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="100" height="39" alt="" />
As reported in ICEM InBrief No. 152, ICEM&rsquo;s Norwegian affiliated union, Industri Energi (IE), has established a trade union rights award in the name of the late trade unionist, Arthur Svensson. The award, to come with a cash prize, will be given to a person or organization for outstanding contributions for promoting trade union rights and the strengthening of trade unionism on the international and national levels. 
 
Deadline for nominations for this initial Arthur Svensson International Award for Trade Union Rights is 1 May 2010. The announcement of the winner will be made on 11 October 2010. 

<img alt="" src="" width="150" height="168" />
Arthur Svensson
The award comes with a prize of NOK 500,000, equal to &euro;61,016 or US$82,784. ICEM Vice President Liv Undheim (also Vice President of IE) is coordinating the award. Nominations can be sent to her at <a href="mailto:liv.undheim@industrienergi.no">liv.undheim@industrienergi.no</a>, or faxed to +47 23 06 1360. 
 
Arthur Svensson was a long-time leader of Norsk Kjemisk Forbund, the Norwegian Chemical Workers&rsquo; Association, which merged with NOPEF on 4 September 2006 to form IE. Svensson died in 2008, but left a legacy in Norway and beyond as a man who promoted global peace, disarmament, and a nuclear weapons-free world. 
 
He was also a driving force from his leadership positions of Norsk Kjemisk Forbund in Norwegian environment law, and a strong proponent of clean energy to drive clean industries. But first and foremost, he was a dedicated trade unionist, maintaining membership in LO-Norway for 61 years, the final 48 of those years with the Chemical Workers. 
 
Announcement of the award can be found here.

1 May Deadline Approaching Fast, Arthur Svensson Labour Rights Award

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
Colombian mining union Sintramienergetica are opposing the purchase of one of Colombia&rsquo;s most valuable gold properties, by Canadian company Medoro Resources Ltd. The three Frontino gold mines were left to the workers by the previous owner, with the decision to sell being taken with no consultation of the union. 
 
Frontino miners are currently owed back dates pension payments, and Medoro has offered to make these payments following the purchase of the mines. This would be insignificant for Sintramienergetica, and local people of the region who say they are the rightful owners. 

<img alt="" src="" width="250" height="115" />
&quot;A coalition consisting of the workers, owners, and creditors of Frontino Gold Mines, along with the Segovia City Council and the people of the region, strongly and unanimously reject the attempts by Medoro Resources to take what is rightfully and legally ours, and demand that our voices be heard and that the law be respected,&quot; said Union leader Dairo Alberto Rua. 
 
A court-appointed liquidator in Colombia agreed to sell the properties to Toronto-based Medoro Resources Ltd. for about US$200-million, a fraction of the value of the mines, according to the union. The Colombian government has declared the sale legal and binding. Hernan Martinez Torres, Colombia&rsquo;s Minister of Mining publically supports the sale. 
 
Workers are also furious after the union was described by former Medoro board member Serafino Iacono as a guerilla or paramilitary group. Medoro plans to sell half of Frontino to a company controlled by Mr. Iacono. 
 
Earlier this year, Medoro bought the Mineros Nacionales gold mine located in Zona Baja, in Colombia&rsquo;s Marmato gold district, near Frontino. 
 
The Frontino mines, among Colombia's largest gold producers, are located in the department of Antioquia, around 200kms from department capital Medellin. The mines have been running for over 150 years. 
 
In 2009, Colombia produced 1.57 million ounces of gold with that figure predicted to double over the next year.

Colombian Gold Miners Protest Sale of Mines

<img src="" width="100" height="39" alt="" />
ICEM Presidium member Angeline Chitambo was re-elected President of the Zimbabwe Energy Workers' Union (ZEWU) in a fractious Congress recently in Masvingo, Zimbabwe. After two tied ballots, she bested ZEWU Vice President Joseph Sibanda in a third ballot, 36-30. 
 
Chitambo now begins her second three-year term as leader of ZEWU. She is credited with giving an international profile to the union, as well as bringing financial stability to a union operating inside a troubled country with an unenviable and unfavourable economic environment. 
 
