English

Español

Français

Aerospace

Automotive

Base metals

Chemical, pharmaceutical and bio-science

Energy

Glass, cement, ceramic and associated industries

ICT, electrical and electronics

Mechanical Engineering

Mining and DGOJP

Pulp and paper

Rubber

Shipbuilding and shipbreaking

Textile, garment, shoes, leather and textile services

Sectors

Action Plan 2025-2029

Action on textile and garment industry

Clean up shipbreaking

Ratify ILO C176

United for a just future - time to pay up!

Disinvest from Myanmar

Campaigns

Global Framework Agreements

Union building

White-collar workers

Health & safety

Industry 4.0

Women

Youth

LGBTQI+

Gender, equality, diversity and inclusion (GEDI)

Just Transition

Organizing with industriALL

What we do

Affiliates

Statutes

Elected Officials

Executive Committee

Geneva head office

South East Asia

Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Caucasus

Latin America and the Caribbean

Middle East and North Africa

South Asia

Sub-Saharan Africa

Regional offices

About us

Global worker No1 2022

Global worker No2 2022

Publications

Resources

Press

<img src="" width="120" height="59" alt="" />
Local 27 members of the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) union were locked out at the New Year by Caterpillar Inc.&rsquo;s Electro-Motive Diesel (EMD) in a callous display of corporate might that could lead to corporate flight from Canada. The 650 CAW members in London, Ontario, voted by 98% on 30 December for strike action and 24 hours later &ndash; just as they were returning to jobs on New Year&rsquo;s Eve following a holiday shutdown &ndash; they were locked out. 

The lockout indignation comes on the heels of deeper indignation: Caterpillar&rsquo;s EMD &ndash; run as part of the US company&rsquo;s Progress Rail Services Corp. &ndash; attempt to extract unreasonable wage and benefit concessions from Canadian union members as excuse to shift production of electric-powered diesel engines and associated railroad components to a start-up and lower wage plant in Muncie, US state of Indiana. 

EMD began operations in Muncie in October 2011. Until Saturday night&rsquo;s lockout, CAW and EMD had bargained under a seven-month contract extension, something the two sides agreed to in May 2011. However, EMD never once wavered from an initial, hostile and family-wrecking proposal demanding wage cuts from C$35-per hour to C$16.50, health benefits cut in half, and elimination of a pension scheme. 

At the same time, EMD was advertising for a Human Resources manager in Muncie with the stipulation that he/she have &ldquo;experience with providing union-free culture and union avoidance.&rdquo; 

EMD is paying average salaries between US$12-16-per hour in Muncie. Caterpillar and its wholly-owned Progress Rail Services is seeking to dislodge General Electric&rsquo;s (GE) Transportation Division as the US&rsquo;s premiere supplier of train locomotives at a time of government stimulus funding for infrastructure and transport needs. GE operates three major rail division plants that are unionised and pay average salaries of US$30-per hour or more. 

EMD&rsquo;s London, Ontario, plant was purchased by Caterpillar in August 2010 for US$820 million from Greenbriar Equity Group and Berkshire Partners. The two capital companies in turn bought the manufacturing plant in 2005 for a quarter of that amount from General Motors when GM was shedding its non-auto making businesses.
<img src="" width="130" height="188" alt="" />
CAW President Ken Lewenza&nbsp; 

Then, Caterpillar was interested in buying the southwestern Ontario plant but CAW opposed the deal because of Caterpillar&rsquo;s horrid labour relations record in the US. Now, with Caterpillar in control and deploying obvious whipsawing of CAW members against non-union Muncie workers that will number 650 this year, CAW Local 27 is forced to blockade the London plant to prevent equipment from leaving for the Indiana city 350 miles to the south. 

On Saturday, CAW President Ken Lewenza called the lockout &ldquo;a serious attack on working people, their families and the greater community of London. 

&ldquo;If (Caterpillar) is not going to do business in Canada, this wage cut is designed as a mechanism to blame workers,&rdquo; Lewenza said in a published report, referring to production flight and a possible plant closing. In mid-December, the CAW lodged a formal complaint with the government over Caterpillar&rsquo;s violation of the Investment Canada Act. 

