English

Español

Français

Aerospace

Automotive

Base metals

Chemical, pharmaceutical and bio-science

Energy

Glass, cement, ceramic and associated industries

ICT, electrical and electronics

Mechanical Engineering

Mining and DGOJP

Pulp and paper

Rubber

Shipbuilding and shipbreaking

Textile, garment, shoes, leather and textile services

Sectors

Action Plan 2025-2029

Action on textile and garment industry

Clean up shipbreaking

Ratify ILO C176

United for a just future - time to pay up!

Disinvest from Myanmar

Campaigns

Global Framework Agreements

Union building

White-collar workers

Health & safety

Industry 4.0

Women

Youth

LGBTQI+

Gender, equality, diversity and inclusion (GEDI)

Just Transition

Organizing with industriALL

What we do

Affiliates

Statutes

Elected Officials

Executive Committee

Geneva head office

South East Asia

Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Caucasus

Latin America and the Caribbean

Middle East and North Africa

South Asia

Sub-Saharan Africa

Regional offices

About us

Global worker No1 2022

Global worker No2 2022

Publications

Resources

Press

The 20-million-member ICEM filed a strong protest yesterday with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas over this week&rsquo;s assassination attempt on a prominent trade unionist. 
 
Rasem Al Bayari, deputy general secretary of the Palestine General Federation of Trade Unions (PGFTU), managed to escape in the early morning hours of Monday, 29 January, when assailants fired rockets into his home. A day after this violent act, more attackers returned to his home and fired shots at the house. 
 
&ldquo;The Palestinian Authority, as a responsible Authority, must uphold internationally recognised rights,&rdquo; wrote ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda to Abbas, &ldquo;including full respect for the fundamental human rights of workers, such as their right to life.&rdquo; 
 
The ICEM has demanded that the Palestinian Government ensure the safety of Al Bayari and his family, and urges &ldquo;a thorough investigation into the rocket attacks and the shootings&rdquo; so that the perpetrators are brought to justice.
<img height="203" alt="" src="" width="160" />
&nbsp;PGFTU Gen. Sec. Shaher Sae'd pionts to a bullet hole in the wall of the PCFTU conference room 
 

On 12 October 2006, the PGFTU&rsquo;s headquarters in Nablus was attacked. This assault was followed by death threats to the union&rsquo;s leaders. The Palestinian national labour centre then called it an escalation against trade unionism, because PGFTU leaders had been strongly speaking out on behalf of workers. 
 
The ICEM stands solidly behind PGFTU, and echoes the commitment of the Palestinian labour centre, at it reacted to this week&rsquo;s cowardly and violent act on the Al Bayari&rsquo;s home: &ldquo;This act will not silence the workers and will not stop our activities to build the structures of the Palestinian State for the benefit of our people and workers.&rdquo; 
Read the ICEM Letter to Palestinian Government <a href="/en/24-North-Africa-Middle-East-/2124-ICEM-Letter-to-Palestine-President-Mahmoud-Abbas">here</a>.

ICEM Issues Strong Protest to Palestinian Government

<img height="35" alt="" src="" width="25" />
Opinion 
Ignorance is not Bliss &ndash; Testing to Know your Status
In this article, some controversial issues of voluntary versus routine testing are discussed. Let us know your opinion; write to <a href="mailto:hiv.aids@icem.org">hiv.aids@icem.org</a>. 
 
Of the one million Americans with HIV, some 250,000 do not know that they are infected. If they do not know, they will not seek treatment and they are more likely to infect others. The Centre for Disease Control (CDC) of the US Department of Health and Human Services therefore recommends that all Americans between the ages of 13 and 64 should be routinely tested for HIV. 
 
The tests would not be compulsory but rather than testing only those who asked to be tested, the CDC wants clinics to test everyone who does not refuse to be tested, or the opt-out clause. In this way, HIV can be detected earlier, and the earlier it is detected the easier it can be treated. 
Some 40% of Americans who are diagnosed HIV positive progress to full-blown AIDS within a year of that diagnosis, which suggests that they were infected without knowing it for as much as a decade. 
 
The number of Americans with HIV increases every year. This is partly because drugs are keeping people alive longer. But the number of new infections has not fallen. It remained stable because people who are HIV positive do not know their status. 
 
With routine testing, doctors also hope to reduce stigma which is one of the largest barriers for people to avoid testing. The head of the World Health Organisation&rsquo;s (WHO) AIDS Department, Kevin de Kock, is quoted as saying that routine testing is a big step towards &ldquo;normalising&rdquo; HIV. 
 
