers&rsquo; Trade Union (OWTU), staged a mass protest on 10 September over delays in bargaining between the union and the Trinidad and Tobago Electricity Commission. The union members&rsquo; protest came at the electric authority&rsquo;s opening of a customer service centre at the company headquarters in Port-of-Spain. 
 
Management was celebrating the opening of a new automatic meter infrastructure and the utility&rsquo;s award of some TTD700 million in contracts for that system, as well as for a new power station. Much of that money will be used on contractors and contract labourers. 
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OWTU members, meanwhile, have been without a current collective agreement for over a year, and have been frustrated by salaries that are tied to 2005 levels at a time when Trinidad and Tobago&rsquo;s inflation rate is high. 
 
The last negotiations session was held in July, and the company&rsquo;s chairman said management was waiting for direction from the Ministry of Public Utilities. 
 
Meanwhile, another union in Trinidad and Tobago, the Public Service Association, staged another protest through a series of one-day work stoppages against the Water and Sewerage Authority. That occurred on 14 September, three days after a similar protest following a revised management proposal. Water and sewer workers are also protesting delays and a prolonged negotiations period. They are still attempting to resolve a 2005-2007 contract with the public utility, talks that only started in January 2007. 
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In a related workplace development in the country, five construction workers last week were hospitalised when they were overcome by gas at the state-owned Petrotrin&rsquo;s Point-a-Pierre refinery. All 700 construction workers were forced to down tools by what Petrotrin said was a leak from an alkaline plant. It marked the second time in two months that building workers at the refinery walked from their jobs in protest to health and safety concerns. 
 
Petrotrin is currently undergoing a gas optimisation modernisation, as well as a gas to liquids project at the west coast refinery. In early August, the state company dropped production by 15,000 barrels-per-day to 47,000 b/d due to safety concerns. That followed a May 2007 drop in crude production from offshore sites, after a gas explosion on an offshore rig in the Soldado field killed one contract worker, and injured two others.

OWTU Members at Electricity Authority in Trinidad and Tobago Protest

This week, on Wednesday, 26 September, 84 strikers in the Antalya Free Trade Zone of Turkey will mark one year on picket lines at Novamed, a pharmaceutical manufacturer, owned by Fresenius Medical Care of Germany. Eighty-two of the strikers are women. 
 
The ICEM has continued to champion the cause of the strikers and the Turkish union Petrol-Iş that organised this workplace, and stands by them. Judging from the inhumane treatment, it is easy to see why. Workers &ndash; mainly women &ndash; were forced to apply to management if they wished to marry. They were forbidden to talk to one another on the job. And they were forced to undergo breath tests following breaks to enforce a no-smoking ban. 
<img height="150" alt="" src="" width="200" />
Picket sign states: &quot;We decide when we give birth&quot;
Workers at Novamed freely elected Petrol-Iş as their collective representative. Novamed managers did begin negotiations with the union and the workers in April 2006. But when talks broke down, managers quit the negotiations and began a harassment and intimidation campaign aimed at dislodging union support. On 26 September 2006, 84 workers expressed their discontent by striking. 
 
The first anniversary of this just strike has gained a sizeable and significant voice inside Turkey. Through actions and a fortnight of constant press coverage, leading up to the one-year anniversary, civil society across Turkey is acutely aware of the Novamed strike. Handbilling, mass meetings among trade unions, NGOs, and Turkish women&rsquo;s groups, as well as rolling actions in support of the strike have all happened. 
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In Istanbul, a coalition of trade unions, women&rsquo;s groups, and others have formed a &ldquo;Women&rsquo;s Platform for Solidarity with Novamed Strikers,&rdquo; which has carried out a number of actions over the past two weeks. In the cities of Izmir and Adana, actions and forums in support of the strike have occurred.
A petition drive to the National Parliament has also started, aimed at mandating better work conditions for women, thanks to the courage of the Novamed strikers. Various actions for justice at Novamed are backed by all Turkish confederations, trade unions, and, increasingly, by civil society groups. And today and tomorrow, busloads of supporters will descend on Antalya for the one-year strike anniversary. 
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The ICEM called attention to the deplorable conditions that caused the strike from the outset. In May, the strike received firm commitment from the ICEM Executive Committee. Currently, a four-person ICEM Women&rsquo;s Committee is in the Antalya trade zone to support the strikers. They will join the strikers and Turkish activists in a forum, documentary film, and a social event on 25 September, and then accompany the strikers to the front of company offices on 26 September for a lively protest. 
 
