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Established in October 1999, ICEM&rsquo;s South American BASF Workers&rsquo; Network and Social Dialogue programme will close in on its tenth anniversary next year. The 17th gathering of the Network was held from 13-17 May, 2008, in Santiago, Chile. 
 
Composed of trade union representatives from Brazil, Argentina, Chile, and Peru, last week&rsquo;s meetings were also attended by representatives from ICEM&rsquo;s German affiliate, IGBCE, as well as representatives of the BASF European Works Council and ICEM staff. 
 
Before the Social Dialogue section of the meeting, in which management of various BASF South American facilities take part, representatives from trade unions held a preparatory meeting. On the first day, following a presentation by ICEM Chemicals and Rubber Industries Officer Kemal Ozkan on ICEM activities in general, as well as in Latin America, IGBCE&rsquo;s Michael Wolters from the union&rsquo;s International Department, made a presentation.
<img height="225" alt="" src="" width="300" />
&nbsp;Trade union participants to the 17th BASF South American meetings in Santiago, Chile 
 

After that, the 25 trade unionists present discussed possible amendments on the principals and status of the Network. 
 
On day two, national reports were heard on developments in Brazil, Argentina, Peru, and Chile, and work that has been done by the Network in the period 2006-2008 was discussed. Having heard presentations by Robert Oswald from the European Works Council on the situation in Europe, and from Michael Vassiliadis, a Supervisory Board member of BASF, who also is an Executive Committee member of both IGBCE and ICEM, on the company&rsquo;s general and human resource policies, delegates to the 17th Network meeting debated the activities of the Network for the coming 2008-2009 period.
<img height="66" alt="" src="" width="100" border="1" />
Chile
They also elected representatives from countries who led the Social Dialogue portion of the meetings. Those elected included Fabio Lins of Brazil, the current coordinator of the Network, and Vilobaldo Machado, also of Brazil; Ruben Caroselli and Fabian Akim of Argentina; Victor Ramirez and Fernando Saldano of Chile; and Germ&aacute;n Remigio of Peru.
The meeting was chaired by ICEM Vice President for Latin America/Caribbean, Sergio Novais, who served as the first coordination of the Network at inception in 1999. Novais also served as co-chair of the Social Dialogue section, together with Wagner Brunini from BASF management.
<img height="70" alt="" src="" width="100" />
Brazil
At that meeting, the BASF global situation was presented, which included financial data from the group and the regions, the Global Site Benchmark initiative was discussed, and the CO-2 balance measure was addressed by Dr Harald Schwager, chief global human resources manager of the company. Also making a presentation was Dr Rolf Dieter Acker, head of BASF&rsquo;s South American region, who addressed regional and country data, as well as developments since 2006. 
 
The meeting also heard the company&rsquo;s international human resource polices, including facts and figures, and the human resources strategy and the company&rsquo;s Global Employee Survey, as well as corporate social responsibility practices.
<img height="66" alt="" src="" width="100" border="1" />
Argentina&nbsp;
The trade union group then presented results of its preparatory meeting, and constructive discussion ensued. The main topics in the following day&rsquo;s meeting, as defined by the workers&rsquo; group, were creation of workplace committees in plants located in Colombia and in Faria Lima, Brazil; establishment of a trade union organisation in BASF&rsquo;s Peruvian factory; and enhancing social dialogue in Argentina between trade unions and management. 
 
Trade unionists also raised problems created by subcontracting, that deeper national dialogues must occur to find solutions to it and promotion Decent Work, and also discussed health and safety, company restructuring, specifically the need for transparency on information, and creation of communications and negotiations, and also on the issue of termination of employment contracts with justified reasons.
<img height="69" alt="" src="" width="100" border="1" />
Peru&nbsp;
It was also decided to produce a special publication for the tenth anniversary of the Network for next year. 
In parallel to the well-tuned BASF Workers&rsquo; South American Network, the ICEM&rsquo;s BASF Asia-Pacific Workers&rsquo; Network meetings will take place in August 2008. There are also plans to do similar activities in other regions, such as North America, as a basis of global level Social Dialogue in line with the special resolution adopted at ICEM&rsquo;s 4th Congress in Bangkok in November 2007.

