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Italy&rsquo;s three major unions came together on 23 April for an eight-hour strike against Pfizer pharmaceutical. The unions protested Pfizer&rsquo;s destructive job losses at a time in which the US-based company is posting record earnings. 
 
Italian unions FILCEM-CGIL, FEMCA-CISL, and UILCEM-UIL rallied 2,400 workers at a manifestation in Rome at the offices of the Labour Ministry and the Economic Development Ministry. 
Inside a mass worldwide restructuring plan, Pfizer has targeted the sacking of 440 research and development staff in Italy, as well as curtailment of antibiotic production in Varese, Italy. The unions also object to the February sale of a business in Nerviano, and cite some 2,200 staff that have been discharged since 2003. 
<img height="80" alt="" src="" width="110" align="absMiddle" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <img height="92" alt="" src="" width="75" align="absMiddle" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <img height="71" alt="" src="" width="126" align="absMiddle" />
Workers at the Rome manifestation included staff from four Pfizer worksites &ndash; Latina, Ascoli, Pisticci, and Nerviano &ndash; which are affected under the giant drug-maker&rsquo;s restructuring plan. 
 
Pfizer earlier this year announced that 10,000 jobs would be cut worldwide. The company announced this in the face of quarterly profit returns of US$9.45 billion. Pfizer cited competition from generic drug-makers as a reason for the 2007 restructuring.

Italian Unions Protest Pfizer’s Cuts in Rome

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Spanish and Portuguese workers of Compagnie Saint-Gobain will join French workers in strike action on 11 May, as called by four unions at all French plants of the major global glass and materials producer. 
 
The strike has the united support of the CGT, CFDT, FO, and CFTC, and the four unions have called 60,000 Saint-Gobain workers to strike in protest to the Paris-based company&rsquo;s industrial decisions. 
<img height="203" alt="" src="" width="200" />
Central among issues is Saint-Gobain&rsquo;s uncertainty over its Desjonqu&egrave;res glass business. Saint-Gobain is exploring either a sale or a spin-off of this business. 
 
The workers&rsquo; representatives in France, which called for the 11 May action, say the company has made strategic choices that have adversely affected employment. They cite the acquisition of British Plasterboard as one example of a non-strategic business decision. 
 
Trade union representatives from France met with Spanish and Portuguese glass-union leaders in Lisbon on 17 April to plan next week&rsquo;s action. 
 
The one-hour strike this coming Friday is just another in a series of escalating protests to Paris managers of Saint-Gobain. In February, the four unions already brought hundreds of workers from four factories to a manifestation outside the company&rsquo;s headquarters at La D&eacute;fense near Paris. 
<img height="263" alt="" src="" width="350" />
Saint-Gobain workers demonstrating early 2007
Saint-Gobain faces labour turmoil in other sectors in France as well. On 6 March, 100 workers took strike action at an abrasives factory in Nazelles-N&eacute;gron. The CGT called that strike over stalled wage negotiations. Another recent strike at a Saint-Gobain plant in Ch&acirc;teaubernard tells the level of discontent inside the company. A spontaneous monetary collection by workers at another operation netted &euro;7,788 for the Ch&acirc;teaubernard strikers.

French Workers to Strike Saint-Gobain 11 May in Three Countries

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More than 300 rubber workers mobilised to direct action recently in Callao, Argentina, seeking a negotiated settlement already agreed to with major rubber companies. The workers marched to the office of the Work Ministry behind the banner of ICEM affiliate Sindicato Unico Trabajores del Neum&aacute;tico Argentina (SUTNA), demanding the negotiated package that is already in place at the major tyre producers, Bridgestone, Pirelli, and FATE. 
 
The labour dispute is currently before a government conciliation process. 
<img height="93" alt="" src="" width="200" />
Earlier this year, SUTNA won 38% wage increases for 4,000 workers at the major firms. SUTNA Gen. Sec. Pedro Wasiejko also has pledged that, in this round of national rubber bargaining, no worker would earn less than 2,741 pesos (&euro; 600) per month. 
 
