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<div>Three days before the annual two-week summer shutdown at a Clariant plant in Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium, management of the Swiss-based chemicals company fired two Centrale G&eacute;n&eacute;rale-FGTB union representatives. Kamel Bennaceur and Mohamed Loukili were sacked on 27 July for doing the trade union work they were elected to do by co-workers.<br />
<br />
Management of Clariant Benelux SA unilaterally installed two other workers to fill their duties. Managers cited &ldquo;breach of trust&rdquo; as the reason for dismissing the two delegates, who are of Moroccan origin. The ICEM last week in Switzerland registered a <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/99.ICEM.Clariant.Belgium.10August.pdf"><font color="#ff0000">strong protest</font></a> with Clariant Chairman J&uuml;rg Witmer and CEO and Director Hariolf Kottman, and intends to press the breach of international labour standards on the global level unless the two are reinstated. <br />
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<div><img alt="" src="" width="129" height="161" /><br />
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<div>Kemal Bennaceur, Mohamed Loukili<br />
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ICEM Swiss affiliate UNIA also has written to the Belgian trade unionists expressing its support.<br />
<br />
The FGTB has prioritised the dismissals and will hold a day of action at the plant on Wednesday, 17 August. The action will start at 09h30. It will occur on day three after the re-start of work at Louvain-la-Neuve, a city in Belgium&rsquo;s Wallonia federal region some 40 kilometres southeast of Brussels. The plant is part of Clariant&rsquo;s Masterbatches division and produces colour additives for inks and textiles.<br />
<br />
FGTB says the real reason for the firings is the pair are just too conscientious in the performance of their duties. They conducted work inspections and were in constant communication with the 45 other blue-collar workers employed at Clariant regarding work rules and social legislation. The 45 solidly support the union stalwarts, Bennaceur and Loukili.<br />
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FGTB Adjunct Regional Secretary Enzo Gramaglia Talks to Clariant Workers</span></div>
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The union held two abbreviated meetings with plant managers &ndash; on 28 July and 10 August &ndash; but bosses refused to discuss the sackings or consider immediate reinstatement. FGTB said that recent and similar firings at <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4558-BRC-Belgium-Conflict-Settled-Sacked-Oil-Workers-Reinstated"><font color="#ff0000">Belgian Refining Corporation (BRC)</font></a> in which shop stewards were also dismissed, but subsequently reinstated, will provide the template for this breach of Belgian work law and international labour standards. <br />
<br />
The ICEM vows to assist its Belgian affiliate in the entire legal process.<br />
</div>

