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Oil industry multinationals employ over 12,500 workers in the Meta Region of Colombia, mostly by outsourcing work to contractors. These precariously employed workers are subject to poverty wages, exhausting working hours including working 49 days consecutively, and other sub-standard working conditions, all in clear violation of Colombian law and international minimum standards. 
 
Colombian Senator Robledo has described the workstations of the Puerto Gait&aacute;n oil fields as more like concentration camps, with overcrowded tents, water shortages, malnutrition, unhygienic sanitation, and degrading treatment. Oil contractor Pacific Rubiales conducts a public disinformation campaign in which it describes trade union USO as &ldquo;armed criminals, forcing work stoppages&rdquo;. 
 
The fight back against this untenable situation began on 19 July with mass demonstrations and work stoppages in the Puerto Gait&aacute;n and Campo Rubiales installations. Protestors were met with violent police brutality. Key support and action has been supplied by ICEM affiliate Uni&oacute;n Sindical Obrera (USO), which traditionally has organised employees of Ecopetrol, Colombia&rsquo;s listed state-owned oil company. Along with Ecopetrol, the contractors employing the Meta region oil workers are providing services for Canadian-based Pacific Rubiales, and CEPCOLSA, a subsidiary of Spanish-based CEPSA. 
 
The explosion of mass protests moved the Colombian government, notoriously compliant in the repression of trade unions, to hold a tri-partite forum on 3 August, chaired by Vice-President Angelino Garz&oacute;n. The forum created nine working groups to assess the various issues over 15 days and reach conclusions leading to a settlement of the conflict. Unfortunately and predictably not one recommendation of the 15-day working groups has been enacted. Instead unions have been hit with fierce persecution. Contractors MR, Intricon, and Medell&iacute;n Electricians ended the employment of 70 workers who had been involved in the 19 July mobilisation. Another contractor Duflo SA instructed employees to cancel their union membership, under threat of dismissal. 
 
The failure to implement any of the roundtable recommendations was met with protest from the local Puerto Gait&aacute;n community, who blocked all major roads leading into the municipality on 19 August. The local community&rsquo;s discontent was then compounded when the oil companies began hiring new staff, without employing anybody locally. 
 
The Ministry of Social Protection claims to have made 162 visits to the region, but has never met with USO or with the outsourced workers, and has only met with high level company officials on a handful of occasions. In a clear indication of the government&rsquo;s allegiance, from September the administration of President Santos will deploy a military battalion to be stationed in the community, which will in fact have its military vehicles fuelled by the local multinationals. 
 
Pacific Rubiales posted annual profits of US$218 million in 2010. 
 
During this labour conflict, 4,000 workers joined USO en masse in the Meta region. In the past year, over 16,000 contract workers have joined USO throughout Colombia.

Colombian Oil Workers Fight Back Against Mass Persecution

The ArcelorMittal Health and Safety Committee, created in June 2008 in a common effort by the company and unions to improve safety in ArcelorMittal, issued its first report of activities on 15 August called &ldquo;Together for Safety.&rdquo; The number of fatalities has declined since 2008, but remains unacceptably high in the company. 
 
In 2008, ArcelorMittal management and unions signed an agreement to create a Joint Health and Safety Committee to address the high number of fatalities in the company&rsquo;s units. The Committee is composed of representatives of the IMF, the European Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation, the United Steelworkers (USW), CNM-CUT, a mining area representative, and company Health and Safety representatives. 
 
On 15 August, the Joint Global Health and Safety Committee launched its first report, concluding it has had a positive impact on the number of fatalities, which it ascribes to good workplace cooperation between trade unions and management. 
 
Since its inception, the Committee has created local health and safety committees and made site visits in priority company sites in Kazakhstan, Brazil, Mexico, Czech Republic, Romania, South Africa, USA, Argentina, and Ukraine. During these visits, local union members and management met with committee members to review the local safety situation and develop a health and safety action plan. The committee has then arranged follow-up visits. 
 
