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US affiliate United Auto Workers (UAW) has successfully organised two PPG Industries auto-glass plants in recent weeks, and has a US government-conducted election scheduled at a third on 27 July. 
 
On 28 June, workers at a flat-glass plant in Evansville, state of Indiana, voted for UAW bargaining representation, and a week earlier, glass staff at a PPG factory in Crestline, state of Ohio, joined the UAW. The Evansville&nbsp;plant employs nearly&nbsp;400 workers, while the Crestline factory&nbsp;has 260 bargaining unit jobs. 
The UAW election on 27 July is at a PPG Industries plant in O&rsquo;Fallon, state of Missouri. The operation, a former Chemfil company worksite, produces metal and other fastenings for glass destined for the auto industry. The UAW currently represents workers at four American PPG plants and is active in the 16-union Joint Union Council of PPG Industries in North America.

UAW in US Succeeding in Organising Auto-Glass Factories

The campaign to totally ban all forms of asbestos took a leap ahead last month when the Workers&rsquo; Group of the ILO Conference passed a decisive statement that all asbestos types, including white chrysotile, are cancer-causing. 
 
The ICEM&rsquo;s Mining/DGOJP Sector is currently initiating dialogue with mining affiliates on the correct path toward implementation of ILO Convention 162, the safety in the use of asbestos convention. This is in accord with the four-year work plan established at the ICEM&rsquo;s Mining and DGOJP World Conferences in 2004. 
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Last month&rsquo;s resolution at the annual ILO Conference states &ldquo;that the elimination of the future use of asbestos and the identification and proper management of asbestos currently in place means to protect workers from asbestos exposure and to prevent future asbestos-related diseases and deaths.&rdquo; It also supports elimination on any future use of the product, and calls for renewed efforts toward ratification by countries of ILO Conventions 162 and 139, the latter related to occupational cancer. 
 
The resolution was boosted some two weeks before its 14 June ILO passage when France became the 40th country to ban future asbestos use. South Africa, a leading mining nation, also is close to passing a complete ban on white asbestos mining, something Zimbabwe&rsquo;s government is fiercely resisting due to sizeable exports of the product to South Africa. 
 
Major producing countries of white chrysotile asbestos include Canada, Russia, Brazil, China and Zimbabwe. The amphibole asbestos types, blue amosite asbestos and brown crocidolite asbestos, are proven to cause asbestos-related respiratory diseases and are banned under World Health Organisation guidelines.

ILO Workers’ Group Takes Strong Stand on Asbestos Ban

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The sad reminder that the safety of trade union leaders is still not secure in South Africa was brought home when National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) Branch Chairperson Elias Malaudzi was assassinated after leaving work on 3 July. 
 
Malaudzi, 46, was the NUM chairperson of Goldfields&rsquo; Driefontein gold mine in Carletonville, a worksite which has seen two previous union leaders killed by violent acts. Comrade Malaudzi has been credited by the NUM with playing a pivotal role in making his branch &ldquo;one of the most united structures, and the biggest branch in the Carletonville region.&rdquo; The husband and father was stopped by an armed man, who shot him in the head, and then once in the chest as he fell. 
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A 26-year-old man from KwaZulu-Natal, who does not work at the mine, was apprehended soon after the murder. Comrade Malaudzi was a community leader in Carletonville area, serving as a town councillor. 
 
&ldquo;It is important that all of our members, and workers in general, at the mine remain calm in this face of tragedy,&rdquo; said NUM General Secretary Frans Baleni. &ldquo;Serious concerns were raised about the fact that another union leader from the same mine was once more killed by an unknown Zulu-speaking person. 
 
&ldquo;The union is concerned that these sentiments could invoke tribal and factional emotions that may be deep-seated in the area,&rdquo; added Baleni. &ldquo;We hope that the Goldfields management will play their part in this regard, too.&rdquo; 
 
The ICEM backed Baleni&rsquo;s call for calmness in a letter sent to the NUM, further expressing condolences to the union and to the family of Comrade Malaudzi.