FGTB Delegates Sacked at Clariant Chemicals Plant in Belgium

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<p align="justify">Union members of Sindicato No. 1 de Trabajadores de Minera Escondida, a branch of Chile&rsquo;s Federation of Miners (FMC), returned to work Friday night, 5 August, at the world&rsquo;s largest copper mine, majority owned by BHP Billiton. Some 2,375 miners at the Escondida mine ended a 15-day strike with a 65.5% to 34.5% vote the night before after two days of negotiating with mine management. <br />
<br />
The memorandum of agreement provides a remedy to a dispute over a 2010 production bonus but just as important, addresses several grievances and breaches by Escondida management from a 2009 labour agreement. <br />
<br />
Sindicato No. 1 said of the memorandum, &ldquo;the company promises to solve a series of labour issues such as establishing a new attendance policy, regularising a certification system based on competency for promotions, and reformulating the criteria for calculating a production bonus.&rdquo; These were just some of the issues in dispute inside a four-year labour agreement that was signed in November 2009. <br />
<br />
In 2010, Escondida &ndash; 57.5% owned by operator BHP Billiton, 30% by Rio Tinto, and 12.5% by Japanese holding companies &ndash; saw profits of US$4.3 billion, up 35% over that of 2009. Last week&rsquo;s amended bonus to each worker amounts to CHP 2.65 million (pesos), or US$5,800. Miners will receive that on 25 August.</p>
<p align="center"><img alt="" src="" width="245" height="161" /></p>
<p align="center"><font color="#ff0000">Sindicato No. 1 Files Papers in a Labour Court in late July</font></p>
<p align="justify">Escondida said the strike was illegal and indicated throughout the walkout that it would not negotiate with the union. But as the days wore on and the company was losing US$30 million per day, that changed. In a statement after signing the memorandum of agreement, the company said workers had ended their &ldquo;illegal work stoppage&rdquo; and &ldquo;this action is due to the success of talks between the parties. <br />
<br />
&ldquo;Minera Escondida reiterates that dialogue and respect are the foundation for maintaining a beneficial relationship with its workers.&rdquo; <br />
<br />
Besides the aforementioned labour issues, that respect includes a more transparent system for the production bonuses; restoration of a housing allocation that lifts restrictions on where miners may use the stipends; safer and higher quality buses for transportation to and from worksites, as well as compensation for tickets; no retaliation, redundancy, or punishment for union activity; and review of company-installed surveillance cameras. <br />
<br />
Miners will also be paid their salaries for the 15-day strike. Sindicato No. 1 de Trabajadores de Minera Escondida had filed labour court charges on several of the issues involved in the strike. <br />
<br />
For its part, the union said it hopes to maintain and deepen channels of communication with management, but also will remain vigilant that the issues agreed to in the memorandum will get resolved. <br />
<br />
Minera Escondida consists of two open-pit copper mines some 170 kilometres southeast of Antofagasta, in Chile&rsquo;s Region II. It also consists of two concentrator plants, Los Colorados and Laguna Seca, which have a combined capacity of 330,000 tonnes per day. The company operates two pipelines and a filter plant at the Port of Coloso. <br />
<br />
In 2010, Escondida&rsquo;s production totalled 1.087 million tonnes, consisting of 786,603 tonnes of copper concentrate and 300,098 tonnes of copper cathodes. It provides concentrates to smelters in Japan, China, Korea, India, and Chile, while the cathodes are sold to markets in France, the Netherlands, Italy, China, Korea, Canada, and Mexico. It provides a total of 7% of the world&rsquo;s copper supply.</p>

Chile Copper Workers End Strike at Escondida with 65% Vote

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st1:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) }<span lang="EN-GB">The Confederaci&oacute;n Nacional de los Metal&uacute;rgicos (CNM) affiliated to the CUT trade union central, and globally to the International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF), is mobilising workers for a 2011 wage campaign. The one-million-strong metalworker federation represents 50% of all Brazilian metalworkers, and is now pushing for deserved pay increases in collective agreements across the sector.</span></div>
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<div><span lang="EN-GB">Some regions have made good gains, while negotiations continue elsewhere, ahead of a 1 September deadline.</span></div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">The campaign in S&atilde;o Paulo State was kick-started on 21 July when 2,000 unionists of 14 trade unions manifesting in front of Industry Federation of S&atilde;o Paulo (FIESP). CNM/CUT President Paulo Cayres addressed the gathering, along with the presidents of the 14 unions, representing 250,000 workers in the state. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB"><img alt="" src="" width="242" height="160" /></span></p>
<div><span lang="EN-GB">Included in the demands is the extension of maternity leave from 120 days to 180. Other demands include: automatic increase of salary in line with inflation, increased wages, improved minimum wage, freedom of organisation in all workplaces, reduction of work week to 40 hours with no reduction in wages.</span></div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Demands were delivered to the Industry Federation of the Minas Gerais region on 29 July.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Metalworkers of Sapiranga, Southern Brazil, settled on an 8% salary increase and 10% hike in the minimum wage, as well as solid improvements to social allowances, including education, child care, and pensions.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB"><img alt="" src="" width="160" height="161" /></span></p>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">CNM/CUT President Paulo Cayres</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">ABC regional workers in S&atilde;o Bernardo rejected an offer last Tuesday from management and issued a strike warning.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Metalworkers of Itu, Porto Feliz, Boituva, and Cabre&uacute;va, 100 kilometres west of S&atilde;o Paulo, were organising united fronts at plants from 3-10 August, ahead of difficult bargaining with management.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">United in the struggle for a fair wage increase, workers in the southern city of S&atilde;o Leopoldo halted production at two large companies in the area last week. Unionists linked arms at the gates of Rossi and Taurus 05, paralysing the sites for four hours on Thursday morning, 11 August. Similar scenes occurred in neighbouring Inpel on Wednesday 10 August, where a large mobilisation caused a one-and-a-half hour work stoppage.</span></p>

