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<img height="40" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief 1.gif" width="100"/>
In a meeting with French building materials company Imerys last week, British trade union Transport & General Workers’ Union (TGWU) asked the company to reconsider its plans to cut 800 jobs by the beginning of 2008 in Cornwall, Devon, and Lee Moor in the country’s South West. 
 
TGWU said the job cuts, which would bring economic devastation to the region, are “totally unjustified” and said the company must give serious consideration to counter proposals put forward at the 15 August meeting. 
<img height="55" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/UKTGWU.gif" width="100"/>      <img height="62" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/UKAmicus.jpg" width="120"/>
“The company is in a strong position to have a bright future in Cornwall, and everything should be done to persuade them to stay,” said TGWU National Secretary Jennie Formby. “(Imerys has) a hardworking, long-serving workforce who deserve better than being dismissed with massive job cuts and a redundancy offer that will in no way compensate for their lost employment.” 
 
Added Malcolm Mellow, TGWU Convenor at Imerys in the South West: “Members have been rocked by the news that they will lose their jobs after devoting years of loyal service to Imerys. The workforce and their families deserve better.” 
 
Imerys cut some jobs in the region in 2004, but promised then that the remaining 800 jobs would be secure. That pledge was breached early in July 2006 when a proposed restructuring plan surfaced saying the vast majority of jobs in kaolin mining and processing at former English China Clay operations would be lost, and the work transferred to Brazil. Imerys bought English China Clay in 1999. 
 
The ICEM is working with affiliate TGWU, as well as with UK affiliated trade union Amicus, which represents a smaller number of Imerys workers in the South West, to preserve the jobs and the region’s economic viability.

UK’s TGWU Meets with Imerys to Dissuade Job Cuts

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Nigeria’s two oil and gas workers’ unions, ICEM affiliates NUPENG and PENGASSAN, condemned the country’s privatisation of Eleme Petro Chemical Ltd. to a Thailand-based investment concern. At a joint news conference in Lagos on 10 August, the two unions called the sale of an olefins refinery at Port Harcourt to Indorama Petrochem Co. Ltd. lacking in transparency. 
 
NUPENG and PENGASSAN made documents available proving that Nigeria’s privatisation arm, the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), had undersold the state’s 75% stake in the polyethylene and polypropylene refinery and that Indorama could not secure adequate financing for the privatisation deal. The unions said BPE gave the plant to Indorama after it paid only 30% of the US$250 million selling price. Also, the government still holds a US$300 million liability on the plant. 
<img height="109" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/NigeriaNupeng.gif" width="105"/>        <img height="105" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/NigeriaPengassan.JPG" width="100"/>
The unions charged that Indorama has no proven track record in petrochemicals. Indorama, based in Bangkok, is a three-year old company that is owned by Indorama International Finance Co. Ltd. of the UK. 
 
The two oil workers’ unions, cooperating effectively under the aegis of NUPENGASSAN again, “condemns in its entirety, the whole transaction, as this action is capable of jeopardizing the future of our members and is not in the interests of Nigerians and the economy.” The statement added that state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. had “the technical know-how and competence to run and manage” the petrochemical operations.

NUPENG, PENGASSAN in Nigeria Condemn Petrochemicals Privatisation

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Trade union members of SIPTU, ICEM Irish affiliate Services, Industrial, Professional & Technical Union, began industrial action at a Smurfit Kappa paper converting plant in Togher, Cork, a week ago. The 130 paperworkers staged a one-day work stoppage on 14 August in protest to management’s refusal to introduce a non-contributory sick pay scheme. 
 
Further strikes were scheduled for today, and again next Monday, if the issue is not resolved. 
<img height="50" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/IrelandFlag.gif" width="100" alt=""/>
Workers took industrial action after rejecting a recommendation from a Labour Court that would double the contribution they make toward sick leave and impose a sliding scale of payments down to just €100 a week for workers with long-term sicknesses. On average, under the court recommendation that is favoured by Smurfit Kappa, workers on sick leave would receive only a weekly payment of €127, half of which they would contribute themselves. 
 
