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More Sappi Activity in South Africa 

Sappi: Health & Safety is Sacred … Respond to this Call 

Sappi management at the Enstra mill in South Africa refuses to accept responsibility for a chain of events that happened at the pulp and paper mill 50 days ago. The matter involves safety, or more specifically, a worker who refused to perform unsafe work. 
 
Because CEPPWAWU shop stewards took up his case, 19 are now suspended and face discipline following spirited safety strikes. Now, Sappi refuses to do what is right and just and fair … to reinstate the trade unionists. 23 other workers face disciplinary panels. They are still on the job, but with no legitimate, duly-elected union representation. 
 
ICEM is urgently calling for further, decisive action. Write to Sappi and tell the company to drop this ugly dispute and correct the wrongs that have gotten out of hand at Enstra. Write Sappi CEO Ralph J. Boëttger at <a href="mailto:Ralph.Boettger@sappi.com">Ralph.Boettger@sappi.com</a> and <a href="mailto:Wikus.van.Zyl@sappi.com">Wikus.van.Zyl@sappi.com</a> and <a href="mailto:Jan.labuschagne@sappi.com">Jan.labuschagne@sappi.com</a> with the message below, or one from your own hand. 
 
The ICEM considers the Sappi/Enstra situation at present a serious violation of basic trade union rights. Consider only part of the chain of events sequence: CEPPWAWU branch union and Sappi get bridge-building tools to forge a new relationship. A worker refuses unsafe work and the dispute escalates. But the issue is still safety. And that is borne out when the manager who ordered the unsafe work, supposedly apologizes inside a joint and subsequent report. The probe was done to get at the causes and effects of the work disruptions. But the report, presumable containing a different set of conclusions than what Sappi is now pursuing, has not been circulated. 
 
 
Take the message below and send it to Sappi executives above, with the simple heading Enstra: 
 
Sappi is displaying malicious, anti-democratic, anti-people conduct at the Enstra Pulp & Paper Mill in South Africa. It is wrong to target union stewards and others because they have taken a stand on safety. It is wrong to deny workers at Enstra – CEPPWAWU members – no shop-floor protection because Sappi has suspended all 19 CEPPWAWU shop stewards at Enstra. 
 
First and foremost, safety; Sappi cannot afford this kind of reputation. Drop the disciplinary cases, Sappi, and get on with making paper at Enstra. 
 
(Signed) 
 
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<img height="81" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/paper logo.jpg" width="300"/>
 
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Poursuite de l’action à Sappi, Afrique du Sud 
 
Sappi : la santé et la sécurité sont sacrées … Merci de répondre à cet appel 
 
La Direction de Sappi récuse sa responsabilité dans un enchaînement d’événements survenus il y a 50 jours dans la papeterie sud-africaine d’Enstra. Cette affaire concerne la sécurité, ou plus précisément le refus par un ouvrier d’effectuer des travaux dangereux. 
 
Pour s’être emparés de cette affaire et avoir résolument cessé le travail pour leur sécurité, 19 employés affiliés au CEPPWAWU (Syndicat des travailleurs de la chimie, de l’énergie, du papier, de l’impression et du bois) ont été mis à pied et risquent des mesures disciplinaires. Or Sappi refuse de rendre la plus élémentaire des justices à ces syndicalistes, c. à d. de les réembaucher. Et 23 autres travailleurs sont exposés à des procédures disciplinaires. Ils sont encore à leurs postes, mais sans représentation syndicale légitime et dûment élue. 
 
L’ICEM appelle urgemment à poursuivre des actions résolues. Écrivez à la société Sappi, exigez qu’elle mette un terme à ce conflit indigne et qu’elle redresse les torts qui n’ont cessé de s’aggraver à l’usine d’Enstra. Écrivez au PDG de Sappi, Ralph J. Boëttger, <a href="mailto:Ralph.Boettger@sappi.com">Ralph.Boettger@sappi.com</a>, à <a href="mailto:Wikus.van.Zyl@sappi.com">Wikus.van.Zyl@sappi.com</a> et à <a href="mailto:Jan.labuschagne@sappi.com">Jan.labuschagne@sappi.com</a> en joignant le texte ci-dessous ou un message écrit de votre propre plume. 
 