NUM Leader Gunned Down in Senseless South African Act

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The ICEM teamed with NOPEF, Norway&rsquo;s dominant oil workers&rsquo; union, to bring a set of highly successful workshops to women of Palestine&rsquo;s General Union of Petroleum, Mining and Chemicals Workers' Union. The Palestinian workshops occurred last month, 10-12 June,&nbsp;in&nbsp;neighboring Jordan.
Contents
&nbsp;<a href="#pal">1. Palestine &ndash; ICEM and NOPEF Hold Women&rsquo;s Training Session</a> 
<a href="#2">2. Botswana &ndash; ICEM African Women&rsquo;s Committee Meeting</a> 
<a href="#coun">3. Council of Europe &ndash; Inequality Has a Price</a>&nbsp; 
<a href="#3">4. Jordan &ndash; Women Workers are Discriminated Against</a>&nbsp; 
<a href="#4">5. Kuwait &ndash; Women Vote for the First Time</a> 
<a href="#5">6. Nepal &ndash; Third National Women&rsquo;s Conference Demands More Women&rsquo;s Representation</a> 
<a href="#6">7. Pakistan &ndash; Working Women Organization Protests Against 18th Century Laws in the 21st Century</a> 
<a href="#res">From our Readers</a> 
<a href="#8">8. Switzerland &ndash; Women Demand Equal Pay for Equal Work</a> 
<a href="#9">9. United Kingdom &ndash; Black Women are in Low Paid and Low-status Jobs</a> 
<a href="#10">10. United States &ndash; Goodyear Discriminates Against Women</a> 
<a href="#11">11. ILO: New Forms of Violence at Work Are on the Rise Worldwide</a> 
<a href="#12">12. Resources</a>
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1. Palestine &ndash; ICEM and NOPEF Hold Women&rsquo;s Training Session&nbsp; 
 
From 10-12 June 2006, the ICEM organised training for women women workers who are members of the General Union of Petroleum, Mining and Chemicals Workers' Union of Palestine in Amman, Jordan.
The course provided training on women&rsquo;s health as well as collective bargaining. The aim is to develop women&rsquo;s leadership in the union. The point was mostly to understand how gender affects men and women differently in all areas of life, from privatization to health issues. 
 
Turid &Oslash;ygard from NOPEF made a presentation on women in Norway and their roles in unions and working life. She also led group work on democracy in trade unions. 
 
