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The International Textile, Garment, and Leather Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITGLWF) is calling on the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers&rsquo; and Exporters&rsquo; Association (BGMEA), as well as sourcing companies that use the Garib &amp; Garib knitwear factory in Gazipur, Bangladesh, to better compensate the families of 22 workers killed and 50 others injured in a factory fire on 25 February. 
 
The ITGLWF is demanding that the BGMEA and multinational sourcing companies join the Global Union Federation in setting up a relief scheme that fully meets the needs of families of the deceased, as well as those injured at Garib &amp; Garib in Gazipur, some 30 kilometres outside of Dhaka. 
 
To date, the BGMEA has stepped forward with payment of 200,000 taka (&euro;2,085) to each family, while owners of the Garib &amp; Garib have given a mere pittance to families to cover funeral expenses &ndash; 2,085 taka (&euro;150). 

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Left, ITGLWF General Secretary, Patrick Itschert
Said ITGLWF General Secretary Patrick Itschert, &ldquo;The establishment of a multi-stakeholder team to determine the needs of those affected, on the basis of field research into the demographics of the victims&rdquo; is essential for fairness. &ldquo;Involving the (BGMEA) in this exercise in particular is an important means of making them aware of the level of compensation necessary to assist families in such circumstances,&rdquo; he added. 
 
The ITGLWF is offering to hold a round-table meeting in Dhaka with the employers&rsquo; association and the brand names to implement the compensation scheme. The union federation said that in 2005, following the collapse of the nine-story Spectrum garment factory that killed 64 and seriously injured 84 others in Savar, Bangladesh, ITGLWF and Spanish retailer Inditex established a compensation protocol that could serve as the model for victims and workers of Garib &amp; Garib. 
 
To date, only H&amp;M of Sweden and Teddy SpA (Terranova) of Italy have confirmed they source from Garib &amp; Garib, but neither company has yet to announce its compensation to victims. 
 
In the evening of 25 February, an electric short-circuit on the second floor of the factory caused a fire, trapping workers because stairwells were blocked by goods and production materials. Many of the workers retreated up several flights of stairs, where they were consumed by rising black smoke and heat. Reportedly, security guards on duty did not know how to operate fire extinguishers and water hydrants. Of the 22 victims, 15 were women. 
 
Only seven months before, in August 2009, another fire at the Garib &amp; Garib factory in Gazipur killed a firefighter and injured seven workers.

ITGLWF Demands Proper Pay Protocol in Aftermath of Deadly Bangladesh Apparel Fire

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The latest in a series of Caspian Sea Oil &amp; Gas Workers&rsquo; Network meetings took place in Baku, Azerbaijan, on 22-23 February, again with support fro the German Friedrich-Ebert Foundation (FES). FES&rsquo;s local representative in Baku, Rashad Huseynli, actively participating in the event. 
 
Lars Myhre, chair of ICEM&rsquo;s Energy Industries Section and a founder of Norwegian affiliate Industri Energi (IE), again headed this year&rsquo;s discussions. IE has played a strong role in the network since its inception and has carried out extensive bilateral programmes and exchanges with the host union, the Oil and Gas Workers Union of Azerbaijan. 

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Some of the participants at the Caspian Workers&rsquo; Network 
Delegates attending came from the Russia Oil &amp; Gas Workers&rsquo; Union (ROGWU), led by President Lev Mironov, and included representatives from the trade union structures of both Gazprom and Rosneft. The host union delegation, led by President Jahangir Aliev, included a representative from the Lukoil trade union in Azerbaijan, as well as the newly-elected chairman of the trade union branch at the Caspian Shipyard Company. 
 
Workers here had seen the success of oil workers&rsquo; organising at various contract company operations and began organising themselves. The union is the latest branch structure to affiliate to the Oil and Gas Workers&rsquo; Union of Azerbaijan, which has successfully organised over 400 of the 650 workers at the shipyard. Apologies for absence were received from ICEM affiliates Petrol-Iş of Turkey and the Oil Workers of Kazakhstan, active members of the network. Both unions were unable to attend because of important meetings in their respective countries. 
 