CNM/CUT in Brazil Mobilises Campaign for Salary Gains

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The ICEM joins the wide condemnation of the Malawi government&rsquo;s vicious crackdown on human and trade union rights. A raft of recent legislative changes has systematically curtailed civil liberties, freedom of the press, and increased impunity of government agencies and officials.<br />
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In the African nation, Section 46 of the Penal Code was amended, allowing the Minister of Information to ban publications which are deemed to be contrary to the public interest. The Civil Procedure Bill was also amended, denying plaintiffs the right to instant relief when their rights are under threat by a government agency or officer. This latter amendment also allows police to search any house without a search warrant.</div>
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<div>Civil society groups have given President Mutharika until 17 August to respond to their grievances. &quot;If nothing happens, the nation will hear from us,&quot; stated Robert Mkwezalamba, General Secretary of the Malawi Congress of Trade Unions (MCTU), referring to a petition of grievances submitted to the President.<br />
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Nationwide popular protests on 20 July were brutally repressed by shocking police violence, leaving 19 people dead including a 13-year-old boy. The violence used by the Malawi government has been widely condemned, and attention is now on Mutharika&rsquo;s regime to peacefully reach agreement with protest groups, and reverse the country&rsquo;s archaic legislation.<br />
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The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) has initiated an <a href="http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/solidarityforever/show_campaign.cgi?c=1074"><font color="#ff0000">electronic campaign</font></a> through LabourStart. Please support it here. </div>

Campaign to Halt the Bloody Repression of Malawi Trade Unionists

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<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Swiss trade union UNIA has achieved significant steps in the campaign to save the jobs of 470 workers at Swissmetal, a company on the verge of bankruptcy. The first victory was ensuring all staff received salary payments for the month of July. This was achieved through pressure on Switzerland&rsquo;s Secretary of State for the Economy, and on the cantonal governments of Soleure and Berne.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">The federal, cantonal governments and UNIA provided the CHF 2 million to meet July&rsquo;s payroll. Swissmetal no longer has the liquidity to pay wages. UNIA provided the majority of the payment, approximately 70%.</span></p>
<div><span lang="EN-GB">This payment means that the possibility still exists that the two Swiss operations of the company still might be purchased by French-based Le Bronze Industriel SA, a manufacturer of bronze and copper electrodes.</span></div>
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<div>&nbsp;</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB"><span>UNIA Occupy BNP Paribas Branch</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Another major step UNIA in trying to save Swissmetal jobs came when the Swiss national union succeeded in pressuring bank BNP Paribas &ndash; a creditor of Swissmetal that is owed CHF 20 million &ndash; to release the company&rsquo;s metal inventories, which the bank blocked at the two sites.</span></p>
<div><span lang="EN-GB">On 8 August, UNIA and workers at the main facility in Dornach held a symbolic manifestation at the Basle branch of BNP Paribas, urging the bank to lift the blockade of raw metal stock. Hundreds of workers rallied under the slogan, &ldquo;You occupy our warehouse, we occupy your bank!&rdquo; The occupation of the bank proved successful.</span></div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div><span lang="EN-GB">While work did re-start at the other plant, in Reconvilier, on 8 August, all attention today is on the Dornach site, where production must restart immediately. This depends on Swissmetal agreeing to operate and deal with pending orders before buyers look elsewhere. Reopening of operations in the immediate term would ensure Swissmetal&rsquo;s ability to pay wages for August.</span></div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div><span lang="EN-GB">As sale negotiations continue, redundancies are not necessary at this stage, and will be bitterly opposed.</span></div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div><span lang="EN-GB">UNIA underlines the vital importance that the cantonal governments of Soleure and Bern have. They have a duty to prevent the massive dismantling of operations and stop closure of the factories.</span></div>