The women concluded that they needed more self-confidence and self-esteem. The intifada has influenced women. But women are able to fight and should be accepted as fighters. As a next step, the women seek to create more awareness among men on the role they are capable of fulfilling. 
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<a href="#back">Back Up</a> 
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2. Botswana &ndash; ICEM African Women&rsquo;s Committee Meeting 
The highlights of the meeting included the election of Baru Gaithoboge as vice-chair of the ICEM&rsquo;s African Regional Women&rsquo;s Committee. Baru&rsquo;s election will boost the representation of African women at ICEM events. Congratulations to Baru. 
The women reported that the general secretaries in Namibia and Zimbabwe were still resistant to forming joint ICEM women&rsquo;s structures. 
In Nigeria, the affiliated unions held a women&rsquo;s meeting in 2005 and are planning to hold another one in 2006. Ghana has embarked upon community development by training mineworkers&rsquo; wives. 
Fabian Nkomo, project coordinator for the shop steward development programme in Africa, reported on the project in Namibia, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Botswana and Tanzania. He said the project was supposed to increase the level of activity targeted toward women. Thus women would be enlisted to strengthen unions, not least of all in connection with dues payments. 
Thanks to Oluchi Okorie from NUPENG in Nigeria for providing this report! 
<a href="#back">Back Up</a>
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3. Council of Europe &ndash; Inequality Has a Price <a name="coun"></a>
The Sixth European Ministerial Conference on Equality between Women and Men was held in Stockholm on 8-9 June 2006. The conference focused on the economic advantages that equality entails. 
According to the Swedish equality minister, economies in the most equal societies have higher growth rates. The highest cost to society is generated by domestic violence. 
Spanish figures show that violence toward women costs Spain &euro;2.4 billion a year, which entails hospital costs, psychological assistance, legal costs and work absenteeism. 
In Finland, inequality is estimated to cost &euro;17.4 per person. In the UK, inequality is estimated to cost each person up to &euro;555 per year in terms of health costs and social costs. UK authorities have calculated that if women participated in the labour market there to the same extent as men, the government would take in between &euro;22 billion and &euro;34.5 billion euros more per year. 
In Sweden, the argument is that women continue working after the birth of their children, which in turn yields more tax income to the government. This allows further investment in childcare, thus allowing more Swedish women to enter the workforce. In Sweden, 40% of women, however, work part-time, and that brings a dramatic effect to their pensions. With women on average living longer than men, they have less money available to them in retirement. 
For more information, see <a href="http://www.coe.int/equality-conference">www.coe.int/equality-conference</a>. 
<a href="#back">Back Up</a>
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4. Jordan &ndash; Women Workers are Discriminated Against
In Jordan, women workers are discriminated against and are often paid below the legal minimum wage, even with the recent increase in the minimum wage. 
The government increased the monthly minimum wage to US$142 in May to help defray higher costs of living due to higher fuel prices. Some women were earning only US$60 before the wage increase for working 10 to 12 hour days, and may continue to not be paid the full legal wage. 
This is due to the fact that women are &ldquo;reluctant to file lawsuits against employers for fear of retaliation,&rdquo; and also because of inadequate implementation of labour laws, according to the General Federation of Jordanian Trade Unions. 
Over 200,000 Jordanians in the workforce are women, the majority of whom come from impoverished families. Unemployment is almost 15%, and one-fifth of the 5.5 million people living in Jordan live below the poverty line.
<a href="#back">Back Up</a>
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5. Kuwait &ndash; Women Vote for the First Time 
Kuwait&rsquo;s first parliamentary elections in which women could vote were a victory for political reformists but a disappointment for female candidates, none of whom won a seat to the governing body. In total, 27 women ran in the recent elections. Women had won the right to vote and run for office last year. 
Female votes accounted for 57% of the electorate. Women turned out in large numbers to vote for the first time. Before women won the right to vote, members of Parliament had resisted granting them suffrage with the argument that it contradicted Islam. This year&rsquo;s elections were seen to be crucial, as they affected reforms and economic development programmes. 
<a href="#back">Back Up</a>
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6. Nepal &ndash; Third National Women&rsquo;s Conference Demands More Women&rsquo;s Representation 
Nepal&rsquo;s Parliament adopted a declaration setting the minimum for women&rsquo;s participation at 33% at all levels. Now the question is to implement this standard. 
At the Third National Women&rsquo;s Conference, the representative of the All Nepal Women&rsquo;s Association presented a road map for women&rsquo;s participation. The other thematic issues had to do with the changes in laws to prevent discrimination. 
GEFONT Deputy General Secretary and ICEM Vice President Binda Pandey presented a comparative analysis on programmes, achievements and challenges between the Second and Third National Women Workers&rsquo; Conferences. Altogether, 616 women from the rank and file attended this most recent conference. The conference outcomes will be used to develop policy. 
 
