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Klaus Priegnitz of IG Metall, the German Metalworkers&rsquo; Union, has become the new General Secretary of the ITGLWF. 
Klaus was a former officer of the clothing and textile workers union Gewerkschaft Textil/Bekleidung till the integration of GTB with IG Metall in 1998. 
He has been closely involved in the work of the ITGLWF over the past two decades and was elected a Vice-President of the ITGLWF at the 10th World Congress in 2009. 
Klaus was elected General Secretary at a special meeting of the Executive Committee held on 25 May in Geneva. 
He replaces the outgoing General Secretary Patrick Itschert who was recently elected Deputy General Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC).

ITGLWF Elects New General Secretary

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The framework of a new industrial Global Union Federation (GUF) made a major step forward on 25 May in Geneva when a joint meeting of the IMF-ICEM-ITGLWF Executive Committees produced a clear mandate to forge ahead with integration of the three GUFs. 
The Executives met in joint session at the ILO and confirmed the commitment that global industrial workers in all sectors must integrate into a unified GUF for greater strength. Such a federation will number 55 million workers and it will unite textile workers with rubber, plastics, and autoworkers in the automotive sector; mineworkers&rsquo; with steel, smelting workers in basic metals; and chemical and electronic workers in high-tech and other industries. 
The commitment is to build a strong and responsive GUF that will unite and organise workers across entire supply chains. The new GUF will tackle tough social issues to reverse the global wealth imbalance including broader trade union rights in more countries, reducing the harmful trend in society of informal and precarious labour, and it will ensure there is just transition and decent work in green industries. 
It will also promote and build democratic and self-reliant trade unions across all industrial sectors. And through networks that communicate and respond, it will stand as protector of workers&rsquo; rights and social justice against errant multinationals throughout the world. 
The uniform consensus coming out of the 25 May meeting is paralleled by the work that IMF, ICEM, and ITGLWF already do jointly in Thailand, Turkey, Mexico, Canada, and several other countries. It is manifested in common policies put together inside forums between the three GUFs regarding climate change, economic disparity, and global finance flaws. 
The meeting of the joint Executives outlined new structures that will guide an integration process to a founding Congress. The secretariat will be headquartered in Geneva and the new GUF will have a President, three Vice Presidents, a General Secretary, and three Deputy General Secretaries. It will also have an Executive Committee with at least 30% women&rsquo;s representation. 
It was recognised that the new organisation must be built on solid financial footing and a common set of affiliation fees will be established during the initial four-year Congress period. Regional structures will exist that both implement the global policies of the GUF, as well as discuss and act on matters specific to the region. There was agreement on continuing strong sector work and enhance supply-chain coordination among workers and their unions. 
A joint working group of the three GUFs will continue its work to finalise statutes. Another working group will be set up to develop an action plan for the new organisation. Final approval to the process is expected to come at ITGLWF&rsquo;s Executive Committee in September, ICEM&rsquo;s Congress in late November, and IMF&rsquo;s Central Committee in early December. 
A contest for affiliates of the three GUFs to name the new organisation will be introduced in the coming weeks through a letter. Nordic trade unions offered to host dissolution Congresses and a founding Congress in Copenhagen. The proposed dates are 18-20 June 2012.

Creation of New Industrial GUF Takes Shape

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The ICEM today vehemently condemned the deepening trade union repression occurring in Iraq. In recent days, a youth leader of the Mechanics&rsquo; and Printers&rsquo; Union of the General Federation of Iraqi Workers (GFIW) and three others were rounded up and presumably jailed, and Jamal Abdul-Jabbar, President of the Oil and Gas Workers&rsquo; Union of the GFIW in Kirkuk was forcibly transferred from his job at Northern Oil Company to a remote location due to his union activities. 
 
On 27 May, plainclothes Iraqi security police in a civilian ambulance grabbed the four young activists as they were on their way to demonstrate in Tahrir Square, the central Baghdad flashpoint this year for protests. Taken away were Jihad Jalil, 27, a worker and Mechanics&rsquo; and Printers&rsquo; Union activist; Ahmed Alaa al Baghdaddi, 19; Moyaid Fasil al Taib, 29; and Ali Abdul-Khaliq, 24. 
 
They were on their way into Tahrir Square near the Green Zone to manifest for trade union rights, jobs, basic services, political reform, and an end to corruption when police apprehended them for merely attempting to express their internationally recognised human rights, as well as rights under the Iraqi constitution. 
 