The 300 rubber workers in Callao have placed this minimum monthly salary demand as a priority. They also seek the pay packages earned at the tyre factories. 
 
Wasiejko said that across the entire Argentine rubber sector, labour costs are but a small fraction of total production costs. According to the Argentine labour leader, rubber companies can afford the pay raises. Such labour cost increases will not affect the customer or the consumer.

Rubber Workers Take Action in Argentina to Achieve Pattern Agreement

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As an election nears for workers at the Firestone Rubber Plantation in Harbel, Liberia, violence broke out during a three-day strike. Riot police stormed a picket line on 27 April, clubbing and tear gassing strikers. Some two-dozen workers were hospitalised, at least two seriously. 
 
The police violence came one month before some 6,000 agriculture workers will vote on their choice of union representative. An insurgent union, called the Firestone Agriculture Workers Union (FAWU), has strong support among workers tapping rubber at this million-acre rubber plantation owned by Bridgestone Corporation of Japan. 
 
The FAWU succeeded on 9 April in getting Liberia&rsquo;s Labor Ministry to conduct the election against the General Agriculture and Allied Workers&rsquo; Union (GAAWUL), the recognised union that FAWU activists accuse of malfeasance and providing little or no representation. 
<img height="115" alt="" src="" width="250" />
The police force, which included electric shocks from batons, occurred after strikers had questioned contract workers who were unloading rubber from trucks. The three-day strike was nearing an end at the time, with Firestone managers and workers nearly in agreement on issues related to the strike. 
 
Government and local officials denied calling out the police, and indications are that Firestone Rubber Plantation managers called for the forceful police raid. NGO and trade unions, who have been monitoring the longstanding trouble surrounding this rubber plantation, videotaped some of this police violence. 
 
While plantation workers count down to a union election, scheduled by the government for the last week of May, Bridgestone is defending itself in a US court against charges of longstanding child labour practices, other slave-like employment practices, and environmental degradation at the Firestone plantation. The Alien Tort Claims Act lawsuit in a US federal courtroom has been brought by the International Labor Rights Fund and 35 plaintiffs, including ICEM affiliate United Steelworkers.

Police Beat Insurgent Unionists at Firestone Rubber Plantation in Liberia

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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

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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

A rank-and-file vote to merge two major British trade unions was approved on 8 March, and the UK will have its biggest union, totalling two million workers, on 1 May. In a mail ballot referendum, union members of Amicus and Transport &amp; General Workers Union (TGWU) in the UK and Ireland voted to merge their unions. 
 
Eighty-six percent of all TGWU members that voted backed the merger, while 70% of Amicus members that voted also gave approval to create the new, yet-to-be named union. The union will now comprise 30% of the UK&rsquo;s Trade Union Congress, and will be the country&rsquo;s dominant trade union in a wide swath of services and industries, ranging from transport and manufacturing &ndash; including print, paper, rubber, chemicals and oil &ndash; to food and farming, as well as banking, public services, and the voluntary sector. 
<img height="62" alt="" src="" width="120" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; <img height="63" alt="" src="" width="113" />
Both unions utilised a full and transparent process which took two years to complete. In the initial stages, the trade union GMB was included in three-way discussions, but that union dropped out due to regional structure differences. 
 
&quot;The new union will be a progressive, organising, fighting-back industrial giant,&rdquo; said TGWU Gen. Sec. Tony Woodley, that is &ldquo;focused above all on winning for our members in the workplace, and taking trade unionism to the millions who need it.&quot; 
 
&quot;The new union will be the greatest campaigning force on behalf of ordinary people that has ever existed,&rdquo; stated Amicus Gen. Sec. Derek Simpson. &ldquo;It is a precursor to the creation of a single global trade union movement capable of challenging the might of multinationals who seek to play workforces and governments off against each other to reduce jobs and hard won pay and conditions.&quot; 
<img height="232" alt="" src="" width="350" />
Tony Woodley and Derek Simpson shaking hands
Woodley and Simpson will serve as Joint General Secretaries of the new union. A sole general secretary will be elected in a membership ballot in 2010. Both expressed a strong commitment to organising, stating that within three years, 10% of the combined union&rsquo;s budget will be aimed at recruitment. 
 
