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Better than 99% of 2,400 Greek oil refinery workers ended a four-day strike at three oil refineries this morning, 23 May, sending a strong message that they will not become economic scapegoats inside Greece&rsquo;s financial crisis. It was the second major strike in six weeks against Greek industrial giant Hellenic Petroleum by ICEM affiliate Pan-Hellenic Federation of Employees in Petroleum Products, Refineries, and the Chemical Industry (POEPDHV), and its courageous branch union, the Pan-Hellenic Union of Employees in Hellenic Petroleum. 
 
Following a 17-day legal strike from 3-19 April (see <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4368-Greek-Petrochemical-Union-Extends-Refinery-Strikes-until-19-April">ICEM report</a> here), the union was prepared for further industrial action on 6 May. But Hellenic Petroleum gained a court order blocking the strike, something that failed in April. Last week, the company did not seek court action, perhaps speculating that large numbers of oil workers at Aspropyrgos, Thessaloniki, and Elefsina refineries would not honour the strike. 
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19 May: Aspropyrgos Refinery
If so, Hellenic Petroleum guessed wrong. But why would it expect any differently when the company is out to slash salaries by 20-25%? Or different by the way the company disrespects staff by engaging in a public campaign declaring unionised oil workers are overpaid with too many perks? 
 
Besides the steep wage cuts, Hellenic is seeking to abolish a skills recognition or experience value system reached by continuous employment progressions, and an increase in the work-week from the present 38 hours. The company, 35% owned by the Greek state, posted &euro;208 million in net profit in 2010 and is on target for surpassing that in 2011. 
 
At a press conference on 19 May, the start of this latest strike, union leaders and branch union militants expressed anger that oil workers were being painted the scapegoats. &ldquo;It is not our salaries that are to blame for the crisis and this is the message voiced by today&rsquo;s strike turnout,&rdquo; POEPDHV President Nikos Orfanes. 
<img alt="" src="" width="137" height="136" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <img alt="" src="" width="150" height="136" />
Panagiotis Ofthalmidis, Nikos Orfanes
Panagiotis Ofthalmidis, chairman of the branch union, Pan-Hellenic Union of Employees in Hellenic Petroleum, is also on the company&rsquo;s board of directors representing workers. He told the press briefing that the company has &ldquo;devalued workers through the media&rdquo; and asked: &ldquo;If they cut our salaries where will the savings go? Will it go to social causes? Or will it go in the pockets of shareholders.&rdquo; 
 
The ICEM and the European Mine, Chemical, and Energy Federation (EMCEF) lent the Greek unions support at the press conference in refuting the company&rsquo;s claims that Greek oil workers are the highest paid in Europe. 
 
This past weekend&rsquo;s strike&nbsp;resulted in resumption in bi-lateral talks that will take place next week. The union is seeking only inflation level increases, but also is demanding full staffing (250 jobs) next year at new refining units coming on line at the Elfinsa refinery. The union and Hellenic are five months into a six-month dispute resolution process under Greek labour law. It runs until late June, at which time the contract is terminated. Due to the stalemate and entrenched positions of senior Hellenic management, the union had engaged in 24-hour strikes throughout March. 
 
Late last year, the two sides agreed to a set of social obligations related to impending industrial activity, as required under Greek law. It includes safety maintenance during strikes, ordering shutdowns and start-ups of equipment for operational integrity, and minimal levels of production for emergency public services.

Greek Petro Workers Take Stand in Crisis ‘Blame Game’

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The ICEM, as the global trade union federation representing 20 million workers in the mining, energy, chemicals, and materials industries, together with EMCEF, the European Mine, Chemical, Energy Workers&rsquo; Federation, are following with concern present discussions towards establishing a Free Trade Agreement between the European Union and Colombia. 
 
Free Trade Agreements represent opportunities to improve labour and human rights in more countries around the world, and can increase access to international markets for developing countries. An FTA between the European Union (EU) and Colombia would, however, symbolically endorse the appalling labour rights violations in the most dangerous country in the world for a trade unionist, and also significantly weaken the pressure on the Colombian government to fulfill its human rights obligations. 
 