The committee concludes that it has had a positive impact on the number of accidents in the workplace, especially fatalities, and helped reduce risk faced by workers. It has also helped to improve communication and cooperation between unions and management, locally and globally. 
 
The committee, however, also notes an increase in the number of fatalities in the last year &ndash; from 36 in 2009 to 41 in 2010, which is considered to be unacceptably high by both unions and management. 
 
There remain issues of dispute between unions and management. The company has publicised a set of &ldquo;Golden Rules&rdquo; for safety and associated actions, including penalties for violations, while unions fear that this violations policy will impede safety by dissuading workers to report about minor accidents and near misses, thereby creating a lazy safety management culture. 
 
There is also joint criticism of inconsistent responses to requests for health and safety training, and a deficient dialogue on the subject at some business units and work sites. 
 
The parties remain committed to the committee&rsquo;s work, and see the joint report and accompanying union and management statements as evidence for a working dialogue and commitment to building a positive workplace culture. 
 
The report, &ldquo;Together for Safety,&rdquo; has been issued in English, and will be published also in French, Spanish, German, and Portuguese. 
 
For further details, contact Joint Committee co-chair Rob Johnston at <a href="void(0);/*1316099350265*/">rjohnston@imfmetal.org</a>.

Common Efforts Input to Workers’ Safety at ArcelorMittal

The initial findings from a global survey of ITGLWF affiliates show that there has been a sharp increase in the use of Contract and Agency Labour in the textile, garment and leather sectors. 
 
In Cambodia, ITGLWF affiliates the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers Democratic Union (C.CAWDU) and the National Independent Federation Textile Union of Cambodia (NIFTUC) believe that contract and agency workers now account for 41-45% of the garment workforce. They also report that workers on short term contracts are more likely to be forced to work overtime whilst also receiving remuneration and benefits of a standard lower than their permanent colleagues.&nbsp; The length of contracts has also changed dramatically in the last 12 months. Previously six-month contracts where the most common contract length for CAL workers however this has now decreased to three months, while some are as short as one month. 
 
In Kenya, there has been an even sharper increase in the use of contract and agency workers. In the last 12 months the Kenyan Shoe and Leather Workers Union (KSLWU) has recorded a 50% increase in the use of CAL.&nbsp; Joseph Bolo, General Secretary of the KSLWU outlines the union&rsquo;s reaction to these increases &ldquo;The footwear sector is now using outsourced firms to provide the bulk of their employees. We are already organising with such employers and have signed recognition agreements with two firms employing about 600 employees.&rdquo; 
 
In Faisalabad, Pakistan, two ITGLWF affiliates have reported a 37% increase in the use of contract labour in the last 12 months whilst in Malawi the Textile Garment Leather and Security Services Workers Union has recorded a 20% increase in the last year, nearly all of whom have been women. 
 
In fact, all respondents to date have indicated that it is women workers who make up the majority of contract workers. They also agree that contract workers are facing even greater levels of exploitation than permanent employees such as forced overtime, non-payment of the minimum wage, and no social security provision amongst other issues. 
 
Unions have also indicated that their ability to organise workers is fundamentally undermined by employers dismissing organised contract workers or failing to renew only the contracts of union members. Added to this the industry standard of intimidation and other forms of repressing freedom of association, unions report they are finding it extremely difficult to organise contract workers. 
 
The ITGLWF is continuing to collect data from affiliates in the Americas, Asia, and Africa on the use of Contract and Agency Labour and will publish the full findings in early 2012.

Sharp Spike in Use of Contract, Agency Labour in Textile, Garment, Leather Sectors

Globalisation is not just about how things are made, bought and sold. It's also about people and their rights. Precarious work is rapidly becoming the biggest obstacle to the respect of workers&rsquo; rights worldwide. Every day, more and more workers find themselves in precarious jobs where they have no right even to join a union, let alone to bargain collectively with their employer. 
 
On 7 October unions across the globe will participate in the World Day for Decent Work (WDDW) and will raise their voices to stop the devastating spread of precarious work, which has been identified as one of the primary focuses for action in 2011 by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC). 
 