A short list of possible names for the new union has been developed, and those names will be put before the membership in a democratic vote in the near future. 
 
TGWU was formed in 1922 when 14 unions, representing factory workers, dockers, stevedores, lightermen, transport staff, and clerks, merged into one union. Amicus was a more recent merger of trade unions. In 2002, the Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union (AEEU) and Manufacturing, Science, Finance (MSF) merged to create it. In 2004, The Graphical, Paper and Media Union (GPMU) merged into Amicus and the same year, the financial services union UNIFI did the same.

Britain’s Biggest Union Formed with Amicus, TGWU Merger

Global Fund Calls for Round 7 Proposals 
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has issued its Seventh Call for Proposals. The application form and support documentation are available in six languages at <a href="http://www.theglobalfund.org">www.theglobalfund.org</a>. Proposals have to reach the Global Fund by 4 July 2007. 
 
All proposals submitted by the closing date of 4 July 2007 will be reviewed by the Global Fund&rsquo;s Secretariat to ensure that they meet the eligibility criteria. Eligible proposals will then be forwarded to the Technical Review Panel (TRP) for consideration. The TRP will make recommendations to the Global Fund Board, which will make its decisions at its November board meeting. 
 
 
How does the Global Fund work? 
 
The Global Fund, itself a public/private partnership, is a funding mechanism. Since it was registered in January 2002 and up to December 2006, the Global Fund has approved 450 programmes in 136 countries with a total commitment of US$7 billion. 
 
The Global Fund is based in Geneva. It does not have any country representation. The proposal process and the implementation of grants are devolved to the national level. The Global Fund gives the policy framework and issues guidelines on various aspects of its operations. It raises money, spends it and proves it &ndash; the Global Fund is performance based. 
 
All proposals have to go through the Country Coordinating Mechanisms (CCM). The composition of the CCMs is supposed to be representative of all stakeholders in the fight against HIV/AIDS, including civil society, the private sector and organisations of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA). In reality, most CCMs are dominated by the public sector. 
 
 
How can unions get involved? 
The role of the workplace in the fight against HIV/AIDS is recognised. No workplace activities can be efficiently implemented without unions. The role of national unions and their international bodies, the Global Union Federations, is acknowledged by international organisations such as the ILO, the WHO and UNAIDS. 
 
The Global Fund is keen to build public/private partnerships and to implement co-investment projects. Without the involvement of the private sector, universal access to voluntary counselling and testing (VCT), and to anti-retroviral treatment (ART), is not possible or will be further delayed. The private sector is business and trade unions as workers&rsquo; representatives. The ICEM has worked with the Global Fund to establish this principle in public/private co-investment projects. 
 
The manpower capacities of unions are limited. They have to attend to other day-to-day business. Unions are not single-issue NGOs. They have to look for partners and build alliances with companies and NGOs. 
 
Very few CCMs include unionists. While we continue to call for union representation on CCMs, in the short term it is vital that unions work through members of the CCMs who are sympathetic to their cause. It is important that unions find cooperating partners who can develop their project ideas into proposals for the CCM. 
 
The German Organisation for Technical Cooperation (GTZ) operates the BACKUP Initiative (Building Alliances &ndash; Creating Knowledge &ndash; Updating Partners), which provides support. GTZ is represented in more than 130 countries. 
A lot of USAID offices have HIV/AIDS Coordinators and certain embassies, notably the Nordic countries, the Netherlands, the UK and the European Union may be able to give assistance. Global Unions and the WHO have agreed to use the potential of unions in up-scaling and accelerating access to VCT and ART. The ILO and its workplace programme, ILOAIDS, has focal points on HIV/AIDS in a number of offices. 
 