A SIPTU representative said workers at the corrugated box plant have been fighting for a proper sick pay scheme for years. “As far as we are concerned, the Smurfit plant can well afford a non-contributory sick pay scheme,” stated Bill Mulcahy of SIPTU’s Cork No. 7 Branch. “The local plant is doing well – making profits of around €2 million last year – and the Smurfit Group as a whole has turnover in the billions.” Paperworkers at the Togher plant are also conducting a work-to-rule campaign, which includes a refusal to perform overtime work.

SIPTU Paperworkers in Ireland Take Action Against Smurfit Kappa

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It was two years ago when bitter mining fights broke out between ICEM affiliate Botswana Mine Workers’ Union (BMWU) and the managements of two companies. The prolonged fights spilled into courtrooms, led to splits in the BMWU, and were stained by overt interference by mining companies Debswana and Bamangwato Concession Ltd. (BCL) in branch and national union affairs. 
 
Perhaps worst of all, Debswana, a rich diamond operation shared between DeBeers and the government of Botswana, displayed despicable social behaviour by ruthlessly retaliating against some 450 strikers and their families. History will tell how a set of labour disputes led to internal trade union discord. However, it will also tell how profiteering by one of the companies – Debswana – created a climate during which the company took savage and unconscionable actions. 
<img height="100" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/ICEMDiamant.JPG" width="100"/>
Debswana sacked the professional staff for striking, and then inflicted harsh retaliatory measures on them throughout lengthy court battles. Debswana forcefully evicted workers from company housing and closed educational opportunities to children of the workers. Both Debswana and BCL, a copper, nickel and cobalt mining concern based in Botswana, interceded into internal BMWU affairs by pitting branch leaders against the national leadership. The interference was obvious and flagrant. 
 
At BCL in August 2004, BMWU Selebi-Phikwe branch leaders were negotiating salaries with the company. After a 7% increase was offered and BCL miners were about to approve it, the company suddenly rescinded the increase and fired the branch leaders. BCL charged the union leaders with being in possession of internal financial data, information commonly shared in most collective bargaining relationships. 
 
That dispute, like the one at Debswana, still lingers. In early August 2006, some workers at BCL downed tools because aspects of the 2004 pay increase still has not been realised. In Botswana, mining investment continues at an unabated pace, making the country an African leader in resource output and production. 
 
A commemoration of both struggles was held over the weekend of 26-27 August in the mining areas of Orapa, Letlhakane, and Jwaneng. Sponsored by the BMWU, the programmes included demonstrations, speeches, and general reconciliation, as well as recognition that trade union unity brings strength to the working masses. Standing together with BMWU were the Botswana Federation of Trade Unions (BFTU), ICEM-affiliated Power Corporation Workers’ Union (BPCWU), the Manual Workers’ Union, and several white-collar workers’ unions. 
 
Speakers included ICEM President Senzeni Zokwana, President of South Africa’s National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), BPCWU Organising Secretary Boitlhetswe Lentswe, BMWU General Secretary Jack Tlhagale, and BMWU National Chairman Chimidzani Chimidza. 
 
Zokwana delivered a message that building strong unions is not easy, but essential in order to gain equal footing with global companies. In encouraging all of Botswana’s unions to stand together, Zokwana said, “The challenge is to link class struggles together, then you become bigger and the voice gets stronger.” 
<img height="148" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Senzeni.jpg" width="120" alt=""/> 
ICEM President Senzeni Zokwana
Lentse brought a message of reconciliation and resilience. “Make peace and know that these are the deeds of employers and the government to dive us so they can rule,” he said, according to published newspaper reports in Botswana. “The fight against capital needs very strong unions with informed and militant membership,” said Lentse. He echoed the main theme of the commemoration – justice, dignity, and reinstatement for the 450 Debswana workers, as well as for the branch officers who were also fired by BCL. 
 
Lentse cautioned Botswana’s labour leaders not to align themselves inside the country’s political parties, but rather to join global labour organisations for solidarity and skills development. 
 