The EU signing one of its very first FTAs with a government that has been so clearly complicit in the abuse of labour and human rights is an insult to workers everywhere, and to the core principles of freedom and justice. The effect of this FTA on Europe would be political, not economic, as only 0.3% of EU trade is with Colombia.&nbsp; 
 
Norway, and initially the US,&nbsp;blocked their own FTAs with Colombia, citing human and labour rights concerns. The EU must follow this example. 
 
It is important to note that Colombia is already bound by strong language requiring adherence to key UN and ILO human and trade union rights conventions, under the EU Generalised System of Preferences (GSP+). This agreement instructs the European Commission to mount an investigation and ultimately suspend GSP+ status where key UN and ILO rights conventions are breached. Disregarding repeated UN and ILO recommendations, the European Commission renews Colombia&rsquo;s GSP+ status without investigation. 
 
So replacing current &ldquo;binding&rdquo; labour standard provisions with weaker, &ldquo;non-binding&rdquo; provisions in an FTA is not reasonable. Labour rights in the FTA&rsquo;s Sustainable Development chapter are not subject to the FTA&rsquo;s dispute settlement mechanism. If Colombia were to breach a central clause on human rights, there would be no mechanism available to suspend the agreement. 
 
There have been 200 trade unionists killed in Colombia in the past three years, simply for exercising their basic rights. The murders are carried out by the army, police, and paramilitaries. Perpetrators are not being brought to justice, and are free continue to act 
 
with impunity. The death tally this year is already over 30. Activists are also silenced by imprisonment on false charges. 
 
The ICEM and EMCEF are absolutely opposed to the EU-Colombia FTA while our sisters and brothers in Colombia continue to be brutally murdered and violently intimidated. 
 
We support and will work closely together with all trade union initiatives of our affiliates all over the world. 
 
One source to take action against the EU-Colombia FTA, or to learn more about the situation facing workers in Colombia is <a href="http://www.justiceforcolombia.org/?link=3_0_3">Justice for Colombia</a>.

ICEM, EMCEF Totally Oppose EU-Colombia Free Trade Agreement

The Pulp and Paper sector of the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine, and General Workers&rsquo; Union (ICEM) elected Jan-Henrik Sandberg, President of Sweden&rsquo;s Paperworkers Union (Pappers), as chairman of the global sector. Sandberg replaces Jouko Ahonen, President of Paperiliitto of Finland, who will become the head officer for the Council of Finnish Industrial Unions (TP) on 1 June. 
 
Sandberg&rsquo;s nomination came from a work group meeting of Geneva-based ICEM&rsquo;s Pulp and Paper sector on 23 May, and the election came on 25 May by the ICEM Executive Committee. 
 
Sandberg, 52, has been President of 18,000-member Pappers since 2006. Prior to that, he worked for 17 years as a recovery boiler operator in the pulp mill of Korsn&auml;s AB in G&auml;vle, Sweden. He served as Pappers local branch chairman at Korsn&auml;s in G&auml;vle from 2001 to 2006 and previously served as education director of the branch union. 
 
Ahonen had served as President of Paperiliitto since 2003. In his new duties with TP, he will oversee collective bargaining and industrial policy for 14 Finnish trade unions. 
 
Both Ahonen and Sandberg steered their respective trade unions through pivotal and successful labour disputes in their countries, Ahonen in a 2005 industry-wide lockout in Finland and Sandberg in a 2010 strike by paperworkers across industry in Sweden. 
 
The ICEM Pulp and Paper sector serves as the global coordinating and support-giving body for 90 trade unions across the world in the pulp, paper, and packaging industries. The ICEM is a global trade union federation representing 20 million workers in 132 countries. 
 