Grants are allocated to a Principal Recipient in a country &ndash; in the majority of cases to a ministry. For a more efficient implementation sub-recipients may be nominated, and it is here where specific workplace programmes can receive funding. 
 
 
What are your next steps? 
 
&bull; Put down your ideas about a workplace programme on one page and prepare a draft budget. 
 
&bull; Get to know the members of your country&rsquo;s CCM and lobby those potentially sympathetic to union causes for the inclusion of workplace programmes in Round 6 proposals. Country-specific information is accessible at <a href="http://www.theglobalfund.org">www.theglobalfund.org</a>. 
 
&bull; Contact GTZ, USAID, the ILO, UNAIDS and WHO offices. 
 
&bull; Build alliances with companies; remind them of their social responsibility. 
 
&bull; Cooperate with NGOs and organisations of PLWHA. 
 
&bull; Access the website <a href="http://www.aidspan.org/guides">www.aidspan.org/guides</a> on which a guide to Round 7 applications is available. 
 
 
How can the ICEM help? 
 
The ICEM&rsquo;s Global Coordinator has good working relations with all the organisations mentioned. He can help you with contacts and links to materials. Send your ideas about a workplace programme and inquiries to <a href="mailto:hiv.aids@icem.org">hiv.aids@icem.org</a>. The ICEM has Global Framework Agreements with a dozen multinational companies which should be engaged in the fight against the pandemic.
 
Above all 
 
&bull; Start today if you want to do something. 
 
&bull; Remember that the private sector includes business and unions as the workers&rsquo; representatives. 
 
&bull; Remember that you have allies who can be mobilized and who can give assistance. 
 
&bull; Write to the ICEM Global HIV/AIDS Coordinator at <a href="mailto:hiv.aids@icem.org">hiv.aids@icem.org</a> for further information and help.

ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin - Special Issue

+ First Ever Strike in a Free Trade Zone in Turkey 
+ Strike Started on 26 September 2006 
+ 98% of 300 Strikers are Women 
+ Petrol-Is successfully organised workers in March 2005 
+ Women subjected to constant insults by managers; they were forced to apply to management if they wished to marry; they were forbidden to talk to one another on the job; and were subjected to breath tests following 2 daily breaks of 15 and 25 minutes for smoking 
+ Management began collective bargaining with Petrol-Is in April 2006 with no intention of arriving at collective agreement 
+ Management threatened to move the plant out of Turkey if workers did not reject the union 
+ Management has retained 50-60 scabs during the strike, a violation of Turkish law

Fact Sheet on Strike at Novamed GmbH (Fresenius Medical Care) in Turkey

AGREEMENT ON TRANSNATIONAL INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS AND CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY 
 
on the day of November 29, 2002 in Rome, between 
 
Eni SpA 
 
and 
 
FILCEA-Cgil, FEMCA-Cisl, UILCEM-Uil, ICEM 

the following points were agreed on: 
 
1. Introduction 
 
The growing internationalisation of the Eni Group calls for the development of a transnational outlook by the parties involved in this process. 
 
With the European Works Council these parties have already firmly established a positive procedure for information exchange and consultation at European level. At extra-European level, the expansion of Eni makes the topic of socially responsible conduct on the part of the company all the more relevant. 
 
With the signing of a Protocol on Industrial Relations in Rome on 22 June 2001, Eni, Filcea, Femca and Uilcem expressed their intention to conform the development of the Group's activities to fundamental ethical principles based on respect for human rights and social rights as contemplated in international conventions. To this end, the parties, in compliance with their signed commitment to seek adequate procedures for information exchange and periodical consultation with regard to the presence and expansion of Eni throughout the world and to develop a dialogue on the social and economic effects of these operations, have agreed to proceed with the formulation of the present agreement. 
 