Uncertainty Continues for Swissmetal Workers

<div><br />
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<p><span lang="EN">Union members of Sindicato No. 1 de Trabajadores de Minera Escondida, a branch of Chile&rsquo;s Federation of Miners (FMC), returned to work on 5 August after a 15-day strike at the world&rsquo;s largest copper mine, majority owned by BHP Billiton. Mineworkers voted by 65.5% to 34.5% on 4 August to end the strike after their leaders negotiating the previous two days with Escondida management. <br />
<br />
Those talks produced a memorandum of agreement providing a remedy to a dispute over a 2010 production bonus. But equally important, the memorandum addressed several grievances and breaches by Escondida management from a 2009 labour agreement. <br />
<br />
Sindicato No. 1, representing Escondida&rsquo;s 2,375 direct-employed miners, said of the memorandum, &ldquo;the company promises to solve a series of labour issues such as establishing a new attendance policy, regularising a certification system based on competency for promotions, and reformulating the criteria for calculating a production bonus.&rdquo; These were just some of the issues in dispute inside a four-year labour agreement that was signed in November 2009. <br />
<br />
In 2010, Escondida &ndash; 57.5% owned by operator BHP Billiton, 30% by Rio Tinto, and 12.5% by Japanese holding companies connected to Mitsubishi &ndash; saw profits of US$4.3 billion, up 35% over that of 2009. Last week&rsquo;s amended bonus to each worker amounts to CHP 2.65 million (pesos), or US$5,800. Miners will receive that on 25 August.</span></p>
<p><span lang="EN"><img alt="" src="" width="245" height="161" /><br />
</span><span lang="EN"><br />
<font color="#ff0000">Sindicato No. 1 Files Papers in a Labour Court in Late July</font></span></p>
<p><span lang="EN">Escondida called the strike illegal and said throughout that it would not negotiate with the union. But as the days wore on and production was crippling revenue from the rich mining complex, that changed. In a statement after signing the memorandum of agreement, the company said workers had ended their &ldquo;illegal work stoppage&rdquo; and &ldquo;this action is due to the success of talks between the parties. <br />
<br />
&ldquo;Minera Escondida reiterates that dialogue and respect are the foundation for maintaining a beneficial relationship with its workers.&rdquo; <br />
<br />
Besides the aforementioned issues, that respect includes a more transparent system for the production bonuses; restoration of a housing allocation that lifts restrictions on where miners may use those stipends; safer and higher-quality bus transport service, and compensation for tickets; no retaliation, redundancy, or punishment for union or strike activity; and review on why the company installed surveillance cameras. <br />
<br />
Miners will also be paid their salaries for the 15-day strike. Sindicato No. 1 de Trabajadores de Minera Escondida had filed labour court charges on several of the issues involved in the strike. <br />
<br />
For its part, the union said it hopes to maintain and deepen channels of communication with management, but also will stay vigilant that the issues agreed to in the memorandum will get addressed and resolved. <br />
<br />
Minera Escondida consists of two open-pit copper mines some 170 kilometres southeast of Antofagasta, in Chile&rsquo;s Region II. It also consists of two concentrator plants, Los Colorados and Laguna Seca, which have a combined capacity of 330,000 tonnes per day. The company operates two pipelines and a filter plant on the Pacific Ocean Port of Coloso. <br />
<br />
In 2010, Escondida&rsquo;s production totaled 1.087 million tonnes, consisting of 786,603 tonnes of copper concentrate and 300,098 tonnes of copper cathodes. The Escondida mine complex provides 7% of the world&rsquo;s copper supply.</span></p>