&quot;For the first time in many years, (ZEWU) has managed to acquire assets and this is commendable,&quot; said one of the union's founders, Misheck Kanyarare. 

<img alt="" src="" width="260" height="195" />
Angeline Chitambo, right
Angeline Chitambo was elected as an ICEM Vice President in 2007 as one of two women representatives to the Presidium. 
 
ICEM President Senzeni Zokwana, also President of South Africa's National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), attended the ZEWU Congress, as did NUM Health and Safety Chairman Peter Bailey. Also in attendance was Rayford Mbulu, ICEM Sub-Saharan Africa Regional Vice President, who leads the Mineworkers' Union of Zambia (MUZ). 
 
ZEWU, one of the strongest trade union affiliates inside the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions, has several important bargains ongoing in 2010, including the Zimbabwe Electric Service Authority, other electric power operators, and a petroleum company called Petrozimline.

Angeline Chitambo Wins Contested Election in Zimbabwe

<img src="" width="100" height="39" alt="" />
The latest meeting of the Asia-Pacific Electric Power Industry Network took place in Seoul, South Korea, 5-6 April, 2010. Hosted by President Kim, Joo-young, of the ICEM-affiliated Korean National Energy Workers Union (KNEWU) the meeting brought together over 20 delegates from ICEM affiliated trade unions representing workers in the Electric Power Industry from, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mongolia, Taiwan (Chinese Taipei) and Thailand as well as observer delegations from both the People's Republic of China and Vietnam. The Network meeting, which has now become an annual event, was supported by FES. 
 
After an opening session which included welcome speeches from the Director of the local FES office, Dr. Kamppeter and President Kim, the meeting unanimously elected, Seiichi Taneoka, the new President of the Japan Electric Power Confederation (Denryoku-Soren) as Chairperson of the Network. Denryoku-Soren has been an essential supporter of the Network since its foundation. 

<img src="" width="323" height="211" alt="" />
ICEM Energy Officer, Jim Catterson, gave a detailed overview of the industry globally and recent ICEM work, and following presentations on the Korean Labour situation from a representative of the Ministry of Labour, together with an introduction on Electric power in Korea by a representative of the national electric power company, Kepco, delegates shared information on their own national situations with the discussions on the first day focussed on the industry and sustainable development. All delegations made detailed reports which supplemented written reports and the results of a questionnaire which had been circulated in advance of the meeting. 
 
Delegates were particularly interested to hear the reports from Ms. Zhang Mengmeng, the head of the delegation, from the Peoples Republic of China and Vice-Chairperson of the National Committee of the Chinese Energy and Chemical Workers' Union (ACFTU) and that of Brother. Tran Van Ngoc, President of the National Electricity Union, (VGCL) Vietnam. Both presentations emphasised their organisations wishes to work more closely with ICEM in the future in this globalised industry. 
 
Delegates left the conference room for proceedings on the second day to see the industry and trade union organisation at first hand in Seoul. The day's activities began with a meeting with the President of the KNEWU Seoul branch, Brother Kap-Soo Kang, who after a presentation on the history of the union branch and its present activities showed delegates the control room from which all electric power provision to Central and Southern Seoul was coordinated. After a question and answer session, delegates then visited a nearby centre of the Distribution Automation System (DAS) of KEPCO. DAS utilises recent advances in Information Technology and is an integrated control system operating the entire electric distribution system. It allows the distribution control center to remotely monitor and operate the automated switch on the distribution lines, that detect fault locations, and automatically collect operation data. A training simulator was shown to the delegation and a simulated major fault demonstrated. 
 
A detailed report on the meetings, together with an overview of the conclusions will be prepared and, together with the various national reports, loaded to the ICEM website. Delegates resolved that the 2011 meeting will take place in Thailand, hosted by our affiliate there EGAT-LU. ICEM staff attending the meeting were Jim Catterson, Energy Officer, Phee, Jungsun, Asia Pacific Regional Contact Person and locally based project coordinator, Yoon, Hyowon.

ICEM Asia-Pacific Electric Power Industry Network Meeting

<img src="" width="100" height="39" alt="" />
ICEM was represented by Jim Catterson at the 20th Anniversary Congress of this important affiliated trade union, held in Sibiu Romania 23 March, 2010. The Congress was attended by around 400 delegates. 
 