 
2. Principles 
 
The signatories agree to the importance of supporting a model of corporate growth that combines the creation of value and innovation with attention to human rights and adequate standards of working conditions and safety, as well as quality of life and eco-compatible development. To this end, they have declared their commitment to work towards the cultivation of working practices capable of promoting economic and social progress. 
 
With the present agreement, Eni confirms its commitment to respect fundamental human and social rights in all the Group&rsquo;s activities and to establish new ways of exchanging information on topics pertaining to industrial relations at world level, for the purpose of improving and promoting good labour practices. 
 
Eni and its companies acknowledge the guiding principles of the &ldquo;Universal Declaration of Human Rights&rdquo; of the United Nations and of the fundamental conventions of the ILO, and declare that they intend to take steps to apply these principles within the context of their activities. 
 
 
In particular, they confirm: 
 
- the right of association and negotiation (ILO conventions nos. 87 and 98). All workers are entitled to belong to trade unions of their choice and to benefit from fundamental union rights; 
 
- prohibition of forced labour (ILO conventions nos. 29 and 105). Forced labour is prohibited; whether it be slavery or work performed by inmates; 
 
- prohibition of child labour (Conventions 138 and 182). Child labour is prohibited, especially in its most strenuous forms, and the right of children to complete their development and education must be safeguarded; 
 
- non-discrimination in employment (Conventions 100 and 111). Workers cannot be discriminated against on account of their race, sex, religious creed, political opinions or social origin. Men and women must receive equal salary treatment for work of equal value, and the principles of equal opportunity must be applied; 
 
- non-discrimination against labour representatives (Convention 135). Labour representatives are not to be subjected to any type of discrimination on account of their activities in representing workers; 
 
- continuing efforts to improve conditions of safety and health at the workplace, including the dissemination of the positive results already achieved within the Group. 
 
 
Eni reiterates its commitment to optimise and apply the Group&rsquo;s principles: 
 
&middot; Business ethics 
 
all Eni&rsquo;s activities at home and abroad must be carried out honestly, with integrity and in compliance with existing laws. 
 
&middot; Respect for stakeholders 
 
Eni respects all stakeholders (employees, shareholders, customers, suppliers, communities, business and financial partners, institutions, public organizations, industry associations, trade unions, and others) with whom it deals when carrying out its business activities, in the belief that they represent an important asset for the company. 
 
&middot; Protection of workers and equal opportunities 
 
Eni observes universally accepted labor laws and complies with the &ldquo;core labor standards&rdquo; contemplated in the fundamental conventions of the ILO (International Labor Organization). Therefore the company guarantees freedom of trade union membership and the right to collective bargaining, while it repudiates all forms of forced labor, child labor and discrimination. 
 
Eni also assures equal employment and professional opportunities as well as equal treatment based on merit. 
 
&middot; Enhancement of professional skills 
 
Eni acknowledges and promotes the development of individual employees&rsquo; skills and know-how as well as team work so that individuals can fully express their energy, creativity and potential. 
 
&middot; Respect for diversity 
 
Eni draws inspiration for its business conduct from its respect for the cultures, religions, traditions and ethnic diversity of the communities where it operates and is committed to preserving biological, environmental, social, cultural and economic identities. 
 
&middot; Respect for human rights 
 
Within its sphere of activities, Eni is everywhere committed to supporting the United Nations &ldquo;Universal Declaration of Human Rights&rdquo;. 
 
&middot; Cooperation 
 
Eni actively contributes to the improvement of the quality of life and socio-economic development of the communities where the Group is present. 
 
&middot; Protection of health and safety 
 
Eni guarantees the highest standards of health and safety for its employees and the communities in all the areas of the world where it operates. 
 