L’ICEM voit dans l’actuelle situation à Sappi/Enstra une grave violation des droits syndicaux fondamentaux. Il suffit de se remémorer quelques événements de cette escalade : le syndicat de branche CEPPWAWU et Sappi tentent de se rapprocher et de forger de nouvelles relations. Mais un travailleur refuse d’effectuer des travaux dangereux, le conflit s’envenime et la sécurité reste le problème. D’autant plus que le dirigeant ayant ordonné ces travaux dangereux se serait par la suite excusé dans un compte rendu conjoint. Une enquête a été menée pour connaître les causes et les effets de ces interruptions du travail. Or ce compte rendu, qui contient vraisemblablement des conclusions différentes de celles que Sappi avance maintenant, n’a pas été publié. 
 
Envoyez aux dirigeants de Sappi le message ci-dessous assorti du simple intitulé Enstra : 
 
Sappi montre une attitude malveillante, antidémocratique et hostile aux gens dans son usine Enstra de pâte et de papier en Afrique du Sud. Il est injuste de s’en prendre aux délégués syndicaux et à d’autres sous prétexte qu’ils ont pris position en matière de sécurité. Il est injuste de contester aux travailleurs d’Enstra – et membres du CEPPWAWU – toute protection sur le lieu de travail, alors que Sappi a mis à pied les 19 délégués syndicaux du CEPPWAWU à Enstra. 
 
La sécurité est la première des priorités ; Sappi ne peut pas se permettre ce genre de réputation. Sappi, mettez un terme aux procédures disciplinaires et continuez à produire du papier à Enstra. 
 
(Signature) 
 

 
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<img height="81" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/paper%20logo.jpg" width="300"/>
 
<hr/>
 
 
Se intensifica actividad de Sappi en Sudáfrica 
 
Sappi: la salud y seguridad son sagradas… es importante que respondan a este llamado 
 
La administración de Sappi en la planta de Enstra en Sudáfrica se niega a aceptar la responsabilidad por una serie de hechos que se produjeron hace 50 días en la planta de pulpa y papel que se indica. El asunto es una cuestión de seguridad, o, más específicamente, de un trabajador que se negó a realizar trabajo inseguro. 
 
Debido a que los enlaces sindicales de CEPPWAWU defendieron el caso de este trabajador, actualmente se ha suspendido a 19 personas, que enfrentan medidas disciplinarias después de haber realizado algunos paros de protestas sin claudicar, reclamando soluciones a los problemas de seguridad. Ahora, Sappi se niega a hacer lo que sería justo y equitativo… la reincorporación de los sindicalistas. Otros 23 trabajadores enfrentan paneles disciplinarios. Siguen trabajando, pero carecen de representación sindical legítima y debidamente elegida. 
 
La ICEM está iniciando una campaña con un llamado urgente para que se tomen nuevas y decisivas medidas. Rogamos escribir a Sappi, diciéndole a la empresa que abandone su peligrosa actitud conflictiva y remedie los excesos cometidos en Enstra. Se debe escribir al Director General de Sappi, Ralph J. Boëttger, en <a href="mailto:Ralph.Boettger@sappi.com">Ralph.Boettger@sappi.com</a>, a <a href="mailto:Wikus.van.Zyl@sappi.com">Wikus.van.Zyl@sappi.com</a>, y a <a href="mailto:Jan.labuschagne@sappi.com">Jan.labuschagne@sappi.com</a>, con el mensaje que se señala más abajo, u otro que redacten Uds. mismos. 
 