Materials and details of the campaign are on the campaign site <a href="void(0);/*1316097811111*/">http://www.wddw.org</a>/. In previous years, affiliates of IMF, ICEM, and ITGLWF have mobilised strongly around this date and are urged to contribute to global pressure against precarious work by participating in this year&rsquo;s WDDW. 
 
It is the effective denial of precarious workers&rsquo; rights to join a union and bargain collectively that leaves them most vulnerable to exploitation. Some precarious workers are formally excluded from the coverage of national labour legislation, while others have rights on paper, but no rights in fact because laws are not enforced. And others are too afraid to exercise their rights because they could lose their jobs at any minute. 
 
The result is that millions of workers throughout the world and whole categories of employment are effectively being excluded from the reach of ILO Conventions 87 and 98. IMF, ICEM, and ITGLWF have been pushing for the ILO to do more both to identify exactly how precarious workers are being denied their rights to join a union and bargain collectively and to work with governments to remove those barriers. 
 
Now the Workers&rsquo; Bureau of the ILO (ACTRAV) is inviting unions from around the world to participate in an International Workers&rsquo; Symposium which will take place at the ILO headquarters in Geneva from 4-7 October 2011. The aims of the Symposium are to: 
<ul>
 <li>Examine economic and legal trends and developments in precarious work</li>
 <li>Discuss trade union strategies and responses</li>
 <li>Identify economic and social policies to combat precarious employment</li>
 <li>Identify innovative approaches to close regulatory gaps (through International Labour Standards).</li>
</ul>
 
Unions wishing to attend the Symposium should contact <a href="void(0);/*1316097928721*/">bodemer@ilo.org</a>.

Fighting Precarious Work Globally

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
French trade unionists employed at Lafarge last week began a hunger strike at the headquarters of the company in the Paris suburb of Saint-Cloud. Some 12 unionists from the company&rsquo;s Frangey cement plant near L&eacute;zinnes, L&rsquo;Yonne province, are protesting the company&rsquo;s decision to close that facility. (See <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4466-French-Unions-Conduct-4-Hour-Strike-at-Lafarge-Today">prior ICEM report</a> here).&nbsp; 
 
Meanwhile, CFDT and CGT &ndash; the unions representing the 74 workers at Frangey &ndash; have continued today their stop-work actions at 14 French cement plants of Lafarge. The strikes started last week and were expected to escalate today. 
 
Lafarge announced on 25 May at an extraordinary Works Council meeting that it would close the Frangey plant in three stages between August 2011 and the end of 2012. The company said over-capacity, the small market the Frangey plant serves, and environmental considerations. 
<img alt="" src="" width="250" height="161" />
6 June Strike at Frangey
On Saturday, 24 September, the hunger strikers were on day five of their protest outside the Lafarge offices. They include the mayor of one of the small towns in the Burgundy region of France. The strikers are grouped in five small tents and were visited Friday and Saturday by a number of French politicians, including parliamentarian Nicolas Dupont-Aignan from l&rsquo;Essone department. 
 
&ldquo;I cannot stand to see businesses close and workers thrown out like dogs,&rdquo; he said, refuting Lafarge&rsquo;s reasons for closure. 
 
The CFDT delegate taking part in the hunger strike, Florent Gaden, said strikers will remain in front of the company&rsquo;s offices until the world&rsquo;s largest cement producer rescinds the closure. 
 
The Frangey cement plant does operate with proper environmental certification. It produces 300,000 tons of cement annually and has a system of cogeneration that serves 50% of the plant&rsquo;s energy needs.

Hunger Strikers Protest Lafarge’s French Cement Plant Closing

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
Fraught by failed efforts in August to give contract workers their legitimate rights in the oilfields of south-central Colombia, Canada-based Pacific Rubiales Energy Corp. and the government of Juan Manuel Santos will get a second chance to rectify the low pay, horrid work conditions, and sub-standard working terms of contract workers. 
 