For further information: Dick Blin, ICEM Pulp and Paper Officer, <a href="mailto:dick.blin@icem.org">dick.blin@icem.org</a>, +41 22 304 1842.

ICEM Pulp and Paper Sector Elects New Global Chairman

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ICEM&rsquo;s North American affiliate, the United Steelworkers (USW), signalled its intent to join a federal lawsuit with two US NGOs against Omnova Solutions for alleged failure to report toxic chemicals. 
 
The USW, the Center for Health, Environment, and Justice, and the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League fulfilled a 60-day requirement providing notice of intent to file in US Federal District Court over alleged insufficient reporting of storage and release of toxic chemicals into the environment from Omnova&rsquo;s performance chemicals plant in Chester, South Carolina. 
 
Omnova Solutions, based in the US, is a global producer of specialty chemicals, emulsion polymers, and decorative products. Its performance chemicals division provides binders, coatings, adhesives, and additives primarily for the paper, textile, and carpet industries. 
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The suit by the three parties would fall under the US Emergency Planning and Community Right-To-Know Act of 1986. It will allege that Omnova, active in Europe, Asia, and North America, failed to accurately complete and submit required toxic chemical release forms for 2008 and 2009 to report releases of potassium permanganate and toluene diisocyanate. The groups also allege that the company failed to report its 2008 releases of isopropyl alcohol. Under the law, Omnova could be subject to civil penalties up to $US32,500 per violation, per day with liabilities that ultimately could reach millions of dollars. 
 
While all three chemicals can irritate the nose and throat, health warnings advise that toluene diisocyanate may cause cancer, lung irritation and an asthma-like allergy. Potassium permanganate may decrease fertility and affect the liver and kidneys. 
 
&ldquo;We have found that employers who disrespect workers often treat the environment with the same contempt,&rdquo; said USW Special Counsel Lynn Agee. &ldquo;Until OMNOVA starts obeying our laws and respecting workers, we&rsquo;ll continue in our efforts to bring the company to justice.&rdquo; 
 
The Chester facility is one of six OMNOVA plants that stores large volumes of extremely hazardous chemicals in quantities that the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) deems a potential public risk and subject to risk management planning.

USW Joins US Environmental Groups in Lawsuit Against Chemicals Company Omnova

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Poland&rsquo;s trade unions at the state-run coal company, Jastrzębska Spolka Weglowa (JSW), gave their consent to a 30% float of JSW shares on the Warsaw bourse through a deal reached with the government early this month. The unions, including Solidarność, gained a ten-year guarantee of employment for 22,000 workers. 
 
Negotiations continue today, 23 May, over specifics reached in the 5 May framework agreement, and conclusions must also be reached over pay increases. JSW and the unions had been engaged in a four-month dispute over job security and the effects of the stock listing. 
 
Poland&rsquo;s Treasury Ministry now will list a 30% stake of Europe&rsquo;s largest coking coal company in July, instead of the 30 June date as originally planned. The government will maintain 51% stake in JSW, but the possibility exists that future sales of shares will occur. 
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The government offered a five-year guarantee of employment, while the unions maintained and won ten years. They have retreated some on wage demands totalling 10%, but common agreement is expected to come on that issue. What still must be negotiated is the shape and structure of free-of-charge shares to staff, which will not be bound as an entitlement, certain provisions inside a 2007-2015 strategy plan of JSW, and the appointment of board members to the partially privatised company. 
 
JSW is the first of Poland&rsquo;s major coal producers to list on a bourse. Next year, the thermal coal producer Katowicky Holding Weglowy (KHW), numbering 19,200 employees, is expected to merge with the state-run logistics and export company Wegokoks, with initial public offering (IPO) to follow. Solidarność is supporting the merger of the companies. 
 
In another mining area inside Poland, high tensions in wage talks at the state-run copper company, KGHM Polska Miedz SA, turned to unruliness on 5 May when angry copper workers tried to storm union-management pay negotiations at the company&rsquo;s center in Lubin. Workers attacked private security guards and broke windows in trying to enter the premises. Three workers involved in the melee were sacked for the disturbance and 12 others are under investigation. 
 
