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Some ten coal mine disasters in China were recorded over the past month, leaving 100 dead. And last week, the China State Administration of Work Safety (SAWS) issued an alert stating that the number of coal mine accidents might increase in the coming months, as production accelerates to meet winter demand. 
 
October was another deadly month in China&rsquo;s coal mines, where an estimated 20,000 workers die each year from industrial accidents, methane explosions, floods, and illegal mining. 
The latest reported tragedy occurred on Friday, 2 November, when a shaft tunnel collapsed, killing nine miners. This occurred at the licensed Shanxi Jinle Coal Mine in Xinzhou city, in China&rsquo;s northern Shanxi province. A few days earlier, on 28 October, in Jiangxi provice at the Lingzian colliery, at a township-owned mine, floods poured into mine shafts, taking the lives of nine miners. One worker was rescued, but only after three days. 
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On 26 October, nine perished in northwest Shanxi province, also because of flooding. This occurred at the Yaotou coal mine near Weinan City. The mine is a registered private mine, with annual output of 60,000 tonnes. 
 
A day earlier, on 25 October, a small, illegal mine was rocked by an underground explosion, killing 11. That happened at the Yuejin coal mine, Chongqing, southwest China. The board chairman, local manager, and two other senior managers were arrested a few days after the explosion. 
On 22 October, a newly dug transport tunnel at the Yinying coal mine in Taiyuan, northern China, collapsed, killing 13 people living in row houses above the mine. Some of the dead were miners and family members. The incident occurred in the middle of the night and no one was working the mine at the time. 
Also on 22 October, three Chinese miners died and seven were injured following an explosion inside a township-run mine at Puqian in Hengfeng county, northeastern Jiangxi province. The miners were 285 metres underground performing maintenance work. On 13 October, 19 miners were buried alive after a gas explosion caused a massive coal slide that came rumbling down a 30-metre-wide tunnel. This also occurred in Jiangxi province. Some 261 miners managed to escape the deadly accident at the Jianxin colliery. 
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Jianzin also was the mine that claimed the lives of 49 miners in 2003 from a gas explosion, and in August 2006, five were killed from a blast. 
 
On 7 October, eight died, including three rescue workers, following flooding of the Chankeng mine in Fujian province. And a day earlier, on 6 October, ten miners died from a methane explosion at the Shunxing mine in eastern Yunnan province. The mine was legal but a week prior to the blast, a county mine safety inspector had ordered Shunzing to suspend production in order that the mine&rsquo;s shafts undergo repairs. 
 
Last year, China saw a 2.04 death rate for every one million tonnes of coal mined. Total Chinese coal production is expected to top 2.5 billion tonnes this year, with annual production growth this year over last year expected to be 11.5%. SAWS, on 1 November, announced it was soliciting public submissions on a draft plan regarding 604 safety production standards to go into effect between 2007 and 2010. The proposed standards are in 10 work sectors, including coal mines, non-coal mining, and chemicals and fireworks production.

Mine Deaths Continue to Plague China, State Work Safety Administration

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With the ICEM&rsquo;s Bangkok Congress just two weeks away, the familiar privatisation saga of the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) is again back in the news. The ICEM has given a vibrant global voice to this struggle for four years, and we&rsquo;re proud now to bring trade unionists of the world an update. 
 
In March 2006, the Supreme Administrative Court ordered Thaksin&rsquo;s EGAT privatisation plan cancelled, and in September 2006, Prime Minister Thaksin Sinawatra himself was cancelled. EGAT-LU, the 18,000-member ICEM affiliate at the national utility, helped make that happen through relentless four years of strikes and marches to stop Thaksin&rsquo;s 25% stock float of their power company. 
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EGAT-LU demonstration in 2006
This year, Thailand&rsquo;s interim government resurrected parts of the failed EGAT privatisation plan, revising portions into something called the Energy Operation Bill. EGAT-LU has called for mobilisation against this draft measure; it has quickly brought consumer groups back in opposition; and demonstrations are sure to intensify this week when the bill is scheduled to be heard in the National Legislative Assembly. 
 
Part of the opaque leftovers from Thaksin&rsquo;s plan are included in the interim government&rsquo;s bill. Specifically, the draft bills calls for creation of a privatisation policy committee having too few members, but having wide latitudes to determine all privatisation matters. 
 
On 26 October, EGAT-LU called for mobilisations at EGAT worksites across Thailand. Small rallies have already begun against the Energy Operation Bill, and the union conducted bigger ones last week at EGAT&rsquo;s headquarters in Nonthaburi. After experiencing difficult and prolonged negotiations with the government over privatisation, EGAT-LU has called for the bill to be scrapped, particularly with the military&rsquo;s interim government coming to an end. Democratic elections are scheduled to take place on 23 December 2007 in Thailand.
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&nbsp;&ldquo;Privatisation affects all people in this country and such an important matter cannot be left to just a handful of authorities that have not been elected by the people,&rdquo; said EGAT-LU Chairman Sirichai Main-gam. &ldquo;The bill gives sweeping power to one committee to supervise privatisation schemes,&rdquo; he said, adding that the committee is vacant of any &ldquo;people&rsquo;s participation.&rdquo; 
 
EGAT-LU and its allied consumer and human rights groups know something about civilian participation in the affairs of state. They did it between 2002 and 2006. It is part of the fallen Thaksin legacy. They now insist that a critical issue such as privatising EGAT cannot occur before the democratic voice of the country is heard.

EGAT-LU Fights to Stop Thai Interim Government’s ‘Energy Operation Bill’

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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.
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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.
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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. 
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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.
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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

Bangkok, Thailand, 22-24 November 2007&nbsp;
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<img height="57" alt="" src="" width="50" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <a href="/index.php?id=184&amp;doc=2577&amp;la=EN">Resolutions as adopted by 4th ICEM World Congress</a>
<img height="57" alt="" src="" width="50" align="absBottom" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <a href="/en/?id=184&amp;doc=2482&amp;la=EN">4th ICEM World Congress 
Opening Speech by ICEM President Senzeni Zokwana</a> 

<img height="57" alt="" src="" width="50" align="absBottom" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <a href="/en/?id=184&amp;doc=2483&amp;la=EN">4th ICEM World Congress 
Speech by ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda</a>
<img height="57" alt="" src="" width="50" align="absMiddle" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="/index.php?id=184&amp;doc=2430&amp;la=EN">Draft Congress Agenda</a>
<img height="57" alt="" src="" width="50" align="absMiddle" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <a href="/en/?id=184&amp;doc=2431&amp;la=EN">ICEM Secretariat Report</a>
<img height="57" alt="" src="" width="50" align="absMiddle" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <a href="/index.php?id=71&amp;doc=2478&amp;la=EN">Women &ndash; Work &ndash; 21st Century</a>
<img height="57" alt="" src="" width="50" align="absMiddle" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/2007ICEMatwork-EN.pdf">ICEM at Work</a>

4th ICEM World Congress - Congress Documents

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