In Iraq&rsquo;s north, Jamal Abdul-Jabbar was forcibly transferred from his position at major Northern Oil installations in Kirkuk to a remote and isolated company site. He had led a walk-out in defence of contract workers at Kirkuk about a month ago. The transfer of elected union leaders away from any mass concentration of workers has been commonplace in Iraq over the past several years. 
 
&ldquo;The ICEM is angry that the Al-Maliki government is escalating trade union repression,&rdquo; ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda said in a letter to the government. &ldquo;Rather than persecuting Iraqi citizens for engaging in their fundamental human rights, the government must institutionalise free and independent trade unions in a modern labour law for peace and prosperity of all Iraqis.&rdquo; 
 
The ICEM expressed disheartenment that Iraq&rsquo;s government is moving away from democratic reforms. It noted the implementation of Cabinet Decrees 95 and 96 in mid-April, which in part stripped away recognition of the GFIW and replaced it with a committee of non-elected and politically-biased officials from the Sadrist Party. The GFIW is affiliated to the ICEM. 
 
Eight years after the fall of Saddam Hussein, his regime&rsquo;s prohibition against trade unions not officially connected to the Baathist regime continues, only with a different political covering. &ldquo;By restricting trade unions and the right of workers to freely engage in democratic assemblies that will benefit their work lives, and Iraqi society as a whole, your government appears to be stepping back in time,&rdquo; wrote the ICEM to Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki. 
 
The ICEM also notes that last week&rsquo;s apprehension of a Mechanics&rsquo; and Printers&rsquo; Union leader is not something new. On 27 March 2007, the union&rsquo;s leader, Najim Abd-Jasem, was abducted from his home and three days later his body was found with clear signs he had been tortured before his murder. 
 
For further information, contact ICEM Information Officer Dick Blin, <a href="mailto:dick.blin@icem.org">dick.blin@icem.org</a>, +41 22 304 1842.

ICEM Demands Release of Iraq Mechanics’ Union Leader

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On the 18 April, 16 union leaders from the ICEM affiliate United Workers Union of Liberia (UWUL) and the IMF affiliate Metal, Mechanical Electrical Communications and Allied Workers Union (MMECAWU) met in Monrovia to discuss the possibility of a merger and to develop a program of cooperation. 
It is now 15 years since civil war left Liberia in ruins. Not only is there much work to be done in this post war era to re-establish infrastructure, the country is also engaged in nation building including revitalizing the educational, health, security, economic and governance sectors. For the last seven years Liberians have been consolidating peace, receiving support for development from the international community and making strides in securing foreign investment attracted by the countries abundant natural resources. 
Whilst some multinationals like Firestone have been in Liberia for many decades, ArcelorMittal and BHP Billiton are the new kids on the block, with substantial recent investments in iron ore extraction. Historically, foreign companies that have been granted concessions have been expected to take care of service delivery to people in the area, in the form of housing, education and health services. This system still exists today and further disempowers workers to challenge employers as it is not only their jobs at stake but also their homes. 
Organised labour has recognized that unity is needed for bargaining power to stand up to these multinational companies and meet the challenges to build worker rights, create decent work and improve the lives of workers. Liberia's two labour federations have united to form a strong single federation in the country. The forestry union and mining union merged to create UWUL. Now, building on these successful mergers and encouraged by their benefit for worker power, UWUL and MMECAWU have agreed to work towards a merger. 
 
At the April meeting, the unions formulated and signed a memorandum of understanding committing to form a joint committee to develop a programme of collaboration that would culminate in a merger within a 24 month period. Central to the joint work would be organizing workers of multinational companies. 
The unions agreed to take the memorandum of understanding to their constituencies to gain the support of workers for the merger. The IMF has offered support and guidance to the unions' efforts in the interest of building strong worker representation in Liberia.

Liberian Unions Work Towards a Merger

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After a sustained campaign by Bangladesh&rsquo;s garment sector trade unions, the government last week announced an 80% rise to the minimum wage for workers in the sector. The minimum wage rise, from US$24 to US$43 per month falls far short of the US$72 (5,000 taka) figure that trade unions had pushed for. 
 
According to a report released in June by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), Bangladeshi garment workers are the &quot;world's most poorly paid&quot; workers. The vast majority, some 80% of the 3.5 million garment workers in Bangladesh are women, earning far less than a living wage, with many working 12-14 hour days, six days a week, under appalling and hazardous conditions. Common practice is for factory owners to not pay overtime, to pay workers late, and to pay less than the minimum wage. 
 
