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Trade unions representing workers in the world's energy and water utilities want to maintain strong social control over these basic public services. The ongoing revolution in electricity, gas and water sectors is frequently leading to major job losses, higher prices, problems with quality of services, and attacks on union rights. Proper regulation and full involvement of unions and other interest groups in all phases of any reform processes are required to guarantee a socially balanced outcome. 
This was pointed out by union delegates attending the International Labour Organisation (ILO) meeting of workers, employers and governments in session this week in Geneva. 
 
The ILO Tripartite Meeting on Managing the Privatisation and Restructuring of Public Utilities (water, gas, electricity) will exchange views on the impact of these processes on employment, working conditions, human resources development and service delivery. It aims to adopt a series of jointly agreed conclusions and possibly resolutions. 
 
The Workers' Group is coordinated by the Public Services International (PSI) and International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM) whose affiliated unions represent millions of workers in electricity, gas and water utilities around the world. 
 
Contrary to claims by neo-liberal politicians and free market advocates, the unions feel that the experience of rapid changes in the utility sector is so far mainly negative. 
 
"We find that the process of restructuring and privatisation of water and energy has frequently resulted in loss of employment, trade union derecognition, higher prices, problems with quality of services, hidden subsidies and guarantees from public authorities to private, and problems of weak regulation", pointed out Hans Engelberts, General Secretary of the PSI. 
 
According to Engelberts, "provision of water and energy by public sector operations has clear advantages in accountability, public service obligations, stability of services, and stability of employment." 
 
Unions feel that there is a fundamental conflict of interest between multinational companies who are increasingly allowed to invest in utilities in search of quick profits, and citizens who need reliable, reasonably priced, high quality public services. 
 
The governments have an important role to play in balancing this conflict of interest. Strong regulation and framework conditions are some of the key tools for maintaining social control. 
 
But also unions have new control tools to offer. PSI is urging multinational water companies to sign up the PSI Code of Conduct on water services which lays down a number of basic conditions for lean and safe drinking water and fair labour practices. 
 
ICEM Deputy General Secretary Peter Michalzik cited ICEM's agreements signed last year with the Norwegian oil and gas group Statoil and the main players in the global chlorine industry. These agreements cover union rights, fair wages and benefits, health and safety standards, the environment and training. 
 
"We need more such enforceable agreements and other similar arrangement to construct a social basis for the new global energy and water sectors", said Michalzik. 
 
 
 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
 
Public Services International (PSI) is a global trade union federation representing 20 million public service workers in 500 unions in 150 countries. 
 
International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM) is also a global union organisation with 430 affiliated unions representing 20 million workers in 115 countries. 
 
The UN's International Labour Organisation (ILO) is hosting a Tripartite Meeting on Managing the Privatisation and Restructuring of Public Utilities (water, gas, electricity). 20 representatives each of governments, employers and workers will discuss the issues and attempt to agree on conclusions that provide guidance for future action. The Meeting is taking place on 12-16 April 1999 in Geneva.

Unions Want Social Control, ILO Utilities Meeting Told

Global corporate power is already an undisputed reality. 
 
Now, mergers are concentrating that power within fewer and fewer, bigger and bigger corporations. 
 
What does all this mean for workers and their trade unions? 
 
How can they defend their vital interests in the age of the mega-corp? 
 
Union leaders from all parts of the world will be tackling these issues when they meet in Durban, South Africa, on 3-5 November for the World Congress of the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM). 
 
Amandla Awethu will be the Congress slogan - Power Is Ours. 
 
That motto also underlines the key role played by ICEM-affiliated South African trade unions in overcoming apartheid and building the new South Africa. 
 
But, as the background documents and resolutions for the Congress make clear, trade unions worldwide have much to do if they are to defend and build their own power. 
 
So the world union leaders meeting in Durban will be assessing the ICEM's achievements and future priorities in a number of important spheres, including: 
<ul>
 <li>global agreements between the ICEM and multinational companies in its sectors, covering such issues as union rights, equality, workplace health and safety, and the environment </li>
 <li>worldwide and regional trade union networking within companies and sectors </li>
 <li>cooperation with other campaigning groups - for instance, on human rights, development and environmental issues </li>
 <li>integrating the unions' regional structures and agendas with both their national and their global efforts </li>
 <li>realising the potential for organising women workers, and ensuring equality of access within the International </li>
 <li>targeting trade union development effectively, so as to build trade union strength on the ground worldwide. 
 </li>
</ul>
In short, the Durban Congress will be voicing the ICEM's call to workers everywhere: 
 
UNITE AND ORGANISE

World Union Congress To Set Global Strategies

THE FOUNDATION of the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions, the ICEM, is a new departure for world trade unionism. Member organisations of the former MIF and ICEF will blend the best of their traditions and aspirations into a new international trade union federation. This new international will be a powerful body capable of acting decisively on behalf of the workers it represents into the 21st century and beyond. A global organisation, it will focus on achieving practical results and gains for its members. Strength is its sinew, service its duty, action its day-to-day business. Solidarity in practice, permanently renewed and strengthened, is the ICEM's driving force. 
 