Following a report on delegates present, voting rights, and total votes available, the Congress opened with an excellent, professionally produced film of the first 20 years of the union, covering its foundation, activities and the role it has played internationally within both ICEM and EMCEF. International guests included a delegation from our Austrian affiliated union, PRO.GE., Romanian petroleum company, Industri Energi of Norway and the MOL trade union in Hungary. 
 
Petrom is now 51% owned by the Austrian headquartered multinational company, OMV. 

<img src="" width="233" height="113" alt="" />
Union President Liviu Luca 4th from the left
The Congress approved unanimously a detailed document on activities, past and proposed, and then accounts and a budget for the immediate future were approved. 
 
Two major issues at the Congress were firstly the fact that privatisation had led to the situation that workplace numbers have been under constant pressure since the OMV investment, with the union losing members as a result. 
 
Secondly Petrom, and other ICEM affiliated trade unions in Romania, are under strong attack by the government in an attempt to reduce both their power and their independence. ICEM is in discussion with our affiliates in the country, including Petrom, as to the best way to support their struggle internationally.

20th Anniversary Congress of Federatia Sindicatelor Libere Independente Petrom

<img alt="" src="" width="40" height="40" />
In this issue of the ICEM HIV/AIDS newsletter, we introduce the revised ICEM HIV/AIDS website and report on the G8 &ldquo;Days of Action,&rdquo; and how the Zimbabwe energy sector deals with HIV/AIDS.
The ICEM Calls on its Affiliates to Contribute to this e-bulletin 
 
ICEM affiliates are engaged in a wide range of HIV/AIDS activities. To spread the information on new agreements, awareness, and prevention campaigns, and educational activities, affiliates and project coordinators are invited to send news and information to <a href="mailto:hiv.aids@icem.org">hiv.aids@icem.org</a>. Any feedback on the format and contents of the e-bulletin is also welcome. 

<img alt="" src="" width="40" height="40" />
ICEM HIV/AIDS Website Revamped 
 
The ICEM HIV/AIDS website has seen a major overhaul in the past few weeks. A key article on how the ICEM responds to HIV and AIDS reports on the achievements of ICEM&rsquo;s HIV/AIDS work. It also gives a brief description of all projects in cooperation with Solidarity Support Organisations and ICEM affiliates. 
 
As in the past, a link is provided to important HIV/AIDS websites, such as ILO/AIDS, UNAIDS, the Global Fund and others with updated information on these organisations. 
 
A new and especially practical feature on the link to useful materials are examples of an HIV/AIDS Policy for unions and an HIV/AIDS Workplace Policy. These were initially developed in the LO/FTF-sponsored HIV/AIDS project for the mining sector in Ethiopia. Generic versions enable affiliates to draft their own policy and negotiate a comprehensive workplace policy with companies. 
 
Also useful for training activities are four new PowerPoint presentations on Basic Facts about HIV/AIDS, on HIV/AIDS and the Workplace, on Elements of an HIV/AIDS Workplace Policy, and on Negotiating on HIV/AIDS. 
 
A key feature of the website is the inclusion of this e-bulletin. Directly available are also the two major ICEM publications: The HIV/AIDS Training Manual for Collective Bargaining and the Guide on HIV/AIDS Resources and Funding. 
 
Discover the revised ICEM HIV/AIDS website by going to <a href="http://www.icem.org">www.icem.org</a> and click on HIV/AIDS! Please give us your feedback. 
<img alt="" src="" width="40" height="40" />
African, Canadian Unions Plan &lsquo;Days of Action&rsquo; on AIDS for G8 
 
Trade unions throughout Africa and in Canada will join forces in a week of action, 21 &ndash; 27 March, to lobby the G8 and G20 for the provision of universal access to HIV and AIDS prevention, treatment, and care. The action is timed to precede a meeting of the foreign ministers of the G8 and G20 countries in Ottawa, 29 &ndash; 30 March. 
 
National trade union centres in Africa will deliver messages to the Canadian embassies in their country calling on the Canadian Prime Minister to play a leading role in convincing his fellow leaders to take quick and decisive action on HIV and AIDS. As the host country, Canada will preside over the G8 Summit and will co-host with South Korea the G20 Summit in June. 
 