After an opening session and delegate introductions, updates were given on ICEM activities in Eastern Europe/Central Asia by ICEM Regional Coordinator Anatoly Surin. Jim Catterson, ICEM&rsquo;s Energy Industries Officer, gave an overview of the oil and gas sectors globally. Delegates then shared detailed information on the latest situations in their country&rsquo;s energy sectors, covering such issues as organising, terms and conditions of employment, and recent investments by various multinational companies. 

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Front, from left: Oil and Gas Workers&rsquo; Union of Azerbaijan Leader Jahangir Aliyev, ICEM&rsquo;s Anatoly Surin, and Lev Mironov, President of ROGWU 
Lars Myhre gave a detailed presentation on the various agreements that IE has covering Statoil in Norway. 
 
The previous meeting of the Network had formulated a declaration of common social standards to aim for in national negotiations, and this meeting focused on the potential for engaging the multinational companies operating in the Caspian region in a regional social dialog forum. Detailed presentations covering their operations in the Caspian were given by management representatives of both Statoil of Norway and SOCAR, the state-owned company of Azerbaijan that is in the process of expanding regionally, having recently purchased a refinery in Turkey. Both presentations led to lively question and answer sessions. 
 
After a general presentation by Jim Catterson on ICEM activities regarding Social Dialog including Global Framework Agreements (GFAs), presentations were made by Myhre and Lev Mironov on the GFAs that ICEM has with Statoil and Lukoil. 
 
In conclusion, delegates emphasized that the meeting had been extremely useful and had led to a considerable exchange of valuable information. It was time, however, to make the work of the Network more comprehensive and to ensure an effective information exchange occurs between network meetings. 
 
With this in mind, ICEM was asked to create a section of the ICEM website which would initially include the background material and presentations made at the meeting, as well as a report on the discussions. ICEM would also circulate a questionnaire asking all network members to detail the companies that operate in their section of the Caspian and give information on workforce numbers, trade union organization, and terms and conditions of employment. 
 
The results of the questionnaire would also be published. The study would also give a basis as to which companies to approach in order to establish routine social dialog at this regional level. Since ROGWU is considering introducing a system of video-conferencing for routine communication with regions across the Russian Federation, ICEM will also explore the use of this technology for more frequent exchanges. 
 
The work of the Caspian Sea Oil &amp; Gas Workers&rsquo; Network will also form part of the agenda of the forthcoming ICEM World Conference for the Energy Industries, to be held in Stavanger, Norway, from 6-8 September.

Energy Workers’ Network of Caspian Meets in Baku

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The ICEM reported on 22 February in InBrief No. 150 that the affiliated mining union the National Miners&rsquo; and Metalworkers&rsquo; Union (FNTMMSP), the country&rsquo;s largest mining union federation, has taken strike action at three mines of the precious metal producer Buenaventura. Peruvian law stipulates that companies must share a minimum of 8% of its profits with workers. The union claims Buenaventura are hiding financial information of the period 2006-2009 in order to avoid profit payments to the 4,000 workers during a global price boom. 
 
With the Peruvian Ministry of Labour siding with the company, and announcing the strike illegal, workers were forced back to work to avoid losing their jobs. This decision by the government has led FNTMMSP to go on short, rolling strikes. Workers will again down tools this Friday, 26 March, at the Antapite gold mine, and the next day at the Uchucchacua silver and Orcopampa gold mines of Buenaventura. 

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A FNTMMSP local leader at the Orcopampa mine stated that the demands of the strikers include improvements in working conditions, and the rehiring of a miner fired during an earlier strike, as well as a larger share of profit-earning bonuses. 
 
Buenaventura managers have so far refused to negotiate, with Buenaventura CEO Carlos G&aacute;lvez stating that only shareholders have the power to increase workers&rsquo; wages. He said management is powerless to avoid the rolling strikes. 
 
Uchucchacua is located in Lima's Oy&oacute;n province, Orcopampa in Arequipa region, and Antapite in Huancavelica region. Buenaventura operates four other mines and has a controlling interest in mining companies Cedimin and El Brocal. El Brocal workers went on a separate strike 13 March in response to management failing to pay agreed pay raises. 
 
Elsewhere in the Peruvian mining industry, 630 workers at Doe Run&rsquo;s Cobriza copper mine have ended a strike after one day, as company officials immediately began tripartite negotiations with FNTMMSP and the Labour Ministry. 