La ICEM considera que la situación actual en Sappi/Enstra constituye una grave violación de los derechos sindicales fundamentales. Veamos una parte solamente de la secuencia de los hechos ocurridos: el ramo sindical de CEPPWAWU y Sappi obtienen herramientas para “construir puentes”, con el fin de crear una nueva relación entre la empresa y los sindicalistas. Un trabajador se niega a realizar trabajos inseguros, y se intensifica el conflicto. El problema sigue siendo la inseguridad, lo cual se comprobó cuando el gerente que mandó a realizar el trabajo inseguro aparentemente pidió disculpas en un informe conjunto posterior. Se realizó una investigación para averiguar las causas y consecuencias de la interrupción del trabajo. Sin embargo, todavía no se ha hecho circular el informe, que presumiblemente contiene conclusiones diferentes de las que Sappi está señalando actualmente. 
 
 
Rogamos enviar a los ejecutivos mencionados de Sappi el mensaje que se señala a continuación, con un encabezamiento que diga simplemente “Enstra”: 
 
Sappi demuestra conducta maliciosa, antidemocrática e inhumana en la planta de pulpa y papel de Enstra en Sudáfrica. Está mal el aplicar castigos a los enlaces sindicales y otros porque han adoptado una actitud firme, reclamando mayores medidas de seguridad en el trabajo. Está mal que a los trabajadores de Enstra, que son miembros de CEPPWAWU, se les niegue protección en el lugar de trabajo, porque Sappi ha suspendido a los 19 enlaces sindicales que laboran en Enstra. 
 
Antes que nada, está la seguridad. A Sappi no le conviene esta mala fama. Deje los casos disciplinarios, Sappi, y dedíquense a producir papel en Enstra. 
 
(Firmado)

ICEM pulp & paper/pâte et de papier/pulp y papel : Sappi

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100" height="39"/>
The ICEM reviewed and extended its Global Framework Agreement (GFA) with French-based chemical multinational Rhodia covering 15,000 workers in March 2008 with a series of new initiatives. One of those includes a joint initiative on workers’ health and safety through a global safety partnership committee. 
 
ICEM and Rhodia agreed to have an addendum to the agreement that clarifies terms and conditions of the global committee. This is expected to be finalised this autumn following ICEM consultations with its affiliated unions that represent Rhodia workers. 
 
While the discussions are ongoing, a first-ever joint activity regarding health and safety was held at Rhodia’s subsidiary in Freiburg, Germany, on 19 June. 

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/0906.Rhodia.JPG" width="321" height="174"/>
The ICEM was represented by Chemicals and Rubber Officers Kemal Özkan and Health, Safety, and Sustainable Development Officer Brian Kohler, and representatives from German affiliated union IGBCE, which represents workers at the plant, attended. The IGBCE’s Michael Wolters from union headquarters in Hannover was present, as was IGBCE regional representative Wilfried Pernshorn, and Works Council members Cornelia Kainz and Hans Peter Rich. 
 
Rhodia was represented by Yolene Coppin, Jacques Kheliff, and Jean Paul Perez, all from the company’s Paris headquarters, and by Raimund Hinsen, Uwe Männel, and Hans-Ulrich Lutz, managers at the Freiburg plant. 
 
That facility, called Rhodia Acetow, produces chemicals such as filters, flakes, and anhydrides. The joint mission heard presentations on the plant’s economic and employment situation, and on health, safety, and environmental indicators. After touring the various sections of the plant, the group made an evaluation on the current situation of Rhodia Acetow and discussed a future action plan. 
 
“This is an important step forward in the GFA with Rhodia,” said the ICEM’s Özkan. “Dealing with health and safety at the global scale, using the substantial contributions offered on a plant by plant basis, will keep standards high and serve to harmonise the standards across all company plants throughout the world.”

ICEM, Rhodia Take Health, Safety Agenda to Shop Floor in Freiburg, Germany

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100" height="39"/>
Contract workers at a Petrobras refinery called Getúlio Vargas, in Araucaria, Paraná state, achieved considerable advances in working conditions and salaries, following a strike. The 17-day work stoppage ended Monday, 27 July, after agreement was reached between the Central Única dos Trabalhadores do Paraná (CUT-PR) and the state-run company. 
 
