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<img height="40" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief 1.gif" width="100"/>
Contract workers represented by ICEM UK affiliate Unite began the first of industrial actions at a Kimberly-Clark paper mill in Northfleet, Kent, on 12 October. The 38 workers of TDG, formerly called Transport Development Group, staged a 12-hour strike on that day, and they plan a further 24-hour strike over tomorrow and Wednesday, 23-24 October. 
<img height="302" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/0710KCUK.jpg" width="200"/>
The London-based employer responded by replacing the members of the Amicus section of Unite on 12 October. The dispute is over lack of parity in 2007 pay raises between Kimberly-Clark workers at Northfleet, also members of Unite, and the TDG workers. In previous years, the company had matched raises that Kimberly-Clark workers received. 
 
At another UK tissue mill of Kimberly-Clark near Barrow-in-Furness, in Cumbria in northwest England, TDG did just that this year, granting a 4.5% pay increase. The TDG workers at both sites work in the warehouses of the American-based company. TDG has provided contract services for the paper-maker since 2002, and is a major European logistical and supply-chain distributor of chemicals and consumer goods. 
 
Trade unionists are encouraged to send letters of support to Unite’s representative, Paul Baker, at <a href="mailto:paul.baker@unitetheunion.org">paul.baker@unitetheunion.org</a>.

Paper Mill Logistic Workers Take Industrial Action in UK

<img height="40" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief 1.gif" width="100"/>
Some 300 French glass sector workers from four different unions protested in front of Saint-Gobain corporate offices in Paris on 20 February. The manifestation by workers of four Saint-Gobain Desjonquères (SGD) glass factories was over the company’s intention to reduce the workforce at a perfume and pharmaceutical bottle plant in Mers, as well as the possible sale or joint-venture spin-off of the Desjonquères glass business. 
<img height="285" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/0702CGTdemo.jpg" width="380"/>
The unions, CFDT, FO, CGT, and CFTC, gained a meeting with senior managers during the protest, in which Saint-Gobain delivered a declaration that no workers would be sacked for economic reasons, and that any downsizings would occur through voluntary retirements and attrition. 
The declaration also included a guarantee that investment would be made to keep open the No. 7 furnace at Mers if demand is sufficient. In a statement last month, Saint-Gobain Desjonquères said it would shutter that furnace in 2008, cutting 125 jobs at the 1,245-worker factory. 
 
The unions also pressed management to take into account that some 400 temporary workers are employed at Mers. Workers from Saint-Gobain factories from Mers, Verreries de la Somme at Abbeville, Verreries de l’Orne at Argentan, and SGD Sucy-Enbrie took part in the manifestation. 
<img height="203" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/France.png" width="200"/>
On the day following the protest, the unions obtained a salary increase from Saint-Gobain of 2.5%, with a minimum wage hike of €55-per-month. They also won a €12-a-month increase in employer-paid health insurance, and a one-off bonus of €400. The unions credited the protest the day before with the substantial gains. 
 
The four unions, as well as a supervisors’ union, CFE-CGC, vowed to continue manifestations throughout the year in order to gain future job security guarantees from Saint-Gobain. Regarding a sale or spin-off of the glass business, the unions point to the fact that the Desjonquères business has enlarged the company four-fold in recent years. Outgoing CEO Jean-Louis Beffa has told market analysts that Saint-Gobain intends to exit the glass business, and to focus on building materials enterprises. 
 
Saint-Gobain bought the glass business of Henri Desjonquères in 1972 and operates ten glass factories around the world.

Saint-Gobain Protest Assures Fairness in Glass Business

<img style="WIDTH: 102px; HEIGHT: 40px" height="40" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief 1.gif" width="100"/>
UK unions, particularly Amicus, are supporting Action Mesothelioma Day tomorrow, 27 February, to draw attention to the tens of thousands of workers and family members suffering from asbestos-related cancer. The campaign is headed by the British Lung Foundation.
Amicus, which has already distributed thousands of posters to convenors and shop stewards, is urging members to stage a one-minute period of silence at their worksites tomorrow. One Amicus action in particular has drawn attention: the convenor at the union’s Crewe branch, home to workers employed at Bombardier Transport, has led a drive to erect a park bench in the municipal square of Crewe to commemorate Amicus members who have died or are suffering from mesotheliama. 
<img height="94" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/ICEMsustdev.JPG" width="100"/>
Mesothelioma is a form of cancer that is almost always caused by exposure to asbestos. Malignant cells develop in the mesothelium, a protective lining that covers most of the body’s internal organs. The resulting cancer can develop long after exposure to asbestos. 
 