Workers want more than the 4.5% offer on the table from Europe&rsquo;s second largest copper producer, which has seen profits double to &pound;1.9 billion in 2010. Some 18,500 KGHM workers have been waiting for fair wage gains since bargaining began in mid-April.

Tentative Accord between Coal Unions, JSW in Polish Privatisation

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The European Trade Union Confederation&rsquo;s (ETUC) 12th Congress in Greece from 16-19 May adopted the &ldquo;Athens Manifesto,&rdquo; calling for necessary financial governance and tax changes in a social Europe. The manifesto also rejects deregulation and flexibility measures as false solutions to the sovereign debt crises hovering over several European countries &ndash; including Greece. 
 
Some 500 delegates from 36 European nations attended, with those delegates consisting of representatives from 82 national labour centre federations and 12 continental union federations. 
 
The manifesto states that wages are not the enemy of the economy, but rather the motor of it and that the autonomy of social partners in collective bargaining must be respected. &ldquo;The ETUC will fight for a European New Deal for workers against austerity governance and for European economic governance that serves the interests of the European people and not the markets,&rdquo; ETUC said. It places a priority on combating youth unemployment and a priority to improve the working conditions of all European workers. 
<img alt="" src="" width="200" height="206" />
Bernadette S&eacute;gol
The confederation said: &ldquo;The ETUC commits to demand effective and stringent regulation of financial markets and ratings agencies and to campaign and claim that fundamental social rights take precedence over economic freedoms and consequently enshrine this principle in a Social Progress Protocol in European treaties, in a revised Posted Workers Directive and in internal market regulation known as Monti II. An action day has been approved to promote the Manifesto's aims.&rdquo; 
 
The Congress also debated a minimum wage and pay coordination across national borders. Outgoing ETUC Secretary-General John Monks set the tone for the week on opening day, 16 May, by saying, &ldquo;Austerity is not working.&rdquo; 
 
In a letter to European finance ministers that accompanied an emergency resolution at the start of the Congress, Monks wrote, &ldquo;The ETUC calls on you to immediately change course. Brutal austerity, both in terms of public finance and in terms of wages, is not working but instead undermining the economies of countries such as Greece and Ireland.&rdquo; 
<img alt="" src="" width="206" height="167" />
EMCEF Delegation at ETUC Congress
In a secret-ballot election, the longest-serving member of ETUC&rsquo;s executive committee, Bernadette S&eacute;gol, head of Uni Europa, was elected Secretary-General to replace Monks. A French national, she previously worked at the International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers Federation (ITGLWF) and at one of Uni&rsquo;s predecessor unions, the banking and commerce federation Euro-FIET. 
 
Elected Deputy General Secretaries were Patrick Itschert, General Secretary of ITGLWF and of ETUC-TCL, and Jozef Niemiec, the lone holdover from the Monks era on ETUC&rsquo;s seven-member Secretariat leadership team. Itschert is Belgian and advocates an ETUC that &ldquo;turns political developments into actions.&rdquo; Niemiec is Polish, was an engineer in Krakow and member of NSZZ Solidarność during trade union revival in Poland, and was involved in European integration of his home country. 
 
Elected confederal secretaries were Judith Kirton-Darling, formerly with the European Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation; Veronica Nilsson, who worked at TUAC and since March 2010 served as special advisor to ETUC; Claudia Menne, previously with the German DGB national labour centre; and Luca Visentini, from the Italian labour centre UIL. 
 
ETUC statutes dictate a single term for the Presidency of the confederation. Wanja Lundby-Wedin of Sweden thus stepped down and Ignacio Fern&aacute;ndez Toxo, President of CC.OO of Spain, was elected President of ETUC for the next four years.