BASF South American Workers’ Network Nears 10th Anniversary

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Tensions are mounting with ICEM Nigerian affiliate PENGASSAN against Royal Dutch Shell&rsquo;s holdings in the country. Shell Petroleum Development Co. Ltd. (SPDC) is embarking on major retrenchments in its upstream sector, by merging four oil and gas businesses into a single entity. 
 
PENGASSAN, the senior staff union in Nigeria&rsquo;s oil and gas sector, has threatened to strike Shell&rsquo;s operations if the company continues to ignore labour law and undermine the union&rsquo;s collective agreement regarding social dialogue over redundancies. Shell is a 45% partner with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. (NNPC) in the various operations, but serves as operating partner. 
 
The controversy arises out of Shell&rsquo;s desire to lop 2,000 of 7,000 white-collar jobs without national level dialogue, as well as demanding that workers re-apply for their jobs in the consolidated company. 
 
According to PENGASSAN General Secretary Bayo Olowoshile, the company is selectively targeting for layoff union members who are close to full retirement, but not fully there.
<img height="180" alt="" src="" width="120" />
PENGASSAN Gen. Sec. Bayo Olosohile
To qualify for full pensions, a senior staff member must be at least 45 years of age and have 15 years of service. 
 
&ldquo;We maintain that these retrenchments, first and foremost, must be voluntary and elective,&rdquo; said Olowoshile, adding that 1,000 workers have expressed interest in redundancy packages. &ldquo;But we also question why Shell has only targeted the middle and lower ranks for retrenchment, while whole levels of top managers are unaffected.&rdquo; 
 
Olowoshile said Shell has pierced the integrity of the national collective agreement, as well as the union&rsquo;s constitution, by addressing the redundancies at branch level, rather than with PENGASSAN&rsquo;s national secretariat. 
 
Olowoshile also said Shell is creating discord in the communities of Nigeria&rsquo;s oil patch. &ldquo;Local citizens are becoming disoriented because they feel that Shell has now taken steps that will curtail job opportunities.&rdquo; 
 
In a 4 June letter to SPDC that gave notice of possible industrial action, the union calls the company&rsquo;s retrenchment exercise &ldquo;insensitive to the public and national interest.&rdquo; In February, Nigeria&rsquo;s National Assembly called for a halt to SPDC&rsquo;s unilateral decision to retrench. And more recently, the NNPC has come on record, stating only those who have reached the retirement age, or who volunteer to be made redundant, should leave.
<img height="60" alt="" src="" width="120" border="1" />
PENGASSAN awaits a SPDC&rsquo;s response and a meeting with union leaders on the national level. The SPDC concern is a major issue before the union&rsquo;s five-day Strategy Planning Synergies Conference, meetings involving the union&rsquo;s 80-member Central Working Committee, which begins today in Ogun State. 
 
Meanwhile, a PENGASSAN threat of strike against US-based Chevron&rsquo;s upstream operations has diminished, following dialogue last week that relieved some of the serious safety concerns plaguing workers. And regarding Chevron downstream operations in Nigeria, the union is continuing to meet with Nigerian equity partners to obtain the 60% stake that the American company is selling.

Nigeria’s PENGASSAN Threatens Strike Action Against Shell over Unilateral Job Cuts

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A 14-day tyre strike by 4,000 members of ICEM affiliate Lastik-İş in Turkey ended Friday night, 13 June, and workers at three multinational rubber companies were back on their jobs for the afternoon shift on 14 June. 
 
The strike ended when a two-year accord was reached between the union and the three employers, who jointly represent the tyre industry in talks. The companies include Goodyear Tire &amp; Rubber Co., Bridgestone Brisa Sabanci, and Pirelli.
The bargaining on 13 June&nbsp;was the first set of negotiations since the strike began on 31 May. Talks first began on a renewal labour agreement for 2008-2009 for the four&nbsp;tyre factories in September 2007. 
 