FMC Copper Union at Escondida Wins Dialogue Guarantees

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The ICEM has joined trade unions of Australia, New Zealand, and the UK in protesting flagrant trade union abuses by the military dictatorship in Fiji. On Saturday, 13 August, just two days after dictator Josaia Voreque Bainimarama tried to assure a high-level ILO delegation, including Deputy General Director Guy Ryder, that trade union rights in Fiji were being upheld, police showed up at the opening of Fiji Trades Union Congress&rsquo;s (FTUC) national council meeting and revoked the national centre&rsquo;s meeting permit.<br />
<br />
That came ten days after Daniel Urai, formerly of the ICEM-affiliated Fiji Electricity Workers&rsquo; Union, who is President of the FTUC, and union activist Dinesh Gounder were arrested under Fiji&rsquo;s new Public Emergency Regulation for meeting with trade unionists without a permit. They were charged with unlawful assembly in meeting with hotel workers over a pending collective agreement. <br />
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Daniel Urai, Dinesh Gounder</span></div>
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Both were released on bail on 4 August and are due to appear in the Nadi Magistrates Court on 2 September on those charges. (See <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/98.ICEM.Fiji%20Prime%20Minister.10August.pdf"><font color="#ff0000">ICEM protest letter</font></a> here.)<br />
<br />
The arrests, along with broader trade union repression, specifically against FTUC National Secretary Felix Anthony, are seen as recrimination against Fiji union leaders visiting Australia and New Zealand to speak out against the military dictatorship of Commodore Bainimarama.<br />
<br />
Australian unions, led by the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), have begun a number of direct actions against Fiji, which have raised the stakes against Bainimarama&rsquo;s strong-armed tactics. For example, the Australian Transport Workers&rsquo; Union (TWU) has threatened to not load or refuel Qantas air flights headed to Fiji, which would severely impact the Pacific country&rsquo;s tourism trade. The blockade would also include Air Pacific, a Qantas partner and Fiji&rsquo;s flag carrier.<br />
<br />
On 2 September &ndash; the date that Urai and Gounder will be in a Fiji courtroom &ndash; the ACTU will organise two manifestations in front of Fiji consular offices in North Sydney and in Deakin near Canberra.<br />
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div><img alt="" src="" width="160" height="160" /><br />
</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>Dictator Bainimarama with ILO Representatives Last Week</div>
<br />
On 8 August, UK&rsquo;s Trades Union Congress and ICEM affiliate GMB called on British sugar multinational Tate &amp; Lyle to challenge the Bainimarama regime&rsquo;s abusive tactics. Tate &amp; Lyle purchases 100% of Fiji&rsquo;s sugar exports and the illegitimate Fijian ruler has a controlling stake in sugar production.<br />
<br />
On the same day that Urai and Gounder were arrested, 3 August, a dictum was issued by Bainimarama &ndash; Fiji&rsquo;s self-appointed Prime Minister following a 2006 coup &ndash; called the Essential National Industries Employment Decree. It bans all industrial actions, will ban workers from being covered by collective agreements in 60 days time, and restricts wage and benefit growth.<br />
<br />
Despite this, Bainimarama told the ILO delegation last week he was not trying to ban unions or take away workers&rsquo; rights. Not many in the international community believe this, least of all the government of Australia, which has recalled its envoy from Fiji.<br />
<br />
On 4 August, the day Urai and Gounder were released, Australian Acting Minister for Foreign Affairs Martin Ferguson, issued a statement saying: &ldquo;Since 2006 the Bainimarama regime has abrogated the constitution; detained political leaders; sacked the independent judiciary; censored the media; and restricted meetings of civil society, including church groups.<br />
<br />
&ldquo;Despite commitments to hold elections in 2014, it is not clear the regime intends to make good on its promise.<br />
<br />
&ldquo;The restriction of labour rights is part of a concerted campaign to curtail the human rights of the people of Fiji. The rights of workers in Fiji have been targeted through a series of decrees restricting labour rights, the most recent of which was aimed at essential industries.&rdquo;</div>