The target figure of US$72 per month, which the Bangladeshi government refused to implement, is approximately half the minimum wage of China. Calculations suggest that a realistic living wage in Bangladesh is around US$150 per month. 
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The government&rsquo;s decision was described as inadequate by labour leaders in the country, and was met with garment workers protesting in the streets of Dhaka, the nation&rsquo;s capital. &quot;We have tried our best to meet the demands of the workers,&quot; stated Labour Minister Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain. The country&rsquo;s garment exports, mainly to the US and Europe, are worth over US$12 billion per year, nearly 80% of the total export income of Bangladesh. 
 
Affiliates of the International Textile, Garment &amp; Leather Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITGLWF) responded to the increase with a series of demands for social benefits to supplement the minimum wage. The Bangladesh National Council (BNC) of Textiles Garment and Leather Workers called for provisions on food, housing, healthcare, and childcare if workers&rsquo; basic needs are to be met. The BNC has also urged government to implement the wage increase with immediate effect, instead of waiting until November. 
 
The ITGLWF is urging buyers to insist that their suppliers respect workers&rsquo; rights to freedom of association and to take account of the cost of paying a decent wage during price negotiations. 
 
Major retailers such as Wal-Mart, Gap, H&amp;M, Marks &amp; Spencer, and Tesco source much of their production from Bangladesh. While the international buyers are forcing prices to remain low in the so-called race to the bottom, workers are paying for it by receiving poverty-level wages. Minister of Labour Khondker Mosharraf Hossain previously stated, &quot;The problem Bangladesh faces is that giant multinational retailers will not pay for a wage increase. Every year the multinationals slash the prices they are willing to pay per unit, which drives down wages.&rdquo; 
 
Labour leaders have been forced into hiding, to escape retaliatory beatings and arrests by the Bangladeshi authorities.

Bangladesh Garment Workers Protest Low Wage Increases, Continued Repression

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The fate of 33 Chilean miners is still uncertain today, following a roof collapse on Thursday afternoon, 5 August, inside a copper and gold mine owned by Campa&ntilde;ia Minera San Esteban Primera in the country&rsquo;s northern Atacama desert. 
 
Today, a series of six holes were being bored to where the miners are thought to be. Sound-detection equipment will then be used in hopes of making contact with the miners. 
 
Rescue attempts on Saturday, 7 August, had to be suspended after further roof collapses occurred. Teams had traversed some 240 metres down ventilation shafts in efforts to reach the trapped miners when the cave-ins happened. The miners are trapped some 450 metres beneath the surface. 
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There is an emergency shelter near that level that contains food, water, and oxygen for up to 72 hours. But one miner familiar with the shelter said it was small and could not hold 33 persons. 
 
The mine has a history of underground land-slides, and only a few weeks ago a miner lost a leg after he was trapped by fallen rock. In 2007, three miners died inside the mine and an adjoining mine owned by the company due to the same set of circumstances. 
 
Both a company spokesman and a legislative deputy from the region were quoted as saying the mine area has great geological faults, particularly in its deeper regions. The Secretary-General of the San Esteban Primera Mine Workers&rsquo; Union, Javier Castillo, said workers had continually warned of the hazards inside the mine dating back to 2003. 
 
Campa&ntilde;ia Minera San Esteban is a junior Chilean mining concern that at one time was 40% owned by Cobre Mining Co., an extension of the former Aurex Resources of Vancouver, Canada. It is unclear if the North American company still has a stake in the San Esteban mine, some 800 kilometres north of Santiago near the city of Copiapo. 
 
Chile is a major global mining country that has not ratified ILO Convention 176, the Safety and Health in Mines Convention.

33 Miners Feared Dead Inside a Copper, Gold Mine in Chile

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ICEM South African affiliate, the Chemical, Energy, Paper, Printing, Wood &amp; Allied Workers Union (CEPPWAWU), is gradually agreeing to pay accords with employer associations in several industrial sectors, with disputes declared only across a few industries. CEPPWAWU is the lead union in industry-wide negotiations in some 11 of 13 manufacturing sectors, and 2010 pay awards are being reached at or just slightly above the current South African inflation rate of 7% to 7.5%. 
 
Contracts for many of the 60,000 members of CEPPWAWU and four other unions expired on 1 July 2010, although a few industrial sectors &ndash; namely, Petroleum, Glass, and the Plastics bargaining council of Metal and Engineering Industries Sector &ndash; are under longer term contracts, and only 2010 wage determinations are up this year. 
 
Adversarial bargaining generally across CEPPWAWU&rsquo;s sectors has not occurred in 2010, primarily due to attention of the recently completed World Cup games in South Africa. Some sectors reached multi-year agreements with unions in 2009 to avoid flashpoint bargaining in 2010. And in one sector, Pulp, Paper, and part of the Wood Products sector, bargaining was delayed until completion of the World Cup. 
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Disputes brought before the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation, and Arbitration (CCMA) have been lodged in the Fibreboard and Particleboard chambre, as well as in Sawmilling. Disputes were also declared in Industrial Chemicals, Pharmaceuticals, Fast-Moving Consumer Goods, and Pulp and Paper, but late in July and early August agreements were reached in those sectors. 
 