It may be recalled that 2010 is the target year for the G8 commitment to achieving universal access to HIV prevention, treatment and care made in 2005, and for achieving the second target of Millennium Development Goal 6, universal access to treatment. 
 
(Source: Press Release of the Canadian Labour Congress, 23 February) 

<img alt="" src="" width="40" height="40" />
The 2010 Universal Access Promise 
 
Trade union HIV/AIDS activists need not be reminded that 2010 marks the year when the goal of universal access to HIV prevention, treatment and care is to be achieved. But just how much progress has been made, and more importantly, how much remains to be done may not be as well known. 
 
To learn more about the extent of the unfinished business visit the UNAIDS website at <a href="http://www.unaids.org">www.unaids.org</a> where you can find an interactive map which shows the extent of the work that remains to be done. 
 
A key statistic is central to the union response: 7,400 people become infected with HIV every day and the majority of these people are of working age. Unfortunately, workplace-based prevention strategies often have a low priority in national strategies where prevention itself is often a low priority compared to treatment. When for every three people put on antiretroviral treatment, there are five new infections, the case for prevention is clear. This calls for strong union advocacy efforts this year calling on world leaders to deliver on their commitment for universal access so that workers and their families do not continue to bear the brunt of HIV infections. 
 
(Source: Contribution from Robert E. Lovelace, GUAP HIV/AIDS Consultant, Washington) 
<img alt="" src="" width="40" height="40" />
South Africa: Younger Teachers more open about HIV 
 
Younger teachers in South Africa are taking the lead in talking to students about HIV but are not practicing what they preach, according to a study by the University of KwaZulu-Natal. 
 
Younger educators, who feel that they are more informed about HIV and less inclined to stigmatise infected people, are also more likely than their older colleagues to talk to students about HIV-related issues because they are closer in age and because they are more likely to know someone living with HIV. 
 
The study, which surveyed 34 schools in the Free State province, also found that younger teachers were not immune from taking chances with their own health and that of their partners. Almost 50% of the teachers did not know their HIV status and most said they did not use condoms. 
 
(Source: IRIN PlusNews, global HIV/AIDS news and analysis, 9 February at <a href="http://www.plusnews.org">www.plusnews.org</a>) 
<img alt="" src="" width="40" height="40" />
Zimbabwe: HIV/AIDS Policy for the Energy and Textile Sectors 
 
Employers&rsquo; and workers' representatives in the energy and textile sectors have come up with new policies in an attempt to foster debate around HIV/AIDS at the workplace. The unions want to make the debate part of the &quot;boardroom agenda&quot; at executive meetings. The project is supported by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the Swedish International Development Agency (Sida). 
 
To reduce employment-related stigma and discrimination against persons living with HIV and AIDS, employers and unions are embarking on a campaign to raise awareness and getting commitment at the highest corporate level, in a programme dubbed, &quot;Making HIV and AIDS a Boardroom Agenda.&quot; Successful and comprehensive HIV and AIDS intervention strategies will only happen provided there is board buy in and support. 
 
Zimbabwe Energy Workers' Union (ZEWU) President, Angeline Chitambo, said there was need for the government and employers to take issues of HIV/AIDS more seriously. &quot;HIV is now a topical workplace issue which cannot be ignored. We want the government and employers implement what the policy says,&quot; said Chitambo, who is also an ICEM Vice President. 
 
(Source: Zimbabwe Standard, Harare, 27 February) 

<img alt="" src="" width="40" height="40" />
Labour Advocacy Toolkit now Available 
 
The Labour Advocacy Toolkit is now available on the website of the World AIDS Campaign (WAC) <a href="http://www.worldaidscampaign.org">www.worldaidscampaign.org</a> under Constituencies / Labour. 
 
The ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin reported on the development of the Toolkit in its issue No. 50 of November 2009. The toolkit, with the subtitle, &ldquo;Organising to Achieve Universal Access to HIV Prevention, Treatment, Care and Support,&rdquo; can help trade union AIDS activists assess whether key indicators for the national AIDS response meet the needs of the working people, determine where unionists are positioned in national discussions about AIDS, and suggest how they can build campaigns to make sure that universal access is achieved. 
 