Tlhagale reminded all in Botswana, including Debswana’s 7,000 miners, that the 450 health care and other professional staff fired by the company had merely been protesting for a share of the lucrative bonuses given to Debswana’s top managers only months before the August 2004 strike. 
 
He said that the sacked workers are victims of the bad-faith bargaining in wage negotiations by Debswana toward BMWU. “It is unfortunate that government continues to take great interest in investors under the pretext that there is a stable labour market guaranteed by impoverishing docility,” Tlhagale said, reported the Mmegi Reporter.

Companies Apply Divide-and-Conquer Tactics on Botswana’s Mining Union

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The Communications, Energy, Paperworkers (CEP) of Canada, an ICEM affiliate, is seeking immediate intervention from both the province of Ontario and the federal government to protect the jobs of Dow Chemical workers in Sarnia, Ontario. US-based Dow announced last week that it would close factories in Canada and Italy by 2008, eliminating 750 jobs. 
 
The CEP is asking Ontario’s premier to attend a meeting with workers and municipal leaders of Sarnia to explore all options to keep the plant open. The jobs of 340 workers are at stake. Dow has complained that high energy costs have affected earnings. 
<img height="83" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/canadacep.gif" width="100"/>
On the national level, CEP President Brian Payne called for federal level intervention. “Dow Chemical’s announcement is a clear indication of what we have told the government – Canada’s petrochemical industry is suffering because of our mad rush to export raw product from Alberta’s oil patch, thus cutting off needed natural gas and other feed stock to the domestic market,” said Payne. 
 
“This has to stop and we intend to do our utmost to protect our domestic industry and our jobs,” continued Payne. “We need to step back, slow the tar sands development down and create a national strategy which would see value added production and jobs created in Alberta and across Canada.” 
 
In Italy, Dow workers, members of ICEM affiliate FILCEM-CGIL, staged a 24-hour strike on 22 August at Porto Marghere near Venice, as it became apparent that Dow would violate a signed agreement and not re-start the plant after a maintenance shutdown. 
<img height="122" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/ITALYFILCEM.jpg" width="100"/>
The Dow operation in Porto Marghere produces toluene diisocyanate (TDI), a product for making polyurethanes. Closure of the plant could have a ripple effect, possibly leading to the loss of up to 5,000 petrochemical jobs. Managers at other chemical plants in Italy, dependent on TDI from Dow, have expressed their concerns over the immediate Porto Marghere closure. 
 
FILCEM-CGIL has distributed handbills to workers of other petrochemical companies. The union also organised a mass meeting of all workers to tell of Dow’s unwillingness to engage with workers’ representatives. “They know the effects of a definitive closure of the Marghera plant for the Italian chemical industry,” said FILCEM-CGIL’s Franco Baldan. 
 
At Sarnia in Canada, Dow will shut four chemical processing plants. The company’s announcement said production of low-density polystyrene plastic will cease in the coming weeks, while a full shutdown of all polystyrene plastic will occur by the end of this year. Production of latex and derivatives of propylene oxide will cease during 2008. Dow’s announcement also said the company will close two of seven plants in the Canadian city of Fort Saskatchewan, province of Alberta, which manufacture chlorine, caustic soda, and ethylene dichloride.

Canadian, Italian Unions Want Answers to Dow Chemical’s Closures

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At a parliamentary session of South Korea’s National Assembly last week, the government, along with the ruling Uri Party, vowed that approval of the so-called irregular workers’ bill will be a priority. The measure was temporarily stopped in the Assembly by procedural manoeuvres last April by the Democratic Labor Party and the Grand National Party. 
 
The legislation, on the government’s agenda now for two years, would grant all temporary workers permanent status after two years. But the bill is opposed by South Korea’s two labour federations because the necessary safeguards and protections do not exist in the proposed legislation. The bill would create a massive pool of temporary workers for the benefit of businesses. Both the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) and the Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU) say the bill does nothing to defend the basic rights of contract and agency workers and, as it now stands, threatens permanent jobs with a flood of two-year temporary jobs. 
 