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FNTMMSP General Secretary, Luis Castillo Carlos
FNTMMSP General Secretary Luis Castillo has led the negotiations for the mineworkers of Doe Run. Castillo argues that the collective agreement has not been fulfilled by management, whereas it has been by workers, a year after it was signed. 
 
Doe Run Peru has been hard hit by the financial downturn. The operation, which is a unit of the US-based Renco Group, had its credit line cut six months ago. 
 
The company was expelled from the country&rsquo;s National Association of Mining and Energy for not completing a government-mandated clean-up at the metals processing complex in the central Peruvian city of La Oroya, which environmental organizations say is one of the world&rsquo;s most polluted places. 
 
Earlier this month, Doe Run Peru signed a letter of intent with Swiss mining multinational Glencore. If the agreement on a sale goes through, Glencore will provide Doe Run with a credit of some US$100 million, and will also finance the environmental clean-up demanded by government. 
 
The Peruvian mining industry&rsquo;s US$16.36 billion in foreign sales last year amounted to nearly 61% of the Andean nation&rsquo;s total exports.

Peruvian Miners Struggle for Fair Profit Share Continues

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ICEM&rsquo;s Norwegian affiliated union, Industri Energi (IE), has established a trade union rights award in the name of the late trade unionist, Arthur Svensson. The award, to come with a cash prize, will be given to a person or organization for outstanding contributions for promoting trade union rights and the strengthening of trade unionism on the international and national levels. 
 
Deadline for nominations for this initial Arthur Svensson International Award for Trade Union Rights is 1 May 2010. The announcement of the winner will be made on 11 October 2010. 

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Arthur Svensson
The award comes with a prize of NOK 500,000, equal to &euro;61,016 or US$82,784. ICEM Vice President Liv Undheim (also Vice President of IE) is coordinated the award. Nominations can be sent to her at <a href="mailto:liv.undheim@industrienergi.no">liv.undheim@industrienergi.no</a>, or faxed to +47 23 06 1360. 
 
Arthur Svensson was a long-time leader of Norsk Kjemisk Forbund, the Norwegian Chemical Workers&rsquo; Association, which merged with NOPEF on 4 September 2006 to form IE. Svensson died in 2008, but left a legacy in Norway and beyond as a man who promoted global peace, disarmament, and a nuclear weapons-free world. 
 
He was also a driving force from his leadership positions of Norsk Kjemisk Forbund in Norwegian environment law, and a strong proponent of clean energy to drive clean industries. But first and foremost, he was a dedicated trade unionist, maintaining membership in LO-Norway for 61 years, the final 48 of those years with the Chemical Workers. 
 
Announcement of the award can be found <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/industrienergi_annonse_ENG.pdf">here</a>.

Norway’s IE Union Announces Arthur Svensson Labour Rights Award

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Mobil Producing Nigeria (MPN), the subsidiary of ExxonMobil, has begun dialogue with ICEM affiliate PENGASSAN to address the growing use of casual and temporary workers among its contractors in the upstream oil and gas sectors of the country. But it still refuses to take responsibility for the abuse and sudden disposal of casual workers of it contractors. 
 
That is according to Bayo Olowoshile, the General Secretary of PENGASSAN. In talks with Mobil Producing, the company has stated that it is willing to be an observer if contractors and labour brokers do choose to sit down with the union, but not to be an active participant. 

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Bayo Olowoshile, PENGASSAN General Secretary
&ldquo;That is unacceptable,&rdquo; said Olowoshile. &ldquo;The use of these workers is a disguise for MPN. They use Mobil&rsquo;s equipment, they use Mobil&rsquo;s facilities, and they perform the same work that full-time PENGASSAN members perform.&rdquo; He added that PENGASSAN&rsquo;s mandate is equal pay for equal work, and making all casual workers regular, rostered, and full-time employees with the multinational. 
 
Olowoshile said MPN uses 12 such companies, easily characterized as labour brokers, which utilize some 600 casual workers. They earn 40 to 50% less than regular workers, and are denied most social benefits, as well as the right to join a union. 
 