&middot; Environmental protection 
 
Eni will pay the utmost attention to the environment and ecosystem affected by its business activities and draws inspiration from the goals contained in international conventions signed by Italy on sustainable development. 
 
 
3. Implementation procedures 
 
3.1. Monitoring and initiatives 
 
To ensure application of the principles and conventions referred to above, Eni undertakes to carry out adequate monitoring activities by means of its own control instruments. In the course of the annual meeting, as indicated under point 3.5, appropriate procedures may be agreed on for the involvement of local trade unions or &ndash; where these do not exist &ndash; of representatives designated by the trade unions signing the present agreement. 
 
When information is received of situations that are out of line with or violate the agreement reached, the parties shall notify each other of the fact in timely fashion. Once the nature of the situation has been determined, Eni shall act to eliminate any anomalies, and inform the union organisations of the initiative. 
 
With regard to activities assigned to contractors, Eni shall formulate suitable guarantees against possible violations within the framework of existing contractual relations. 
 
3.2. Affirmative action 
 
The parties may agree to carry out programs of affirmative action geared towards promoting fundamental human and social rights, together with good work practices; these programs may consist of activities involving information, training and research. 
 
3.3. Information 
 
Eni and the signatory union organisations undertake to propagate the present agreement, by publicising its existence and contents. 
 
3.4. Industrial relations 
 
Within the context of the principles referred to above, the parties acknowledge the importance of developing industrial relations at all levels that take into account the different socio-economic contexts in which the group operates. 
 
In light of the above, Eni and the companies of the Group undertake, within the scope of their responsibilities, to establish a constructive relationship with union organisations and workers&rsquo; representatives appointed on a democratic basis and recognised by international trade unions. 
 
3.5. Annual meeting 
 
In May of each year &ndash; with the purpose of promoting a system of information, consultation and dialogue with the signatory trade unions &ndash; a meeting shall be held involving the national secretariats of the FILCEA, FEMCA and UILCEM, as well as the general secretariat of the ICEM and Eni, with representatives of the competent departments for topics of their concern. 
 
In the course of this meeting, complete information shall be provided on: 
 
&middot; economic-financial topics regarding the ongoing development of Eni at world level; 
 
&middot; current performance and future prospects of the main operating activities, focusing on the most significant geographical areas and the related figures concerning employment; 
 
&middot; ongoing development of the group&rsquo;s industrial relations in the different countries and areas where it operates, with particular attention to potentially critical situations, including the provisions agreed to under point 3.1.; 
 
&middot; the undertaking by Eni of actions and programs of Corporate Social Responsibility, as well as initiatives involving health and safety at the workplace. 
 
 
4. Final provisions 
 
4.1. Practices of industrial relations at local and enterprise levels 
 
The agreement does not replace or represent an obstacle to local practices, with the parties recognising the principle according to which problems that arise between workers and their companies must be resolved at the level closest to the workplace. 
 
4.2. Organisation 
 
Eni undertakes to sustain, within the bounds of normality, the costs for the organisation of the annual meetings contemplated under point 3.5. 
 
4.3. Distribution of information 
 
With the purpose of distributing and exploiting to the fullest possible extent the contents of the agreement, existing communications tools may be utilised, including information networks. 
 
4.4. Duration of the agreement 
 
The present agreement is considered valid for two years, at the end of which it shall be revised and/or confirmed for a similar period. The parties may agree in advance to the modifications or additions to be made to its contents. 
 
4.5. Management 
 
The management of the present agreement is the responsibility of the general secretariats of the FILCEA, FEMCA and UILCEM, as well as the general secretariat of the ICEM and the Eni Personnel Department. 
 
 
 
Eni SpA 
Renato Roffi 
Filcea-Cgil 
Attilio Arseni 
Femca-Cisl 
Sergio Gigli 
 
Uilcem-Uil 
Romano Bellissima 
 
ICEM 
Fred Higgs

Text of the Global Agreement between ICEM and Eni

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