Women in Nepal earn NPR 80, while men earn NPR 100-150 (NPR 100 = US$ 1.36). The rates have been frozen for ten years. Men are said to be stronger, work harder and produce more, which is why it is possible to pay women less. 
<a href="#back">Back Up</a>
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7. Pakistan &ndash; Working Women Organization Protests Against 18th Century Laws in the 21st Century 
On 23 June, thousands of workers took to the streets all over Pakistan to protest against the amendments in labour laws that set minimum working time of 12 hour per day, and exclude piece rate workers from overtime payment. 
The Working Women Organization staged agitation and expressed their anger about workers&rsquo; poor conditions, shameful amendments to the laws and the violation of ILO standards. The changes in labour law will enable employers to exploit workers even more, and especially women workers who already have irregular work, long working hours, dangerous working conditions, very low wages and no right of organization. 
<a href="#back">Back Up</a>
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From our Readers: 
 
Jumana Jodi Dreraghmi from the Palestine General Federation of Trade Unions writes that she is now using the methods she learned in the course. She divides people up into groups and everyone gives their views. She is preparing a meeting on 7 July to share what she learned from the Amman workshops with other Palestinian women. 
<a href="#back">Back Up</a>
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8. Switzerland &ndash; Women Demand Equal Pay for Equal Work 
 
Women in Switzerland called for the wage gap to be closed between women and men ten years after the equal opportunities law first came into force. The nationwide campaign is distributing cards shaped like 50-franc notes, which are depicted as being worth only CHF39, thus representing the reality of the workplace. 
Unia, an ICEM affiliate and the country&rsquo;s largest trade union, marked the campaign by calling on those in the retail sector to pay their female employees more. According to a study, women receive 12.7% less than their male colleagues, amounting annually to CHF1 billion. 
Unia reports that discrimination is also rampant in businesses that employ more than 2,500 employees. In 2004, women earned on average CHF4,781 gross per month, whereas the figure for men was CHF5,953, amounting to a difference of 19.7%. In 2002, that difference was 20.7%. 
<a href="#back">Back Up</a>
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9. United Kingdom &ndash; Black Women are in Low Paid and Low-status Jobs 
The Trades Union Congress (TUC) of the UK released a report entitled Black Women and Employment, which was originally presented at the Black Workers&rsquo; Conference in 2006. The report looks at the barriers black women face to gaining employment and then progressing in their jobs. 
The government, according to the report, must take initiatives to combat race and sex discrimination in employment. Facts reveal that black and minority ethnic women are more likely to be unemployed or economically inactive than any other group in the labour market. 
Black and minority ethnic women suffer from cultural stereotyping by employers that result in them having to take jobs at lower skills levels than match their qualifications. Also, black and minority ethnic women are disproportionately likely to be working in temporary jobs. 
The TUC believes that there is a need for concerted and coordinated action by government and trade unions through collective bargaining to eliminate race and sex discrimination in the labour market and in society, through legislative and community-based initiatives. 
The organisation and recruitment of black women is vital if future progress is to be made in addressing the problems that black women face in the workplace, and in encouraging increased participation in the trade union movement. 
<a href="#back">Back Up</a>
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10. United States &ndash; Goodyear Discriminates Against Women 
The US Labor Department has sued Goodyear Tire &amp; Rubber Co., alleging hiring discrimination against hundreds of women who sought jobs in the late 1990s. The lawsuit seeks to force Goodyear to hire, pay back wages, and provide retroactive seniority and other benefits to the women who were denied employment. 
In 1998 and 1999, Goodyear followed a &ldquo;hiring process and selection procedures that discriminated against hundreds of female applicants for entry-level positions on the basis of gender,&rdquo; said the Labor Department in a statement. A spokesperson for Goodyear denied the charges and claims that Goodyear is working to resolve the matter. 
<a href="#back">Back Up</a>
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11. ILO: New Forms of Violence at Work Are on the Rise Worldwide 
Violence at work, ranging from bullying and mobbing, to threats to psychologically unstable co-workers, sexual harassment and homicide, is increasing worldwide and has reached epidemic levels in some countries. This is according to the ILO study, Violence at Work, Third Edition. 
The global cost of workplace violence is enormous and costs untold millions of dollars in losses due to absenteeism and sick leave, among other causes. It also notes that professions that used to be sheltered from workplace violence such as teaching, social services, library services and health care are being exposed to increasing acts of violence in both developed and developing countries. 
Bullying, harassment, mobbing and similar behaviour can be just as damaging as outright physical violence, according to the report. 
Today, the instability of many types of jobs places huge pressures on workplaces, leading to more such violence. In developing countries, the most vulnerable workers include women, migrants and children, according to the report. 
In Malaysia, 11,851 rape and molestation cases at workplaces were reported between 1997 and mid-2001. Widespread sexual harassment and abuse were major concerns in South Africa, Ukraine, Kuwait and Hong Kong, states the report. 
<a href="#back">Back Up</a>
<img height="25" alt="" src="" width="20" /><a name="12"></a>
12. Resources: 
See <a href="http://www.payscale.com/">www.payscale.com</a> to compare your salary. 
 