The two sides agreed to a 14% pay increase for the year 2008, and an increase equaling the Turkish rate of inflation for 2009. In 2007, the Turkish rate of inflation was 8.39% and is expected to rise above that this year. Lastik-İş had sought a 12% wage hike for the first six months of 2008, with increases matching the inflation rate in each six-month period through 2009. 
 
All levels of social benefits will also increase by the inflation rate over the life of the labour agreement. The ICEM, the Global Union Federation covering the chemicals, rubber, plastics, and pharmaceutical sectors, considers the 2008-2009 Turkish rubber agreement a major achievement, considering wage and social benefit gains were stymied in the late 1990s and early years of this decade due to strike bans imposed by the Turkish government.
<img height="178" alt="" src="" width="180" />
&nbsp;Lastik-İş President Abdullah Karacan 
 

&ldquo;We didn&rsquo;t make any concessions, we preserved our contractual and work-rule provisions, and we posted substantial economic gains,&rdquo; stated Lastik-İş President Abdullah Karacan. &ldquo;The decisiveness of our union members at these four factories was effective and ultimately proved successful in bargaining.&rdquo; 
 
The four tyre plants, which saw workers return to work at 16h00 on 14 June, include two of&nbsp;US-based Goodyear&nbsp;in Izmit and Adapazari, and one operated by Bridgestone Brisa Sabanci, a joint venture between Japan-based Bridgestone and the Turkish Sabanci Group, and the other owned by&nbsp;Italian-based Pirelli. Both&nbsp;the Bridgestone&nbsp;and Pirelli plants&nbsp;are located&nbsp;in Izmit.

Turkey’s 14-Day Rubber Strike Ends with 14% First year Wage Gain

&nbsp;
June 9,&nbsp;2008 
 
 
Viktor Turmanov 
President 
Coal Mining Workers&rsquo; Union of Ukraine (PRUPU) 
117 Posysheva Street 
83000 Donestsk 
UKRAINE 
 
Dear Brother Turmanov, 
 
It was with great sadness that the ICEM learned this morning of the major explosion at the state-owned mine near Yenakiyevo in the central Donbass region of the Ukraine yesterday. We understand that the miners endangered are members of your proud Trade Union, and I write to offer the ICEM&rsquo;s condolences for those who have died, and our greatest hope that rescue efforts will succeed for those who still might be alive inside the mine. 
 
We understand that this particular mine is a low-yielding producer of coal, thus we question why the government even had the mine in operation. Certainly any mining operation that produces coal in Ukraine should and must have the proper methane detection devices and other modern safety equipment in place, and we wonder if this was the case of the mine near Yenakiyevo. 
 
The 20-million-member ICEM, the Global Union Federation for the Mining and Energy sectors, stands behind PRUPA in calling on the new Minister of Coal and other Ukrainian authorities to conduct a full investigation into this tragedy. 
 
Please pass our sincerest condolences to the families of the miners who perished, and know that the ICEM stands with our affiliated Trade Union PRUPU in demanding safe and secure workplaces inside the Ukrainian mining industry. 
 
Fraternally, 
 
Manfred Warda 
General Secretary

ICEM Letter To Ukrainian PRUPU Union on 8 June Mine Tragedy

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ICEM&rsquo;s Central European Regional Council was held in Katowice, Poland, on 29 April, and leaders of affiliates from eight Central European countries discussed trends and developments within the ICEM region, as well as global matters. 
 
The problems mentioned by ICEM&rsquo;s trade union leaders of the region often mirrored those from neighbouring countries. Workers in most countries face problems with stagnant wages &ndash; and extremely low minimum wages &ndash; as well as high inflation rates. In Croatia, many workers do not earn more than &euro;8 per day.
<img width="160" height="85" src="" alt="" />
The ICEM Central European Regional meeting was hosted by Polish trade union sentre Solidarnosc
Unions in Croatia are calling for a minimum wage to be set at the level of 50% of the average wage. Unions in other countries are setting that bar at 60%. In several Central European nations, the current minimum wage is often lower &ndash; 40% of the average wage, or even lower.
<img width="120" height="60" src="" alt="" />
Croatia&nbsp;
Progress is slow on that front, but it is being made. In Slovakia, for example, union and employers are now jointly negotiating a new minimum wage through social dialogue. In Romania, the minimum wage was raised last year from &euro;100 to &euro;150 per month. 
 