Will routine testing lead to mandatory testing? Doing away with written consent forms and pre-test counselling to simplify procedures as part of routine testing is certainly a dangerous development and poses threats to human rights. 
 
Views have also begun to shift in Southern Africa. In 2004, Botswana became the first African country to introduce routine testing in its health sector, with Malawi and Lesotho following suit. Here the hope is also that by offering HIV testing as a routine part of any treatment, more people would be encouraged to know their status and that, over time, stigma will lessen. 
 
Zambia has initiated routine testing at health facilities in a bid to eradicate the stigma associated with HIV/AIDS, by transforming it into an &ldquo;ordinary disease&rdquo;. 
 
The Botswana authorities claim that very few people are opting out when confronted with the possibility to be tested and that a large majority of the population now know their status. 
However, the Botswana Network on Ethics, Law and HIV/AIDS (BONELA) has criticised the government for failing to launch a public information campaign, arguing that routine testing is only acceptable if patients know that they can refuse. Informed consent, counselling, confidentiality and access to treatment must be guaranteed. 
 
The WHO currently holds consultations on provider-initiated testing. Testing for HIV serves as an entry point for both prevention and treatment. Taking an HIV test is arguably the most influential driver for behaviour change. If a person tests negative, the focus must be on education and support to ensure that the person takes responsibility to remain negative. 
A person testing positive must be supported to take responsibility for managing HIV/AIDS as a chronic treatable disease, and to bring about changes in behaviour that will prevent further transmission. Antiretroviral treatment must be available. 
 
The GBC/COSATU Guide quoted below sets out principles for counselling and testing at the workplace. Together with the unions, companies must take steps to: 
&bull; prevent any discriminatory practices against HIV status; 
&bull; ensure confidentiality and informed employee consent; 
&bull; ensure that there is no penalty if an employee chooses not to get tested; 
&bull; ensure that testing is not in the form of pre-employment screening or mandatory testing; and 
&bull; reduce stigma against people living with HIV in the workplace. 
 
[Source: The Economist, 30 September 2006, from which the headline &ldquo;Ignorance is not bliss&rdquo; is also taken and various web postings of the UN Integrated Regional Information Networks. 
A Practical Guide for Business Managers: Accelerating Access to HIV Counselling and Testing was published by the Global Business Coalition (GBC) Africa Office and the Confederation of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) in its 2nd print in August 2005.] 
<img height="35" alt="" src="" width="25" />
Facilitators&rsquo; Guide on Counselling and Testing 
 
In December 2006, the International HIV/AIDS Alliance based in Brighton, UK, published a Facilitators&rsquo; Guide entitled &ldquo;Let&rsquo;s Talk about HIV Counselling and Testing.&rdquo; The guide is a toolkit to build NGO/CBO capacity to mobilise communities for HIV counselling and testing. It makes specific reference to the significant policy changes that have occurred to models of HIV testing and the recent CDC recommendations (see article above). 
 
The publication, which is available in English and Spanish, can be downloaded from the Alliance&rsquo;s website <a href="http://www.aidsalliance.org">www.aidsalliance.org</a>. Established in 1993, the Alliance is a global partnership of nationally based organisations working to support community action on HIV/AIDS. 
<img height="35" alt="" src="" width="25" />
Russia &ndash; European AIDS Treatment Group Demands Action 
 
With an estimated HIV prevalence of 1.1%, the Russian Federation is one of the European countries hardest hit by the HIV epidemic. 
 
In a letter to the Russian Minister of Health Care and Social Development, the European AIDS Treatment Group deplores the serious shortcomings in standards of HIV care in the Russian Federation. Despite the fact that the alarming prevalence figures have been well known for years, the country has not scaled up treatment programmes to cover all in need of medication. 
 
The European AIDS Treatment Group appeals to the Government of the Russian Federation and the Ministry of Health Care and Social Development to amend treatment guidelines. They must include, among other strengthening guidelines, the provision of antiretroviral drugs which conform to international standards; attention to the specific needs and requirements of injecting drug users, who represent 80% of all HIV cases in the country; and to adjust national healthcare budgets and the treatment programmes, under the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, to treat all patients in need. 
 