ILO study on &ldquo;Decent Working Time: New Trends, New Issues,&rdquo; available at 
<a href="http://www.ilo.org/public/english/bureau/inf/pr/2006/28.htm">www.ilo.org/public/english/bureau/inf/pr/ 
2006/28.htm</a> 
 
ILO study on &ldquo;Changing Patterns in the World of Work,&rdquo; available&nbsp;at 
<a href="http://www.ilo.org/public/english/standards/relm/ilc/ilc95/reports.htm">www.ilo.org/public/english/standards/relm/ilc/ 
ilc95/reports.htm</a>
<a href="#back">Back Up</a>

ICEM WOMEN’S BULLETIN N° 13

The 86-day strike by members of the United Steelworkers (USW) at 12 Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. plants in the US ended 29 December, after rubber workers voted to approve a new accord at America&rsquo;s biggest tyre producer by a two-to-one margin. USW announced yesterday that 10,000 of 14,000 striking union members voted in balloting, and that approval of the new three-year labour agreement was gained by a majority of members at all 12 branch locals.
<img height="66" alt="" src="" width="120" />
Some 500 Canadian USW members at four rubber accessory plants in the province of Ontario are voting on a separate contract proposal. Both the US and Canadian Goodyear workers have been on strike since 5 October 2006. 
 
&quot;It took a strike, but we achieved a fair and equitable contract that protects quality health care for active and retired members,&rdquo; said USW Executive Vice President Ron Hoover. &quot;And by winning major capital investment expenditures, it secures our jobs for the future.&quot; 

The strike in the US centered on heath care coverage and job security. USW won a guarantee from Goodyear that it would commit US$550 million in capitalisation investments at the 12 plants over the next three years. 

The union also pushed Goodyear in week-long talks beginning on 19 December to increase a health care trust fund for active workers and retirees. The US-based company agreed to place US$1 billion in a Voluntary Employees&rsquo; Beneficiary Association, from which medical and prescription drug benefits for current and future retirees will come. Future contributions into this fund will include diverted cost-of-living payments and profit-sharing plants. 
During the strike, Goodyear announced that it would close a tyre plant in Tyler, Texas, in 2007, thus making 1,100 workers redundant. USW and Goodyear agreed in the December talks that closure would occur no sooner than 2008, and the union won sizeable retirement buy-outs, enhanced severance packages, and medical coverage for Texas workers for a full two years beyond closure of the private-label tyre operation. It also won a guarantee that future manufacture of such tyres will be done in a plant that had been on strike. 
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The 12-week strike was marked by the company circumventing the union and appealing directly to USW members to abandon the walk-out and return to work. But there were few defections among the nearly 15,000 strikers, and that fact no doubt forced Goodyear to compromise its original demands. 

&ldquo;The credit really belongs to our members and their families, whose solidarity prevented the company from short-changing them, despite all of its attempts,&rdquo; stated USW President Leo Gerard. 
 