Standard wages do differ between countries. An average wage in Bosnia stands at around &euro;300, whereas the average salary in Poland, before taxes, is around &euro;800. The wage differences between sectors inside some countries are oftentimes wide. Some Polish workers barely earn &euro;300 per month, while others make &euro;1,700.
<img width="120" height="60" src="" alt="" />
&nbsp;Bosnia-Herzegovina
Overall, unions in Central Europe are generally reporting progress. One such area that is progressing is negotiations with multinational companies. In nearly all countries, privatisation exercises continue and that does cause serious hardship for many trade union members. Unions do report that fair dismissal packages are now being won, a welcome change from previous years. Another positive aspect is that relations with incoming multinational companies are improving. 
 
Engagement in social dialogue is a key priority for most unions, including with several non-European multinational investors. This phenomenon has grown rapidly over the last few years. Multinational companies from Russia, Turkey, India, and South Korea are no longer the exception. Regrettably, industrial relations with some of these firms (for example, Korean Hankook Tire in Hungary) are acrimonious, since some of these newly-arrived companies lack relevant experience with the European social dialogue system. 
 
Nearly all trade union leaders attending the regional meeting also mentioned the positive, and growing, international cooperation between unions in the region. Trade unions and their members are increasingly attending each other&rsquo;s demonstrations, across borders, and are sharing more and more information. 
 
Also reported was the vastly improved trade union cooperation inside countries. This is occurring between unions that often belong to different national confederations. One clear example came from Poland, where a joint ICEM-EMCEF office is being set up, allowing six industrial unions to speak with one voice. 
 
As a result of this increased cooperation, there also appears to be a growing political will to do away with the problem of having too many unions inside one country. Leaders spoke of the need for consolidation and mergers, in order to avoid situations where unions compete with each other. 
 
Unions in Serbia, for example, spoke of improvements in their own operations, as they manage, frequently after changing internal structures, to halt the drop in union membership and boost affiliation fees.
<img width="120" height="71" src="" alt="" />
Serbia
Related to these efforts was an overview by Mato Lalic on the South-East European Education Project for ICEM and IUF affiliates. He reported on a number of successes from this project, which is expected to enter its last two-year cycle this year. For over ten years, Lalic has organised over 300 seminars, workshops, and seminars, with over 6,000 trade unionists attending. And some 30-to- 40% of these participants have been women. 
 
Some problems, however, remain country-specific, such as the after-war issue of the non-payment of pensions in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Also, austerity measures were cited as a measure to offset the GDP deficit in Hungary. 
 
Other problems appear simultaneously in all countries. Many spoke, for example, of anticipated difficulties &ndash; and possible long and hard struggles &ndash; in relation to the expected increases of the statutory pension age in their respective country. The issue of green jobs, and the need to have an ecological balance, but also the possible difficulties that industries may face as a result of a more stringent emissions rights system, were equally mentioned by many.

Reports from Central Europe Regional Meeting Point to Cautious Optimism

<img width="100" height="39" alt="" src="" />
Rather than negotiate in good faith with print shop members of UK union Unite, a book producer did the unthinkable: it suddenly sacked 287 workers and took the company into liquidation. 
 
Butler and Tanner, a 170-year-old printer in Frome, Somerset, that was bought last year by Media and Print Investments (MPI), had informed UK&rsquo;s Advisory, Conciliation, and Mediation Service (ACAS) that it was prepared for further talks with Unite over the weekend of 25-27 April in order to avert a planned 30 April industrial action.
<img width="120" height="60" alt="" src="" />
Instead, Butler and Tanner&rsquo;s chairman issued a terse letter to all 287 union members, received on 26 April, that the prestigious colour book printer was closing immediately. Unite then learned that the company had deployed labour agency staff to continue operations. 
 
Union members last Tuesday, 29 April, voted to take legal action to recover &pound;12,000 per worker in lost wages and &pound;44,000 in total pension contributions for the workforce. The union also organised a mass rally at the locked plant gates on 2 May. 
 