Trade unions are among the best positioned mass organisations at country level to create change. This is no less true when it comes to union mobilising the response to HIV and AIDS. This Toolkit is for those who have not run campaigns on HIV and AIDS as well as for more experienced campaigners looking for new campaign tools. 
<img alt="" src="" width="40" height="40" />
News from Global Unions 
 
In its most recent issues of the fortnightly HIV/AIDS updates of January and February, the International Transport Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITF) at <a href="http://www.itf.org.uk">www.itf.org.uk</a>) reports on awareness campaigns for the maritime sector in India. In Ukraine, a campaign to promote safe sex was organised at the Odessa National Maritime Academy, which has about 4,000 students. Ukraine is experiencing one of the fastest growing HIV epidemics in the world with a prevalence rate of 1.6%. 
 
An extensive article deals with the anti-gay legislation in Uganda. The proposed Anti-Homosexuality Bill would, if enacted, broaden the criminalisation of homosexuality by introducing the death penalty for people who have previous convictions, are HIV positive, or engage in same-sex acts with people under 18 years of age. 

<img alt="" src="" width="40" height="40" />
This ICEM HIV-AIDS Newsletter &ndash; How to Subscribe 
 
To subscribe to the e-bulletin, send an email to <a href="mailto:press@icem.org">press@icem.org</a>. Please put &ldquo;subscribe ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin&rdquo; in the subject line.

ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin - No. 54, March 2010

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="100" />
A relentless, two-year campaign by ICEM US affiliate, the Utility Workers Union of America (UWUA), against Covanta gave 140 workers in the state of Massachusetts their first labour agreement last week. The collective agreement, actually two contracts with one giving workers huge retroactive backpay and bonus awards, punctuates a capitulation by the American waste-to-energy company in resisting full workers&rsquo; rights following a successful organizing drive. 
 
That recruitment drive by UWUA Local 369 at an incinerator in Rochester, Massachusetts, that burns solid waste for conversion to electricity occurred in May 2008. Following the union vote, conducted by the US labour board, Covanta did what so many American companies do following union certification; engage in &ldquo;surface bargaining,&rdquo; never intending to reach a first labour agreement, and they punish workers for voting union by withholding scheduled pay gains.
<img alt="" src="" width="216" height="160" />
Under US labour statute, after a one-year period has elapsed from the certification vote, workers have an option to de-authorise the union as bargaining representative. 
 
But at Covanta in Massachusetts, the UWUA would have none of it. The Washington, DC-based union began an unyielding campaign that blocked the publicly-traded Covanta from expanding its waste-to-energy business into Canada, Ireland, the UK, and the Netherlands. That meant engaging trade unions, civic organizations, and environmental groups as Covanta sought to gain municipal contracts to collect trash and the necessary permits to built incinerations in those countries in order to sell power to electric grids. 
 
UWUA impeded Covanta both at home and abroad by highlighting the company&rsquo;s negligent health and safety ledger, its environmental record, and its appalling labour relations conduct, which included serious and malicious breaches of US labour law (see earlier ICEM dispatches <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/3694-UWUA-Wins-US$1-Million-Judgment-for-Covanta-Workers-">here</a>, <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/3532-US-Labour-Board-Issues-Stern-Injunctive-Relief-against-Covanta">here</a>, and <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/3039-Covanta-Energy-Violates-US-Labour-Law">here</a>).&nbsp; 
 
The end result was a three-year collective agreement, plus a separate contract granting workers sizeable backpay and bonus payments that had been withheld. Local 369 members at Covanta&rsquo;s SEMASS facility voted to accept the pair of agreements by a wide margin on 22 April. The pay and other gains are exceptional, and the working agreement now in place contains the best features of US union contracts. 
 
The backdated bonus and pay accord gives the 140 workers a retroactive wage increase of 3% to early 2009; an incentive bonus of 8.1% of total wages for 2008; an annual wage increases backdated to 1 January 2010 of 2.7%; and a further missed incentive bonus of 4.85% of total wages for 2009. Added up, these retroactive gains average US$17,000 per worker. 
 