This week&rsquo;s contract ratification means workers will return to work on 2 January at both tyre and engineered rubber product plants in Akron, Ohio; St. Marys, Ohio; Marysville, Ohio; Gadsden, Alabama; Buffalo, New York; Lincoln, Nebraska; Topeka, Kansas; Fayetteville, North Carolina; Danville, Virginia; Tyler, Texas; Sun Prairie, Wisconsin; and, Union City, Tennessee.

USW Ends US Goodyear Strike after Membership Vote Approval

ICEM WOMEN’S BULLETIN N° 18

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ICEM affiliate FUB/FS, Brazilian rubber workers union, invited delegates from several Latin American rubber workers&rsquo; unions to the recent conference of FUTINAL (Frente &Uacute;nico de Los Trabajadores en Las Ind&uacute;strias de Neum&aacute;ticos y Afines de Latinoamerica) at Praia Grande/Sao Paulo, from 5 to 7 December 2007. 
 
Roughly 100 delegates, mostly from ICEM affiliates, including from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Peru, Uruguay and the USA held discussions,&nbsp;among other things&nbsp;on the need to set up more trade union networks for multinational companies. The USW explained&nbsp;the situation surrounding the Goodyear strike in the US and Michael Wolters, ICEM Rubber Industry Officer, reported on the last developments in the rubber sector as well as on the main strategies by the major global tire companies. 
<img height="106" alt="" src="" width="380" />
Unions organising Continental AG plants in Brazil, Mexico, Argentina and USA, used the time to coordinate their ideas and activities for the coming International Action Day for all Continental tyre unions from the western hemisphere (13 December 2006) 
 
At the end of the conference, an action plan was adopted for future work. 
<a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/0612pptMichaelSaoPaulo.ppt">Click here for the ICEM's Presentation at the conference</a>

Latin American Rubber Workers Hold Conference

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In Iran, Mansour Osanloo was arrested again, on 19 November. Osanloo is the head of the trade union of Workers of the Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company,. 
 
He was detained outside his home, by plain-clothed security officials, a day before he was summoned to appear in court. Officials beat him and forced him, at gunpoint, into a car. Osanloo is said to be held at the Evin Prison, where he may be in need of urgent medical treatment. He had had eye-surgery only days before he was detained, the result of injuries suffered during his previous arrest, earlier this year. 
<img height="56" alt="" src="" width="100" />
On 26 November, Osanloo appeared before an Iranian court, in the absence of his lawyer. No specific charges were cited, however. Osanloo had been released in August 2006, after an international campaign led by the International Transport Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITF). See: <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/1661-Iranian-Bus-Drivers-Given-Global-Union-Support">/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/1661-Iranian-Bus-Drivers-Given-Global-Union-Support</a>. 
 
According to a press communiqu&eacute; by the Tehran union, also known as Sherkat-e Vahed, three other unionists were also arrested on 3 December: Seyyed Davoud Razavi and Abdolreza Taraazi, members of the Executive Board, and Gholamreza Gholam-Hosseini, a union activist. The three men were detained as they were distributing leaflets. The first two were released later the same day. Gholamreza Gholam-Hosseini was only released this weekend. 
 
The three men are among the 50 bus workers that are currently still without pay since a January 2006 strike. In July, the ITF and the ITUC already lodged a formal protest before the ILO over Osanloo&rsquo;s initial detention, and over the crackdown on the union Sherkat-e Vahed.
<img height="92" alt="" src="" width="200" />
The ITF has called the re-arrest an &ldquo;outrageous attempt to crush both a brave individual and all attempts to assert basic trade union rights in the country.&rdquo; The ICEM fully supports the call of the ITF to continue to apply pressure on Iranian authorities over human and labour rights. 
 