That came because ICEM affiliate Uni&oacute;n Sindical Obrera (USO) led 4,000 contract workers in Meta Department, Colombia, on a strike and blockade early last week that cut output of South America&rsquo;s third largest oil producer by 25%. The road blockades started on 18 September and continued until 21 September in rural areas near wells in the Rubiales and Quifa oilfields and in the city of Puerto Gaitan. 
<img alt="" src="" width="146" height="66" />
The strikes were violently broken up by 300 Colombia national riot police wielding batons and pitching tear gas. Police ordered a curfew for Puerto Gaitan. The strike, however, forced a tripartite agreement on 21 September between USO, the government&rsquo;s Interior minister, and Pacific Rubiales after six hours of talks. 
 
The protocol agreement calls for a permanent arbitration board to be set up in Bogot&aacute; to address the issues of irregular workers labouring in the oilfields. Those issues include regularisation of employment, better pay and working conditions, and the right to join a union and bargaining collectively. USO, once the representative of only workers at state-run Ecopetrol, has championed the rights of contract workers in Colombia&rsquo;s burgeoning oil sector. USO also is championing the re-hire of 800 contract workers who have been sacked in the recent past for trade union activity. 
<img alt="" src="" width="213" height="160" />
Last week&rsquo;s accord is not the first time that a tri-partite forum was set up to address and solve these issues. In August, Colombian Vice President Angelino Garz&oacute;n chaired a meeting in which nine tripartite working groups made recommendations for fairness and justice. None of the submitted recommendations by the working groups were accepted by contractors or by Ecopetrol, prompting last week&rsquo;s strike and blockades. 
 
USO is intent that poverty wages, exhausting work hours, and unlimited days of consecutive work disappear from the Colombian energy landscape. Several contractors along with Pacific Rubiales exploit irregular workers in the Llanos basin and other oil-rich basins of central and eastern Colombia. Pacific Rubiales, which owns Colombian oil company Meta Petroleum, operates oilfields in eastern Meta Department jointly with Ecopetrol and has been a magnet for labour unrest over the past several months. 
 
Two weeks ago, contract workers led by USO conducted similar strikes and blockades in Casanare department at the Corcel and Guatiquia upstream operations. Those facilities are run by another Canadian company, Petrominerales Ltd., which holds extensive Colombian production facilities both by itself and with Ecopetrol.

Colombia Oilfields: Government Must Now Address Contract Workers’ Issues

On 18-20 June 2012, a new Global Union Federation will see daylight at a Founding Congress in Copenhagen, Denmark. 
 
But what shall the new International be called? Now you have the chance to make a proposal. 
 
The organization will unite 50 million workers in more than 140 countries in mining, energy, metal, chemicals, paper, rubber, materials, textiles, garments, shoe, and leather industries. 
 
It aims to connect workers, fight for labour rights and build global solidarity across entire supply chains. It will be a strong counterweight to multinational companies and promote social justice, democracy and a sustainable future in the whole world. 
 
Such a powerful organization needs a fresh and identifiable name. Your contribution is welcome. Please send your proposal by e-mail to <a href="mailto:imf.icem.itglwf@gmail.com">imf.icem.itglwf@gmail.com</a> at the latest on 31 October 2011. 
 
A joint Executive Committee meeting of the IMF, ICEM, and ITGLWF will decide upon the name at the end of February 2012.

What Name for New Global Trade Union International?

<img src="" width="100" height="39" alt="" />
The 10th Quadrennial Delegates&rsquo; Conference of ICEM affiliate Ghana Mine Workers&rsquo; Union (GMWU) was held in late August in the Brong Ahafo regional capital of Sunyani in late August. GMWU leaders from the West African nation covered a wide range of issues including skills training, mining and sustainability, expatriation, and state investment and regulation in mining. 
 
The Delegates&rsquo; Conference also reiterated its support and continued campaign efforts for ratification and implementation by the government of Ghana of ILO Convention 176, the Safety and Health in Mines Convention. 
 