The talks chaired by the National Ministry for Labour. 
 
Gains achieved by the unions include a minimum monthly salary of US$726, a 10% increase, a new food and housing allowance of US$150, and improvements to overtime. Overtime from Monday to Saturday will be paid at 60% above regular work rates, and on Sundays and holidays, 120%. Workers will now also receive a hazard allowance, health and life insurance, and bonuses linked to profits made by Petrobras. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/0908.cut.president.jpg" width="205" height="202"/>
Roni Anderson Barbosa 
"The negotiation has fulfilled its purpose. We gained a good collective agreement for most workers," stated Parana State President of CUT, Roni Anderson Barbosa. 
 
There are 31 contract companies operating at the two plants in Araucaria, employing around 10,000 workers. The CUT Parana mobilised support and solidarity, nationally and internationally, for the workers of Repar Fosfértil, during negotiations.

Agreement Ends Oil Workers’ Contract Strike in Brazil

<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100" height="39" alt=""/>
The ICEM is demanding that PT Kayan Putera Utama Coal (KPUC), an Indonesian company, stop its attacks on the SPE-SBSI Mining Union in eastern Borneo in Indonesia. Recently, the Samarinda-based company dismissed seven trade union leaders at the Desa Separi mine near Tenggarong in the Kalimantan Timur coal fields and enlisted another organisation to attack the union. 
 
In a letter to KPUC managing director Arifin Harun in Samarinda, ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda said, “If you do not cease and desist from your actions, we will take further steps to bring the weight of the ICEM and its affiliates comprising some 20 million members to bear on this situation.” A copy of the letter was also sent to Andrew Vickers, Chairman of ICEM’s Mining Sector and General Secretary of the Mining Division of the Construction, Forestry, Mining, and Energy Union (CFMEU) of Australia.
<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Indonesia.png" width="200" height="92" alt=""/>
The ICEM cited clear violations of ILO Conventions 87 and 98 on freedom association and collective bargaining in the letter. The letter can be seen <a href="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1006%20Indonesia%20KPUC.pdf" type="internal">here</a>. 
 
The ICEM intends to conduct a full investigation of the situation if it is not resolved. It will work closely with its affiliate, the Indonesia Prosperity Trade Union Central Board, the largest trade union representing miners in Indonesia. Indonesia is a major supplier of coal to China, and is now the largest exporter of thermal coal in the world. In the wake of the surge in coal mining in Indonesia, employers have become increasingly hostile to trade unions. 
 
PT Kayan Putera Utama Coal is listed as Indonesia’s 42nd largest coal producer, with the latest figures citing it produced 322,826 tonnes of coal in 2008.

Indonesian-based Coal Mining Company Sacks 7 Union Leaders

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100" height="39"/>
At the Fifth Congress of the Mining and Metallurgical Trade Union of Kyrgyzstan (MMTUK) in Bishkek on 3 June, the union’s Central Committee reported grave safety conditions in both mining and metal operations. The committee said the number of accidents continues to grow yearly, and cautioned its report does not give the full picture since inspections were only carried out in and around 34 union-represented installations. 
 
MMTUK’s technical labour inspection has investigated 111 accidents over the past few years, and found a total of 525 violations. The Central Committee said that between 2005 and 2009, the number of industrial accidents in which persons were injured or killed increased five-fold.
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Kyrgyzstan.png" width="230" height="106"/>
It said that number most probably is much higher if inspections were to be done in workplaces without the presence of a union. The union’s statistics also did not take into account illnesses brought on by occupational disease. 
 
MMTUK said four workers died in its operations in 2009. It also said that antiquated equipment was a partial reason for the increased accident reason, and also reported that one-third of all the accidents that the union investigated occurred in road-traffic accidents involving industrial transport. 
 
The Congress also noted that despite several trans-national companies taking up operations in Kyrgyzstan, the global financial crisis, as well as the social, political, and economic upheaval inside the Central Asian country, has caused deteriorating work conditions. 
 