Trade Union Repression in Fiji Mounting

<p align="center"><img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" /></p>
<p align="justify">The ICEM-affiliated Teamsters Union (IBT) in the US has mounted a voracious campaign against Germany&rsquo;s BMW Group to preserve 68 auto-parts warehousing jobs in Southern California. The campaign to stop the outsourcing of family-supporting parts distribution jobs from a BMW warehouse in Ontario, California, has stretched eastward across America and now has gotten very active support from Unite the Union in the UK and IG Metall in Germany. <br />
<br />
In early June, the 7,500-member IBT Local 495 of Covina, California, was told by North American BMW that it intended to terminate a collective agreement upon expiration on 31 August and outsource the jobs of Teamster members to an un-named logistics provider. Instead of rolling over and negotiating severance packages, the union and its members fought back. <br />
<br />
They began a pressure campaign that has seen trade unionists and supporters handbilling BMW auto dealerships across the US, and Local 495 has zeroed in specifically on the Jackson Lewis LLP law firm. Jackson Lewis is a union-busting legal firm that regrettably BMW North America retained for anti-worker services in industrial relations. </p>
<p align="center"><img alt="" src="" width="368" height="121" /></p>
<p align="justify">The IBT has gained support and mobilisation of other American unions at BMW&rsquo;s five parts distribution depots in the US, as well as from trade unionists at BMW workplaces in Europe. <br />
<br />
The union has established a lively website entitled <a href="http://www.bmwultimatemisery.com/ "><font color="#ff0000">&ldquo;BMW: The Ultimate Misery&rdquo;</font></a> and produced a video from a spirited 26 July protest in front of the Jackson Lewis law offices in Los Angeles. (View the <a href="http://vimeo.com/26990405 "><font color="#ff0000">video</font></a> here.) <br />
<br />
Earlier, on 21 July, a Day of Action was held in not only BMW&rsquo;s US warehouses, but also inside BMW facilities in the UK. Workers wore stickers supporting the California Teamsters and passed out leaflets demanding that BMW not destroy California jobs. Members of the International Longshoremen&rsquo;s Association (ILA) at an import distribution centre in the Port Authority of New York/New Jersey two years ago successfully fended off outsourcing, as did United Auto Workers (UAW) members at a BMW parts warehouse in Nazareth, Pennsylvania. </p>
<p align="justify">Both unions now assist the California workers in resisting closure. IBT local unions in America&rsquo;s eastern states are handbilling BMW dealerships on a daily basis. The Ontario warehouse workers use weekends away from the job to draw attention to BMW&rsquo;s unfair decision by handbilling dealerships up and down the US West Coast, from Southern California to the state of Washington. </p>
<p align="center"><img alt="" src="" width="308" height="161" /></p>
<p align="center"><font color="#ff0000">Teamsters handbilling in Seattle</font></p>
<p align="justify">In the UK, Unite Assistant General Secretary and head of Manufacturing, Tony Burke, is now spearheading a petition drive aimed at BMW&rsquo;s European Works Council (EWC). Unite members are demanding that an extraordinary meeting of the EWC meeting slated for 10 September be moved up to August in order to place the scheduled Ontario closure squarely on the agenda. They want BMW to reverse the North America decision. <br />
<br />
&ldquo;We&rsquo;ll continue to expand this campaign inside the US and internationally in the weeks to come,&rdquo; said Local 495 Secretary-Treasurer Bob Lennox. &ldquo;Working with other US unions and now with unions in Europe, we&rsquo;re convinced that we&rsquo;ll get a positive resolution for our members and that means retaining our jobs.&rdquo; <br />
<br />
The Ontario, California, warehouse handles 200,000 auto parts for just-in-time delivery to BMW car dealerships and other auto-supply outlets on the West Coast. The ICEM believes such work is best done by experienced and direct-employed BMW workers and urges the German company to retain loyal Teamster members for the good of its business and to preserve family-sustaining jobs. </p>