The delegation is headed by ICEM Women&rsquo;s Committee Chair Evgenia Esenina of Russian Oil and Gas Workers&rsquo; Union (ROGWU), and includes Elena Petrovici of the Oil Workers&rsquo; Union of Romania (PETROM), Ramona Parra of the Chemical, Textile, and Leathern Workers of Spain (FITEQA-CCOO), and Carol Bruce, ICEM Women&rsquo;s Officer.

Broad Turkish Attention Given One-Year Novamed Strike

Senior General Than Shwe 
Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council, 
c/o Attorney General 
Pyinmana 
Burma 

Re : Extremely harsh prison sentences for labour activists
Dear General Than Shwe, 
 
The International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM), representing 20 million workers from 384 industrial trade unions in 118 countries, joins the wide-ranging international protest against the extremely heavy prison sentences that have been imposed, on Friday 7 September 2007, on six labour activists, after these had wanted to organise a seminar at the US Embassy's American Centre in Rangoon earlier this year. 
 
Thurein Aung, Kyaw Kyaw, Shwe Joe, Wai Lin, Aung Naing Tun and Nyi Nyi Zaw were arrested, on 1 May 2007, after holding a May Day celebration and having plans to discuss labour issues at the American Centre. This event was immediately cancelled after the arrests. Two of the arrested activists, Shwe Joe and Aung Naing Tun, were released on 4 May. On 10 May, two other men, Kyaw Win and Myo Min, were arrested for going to the Thai-Burma border to inform the outside world about these May Day arrests. 
 
The ICEM has learned that all six men were found guilty of &quot;inciting hatred or contempt for the Government&quot; during a trial held inside Rangoon's Insein prison, and that some of them were convicted for being members of &quot;illegal associations&quot;. Thurein Aung, Wai Lin, Myo Min and Kyaw Win were sentenced to 28 years in prison, and Nyi Nyi Zaw and Kyaw Kyaw to 20 years. As you and your government know well, detaining and sentencing workers who exercise their right to freedom of association is a clear violation of international labour standards, including ILO Convention 87, which has been ratified by your country. 
 
We have also been informed that the interrogations of the six above-mentioned activists by your country&rsquo;s security agencies specifically focused on finding links with the Federation of Trade Unions of Burma (FTUB). The FTUB is recognised by the entire international trade union movement, as well as by the wider global community, as a legitimate organisation that defends workers' rights in Burma. 
 
I am therefore urging you to use your good offices and make sure that the relevant authorities within your government do away with these unjustified and scandalous prison sentences and order the immediate and unconditional release of our six colleagues. 
 
Yours sincerely, 
 
Manfred Warda 
ICEM General Secretary

ICEM protest letter to Burmese Junta

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Contract workers represented by ICEM UK affiliate Unite began the first of industrial actions at a Kimberly-Clark paper mill in Northfleet, Kent, on 12 October. The 38 workers of TDG, formerly called Transport Development Group, staged a 12-hour strike on that day, and they plan a further 24-hour strike over tomorrow and Wednesday, 23-24 October. 
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The London-based employer responded by replacing the members of the Amicus section of Unite on 12 October. The dispute is over lack of parity in 2007 pay raises between Kimberly-Clark workers at Northfleet, also members of Unite, and the TDG workers. In previous years, the company had matched raises that Kimberly-Clark workers received. 
 
At another UK tissue mill of Kimberly-Clark near Barrow-in-Furness, in Cumbria in northwest England, TDG did just that this year, granting a 4.5% pay increase. The TDG workers at both sites work in the warehouses of the American-based company. TDG has provided contract services for the paper-maker since 2002, and is a major European logistical and supply-chain distributor of chemicals and consumer goods. 
 
Trade unionists are encouraged to send letters of support to Unite&rsquo;s representative, Paul Baker, at <a href="mailto:paul.baker@unitetheunion.org">paul.baker@unitetheunion.org</a>.

Paper Mill Logistic Workers Take Industrial Action in UK

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Despite increased labour and human rights pressure on the Islamic regime, Iran&rsquo;s government is still refusing access and giving misleading reports on the condition of imprisoned transport union leader Mansour Osanloo. The International Transport Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITF) is calling recent efforts to reach Osanloo by Indonesian activists a &ldquo;cynical catalogue of dirty tricks&rdquo; by Iran. 
 