The KCTU withdrew from South Korea’s Tripartite Commission over workplace governance issues last April because of the irregular workers’ bill. The federation has since re-joined the official state commission, which has conducted social discussions lately on the legislation. The Tripartite Commission also has on its agenda some 40 other labour reform measures, including a single negotiations vehicle for multi-union workplaces and cutting company salaries to trade union leaders. 
<img height="145" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/CALhorse.jpg" width="102" alt=""/>
The government and Uri Party leaders say they will push ahead with the reform measures even if agreement is not reached in the Tripartite Commission. 
 
Leaders of both KCTU and FKTU met with ILO Director-General Juan Somavia on 26 August in Seoul on the irregular workers’ bill and other contentious labour problems. The federations are seeking ILO support to help resolve the issues fairly. The occasion for the meeting with Somavia was the ILO’s Asian Regional Meeting, which was held last week in Busan, South Korea’s largest port city.

South Korea’s Irregular Workers’ Bill Again Before Parliament

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Time to Deliver – XVI International AIDS Conference 
 
The 16th International AIDS Conference was held in Toronto from 14 to 18 August. Over 20,000 scientists, politicians and activists participated in the event. The labour movement was well represented, highlighting the impact of HIV and AIDS on the workplace and outlining the role of workers in fighting the pandemic. 
 
Prior to the Conference, the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) organised a two-day labour forum with the support of the ILO. The forum convened union representatives from all over the world who expressed their support for intensifying the involvement of trade unionists and unions and to build strong coalitions with civil society organisations. On the occasion of the labour forum the CLC released a new report “Labour Fights AIDS” which demonstrates that unions are at the fore in the global fight against AIDS 
 
Apart from its involvement in satellite meetings, skills-building workshops and other activities, the ILO also set up a workplace action centre for advice and information exchange. The main purpose of the centre was to offer practical help in developing policies and setting up programmes related to the workplace. 
 
The ICEM abstract written for the Conference was accepted for a poster exhibition. The ICEM was also invited to speak on “The importance of social dialogue and workers’ participation in public/private partnerships” at a Satellite Meeting Session with the theme “From the workplace to the community – Co-investment to access prevention, treatment and care in public/private partnerships”. 
 
Several broader trends emerged from the Conference. Although still inadequate, treatment is becoming more available. However, those on antiretrovirals (ARVs) remain infected and require treatment indefinitely. This requires a re-emphasis on prevention. Despite many years of research at huge cost, a vaccine has not yet been found. 
 
Also noted is that prevention techniques away from consent-requiring condom use focus on female protection to empower women to take control. 
 
(Sources: EI Newsletter on EFA and HIV/AIDS, ILO Press Release, CLC Press Release, The Economist, 19 August 2006) 
<img height="28" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Aids%20ribbon.jpg" width="20"/>
2nd Global Fund Partnership Forum 
 
More than 400 participants from 118 countries attended a lively Global Fund Partnership Forum in Durban, South Africa, 1 - 3 July. The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria is the major source of assistance in the worldwide fight against these diseases. 
 
The Global Fund Partnership Forum meets every two years and brings together a broad group of stakeholders. While its purpose is to inform stakeholders about progress and challenges, its major aim is to provide those who do not have a direct voice on the Global Fund Board the opportunity to give their opinions. The Forum was preceded by ten skills-building workshops. 
 
While a wide range of organisations attended, unfortunately labour presence was low with only the ICEM sending a representative. Representation of the business sector was also proportionately low. 
 