The ICEM represents workers who extract, transform and produce vast quantities of the world's requirements and riches. Its membership works at the forefront of industrial activity in a wide range of industries including: chemicals, energy, mining and quarrying, pulp and paper, rubber, glass, ceramics, cement, environmental services and other services. It represents manufacturing and production workers, administrative, clerical, scientific, professional, supervisory and technical staff in these industries. The industrial logic and breadth of its coverage represent a major source of the ICEM's strength and legitimacy. 
 
The grip of transnational corporate power on the world economy is a phenomenon which did not exist when the ICEF and the MIF were created. Under the new and powerful influence of the transnational corporations, governments have often become mere agencies to facilitate the free flow of capital, technology, information and products. The real needs and wants of working men and women are ignored in the balance sheets of corporate giants. Unemployment and destitution are still on the increase. Child labour and forced labour continue to shame human decency. Wars and conflicts are still raging. The arms race is not yet over. 
 
National, regional and local trade union issues must now be addressed from an international perspective. Within the sectors it represents, the ICEM will face these issues squarely, with effective policies and programmes. 
 
Exploitation of workers continues. In many parts of the world, this abuse is at least as crude as anything seen in the last century. Combating exploitation, discrimination and poverty today and in the future requires powerful and refined means, as well as a renewed sense of urgency and commitment. The ICEM will develop both the means and the commitment needed to champion change in defence of its members. Similarly, it will spearhead the promotion and defence of trade union rights in its sectors as an integral part of the broader fight for basic human rights. The ICEM will have the resources to develop a new power relationship with the real decision networks of an ever more integrated world, whether those networks be corporate or governmental. The ICEM will actively represent its members in all fora where their interests are at stake. It will forge the necessary alliances with other groups of international civil society sharing the same basic aims. 
 
The ICEM is committed to safeguarding the health and safety of its members and the sustainability of the world environment. In this respect its commitment goes beyond the immediate interests of its members and encompasses the interests of their offspring, their families and the broader community. 
 
In all its activities and in its decision-making, the ICEM will actively promote equal rights and opportunities for women, not least by making women's contribution more visible. 

The ICEM hereby dedicates itself to the following six principles: 
 
COMMITMENT 
 
The trade union movement has a soul. The ICEM is driven in its activities by the will to right wrongs and injustice. It has at heart the real lives and problems of people. 
 
The ICEM is committed to achieve positive and progressive change in the lives of working men and women, in their communities and in society at large. It is morally engaged on the side of the exploited, the poor, the downtrodden and the victims of discrimination. This commitment will express itself in prompt responses to the requests of all member-organisations and in untiring efforts to reach the goals set by its Congress of members. 
 
SOLIDARITY 
 
International trade union solidarity is about finding shared solutions to problems that arise. It is the single most important weapon for winning improvements globally. It is a permanent and pro-active process of sharing resources, companionship and objectives. Solidarity is not just proclaimed. It must be built, permanently consolidated and demonstrated in practice. 
 
Through its global relations with the rest of the international democratic trade union movement, the ICEM will be an essential link in the vast chain of international workers' solidarity. The ICEM will be a unique means for member organisations to give and receive international solidarity. It will seek constantly to improve the quality and effectiveness of its own solidarity action. It will favour the forging of direct ties with like-minded individuals and organisations. 
 
Justice is not to be found everywhere and forever. It is won by continuously fighting oppression in all its forms. Both within the organisation and in its relations with the rest of the world, the ICEM will fight for justice and equality and will itself be even-handed and just. 
 
The ICEM will be its member unions' watchdog to ensure acceptance and application of relevant international law and standards. 
 
DEMOCRACY 
 
The legitimacy of the international trade union movement derives from its elected structures and the democratic nature of its decision-making. Policies of the ICEM are decided and owned by representative national and local trade unions and their members. This specific feature distinguishes the international trade union movement from many other voluntary organisations and confers on it authority, credibility and responsibility. 
 
The ICEM will constantly strive to strengthen the checks and balances that are essential to internal democracy. The organisation secures its income from fees paid by its members. It will ensure the proper management of its income and the implementation of the decisions of its governing bodies in an accountable and transparent way. 
 
As part of its efforts to strengthen internal democracy and bring the decision-making process as close as possible to its members, the ICEM will introduce a regionalised structure and increase regional exchanges and activities. 
 
INFORMATION 
 
The ICEM will base its activities on a unique mastery of the policies, facts and figures which matter for its member organisations. This capability will deliver good, timely data and analyses which are relevant to its members and are not readily available elsewhere. The ability to provide data on collective bargaining, wages, industry trends and corporate changes can help member organisations to improve the working and living conditions of their members. This is the ultimate objective of all the ICEM's information and research. 
 
This aim can be achieved only if all participate in the global effort. Member unions will express their needs and will provide structured information when requested. They will also show preparedness to share, with others who need it, the expertise that has been built within their organisations. The ICEM itself will concentrate on gathering and analysing sector-specific data with a strong emphasis on labour conditions and related matters. 
 
ORGANISING 
 
An organisation founded on deeply-held principles still needs to build the power to act on them. Acquiring know-how and the capacity to articulate clearly their needs and wants, building strong and sound organisations, and promoting and defending the rights and conditions of all workers are therefore vital to the empowerment of workers and their organisations. 
 