US Teamsters Ardently Resist BMW’s Auto Parts Outsourcing

<p align="center"><img height="39" alt="" src="" width="100" /></p>
<p align="justify">The ICEM World Conference for the Chemical Industries will take place on 27-28 October in Istanbul, Turkey, upon invitation of affiliate Petrol-İş, Turkey&rsquo;s Petroleum, Chemical and Rubber Workers&rsquo; Union. Tomas Nieber, Chair of the ICEM Chemicals Sector and trade union leader of Germany&rsquo;s IGBCE, will chair of the sector and will welcome an estimated 250 delegates and guests. </p>
<p align="center"><img height="136" alt="" src="" width="100" /></p>
<p align="center"><font color="#ff0000">Tomas Nieber, Chair of the ICEM Chemicals Sector</font></p>
<p align="justify">The Conference will be composed of six major presentations and panel discussions: <br />
<br />
* Presentation on &ldquo;Global Chemical Industries &ndash; An Overview,&rdquo; followed by a panel discussion entitled &ldquo;Global Crisis, Restructuring and Challenges for Trade Unions in the Chemical Industries.&rdquo; <br />
<br />
* Presentation on &ldquo;Pharmaceutical Industry: Recent Trends,&rdquo; followed by a panel discussion entitled &ldquo;Opportunities and Challenges for Trade Unions in the Pharmaceutical Industry.&rdquo; <br />
<br />
* Presentation on &ldquo;Recent Trends on Employment and Working Conditions and Social Dialogue in the Chemical Industry,&rdquo; followed by a panel discussion entitled &ldquo;Trade Union Rights, Industrial Relations and Social Dialogue in Chemical Industries: Sharing Experiences.&rdquo; <br />
<br />
* Presentation on &ldquo;Health, Safety and Sustainability in the Chemical Industries: Trade Union Approach and Response,&rdquo; followed by a panel discussion entitled &ldquo;Global Level Chemical Safety Initiatives and Workers&rsquo; Health.&rdquo; <br />
<br />
* Presentation on Changing &ldquo;Work Relationships: ICEM&rsquo;s Campaign on Contract and Agency Labour,&rdquo; followed by a panel discussion entitled &ldquo;Precarious Employment and Trade Union Policies and Actions.&rdquo; <br />
<br />
* Presentation on &ldquo;Global Trade Union Response Against Challenges: Global Framework Agreements, Global/Regional Company &amp; Sector Networks, and Campaigns,&rdquo; followed by a panel discussion called &ldquo;Creation of Global Trade Union Power through Solidarity, Support and Cooperation.&rdquo; <br />
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Following discussions, ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda will summarize the panel discussions and present the future action plan for the chemicals industry for the coming four years. </p>

ICEM’s Quadrennial Chemicals Conference in Istanbul Next Week

<p align="justify">Responding to the European Commission&rsquo;s recommendation that member states should consider suspending offshore licensing in advance of possible new EU-wide safety standards, Norrie McVicar, Chair of the ITF&rsquo;s Offshore Task Force Group (OTFG), said: &ldquo;This is the wrong position to take and the wrong time to take it. The EC should be protecting the safety gains made in the UK offshore sector, not eroding them by dumbing them down to a lowest common denominator.&rdquo; <br />
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Lars Myhre, ICEM Energy Sector Chair, added: &ldquo;You can never be too safe and we would never condone complacency, but the British and Norwegian sectors are generally good examples of best practice. They should be studied, learned from and, where necessary, improved. They shouldn&rsquo;t be remodeled into a one size fits all &ndash; but not very well &ndash; Euro model.&rdquo; <br />
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McVicar also stated: &ldquo;One very positive feature of the UK industry is OSPRA, the Oil Spill Prevention and Response Advisory Group, which brings together regulators, industry bodies and trade unions such as Unite and the RMT in a joint effort to ensure that we get the oil and gas we need as safely and cleanly as possible. It&rsquo;s that kind of good practice that we&rsquo;d like to see adopted by the rest of the global oil and gas sector, not weakened here in Europe.&rdquo; <br />
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For further information, contact: <br />
ITF (International Transport Workers&rsquo; Federation) <br />
Press officer, Sam Dawson, Tel: + 44 (0)20 7940 9260, Email: <a href="mailto:dawson_sam@itf.org.uk"><strong><font color="#ff0000">dawson_sam@itf.org.uk</font></strong></a> &nbsp;<br />
Norrie McVicar, OFTG Chair, Tel: +44(0)7768 652 257, Email: <a href="mailto:mcvicar_norrie@itf.org.uk"><strong><font color="#ff0000">mcvicar_norrie@itf.org.uk</font></strong></a> &nbsp;<br />
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ICEM (International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions) Tel: +41-22-304-1847, Email: <a href="mailto:Jim.catterson@icem.org"><strong><font color="#ff0000">Jim.catterson@icem.org</font></strong></a> &nbsp;</p>

ITF, ICEM Oppose EC’s Offshore Safety Recommendation

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