In April, citizens’ unrest forced the overthrow of President Kurmanbek Bakiyey and since, civil strife has been a regular occurrence in the southern part of the country.

Mining, Metallurgical Union of Kyrgyzstan Reports Upsurge in Safety Mishaps

Global Unions have released a set of principles to protect the rights of workers by focusing on the impact of temporary employment agencies on employment. The principles address both the exploitation and abuse of workers provided by temporary work agencies as well as the damage to regular employment relationships caused by the misuse of these agencies. 
 
In recent decades, the use of temporary agencies to supply workers has exploded all over the world, spreading also to sectors and occupations that had previously depended on directly employed workers. Not only do temporary agency workers typically receive lower pay and fewer benefits, when the financial crisis rapidly became an employment crisis, temporary agency workers were among its first victims. Many companies simply terminated their contracts with temp agencies so that the workers did not receive the minimum compensation or social benefits that they would have received as direct employees. 
 
The expansion of temporary agency labour, together with other forms of temporary, casual and precarious employment, has been promoted by international organisations like the World Bank, the IMF and the OECD as “labour market flexibility.” It has contributed to a general erosion of workers' ability to exercise their rights to join trade unions and bargain collectively with their employers, thereby posing a major challenge to the labour movement. These principles seek to address that challenge. 
 
Although there are varying approaches taken by trade unions in different countries and sectors to dealing with temporary employment agencies, ranging from total bans to partial bans to strict regulation, all Global Unions have reached agreement on a number of key principles. 
 
They include: 
 
1.) the primary form of employment should be permanent, open-ended and direct; 
2.) agency workers should be covered under the same collective bargaining agreement as other workers in the user enterprise: 
temporary agency workers should receive equal treatment in all respects; 
3.) the use of temporary agencies should not increase the gender gap on wages, social protections, and conditions; 
4.) temporary work agencies must not be used to eliminate permanent and direct employment relationships; and 
5.) the use of agency workers should never be used to weaken trade unions or to undermine organising or collective bargaining rights. 
 
The Global Unions’ principles also emphasise the special dangers for migrant workers, who are often engaged by temporary agencies or other intermediaries. Abuses of migrant workers supplied by agencies are all too common. They include the denial of trade union and other human rights, human trafficking, confiscation of passports, deceptive practices with respect to wages and working conditions, and the denial of legal redress in the countries in which they work. 
 
Governments are called on to seriously address the problems of workers supplied by temporary agencies through legislation that defines the employment relationship and ensures that triangular, or indirect, employment does not result in any loss of rights or social protections. Governments are urged to pay special attention to occupational health and safety hazards faced by agency workers and to strengthen labour inspection, so that laws are properly implemented and respected. 
 
Manfred Warda, General Secretary of the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers’ Unions (ICEM) and chair of group which developed the principles for the Council of Global Unions (CGU), stated: “The Global Unions agreement on Principles on Temporary Work Agencies will lead to better collective action by the international trade union movement. 
 
“Global Unions are rightly focusing on the rights of contract and agency workers and on the impact of precarious employment, a growing practice that is one of the primary reasons for the widespread violation of rights and growing inequalities among workers in our societies. Workers dispatched by temporary work agencies all suffer from the lack of a direct employment relationship with the very employer that controls their work and determines their working conditions. 
 
“If we want more, rather than less social justice, this issue must become a priority not only for trade unions, but for governments and employers throughout the world.” 
 
For the full text of “Global Union Principles on Temporary Work Agencies,” click <a href="/en/73-Contract-and-Agency-Labour/3861-Global-Union-Principles-on-Temporary-Work-Agencies" type="internal">here</a>. 
 
“Global Unions” is a term for Global Union Federations (GUFs), which represent national trade unions by sector and occupation, together with the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and the Trade Union Advisory Committee (TUAC) to the OECD, which represent national trade union centres (multi-sectoral).For more information on Global Unions, visit its site <a href="http://www.global-unions.org">here</a>.  
 