The strength of argument and the argument of strength go hand in hand when combating exploitation and poor working conditions. Acquiring the capacity to propose their own solutions and the power to oppose, influence or enter into partnerships, as and when necessary, is what unions need in order to be effective at local and national level. 
 
The ICEM will be at the forefront of this struggle internationally. 
 
EFFECTIVENESS 
 
The ICEM's resources will remain limited, but the needs of its affiliates are immense. In allocating resources and carrying out activities, the ICEM will constantly seek to make the best possible use of its resources in order to achieve the best possible results. Professionalism, commitment and quality will be the hallmark of the ICEM's services, and each of its campaigns and programmes will be strategically planned with a view to being result-oriented. 
 
The ICEM's agenda and programmes will be set with the sole aim of assisting its affiliates. It will also join campaigns and participate in events which are of direct relevance to its affiliates and their members. 
 

To achieve these aims, trade unions everywhere must unite the organised workers and organise the unorganised. 
 
Therefore, on this historic founding day of a new industrial trade union international, the ICEM and its affiliated trade unions worldwide solemnly recommit themselves to 
 
UNITE AND ORGANISE

Founding Declaration of the ICEM

Leaders of gold mine workers worldwide today drew up proposals for safeguarding the future of the industry. 
 
Gold mining is a major employer in a number of countries, but the recent instability of the gold price and uncertainties about gold's future role have put jobs at risk. 
 
That is why the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM) convened today's World Gold Forum in Durban, South Africa. The host country is the world's biggest gold producer. 
 
Before drawing up their recommendations, the union leaders had heard detailed presentations from South African Minerals and Energy Minister Phumzile Mlambo-Ngucka and from senior officials of the companies' World Gold Council, the Chamber of Mines of South Africa and the South African Reserve Bank. 
 
The unions' recommendations will now be sent to the World Gold Council, national banks and others whom the unions wish to engage in a continuing dialogue on the future shape of the industry. The proposals will also go to the ICEM's governing bodies for ratification. 
 
The mining unions' main conclusions: 
 
The need for gold reserves must be reaffirmed. Recent sales of gold reserves have occurred at a time when the world economy, and particularly the US economy, has experienced growth. However, the unions emphasise that the current boom - based mostly in the USA - is the result of rising share prices and cannot be sustained indefinitely. 
 
The release of above-ground bullion stocks should be regulated. Central banks hold about a quarter of the world's above-ground gold. Central banks have a primary obligation to help achieve stable economic growth. They cannot do this through speculative investment in the financial markets. All current plans for gold sales, announced or unannounced, should be publicly abandoned by the central banks, the unions insist. 
 
Measures must be taken to increase the consumption of gold. Better marketing of gold is needed, the unions say. In particular, this entails promoting the use of gold in jewellery. Noting that gold jewellery has a rather old-fashioned image, the unions suggest that the World Gold Council should create a prize for young designers of gold ornaments. Restrictions on the private ownership of gold in a number of countries should be lifted, the unions recommend. 
 
Restructuring will continue to take place within the gold industry, but this must be in full prior consultation with the trade unions concerned. Special programmes must be introduced to minimise the social impact. The unions point out that job cuts in gold mining are particularly disastrous for developing economies, where each gold mining job directly supports ten people and indirectly creates employment for many more in some of the world's poorest countries. It is also the case that the first gold miners to be retrenched are usually the least skilled, with the slimmest prospects of finding alternative employment. Among the most vulnerable gold miners are those who work in small-scale mining in a number of developing countries. The international community must ensure that small-scale miners either can operate in a healthy, safe and viable manner or have access to alternative sources of income. 
 
 
The gold miners' leaders also unanimously called for an ICEM global campaign on the world's third-biggest gold producer, Placer Dome. The campaign will be aimed at reversing Placer Dome's job cuts and pressing the multinational to repair the serious environmental damage that it has caused in a number of countries. 
 
The World Gold Forum precedes the ICEM World Congress (Durban, 3-5 November). This will map out a trade union response to globalisation. 
 
Speakers at the Congress session on 4 November will include South Africa's President Thabo Mbeki.

World's Gold Workers Chart A Future For The Industry

Amandla Awethu 
"Power is Ours and we will Unite and Organise." 
 
With that ringing call, John Maitland closed the World Congress of the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Unions (ICEM) in Durban, South Africa, today. 
 
Some 800 union leaders from all continents took part in the Congress, which mapped out a labour response to globalisation. 
 
Maitland, from Australian miners' union the CFMEU, is the newly elected President of the ICEM. 
 
Power is Ours is the translation of the Congress motto - Amandla Awethu. 
 
Unite And Organise is the ICEM's slogan. 
 
Both messages were powerfully put across when trade unionists from all over the world marched through the streets of Durban on Thursday. 
 
 
Main Congress decisions: 
 
GLOBAL TRADE UNIONISM 
 
The ICEM will "build a global trade unionism so as to challenge the globalisation of corporate power and its supportive institutions," the Congress unanimously decided. 
 