And on top of that, comes the three-year pay, bonus, and other union protection items took effect 14 April 2010. That includes a 2.8% increase each year, a ratification bonus of US$1,250 per worker, additional incentive bonuses of up to 7% in each year of the contract, as well as new safety and health protections, including a medical surveillance programme to monitor workers&rsquo; blood levels from handling hazardous materials, and limits on sub-contracting.
<img alt="" src="" width="200" height="133" />
UWUA President D. Michael Langford&nbsp;
The ICEM considers UWUA&rsquo;s campaign and the end result of the Local 369-Covanta contract exemplary and an inspiring example inside America on how best to fight a recalcitrant employer attempting to deny its employees their lawful rights. In congratulating UWUA President D. Michael Langford, General Secretary Manfred Warda termed the initial labour agreement an excellent one that &ldquo;all UWUA members &ndash; in fact, all union members in America &ndash; can be justly proud of.&rdquo; (See the full letter <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/33%20Letter%20to%20UWUA%20Presiden%20-%20Michael%20Langford.pdf">here</a>.) 
 
In a joint release issued by UWUA Local 369 and Covanta, Local 369 President Gary Sullivan stated, &ldquo;Our UWUA Bargaining Committee has done an outstanding job pressing for a fair and just contract. We are hopeful this is the first step to a productive relationship with Covanta.&rdquo;

US Affiliate UWUA Achieves Exceptional First Contract with Covanta

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
from International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation website 
The ILO is urging the Mexican government to resolve its dispute with the National Miners' and Metalworkers' Union of Mexico (SNTMMSRM) and considers the government has acted in a way that is incompatible with ILO Convention No. 87 on Freedom of Association. 
 
The ILO released on 26 March the interim recommendations of its Committee of Freedom of Association to the Mexican government in response to a complaint on interference in union autonomy lodged by the SNTMMSRM and the International Metalworkers' Federation (IMF) in March 2006, ILO Case No. 2478. 

<img alt="" src="" width="120" height="145" />
The complaint documents how Napole&oacute;n G&oacute;mez Urrutia, the democratically elected general secretary of SNTMMSRM, was forcefully removed from his position after speaking out against the Mexican government and mining company in response to a tragic mine accident in Pasta de Conchos that left 65 miners dead, many of them members of the union. The complaint also documents how the government illegally intervened in independent union activities, forced the dismissal of union leadership, seized union assets, and made government appointments to union elected positions. 
 
In subsequent submissions on Case No. 2478, the union and IMF has also documented ongoing interference and acts of violence by Grupo M&eacute;xico and the Mexican government, including using the national army and federal police to break strikes, kill workers, and arrest union leaders fighting for safer working conditions in Grupo M&eacute;xico-owned mines. 
 
In its recommendations to the ILO Governing Body, the Committee on Freedom of Association states that it &ldquo;considers that the labour authorities engaged in conduct that is incompatible with Article 3 of Convention No. 87, which established the right of workers to elect their representatives in full freedom.&rdquo; 
&ldquo;The Committee deplores the excessive length of the judicial procedures relating to various aspects of the case and the grave prejudice that this has caused to the complainant union&rdquo; and &ldquo;urges for a rapid conclusion of the judicial procedures.&rdquo; 

<img alt="" src="" width="98" height="91" />
The committee requests addition information from the government on several points and in particular on the question of the death of worker Reynaldo Hern&aacute;ndez Gonz&aacute;lez, the use of force by public security forces at the Cananea mine, continuing arrest warrants, freezing of union accounts, threats and acts of violence, including the death and injury of trade unionists. 
 
The Committee calls on all the parties concerned to continue to make efforts within the existing round of negotiations to resolve the collective dispute to which this case results. 
 
A copy of the report is published on the ILO website under Mexico, Freedom of Association Cases, and can be found <a href="http://www.ilo.org/ilolex/english/newcountryframeE.htm ">here</a>.

ILO Backs Los Mineros, Cites Mexican Government with Convention 87 Interference

<img src="" width="100" height="39" alt="" />
The ICEM North American affiliate, Utility Workers Union of America (UWUA), continues to win legal victories for 140 Massachusetts workers of Covanta, a private sector waste-to-energy company specializing in public solid-waste contracts that burns the waste for creation of electric energy. 
 
