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Brazil's legislators yesterday voted unanimously to grant an amnesty to oil unions facing massive fines. The amnesty still has to be approved by the Brazilian President, Fernando Henrique Cardoso. 
 
Fines imposed on the oil unions for holding a legal strike three years ago now total more than 60 million US dollars. At the time, Brazil's Higher Labour Court ruled that the unions bore legal responsibility for a fuel shortage resulting from the strike. This decision led to the sequestration of oil union assets and the freezing of union bank accounts. 
 
 
<img height="245" src="" width="372" alt="" />
Brazil's oilworkers: 
Fined 60 million dollars for a legal strike. 
(Photo: ICEM) 

The local unions involved are members of the Brazilian oil workers' federation FUP, which in turn is part of the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM). The ICEM has been pressing the Brazilian government to overturn the &quot;scandalous&quot; verdict, and the UN's International Labour Organisation (ILO) has repeatedly ruled that the fines violate international standards on collective bargaining and the right to strike 
 
In fact, this is not the first time the Brazilian parliament has voted to waive the fines and unfreeze the oil unions' accounts. But to general consternation, the parliament's previous attempts to bring in an amnesty were vetoed by the President. 
 
Now, though, the prospects are brighter, according to the FUP's Carlos Spis. He says the amnesty legislation has been more tightly drawn this time, so that it would apply purely to the oil sector, and he is optimistic that President Henrique Cardoso will sign it into law. The measure is due to go to the President next week, after which he has fifteen days to consider it.

Brazil: Fines Amnesty For Oil Unions?

&quot;We want this country to have full democracy. And we're going to democratise the Nigerian labour movement. I can assure you that Nigeria's trade unions will soon be back on their feet and ready to defend the workers and the masses of Nigeria.&quot; 
 
That was the message from Nigerian oilworkers' leader Frank Kokori this afternoon when ICEM UPDATE reached him by phone at his home in Lagos. Kokori, who is General Secretary of the Nigerian oil and gas workers' union NUPENG, has just been released from jail after almost four years of detention without trial. 
 
&quot;I can tell you, this house is full to bursting,&quot; Kokori said. &quot;There's jubilation. Workers, human rights activists, church people, market women - they're all here and we're all very happy. The Nigerian people are now ready for full democracy. Never again will dictators take us for a ride.&quot; 
 
Kokori's union is affiliated to the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM), which led a worldwide trade union campaign for his release and for that of Milton Dabibi, General Secretary of ICEM-affiliated Nigerian oil and gas workers' union PENGASSAN. Kokori and Dabibi were among the first nine Nigerian detainees to be released this week. About a hundred political prisoners are still being held in Nigerian jails. 
 
&quot;I am very much aware of the action taken by the ICEM and your affiliated unions worldwide,&quot; Kokori said. &quot;This is an outstanding example of trade union solidarity and of struggle by workers all over the world. I send my sincere thanks to you all. Without you, I wouldn't be here today.&quot; 
 
He also thanked Amnesty International for their &quot;wonderful job&quot; in the campaign for his release. 
 
Asked about his health, Kokori said, &quot;I'm going to need medical check-ups. The situation was very bad during my incarceration and I'm very happy to be out of there.&quot; 
 
But he was more interested in the future: &quot;This country isn't out of the woods yet. There are still struggles ahead.&quot;

Frank Speaking: Nigeria&#039;s Unions Will Democratise, Kokori Says

Detained Nigerian oilworkers' leaders Milton Dabibi and Frank Kokori have now been released from prison, a Nigerian union officer told the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM) this morning. Their unions are making arrangements to bring Dabibi and Kokori home from their places of detention. 
 
Nigerian Head of State Major-General Abdulsalam Abubakar announced the decision to free Kokori, Dabibi and a number of other detainees last night. Frank Kokori, General Secretary of oil and gas workers' union NUPENG, has been detained without charge or trial since 1994, and Milton Dabibi, General Secretary of oil and gas workers' union PENGASSAN, since January 1996. 
 