EMD has other railroad manufacturing facilities in Sete Lagoas, Minas Gerais state, Brazil, and Sahag&uacute;n, Hidalgo state, Mexico, a facility it operates jointly with Bombardier. EMD sells locomotives, replacement parts, and diesel powered engines for marine propulsion, oil drilling and power generation in 130 countries, and currently has major contracts with companies providing equipment for state railways in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and South Africa. 

Caterpillar&rsquo;s deep contract concession proposals, the lockout, matched with lucrative incentives from Indiana&rsquo;s anti-union state government for the Muncie start-up are a cause of great concern, particularly for two countries that each lack socially-minded industrial policies in the wake of a financial crisis.

CAW Members Victimized in Lockout by Caterpillar’s Rail Division

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
Birlesik Metal-Is, an affiliate of the International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation, is fighting for basic trade union freedoms at German-based GEA in Gebze, Turkey. In a cynical move, local management locked out 62 workers while claiming they had conducted illegal strike action. That illegal strike action coincided with break times at the company, and separate investigations have proven that no strike action took place. The ICEM joined the growing international campaign calling for an end to the lock-out, full reinstating of four workers dismissed on 31 May, and an end to the police protection being awarded to the company in its anti-union struggle. 
 
The company behaviour in Turkey is in breach of an international minimum standards agreement with the IMF, in which it pledges respect of labour rights throughout its international operations. The IMF reminded the company and locked out workers of this fact at the picket line, as part of a large international solidarity visit to the GEA factory gates. 
<img alt="" src="" width="241" height="161" />
ICEM was also present at the picket, and a <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/ICEM_Letter_to_Workers.pdf">message of solidarity</a> was read out. See also the <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/ICEM%20Letter%20to%20GEA%20Group%20(17%2011%202011).pdf">ICEM letter</a> to the company here.&nbsp; 
 
Support the <a href="http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/solidarityforever/show_campaign.cgi?c=1167">LabourStart campaign</a>, and write to company management here. 
 
The ICEM has been invited and will participate at the Congress of Birlesik Metal-Is on 16-18 December.

Turkish Metal Workers Still Locked Out by GEA

<img src="" width="100" height="39" alt="" />
The right wing government of Viktor Orb&aacute;n in Hungary has systematically over the past year and a half dismantled many trade union freedoms and social dialogue relationships. The new Labour Code is not only completely undermining workers&rsquo; ability to fight for just conditions in the workplace, but is now empowering companies to re-open old conflicts and punish trade union activists for actions taken under the previous legislation. 
 
ICEM affiliated unions were shocked to be informed at Congress of Japanese rubber conglomerate Bridgestone&rsquo;s move to initiate a penal procedure against Tam&aacute;s Sz&eacute;kely, president of VDSZ, the Hungarian chemical workers union. The case against the union president is focused on a 2009 report in the union journal &ldquo;Vegyipari Dolgoz&oacute;&rdquo; or &ldquo;Chemical Worker&rdquo; on the treatment of a company employee. 
<img src="" width="128" height="170" alt="" />
VDSZ President Tam&aacute;s Sz&eacute;kely
Tibor Skoflek suffered occupational health problems in the spring of 2009 and Bridgestone at the time rejected any responsibility for this. Local management even failed to supply transport to hospital for Tibor Skoflek, and he was taken by a bus driver. 
 
This is the first time in 20 years of Hungarian trade union work that a company initiates a penal procedure against a union leader with absolutely no negotiations or consultation beforehand. 
 
The clear policy of the Orb&aacute;n regime is to create fear among Hungarian workers so that they rescind trade union membership. 
 
The ICEM condemns in the strongest terms this crackdown on fundamental labour rights in Hungary, and specifically in this case against Tam&aacute;s Sz&eacute;kely, and will be exerting pressure at company and government levels.

Bridgestone Hungary forces the President of VDSZ to court

<img src="" width="100" height="39" alt="" />
IG BCE together with Verdi, the service sector union of Germany, reached agreement in bargaining with German energy group RWE on 29 November on a 13 month deal for the company&rsquo;s 25,000 employees in Germany. The new deal provides a 2.7% salary increase from 1 December 2011, and sets out new talks on improving job security and trainee prospects. 
 