On 26 March, an administrative law judge of the US National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruled that the company owes the 140 workers nearly US$1 million for withholding wage increases and bonuses in retaliation for staff exercising their lawful right to join the UWUA in May 2008. 
 
The 49-page ruling requires Covanta to repay to workers the money illegally withheld, plus interest, and to bargain with UWUA Local 369 a first collective agreement at a Rochester, Massachusetts, incinerator before it makes any unilateral workplace changes. 
 
The company&rsquo;s illegal conduct caused workers to lose between 8% and 11% of their annual income in 2009. 

<img alt="" src="" width="216" height="160" />
The judge&rsquo;s ruling involves the administrative phase of numerous workplace charges brought by the union against Covanta&rsquo;s unfair labour practices following the NLRB-conducted union authorization vote nearly two years ago. Late in 2009, the labour agency invoked its powers under US labour law to petition a federal court for injunctive relief against Covanta for labour law violations. 
 
The NLRB invokes Section 10(j) of the labour code only rarely, and only when it deems cases are egregious enough to warrant federal court intervention. The injunction petition is currently pending before a federal court in Boston. 
 
Covanta is likely to appeal the administrative law judge&rsquo;s ruling to the five-member NLRB, but the recent ruling should lend credence before the federal court. 
 
We&rsquo;ve &ldquo;long known that Covanta viciously punished these workers because they organized and demanded dignity and a voice in the workplace,&rdquo; said Local 369 President Gary Sullivan. &ldquo;This ruling lets the rest of the world know that, without question, Covanta broke the law and will have to put things right.&rdquo; 
 
The company operates some 40 solid waste facilities in the US. As Covanta has tried to expand its waste-to-energy business into the UK, Ireland, the Netherlands, and Canada, the ICEM has assisted the UWUA to illuminate the American company&rsquo;s work rights violations, as well as health/safety infractions and certain environmental practices before communities and trade unions in those countries. 
 
For more information on the UWUA&rsquo;s Campaign for Justice at Covanta, visit the campaign website <a href="http://www.cjcw.org/ ">here</a>.

UWUA Wins US$1 Million Judgment for Covanta Workers

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
On the basis of a March 2008 provision mutually agreed to between ICEM and French-based specialty chemicals company Rhodia in a Global Framework Agreement (GFA), a joint Global Safety Forum was created in order to bring higher health and safety standards into the company for its 15,000 worldwide employees. 
 
Having agreed to an addendum to clarify terms and conditions of the global forum, ICEM and Rhodia recently signed and officially established the body. 
 
It will consist of nine members, three appointed from Rhodia Group&rsquo;s general management, two from the ICEM Secretariat, and one Rhodia employee each from the company&rsquo;s four operational zones (Asia, Europe, Latin America, and North America), to be selected by the ICEM. 
<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="130" />&nbsp;&nbsp; <img alt="" src="" width="99" height="149" />
Kemal &Ouml;zkan, Brian Kohler
The ICEM representatives will be Kemal &Ouml;zkan, Rubber and Chemicals Officer, and Brian Kohler, Health, Safety, and Sustainability Officer. Following consultation with ICEM affiliates in the four regions, the regional representatives include Maurice Tritsch from France, Scott Harrington from the US, Thiago dos Reis Martins from Brazil, and Jie Dong from China. 
 
The addendum defines the role of the Global Safety Forum as a monitor for &ldquo;the safety situation within the Group.&rdquo; The forum is to meet at least once yearly, with each annual meeting to be held at a Rhodia plant chosen by the nine-member committee. With a commitment to a continuous progress approach to health and safety, the forum shall &ldquo;issue observations and recommendations for improvement.&rdquo; 
 
Having realised a first-ever joint activity on health and safety at Rhodia&rsquo;s subsidiary in Freiburg, Germany, on 19 June 2009, the Global Safety Forum will have its first official meeting in the second half of 2010. 
 
View this addendum to the ICEM-Rhodia GFA <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/1004.Rhodia.Agreement.pdf">here</a>.

Formal Safety Forum Adopted Inside Rhodia Global Agreement

Archive