In Pulp and Paper, where the major employers are Sappi and Mondi, agreement was recently reached for an 8% increase, with shift allowance adjustments still to be determined. In Chemicals, where 12,000 workers are covered by the blanket agreement, CEPPWAWU and three smaller unions agreed to a 7.5% increase, with 0.5% to be added in January 2011. Sasol, Dow Chemical, and PetroSA are the major employers. 
 
In Pharmaceuticals, numbering about 3,000 workers, an 8% increase was achieved, retroactive to 1 July. Pfizer, Aspen, and Adcock Ingram are the leading employers. 
 
In the Furniture chambre, where the National Union of Furniture &amp; Allied Workers&rsquo; Union (NUFAWSA) is the majority union, a 7% wage increase was agreed to. In Fast-Moving Consumer Goods, an 8% increase was won for some 2,000 workers. 
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One sector that has seen a split in 2010 is the Tissue &amp; Allied Products, where Kimberly-Clark and Nampak have failed to come together in a common employers&rsquo; voice mainly due to wage disparities. Nampak has withdrawn from industry-wide talks in this sector. Meanwhile, Kimberly-Clark did reach an early wage agreement with CEPPWAWU, calling for a 2010 increase of 8%, while the union is now forced to bargain separately with Nampak. Those talks only started late last week, with the two sides scheduling second and third rounds of bargaining on 18-19 August and 30-31 August. 
 
In the sectors with multi-year agreements, CEPPWAWU and Petroleum employers now enter the second half of a two-year agreement for 13,500 workers, and a wage adjustment pegged to the 2010 inflation rate at this point &ndash; 7.25% &ndash; was paid on 1 July. In glass, another two-year agreement covering 2,200 workers, a 7% increase was made. And in Plastics, where labour and management now enter the final year of a four-year deal, 8.1% was paid out to lower salaried workers, while 7.1% was won for those at the higher end. 
 
The Particleboard and Sawmilling talks will see the government intervene in talks through the CCMA on 16 August. 
 
Roughly 75% of CEPPWAWU&rsquo;s total membership is covered under the various industry-wide bargaining forums. CEPPWAWU was born in 1999 when the Chemical Workers&rsquo; Industrial Union (CWIU) and the Paper, Printing, Wood &amp; Allied Workers&rsquo; Union (PPWAWU) merged.

Few Disputes for CEPPWAWU, South African Employers in 2010 Industrial Talks

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ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda, in a letter to Prime Minister İrsen K&uuml;&ccedil;&uuml;k last week, expressed anger at the police violence in Cyprus on Monday, 2 August, when a peaceful protest was attacked by police in riot gear. Twenty-four trade unionists were briefly arrested. 
 
Labour relations in the territory have worsened of late, due mainly to the local administration&rsquo;s plans to reduce the size of the workforce, and remove fundamental workers&rsquo; rights. Trade unions have become especially frustrated by the refusal of İrsen K&uuml;&ccedil;&uuml;k&rsquo;s authority to meet trade union representatives over the issues. The ruling National Unity Party (UBP) was elected to govern in April 2009 on the understanding that it would not implement austerity package cuts. 
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Trade unionists gathered outside the National Assembly building in Nicosia on 2 August, protesting the proposed austerity and privatization legislation, and calling on the authority to meet with trade union leaders and discuss workers&rsquo; concerns. Among the unions protesting was the ICEM affiliate EL-SEN, the Turkish Electricity Authority of Cyprus Workers Trade Union. The peaceful protest was met with police violence, and among the 24 arrested were ten trade union presidents, including EL-SEN President Tuluy Kalyoncu. Ozan Elciner, an EL-SEN Executive Board member, was also arrested. 
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EL-SEN President Tuluy Kalyoncu
In the ICEM letter, Warda stated, &ldquo;The ICEM shares the belief of our affiliate EL-SEN that trade unions must be included in the social dialogue process and in all considerations over new legislation that will directly affect workers&rsquo; fundamental rights.&rdquo; 
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Ozan Elciner, an EL-SEN Executive Board member
As was reported in ICEM last InBrief newsletter, No. 161, EL-SEN held its Congress recently under a banner of anti-privatisation, and a strong resolution was passed condemning the authority&rsquo;s lack of progress on holding the line on privatization and misleading the public on finances of the public companies up for sale. Those include KIBTEK, the electricity provider, the telecommunications network, and the Eastern Mediterranean University (EMU).