European utility provider RWE is the second largest energy producer in Germany. The issue of fair salaries at RWE has caused widespread discontent through the workforce in recent times. In January the ICEM reported on warning strikes of IG BCE members at RWE who were close to full strike action. (See the <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4216-German-Power-Workers-Close-to-Full-Dispute-with-RWE">ICEM report</a> here) More strikes were averted in January by a company offer of 3.4% salary improvement. Unions again threatened warning strikes in mid-November in the run up to settlement. This latest deal will see the union negotiating committee push for continued and better salary improvements in the collective agreement for 2013. 
 
A key achievement in this settlement was the binding agreement to open discussions in the second quarter of 2012 on the renewal of the Job Security Agreement, due to expire end of 2012, to safeguard jobs in the group. 
 
The union bargaining committee recommended the deal for adoption by the joint tariff committee.

German IG BCE Secures 2.7% Increase for 25,000 Energy Workers

<img src="" width="100" height="39" alt="" />
Finland&rsquo;s papermaking unions, Paperiliitto and Ammattiliitto Pro, have new 25-month labour agreements with the Finnish Forest Industries Federation (FFIF) that take effect in March 2012. That was assured one week ago, on 28 November, after the employers&rsquo; association in the transport, ports, and shipping industry signed an accord with AKT, the Transport Drivers&rsquo; and Port Workers&rsquo; Union. 
 
Even though the FFIF came to terms with the two ICEM affiliates separately in the pulp and paper sector on 23 November, the FFIF was unwilling to sign off on the agreements until they had a guarantee that strikes would not occur in the transportation and export of pulp and paper products. 
<img alt="" src="" width="130" height="93" />
The agreement in the paper sector follows a framework agreement made between the three national trade union confederations &ndash; SAK, STTK and STTK &ndash; and the Confederation of Finnish Industries on 13 October. 
 
In March 2012, Ammattiliitto Pro members will receive a 1.6% across-the-board wage increase, in addition to an average 0.8% increase that will be negotiated locally and is part of a new salary structure. That amount will reward new work demands, personal skill developments, and greater efficiencies by workers on the local level. 
 
Paperiliitto members will receive a 1.5% increase, with 0.9% to be negotiated locally. 
 
Essentially, this new salary structure was recognized by employers through strike actions taken last spring by Ammattiliitto Pro, Finland&rsquo;s white-collar and clerical workers&rsquo; union, which represents about 4,000 staff at some 50 paper enterprises. 
 
In April 2013, the wage increase for Ammattillio Pro will be 1.3%, with a 0.6% award won on the new locally-negotiated salary structure. Paperiliitto's 2013 increase will be 1.2%, with 0.7% awarded locally. 
<img alt="" src="" width="190" height="46" />
Two other important aspects of the pulp and paper agreement include extra protection for workers when mills close. In effect, employers take on more responsibility for re-training and skill development, as well as workers given the flexibility to take new work in another enterprise and still qualify for redundancy benefits. 
Also, shop stewards and safety representatives who receive slightly higher pay for their responsibilities will get a 10% supplement on top of that higher pay. The two unions also won a universal three-day paid leave annually for vocational training and education. 
 
Both Petri Vanhala, President of Paperiliitto, and Markku Palokangas, Pro&rsquo;s Vice President for the Industrial Sector, expressed satisfaction with the 25-month agreement, especially with the gains made through the national framework agreement. Paperiliitto represents some 19,000 blue-collar workers across Finland&rsquo;s pulp and paper industry.

Paper Unions in Finland Make Gains in 2012-2014 National Labour Accord

The International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers&rsquo; Unions (ICEM) today signed a Global Framework Agreement (GFA) with Petr&oacute;leo Brasileiro SA, or Petrobras, the world&rsquo;s third largest energy company. The agreement, the 20-million-member ICEM&rsquo;s 16th since 1998, was signed at the Brazilian company&rsquo;s headquarters in Rio de Janeiro by ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda, and Petrobras Director for Gas and Industry, Maria Das Gracas Silva Foster, Executive Director for Human Relations, Diego Hernandes, and Joao Antonio de Moraes, General Coordinator of FUP (the Oil and Gas Workers&rsquo; Unified federation of Brazil). 
 
