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Over the course of the summer, an asbestos scandal hit Japan and has been getting a lot of press attention ever since. According to reports, around 3,000 people die every year from asbestos cancer in Japan and it is feared that these numbers may rise considerably in the coming years. When in 1987, lobbyists began to call for a ban of crocidolite, used, amongst other purposes, in Japanese schools, the government failed to take the necessary action. Similarly in the 1990s, when a move to ban asbestos was blocked after &quot;relentless opposition from within the asbestos industry.&quot;

Asbestos Issue Surfaces in Japan

Following rebel harassment, Unilever Nepal decided on August 17 to close its factory in Basamadi in the Makwanpur district, west of the Nepalese capital Kathmandu. The decision to suspend operations indefinitely was taken after threats by the Maoist insurgents in Nepal to &ldquo;close the factory by force.&rdquo; The events come only one month after another multinational, Colgate-Palmolive, was forced to close its toothpaste factory in the same district. Unilever Nepal is one of the country&rsquo;s largest exporters and has been a target for rebel threats before. Bombs already exploded at the factory on several occasions in previous years. The Nepal Independent Chemical and Iron Employees' Union, an ICEM affiliate, made an appeal to the National Human Rights Commission, as well as to other rights organisations that have been known to mediate with the rebels, asking to demand the guerrillas to withdraw their threat.

Unilever&#039;s Colgate-Palmolive Factory in Nepal Closed

ICEM oil union affiliates in Nigeria will again oppose any domestic price increase in the cost of petrol. State-run Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. (NNPC) and the Petroleum Product Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) said earlier this month it would try to enforce price increases even over the objections of stakeholders involved in the public entities, including trade unions PENGASSAN and NUPENG.PENGASSAN said it would mount strong opposition until measures are in place to cushion effects of high fuel prices across all of Nigerian society. NUPENG has called on all Nigerian workers in the country to oppose the hike unless it comes with commensurate increases in social benefit packages for all workers in both the private and public sectors. NNPC and PPPRA assert that increases are necessary due to rising prices of imported refined products. But the unions contend Nigeria's only solution to high global prices of petroleum are major upgrades to local refining and capacity.

Nigerian Unions Will Agian resist Petrol Price Hikes

An ongoing lockout by an investment house against chemical workers of US affiliate International Brotherhood of Boilermakers (IBB) has reinforced the ruthlessness capital wreaks on US unions when a manufacturing enterprise changes hands. 
In Meredosia, Illinois, chemicals company Celanese owned by equity trader Blackstone Group locked out workers 6 June, four months after buying the emulsions, adhesives and polymers plant. 
<img height="147" src="" width="125" alt="" />
The crime of the 148 workers: refusal to accept steep concessions to their health care plan, opposing the company's plans to lose 41 jobs to contract labour and dissatisfaction with a three-year wage freeze. When workers again voted down the proposed cuts late in June, Celanese responded by harshly proposing 20-40% pay cuts. The ICEM has issued a Circular to all affiliates, and trade unions across the world are encouraged to respond to IBB Local Branch 484.

Harsh Lockout of Boilermakers Union in US

<img alt="" src="" style="width: 100px;height: 39px" width="390" />

	Schlumberger, the world&rsquo;s largest oil services company, has been scrambling to defend actions of local management in Egypt who sacked the entire leadership of a nascent trade union.&nbsp; Pressure has been exerted by the ICEM and its affiliated Norwegian and Canadian unions, IndustriEnergi (IE) and the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union (CEP/SCEP), on senior management to intervene and remedy this unacceptable violation of rights in Egypt.

	Schlumberger employs around 2,500 workers in Egypt, 40% of whom are workers of subcontractors at 10 different worksites.&nbsp;

	In April 2011, the process to establish an independent company-level trade union at Schlumberger Egypt was begun, as part of the Egyptian Federation of Independent Trade Unions (EFITU), the trade union centre established during the final days of the Mubarak regime. In May 2011, signatures and required documents were collected to complete the legal process of establishing the union.

	On 11 May, local management was informed of the new union structure, at which time management responded with threats leading to the dismissal of General Secretary Mohamed Abd Elrahman. On 3 July, the day of the union&rsquo;s general congress, local management dismissed the union&rsquo;s President, Brother Essam. On 5 July, local management summoned union members to the head office and threatened them with dismissal if they did not leave the union. And then on 7 July, local management followed through on an earlier threat and dismissed the union&rsquo;s Assistant General Secretary, Ayman Abd Elmonem.