To achieve this, the ICEM will: 
<ul>
 <li>Set up "permanent networks between organised workers in key multinational companies." These union networks will exchange data on pay, conditions and other relevant issues within each global corporation. They will also be a focus for joint solidarity action where needed. 
 </li>
 <li>Dialogue with senior management of leading corporations "wherever possible", so as to help resolve disputes, to seek information on long-term investment strategies and to ensure that social goals are central in corporate strategy. 
 </li>
 <li>Negotiate global agreements with multinationals. These agreements are to include "recognition of workers' right to organise and collective bargaining." Recognition of these rights will be linked to the key Conventions of the UN's International Labour Organisation (ILO). The agreements will also guarantee "common 'best practice' standards for health, safety and environmental protection throughout the company". Provision must be made for joint union-management training on the implementation of the agreements. The agreements must include "regular monitoring and enforcement procedures". Drives to negotiate global agreements will have a "particular focus on corporations from developing countries like Angl-American, Billiton and Old Mutual." 
 </li>
 <li>Progressively extend the global agreements to cover each company's contractors and suppliers. 
 </li>
 <li>Dialogue with "environmental, women's, community, human rights, indigenous peoples' and other relevant organisations, as appropriate to the task of reinforcing the trade union role as a bulwark for broader social freedoms." 
 </li>
 <li>Participate in the planning and implementation of the programmes of intergovernmental agencies such as the World Bank, the OECD, the United Nations Development Programme, the ILO and the World Trade Organisation (WTO), so as to "ensure that their resources are only directed to sustainable social outcomes and to increase transparency and democracy within these multinational institutions in general." </li>
</ul>
These drives will be carried out in close cooperation with the unions' other sector-by-sector International Trade Secretariats, as appropriate. 
 
 
UNION-BUILDING AND DEVELOPMENT WORK 
 
Much of the ICEM's union development work is through projects. These are usually designed to strengthen affiliated unions or potential affiliates. Activities include research, organising, campaigning, training, building sectoral networks and multinational councils. 
 
All projects should serve the ICEM's central aim: UNITE AND ORGANISE. This is emphasised in a detailed policy document on trade union development adopted by the Congress. 
 
In today's globalised economy, old distinctions between developing country unions and developed country unions no longer apply, so ICEM projects "may involve South/South links or North/South links, East/East links or East/West links or any combination of these." 
 
In line with the ICEM policy of mainstreaming women's interests [cf. WOMEN WORKERS below], the ICEM will ensure that women and women's issues and rights are fully integrated into its project work. This will be achieved with the support of the ICEM Women's Committee. 
 
As part of the ICEM's alliance-building with other social and campaigning organisations [see under GLOBAL TRADE UNIONISM above], it should develop "exploratory and innovative projects" that "bring together unions and non-governmental organisations working together with the wider community." 
 
Outside funding "will be accepted exclusively for ICEM projects and programmes" and the ICEM "will not be used as a conduit for the aims of other organisations or influences, regardless of their origin or alliances." 
 
The ICEM will cooperate "with other friendly international trade union organisations on projects where it makes sense to do so." 
 
 
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN ICEM INDUSTRIES 
 
As a defender of industrial workers and their communities, the ICEM "has an obligation to participate fully in defining, promoting and refining the concept of sustainable development". It aims at "economic, social and environmental harmony" and recognises that the dynamics between these three imperatives "will change over time". 
 
So the ICEM will help to "develop 'Just Transition' policies and strategies which address the transitional needs of workers and their families in the pursuit of more sustainable development" - particularly where "large-scale moves from old to newer, more friendly, technologies are involved." The Congress emphasised the international context of Just Transition. In particular, support is needed for workers and their families in developing and newly restructuring countries. 
 
There should be transitional funding from industry and public sources, the ICEM says, in order to "support the process of industrial change and relieve workers from carrying the burden of cost and insecurity that has accompanied the process of change to date." 
 
In its global agreements with multinationals [see GLOBAL TRADE UNIONISM above], the ICEM will insist on the highest possible standards of health, safety and environmental performance - no matter where the company concerned is operating. 
 
The ICEM will also boost its work on priority concerns such as "the prevention of environmental dumping, the development of more efficient and cleaner use of energy and the 'sunsetting' of obsolete and/or unwanted products and processes." 
 
Here too, the need for cooperation both with other union internationals and with citizens' groups is stressed. 
 
 
WOMEN 
 
Women workers are crucially important to the ICEM's future. They now make up more than 30 percent of the international's membership, and the number of women in ICEM industries is continuing to grow. 
 
"Job segregation is, however, commonplace," the ICEM says, "and the gap between women's and men's earnings remains wide." 
 
Within trade unions, too, women are often disadvantaged. The Congress recognised that much more needs to be done to secure full equality for women within the trade union movement - including at all levels of the ICEM. A start has already been made on this, through adjustments to the structure of the ICEM's governing bodies. One result is that, for the first time, the Congress elected two women Vice-Presidents - Margaret Prosser from the UK and Rosa Novoa from Chile. 
 
But "quotas should be accompanied by other positive action measures to boost women's participation," says the women's programme unanimously adopted by the Congress. Action could include " campaigns to organise women workers, work to strengthen women's leadership skills, providing childcare at work and in union activities, mainstreaming gender perspectives in all activities." 
 