For further information, contact Fons Vannieuwenhuys, ICEM, <a href="mailto:fons@icem.org">fons@icem.org</a>, +32 2 224 0341 or +32 473 18 6770 (mobile); or Jenny Holdcroft, International Metalworkers’ Federation (IMF), <a href="mailto:jholdcroft@imfmetal.org">jholdcroft@imfmetal.org</a>, +41 22 308 5034 or +41-79-616 0103 (mobile).

Global Unions Adopt Set Principles on Temporary Agency Work

International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM)
 International Metalworkers' Federation (IMF)
International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers Federation (ITGLWF) 
Stronger Together - Fighting for a Sustainable Future 

We, the global industrial trade union federations representing workers in the metal, chemical, energy, mining, paper, rubber, textiles, materials, and related sectors, believe we have a golden opportunity to demand that the global economy be transformed from an unsustainable “casino” model into something that supports a sustainable environment and a sustainable society. 
 
The financial crisis that very nearly destroyed the world’s economy is only the most obvious recent result of the same short-sighted thinking that has jeopardized the global environment, threatened human health, and destabilized society. In particular, the runaway gambling by banks, hedge funds and other finance institutions has had catastrophic implications for millions of working people. 
 
Working women and men, their families, and the communities that depend on them have paid heavily for the crash of the casino economy through massive job losses, decreased wages, and reduced benefits. The global trade union movement strongly opposes any attempt to make working people assume the major burden of the financial crisis through regressive tax reforms. We believe it is time for the people who caused this mess to pay to clean it up. 
 
The failure of world leaders in December 2009 in Copenhagen to reach an ambitious, fair and binding agreement on greenhouse gases is another example of short-term greed trumping long-term need. The price of inaction will be paid by future generations. From broad concerns like global warming to more specific examples like the Deepwater Horizon disaster, nothing about a de-regulated market ensures the protection the environment. 
 
The inability of the deregulated financial market to value the long-term health of the economy, the environment, or society must now be clear to any thinking person. The ICEM, IMF and ITGLWF are showing the way to a sustainable future by calling for re-regulation of the global financial market, including among other instruments the introduction of a financial transaction tax that would raise billions to tackle poverty and climate change. We believe this will generate substantial revenues to pay for the costs of the crisis, climate change measures, and official development assistance while reducing the pressures that could cause a renewed financial crisis. Coupled with fair and binding environmental regulations, and strong social programs, we can shape a prosperous and sustainable future. 
 
Industrial workers have a central role to play in building a future that lifts people out of poverty while protecting the environment. Through industrial and political action, our three global federations demand that the world’s leaders take decisive actions to solve the economic, social and environmental crises. 
 
The economic crisis has not just been about how things are made, bought and sold, but also about people. Evidence shows that many companies that have begun hiring again are doing so with fixed-term or temporary workers. Such precarious work is bad for all workers. It creates cut-price labor that drives down wages. It increases the gap between rich and poor and amplifies the unfair practices that already disadvantage women, young and migrant workers. 
 
We believe the upcoming G8 and G20 summit meetings in Canada provide an opportunity for world leaders to address the legitimate concerns of industrial workers for social justice and long-term employment policies. The solution lies in global governance. Financial markets must be re-regulated, and the environment must be better protected. Jobs, workers’ rights, social protection, quality public services, and sustainability are at the heart of our proposal for a new system for global governance. 
 