A GFA is a social pact between a multinational company and a Global Union Federation that puts in place the very highest standards regarding trade union and human rights, health, safety, and environmental practices, and quality of work principles across all of a company&rsquo;s global operations. 
<img alt="" src="" width="214" height="160" />
ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda signs Petrobras GFA
&ldquo;This is ICEM&rsquo;s fourth such agreement with an oil and gas concern,&rdquo; said Warda, &ldquo;and it embodies many of the social principles that we expect companies in extractive industries to adhere to.&rdquo; The ICEM has previously negotiated GFAs with Statoil of Norway, Eni of Italy and Lukoil of Russia. 
 
The agreement was signed with approval from ICEM Brazilian trade union affiliate, the Oil and Gas Workers&rsquo; Unified Federation (FUP), whose leaders were present at the signing together with ICEM Latin America/Caribbean Regional Vice President Sergio Novais of Brazil. Support from both FUP and Sergio Novais was important in reaching the agreement. 
 
The agreement commits Petrobras to recognizing the right of freedom of association and to bargain collectively for all employees, as well as establishing formal dialogue channels between staff and management. It also promotes working conditions that are favorable to a balance between work, personal, and family life. 
<img alt="" src="" width="315" height="161" />
ICEM, Petrobras, FUP
The GFA states that Petrobras &ldquo;will strive to get all service providers to comply&rdquo; with nine labour relations points contained in the agreement, including health and safety and providing necessary equipment, permanent institutionalization of negotiation channels, and equal opportunities and promotion of training opportunities. 
 
The agreement also recognizes global standards contained in the ILO Tripartite Declaration on Principles for Multinational Corporations and Social Policy, the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Corporations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the UN Global Compact. 
 
Warda and Petrobras CEO Jos&eacute; S. Gabriella de Azevedo initiated talks on the ICEM-Petrobras GFA as board members of the Global Compact some three years ago. 
 
Petrobras, 56% owned by the Brazilian government, has 80,500 employees and operates in some 30 countries. The company is a leader in exploration and production of oil, and operates 16 refineries as well as numerous petrochemical, biofuels, pipelines and other installations. The ICEM is composed of 255 national trade unions operating in 94 countries. 
 
For further information, contact ICEM&rsquo;s Dick Blin (+41 79 734 8994, <a href="mailto:dick.blin@icem.org">dick.blin@icem.org</a>) or Tom Grinter (+41 22 304 1842, <a href="mailto:tom.grinter@icem.org">tom.grinter@icem.org</a>).

ICEM Signs 16th Global Agreement with Petrobras of Brazil

<img src="" width="100" height="39" alt="" />
The Ontario Labour Relations Board (OLRB) cited mining giant Vale with union interference in blocking the Vice President of United Steelworkers Local 6500 from entering work zones for representation purposes. The positive OLRB ruling came 16 months after a bitter, year-long strike between Brazil-based Vale and the USW at Sudbury and other Canadian locations. 
 
Patrick Veinot was one of nine Local 6500 members who were fired by Vale for strike activity and when he was elected following the end of the strike in July 2010, Vale refused to allow him on company property. Veinot is chairman of the Local 6500 grievance committee and his duties include meeting with shop stewards and grievants to resolve workplace differences. 
<img src="" width="172" height="160" alt="" />
Patrick Veinot
&ldquo;I think the message Vale Inco has sought to communicate is cold and hard and I conclude there has been a substantial interference both in the administration of the Union and its representation of employees,&rdquo; stated OLRB Chairman Bernard Fishbein. 
 
Veinot and the eight others were charged with criminal harassment but were acquitted of those charges by a jury trial in early 2011. But they remain sacked by Vale pending a separate proceeding lodged by the USW before the OLRB to win their jobs back. 
 
&ldquo;The Board made it quite clear,&rdquo; said USW District Director Wayne Fraser. &ldquo;Vale&rsquo;s post strike assault on the continuing determination and solidarity of our members will not be tolerated.&rdquo; 
 
Added USW Canadian National Director and ICEM Vice President Ken Neumann, &ldquo;Patrick has become a living symbol of the union&rsquo;s strength and like all discharged strikers, Patrick and his family have suffered at the hands of this autocratic employer hell bent on achieving its goals without regard to the interests of its employees.&rdquo;

Ontario Labour Board Rules Discharged USW Sudbury Leader has Worksite Access

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
A mass rally is scheduled for Saturday, 21 January, in London, Ontario, to support locked out members of a bargaining unit of Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) Local 27. Sponsored by the Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL), the Day of Action against Caterpillar Inc. will begin at 11h in the southwestern Ontario city of 40,000. 
 