ICEM Urges Northern Cyprus Administration End Trade Union Repression

After three days of a partial petrol blockade on the federal capital district of Abuja, Nigeria, the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, and Mine Workers&rsquo; Unions (ICEM) affiliate, Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and the union&rsquo;s tank-truck drivers, lifted the strike on 6 August. That occurred when government ministers and leaders of NUPENG and PENGASSAN, ICEM&rsquo;s Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association affiliate, met and crafted memorandums of understanding on both the worsening conditions of Nigerian roads and the repugnant and growing use of casual labour by oil and gas companies, particularly multinational concerns. 
 
NUPENG did, however, issue a 14-day strike notice to the government on another issue: that of rehabilitation of Nigeria&rsquo;s Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA). If the federal government does not call together a forum to correct the lack of transparency and alleged willful mis-allocation of products to marketers, NUPENG will strike the oil and gas depots of several multinationals across the Niger Delta later in August. 
 
The Geneva, Switzerland-based ICEM supports NUPENG in its direct actions in Nigeria. 
 
&ldquo;There is serious corruption inside the allocation process of petroleum products,&rdquo; said NUPENG President Achese Igwe. &ldquo;We question the activities of the PPPRA in allocating products to marketers of unknown identity, and the PPPRA has shown no interest in revealing records or data on fuel allocations.&rdquo; 
 
Friday&rsquo;s meeting did create separate memorandums on road conditions and on casualisation. Meeting with Minister of Labour and Productivity Chukwuemeka Wogu, Minister of State for Works Chris Ogiemwonyi, officials of both the Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. (NNPC) and the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas Co. (NNLG), and the employers&rsquo; grouping of multinationals operating in Nigeria, the Oil Producers&rsquo; Trade Section (OPTS), leaders of NUPENG and PENGASSAN did get immediate commitments. 
 
Regarding casualisation and the ever increasing use of temporary or non-regular workers, a tripartite &ldquo;Technical Working Group on Casualisation and Contract Staffing in the Oil and Gas Sector&rdquo; was created. This working group will, between 30 and 90 days, produce a road map that will include analysis on why prior memorandums were not adhered to, and it must issue acceptable guarantees ensuring job security for casual workers. 
 
NUPENG and PENGASSAN insist that such staff, across all oil- and gas-producing companies, be given immediate opportunities for full-time staff positions if they have the prerequisite skills. When this is not possible, the unions demand that conditions of employment be published and strictly adhered to that grant temporary workers all work rights and social benefits that permanent workers get. 
 
Igwe said that the vast number of casual workers in oil and gas have no pension scheme and are without health insurance. 
 
Regarding road conditions, which has caused the deaths of eight NUPENG tanker-truck drivers in the past three months, a Roads Monitoring Team was created that will consist of two members from NUPENG. Within a two-month time frame, this team will monitor roads and determine which ones need immediate improvement. 
 
Igwe stressed the importance of this issue by stating that poor road conditions have caused unnecessary stops, resulting in robberies and kidnappings of truck drivers. The risk to public safety is also inherent since poor roads causing accidents has meant monumental disasters, considering the inflammable cargos that lorries carry. 
 
On the issue of the PPPRA, Igwe said it remains a mystery as to which ministry or department of government the pricing authority reports to. The issue of transparency and accountability by the PPPRA is all-important in Nigeria with the country about to enact the Petroleum Industry Bill. 
 
The ICEM is a Global Union Federation composed of 467 trade union affiliates in 132 countries. 
 
For further information, contact ICEM Information Officer Dick Blin at <a href="mailto:dick.blin@icem.org">dick.blin@icem.org</a>, or +41 22 304 1842 (direct) or +41 79 734 8994 (mobile).

ICEM Supports Direct Action by NUPENG in Nigeria over Roads, Casualisation

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The ICEM is very happy to announce the newly available Arabic version of its website. With almost 30 ICEM affiliates in Arabic-speaking countries, the new web pages are aimed at communicating our news and message to those members, as well as to the thousands of Arabic-speaking members of ICEM affiliates throughout the rest of the world. 
 
Prominent on the Arabic page is the campaign for fair labour legislation in Iraq. ICEM Executive Committee member Hashmeya Muhsen Al-Saadawi, President of the General Union of Electricity Workers and Technicians (GUEWT) continues to lead her union under constant government harassment. As reported by ICEM in July, the Electricians union&rsquo;s offices were shut and seized by the authorities on 20 July, under a ministerial order of the government.

ICEM Launches Arabic Website

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