There has been some progress, however. Since an early February strike by PENGASSAN and junior staff belonging to NUPENG, and an ICEM intervention with US-based ExxonMobil over the issue, MPN has converted some 10% of all casual workers to full-time staff. The company has also encouraged its contractors to talk with the union. 
 
PENGASSAN is waiting on the federal Ministry of Labour to issue a ruling on the casualisation issue under Nigeria&rsquo;s local content policies. 
 
Meanwhile, NUPENG&rsquo;s Petroleum Tanker Drivers&rsquo; Division is preparing to strike another multinational&rsquo;s subsidiary over the same issue. NUPENG&rsquo;s Western Zonal committee could take industrial action any day against Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Co. for using contractors to employ casual workers, who are then retrenched at will without payment of entitlements. Similar to MPN, Shell uses contractors to disguise the employment relationship, with NUPENG saying that such &ldquo;pay masters&rdquo; gain far more money than what is paid casual workers.

Mobil Producing Nigeria Takes Some Steps to Address Casualisation

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A 1 March deadline looms for applicants seeking admission to ILO&rsquo;s coming Global Labour University (GLU) Masters Degree programmes in Germany and India. The year-long course work is through the University of Kassel and Berlin School of Economics and Law in Germany, and Tata Institute of Social Sciences in Mumbai, India. 
 
In India, course work will be categorized under &ldquo;Globalisation and Labour&rdquo; and will critically evaluate the social, economic, and political processes that influence labour under globalisation. In Germany, where the first semester is at Kassel and the second at Berlin, the programme is called &ldquo;Labour Policies &amp; Globalisation&rdquo; and focuses on global challenges to labour, international labour rights, economics, and processes of globalisation. 

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The application (in six languages) can be found at the bottom of this page <a href="http://www.global-labour-university.org/ on the left hand side">http://www.global-labour-university.org/ on the left hand side</a>. 
 
Courses are offered in English, women are strongly encouraged to participate, applicants should, as a rule, not be over age 40, and the endorsement of a trade union is a requirement for a scholarship. The scholarship is combined with a &euro;1,500 contribution made by a trade union or other donor. 
 
The nearly six-year-old GLU has trained trade unionists in economics and in social sciences from 49 countries in its short existence. The GLU has also developed and is initiating this year a shorter, six-month programme intended for trade union workers and others around a targeted and specific curriculum. 
 
More on that programme, with the next application deadline coming 1 November 2010, can be found <a href="http://www.global-labour-university.org/216.html">here</a>.&nbsp;

1 March Deadline for Global Labour University Courses in Germany, India

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The Guyana Bauxite &amp; General Workers&rsquo; Union (GB&amp;GWU) ramped up protests on the deaf ear its government is giving a pitched labour dispute it has with Russian metals company RusAL by picketing last week the offices of the Minister of Labour, Human Services, and Social Security, as well as the company&rsquo;s offices in Georgetown. 
 
Some 60 union members and supporters staged the manifestations on 4-5 February, and picketing is expected to continue this week. The GB&amp;GWU has broad support across the northern South American country for reinstatement of 57 union activists that were sacked following a spontaneous strike action in late November. The strike was conducted by some 200 of 500 miners employed at the Aroraima bauxite operations in the central portion of the country. 

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GB&amp;GWU picketed the offices of Labour Minister Mansoor Nadir on 4 and 5 February
The strike occurred following an exchange of contract proposals in efforts to reach a renewal collective agreement. 
 
Immediately after the strike and sackings, the Bauxite Co. of Guyana Inc. (BCGI), 90% owned by RusAl, made the unilateral announcement that it no longer recognised the GB&amp;GWU, a violation &ndash; the ICEM believes &ndash; this runs against international labour standards, as well as Guyana&rsquo;s Trade Union Recognition Act. 
 
Despite numerous attempts by the union to involve Guyana Prime Minister Samuel Hinds and Labour, Human Services, and Social Security Minister Mansoor Nadir in efforts to resolve or mediate the dispute, those initiatives have gone unheard. 

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On 5 February, union pickets the Georgetown offices of RusAl
Thus lacking a formal avenue to remedy the dispute, the GB&amp;GWU took the matter to the Ethnic Relations Commission, since all 57 discharged miners were of African descent. In an early January hearing, the GB&amp;GWU asked the commission to convene a full public inquiry into the sackings but instead, the commission&rsquo;s chairman went to the worksite to interview bosses and workers without the union present. 
 