A wide range of issues were discussed. The hottest debates were centred on the operations of the Country Coordinating Mechanisms (CCMs). Issues raised included the following: 
<ul>
 <li>Need for the independence of the CCM from any specific stakeholder, including government, and possible creation of an independent secretariat for the CCM. </li>
 <li>Constitutions and by-laws developed by stakeholders should guide the operations of the CCM. These should include mechanisms to improve feedback and support constituency consultations. </li>
 <li>The Chairperson of the CCM and principle recipient of funding from the Global Fund should preferably not be from the same constituency. There should be a conflict of interest policy in place to deal with this situation. </li>
 <li>The chair of the CCM should be rotated among the stakeholders. </li>
 <li>Concerns were also raised about the utilisation of Technical Assistance from other countries and regions which could undermine the ownership and leadership of the national stakeholders. </li>
 <li>The Global Fund should explore the potential for the consolidation and harmonisation of CCMs and National AIDS Commissions in each individual country. </li>
 <li>Problems with Local Fund Agents (LFA) were also identified. </li>
 <li>The current LFA model does not accommodate different situations that countries have. </li>
 <li>The LFAs were often seen as spies rather than partners to assist projects. </li>
 <li>Quality of work of LFAs has not been good across the board and sometime their skills were inadequate for the roles they had to play. </li>
</ul>
Overall assessments of the operations were that often proposals were very ambitious, but work plans were weak; recipients lacked capacity to implement the programmes. There are very different levels of human and technical resources available in countries. CCMs were often weak and delays in procurement and suppliers weakened the projects. Overall, the status of the national health system was an integral factor in the success of the projects. 
 
The operations and dimensions of Global Fund grants are potentially huge in national AIDS initiatives. Currently, the voice of the Labour Movement is not being heard in the CCMs, which determine the application for funds and the way in which the funds are used. More information on the Global Fund is available at <a href="http://www.theglobalfund.org">http://www.theglobalfund.org</a>. Reports from the Partnership Meeting will soon be available at <a href="http://www.theglobalfund.org/en/about/forum/2006">http://www.theglobalfund.org/en/about/forum/2006</a>. 
 
(Source: own report) 
<img height="28" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Aids%20ribbon.jpg" width="20"/>
Global Fund Donors Meet 
 
After the Forum, representatives of more than twenty donor countries met in Durban for a mid-term review of the first replenishment period 2006-7. Governments are the major source of funding and constant replenishment is required to finance the grants approved in the different funding rounds. The Fund has, so far, received sufficient pledges to cover the costs of Phase 2 renewals for Rounds 1 to 5, but is short of funding for the cost of Round 6 for which proposals were submitted by 3 August, and for Round 7, which is anticipated to be launched next year. 
 
(Source: Global Fund Observer Issue 61, 5 July 2006 – GFO is a free service of Aidspan <a href="http://www.aidspan.org">www.aidspan.org</a>) 
<img height="28" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Aids%20ribbon.jpg" width="20"/>
Top Pharma Companies Fail to Address Industry Best Practices on HIV/AIDS 
 
In the spotlight of the 16th International AIDS Conference in Toronto, the Interfaith Centre for Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) released a comprehensive study evaluating the pharmaceutical industry’s efforts in the fight against HIV/AIDS and the neglected diseases that often accompany the virus. 
The ICCR report “Benchmarking AIDS: Evaluating pharmaceutical company responses to the public health crisis in emerging markets” highlights the large disparities between industry best practice and the actions of 15 leading pharmaceutical companies. Two major problems were identified: a failure to develop new medicines that also address neglected diseases and a lack of access for poor patients to the existing medicines. 
(Source: ICCR Press Release, 14 August – <a href="http://www.iccr.org">www.iccr.org</a>)
<img height="28" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Aids%20ribbon.jpg" width="20"/>
G8 HIV/AIDS Renewing its Commitment to Tackle HIV/AIDS 
 
Trade unions welcomed the renewed commitment made by the G8 meeting in St. Petersburg to tackle HIV/AIDS and to create a regular monitoring of its work. This reflects a call made during a year-long campaign by trade unions for Summit leaders to create a reporting framework to ensure progress on fighting the pandemic. 
Fulfilling existing promises is more important than making new ones because the G8 has, so far, failed to review any progress on its own promise, made in 2005 at Gleneagles, for universal access to treatment by 2010. 
 