Meeting under the banner &ldquo;Blending the Interest of Stakeholders in the Mining Industry Towards Operational Excellence,&rdquo; delegates elected Kwarko Mensah Gyakari as National Chairman and Prince William Ankrah, ICEM&rsquo;s Sub-Sahara Africa Regional Vice President, as General Secretary. 
<img src="" width="150" height="174" alt="" />
General Secretary Prince William Ankrah
Also elected were Abdul Moomin Gbana, First Vice Chairman; Philomena Aba Sampson, Second Vice Chairperson; Eric Kwabena Gyimah, Deputy General Secretary; Fred Aniagyei, First National Trustee; James Ackah, Second National Trustee; and William Bart Plange, National Chaplain. 
 
GMWU also elected an 11-member Finance Committee. All office bearers, including Finance Committee members, were sworn in Ghana Trades Union Congress General Secretary Kofi Asamoah. 
 
The GMWU expressed displeasure with the recent shedding by the government of its 10% stake in certain gold mining companies. With gold extraction a major component in the nation&rsquo;s economy, the union pledged to combine with civil society groups to reduce foreign capital in favour of Ghana private of public investment in the major mining conglomerates. 
 
The union sided with Finance Minister Kwabena Duffuor who has protested Ghana&rsquo;s divestiture of 10% stakes in Newmont Gold&rsquo;s Ahafo and Akyem projects, Noble Mineral&rsquo;s Bibiano project, and AngloGold Ashanti development at Obuasi, Iduaprim, and Teberebie. Removal of such state involvement runs contrary to the Mining law of 1986 (PNDC Law 153) and the Minerals and Mining Act 20. 
 
GMWU also made it clear to reporters covering the Conference that with the current high price of gold, now is the time to introduce a windfall tax on the commodity. 
 
General Secretary Prince Ankrah did commend the government for putting in place the Ghana Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (GEITI), but urged the government to adequately fund the body in order to carry out its mission. 
 
A major topic at the Delegates&rsquo; Conference regarded remuneration in mining, and the fact that inequality exists between what is paid expatriates and Ghanaian nationals who are in the same job grades and possess the same skills. 
 
On sustainability, GMWU again expressed displeasure that the major mining houses have allowed a gulf to exist between indigenous communities and their leaders. Ankrah said mining companies in general had failed to honour past commitments regarding infrastructure, and many are non-compliant with environmental standards. 
 
He also criticized mining companies for failing to take into account the input of workers regarding health and safety. 
 
The Delegates&rsquo; Conference pledged that the GMWU would continue to engage with the Ghana Chamber of Mines and its industry captains to ensure that qualified Ghanaians are given opportunities and skills development to take up senior positions in the mining sector.

Ghana Mine Workers Conducts Successful Delegates’ Conference

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
Union members of ICEM North American affiliate United Steelworkers (USW) began a strike on 1 September against Anchor Glass Container Corp. at nine US plants. The 140 USW-represented workers are mould makers at Anchor, the US&rsquo;s third largest glass bottle and container manufacturer behind Owens-Illinois and Saint-Gobain Containers. 
 
Workers went on strike immediately after expiration of a prior labour agreement due to regressive and ill-willed contract proposals by the Tampa, Florida-based company. Specifically, Anchor seeks to create a two-tiered health care and pension plan, as well as more excessive out-of-pocket health care costs borne by workers. Wages are also an issue in the dispute. 
<img alt="" src="" width="157" height="136" />
Photo: Mike Perleberg-Eagle 99.3
Privately-held Anchor issued a threatening statement at the outset of the strike saying it would continue glass-bottle mould work without the USW members. The company used high US unemployment and economic uncertainty as a warning against the strike. 
 
Anchor produces glass for the beverage and foods industries. The largest plant that has been hit by the USW industrial action is in Zanesville, Ohio, where 65 workers have struck due to the company&rsquo;s radical rollback proposals. Other Anchor glass plants where work stoppages are in effect include Jacksonville, Florida; Warner Robins, Georgia; Shakopee, Minnesota; Salem, New Jersey, Elmira Heights, New York; Henryetta, Oklahoma; and Lawrenceburg and Winchester, Indiana. 
 