The ICEM is concerned that for the past two months BCGI management is coercing and intimidating miners to sign statements abandoning the union, a contradiction to Guyanese law and global freedom of association standards. The ICEM has written to the Russian mining and metals multinational in hopes that it will correct the unfair decisions of its BCGI managers regarding the terminations and abrogation of the collective bargaining relationship and that letter can be found <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/5.rusal.letter.29jan.pdf">here</a>.

Guyana Bauxite Workers’ Union Pickets Government, RusAl Offices in Georgetown

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Miners of Mexico&rsquo;s National Miners&rsquo; and Metalworkers&rsquo; Union (SNTMMSRM), or Los Mineros, have rejected a severance package put forward by Grupo M&eacute;xico at the strike-hit Cananea copper mine. Some 1,200 workers at Cananea in northern Sonora state have been on strike since July 2007, a strike the company and the Mexican government have tried unsuccessfully to end through administrative edict and by formally dissolving the union&rsquo;s collective agreement. 
 
Since last year, Mexico&rsquo;s Federal Conciliation and Arbitration Board has declared the strike illegal three times, but each time a court has reversed the rulings. Last month, Grupo M&eacute;xico tried to break miners&rsquo; resolve by offering a US$13,000 payment per worker to sever with the company. Reports indicated that only 20 miners accepted the buy-out. 

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&ldquo;The company is offering workers leftovers and calling it liquidation,&rdquo; stated SNTMMSRM Section 65 leader Mario Garc&iacute;a. Grupo M&eacute;xico is attempting to break the union, and then restructure and re-start Cananea, a mining complex capable of producing 48% of Mexico&rsquo;s copper output. 
 
The company has also lodged lawsuits against striking workers and strike leaders for alleged damage at the mine. The union has asked Grupo M&eacute;xico to withdraw those actions, and instead negotiate a revised collective agreement with Los Mineros that will raise salaries and benefits, and improve safety and hygiene, chief among reasons why miners struck in the first place. 
 
Grupo M&eacute;xico has stated that is has lost US$1.5 billion in sales due to the mine being shut. Cananea has capacity to produce 190,000 tonnes per year of copper, with 70% of that in copper concentrates and the remainder in copper cathode. 
 
The ICEM continue to support and campaign on behalf of Los Mineros in its fight for justice against the Mexican government and the ruthless affront posed by Grupo M&eacute;xico throughout the country.

Cananea Miners Reject Grupo México Severance; Strike Continues

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The lockout by Rio Tinto Minerals on 560 union members of International Longshore &amp; Warehouse Union (ILWU) in Boron, California, is now eight days old, and there is no sign that management intends to engage in talks anytime soon. 
 
Instead, Rio Tinto has engaged the services of US security firm J.R. Gettier of Wilmington, Delaware, to bus replacement workers across picket lines and to give menacing, paramilitary looks to ILWU members and their families in the Mojave Desert town of Boron, 122 kilometres east of Los Angeles. 
 
Gettier advertises itself as a full-service company with strike security teams that &ldquo;comes to your site to manage a labor-management dispute.&rdquo; JRG Services, a division of J.R. Gettier, provides clients with temporary or replacement workers that &ldquo;assist in meeting your company&rsquo;s &hellip; needs.&rdquo; 

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The lockout will be the central focus when the International Mining and Maritime Unions meet in Palmdale, California, on 15 February, which includes the ICEM and the International Transport Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITF). The multi-union organisation, which includes the predominately maritime and dockworkers&rsquo; ILWU, based in San Francisco, has already issued a statement in support of the locked-out workers: 
 
&ldquo;Our solidarity goes to ILWU Boron miners and their families in particular who have suffered these attacks on the morning of January 31 for defending workers&rsquo; rights and refusing to capitulate to the bullying tactics of Rio whose agenda is to break the union in order to slash wages and benefits.&rdquo; 
The ICEM issued a statement on 1 February, stating that it will use its role as the leading Global Union Federation in the mining industry &ldquo;to alert trade unions around the globe, particularly those representing Rio Tinto workers, of the lockout and urge them to take action on behalf of ILWU Local 30.&rdquo; That full statement can be found <a href="/en/77-All-ICEM-News-Releases/3599-ICEM-Pledges-Support-to-Locked-Out-Rio-Tinto-Workers-in-US-State-of-California">here</a>. 
 