Most people who develop the disease have worked in jobs where they have inhaled asbestos particles. Family members have also been known to develop it through contact with working parents in high-risk jobs, or merely by washing the work clothes of such workers. 
 
In the UK, about 2,000 people per year die from mesothelioma. It is estimated that by 2050, 95,000 people will have died from the disease. 
 
“Mesothelioma can develop up to 60 years after exposure to asbestos and because of this long delay, it has been calculated that the number of UK cases will continue to rise until 2015,” said Amicus Health and Safety Officer Rob Miquel. 
<img height="50" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/UKFlag.gif" width="100"/>
“People have died needlessly from this most painful horrific disease,” stated Amicus Gen. Sec. Derek Simpson. “We will continue to fight for better working conditions, so that our children will not suffer the same fate.” 
 
The British Lung Foundation’s campaign began on 26 February 2006, when it presented the “Mesothelioma Charter” with 14,000 signatures to UK Prime Minister Tony Blair. The charter calls for better protection for employees from asbestos, better care and treatment for those inflicted with asbestos-related diseases, and more funding for research. Further information on the day and on the drive to stop this deadly disease can be found at the campaigning pages of the foundation’s website, <a href="http://www.lunguk.org/getting-involved.asp">http://www.lunguk.org/getting-involved.asp</a>.

‘Action Mesothelioma Day’ Set in UK for 27 February

<img height="264" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/0703March8.jpg" width="200"/>
 1. Finland – Study on Working Conditions Reveals Gaps in Male and Female Employment 
2. ITUC: Message on 8th of March 
3. Japan – Number of Part-time Workers Declines 
4. Malta – Malta has one of the Lowest Gender Pay Gaps 
5. Mexico – New Law Passed on Violence against Women 
6. Nepal – GEFONT Organises Domestic Workers 
7. Spain – CCOO and UGT Issue Joint Statement on International Women’s Day 
8. Thailand – Thailand Women’s Forum Held 
9. Turkey – Petrol-Iş Sponsors Women Writers 
10. United Kingdom – Single Women Do less Housework 
11. United States – 3-Day ‘Sisters on the Frontline’ Seminar in NYC in late March 
12. Resources
<img height="31" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/womenlogo.jpg" width="25"/>
1. Finland – Study on Working Conditions Reveals Gaps in Male and Female Employment 
A recent study on employment in Europe indicates the differences in employment between women and men. Sweden and Finland are the countries with the lowest gaps. In Finland, the low gap is due to the fact that the rate of female employment is very high and the rate of male employment is low. 
Working conditions in Europe have remained relatively stable over the past few years in spite of the increases in part-time and temporary work and the greater number of women working. 
 
The following figures indicate the levels of male and female employment in 31 countries in Europe and refer to 2004:
<img height="740" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/0703tabel5.jpg" width="379"/>
For more information, see: Fourth European Working Conditions Surveys 
 <img height="31" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/womenlogo.jpg" width="25"/>
2. ITUC: Message on 8th of March 
This year, the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) is launching a campaign on maternity protection for 8 March. The aim is to promote governments ratifying ILO Convention 183. The ITUC has resources and tools available for this purpose, including a new video on the informal economy. To find out more, see: <a href="http://www.ituc-csi.org/">www.ituc-csi.org</a>. 
 <img height="31" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/womenlogo.jpg" width="25"/>
3. Japan – Number of Part-time Workers Declines 
In the midst of an economic recovery in Japan, employers are hiring more full-time workers, after the number of part-timers reached a record high in 2005. The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare presented figures to the government, which indicate that the level has reached a five-year low. 
Part-timers are defined as those who work less than 35 hours a week. They make up 22.5% of total employment, which is a 1.5% decline. Over 8.6 million women work part-time, as opposed to 3.4 million men. 
 <img height="31" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/womenlogo.jpg" width="25"/>
4. Malta – Malta has one of the Lowest Gender Pay Gaps
A new report from the European Commission details the gender-related differences in pay earned by women and men. These 2007 conclusions are very similar to those presented over the past few years. The biggest differences in pay, between 20 to 25%, are in Cyprus, Slovakia, Estonia, Germany, and the UK, while the lowest differences, under 5%, can be found in Malta and Portugal. 
 