Both unions are affiliated to the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM), which has been leading an international trade union campaign for Dabibi's and Kokori's release. Other organisations campaigning on their behalf include Amnesty International. 
 
When Major-General Abubakar was sworn in as Nigeria's new Head of State last week, the ICEM, its affiliated unions worldwide and other union internationals immediately asked him to order Kokori's and Dabibi's release. 
 
&quot;We are delighted that these two courageous trade union leaders have been freed from their long and unjust imprisonment,&quot; said ICEM General Secretary Vic Thorpe this morning. &quot;This is a great step towards the restoration of trade union freedom in Nigeria. Our sincere thanks go to all the ICEM affiliates and all the union internationals and national union federations who have campaigned on Milton Dabibi's and Frank Kokori's behalf, to Amnesty International and other human rights organisations and to the governments and oil companies who helped to lobby for the two Nigerian union leaders' release. 
 
&quot;The ICEM congratulates Major-General Abubakar for moving swiftly to undo the gross injustice done by his predecessor,&quot; Thorpe stated. &quot;We ask him now to take the next logical step by ending all government intervention in the affairs of PENGASSAN and NUPENG, withdrawing the government-imposed 'sole administrators' from the unions' offices, handing back to the elected officers of NUPENG and PENGASSAN the responsibility for running their unions, lifting the ban on the check-off of union dues, unfreezing the unions' bank accounts, ordering the reinstatement of any oil workers dismissed for their part in the Nigerian oil strike of 1994 and rescinding all decrees that restrict Nigerian unions' right to affiliate freely at the international level. 
 
&quot;This is a great triumph for international labour solidarity,&quot; Thorpe said. &quot;We must now move forward and help our Nigerian brothers and sisters to regain what is theirs of right - independent, effective trade unions that can defend their interests within a democratic Nigeria.&quot;

Nigerian Oilworkers&#039; Leaders Released

Detained Nigerian oilworkers' leaders Milton Dabibi and Frank Kokori are to be released immediately, news reports say. 
 
Nigerian Head of State Major-General Abdusalam Abubakar reportedly announced the decision to free them and a number of other detainees within the past hour. 
 
It is not known if the two union leaders have already left prison, or whether any conditions are attached to their release. 
 
Frank Kokori, General Secretary of oil and gas workers' union NUPENG, has been detained without charge or trial since 1994, and Milton Dabibi, General Secretary of oil and gas workers' union PENGASSAN, since January 1996. 
 
Both unions are affiliated to the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM), which has been leading an international trade union campaign for Dabibi's and Kokori's release. Other organisations campaigning on their behalf include Amnesty International, which has recognised both men as prisoners of conscience. 
 
&quot;On the face of it, this is excellent news,&quot; commented ICEM General Secretary Vic Thorpe this evening. &quot;We are now waiting impatiently to hear that Milton Dabibi and Frank Kokori really have been released, that they are in reasonable health and that they are free to resume their work as the elected leaders of Nigeria's oil and gas workers.&quot; 
 
The ICEM will give further news and comment as soon as more details are known.

Nigerian Oilworkers&#039; Leaders Freed?

U nion leaders representing employees of Goodyear Tire &amp; Rubber Co. in 27 countries joined the negotiating team of the United Steelworkers of America (USWA) here today for the opening of master contract negotiations with the company. 
 
The talks will address contracts covering 20,000 active workers and 22,000 retirees across the United States. The current three-year agreement is set to expire on April 19, 2003 at the Goodyear and Dunlop plants and on July 6, 2003 at the Kelly-Springfield facilities. 
 
The international delegation included rubber workers union officials from Brazil, the United Kingdom, Turkey and Germany. Together with the USWA, they comprise the steering committee of the Goodyear Global Union Network of the 20-million-member International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers&rsquo; Unions (ICEM), a global union federation. The network includes Goodyear unions on six continents and is chaired by USWA International Vice President Andrew V. Palm. 
 