"Mainstreaming" is the key to the ICEM's gender policies. This means including "the dimension of equality between men and women in all areas of policy". 
 
Increasing women's participation at all levels of the ICEM "cannot just be left up to goodwill and voluntary mechanisms," the programme insists. Rather, "some binding arrangements must be introduced" and "compliance with them must be monitored." 
 
A number of industrial issues are of particular concern to women, and the ICEM will give priority to tackling these. They include pay inequality, job segregation, the lack of affordable childcare, sexual harassment, inadequate training and promotion for women, the need for active employment policies that could improve women's job prospects, the need to protect homeworkers, and proper maternity protection for women workers worldwide. 
 
Women are one of the most promising groups for new organising, the programme points out. "Trade unions have to do their part to motivate women to join unions, and once they have joined, to take over responsibility. For this, however, trade unions have to be more women-friendly." 
 
 
CUBA 
 
The US blockade of Cuba is "unjustified and illegal" and must be lifted, the Congress declared. "Overall, it is the people of Cuba, poor and working people, who are suffering." 
 
The ICEM will campaign actively to end the blockade. 
 
Contacts will be developed with appropriate Cuban trade unions, with a view to possible ICEM affiliation at some stage in the future. 
 
 
CHERNOBYL 
 
The Chernobyl nuclear power station disaster of 1986 is still causing serious health problems and social consequences, the Congress recalled. 
 
The state of the "sarcophagus" covering the damaged reactor gives cause for particular concern, and poses "the danger of repeating the Chernobyl disaster," the ICEM warns. 
 
Together with the Ukraine, the G7 countries, UN member governments, the international financial institutions and the world community must reach a decision on the future of the damaged reactor and must "fully finance all necessary works and activities," the ICEM Congress insisted. 
 
Before the closure of Chernobyl, Ukraine must receive "financial and other relevant assistance", both to develop new power sources and to ensure "a comprehensive solution to the social problems of the personnel" who will lose their jobs as a result of the closure. 
 
Assistance must also be given to the Belorussian, Russian and Ukrainian populations evacuated from the contaminated zones. These people "badly need effective medical treatment and improvement of their living conditions." 
 
 
SMALL-SCALE MINING 
 
Small-scale mining employs more than 13 million people and is still expanding. 
 
These workers, who include many women and children, are unprotected and subject to "extreme exploitation," the Congress said. There are also "an unacceptable number of accidents, occupational diseases and the premature physical aging of child labourers." 
 
Together with the UN's International Labour Organisation (ILO), the ICEM will develop a comprehensive policy for this sector. Points will include an immediate stop to all forms of child labour and bonded labour and to the exploitation of women working in small-scale mines. Enforceable safety regulations must be introduced, compliant with ILO Convention 176 on mining health and safety. Poverty alleviation is an important factor in ending the exploitation of workers in small-scale mines, and the ICEM insists on full union participation in a World Bank programme for this sector. 
 
 
ICEM REGIONAL STRUCTURES 
 
The ICEM will "intensify its activity toward establishment of clear and distinct regional structures in all of its regions". 
 
 
PLACER DOME 
 
The Congress approved the launching of a global ICEM campaign on mining multinational Placer Dome. The Canadian-based company recently retrenched about 40 per cent of its South African workforce and has taken an anti-union stance in a number of countries where it operates. Its environmental record has also been severely criticised.

ICEM Unites And Organises To Face Global Power

<hr/>

<img height="50" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/globalunions.gif" width="50"/>   
The organisations below operate the joint web site 
Global Unions: 
<a href="http://www.global-unions.org">http://www.global-unions.org</a>.
<hr/>
<a href="http://www.ei-ie.org">EI (Education International)</a> 
Boulevard du Roi Albert II, 5, 1210 Brussels, Belgium 
Tel: ++32-2-224.06.11 
Fax: ++32-2-224.06.06 
E-mail: <a href="mailto:Hheadoffice@ei-ie.org">headoffice@ei-ie.org</a>
  
<a href="http://www.bwint.org">BWI (Building and Wood Workers' International)</a> 
 
54, Route des Acacias, CH-1227 Carouge GE, Switzerland 
Tel: ++41-22-827.37.77 
Fax:++41-22-827.37.70 
E-mail: <a href="mailto:info@bwint.org">info@bwint.org</a>
 
<a href="http://www.ifj.org">IFJ (International Federation of Journalists)</a> 
 
International Press Centre, Residence Palace, Bloc C 
155 Rue de la Loi, 1040 Brussels, Belgium 
Tel: ++32-2-235.22.00 
Fax: ++32-2-235.22.19 
E-mail: <a href="mailto:ifj@ifj.org">ifj@ifj.org</a>
 
<a href="http://www.imfmetal.org ">IMF (International Metalworkers' Federation)</a> 
 
54 bis, route des Acacias, Case Postale 1516, 1227 Geneva, Switzerland 
Tel: ++41-22-308.50.50 
Fax: ++41-22-308.50.55 
E-mail: <a href="mailto:info@imfmetal.org">info@imfmetal.org</a> 
 
<a href="http://www.itf.org.uk">ITF (International Transport Workers' Federation)</a> 
 