United National Officer Ann Field called it a &ldquo;despicable act,&rdquo; and said the union will demand full recompense. The union&rsquo;s Assistant General Secretary, Tony Burke, said staff had given their working lives to make Butler and Tanner one of UK&rsquo;s quality book printers, &ldquo;but they decided enough was enough when the goalposts for an agreement were constantly moved.&rdquo; 
 
Print workers had conceded pay cuts and other economic items when private equity company MPI took over in August 2007. The company was currently seeking another &pound;1 million in cost reductions, including radical shift changes, as well as a clause in a proposed new contract that would restrict Unite&rsquo;s ability to negotiate for workers.

Book Printer Suddenly Closes in UK, Leaving 287 Jobless

<img height="39" alt="" src="" width="100" />
Further industrial action at the Grangemouth petrochemicals complex in Scotland by Unite is not likely, following negotiations last week between the union and Ineos owner Jim Ratcliffe. 
 
Reports surfaced over the weekend that Ratcliffe has agreed to maintain the final pension scheme for all workers. Ineos had proposed that, effective in August, the final pension plan would be closed off for new hires, and that full pension benefits would not be awarded to staff choosing to retire at age 60. The company had proposed full pension benefits only at age 65.
<img height="239" alt="" src="" width="220" />
&nbsp;Unite Joint General Secretaries Tony Woodley and Derek Simpson&nbsp; 
 

Ineos has agreed to withdraw the letter to staff announcing the pension changes. The union reportedly has agreed to make efficiency changes in order to achieve cost savings, efficiencies that will not include redundancies. Unite is expected to poll union members on the revised proposal soon. 
 
A two-day strike on 27-28 April by 1,200 Unite members gained global attention when it crimped fuel supplies in Scotland and caused a ripple effect on nearby energy installations, including the shipment of gas from BP&rsquo;s Forbes Field in the North Sea. Grangemouth is a refiner of polyolefins and oil derivatives used for various fuel sources. 
 
On 29 April, Ratcliffe and Tom Crotty of Ineos began the first of a set of constructive and meaningful discussions with Unite Joint General Secretaries Derek Simpson and Tony Woodley to resolve the dispute. Ineos is a fast-growing energy concern that was created in 1998. In late 2005, it bought Grangemouth from BP&rsquo;s Innovene chemicals division.

Accord Near to Protect Final Pension Scheme for All Workers at Grangemouth

<img height="39" src="" width="100" alt="" />
Babatunde Ogun, a 17-year member of Nigeria&rsquo;s senior staff association PENGASSAN, was elected president of the union on 30 April for a three-year term. His election and the elections of several others occurred at the white-collar union&rsquo;s Second Triennial Delegates&rsquo; Conference in Abuja that was attended by 470 branch and zonal leaders. 
 
The two-day conference featured a sharp exchange on the opening day, 29 April, between Minister of Labour and Productivity Dr Hassan Lawal and fiery Adams Oshiomhole, the former president of the Nigeria Labour Congress, who is governor-in-waiting in Edo State.
<img height="146" src="" width="220" alt="" />
&nbsp;PENGASSAN members at May Day rally in Abuja 
 

Oshiomhole, who was duly elected a year ago but awaits taking office in Edo due to a legal challenge by the former incumbent governor, called on PENGASSAN to extract no more crude oil at US$120-per-barrel &ldquo;if the proceeds are to be shared by irresponsible political leadership. That will not be patriotic,&rdquo; he said. Oshiomhole was referring to alleged corrupt practices of former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo. 
 
Following the reading of a prepared text from current President Umaru MusaYar&rsquo;Adua by Lawal, the Labour Minister took exception with Oshiomhole&rsquo;s comments. He stated that such a call &ldquo;was out of place, especially since Comrade Oshiomhole has acknowledged the good works President Yar&rsquo;Adua is doing, especially trying to right some of the wrongs of the immediate past government.&rdquo; 
 
Lawal added that if the country&rsquo;s oil workers stopped drilling, the government would take it upon itself to contract such drilling with outside providers. Labour Minister Lawal also remarked on the PENGASSAN upstream strike against Mobil Producing Nigeria, and his efforts to resolve the strike by 1,400 trade union members. He called Mobil&rsquo;s two-year wage offer of 10% &ldquo;totally unfair and unacceptable.&rdquo; 
 
PENGASSAN did present a series of constitutional amendments to delegates, including a new fees formula between the National Secretariat and branches, but due to a logistical glitch, the amendments were not acted upon. Delegates also heard from Dr Muhammad Auwal Umar of Bayero University in Kano, who delivered a stirring address on why labour unions must reposition themselves for a greater role in civil society. 
 