ETUC Adopts ‘Athens Manifesto’ at 12th Congress

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A study entitled &ldquo;Oil and Casualisation of Labor in the Niger Delta&rdquo; was released recently by the US Solidarity Center. It vividly depicts the social erosion occurring to the livelihoods of Nigerian oil workers due to casualisation, or contract or outsourced work. 
 
The <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/1105.pubs_nigeria_degradationofwork.pdf ">study</a> can be found here. 
It states that casualisation in Nigeria&rsquo;s oil and gas sector is facilitated by the widespread poverty, joblessness, and plundering of natural resources along the Niger Delta. &ldquo;As a result, Nigerian oil workers are vulnerable to a new kind of attack &ndash; quiet but more potent &ndash; an industry-wide shift away from regular, full-time work toward forms of cheaper temporary labour and short-term contracting,&rdquo; reads a part of the executive summary of the study. 
<img alt="" src="" width="120" height="180" />
Bayo Olowoshile
The 36-page study says that under one-half of the country&rsquo;s oil and gas workers are unionised, down from 60% in 2003. The rate of women in the union ranks is even less, 20%. It attributes the decline and low level of women in unions to increased use of casual workers in &ldquo;an attempt to replace full-time unionised workers with lower-paid, less-protected workers and to relegate legal and managerial responsibilities to one or more third-party contractors. 
 
&ldquo;The casualisation model enables employers to ignore workplace standards and workers&rsquo; social needs and to create a strong barrier against workplace organising.&rdquo; 
 
Bayo Olowoshile, the General Secretary of ICEM salaried staff affiliate PENGASSAN, told the ICEM that major multinationals are to blame. &ldquo;Companies have been allowed to adopt their human resource techniques and styles to deplete full-time staff and grant favour to dubious contractors.&rdquo; He also blamed neo-liberal business models and government agencies willing to go along with those models for the anti-social trend. 
 
Olowoshile said it is a common problem with his union and the blue-collar ICEM affiliate NUPENG, but that the union representing junior staff have had more opportunities to organise casual workers. 
 
Olowoshile said the issue of casualisation will get more attention in the coming weeks in Nigeria with the release of a tri-partite position paper stemming from a PENGASSAN/NUPENG strike last August. That strike centered on infringement of workers&rsquo; rights for casuals. He said the unions and employers may not agree on all tenets contained in the paper, but that it must serve as a basis for dialogue to correct the economic and social imbalances inherent in the trend toward irregular employment.

Study: Stark Effects to Casualisation in Nigeria’s Oil Sector

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In line with a 2001 agreement with US-based rubber multination Firestone, the ICEM-affiliated SUTNA announced on 9 May that 980 members at Firestone received a profit share bonus of 4,000 Argentine pesos (686 euros). It is the fourth time workers have received this kind of bonus since 2001. 
 
SUTNA General Secretary Pedro Wasiejko is now pushing for similar profit sharing to be extended to all workers in Argentina and enshrined in the country&rsquo;s labour law. The agreement was reached between workers and management during a difficult economic period for the tyre and automobile sectors in Argentina. Workers then agreed to take a reduction in wages in line with the downturn in company profits, to ensure the company would recover. Now the tyre and auto sectors are performing well, workers are rewarded with the substantial bonus. 
<img alt="" src="" width="149" height="164" />
Pedro Wasiejko
According to the agreement, workers receive the bonus payment when annual profits reach more than 6%. Workers receive one third of the amount above the 6% mark, whatever that figure is equal to. 
 
See the video of the <a href="http://ejes.com/enc23mc6a2">press conference</a> where the announcement was made here.&nbsp; 
 
Wasiejko, also General Secretary of Industrial Workers&rsquo; Federation FETIA, and Hugo Yasky, General Secretary of the CTA national centre, argue that the Bill currently passing through the consultation phase within Congress ought to formalise the profit sharing bonus, and for those payments not to be taxed. This would encourage investment on the local level, and also from multinationals.