49-60 Borough Road, London SE1 1DR, United Kingdom 
Tel: ++44-20-74.03.27.33 
Fax: ++44-20-73.57.78.71 
E-mail: <a href="mailto:mail@itf.org.uk">mail@itf.org.uk</a> 
 
 

<a href="http://www.itglwf.org">ITGLWF (International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers' Federation) 
</a> 
Rue Joseph Stevens 8 (bôite 4), 1000 Brussels, Belgium 
Tel: ++32-2-512.26.06 or 512.28.33 
Fax: ++32-2-511.09.04 
E-mail: <a href="mailto:office@itglwf.org">office@itglwf.org</a>
 
<a href="http://www.iuf.org">IUF (International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers' Association)</a> 
 
Rampe du Pont Rouge 8, 1213 Petit-Lancy, Switzerland 
Tel: ++41-22-793.22.33 
Fax: ++41-22-793.22.38 
E-mail: <a href="mailto:iuf@iuf.org">iuf@iuf.org</a>
 
<a href="http://www.world-psi.org">PSI (Public Services International) 
</a> 
BP 9, F-01211 Ferney-Voltaire CEDEX, France 
Tel: ++33-450.40.64.64 
Fax: ++33-450.40.73.20 
E-mail: <a href="mailto:psi@world-psi.org">psi@world-psi.org</a>
 
<a href="http://www.union-network.org">UNI (Union Network International)</a> 
 
8-10 Av. Reverdil, 1260 Nyon, Switzerland 
Tel: ++41-22-365.21.00 
Fax: ++41-22-365.21.21 
E-mail: <a href="mailto:contact@union-network.org">contact@union-network.org</a>
 
<a href="http://www.ituc-csi.org">ITUC (International Trade Union Confederation)</a> 
 
Boulevard du Roi Albert II, 5, 1210 Brussels, Belgium 
Tel: ++32-2-224.02.11 
Fax: ++32-2-201.58.15 
E-mail: <a href="mailto:internetpo@icftu.org">internetpo@icftu.org</a>

 
<a href="http://www.tuac.org">TUAC (Trade Union Advisory Committee to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development - OECD) 
</a> 
26 Avenue de la Grande-Armée, 75017 Paris, France 
Tel: ++33-1-55.37.37.37 
Fax: ++33-1-47.54.98.28 
E-mail: <a href="mailto:tuac@tuac.org">tuac@tuac.org</a>
<hr/>
<img height="65" alt="" hspace="10" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Gurnlogo.jpg" width="65" align="top"/> 
 
All the above organisations are also involved in <a href="http://www.gurn.info">GURN</a> 
(<a href="http://www.gurn.info/">The Global Union Research Network</a>)

Contact details for the Global Union Federations, ICFTU and TUAC

France's five main trade union confederations have issued a call for day-long strikes and demonstrations on 4 October aimed at creating job protection and greater purchasing power from workers’ wages. Specifically, manifestations on that day will France’s five main trade union confederations have issued a call for day-long protest the new and extended terms of temporary job contracts created by Prime Minister Dominque deVillepin, considered a crucial threat to job security. The five unions calling for workers both in the public and private sectors to take strike action are CFDT, CFE-CGC, CFTC, CGT and CGT-FO.strikes and demonstrations on 4 October aimed at creating job protection and greater purchasing power from workers’ wages. Specifically, manifestations on that day will France’s five main trade union confederations have issued a call for day-long protest the new and extended terms of temporary job contracts created by Prime Minister Dominque deVillepin, considered a crucial threat to job security. The five unions calling for workers both in the public and private sectors to take strike action are CFDT, CFE-CGC, CFTC, CGT and CGT-FO.

Day of Action in France on 4 October 2005

Eighteen Russian coalminers on Sakhalin Island ended their 11-day hunger strike 142 meters underground 9 September when they won backwages totaling four million roubles for 428 miners for the month of June at the bankrupt Sakhalinugol mining firm. They also won assurances that July and August wages due them will be paid this month through sale of mining equipment. The coalmine shut in August. Separate from the strike, the trustee of the mining enterprise in the Uglegorsk region, Tatyana Dmitriyeva, was arrested in early September and charged with profiteering from sale of mining and earth-moving equipment prior to the mid-August shutdown.

Sakhalin Miners End Strike

Global Solidarity 
A newsletter for unionised Goodyear workers world-wide
 
ICEM World Rubber Conference Set for Brazil on October 28-29 
 
The World Conference for the Rubber Industry will take place later this month in Sao Paulo, Brazil. 
 
Since the last conference held in 1998 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the effects of globalization – corporate mergers and acquisitions and new strategic alliances – have become more evident in the rubber industries. 
 
The ICEM has determined that the agenda for the conference will focus on: 
<ul>
 <li>Economics, future trends and their impact on workers </li>
 <li>Occupational safety and health and the environment </li>
 <li>Global trade union networks </li>
 <li>Global company agreements and other industrial initiatives including employee participation. </li>
</ul>
The conference will be chaired by United Steelworkers of America (USWA) International President, Leo W.Gerard, the chair of the ICEM rubber section. 
 
Turkish unions win new settlement 
 
In late May, Turkish union leaders and three foreign joint venture tire makers reached an agreement and averted the possibility of a strike in the crisis-hit country. 
 