For more information, including the possibility to take action, please click here: 
<a href="http://www.itfglobal.org/solidarity/Osanloo.cfm">http://www.itfglobal.org/solidarity/Osanloo.cfm</a>.&nbsp;

President of Tehran Bus Company Union Arrested Again

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The paper sector caucus for eastern Canada of the Communications, Energy, and Paperworkers (CEP) Union has resolved to hold intact the pattern sector labour agreement without granting concessions to employers. Meeting in Montreal on 4-5 December, local branch leaders of the CEP&rsquo;s paper industry sector adopted a strong anti-concession stand to preserve the current agreement. 
 
&ldquo;Our local union leaders are telling us to draw a line in the sand,&rdquo; said CEP President Dave Coles. &ldquo;And that is exactly what we intend to do. I will be in touch with the major players in the (paper) sector, including Abitibi Consolidated and Bowater, to let them know we have no intention of negotiating concessions to our existing wages and benefits.&rdquo; 
<img height="102" src="" width="100" alt="" />
The CEP will instead call on forestry companies to join it in its pronounced campaign before the federal government, calling for real and meaningful answers to Canada&rsquo;s forest products crisis, a crisis that finds the government short on ideas, and lacking in economic initiatives to stem both the mass job losses and resulting rural destruction. 
 
Some 7,000 CEP members have lost their jobs over the past two years, with some 40 full or partial mill closures occurring in that period. 
 
Coles said that the wage and benefit portion of operation costs in any given mill is among the lowest of cost items faced by employers. &ldquo;We have had more than one employer tell us we could work for nothing and he would still close his mill because the union contract was not the problem,&rdquo; said the CEP&rsquo;s president. 
<img height="92" src="" width="200" alt="" />
CEP has engaged a national campaign inside Canada, calling on the federal government to adopt a national forest strategy. Stated goals are money for research and development, creation of alternate end uses for fibre resources, investment in initiatives to ensure sustainability of resources, and accelerated adjustment programmes for workers, their families, and the communities at-large, which have been the hardest hit by this national crisis. 
 
The CEP is currently in the middle of a five-year labour accord with pulp and paper manufacturers operating in the eastern half of Canada, covering some 25,000 paperworkers.

CEP Says ‘No’ to Weakening of Paper Sector Pact in Eastern Canada

Estonian trade unions scored a major victory last week when the country&rsquo;s Parliament accepted all revisions made by the unions in the proposed Employees&rsquo; Representatives&rsquo; Act. The legislation, if passed, would have severely weakened trade union protections, including exclusion of union stewards from shop-floor information and consultation processes, and stripping union representatives from unfair dismissal protections. 
 
Instead, during a second reading of the bill on 6 December, the unions successfully inserted language into the proposed new statute calling for shop stewards to be formally characterised as &ldquo;employees&rsquo; representatives,&rdquo; with full rights and guarantees, and they must be included in all information and consultation matters over workplace or worker concerns. 
<img height="150" alt="" src="" width="150" />
Additionally, amendments to the law will prohibit shop stewards from being discriminated against, and they will retain paid time in the performance of their duties. 
 
A third and final reading of the bill will take place on 13 December, and since procedure disallows further amendments to it, it is certain to be passed this week. The law will take effect in Estonia on 1 February 2007. 
 
Harri Taliga, President of the Estonian national labour centre EAKL, said the statute now conforms to ILO Convention 135, the Workers&rsquo; Representatives Convention. He said that although the country&rsquo;s labour unions are not entirely happy with the new law, the success they had in rolling back the draconian aspects of the bill is commendable. 
<img height="86" alt="" src="" width="106" />
Estonian trade unions had the help of Industrianst&auml;llda I Nordic (Nordic IN), the five-nation trade union federation of chemical, energy, paper, and metal unions, in mounting a campaign against the worst provisions in the bill. &ldquo;This victory is a result of systematic and intransigent work by the Estonian trade unions,&rdquo; said Nordic IN General Secretary Jyrki Raina, who also credited an international solidarity campaign, as well as timely and expert help from the ILO in convincing parliamentarians to adopt the pro-worker amendments.

Estonian Unions Turn Back Anti-Worker Revisions to Country’s Labour Code

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