Argentinean Rubber Workers Receive Profit Share Bonus

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The ICEM has decided to support the case of the Mexican union, Sindicato &Uacute;nico de Trabajadores de la Empresa Industria Vidriera del Potos&iacute; S.A. de C.V. (SUTEIVP) in a complaint about violations of trade union rights at the International Labour Organization (ILO). 
 
SUTEIVP represents workers employed by Industria Vidriera del Potosi S.A., (part of Grupo Modelo) a manufacturer of glass bottles used by Mexico's famous Corona beer. 
<img alt="" src="" width="125" height="160" />
In early 2008, the company summarily dismissed 220 workers covered by a collective bargaining agreement, including the executive committee of SUTEIVP. The company then entered into &quot;negotiations&quot; with a &quot;union&quot; that they invited in to create a sub-standard agreement and to act as a shield to keep out the real union. Such practices are common in Mexico, and are known as employer protection contracts. The yellow union and its corrupt leadership are generally invisible - often unknown to the workers - until a real union attempts to organize the workforce. 
 
SUTEIVP attempted to file a complaint under the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Companies, using Mexico's OECD National Contact Point. In 2010, the Mexican NCP dismissed their case for &quot;insufficient evidence&quot;. 
 
Manfred Warda, ICEM's General Secretary, will highlight the SUTEIVP situation in a speech to the upcoming International Labour Conference. The case will then be reviewed by ILO's Freedom of Association committee.

ICEM Support Mexican Glass Workers’ ILO Complaint

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The already-limited freedoms of association in Iraq are under further attack. Last month, the Cabinet arbitrarily dismissed the executive board of the country&rsquo;s largest trade union organisation, the General Federation of Iraqi Workers (GFIW), and established a new committee to take over all union structures and assets, oversee and control upcoming union elections. 
 
Cabinet Decrees 95 and 96 were issued on 17 April, withdrawing recognition of the GFIW and appointing a &ldquo;Ministerial Preparatory Committee&rdquo; (MPC), consisting of un-elected, politically bias officials, mostly from the Sadrist Party. MPC employees have already begun distributing union membership cards, arbitrarily choosing members favourable to their faction. Further to this, union offices have been taken over with support from police and military personnel. Upcoming union elections are expected to be held inside the Sadrist Party offices. 
 
The deeply concerning developments follow a recent distribution of government ministries between the various political factions of the coalition. The carving up of responsibilities saw the labour ministry taken over by the small, Shia sectarian Sadrist movement, followers of Cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. 
 
Eight years after the fall of Saddam Hussein, his regime&rsquo;s regressive labour laws have not been replaced, meaning all public sector employees have no right to organise or bargain collectively. The vast majority of workers in Iraq are affected by this law. But this latest attack is even in breach of the Saddam legislation. 
 
The TUC in the UK has been on the front line of a global union backlash, calling on the Iraq government to back down. TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber wrote to Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki explaining that the TUC will exercise its veto right to block the government-nominated workers&rsquo; delegate to the ILO Annual Conference (ILC) in June, unless the attack is reversed. 
 
Support the <a href="http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/solidarityforever/show_campaign.cgi?c=917">Labourstart campaign</a>, and send your protest message to Iraq Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki here. Also send your opposition to this attack on the GFIW to the Iraqi Embassy in your country. International pressure has proved effective in Iraq over recent years. The labour ministry decree has been publicly condemned by the Minister of Civil Society in Iraq. Build the pressure, join the campaign. 
<img alt="" src="" width="210" height="158" />
Basra Oil Workers&rsquo; Protest
Iraqis continue to bravely organise in face of the government attacks. Oil workers in Basra last week, 10 May, walked out and threatened to stop production at the state-run South Oil Corporation, demanding fair salaries and benefits to match those of oil workers at the international corporations operating in Iraq. Foreign workers were to be blocked from entering oil fields yesterday, but Basra Governor Khalaf Abdul Samad Khalaf agreed to meet the unions and averted the escalation of the protest, for the time being.

Repression Continues on Iraqi Trade Unions

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