The government earlier had ordered a postponement of strike plans by Lastik-Is, the rubber union at the leading tire plants of Turk Pirelli, Goodyear and Brisa Bridgestone. 
Talks between the union and the firms on pay and social security payments for 2002-2003 had hit difficulties amid a deep economic recession sparked by a financial crisis in February 2001. 
 
Goodyear Cancels Continental Carbon Contract 
 
At the request of the United Steelworkers of America, the company canceled its contract with Continental Carbon in late September. Continental Carbon, a producer of carbon black used to make tires, locked out its union workforce in Ponca City, Oklahoma on May 7, 2001. 
 
The Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers’ (PACE), which represents the Ponca City locked out workers, has escalated a corporate campaign to include warnings to tire manufacturers, such as Goodyear and Bridgestone, and consumers about the company using replacement workers to manufacture carbon black at the Ponca City plant. 
 
Polish Unit Improves Financially 
 
Debica, the Polish unit of Goodyear, reported a strong second quarter this year. The company attributed the performance to restructuring and a stronger Euro currency.
Last year, the company reduced its workforce by 20%, laying off 800 workers. It also cut general expenses by a similar amount. 
 
Since Debica garners about 70% of its sales from exports, the strengthening of the Euro is expected to continue bettering Debica’s results. 
 
U.S. Mold Plant Will Close 
 
It appears that more than 100 workers at Goodyear’s Stow, Ohio mold plant will lose their jobs. The facility is currently operating at less than a third of its capacity. 
 
Thirty years ago, Stow was the only manufacturer of tire molds for the company’s American tire plants. 
 
That changed in the mid-‘90s when the company opened a nonunion mold shop in Statesville, North Carolina. In recent years, the Stow shop focused on molds for racing and experimental tires. 
 
To save money, the company now farms out much of its mold manufacturing to independent plants and has reallocated work among it offshore mold plants in Brazil and Luxembourg. 
 
Company Increases Stake in Slovenia Venture 
 
Goodyear announced this spring that it had increased its holdings in its joint venture with Sava Tires of Slovenia from 60% to 80%. Since 1998, Goodyear has invested more than $90 million in modernizing the facility. It holds the right to buy the remaining 20% stake in 2004 and 2005. 
 
The investments increase the company’s position in the Eastern European tire market. In 2001, Sava produced more than 6 million car and truck tires at its Kranj, Slovenia facility. The company has 1,400 workers. 
 
Company Plans Expansions 
 
Goodyear has committed nearly $500 million to three major projects. Two of the expansions are planned in the U.S. and the other is slated for China. In addition, the company has committed to a smaller project at a joint venture in New Zealand. 
 
In the U.S., the company plans to spend $250 million over four to five years to modernize its Lawton/Fort Sill, Okla., radial passenger tire facility. 
 
It will spend another $120 million to modernize its Topeka, Kan., farm and earthmover/off-the-road tire plant that will upgrade equipment, processing and technology during the next five years. 
 
In China, Goodyear will invest $120 million through 2006 to nearly triple production capacity for passenger tires at its Dalian facility. Capacity will rise to 5.3 million units by 2006, when employment will double to 1,000. 
 
In New Zealand, Goodyear's South Pacific Tyres Ltd. joint venture will invest about $5 million at its Upper Hutt passenger car tire plant this year to expand output nearly two-thirds to 2.4 million tires annually.

Goodyear network Global Bulletin - English version - October 2002

The links below are only a small selection of the wide range of websites of organisations which are engaged in the fight against the pandemic. For more details on these organisations and further information on resources and funding you can refer to the <a href="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/0701ICEMHIVAIDSGuideEN.pdf" type="internal">ICEM Guide on HIV/AIDS Resources and Funding</a> which is available on this website. 
 
International Labour Organisation - ILO 
 
<a href="http://www.ilo.org">www.ilo.org</a> 
 
ILO Programme on HIV/AIDS and the World of Work (ILO/AIDS) 
 
HIV/AIDS is a workplace issue because it affects workers and their families, enterprises and communities which depend on them. At the same time, the workplace has a vital role to play in the wider struggle to control the epidemic. Workplace programmes support prevention, expand access to care and treatment and promote non-discrimination. 
 
The key document is the <a href="http://www.ilo.org/aids/Publications/lang--en/docName--WCMS_113783/index.htm">ILO Code of Practice on HIV/AIDS and the world of work</a>, which was adopted by the ILO Governing Body in June 2001. The Code exists in some 50 languages. The 10 key principles of the Code are essential elements of any HIV/AIDS workplace policy. For training purposes the publication Implementing the ILO Code of Practice on HIV/AIDS: an education and training manual (also available as CD-Rom) was developed. The manual exists in English, French and Spanish. 
 
ILOAIDS has published leaflets, toolkits and posters, which serve as useful education materials. ILO field offices, some with a focal point on HIV/AIDS, in your country or region can help with material and identifying resources and extend technical assistance for training. 
 