CAW Local 27 members were locked out late in the evening on New Year&rsquo;s Eve by Caterpillar&rsquo;s Electro-Motive Diesel (EMD) in a callous display of corporate might. The 650 CAW members voted by 98% on 30 December for strike action and 24 hours later &ndash; just as they were returning to jobs following a holiday shutdown &ndash; they were locked out. 
 
&ldquo;We see this fight as being central to the entire labour movement and we are going to dig in our heels and fight Caterpillar with everything we&rsquo;ve got,&rdquo; said OFL President Sid Ryan. 
 
Caterpillar&rsquo;s EMD &ndash; run as part of the company&rsquo;s Progress Rail Services Corp. &ndash; lockout followed workers&rsquo; total rejection of unreasonable wage and benefit concessions sought by the US-based company. There is little doubt that the company is trying to knock back wage and benefit levels of Canadian workers as a ploy to shift production of electric-powered diesel engines and associated railroad components to a start-up and lower wage plant in Muncie, Indiana, in the US. 
 
EMD began operations in Muncie in October 2011. Until the New Year&rsquo;s Eve lockout, CAW and EMD had bargained under a seven-month contract extension. However, EMD never once wavered from an initial, hostile and family-wrecking proposal that demanded wage cuts from C$35-per hour to C$16.50, health benefits cut in half, and elimination of a pension scheme. 
<img alt="" src="" width="107" height="155" />
CAW President Ken Lewenza
At the same time, EMD was advertising for a Human Resources manager in Muncie with the stipulation that he/she have &ldquo;experience with providing union-free culture and union avoidance.&rdquo; 
 
EMD is paying average salaries between US$12-16-per hour in Muncie. Caterpillar and its wholly-owned Progress Rail Services is seeking to dislodge General Electric&rsquo;s (GE) Transportation Division as the US&rsquo;s premiere supplier of train locomotives at a time when government stimulus funds are available for infrastructure and transport needs. GE operates three major rail division plants that are unionised and it pays average salaries of US$30-per hour or more. 
 
EMD&rsquo;s London, Ontario, plant was purchased by Caterpillar in August 2010 for US$820 million from Greenbriar Equity Group and Berkshire Partners. The two capital companies in turn bought the manufacturing plant in 2005 for a quarter of that amount from General Motors when GM was shedding its non-auto making businesses. 
 
Then, Caterpillar was interested in buying the southwestern Ontario plant but CAW opposed the deal because of Caterpillar&rsquo;s horrid labour relations record in the US. Now, with Caterpillar in control and the company displaying obvious whipsawing of CAW members against non-union Muncie workers that will swell to 650 this year, Unit 2 of CAW Local 27 is forced to blockade the London plant to prevent equipment from leaving for the Indiana city 350 miles to the south. 
 
CAW President Ken Lewenza called the lockout &ldquo;a serious attack on working people, their families and the greater community of London. 
 
&ldquo;If (Caterpillar) is not going to do business in Canada, this wage cut is designed as a mechanism to blame workers,&rdquo; said Lewenza, referring to production flight and a possible plant closing. In mid-December, the CAW lodged a formal complaint with the government over Caterpillar&rsquo;s violation of the Investment Canada Act. 
 
The company has benefitted by tax breaks given the predecessor equity firms in 2008. In fact, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper used the plant as a backdrop in March 2008 to tout the federal government&rsquo;s corporate tax breaks. The enterprise&rsquo;s buyers received a C$5 million tax break then and a wider C$1 billion tax break on industrial capital investment. 
 
EMD has other railroad manufacturing facilities in Sete Lagoas, Minas Gerais state, Brazil, and Sahag&uacute;n, Hidalgo state, Mexico, a facility it operates jointly with Bombardier. It also operates a unionised facility in LaGrange, US state of Illinois. EMD sells locomotives, replacement parts, and diesel powered engines for marine propulsion, oil drilling and power generation in 130 countries, and currently has major contracts with companies providing equipment for state railways in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and South Africa. 
 
Caterpillar&rsquo;s deep contract concession proposals, the lockout, matched with lucrative incentives from Indiana&rsquo;s anti-union state government for the Muncie start-up are a cause of great concern, particularly for two countries that each lack worker-friendly industrial policies in the wake of a financial crisis.