(Source: Break-the-Silence e-forum on HIV/AIDS, 3 January 2007. You can join by sending a blank message to <a href="mailto:join-break-the-silence@eforums.healthdev.org">join-break-the-silence@eforums.healthdev.org</a>) 
<img height="35" alt="" src="" width="25" />
Caribbean &ndash; AIDSs Crisis Blamed on Ignorance 
 
Delegates at a Caribbean Summit on HIV/AIDS blamed widespread ignorance for the AIDS crisis in the region. Ignorance is undermining the efforts to fight the spread of the disease in the Caribbean, which has the second highest rate of infection after sub-Saharan Africa. 
An estimated 500,000 people &ndash; or 2.4% - are HIV-positive. In 2005, an estimated 24,000 people died in the region from AIDS, making it the leading cause of death among people aged 15 to 44. 
 
Discrimination by employers and others is so pervasive that people do not go for testing and infected persons often delay seeking treatment for the virus. A contributing factor is also that it is still largely perceived as a &ldquo;gay disease.&rdquo; Social stigma associated with the disease keeps many sufferers from receiving life-prolonging medicines. 
 
(Source: Web posting on <a href="http://www.planetout.com">www.planetout.com</a>, 22 January 2007) 
<img height="35" alt="" src="" width="25" />
India &ndash; Generic Drugs 
 
India has become the premier drug provider for the developing world by producing cheaper generic versions of some of the world&rsquo;s most effective medicines, including antiretroviral drugs. But the country&rsquo;s decision to adhere to international patent regulations could limit access to generic drugs in the developing world. In future, when the country&rsquo;s patent laws will hinder its pharmaceutical companies from producing the latest drugs as generic versions, prices will go up. 
 
Some estimates indicate that Indian generic drug firms provide treatment for 50% of HIV-positive people in the developing world. The Indian generic drug company, Cipla, alone provides one in three HIV-positive people in Africa with antiretrovirals. 
 
Pharmaceutical companies in India are, however, seeking to expand their market to wealthy nations &ndash; a move that could come at the expense of the world&rsquo;s poor. In addition, the change in India&rsquo;s patent laws has led many foreign drug firms to enter the market and target India&rsquo;s growing middle class. 
 
(Source: Web posting on <a href="http://www.medicalnewstoday.com">www.medicalnewstoday.com</a>, 10 January 2007, referring to a Christian Science Monitor article). 
<img height="35" alt="" src="" width="25" />
Global Fund Round 7 
 
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria will call for proposals for Round 7 on 1 March 2007. The deadline for submission of Round 7 proposals is set for 4 July 2007. Having learned from past experience, the Fund is encouraging early planning. A call for proposals for Round 8 will be issued on the same date in 2008. 
<img height="35" alt="" src="" width="25" />
ICEM Resource Guide on Website 
 
In the January issue of the e-bulletin, we reported on the African Regional Workshop on fundraising and project writing. One of the tools used at the workshop was the ICEM Guide on HIV/AIDS Resources and Funding. 
 
<a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/0701ICEMHIVAIDSGuideEN.pdf">The Guide is now available on the ICEM website</a>, in <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/0701ICEMHIVAIDSGuideEN.pdf">English</a> and <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/0701ICEMHIVAIDSGuideFR.pdf">French</a>. A Spanish translation is being prepared. 
 
The Guide takes account of the fact that funding resources are decentralised and largely accessible at the national level. The introductory part refers to small-scale funding from national AIDS commissions and resources from employers, especially companies with which the ICEM has signed Global Agreements. 
 
It gives fact-sheets on relevant intergovernmental organisations such as ILOAIDS, UNAIDS, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, WHO, and the World Bank and lists a number of foundations and other organisations engaged in the fight against HIV/AIDS. An annex explains in more detail the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, its structures and procedures.

ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin - No. 17

<img height="40" alt="" src="" width="100" />
Global Labour University, supported by the ILO and by Germany&rsquo;s Hans Boeckler Foundation and Friedrich Ebert Foundation, is offering a pair of Master Programme labour courses in 2007. The courses take place at the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa, and at Germany&rsquo;s University of Kassel and the Berlin School of Economics. 
 
&ldquo;Labour Policies and Globalisation&rdquo; (Germany) and &ldquo;Labour and Development, Economic Policy, Globalisation and Labour&rdquo; (South Africa) are the titles of courses. Registration submissions can be found at <a href="http://www.global-labour-university.org">www.global-labour-university.org</a>. 
 
Deadline for application to the course in Germany is 1 April 2007. Deadline for the South African portion of this programme is 1 October 2007. 
 