We therefore call on world leaders to: 
• Ensure that global financial markets are regulated, including as an initial step better disclosure of transactions, strengthened monitoring schemes and regulation of leveraging; 
• Ban the creation or use of financial instruments with no verifiable real-world value, such as certain derivatives and swaps; 
• Introduce an international financial transaction tax system to be levied on transactions between financial institutions. A tiny tax on financial transactions would make a massive difference in the way we face up to the challenges of today. Even at just 0.05 percent experts have estimated that an international transaction tax system could eventually raise as much as $400 billion every year - money that could be used to save our planet and build a future fairer for all. 
• Make sustainable development a criteria of trade and investment deals; with balanced and fair access to markets, and transparent monitoring mechanisms of all trade and investment deals past and future; 
• Assess the social, economic and environmental sustainability impact of potential trade agreements prior to the conclusion of negotiations; 
• Consider the employment repercussions of trade liberalization in the negotiation of multilateral and bilateral trade agreements – to be assessed with full involvement of trade unions; 
• Respect fundamental workers' and trade union rights as set out in the ILO Core Labour Standards; to be included in all bilateral and multilateral agreements on trade and investments along with effective enforcement mechanisms; 
• Create jobs that meet the ILO definition of “decent work”. We recognize that industrial change is happening, but challenge the legal and political rules that allow precarious work to flourish; 
• Reach an ambitious, fair, and binding, agreement on greenhouse gases at COP16 in Mexico; and 
• Ensure that funds in the Copenhagen Green Climate Fund earmarked as part of the Copenhagen Accord are available to trade unions for vocational and educational purposes as part of the broader principle of Just Transition. 
 
In short we believe that world leaders can no longer ignore the big problems facing the world today. We are calling for an innovative, international regulatory response that will boldly deal with global issues.

ICEM-IMF-ITGLWF Declaration: Toronto, Canada, 19 June 2010

Meeting in Toronto on 19 June, 270 national trade union leaders from 50 countries put forward a stern Declaration to the G8 and G20 that a radically changed global social order must occur, one prioritizing security of employment and preservation of the environment. The Declaration, pointed at the G8 and G20 summits this week in Toronto, came from a “Triple Crisis of Sustainability” forum, a meeting of union leaders representing 55 million workers from industrial and manufacturing sectors. 

The Declaration was a joint undertaking of the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine, and General Workers’ Unions (ICEM), the International Metalworkers’ Federation (IMF), and the International Textile, Garment, and Leather Workers’ Federation (ITGLWF). It was done with local cooperation by five trade unions representing industrial and other workers in Canada: Communications, Energy, Paperworkers (CEP) Union of Canada, the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW), the Power Workers Union (PWU), the United Steelworkers (USW), and the International Association of Machinists (IAM).
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1006Canada8.jpg" width="280" height="186"/>
  
Gianni Alioti, Federazione Lavoratori Metalmeccanici, FLM, Italy
At the core of the Declaration is a demand that finance and political ministers put in place a stringent global financial governance system, introduce an international financial transaction tax, and reach an ambitious and binding agreement on greenhouse gas emissions at Cop16 in Mexico later this year. 

The 10-point Declaration also calls for guarantees that fundamental workers’ and trade union rights be respected in trade and investment deals; that sustainable development be made a criteria in trade and investment agreements; and that thorough assessment and assurance of social, economic, and environment well-being is contained in trade agreements. The full Declaration can be found <a href="/en/97-Sustainable-Development-Health-and-Safety/3875-ICEM-IMF-ITGLWF-Declaration:-Toronto-Canada-19-June-2010" type="internal">here</a>.
“Industrial workers have a central role to play in building a future that lifts people out of poverty while protecting the environment,” states the Declaration. “Through industrial and political action, our three global federations demand that the world’s leaders take decisive actions to solve the economic, social, and environmental crises.” 

Regarding the timing of the Declaration, ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda said, “The global economy is still on life-support and continued stimulus is needed. Re-regulating markets, a move to full employment, and a set of social stabilizers to reduce a rapid slide into poverty by hundreds of millions of people is essential.”
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1006Canada5.jpg" width="280" height="187"/>
IMF General Secretary Jyrki Raina 
Added IMF General Secretary Jyrki Raina: “Industry is the locomotive of national economies, as a provider of good quality jobs with decent wages and working hours, and the right to join a union. We need to limit precarious work by legislation and collective agreements, and develop industrial policies for sustainable development both in industrialised and developing countries." 
 