And the ITF, on 5 February, in a message to the ILWU, said the &ldquo;lockout can be seen as the lowest reaction of the employer to a workforce that strives for dialogue &hellip; we acknowledge you and your families&rsquo; fight, your strength and courage to stand up together against a corporation that is doing all in its power to confront the workforce and weaken the union.&rdquo; 

<img alt="" src="" width="193" height="193" />
ILWU President Bob McEllrath said, &ldquo;We are going into a big battle, and it is going to be a long and hard fought one,&rdquo; in thanking unions which have already expressed support. 
Please visit Local 30's website <a href="http://boraxminers.com/index.html">here</a>.
A previous contract for ILWU Local 30 expired on 4 November 2009. On 29 January, management presented workers with a concessionary proposal with the orders to either accept it or face a lockout. On 30 January, all 500 union members who attended a union meeting to discuss the proposal rejected it. The company seeks unprecedented changes to workers&rsquo; seniority, shift and overtime assignments, and the manner in which promotions are made, as well as seeking unilaterally changes on flexibility that will allow it greater latitude to sub-contract jobs. 
 
The global mining house Rio Tinto posted pre-tax profits on US$16 billion in 2008. Rio Tinto Minerals, which also operates globally, is based in the US state of Colorado and the borax, or sodium borate mine in California is the world&rsquo;s second largest borates mine in the world, producing 42% of the world&rsquo;s refined borates compounds. 
 
The ICEM urges all affiliates and supporters to send protest letters to Rio Tinto, condemning the lockout. Click <a href="/index.php?id=5&amp;la=EN&amp;doc=3600">here</a> for a model, paste the text onto your letterhead, and send to Rio Tinto CEO Albanese at <a href="mailto:tom.albanese@riotinto.com">tom.albanese@riotinto.com</a>, copied to <a href="mailto:joe.drexler@icem.org">joe.drexler@icem.org</a> and <a href="mailto:info@ilwu.org">info@ilwu.org</a>.

Rio Tinto Engaged in Savage Union Busting at California Borates Mine

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On 21 January, ICEM Colombian affiliate Union Sindical Obrera de la Industria del Petrolero (USO) presented demands to management of Schlumberger Surenco, the world's largest oilfield services corporation with operations in approximately 80 countries. The multinational has been operating in Colombia since 2001 with the state-run petroleum company, Ecopetrol, at the Casabe site, near Barrancabermeja, the country&rsquo;s most important refinery. 
 
Schlumberger has contracts with Ecopetrol at a majority of production sites in Colombia. 

<img src="" width="130" height="130" alt="" />
The company entered into bargaining with the USO negotiating committee on 3 February. USO will be aiming to improve conditions and salaries for workers at a global oil services company that posted operating revenues in 2008 totaled US$27.16 billion. 
 
The ICEM will continue to monitor these talks, and pledges full support to USO in achieving the best terms and conditions possible. 
 
Elsewhere regarding USO, ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda last week sent a letter to Colombian President &Aacute;lvaro Uribe, calling on his government to improve security for trade unionists in Colombia. The letter follows yet another serious attack on USO President Germ&aacute;n Osman. Warda called on both the government and Ecopetrol to do more to guarantee the safety and rights of trade unionists and their families, in light of the continuing attacks by Colombian mafia groups such as the &ldquo;&Aacute;guilas Negras,&rdquo; or Black Eagles. 
 
Colombia has the reputation for being the most dangerous country in the world for trade unionists, with 49 trade union leaders murdered in 2009 and 2,712 since 1986. The ICEM and Warda&rsquo;s letter in Spanish can be viewed <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/1.ICEM.Col.Pres.Uribe..pdf">here</a>. 
 
The ICEM has a website dedicated to its work in Colombia, run by Colombia Coordinator Carlos Bustos. View that website here <a href="http://www.icemcolombia.com">www.icemcolombia.com</a>. Write to Carlos <a href="mailto:icemcol@hotmail.com">here</a>.

Colombia Oil Union USO Presents Demands to Service Provider Schlumberger

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