The government assured Indonesian trade unionists seeking to visit Osanloo in Tehran&rsquo;s Evin prison the week of 8 October that the he was receiving treatment for a two-year-old eye injury. The Indonesian activists, as well as Osanloo&rsquo;s wife, Parvenah, were told by authorities that they could not visit the 47-year-old trade unionist because he was receiving treatment.
<img height="101" alt="" src="" width="120" />
But a prison doctor admitted to the Indonesians later that, if he is not treated within the next two weeks, he could go blind. The Indonesians that visited Iran were Hanafi Rusrandi, Seafarers' Union president and ITF's national coordinating committee chairman, and Syukur Sarto, the general secretary of national centre FSPSI.
&ldquo;The Iranian government is piling outrage on outrage, digging deeper and deeper into a barrel of dirty tricks,&rdquo; said ITF general David Cockroft. &ldquo;All the evidence we have is that this is a cold blooded and deliberate attempt to weaken and undermine the most significant union leader in Iran today.&rdquo; 
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Osanloo was arrested for the third time on 10 July 2007, following a tour of European labour institutions and labour unions, in which he spoke openly of labour abuses and restrictions on freedom of association in Iran. He has been in prison since. In May 2005, he sustained eye injuries when beaten by Iranian security forces. Osanloo is the leader of Sherkat-e Vahed, the Tehran and Suburbs Bus Workers&rsquo; Union. 
 
The ITF, last week, released a video entitled &ldquo;Freedom Will Come&rdquo; on his story and the story of bus workers&rsquo; efforts to organise in Tehran. It was posted late last week on YouTube and will shortly be available on DVD. The London-based Global Union Federation has also launched a petition campaign in support of Osanloo. It can be found <a href="http://www.itfglobal.org/campaigns/freeosanloo.cfm">here</a>.&nbsp;

‘Dirty Tricks’ Imposed by Iranian Government over Imprisonment of Mansour Osanloo

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A series of rolling strikes will occur at Unilever plants in The Netherlands until the Dutch foods and chemicals company backs away from a restructuring plan that targets as many as 12,000 European workers for the unemployment queue.
Late on the evening of 9 October, Dutch workers &ndash; led by FNV Bondgenoten and CNV Voeding &ndash; struck six plants for 40 hours. The strikes followed a failure of negotiations toward a new contract and Unilever&rsquo;s unilateral decision to initially close three Dutch plants, costing almost 500 jobs.
<img height="199" alt="" src="" width="300" />
ICEM at a Unilever Protest in July 2007

Last week, on 16 October, workers again mounted strikes in the company&rsquo;s home country, the first coming at the Loosdrecht plant, a maker of Knorr food products. The next day, workers at Vlaardingen, where consumer products Lever and Cif products are made, struck. Unilever announced plant closings for those two plants, as well as at its Delft plant, where Calv&eacute; food products are made. 
 
&ldquo;We see no need for this,&rdquo; stated FNV Bondgenoten&rsquo;s Lucas Vermaat, FNV Bondgenoten&rsquo;s chief negotiator with the company. &ldquo;For Unilever, this is solely about cutting costs in our country. Beyond that, the directors have no strategy to increase revenue. There is no reason to close factories and not to guarantee jobs.&rdquo; 
 
The ICEM and the Dutch unions call on European unions to monitor the transfer of production to other plants during the rolling strikes. The ICEM also is calling on all global affiliates to write messages of support to Dutch Unilever workers through Vermaat at <a href="mailto:l.vermaat@bg.fnv.nl">l.vermaat@bg.fnv.nl</a>. 
 
In early August, the company announced that is was embarking on a four-year reorganisation that would cut 20,000 jobs worldwide, the majority of which would come in Europe. It would close or dramatically reduce production at some 50 of its 300 global operations. Regarding the European closures, Unilever did this without consulting with the European Works Council of the company. 
<img height="100" alt="" src="" width="100" />
European unions are gearing up for a week of actions against the Anglo-Dutch firm in the first week of December, which will include a mass march and rally on 4 December in Rotterdam.
Meanwhile, the International Union of Food and Agricultural Workers&rsquo; Association (IUF) has asked for protest letters over the company&rsquo;s conduct at a foods and tea factory in Rahim Yar Khan, Pakistan. Management has called in armed militia and elite police troops to quell workers&rsquo; protests over a plan to replace 950 permanent jobs, out of 1,200, with casual and contract workers. Unions are invited to lodge protests with Unilever Pakistan Ltd.&rsquo;s External Communications manager, Fareshteh Aslan, at <a href="mailto:fareshteh.aslam@unilever.com">fareshteh.aslam@unilever.com</a>.