Some countries have been forcing companies to provide detailed arguments for their pay discrepancies, and this pressure has contributed to some improvement. Public sector pay gaps are generally less striking than in the private sector, where the typical pay gap is 25%. 
 
The EU Commission argues for more and better childcare facilities to enable women to pursue careers, because women often have no choice but to work part-time in order to continue looking after their families. All over Europe, 32.9% of women work part-time as opposed to 7.7% of men. The highest number of part-timers is in the Netherlands, Sweden, Austria, Belgium, UK, and Germany. However, very few women work part-time in the new member states. 
 <img height="31" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/womenlogo.jpg" width="25"/>
5. Mexico – New Law Passed on Violence against Women
A new law was passed in February in Mexico to provide tools for fighting violence against women. The law ensures involvement by the police at all levels, the courts, media and schools. 
 
By law, the Ministry of the Interior can call an emergency due to an outbreak of gender violence to enable the response to be coordinated by the federal and local police and the courts. Measures to protect women must be taken, such as removing the aggressor from home. 
 
A national education campaign is now running, and a national data base is being created to document cases of violence against women. Studies are being done to diagnose the extent of the violence, and more women’s shelters are being promoted. 
 
The law orders gender training for police, prosecutors and other relevant officials. The government has been sponsoring ads on radio and television to warn perpetrators of violence that they will be punished. 
 
It is hoped that the law will improve the situation in a country where the murder rate of women due to violence is high. Seventy-five percent of these women are murdered by their husbands. Impunity has perpetuated these crimes, and means that the many murders in Ciudad Juarez, on the border with the US, have gone unpunished up to now. But now the law will hopefully provide some justice. 
 <img height="31" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/womenlogo.jpg" width="25"/>
6. Nepal – GEFONT Organises Domestic Workers 
GEFONT organised a meeting of domestic workers on 2 February which culminated in the formation of the Nepal Independent Domestic Workers’ Union with a 13-member coordinating committee. The union will be registered as a national federation. This year, a national convention will be held. More than 200 domestic workers from the Katmandu Valley participated in the event. 
 <img height="31" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/womenlogo.jpg" width="25"/>
7. Spain – CCOO and UGT Issue Joint Statement on International Women’s Day 
The 8 March Manifesto, issued by the two Spanish confederations, CCOO and UGT, passes in review the highs and lows of the past year. One of the highs was the new Spanish equal opportunities law, which provides for the negotiation of equality plans in companies with more than 250 employees, 13 days of paternity leave, and more flexible requirements for maternity pay and subsidies. 
 
Not all has been rosy, however, especially outside of Spain – where hundreds of women are murdered in Mexico and Guatemala, connivance by the police in rapes in Nigeria, and women stoned to death in Iran. CCOO and UGT have been involved in the fight to achieve the millennium development goals. 
 
Spanish women still lag behind other women in Europe. While the average rate of women’s employment in the rest of Europe is 57.4%, in Spain it is only 54.1%. Women’s rate of unemployment in countries outside of Spain is 9%, whereas in Spain it is 12.2%. However, agreements have been reached in the framework of social dialogue which will hopefully improve this situation. 
 