	&nbsp;<img alt="" src="" style="width: 195px;height: 161px" width="390" />&nbsp;

	ICEM&rsquo;s Jim Catterson with Sacked Union President, Brother Essam, at left

	No reason or dismissal letter was given to Abd Elmonem, he was simply blocked from entering the workplace. On 12 July, another union member was dismissed in similar circumstances, Mr. Hossam Al-deed Mostafa, again no written dismissal notice was produced.

	Under Egyptian law, workers can only be dismissed from their employment following a due legal process and a court ruling. The court procedure cannot even be initiated without justifiably serious reasons. Arbitrary unilateral decisions such as these cannot stand. Four sacked workers have been without income for several months now.

	&ldquo;I write seeking your immediate intervention to remedy shocking violations of labour rights at Schlumberger operations in Egypt. In a vicious attack on workers&rsquo; rights to organise and bargain collectively, Schlumberger employees&rsquo; nascent trade union has been illegally dismantled through the sacking of its leaders,&rdquo; stated ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda in a letter to Schlumberger.

	Register your protest to Schlumberger Chairman Andrew Gould, CEO Paal Kibsgaard, and Egypt Area Manager Amr Essawy by clicking <a href="mailto:gould1@exchange.slb.com; pkibsgaard@exchange.slb.com; AEssawi2@exchange.slb.com">here</a>.

	&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<img alt="" src="" style="width: 80px;height: 107px" width="390" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

	The company has responded to ICEM and IE calls with an investigation into the sackings.&nbsp; ICEM will continue to monitor the situation closely and will mobilise the next phase of the campaign with Schlumberger&rsquo;s clients, the oil and gas multinationals that use Schlumberger&rsquo;s services, if positive action by the company is not taken soon.

	IE of Norway organises Schlumberger employees, and those workers registered their protest with Norwegian national management and local managers over the last ten days. Local Schlumberger union reps in Norway are meeting today with the ICEM.

	Egyptian activists in Paris on 18 February conducted a picket at Schlumberger headquarters and met with the manager of Schlumberger France, who has also now been mobilised to intervene into the case.

Oil Services Giant Schlumberger Pressured over Egyptian Union Busting

WOMEN’S BULLETIN

<img alt="" height="59" src="" width="120" />

	Just over a year after a People&rsquo;s Revolution shook Egypt, a glimmer of legislative light regarding trade union freedoms and formation of independent unions has come to the country. On 8 February, the Draft Law on Trade Union Freedoms was submitted to the People&rsquo;s Assembly, the lower house of Egypt&rsquo;s Parliament.

	After months of promises to leaders of the Egyptian Democratic Labour Congress (EDLC) and the Centre for Trade Union and Worker Services (CTUWS) for such legislation, it was introduced just over two weeks from the time the People&rsquo;s Assembly opened its session following elections.

	If enacted, the law would codify many of the core ILO Labour Conventions that Egypt has ratified over the years, but has failed to implement due to draconian laws and decrees by the Mubarak regime, and more recently the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF). Continuing Revolution Party Parliamentarian Aboul Ezz Al-Hariry is said to be championing the new law, and the EDLC and CTUWS &ndash; as well as the newly formed Independent Union of Workers in Electricity and Energy&mdash;are hopeful some provisions of it can still be strengthened.

	The draft law was prepared by Minister of Labour and Migration Ahmed Hassan El-Borai and had been discussed in eight tri-partite meetings of Egypt&rsquo;s Manpower Committee before it was submitted to SCAF, which was silent on it.

	Now officially in Parliament, it will go before the Committee for Suggestions and Complaints and then to special Committees on Manpower and Legislative in public sessions.

	Foremost, the law would guarantee the right of freedom of association and encourage free and independent trade unions to thrive. It is hoped that other debate in Egypt will also occur on adopting an effective minimum wage policy, giving permanent contracts to temporary employees, and lifting bans and penalties on sit-ins, demonstrations and other forms of freedom of expression.

	&ldquo;A year has gone by since the people of Egypt &ndash; most specifically workers&rsquo; groups &ndash; have stood and demanded their freedoms,&rdquo; said ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda. &ldquo;We are encouraged by the Trade Union Freedoms draft law and fully intend to support an Egyptian labour law that is in full compliance with global labour standards.&rdquo;

ICEM Encouraged by Draft Labour Law in Egypt

&nbsp;

	Meeting in Johannesburg, South Africa, on 9 February, the ICEM&rsquo;s Sub-Saharan African Regional Organisation (SSARO) adopted a moving statement that denounces violence against women in the workplace, most specifically a rape and murder earlier this week inside Anglo American Platinum Ltd.&rsquo;s (Amplats) Khomanani Mine in Rustenburg, North West Province.