Babatunde Ogun won election to the union&rsquo;s top over two other candidates, including incumbent Peter Esele. A mechanical engineer who has been employed by Mobil Producing at the Qua Iboe crude export terminal in Eket, Ogun state, for the past 12 years, Comrade Ogun was Deputy President three years ago when he challenged Uche Okoro for the presidency. He lost in that election, held early in 2005, and Esele, elected then as Deputy Vice President, became PENGASSAN&rsquo;s president when Comrade Okoro was killed in an airplane crash on 10 December 2005 near Port Harcourt.
<img height="147" src="" width="140" alt="" />
&ldquo;Our oil and gas policies have to have input in the marketplace,&rdquo; said the 42-year-old Ogun, following his election. &ldquo;We must close the gap between government and business on the one hand, and labour on the other. We must also close the gap globally in order that multinationals utilise Nigerians and local content in their operations.&rdquo; 
 
Re-elected Deputy Vice President was Mustapha Nuhu Wali. The union also elected its first Woman in PENGASSAN, which now is an elected position on the Central Works Committee. That post was won by Orji I. Rose of Chevron Nigeria Ltd. Elected Treasurer was O. Uka Ethelbert, and elected Industrial Relations Officer was Steve Ereyukomhen. 
 
PENGASSAN, an ICEM affiliate numbering 6,000 members, is composed of four zonal offices and some 80 branches, each representing a company segment of Nigeria&rsquo;s oil and gas industry.

PENGASSAN Elects New Leader in Babatunde Ogun

<img height="39" alt="" src="" width="100" />
Three major Turkish trade union confederations, T&Uuml;RK-İŞ (the Confederation of Turkish Trade Unions), DİSK (the Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions), and KESK (the Confederation of Public Employees&rsquo; Trade Unions) &ndash; all affiliates to both the ITUC and the ETUC &ndash; defied the government&rsquo;s ban on May Day activities last week, and jointly celebrated International Workers&rsquo; Day across Istanbul.
The celebration was scheduled to occur at Taksim Square in Istanbul, but heavy police force prevented trade unionists from reaching that point.
Taksim Square is symbolically important to the Turkish trade union movement, because it was there on May Day, 1977, that 37 workers were killed during celebrations. This year&rsquo;s programme was scheduled to see participants meeting at Şişli at 10h00 with a march to Taksim. At 11h00, they were to lay laid flowers at Taksim Square in a democratic and peaceful way.
<img height="135" alt="" src="" width="200" />
Turkish police gassing the headquarters of DİSK in the early morning hours of 1 May
Prior to last Thursday&rsquo;s event, the presidents of three confederations met with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to facilitate the demonstrations. But he rejected the peaceful demonstration, and the governor of Istanbul ordered the trade unions not to march to Taksim, with threat of force to prevent the commemoration. But unions carried out street demonstrations across Istanbul instead. 

At 06h15 on 1 May, police attacked the headquarters of DİSK, where 1,500 demonstrators were spending the night. Police used pepper spray and red-dye water cannons to disperse the demonstrators. The red-dye water served as a burning agent when combined with the pepper spray. 

Trade unionists were hosed with this burning agent, and they soon felt burns and rashes on their skin. Many of them were hospitalised. Later, police were indiscriminate in their beatings of persons on the streets of Istanbul. They also attacked journalists and beat a photo-journalist, breaking his camera which had captured the barbaric brutality of the police. 