Collective bargaining has also contributed to positive developments, with 52% of collective agreements containing clauses on non-discrimination or gender equality. 
 <img height="31" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/womenlogo.jpg" width="25"/>
From our readers: 
Carol Fraser of the Communications, Energy, and Paperworkers (CEP) union of Canada sends greetings on International Women’s Day, as well as links to two sites in Canada to celebrate the day: <a href="http://www.cfc-swc.gc.ca/dates/iwd/index_e.html">www.cfc-swc.gc.ca/dates/iwd/index_e.html</a> where it is a question of taking real action against violence against women and <a href="http://www.un.org/cyberschoolbus/womensday/index.asp">www.un.org/cyberschoolbus/womensday/index.asp</a> which indicates activities that can be done in schools.
 <img height="31" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/womenlogo.jpg" width="25"/>
8. Thailand – Thailand Women’s Forum Held
The Thailand Women’s Forum was held in Bangkok on 3 and 4 March to celebrate Women’s Day. The forum was intended to provide space for exchange and sharing between women, men, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people, people living with HIV and civil organisations who work for democracy, protest unfair trade, protect their communities and fight for women’s rights. 
 
Discussions focused on neo-liberalism and free trade agreements, health, gender roles, sexual relationships, oppression from customs and religion and building alternatives. The forum was organised by Thai Labour Campaign, among other sponsors. 
 <img height="31" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/womenlogo.jpg" width="25"/>
9. Turkey – Petrol-Iş Sponsors Women Writers 
In this month of March 2007, Petrol-Iş has launched a contest for women to write stories. All women home workers, factory workers, public workers, temporary workers, non-unionised, sub-contracted workers, women at home or outside the home are possible themes for the contest. 
 
The stories must not have been published before. Professional or non-professional writers are eligible to participate. Anyone can send in stories of between 3 and 10 pages, and the deadline is 25 March. A women’s jury will be judging the entries, and First, Second, and Third Place given. 
 
Petrol-Iş will publish all stories. The results will be declared on 2 May and prizes awarded at Petrol-Iş headquarters. 
Please see also ICEM’s InBrief of 26 February, or the ICEM Circular on the ICEM’s home page for information on the Petrol-Iş strike against Fresenius. A remarkable group of women are on strike at this medical facility in Turkey, and they deserve whatever support we can generate. 
 
All are invited to take action on 8 March through <a href="/" type="internal">www.icem.org</a>, where a model letter of support is available in different languages. 
 <img height="31" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/womenlogo.jpg" width="25"/>
10. United Kingdom – Single Women Do less Housework 
Single women do an average of ten hours of housework a week, while it increases to 15 hours when they live as a couple. Men, on the other hand, spend seven hours on housework when they are single, with it reduces to five when they live in a couple. 
 
The conclusion is that gender inequalities at home have a major influence on gender inequalities at work, and vice versa. 
 
What is needed is for women to gain equal employment opportunities and to start doing the same jobs as men and achieve pay parity. Nevertheless it will still take time for people to change cultures. 
 
The Print, Paper, Publishing and Media Section of ICEM affiliate Amicus has published a very interesting newsletter for Women’s International Day. This timely and informative <a href="http://www.amicustheunion.org/pdf/AmicusWomen_final_lowres2.pdf">newsletter</a> promises to assure all women in this sector that they will be made aware of opportunities within UK’s largest union to participate and be involved in the wider union and its democratic structures. 
 
The Equalities Department of Amicus also has an International Women’s Day page, which encourages trade unionists to send messages of support to women across the world through the union’s global trade union links. Throughout March, the Amicus page will be updated with information throughout the world. The page can be found at <a href="http://www.amicustheunion.org/Default.aspx?page=5797">http://www.amicustheunion.org/Default.aspx?page=5797</a>. 
 
In London on 8 March, a unique panel discussion and viewing of the short film “In the Name of Honor” by Reza Moradi, an Iranian free-speech advocate. The seminar, entitled “Women’s Rights, the Veil and Islamic and Religious Laws, is sponsored by the International Campaign in Defense of Women’s Rights in Iran, the UK and National Secular Society, and the Gay and Lesbian Humanist Association. 
 
It will take place from 6 PM until 10 PM on 8 March, in Room 3D of the University of London Union, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HY. (The nearest Underground stops are Russell Street or Goodge Street.) 
 <img height="31" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/womenlogo.jpg" width="25"/>
11. United States – 3-Day ‘Sisters on the Frontline’ Seminar in NYC in late March 
Cornell University’s Institute for Women and Work, the university’s Labor Program, the New York State AFL-CIO, and City University of New York’s (CUNY) Murphy Center for Labor, Community and Policy Studies will conduct a series of workshops on 30-31 March, and 1 April. 
 