Palm will lead the USWA Goodyear/Kelly-Springfield/Dunlop bargaining team. &ldquo;The security of our members&rsquo; jobs, wages, benefits and retirement earnings are our paramount concern,&rdquo; he stated. &ldquo;We are convinced that Goodyear can return to profitability while also ensuring these basic protections.&rdquo; 
 
&ldquo;We are proud and grateful that the Goodyear unions from around the world are standing by our side,&rdquo; Palm continued. &ldquo;Their presence here at the opening of our contract negotiations demonstrates our unity and resolve to work together across borders for the common benefit of Goodyear workers everywhere in the world.&rdquo; 
 
The USWA local unions involved in the contract negotiations include those from Akron/Green, Ohio; Gadsden, Ala.; Buffalo, N.Y.; St. Mary&rsquo;s, Ohio; Lincoln, Neb.; Topeka, Kan.; Freeport, Ill.; Tyler, Texas; Danville, Va.; Marysville, Ohio; Union City, Tenn.; Sun Prairie, Wis.; Huntsville, Ala.; Fayetteville, N.C. 
 
&ldquo;The trade union movement is developing the capacity to have the same global reach as the multinational corporations for which our members work,&rdquo; said Carlos Antonio da Silva of the Latin American rubber workers union federation FUTINAL from Brazil. &ldquo;What you&rsquo;re seeing here in Cincinnati is global unionism in action.&rdquo; 
 
The other union leaders who were present were Joao Batista Gon&ccedil;alves of FUTINAL from Brazil; Bill Holmes of the U.K. union AMICUS; Karl-Heinz Sch&auml;del, chairman of the Goodyear Dunlop Central Works Council of Germany and member of the Goodyear European Works Council steering committee from the German union IG Bergbau Chemie Energie; Abdullah Karacan, president of the Turkish union Lastik-Is; Kemal &Ouml;zkan of Lastik-Is; and Marc Welters and Kenneth Zinn of the ICEM. 
 
In addition to providing support to the USWA, the international union leaders had an opportunity to discuss matters affecting Goodyear workers around the world with senior company management. 
 
&ldquo;We are pleased to have this opportunity to have a dialogue with Goodyear senior management,&rdquo; said the U.K.&rsquo;s Bill Holmes, &ldquo;and hope to continue the discussion and reach an understanding with the company so that Goodyear workers the world over are treated with the same dignity and respect.&rdquo;

Global Union Network Backs Steelworkers at Goodyear

The Fourth National Congress of the General Federation of Nepalese Trade Unions (GEFONT) set an intentional course of creating new tiers of young leaders as the national center continues its fight to restore democracy in Nepal. Stepping down as secretary general was Bishnu Rimal, a founding member of GEFONT 15 years ago who now becomes vice chairperson for Policy and Planning. Former Treasurer Binod Shrestha became the new secretary general. Binda Pandey, ICEM vice president and past chief of GEFONT&rsquo;s Education Department, is on the vanguard of the youth movement as she was elected one of three deputy secretary generals.

Nepal’s GEFONT National Centre Emphasizes Youth

Strong protests by Brazilian union Sindicato Quimicos Unificasos (SQU) against Unilever&rsquo;s plan to make redundant 150 workers at a factory in Vinhedo, Sao Paulo State, have proven successful with management and union leaders engaged in dialogue to find other opportunities within the factory for the 150. Unilever has announced it would build another factory in Ipojuca, Pernambuco State, to manufacture toothpaste.

Brazilian Protests Against Unilever Preserve Jobs

The European Works Council of French firm Saint-Gobain strongly condemned the company&rsquo;s anti-union behaviour in the US state of Massachusetts. Meeting in Paris 12 May, the Saint-Gobain Convention for European Social Dialogue stated, &ldquo;The attitude of Saint-Gobain Norton USA management is in total disaccord with the Charter adopted and encouraged by Group management &hellip; This Charter is not a &lsquo;variable geometry&rsquo; document. It must apply everywhere, in every country and in every situation.&rdquo; US managers are engaged in surface bargaining for an initial collective agreement being negotiated by affiliate United Auto Workers for 800 workers. The UAW organized the Worcester, Massachusetts, plant in August 2001 but after 120 bargaining meetings, workers are no closer to a first contract than when bargaining commenced in 2002. Employee representatives on the EWC, in concert with French affiliates FCECFDT and CGT FO, expressed their continued solidarity with American workers as part of the statement.