The language of the courses is English, and the curriculum consists of issues relating to sustainable development, social justice, and international labour standards; and trade unions, economic policies, and global institutions. Successful applicants also have the possibility to study one term of the programme in South Africa and one term in Germany. 
<img height="62" src="" width="100" align="absMiddle" alt="" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;<img height="50" src="" width="134" align="absMiddle" alt="" />
The curriculum is jointly developed by universities and trade unions from around the world and is aimed at those students who have experience with labour and social movements, and who are willing to assist organisations in these fields to engage more effectively in social dialogue, public debate, and policy implementation. 
Women are strongly encouraged to participate. Applicants should, as a rule, not be older than 40 years of age. 
 
A limited number of scholarships are available. An endorsement by a trade union is a requirement for a scholarship. The scholarship is conditional on a contribution of &euro;1,500 from the supporting trade union, or another donor. Please consult the website above for further information. More information can be also found here, in <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/0701GLU2007EN.pdf ">English</a>, <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/0701GLU2007FR.pdf ">French</a>, <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/0701GLU2007SP.pdf ">Spanish</a>.

Global Labour University Offering 2007 Courses in Germany and South Africa

<img height="40" alt="" src="" width="100" />
Two union networks of Brazilian chemical workers met recently. Union leaders of Brazilian federations of Akzo Nobel are meeting today and tomorrow, 29-30 January, in S&atilde;o Paulo. And workplace leaders from three of DuPont&rsquo;s major manufacturing sites in Brazil met in the same city on 24 January for a planning meeting. 
 
The Akzo Nobel meeting represented the fourth time trade unionists convened. On tomorrow&rsquo;s agenda, managers have been invited for discussions. The talks will centre on the Dutch-based company&rsquo;s corporate social responsibility plan. Trade unionists from Akzo Nobel&rsquo;s multiple S&atilde;o Paulo worksites are attending, including the Itupeva and Reposa Taveres sites, and from the company&rsquo;s Tintas Division. 
<img height="99" src="" width="100" alt="" />
The Brazilian DuPont network meeting saw 12 participants attend from three DuPont sites, including the chemicals plant at Guarulhos near S&atilde;o Paulo, the Barra Mansa worksite in Rio de Janeiro, and a chemicals facility in northern Bahai State. The network is planning further meetings for 18-19 April, at which time Brazilian management of DuPont will be invited. 
 
Chemical union leaders from two Brazilian national centres were represented, Central &Uacute;nica dos Trabalhadores (CUT) and For&ccedil;a Sindical (FS).

Brazilian Union Networks for DuPont, Akzo Nobel Meet

<img height="40" src="" width="100" alt="" />
ExxonMobil is not going to escape the fact that it has to answer for Indonesian human rights crimes occurring in the 1990s. That decision came from a US Appeals Court on 17 January, after the world&rsquo;s biggest energy company attempted to dismiss a lawsuit brought by 11 Indonesian citizens. 
 
The alleged crimes came when Mobil was opening the Arun gas fields in joint development with the Suharto government. At the time, Suharto&rsquo;s regime was deploying brutal methods to put down a separatist movement in the Aceh region on the northern tip of the Sumatra Island. 
 
The lawsuit contends that Suharto agreed to provide army troops during the development, and that Mobil provided logistical and material support to the troops. Troops used the company&rsquo;s facilities and equipment to &ldquo;interrogate, torture and murder Acehnese civilians suspected of engaging in separatist activities,&rdquo; the lawsuit states. Following Suharto&rsquo;s forced leave from office, independent investigation teams did find several mass graves connected with the human rights atrocities. 
<img height="115" src="" width="250" alt="" />
The lawsuit is legitimate in US courts because of the Alien Tort Claims Act, a 216-year-old American statute that allows persons from other countries to hold accountable, either American citizens or US-based corporations, when violations of international law are committed outside of the US. 
 
ExxonMobil filed a review of the case in the US Circuit Court of Appeals for Washington, after a US Federal District Court denied a prior request for dismissal. 
 
This American court case has special significance inside Indonesia. Under a negotiated autonomy agreement implemented last year for Aceh, the Indonesian government has pledged to establish a special court by July 2007 to hear the thousands of human rights cases that have been pending after 30 years of regional strife on Sumatra.