Strikes Begin as Unilever Takes Wrecking Ball to Workers’ Jobs

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Today, in S&atilde;o Paulo, Brazil, a country-wide network of Freudenberg workers is being launched in the rubber, chemicals, metals, and textile sectors. The meetings today and tomorrow, 23 October, will be attended by six unions and is organised by ICEM affiliate Rubber Workers Union of Brazil (FUB) and ICEM Vice President Sergio Novais. 
 
The conference will include representatives from all six Freudenberg plants in S&atilde;o Paulo state, the Latin American Rubber and Tyre Workers' Federation (FUTINAL), and ICEM affiliate IGBCE from Germany. Also due to play a key role in the formation is Bernd Schneider, the secretary and chief workers&rsquo; representative from the Freudenberg European Works Council. Schneider is an IGBCE member.
<img height="72" src="" width="177" alt="" />
Brazil is the major manufacturing country of Freudenberg in Latin America, where 1,400 company workers are employed. The German company also has manufacturing operations in Argentina, Chile, and Venezuela. The aim of the 22-23 October conference is to establish a workers&rsquo; network in Brazil, and then to expand network activities to the other Latin American countries next year. 
 
Discussion will occur on the ICEM&rsquo;s Global Framework Agreement with Freudenberg, as well as on common work aspects and problems inside the six plants. Delegates attending will also visit Freudenberg-NOK&rsquo;s rubber and metals suspension plant in Diadema.
<img height="63" alt="" src="" width="130" />
Worker representatives from that plant, as well as the company&rsquo;s Kl&uuml;bler Lubrificantes plant in Baurueri, its Vibracoustic business in Taubat&eacute;, Brugmann business in Campinas, and textile operations in Jacare&iacute; and Novo Hamburgo will attend. Two other operations in Diadema &ndash; Freudenberg&rsquo;s after-market Corteco production of rubber gaskets and seals and its Simrit auto components business, both also shared partly by Japanese-based NOK &ndash; will have worker representatives attending.
The formation of the workers&rsquo; network is getting major support and participation from the Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES) of Germany.

Network of Freudenberg Brazilian Workers Begins Today

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On the occasion of its ten-year anniversary in Hannover, Germany, ICEM affiliate IGBCE hosted 380 guests in the atrium of its building, with President Hubertus Schmoldt reflecting on the past and the view forward. The event occurred on 15 October 2007. 
 
Schmoldt called the past decade &quot;a time of great challenges&rdquo; in which the union created several excellent bases for the future of German workers. The evening event also featured a panel discussion, with participants that included Schmoldt, Social Democratic Party General Secretary Hubertus Heil, Christian Democratic Party General Secretary Ronald Pofalla, and IGBCE Governing Board Member Michael Vassiliadis participating.
<img height="163" src="" width="120" alt="" />
&nbsp;IGBCE President Hubertus Schmoldt

Discussion centered on the political pros and cons of Germany&rsquo;s Agenda 2010. The IGBCE participants pledged to continue to improve the basic industries of the country by promoting education and innovation. Industrial competitiveness, they said, must come through developing high-tech workplaces. They also reiterated the demand that the federal government promote research and technology in the life sciences so that employment and growth occurs. 
 
Schmoldt also took the opportunity during the panel discussion to say that social benefits for older, unemployed workers must be improved. 

The IGBCE was formed at a founding Congress that took place from 6-10 October 1997 in Hannover. It was the result of a five-year cooperation process and three-way merger between IG Chemie-Papier-Keramik, IG Bergbau and Energie, and Gewerkschaft Leder, the Leather Workers&rsquo; Union. It represents 770,000 workers in mining, chemicals and plastics, utilities, oil and gas, glass, ceramics, leather, pulp and paper, non-metallic materials' industries, and environmental job sectors.

IGBCE Celebrates 10 Years in Germany with Bold Agenda Forecast for the Future

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ICEM principals and leaders of French chemicals company Rhodia journeyed to China from 8-12 October, as part of monitoring the Global Framework Agreement between the company and the Global Union Federation. Rhodia operates two plants in China and the purpose of the visit was to inspect working conditions in the plants, as well as work terms. 
 
General Secretary Manfred Warda and Chemicals and Rubber Officer Kemal &Ouml;zkan represented the ICEM, while Rhodia&rsquo;s CEO Jean-Pierre Clamadieu, Sustainable Development Director Jacques Kheliff, and Group Vice President of Corporate Communications, Lucia Dumas, represented the company.
<img height="242" src="" width="350" alt="" />
The delegation met with Chinese leaders of the company at Rhodia&rsquo;s regional headquarters in Shanghai, toured plants in Lyang and Zhenjiang, and met with chemical, energy, and mine leaders of the All China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU) in Beijing. 
 