EWC of Saint-Gobain Condemns Firm’s US Union-Busting

Eight hundred South African employees of global tyremaker Continental went on strike today in support of American colleagues currently embroiled in a long-running dispute with Conti's US subsidiary. 
 
The South African warning strike at Conti's General Tyre plant in Port Elizabeth today lasted for almost two hours. It was held in solidarity with rubber workers currently on strike at Continental's General Tire plant in Charlotte, North Carolina, in the United States. 
 
The South African workers downed tools this morning and, joined by an additional 150 union shop stewards, marched to the office of Continental's South African chief executive officer. There, they delivered a letter demanding that the company settle the strike in North Carolina. The CEO immediately agreed to forward the South African union's demands to Continental's parent company headquarters in Hanover, Germany. 
 
The South African rubber workers are members of the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA), and the American rubber workers are members of the United Steelworkers of America (USWA). Both unions are affiliated globally with the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM). 
 
&quot;The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa in General Tyre, South Africa, Port Elizabeth, is disgusted by the attitude shown by Continental General Tyre in Charlotte, United States of America, in failing to resolve and negotiate in good faith a protected industrial action led by members of the United Steelworkers of America,&quot; stated the union's memorandum of demands. &quot;We are utterly disgusted that the local management in General Tyre South Africa has refused to intervene to bring sense and reason to their counterparts in Continental Tyre, Charlotte, in the United States of America ... We demand that you use your influence and impress upon management in Charlotte to negotiate in good faith with our fellow comrades represented by the United Steelworkers of America.&quot; 
 
&quot;NUMSA is angry with Continental for refusing to acceed to the workers' demands in Charlotte,&quot; added Dumisa Ntuli, NUMSA spokesman. &quot;The company's refusal to negotiate a fair collective bargaining agreement with the USWA is an international disgrace for the company. NUMSA cannot accept a situation where the company is making huge profits and wants workers to accept substandard wages and working conditions. It was clear today that the workers at Continental's Gentyre in South Africa demonstrated their anger at the company and in support of our fellow workers in the USA.&quot; 
 
Continental's Charlotte plant in the USA is the site of a strike, begun on September 20, 1998, by 1,450 members of USWA Local 850 over the company's unfair labour practices. German-based Continental, which has already been indicted by the U.S. National Labor Relations Board on five counts of violating US federal labour laws, contends it has hired 800 &quot;permanent replacement&quot; workers at the Charlotte facility. 
 
Today's South African action is &quot;a tremendous demonstration of global labour solidarity for the Charlotte strikers,&quot; said ICEM General Secretary Vic Thorpe. &quot;The South African tyre workers understand that Continental's abuse of American workers is also an insult to them, and they have acted accordingly. It's time that Continental's management in Hanover got the message that this dispute is going to continue to grow until a just settlement is negotiated in North Carolina.&quot; 
 
&quot;We are extremely grateful for this act of solidarity by our South African brothers and sisters,&quot; added George Becker, USWA President and chairman of the ICEM&rsquo;s global rubber section. &quot;They have given new meaning to the old union adage that 'an injury to one is an injury to all.'&quot; 
 
The South African protest is part of a global week of action against Continental, begun on June 21, which is being coordinated by the ICEM. 
 
Other activities this week include protests at Ford Motor Co. dealerships in 61 US cities. Ford fits General tyres as original equipment on several of its models in the US. Also scheduled are protests at German consulates in several US cities. 
 
Protests have also been lodged in Belgium by ICEM affiliate the Centrale G&eacute;n&eacute;rale/Algemene Centrale, the union representing Continental's Belgian workers, and in France by ICEM affiliate the FCE-CFDT. 
 
A demonstration will be held tomorrow at the German consulate in Sydney, Australia. This demo is organised by the Australian Council of Trade Unions and ICEM Australian affiliate the Construction, Forestry, Mining &amp; Energy Union (CFMEU). 
 