ExxonMobil in Dock for Indonesian Human Rights Crimes

<img height="40" src="" width="100" alt="" />
French unions held successful manifestations on 22 January at Shell France refineries over possible the possible sale of three facilities. FCE-CFDT, FO, CGT, CFE-CGC, and CFTC joined as one to call on the Anglo-Dutch company to assure full employment and maintain all social rights of workers in the event of divestiture. 
 
On 11 January, Shell France confirmed reports from late last year that three French refineries, as well as a petrochemical refinery in Yabucoa, Puerto Rico, were up for &ldquo;strategic review.&rdquo; The French sites include the large Berre-l&rsquo;Etang solvents refinery, and refineries at Petit-Couronne and Reichstett-Vendenheim. Some 2,500 of Shell France&rsquo;s 3,600 workers would be affected by asset sales of the three refineries. 
The unions held a press conference at Berre after presenting management with a petition calling for respect and honest social dialogue with workers before any sale occurs. Some 1,500 workers are employed there. Similar petitions were handed to Shell management at Petit-Couronne and Reichstett, where 550 and 240 workers are employed. 
<img height="150" src="" width="115" alt="" />
&ldquo;We request from any potential buyer a clear plan for the facility,&rdquo; FCE-CFDT Union Representative Jean-Luc Bildstein told Agence France Presse. &ldquo;For now, we do not see a strike occurring but if Shell does not hear our demands, other actions will be considered.&rdquo; 
 
The one-day manifestations were considered a success since the vast majority of Shell workers at each site turned out for the protests.

French Unions Mobilise as Shell Prepares to Sell Refineries

<img height="40" alt="" src="" width="100" />
Polish mining unions stood their ground with the country&rsquo;s Economic Ministry over total privatisation of two coal mining companies, as well as the sale of several mines of Europe&rsquo;s largest coal producer, Kompania Weglowa (KW). A compromise agreement was reached late on 22 January between 12 miners&rsquo; unions and Economy Minister Piotr Wozniak, an agreement which halted a planned 24-hour warning strike, scheduled to start on 24 January. 
 
Coal miners balloted to strike on 18 January after 62% of the country&rsquo;s 122,000 affected miners voted by 97% in favour of industrial action. A general strike was to follow the warning strike on 1 February if the privatisations and a plan to link miners&rsquo; salaries with production were not reached. 
&nbsp;<img height="53" src="" width="100" alt="" />
The compromised consensus agreement states that the privatisation of mines will be considered on a case-by-case basis, and on condition that the government retain a majority stake in the coal sector. The Economic Ministry last September proposed the sale of state-run companies Jastrzebska Spolka Weglowa (JSW) and Katowicki Holding Weglowy (KHW), as well as selling some of KW&rsquo;s 17 pits, as part of the government&rsquo;s mining sector reorganisation strategy for the years 2007 to 2015. 
 
The trade unions, including the ICEM affiliate Miners&rsquo; and Energy Workers&rsquo; Section of Solidarnosc, have been critical of the government&rsquo;s minimum investment programme for coal mining, and feel that partial privatisation or management buy-ups of some mines could inject the necessary capital. 
 
The issue of the remuneration-to-productivity ratio is still unresolved, and the mineworkers&rsquo; unions are hopeful that continued dialogue with the government will solve this important issue.

Strike Threat Curbs Polish Government’s Privatisation of Coal Sector

<img height="40" alt="" src="" width="100" />
On 8 March, ICEM affiliate IGBCE and BAVC, the chemical employers&rsquo; association in Germany, came to terms on a 14-month renewal contract covering 550,000 chemical workers. The contract includes adequate pay gains, but, more importantly, continues a trend of job growth inside Germany&rsquo;s chemicals sector. 
 
A salary increase of 3.6% is the base of the agreement. Workers will also receive an extra payment of 0.7% of their salary, times 13 months, before 30 June 2007 as a one-off. An additional lump sum tied to training is also included. 
 
&ldquo;The percentage increase, combined with the one-time payment, gives us an increase of 4.3%,&rdquo; said IGBCE Head of Collective Bargaining, Werner Bischoff. &ldquo;This is an acceptable and a decent compromise.&rdquo; Bischoff said protests by workers after the first round of national talks on 8 February had moved the BAVC at the bargaining table. 
<img height="200" alt="" src="" width="200" />
The IGBCE also won rights for 16,800 training placements to occur in 2007 and 2008, a proud achievement for the union in a four-year-old programme to retain and develop highly-skilled German chemical workers. 
 