According to a report published by the World AIDS Campaign (WAC – <a href="http://www.worldaidscampaign.org">www.worldaidscampaign.org</a>) ahead of the Summit, only a fraction of the G8’s commitments on health have been taken up over the past five years by the leading economies of the world. According to WAC, accountability on past promises must top the agenda. 
(Sources: Global Unions Press Release, 19 July 2006 and WAC Press Release, 14 July 2006) 
<img height="28" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Aids%20ribbon.jpg" width="20"/>
Ghana: Business Joins the Fight Against HIV/AIDS 
 
The Ghana Business Coalition against HIV/AIDS was launched in Accra on 25 July. The private sector in Ghana has been slow in responding to HIV/AIDS. 
 
At the launch in Accra, the country’s Vice President, Alhaji Aliu Mahama, stated that the price of doing nothing at workplaces can be significantly higher than the cost of addressing the epidemic and managing it through workplace programmes, education, advocacy and peer counselling. The Business Coalition will serve as a coordinating body for the private sector response to the epidemic. 
 
(Source: Accra Mail, 26 July) 
<img height="28" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Aids%20ribbon.jpg" width="20"/>
News from GUFs: HIV/AIDS Workshops during the ITF Congress 
 
The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) has intensified its commitment to fight the pandemic, especially among transport workers who, due to their working conditions and mobility, are particularly vulnerable to HIV infection. 
 
The ITF’s new HIV/AIDS Coordinator, Dr Asif Altaf, runs the international’s global programme. During the 41st ITF Congress in Durban, two workshops on HIV/AIDS and transport workers were organised. The high attendance and active participation was a good reflection of the commitment and dedication of ITF affiliates to protect transport workers and their families. Without the active involvement of transport workers, and their unions, it is impossible to develop an effective response to the pandemic. 
At the Congress, the documentary “Highway of Hope” was launched. It highlights the seriousness of the HIV/AIDS crisis affecting transport workers on the Northern Corridor – the strategic highway connecting Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa. 
(Source: ITF HIV/AIDS update 4, 15 August) 
<img height="28" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Aids%20ribbon.jpg" width="20"/>
Kenya HIV/AIDS Patients to Get New ARV Drug 
 
Kenya is to receive the first shipment of a new HIV/AIDS drug that could help patients whose treatment with first-line ARVs has failed. Abbott Laboratories manufactures the drug, Kaletra, which is available in the US for USD 9,000 per patient per year. The cost in Kenya will be USD 500, following price concessions by Abbott. 
Unlike other ARVs, Kaletra does not require refrigeration, which means it can easily be transported to remote areas. The international humanitarian organisation Medicins sans Frontières is importing the initial shipment.

ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin - No. 11/12

<img height="40" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief 1.gif" width="100"/> 
Last week’s kidnappings and poor rescue attempt of seven Eni SpA employees by the Nigerian Navy has prompted FEMCA-CISL, ICEM affiliate in Italy, to make a second demand within a month on the Italian energy company concerning its Global Framework Agreement with the ICEM. 
 
This time, FEMCA-CISL contacted senior management of Eni with concerns over how to report on workers’ security to the agreement’s partners. Earlier in November, the union had already voiced, in a letter to Eni’s top managers, its displeasure over a brewing dispute with the two ICEM affiliated oil workers’ unions in Nigeria, PENGASSAN and NUPENG. That dispute, covered in the 13 November issue of InBrief (see: <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/2022-Nigerian-Unions-Close-to-Second-National-Strike" type="internal">/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/2022-Nigerian-Unions-Close-to-Second-National-Strike</a>) relates to Eni providing more security in Nigeria to expatriate workers than to native Nigerians. 
   <img height="73" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/ItalyFEMCACISL.jpg" width="100" align="middle"/>
FEMCA-CISL, along with the ICEM and Italian trade unions FILCEA-CGIL and UILCEM-UIL, is signatory to a Global Framework Agreement with Eni, Europe’s fourth largest oil producer. The agreement has been in effect since June 2001. 
 
On 21 November, armed militants raided Eni’s Saipem subsidiary offshore loading vessel Mystras, located some 30 miles off Rivers State, and captured seven foreign nationals. The next day, Nigerian Navy forces engaged in a fire fight with the militants, killing one worker – the 58-year-old British production superintendent of the vessel – as well as injuring one other employee. Two of the kidnappers also were killed, as well as one Nigerian seaman. 
 