The ICEM and the USWA also recently filed a complaint with the UN's International Labour Organisation (ILO) concerning Continental's violations of basic worker rights in Charlotte. 
 
Continental acquired a 60% interest in Gentyre on July 1, 1998. The company, now called Continental Tyre South Africa (Pty) Ltd., produces about 10,000 tyres a day for car manufacturers in South Africa and for the export market.

Conti Tyre Global Campaign: South Africans Strike In Support Of Americans

Shareholders' investment in tyre multinational Continental &quot;is now being put at risk because of the irresponsible handling of labour relations in the United States.&quot; 
 
That was the disturbing message to shareholders attending Conti's annual meeting in Hanover, Germany, yesterday. 
 
Making the point was US tyreworkers' leader John Sellers. He was supporting a shareholder counterproposal to withhold indemnification of Continental's board until the company falls into line with the worldwide basic labour standards set by the UN's International Labour Organisation (ILO) - &quot;including the right to form unions, collectively bargain and strike.&quot; The counterproposal would also have required Continental to renounce the use of strikebreakers. 
 
Sellers is Executive Vice-President of the Rubber and Plastics Conference of the American tyreworkers' union, the USWA. 
 
Behind his robust remarks in Hanover yesterday is a long-running industrial dispute between US tyreworkers and Continental's American subsidiary, General Tire. 
 
The core issue is that General Tire is refusing to pay workers at its Charlotte plant the going rate among leading employers of US tyre workers, even though the plant is now profitable. The American workers accuse Conti of failing to bargain in good faith and of trying to break the Charlotte local of the USWA. After provoking a strike, the company drafted in &quot;permanent replacement&quot; workers last September, thus effectively locking out and dismissing the strikers. 
 
In 1995, after Continental bought General Tire, the workers bailed out the Charlotte plant by &quot;giving back&quot; about 90 million US dollars in pay and benefits cuts. Charlotte is now showing a healthy profit, but the company is still refusing to bring its pay and conditions up to standard. 
 
As Sellers told the shareholders in Hanover, Continental now faces potentially massive costs for violations of US law. The USWA had experience of winning such &quot;wars&quot; which &quot;inevitably end up costing renegade employers millions of dollars.&quot; And to fight the union's &quot;massive evidence&quot; of violations by the company, Sellers said, Conti also faces &quot;additional costs - estimated to be over ten million dollars - for legal fees.&quot; 
 
Also speaking in Hanover yesterday were Earl Probst, President of the USWA local at Charlotte, and the union's corporate campaigner Jerry Fernandez. They were accompanied by General Tire workers Mark Cieslikowski and Charles Hill. 
 
The shareholder counterproposal was voted down - but with enough votes in favour to show that a fair number of investors had sided with the American trade unionists. 
 
Sellers also took the opportunity to warn that Continental will &quot;soon be the subject of demonstrations and solidarity actions in all parts of the world.&quot; 
 
At the global level, the USWA is affiliated to the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM), which has launched a strong worldwide campaign in support of the Charlotte workers. 
 
In Brussels today, Sellers told the ICEM Executive Committee about the latest developments in the dispute. He also thanked the ICEM and its affiliated unions for their support - in particular, the German union IG BCE for its assistance in getting the American workers' voice heard at the Hanover meeting..

Your Investment Is At Risk, Continental Tyre Shareholders Told

Archive

Brazil: Fines Amnesty For Oil Unions?

Frank Speaking: Nigeria's Unions Will Democratise, Kokori Says

Nigerian Oilworkers' Leaders Released

Nigerian Oilworkers' Leaders Freed?

Global Union Network Backs Steelworkers at Goodyear

Nepal’s GEFONT National Centre Emphasizes Youth

Brazilian Protests Against Unilever Preserve Jobs

EWC of Saint-Gobain Condemns Firm’s US Union-Busting

Conti Tyre Global Campaign: South Africans Strike In Support Of Americans

Your Investment Is At Risk, Continental Tyre Shareholders Told

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