Called “Sisters on the Frontline: Organising Women and Building Power,” the sponsors are billing it as the first women organisers’ conference in the US that will bring together women organisers, scholars, officials, and leaders of labour organisations. 
 
The conference’s aims are to generate ideas and methodology to overcome the challenges for women in labour unions and community-based organisations; and to identify the challenges to recruit and retain women in such organisations. One session in the three-day set of workshops and panel discussions is called “How to Rock the Boat without Getting Thrown Off.” 
 
The conference will take place at CUNY’s Murphy Center, 25 W. 43rd Street in Manhattan, and the conference’s programme and agenda is at 
<a href="http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/iww/events/sistersFrontline.html">http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/iww/events/ 
sistersFrontline.html</a>. 
 
Registration fee is US$50.00, and scholarships are available. Contact Francine Moccio of Cornell at fam5@cornell.edu for further information. 
 <img height="31" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/womenlogo.jpg" width="25"/>
12. Resources 
<a href="http://www.cimacnoticias.com/site">http://www.cimacnoticias.com/site</a> is a Mexican site with news from a gender perspective (in Spanish). 
 
<a href="http://www.unfpa.org/publications/detail.cfm?ID=322">http://www.unfpa.org/publications/detail.cfm?ID=322</a> 
includes a publication called Programming to Address Violence Against Women: Ten Case Studies.

ICEM WOMEN’S BULLETIN 20

<img height="40" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief 1.gif" width="100" alt=""/>
ICEM affiliate in North America, the United Steelworkers (USW), will host a two-day meeting next week for global union leaders of Goodyear rubber plants. The purpose of the meeting is to expand the steering committee of the Goodyear Network for more effective actions. 
 
This ICEM Network meeting will be held on 19-20 March, at the union hall of USW Local 2, Akron, state of Ohio. Akron is also the world headquarters for the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company. 
<img height="100" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/ICEMrubber.JPG" width="100" alt=""/>
The agenda will include a presentation on the structure of the ICEM Goodyear Global Union Network, and national reports on Goodyear’s record of labour relations from across the world. The meeting will take up improving communications across the network, and will develop a solidarity action plan for trade unions representing Goodyear workers. 
 
Besides union leaders from USW local branches at some 16 Goodyear plants, union leaders from Goodyear enterprises in Canada, Chile, France, Germany, Peru, Poland, Thailand, Turkey, South Africa, and the UK will attend the USW-sponsored Goodyear Global Union Network.

USW to Host Goodyear Global Union Network of Workers Next Week

<img height="48" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief 1.gif" width="120"/>
The Lafarge Group of France has become intransigent in a year-long dispute with subcontracting workers at a cement plant in South Korea. Despite ICEM and Building and Woodworkers’ International (BWI) insistence that the company drop legal appeals over freedom of association rights won for eight contract workers, Lafarge continues to spend money and resources on appealing an issue that involves trade union organisation.
<img height="92" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/SouthKorea.png" width="200"/>
In March 2006, managers at Lafarge’s Okgye, South Province, cement plant fired 13 workers, after 21 of 35 workers of Woojin Industry, a subcontractor of Lafarge, joined the Korean Chemical and Textile Workers Federation (KCTF). Lafarge also cancelled the contract of Woojin, and shifted the equipment and jobs to two other subcontractors, Sehwa Industry and Daewon Industry. 
 
In late September 2006, the Gangwon Regional Labour Relations Commission ruled that Lafarge is legally the employer for the dismissed contract workers, since they worked as agency workers for more than two years. The court ordered Lafarge to re-employ the workers, and pay them for the periods of dismissal. 
 