&ldquo;It is good that we continue the efforts in the area of training at this high level,&rdquo; said Bischoff, adding that the IGBCE and chemical employers succeeded in meeting social responsibility goals. 
 
The renewal agreement, which effectively covers some 19,000 chemical employers, also calls for 2009 and 2010 levels of new training jobs to be determined inside collective bargaining. Bischoff noted that, through the 8 March agreement reached in Lahnstein, the IGBCE&rsquo;s &ldquo;Future through Training&rdquo; programme, which began in the 2003&rsquo;s round of collective bargaining, is now engendered until at least 2010.

IGBCE Secures Wage Gains, Furthers Job Opportunities in Germany’s Chemicals Sector

<img height="40" alt="" src="" width="100" />
At a merger Congress in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, last week, ICEM affiliate National Union of Workers in Electricity and Gas (SYNASEG), and the National Union of Workers in the Water Sector (SYNATRASE) formally came together to form FESENE, the Trade Union Federation of Energy and Water Workers. 
 
SYNASEG Gen. Sec. Fran&ccedil;ois Yao will hold the same position inside FESENE. He said the birth of the union is based on two principles, the right to association and the common fact that there is strength in unity. &ldquo;Wherever there is an economic power, there needs to be a trade union counterpart,&rdquo; said Yao at a press conference introducing the new union. 
 
The merger of the two unions occurs at a time when SYNASEG remains in dispute with CIE, the country&rsquo;s electricity operator and a subsidiary of the Bouygues Group. The ICEM affiliate suspended a strike, scheduled to start last week, after national ministers for Public Works and Energy and Mines agreed to mediate social dialogue. 
<img height="143" src="" width="100" alt="" />
General Secretary Fran&ccedil;ois Yao
CIE has engaged in systematic attacks on SYNASEG since 2005. Then, the union backed the government&rsquo;s reform of the national electric sector, which called for re-nationalising and not renewing Bouygues&rsquo; 15-year contract. But the government changed its policy and did award another 15-year contract to the French company. CIE retaliated over the following year by refusing to engage in social dialogue, and obstructing basic trade union rights. 
 
The current dispute centers on salary increases and the company&rsquo;s handling of a Mutual Investment Fund, established for training, placement, and other worker needs. SYNASEG members contribute to the fund, but CIE uses the money for purposes other than what it is intended for. 
 
Yao said the union will assess this week&rsquo;s mediation efforts by the two national ministers on 15 March, and take whatever action is necessary following that date.

ICEM’s Ivory Coast Affiliate, SYNASEG, Announces Merger with Water Workers’ Union

<img height="40" alt="" src="" width="100" />
ICEM South African affiliate, the Chemical, Energy, Paper, Printing, Wood and Allied Workers&rsquo; Union (CEPPWAWU), raised some legitimate concerns at the annual general meeting of pulp and paper produce Sappi on 5 March. 
 
The union asked acting CEO Eugene van As why the South African-based company faces such high staff turnover, particularly among technical workers. It also asked why Sappi does not have a viable succession plan in place for executives. 
<img height="100" alt="" src="" width="100" />
The latter point was a reference to the dismissal of CEO John Leslie last year, just two years after he left Rio Tinto to replace van As as Sappi&rsquo;s CEO. The world&rsquo;s number one producer of fine coated paper also lost three other executive directors last year, including Finance Director Don Wilson. 
 
CEPPWAWU demanded to know if there was any prospect of a new CEO being appointed soon, or if van As would stay on. The union also said poor morale in the South African operations of the company was the cause of high turnovers, both at lower levels of the workforce and among technical staff. &ldquo;Why are these resigning?&rdquo; asked CEPPWAWU Organiser Michael Mokoana. 
<img height="99" alt="" src="" width="100" />
Van As, who resigned in 2003 to take up the post of non-executive chairman after 25 years as CEO, stepped back in last year as acting CEO. In response to CEPPWAWU&rsquo;s question, he said it was not his intention to stay in the position. &ldquo;This is not where I wanted to be &hellip; not where I should be, but this is what we had to do.&rdquo; 
 
Van As admitted the company was concerned about the turnover, but said it was not abnormally high. He did admit that six months ago, a number of key people in the company&rsquo;s Johannesburg head office did depart. 
 
Sappi employs about 15,000 people in South Africa, Europe, and North America, with roughly half that number in South Africa, where the company operates pulp and paper mills, wood products operations, and manages timberlands.

CEPPWAWU Brings Concerns over Sappi’s Management to AGM in South Africa

Archive