USW negotiators reached a <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/1109.ross%20usw%20agreement.pdf">settlement with Ross International</a> on 31 August, achieving wage gains for each year in a three-year agreement, protecting pensions and preventing a two-tier benefit plan for new hires. Among other improvements achieved was enhanced language on subcontracting at the company.&nbsp;

USW Glass Workers at Anchor Begin Strike Action

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
Building on their first meeting in 2010, just prior to the historic May Day celebrations in Taksim Square, global unions conducted the second meeting of this kind on defending trade union rights in Turkey. Around sixty participants from centers and Turkish affiliates of ITUC, CGU, ICEM, ITF, IUF, PSI, IMF, BWI, ITGLWF and UNI came together in Istanbul at the workshop held on 8-9 September. The meeting also welcomed international NGOs such as Labourstart and Amnesty International who consistently support labour rights in Turkey. The ICEM was present at the workshop through its Director of Industry and Corporate Affairs Kemal &Ouml;zkan as well as its affiliates Tes-Is, Petrol-Is, Belediye-Is, Lastik-Is, Kristal-Is, Cimse-Is, Sel&uuml;loz-Is and T&uuml;mka-Is. 
 
The workshop coincided with a critical time, with Turkish trade union legislation under discussions for modification with a view to harmonise it in line with international standards and norms. Turkey was recently criticised by the International Labour Organization over the lack of genuine union rights in the country. &Uuml;zeyir Ataman, Director of the Collective Bargaining Department of ICEM&rsquo;s affiliate Lastik-Is, who is a part of a working group formed by the government to handle possible modifications, updated the workshop participants in a context of the history of Turkish labour legislation. 
 
Participants were informed of individual organising efforts of Turkish unions in cooperation and solidarity with respective global union federations. Hakan Ko&ccedil;ak, Director of the Organizing Department of ICEM affiliate Petrol-Is, presented his union&rsquo;s widely-publicised national level organizing campaign as well as the ongoing organising drive at Standard Profil with the contribution of the ICEM. The other examples showed the value of solidarity between individual unions and their global union federations in getting success in organising and recognition. 
 
The participants discussed international instruments in boosting union organising campaigns. Particular attention was given to global unions&rsquo; immediate actions such as protest letters, coordinating global solidarity and visits of picket lines. Opportunities in using the newly revised OECD guidelines, ILO tools as well as international courts were also reviewed. 
<img alt="" src="" width="259" height="160" />
ICEM's Kemal &Ouml;zkan addresses press conference
Towards the end of the workshop a press conference was organized with the participation of television and newspaper journalists. In a joint press release the global unions informed the Turkish media about the objectives and content of the workshop. Read out by Ron Oswald, General Secretary of ICEM&rsquo;s sister organisation IUF, the press release stressed that &ldquo;Turkish unions, union leaders from Turkey and representatives of those international bodies present at this meeting have pledged to work together actively and in a sustained and permanent way to support workers' efforts to access those universal rights and to have them universally accepted and respected in Turkey.&rdquo; 
 
The participants were later divided into two groups, as Turkish unions and global union federations to discuss ways to build and promote joint work in Turkey as a base for summary, conclusions and way forward from the workshop. Jim Baker, Coordinator of the Council of Global Unions, summed up discussions and conclusions of the workshop with a way forward. Baker underlined consensus on &ldquo;common action by global unions with their Turkish affiliates and among themselves to improve the quality and increase the effect of practical and concrete solidarity action to strengthen workers and their legitimate, democratic trade unions.&rdquo; 
 
&ldquo;Turkey is a highly critical place in the activities of all global unions, this country is a priority for the whole union movement&rdquo; said ICEM&rsquo;s Kemal &Ouml;zkan. &ldquo;The two-day workshop reaffirmed our commitment to reinforce solidarity with the Turkish trade union movement.&rdquo;

Global Unions Unite in Defending Trade Union Rights in Turkey

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