When Lafarge failed to adhere to the ruling, KCFT was forced to take the case to the National Labor Relations Commission. In November, the ICEM and BWI strongly urged senior managers of Lafarge – through the Global Framework Agreement the two labour federations have with the company – to step in to resolve the matter in good faith. A month later, in December 2006, the Gangwon Regional Commission issued unfair labour practice citations on Lafarge for failing to negotiate with KCFT over the matter.
<img height="119" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/ICEMcement2.jpg" width="120"/>
The dismissed workers have conducted sit-downs and picketing at the cement plant, as well as at Lafarge’s offices in Seoul and the home of new Lafarge Halla CEO Frederic de Rougemont. Throughout 2006, Lafarge in South Korea has dispatched mid-level managers to talk with KCFT, who have no authority to act. 
 
The case is now before the central labour commission, with Lafarge employing expensive and wasteful counsel to reverse the freedom of association rights inherent for all workers at the Okgye cement plant. 
 
The ICEM and BWI will continue to press this issue through all available avenues. Lafarge acquired Halla Cement of Korea in 1998.

Lafarge Resisting Unionisation of Contract Workers at Korean Cement Plant

<img height="48" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief%201.gif" width="120"/>
After a difficult year of negotiations, which included industrial actions this spring and a subsequent string of three-day lockouts by the company, 500 tyre workers at Bridgestone’s Salisbury factory near Adelaide, South Australia, accepted the Japanese company’s terms. 
 
Workers of three unions passed by the thinnest of margins – 240 to 225 – a new three-year agreement. The contract, some ten months after a prior one expired, grants workers 6% wage increases from May 2007 to May 2010, with possible bonuses interspersed.
<img height="35" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/AUSTRALIALHMU.gif" width="220"/>   
                                     <img height="90" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/AUSTRALIAAMWU.jpg" width="90"/> 
 
Production workers, numbering about 450, are represented by ICEM affiliate Liquor, Hospitality, and Miscellaneous Union (LHMU), while most maintenance workers are represented by Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union (AMWU), also an ICEM affiliate. Electricians at Salisbury are represented by ICEM affiliate Communications, Electrical, and Plumbing Union (CEPU). 
 
Bridgestone used the full weight of the 2005 WorkChoices law in Australia to leverage its inferior bargaining demands. Workers had engaged in four stop-work actions since March, as well as an overtime ban. The company punished workers for the unions’ actions by employing contract workers on maintenance and electrical work, and taking the offensive under WorkChoices by imposing three-day, non-paid lockouts. 
 
“Clearly, the restrictions placed upon union members by the current Australian industrial relations legislation made pursuit of improvements more difficult for members,” said LHMU lead negotiator, Jim Watson. “The company relied on the legislation and frustrated union members into accepting the agreement.” 
 
Bridgestone workers had last seen a pay raise in December 2005. The previous agreement had expired in June 2006.

Bridgestone Workers in Australia Come to Terms with Company

<img height="40" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief 1.gif" width="100" alt=""/>
The demands of the Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions (IFOU) that caused pipeline strikes near Basra during the week of 4 June were met, thus precluding further strike action that was to occur last week. 
 
On 11 June, leaders of the IFOU met with Iraq’s Minister of State for Parliament Affairs, who directly represented Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Pledges that al-Maliki made to the union in mid-May were put into effect, including establishing a committee to deal with oil workers’ grievances. Those grievances, numbering 16, include salaries, work conditions, health and safety concerns, and a demand for consultation over the future of Iraq’s oil industry. 
<img height="100" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/ICEMoil4.JPG.JPG" width="100" alt=""/>
In a statement, IFOU President Hassan Jumaa Awad Alasady said, “Finally, the workers have won in demanding their legitimate rights. That is why an enlarged meeting was held with his Excellency, Minister of State for Parliament Affairs, lasting five hours (and) resulting in the cessation of all the failings resulting from the conduct of the Iraqi Oil Minister and (his) irresponsible stance. 
 
“The activation of the committee formed by the Prime Minister to deal with the outstanding problems was affirmed. And after deliberations within our union, the two sides agreed to halt the strike and to use dialogue in dealings to resolve the outstanding issues.” 
 