Rally Set for Locked Out Caterpillar Workers in Canada on 21 January

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
Around 35 trade union representatives from various rubber companies, namely Goodyear, MRF, JK Tyres, Birla Tyres, Apollo Tyres, and Ajanta Rubber formed the Indian Rubber Unions National Network in a workshop entitled &ldquo;ILO/ICEM Workshop on International Labour Standards and Social Dialogue in Indian Rubber Industry.&rdquo; The forum was held on 14-15 December 2011 in Mumbai with the support of the ILO. 
 
India is becoming one of the world's fastest-growing rubber producing countries due to the emerging automotive industry, as well as availability and closeness of raw materials such as natural rubber. The tyre market attracts global manufacturers due to high growth figures, while India itself has its own multinational companies that also invest elsewhere. 
 
&ldquo;This is the first time that Indian rubber unions have come together, which is promising for the future,&rdquo; said Ravindra Ghoshalkar, General Secretary of ICEM-affiliated Chemical Mazdoor Federation (CMFI), the union that inaugurated the ILO/ICEM Workshop in Mumbai. Opening speakers included Pradeep Kokas, Education Secretary of the ICEM affiliate Indian National Mineworkers&rsquo; Federation (INMF) and Sayeed Ahmed, Secretary of the Maharashtra State of the Indian national labour federation, the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU). 
<img alt="" src="" width="276" height="160" />
The workshop received detailed presentations from keynote speakers. Kemal &Ouml;zkan, ICEM&rsquo;s Director of Industry and Corporate Affairs, briefed the participants on the global situation of the rubber industry with economic, employment, and trade union angles. 
 
An ILO Industrialist Specialist, Yasuhiko Kamakura, presented core labour standards of the organization as well as instruments of occupational health and safety worldwide. ICEM&rsquo;s Asia Multinational Companies&rsquo; and Social Dialogue Project Coordinator Yoon Hyowon informed the participants about international labour standards, such as the OECD Guidelines and the UN Global Compact, while Ashutosh Bhattacharya, ICEM&rsquo;s Multinational Indian Project Coordinator, presented the issue of the Right to Information Act and Workers Participation in India. 
 
The workshop participants were divided into various groups to discuss matters affecting the Indian rubber industry, working conditions, and health and safety situations at various workplaces. Following ICEM&rsquo;s input on union networking in the rubber industry at global and regional levels, Indian rubber workers&rsquo; representatives discussed how to improve cooperation, solidarity, and networking inside the country. 
 
In final discussions, the workshop produced concrete actions for the future. This included regular information and experience exchanges between rubber unions, as well as contant solidarity during collective bargaining negotiations or any other dispute. While forming the India National Rubber Industry Network, the workshop also aimed at developing close relations among the unions of the same company. 
 
Indian union represetatives strongly underlined the improtance of international solidarity. In this sense, it was agreed to establish close relations with union representatives outside of the country that represent workers at Indian-based rubber companies such as Apollo and JK Tyres. It was also decided to organize the next network meeting within a year with the participation of more unions.

Indian Rubber Unions Form National Network

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
The ICEM extended condolences today to its affiliate, the Russian Oil, Gas and Construction Workers&rsquo; Union (ROGWU) following this weekend&rsquo;s sinking of the Kolskaya oil rig in the Sea of Okhotsk. The Kolskaya, owned by a subsidiary of the Russian state-owned company Zarubezhneft OJSC, sank in stormy waters while being towed from off the Kamchatka Peninsula to Sakhalin Island in Russia&rsquo;s Far East. 
 
Fifty-three oil workers went down with the rig, while 14 were rescued by the icebreaker Magadan and the tow ship Neftegaz-55, which were bringing the rig to port. The rig sank in icy waters 1,042 metres deep (3,400 feet) in the Sea of Okhotsk. Only four bodies were recovered and the rig&rsquo;s four rescue boats were found, but with nobody in them. 
 
The Kolskaya had been drilling for Gazprom subsidiary Gazflot on the West Kamchatsky shelf since September before this tragedy in which it was capsized in a storm and sank in 20 minutes. 
 
The ICEM calls immediate attention to this oil rig disaster as another example of the perilous work that offshore oil workers must endure to meet world energy supplies.

ICEM Mourns Deaths of 53 Oil Workers off Russia

Archive