Geneva-based ICEM has 467 trade union affiliates in 132 countries, and represents 20 million workers. The IMF, also based in Geneva, represents the collective interests of 25 million metalworkers from more than 200 unions in 100 countries. The Brussels-based ITGLWF covers 217 trade unions in 110 countries. 

For more, contact: Dick Blin, ICEM Information Officer, <a href="mailto:dick.blin@icem.org">dick.blin@icem.org</a>, +1 416 361 1000 Ext. 3344, +41 79 734 8994 (mobile); or Alex Ivanou, IMF Communications, <a href="mailto:aivanou@imfmetal.org">aivanou@imfmetal.org</a>, +41 22 308 5033.

Global Union Federations Demand New Priorities from G8, G20 Summits

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ICEM affiliate Industri Energi (IE) successfully negotiated salary increases for its members at Statoil’s offshore Gullfaks B and Gullfaks C fields, and at Shell's Draugen field, in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea. Talks between union officials and the Norwegian Oil Industry Association, mediated by Nils Dalseide of Norway’s National Arbitration Tribunal, reached agreement that avoided strike action after extending a midnight deadline and concluded in the early hours of Thursday 17 June. 
 
"No strike," reported Industri Energi Spokesman Arild Theimann, swiftly following conclusion to the talks which had begun 2 days prior. Workers ready to down tools if talks failed included employees of Halliburton, Geoservices, Baker Hughes and Oceaneering. 

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Industri Energi President Leif Sande
"We feel relieved that we could avoid a strike in the oil sector," President of Industri Energi Leif Sande stated. "We did not get everything, but we got a good wage increase and better compensation. We were very satisfied with this." 
 
The new Norwegian Shelf Agreement sees a Nkr 10,000 (US$1573) annual increase in general wages for some 6700 workers involved in operating, drilling and catering on the Shelf, on top of Nkr 4700 from a previous pay deal. 
 
In addition, shift, conference and holiday supplement will be increased. The negotiations also involved discussions on shift rotation policy for near permanent workers. 

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Jointly, the Gullfaks and Draugen fields produce around 270,000 barrels of oil per day, of Norway's daily exports of 1.87 million barrels. 
 
Mature traditions of industrial relations in the sector in Norway permit constructive dialogue and problems to be resolved. 
 
The oil and gas industry is vital to the Norwegian economy, accounting for a third of tax revenues and a quarter of GDP. The dispute was closely followed elsewhere in Europe, with many countries such as the United Kingdom, heavily dependent on Norwegian gas.

Strike Avoided, Salary Increases for Norway’s Oilworkers 

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Xstrata’s abrasive reluctance to give coal miners represented by the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) of Australia a standard enterprise labour agreement caused another industrial action at the Tahmoor mine in New South Wales last week. Some 240 miners downed tools for 24 hours on 24-25 June to attend a union meeting in the town of Picton over the Swiss-based company’s failure to reach pay and entitlement terms at Tahmoor with the CFMEU. 
 
The dispute at the colliery is now in its 16th month. CFMEU members have been frustrated at being denied a functioning enterprise agreement. Xstrata is seeking broad flexibility to write and re-write workplace polices and procedures, and wants a collective agreement that is void of any independent arbitration mechanism, as well as one in which the union, or any mutual disputes procedure, is absent from health and safety issues. 

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Locked out Xstrata workers at Tahmoor
Xstrata also seeks to have all future bonus schemes not be a subject of bargaining. 
 
The mining house has now informed the CFMEU that it intends to terminate the existing enterprise agreement and discontinue further talks with the union. 
 
The union is seeking only to retain current terms and conditions of its enterprise agreement, and uniformity in working standards with other collieries in the region. 
 
The CFMEU maintains a website called “Xstrata Facts,” which can be found <a href="http://www.xstratafacts.com/">here</a>.

Strike Actions by CFMEU at Xstrata’s Tahmoor Mine in Australia Continue

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