Basra-area pipeline workers, part of the 26,000-member IFOU, shut down oil pipelines leading to Baghdad on 4 June, and again on 5 June, over the decision by the country’s oil minister, Hussein Shahrastani, and the general manager of the pipeline company, Adel Aziz, to void Prime Minister al-Maliki’s pledge to IFOU. 
<img height="115" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Iraq.png" width="250" alt=""/>
The strike was suspended late on 5 June when Iraqi military forces surrounded the strikers. Also, IFOU learned that a number of union and strike leaders faced arrest warrants. The ICEM was on the front lines of this dispute, together with the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), the US Solidarity Center, and the UK’s Trades Union Congress, in drawing attention to the plight of strikers. 
 
The ICEM is extremely grateful to its affiliates who quickly responded with messages of support to IFOU, a point that was also made by Comrade Hassan Jumaa Awad: “We extend our thanks to all, from across the world, who have campaigned and written to express solidarity with the oil workers and the IFOU.”

Iraqi Oil Workers Declare ‘Tactical Victory’ in Southern Strike

<img height="40" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief 1.gif" width="100" alt=""/>
The jobs crisis in the paper and wood sectors of Canada has taken further hard blows. Early this month, Finnish pulp and paper company UPM Kymmene announced a temporary 9-to-12 month closure of its paper and groundwood mills in Miramichi, New Brunswick, thus idling 600 workers. 
 
That came just a week after US-based Weyerhaeuser Co. officially announced, on 31 May, the permanent closure of a wood mill in the same town. The closing will cost 150 jobs. Workers at both mills are represented by ICEM affiliate Communications, Energy, Paperworkers (CEP) Union of Canada. 
<img height="99" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/ICEMpaper.jpg" width="100" alt=""/>
While meeting with company officials of UPM Kymmene in Miramichi on 8 June, CEP local union leaders left the meeting not very hopeful. They were told that the odds of re-starting the mill next year stand at only 20% unless investments are made. 
 
Speaking at the New Brunswick Federation of Labour’s convention in Edmunston on the day that UPM broke the news, 5 June, CEP President Dave Coles said, “These communities are a microcosm of what is going on in more than four dozen communities (across Canada).” He said that over the past three years, more than 12,000 pulp, paper, and sawmill workers have lost their jobs in Canada. 
 
What makes matters worst for mill workers, particularly at UPM, is that the Finnish company continues to cut and export raw logs off government forestlands through three leases it holds in the province of New Brunswick. CEP local leaders were told at the 5 June meeting that the company was going to do trial shipments of wood to Finland, something CEP and community leaders oppose while the paper mill is idle. 
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“Employers, especially in the forestry sector, have deliberately taken the money they have earned from our publicly-owned natural resources and invested it elsewhere in the world,” stated Coles at the provincial labour convention. 
 
The recent bad news hasn’t been limited to New Brunswick. On 15 June, forestry company Tembec Inc. announced it was temporarily shutting three wood mills in Quebec and one in Ontario, affecting nearly 900 workers. 
 
That came a day after Commonwealth Plywood announced the closure of 18 mills in Quebec, six of which find workers represented by the CEP. The Commonwealth closures will mean the loss of 1,200 jobs. 
 
The CEP has pressed the federal government of Canada for intervention in the jobs crisis of the nation’s forestry sector.

Forest Sector Jobs Continue to Drop in Wake of Eastern Canada Mills Closings

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ICEM affiliate, the United Electrical, Radio, Machine Workers of America (UE), and the IUE-CWA reached tentative four-year agreements with General Electric Co. (GE) yesterday. 
 
The tentative pact, covering over 14,000 workers, will now be reviewed by the two unions’ conference boards, and then put to ratification votes of all workers by 28 June. A prior labour agreement in the US at GE plants expired at midnight, last night. 
 
The tentative accord reached yesterday includes significant improvements in wages, pensions, and benefits. It also contains agreement to accelerate joint efforts between GE and the unions to address the difficult and costly health care system in America. The unions also won a new holiday in talks, Veterans Day (also known as Armistice Day) in November. 
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“I think it’s an agreement our members will recognise as a good one,” stated UE General President John Hovis. “I’m especially pleased with the provisions that affect (less senior) people at the locations we represent.” Both the UE and the IUE-CWA are recommending the tentative contract for approval to their members. 
 
Terms of this accord will now be offered to US-based unions covering another 6,000 GE workers at their locations.

US Union Reach Tentative Contract with General Electric

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