In the message to the Italian management, FEMCA-CISL demanded that the issue of the company’s security in Nigeria be included on the agenda of the very next meeting of partners of the Global Agreement. The union also insists for the agreement’s partners to be timely informed on any security occurrences anywhere in the world. The company should furthermore inform the unions of all initiatives and discussions with local workers’ representatives. 
<img height="104" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/NigeriaNupeng.gif" width="100"/>        <img height="95" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/NigeriaPengassan.JPG" width="90"/>
The demand stems from a health and safety stipulation contained in the Global Agreement. In that, the company commits to deploy its best efforts to improve the safety and health of its workers. In part, it reads, “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.” 
Eni’s Saipem and Agip subsidiaries in Nigeria have been the targets of recent violence in the Niger Delta. On 6 November, gunmen took 48 workers – all indigenous Nigerians – hostage at Agip’s Tebidaba flow station in Bayelsa State over an environmental dispute, reportedly over pollution caused by gas flaring. And earlier, militia took workers hostage at a Clough Creek flow station, also in Bayelsa State. 
 
The violence has caused Eni to declare force majeure in Nigeria, forcing the company to halt export of 60,000 barrels-per-day of crude oil.

Eni’s Global Agreement Called into Play over Nigerian Security Concerns

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Some 1,000 German coal miners will convene in Dresden tomorrow, 28 November, to lobby the Christian Democratic Party to preserve federal coal subsidies. 
 
Miners will handbill the CDU’s Congress with a leaflet entitled “We Fight for Germany’s Energy Future”, aimed at reminding German Chancellor Angela Merkel of promises she made to the preservation of the country’s coal mining industry. 
 
The action is supported by ICEM German affiliate IGBCE. 
 
Some 700 miners will arrive from the Ruhr region and from Ibbenbüren, some 300 others from the province of Saarland. The miners and their union are reacting to motions passed by CDU’s North Rhine-Westphalia and Saarland regional delegations to reduce the current level of coal mining in those areas, as well as proposing to phase-out mining subsidies by the first half of the next decade. 
<img height="62" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/GermanyFlag.gif" width="100" alt=""/>
The miners contend that domestic coal is necessary in a balanced energy mix, and argue that Germany has become too dependent on imports of both coal and natural gas. 
 
The handbilling campaign also seeks to remind Merkel, as well as North Rhine-Westphalia Prime Minister Jürgen Rüttgers and Saarland Prime Minister Peter Müller, of pledges they made that any adjustments in the coal mining industry would be socially acceptable, and occur without closures to existing mining operations.

German Coal Miners Take Protest to CDU Congress on 28 November

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The worst Polish mining tragedy in three decades claimed 23 lives on 21 November, as a methane gas explosion struck deep inside the Halemba mine in Ruda Slaska in Poland’s southern Silesia industrial region. The mine, which had not been operating since March 2006, is owned by the state-run Kampania Weglowa (KW), the EU’s largest mining company. 
 
The miners were some 1,000 metres underground when the methane gas ignited. They were sent into the 50-year-old mine to retrieve equipment, valued by the company at US$23 million. The shafts in which they were working had been closed last spring, due to dangerously high concentrations of gas. 
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Poland’s President, Lech Kaczynski, visited the area and declared a three-day national period of mourning from 23-25 November. All cultural and sports events across the country were cancelled. The government also announced a special fund totalling US$234,700 for family members of the victims. 
 
Some 60 persons, including 23 surviving children, will share the compensation award, expected to amount to about US$10,000 per person. 
 
Poland’s Higher Authority for Mining set up a special commission to investigate the tragedy, with work beginning on 24 November. The KW supervisory board will meet on 11 December to take up the reasons and consequences of the catastrophe. Meanwhile, KW has dismissed general directors at all 17 of its collieries in Poland, and the mines will be managed by technical and administrative personnel.

23 Miners Killed inside Poland’s Halemba Coal Pit

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