	ICEM affiliate National Mine Workers (NUM) of South Africa has given North West police until the end of this week to arrest those responsible for this horrific act of violence. The SSARO statement follows:

	&ldquo;On the morning of 6 February, a 28- year-old female worker was violated and murdered underground at Khomanani Mine, which is owned by Amplats, a wholly owned subsidiary of Anglo American.

	&ldquo;This barbaric and neanderthal act against an innocent young worker is the most glaring case of gender-based discrimination against women and abuse of power. Sexual assault is cruel, inhuman, horrible. A mineworker underground on a daily basis has to deal with death or injury that can come from a rock fall or machines. Having to deal with death and violation against your person sexually and otherwise compounds the insecurity of a human being. A fellow worker who was supposed to act as a fellow human being acted as an animal.

	&ldquo;The National Union of Mineworkers has been fighting to enable women to work in mines. This and similar incidents should not be misconstrued to undo the progress that women have made to achieve equal employment rights.&rdquo;

	He who does not love a woman, who does not respect a woman, despises his own mother having come out of a kind womb of a woman.

	&ldquo;As the ICEM African Executive Committee and the ICEM African Women&#039;s Structure, we strongly condemn this atrocious act of barbarism.

	&ldquo;Mines and all workplaces must be safe environments for women and men. It is up to the employer to ensure that the workplace is safe for all. We will be holding the employer accountable for this tragedy.

	&ldquo;We call for a speedy and thorough investigation into these crimes. We are confident that the perpetrators will be brought to justice, whoever they are. We call on the police to do a thorough investigation as the mine has records of who works what shift. We call on them to use all the forensic technology at their disposal to find out who the perpetrator is. We will be following up on this case and checking that justice is done. We also call for a tough sentence for the perpetrator or perpetrators once found.

	&ldquo;This young woman was only 28 years old and had one child, and her future and dreams were destroyed by a barbaric act of violence by a male counterpart. This is the triple oppression that we need to continue to fight against to attain true liberation for African women.

	&ldquo;We call on comrades to rally around this slogan: Not Another Woman Must Be Reaped, Not Another Woman Must Be Murdered.

	&ldquo;We call upon affiliates and sister organisations of ICEM to post this statement on their websites and to disseminate it widely to the press.&rdquo;

ICEM SSARO Condemns Grisly Rape, Murder of Woman inside Amplats Mine

<img alt="" src="" style="width: 100px;height: 39px" width="390">

	The third phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry&rsquo;s investigation of the Pike River mine explosions of November 2010 that killed 29 concluded in mid-February in Greymouth, New Zealand, and several experts testified to the inherent weak safety mechanisms in place by Pike River Coal Ltd.

	The latest set of hearings also reveal a company that was 18 months behind on orders to deliver &nbsp;premium metallurgical coal, and in the words of a technical services manager who resigned just days before the first explosion, &ldquo;There was no way the company would delay coal production&rdquo; because of safety concerns.

	The manager, Pieter Van Rooyen, testified that workers had given him notice of inadequate methane drainage pipes, requesting that drilling cease until rectified. Despite passing that on in writing to senior operational managers, nothing was done. Van Rooyen said the decision to begin hydro-mining deep within the shaft without constructing a second exit &ndash; and in areas of high methane gas build-up &ndash; was strictly for &ldquo;cash-flow purposes.&rdquo;

	&nbsp;<img alt="" height="159" src="" width="183" />&nbsp;

	An electrical engineer who investigated New Zealand&rsquo;s worst mining accident in 100 years said the faulty Pike River electrical systems multiplied chances for disaster since stray currents in many mechanical instruments produced sparks. Pike River&rsquo;s main exhaust fan was located underground, an anomaly to modern mining.

	In late October 2010, the company was warned by a regulatory agency that the stability of an expanded roof in an underground area was worrisome, and again nothing was done. A mine safety expert from Australia testified that the blast was caused by a roof collapse deep inside the mine, causing a massive release of gas. When the underground fan failed, the gas could have ignited from a small spark.

	For 16 months now, the bodies of the 29 have remained entombed inside the South Island mine, despite efforts by families to recover their loved ones. In this inquiry round, photos of two miners who were sighted dead near self-rescue units were shown. The photos indicate that the miners might have survived the initial blast on 19 November 2010. In the following days, five more major explosions occurred.