The International Labour Conference, at its 99th meeting in June 2010, adopted <a href="http://www.ilo.org/ilc/ILCSessions/99thSession/texts/lang--en/docName--WCMS_142613/index.htm">Recommendation 200</a> concerning HIV and AIDS and the World. This new Recommendation is a strong international human rights instrument to deal with all aspects of HIV and AIDS with special reference to the workplace. The Recommendation is accompanied by a Resolution for its follow-up, promotion and implementation. The ILO Governing Body, at its 310th session in March 2011, adopted a <a href="http://www.ilo.org/gb/GBSessions/lang--en/docName--WCMS_151293/index.htm">Global Action Plan</a> to promote implementation of <a href="http://www.ilo.org/ilc/ILCSessions/99thSession/texts/lang--en/docName--WCMS_142613/index.htm">Recommendation 200</a>. 
 
 
UNAIDS 
 
<a href="http://www.unaids.org">www.unaids.org</a> 
 
UNAIDS – Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS brings together the efforts and resources of ten UN system organisations (co-sponsors). UNAIDS, which was launched in 1996, is the main advocate for global action on the epidemic. 
 
UNAIDS publishes an extensive range of materials on HIV/AIDS. The AIDS Epidemic Updates (jointly with the WHO) are published annually in December. In September 2006, UNAIDS published in its Best Practice Collection “Global Reach: how trade unions are responding to AIDS” with case studies of union action. In his foreword to the publication, Peter Piot, the then Executive Director of UNAIDS, recognises the vast potential of unions to fight the pandemic at the workplace and in communities. 
 
You can access information on individual countries and find out about the UN Theme Group and UNAIDS Coordinator in your country on the website. 
 
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria 
 
<a href="http://www.theglobalfund.org">www.theglobalfund.org</a> 
 
The objective of the Global Fund is to dramatically increase resources to fight three of the most devastating diseases and to direct resources to areas of greatest need. The Fund is a partnership between governments, civil society, the private sector and affected communities. 
 
The Global Fund is a funding organisation that defers to local ownership and capacity for the design and implementation of programmes. Proposals are submitted through a national Country Coordinating Mechanism (CCM). The Fund only has an office in Geneva; it does not operate field offices. Principal recipients in a country implement the projects. 
 
Calls for proposals are made at regular intervalls. Since the Global Fund was registered in January 2002, and up to December 2009, it has committed USD 19.3 billion in 144 countries. On the website of the Global Fund you can access details of the grants made to your country. 
 
In a letter of agreement signed with the ILO in April 2003, the great potential of workplace initiatives with the involvement of workers’ and employers’ organisations is stressed. 
 
World Health Organisation – WHO 
 
<a href="http://www.who.int">www.who.int</a> 
 
The WHO serves as the agency within the UN system for HIV/AIDS treatment, care and support. It has a wide range of publications, including useful guidelines on testing and counselling and on antiretroviral treatment. 
 
The conclusions of a meeting between Global Unions and the WHO in October 2005 specifically state that unions have unique comparative advantage to mobilise their constituencies in the fight against HIV/AIDS and calls on country representatives to support unions. 
 
The WHO operates a large number of country offices, most of them with HIV/AIDS specialists. 
 
Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and the World Economic Forum 
<a href="http://www.businessfightsaids.org">www.businessfightsaids.org</a> and <a href="http://www.weforum.org">www.weforum.org</a> 

The Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria leads the fight against the three diseases by companies. It serves as the focal point for the private sector at the Global Fund. The World Economic Forum launched its Global Health Initiative in 2001. You can find case studies on the HIV/AIDS policies and activities of your company on these websites. 
 
ACCA (AIDS Control in Companies in Africa) 
 
<a href="http://www.gtz.de">www.gtz.de</a> and <a href="http://www.acca-toolbox.org">www.acca-toolbox.org</a> 
 
The website of the German GTZ gives information on workplace interventions. The ACCA (AIDS Control in Companies in Africa) Toolbox is a collection of information and implementation tools for workplace interventions against HIV/AIDS. GTZ also operates the BACKUP Initiative which provides needs-oriented support to improve coordination, access and implementation of programmes financed through global funding mechanisms such as the Global Fund and the World Bank’s Multi-country Aids Program (MAP). 
 
World AIDS Campaign 
 
<a href="http://www.worldaidscampaign.org">www.worldaidscampaign.org</a> 
 
The Global Unions work closely with the World AIDS Campaign and signed a Memorandum of Understanding in 2005. Among others, WAC has mounted a worldwide campaign to fulfil the Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS adopted by the UN General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS in June 2001. It is also the leading international NGO to organise campaigns on World AIDS Day, 1 December every year. 
 
Global Unions 
 
<a href="http://www.global-unions.org/hiv-aids">www.global-unions.org/hiv-aids</a> 
 
The Global Unions have a joint programme to fight HIV/AIDS. The programme’s objectives are to mainstream HIV/AIDS as a priority for trade unions, to help unions to take action in their organisations and at the workplace, to develop partnerships with relevant organisations at all levels and to mobilise resources. 
 
The Education International (EI) – <a href="http://www.ei-ie.org/efaids">www.ei-ie.org/efaids</a> and the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) – <a href="http://www.itfglobal.org">www.itfglobal.org</a> have developed extensive HIV/AIDS programmes and materials for their respective sectors.

ICEM Overview of Links to Useful HIV/AIDS Related Websites

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