China leads Rhodia&rsquo;s Asia-Pacific region in sales growth, which, in total, gives the company &euro;938 million of its sales. Korea comes second, while Japan is third. 
 
In Shanghai, the ICEM learned that all Rhodia workers have written individual contracts, and, in the plant in which the ACFTU is present, a collective agreement is in place. That agreement is not negotiated, but rather only signed by the official ACFTU representative in the plant. The ICEM was critical of this, but company officials did state a willingness to engage with a partner representing all workers&rsquo; interests in negotiations. 
 
The Lyang plant, which produces chemicals for the auto and electronics industries, is now 95% owned by Rhodia and employs 570 workers, of whom 350 have signed long-term employment contracts. The ACFTU&rsquo;s Chemical, Energy and Mine Workers&rsquo; Industrial Union is active in the plant. 
 
The Zhenjiang plant is currently just going on-line with 67 workers, the majority of whom are engineers. It is a diphenols plant, using Rhodia technology to produce non-chlorinated guaiacol for the food industry. Since it is currently in start-up phase, there is no union present. At both plants, located in Jiangsu province, ICEM and Rhodia officials were informed about products, technology, safety, health and environmental matters, salary and social benefits, staffing, and local community relations.
<img height="234" src="" width="350" alt="" />
On the final day of the visit, the delegation met in Beijing with leaders of the ACFTU and Chemical, Energy, and Mine Union, through arrangement with the local office of Germany&rsquo;s Friedrich Ebert Foundation. The session was attended by ACFTU&rsquo;s deputy chair of the International Department, Zhang Tao; Jia Ziaodong, president of the 15-million-member Chemical, Energy, Mine Union; and Qingyi Li, ACFTU&rsquo;s officer for European Affairs. 
 
A main point of discussions was China&rsquo;s new labour contract law &ndash; to be effective on 1 January 2008 &ndash; and a law which the Chinese labour federation strongly supported and had great input on. The ACFTU criticized the US Chamber of Commerce for standing firmly against enactment of the law, and ICEM&rsquo;s Warda outlined the ICEM position. 
That stance, adopted at the May 2007 Executive Committee, stated some multinational companies from developed nations were working against adoption of the law, which gives some semblance of workplace rights and job security to Chinese and migrant workers. Rhodia senior officials at the meeting said the company supported enactment. 
 
A meeting at the French Embassy in Beijing concluded the final day of the visit.

ICEM, Rhodia Conduct Work Visit to China as part of Global Framework Agreement

<img height="113" alt="" src="" width="100" />
Thursday, 22 November 2007 
 
10.00 Opening Ceremony 
<ul>
 <li>Keynote Speakers </li>
 <li>ICEM President&rsquo;s Address </li>
 <li>Fraternal Messages </li>
</ul>
12.00 WFIW Integration 
 
12.30 &ndash; 14.00 Lunch 
 
14.00 Adoption of Agenda
Adoption of Standing Orders 
Report of Credentials Committee 
Election of Scrutineers 
Confirm composition of Motion Committee 
Ratification of New Affiliations and Disaffiliations since Third Congress 
 
15.30 &ndash; 16.00 Coffee Break 
 
16.00 Presentation of Secretariat Report on Activities - 
Discussion 
 
17.30 Congress Session closes 
 
19.00 Dinner 
 
Friday, 23 November 2007 
 
09.00 Presentation of Financial Report and background papers 
Auditors Report 
Motion on affiliation fees 
Discussion 
 
10.30 &ndash; 11.00 Coffee Break 
 
11.00 Statutory Motions 
Headquarters Location 
General Motions 
Discussion 
 
12.30 &ndash; 14.00 Lunch 
 
14.00 Continuation of discussion 
 
15.30 &ndash; 16.00 Coffee Break 
 
16.00 Elections 
a) Confirmation of Regional Seats on ICEM Executive Committee 
b) President 
c) Vice-Presidents 
d) General Secretary 
e) Internal Auditors 
 
17.30 Congress Sessions close 
 
19.30 Gala Dinner 
 
Saturday, 24 November 2007 
 
09.00 Continuation of Congress Business 
 
12.30 &ndash; 14.00 Lunch 
 
14.00 New President&rsquo;s Closing Address and Closure of Congress 
 
15.00 New Presidium meets

Fourth ICEM World Congress - Draft Congress Agenda

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