	Pike River Coal Ltd. killed 29 miners, including 26 New Zealanders, a miner from South Africa, one from the UK, and another miner who was an Australian national. The mother of this Australian miner named Josh Ufer is currently speaking out in Australia on the necessity to maintain full trade union involvement in all mine safety matters.

	As the Single Bargaining Unit led by the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) wages a battle against BHP Billiton and Mitsubishi to retain union-mandated safety deputies and open cut examiners inside Queensland collieries, Joanne Ufer is versing the dangers inherent in unilateral management control of safety matters in union advertisements.

	The final phase of the Pike River Royal Commission of Inquiry will convene next month, with the commission&rsquo;s report and findings to be issued in September.&nbsp; See <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4681-Pike-River-s-Royal-Inquiry-Sees-Troubling-Safety-Issues-Inside-NZ-Mine-Disaster">ICEM report</a> following the commission&rsquo;s second phase hearings.

‘Disaster Waiting to Happen,’ Pike River 3rd Inquiry Told

<img alt="" src="" style="width: 100px;height: 39px" width="390" />

	Union members, affiliated to Unite the Union in the UK, rejected 5 March a redundancy proposal from Austrian packaging company Mayr-Melnhof that would have ended a 19-day lockout at a plant in Merseyside, near Liverpool. Workers rejected it 138-1 largely because management still insists on its own discretionary powers in disbursing redundancy packages to 49 workers.

	Unite has escalated a campaign against the Vienna-based paper carton and packaging company primarily because Mayr-Melnhof has retracted and reduced buy-out terms in this set of talks, and has substantially broken from redundancy pay-outs and terms commonly established in past consultations.

	In talks on 29 February and again on 3 March, the company proposed a social fund to bridge the difference paid in its 2008 and 2010 layoffs, with lesser packages offered now. But the social fund would be discretionary, based on subjective criteria unilaterally set by the company, which underscores Mayr-Melnhof&rsquo;s bargaining posture throughout this set of 2012 talks.

	&nbsp;<img alt="" src="" style="width: 203px;height: 160px" width="390" />&nbsp;

	Len McClusky (right) Speaks to Unite Strikers at Mayr-Melnhof

	Workers at the Bootle, Merseyside, plant began lawful industrial actions on 10 February over Mayr-Melnhof&rsquo;s intransigence with six-hour &ldquo;switch strikes.&rdquo; &nbsp;Walkouts rotated from 06h to noon, and from noon to 18h. On 18 February, managers locked workers out and began manoeuvring to move equipment and product out of the factory.

	Workers then entered the factory and staged a shop-floor sit-in to prevent removal. Despite several sets of talks since, Mayr-Melnhof has steadfastly resisted any workable compromise proposed by Unite, and the lockout has continued.

	The union has brought the dispute to Mayr-Melnhof&rsquo;s Packaging Division workers in Germany, and the ICEM has issued a call for <a href="/en/19-Pulp-Paper/4918-Packaging-Workers-Need-Support-">Solidarity Action</a>, which can be viewed and acted upon here. Trade unionists inside the company&rsquo;s Karton Division, led by Austrian affiliate Pro-Ge, have brought attention to the company&rsquo;s hostile UK labour relations inside Mayr-Melnhof&rsquo;s eight European paper mills, and Pro-Ge has also protested loudly to CEO Wilhelm Hoermansedar.

	Unite, meanwhile, is preparing an industrial ballot at Mayr-Melnhof&rsquo;s other UK packaging plant, in Deeside, North Wales, on grounds that the company is worsening redundancy terms and conditions from previously agreed. The Bootle plant produces food packaging from tea bags to breakfast cereal to pet food packaging, with Kellogg&rsquo;s the plant&rsquo;s biggest customer.

Mayr-Melnhof Lockout Continues at UK Packaging Plant

Archive

Asbestos Issue Surfaces in Japan

Unilever's Colgate-Palmolive Factory in Nepal Closed

Nigerian Unions Will Agian resist Petrol Price Hikes

Harsh Lockout of Boilermakers Union in US

Oil Services Giant Schlumberger Pressured over Egyptian Union Busting

WOMEN’S BULLETIN

ICEM Encouraged by Draft Labour Law in Egypt

ICEM SSARO Condemns Grisly Rape, Murder of Woman inside Amplats Mine

‘Disaster Waiting to Happen,’ Pike River 3rd Inquiry Told

Mayr-Melnhof Lockout Continues at UK Packaging Plant

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