Nonetheless, thousands of Turkey&rsquo;s citizens clashed with police in order to enter the historic site of May Day celebrations. Workers, their unions, and the left, turned the entire city of Istanbul into Taksim Square, and the popular slogan became &ldquo;Each Square in Turkey Becomes Taksim Square.&rdquo; 

Some did manage to get into the square, but not by their own free will. They were moved there through arrests because police &ldquo;arrest vehicles&rdquo; were parked in the square. Those arrested were beaten unmercifully. Reports cited that over 530 were arrested, but because many of those detained were not processed, the numbers were many times higher.
<img height="115" alt="" src="" width="250" />
May Day 2008 in Turkey has come and gone, but the events of that day in Istanbul lead us to think seriously about trade union rights and freedom of association in Turkey. This is crucial, as the country prepares for membership negotiations with the European Union. 

In his protest message over last week&rsquo;s government repression of workers to Turkish Prime Minister Erdoğan, ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda said, &ldquo;Turkey does not deserve such a picture. On the eve of integration with the EU, your policy and the behaviour of your government and security forces is not acceptable. We vehemently protest and urge you to take the necessary steps in order to adhere to freedom of association and basic trade union rights that in line with the fundamental ILO conventions.&rdquo;

Turkish Police, Government Take Extreme Measures to Halt May Day Demonstration

<img height="39" src="" width="100" alt="" />
An eight-day strike by 1,400 upstream workers of Mobil Producing Nigeria ended on 1 May, following mediation over wages, benefits, and alternative forms of payment for a two-year period. The talks were concluded in the capital of Abuja after mediation by both the Nigeria National Petroleum Corp. (NNPC) and the Ministry of Labour and Productivity. 
 
The strike by PENGASSAN, ICEM&rsquo;s white-collar oil and gas workers&rsquo; affiliated trade union in Nigeria, had shut in 860,000-barrels-per-day of oil production. The settlement is expected to establish the upstream pattern for major oil and gas producers in Nigeria for 2008 and 2009. Only Total&rsquo;s upstream workers had reached agreement earlier.
<img height="160" src="" width="240" alt="" />
&nbsp;PENGASSAN's Mobil Producing Bargaining Committee 
 
The strike settlement, however, has no bearing on a dispute between PENGASSAN and Mobil Oil Nigeria Plc. in the downstream sector. That dispute has to do with discrepancies on compensation regarding redundancies. 
 
The strike in the upstream sector was brought on by Mobil Producing&rsquo;s intransigence in reaching a new deal following the 31 December 2007 expiration of a prior agreement. The company refused to budge from a total compensation offer of 10% over a new two-year period. NNPC and the Labour Ministry intervened in mediation efforts once the strike began on 24 April. 
 
Mobil Producing is jointly owned by NNPC and US-based ExxonMobil, with ExxonMobil serving as the operating partner in what is currently Nigeria&rsquo;s largest crude exporter, as well as lowest operating cost producer. 
 
PENGASSAN&rsquo;s Mobil Producing Branch Chairman Olusola George-Olumoroti said four of the five major points on the union&rsquo;s agenda were resolved in marathon talks on 30 April, but it took the two Nigerian parties &ndash; NNPC and Labour Ministry &ndash; to move the multinational company from its low 10% offer.
<img height="210" src="" width="140" alt="" />
&nbsp;Branch Chairman Olusola George-Olumoroti 
 

On 1 May, the union&rsquo;s branch committee accepted a 20% total pay package, which is retroactive to 1 January and includes benefits and other remuneration items. PENGASSAN&rsquo;s Mobil upstream branch committee also included members of the Mobil Producing Contract Staff Branch, since a major point on the union&rsquo;s agenda was casualisation. 
 
The union charged Mobil Producing with over-extending service professionals in work that could be more efficiently done by full-time staff. George-Olumoroti casual staff work under two-year contracts, and some worked in such status for as along as 19 years. In negotiations on 30 April, the two sides agreed to set up a joint committee to review contract staffing, and then compare Mobil&rsquo;s record with that of other companies in the industry. 
 
Another major concern was the inconsistency of Mobil&rsquo;s defined benefit plan to Nigeria&rsquo;s Pension Reform Act of 2004. That issue met resolve by the two sides agreeing to a team of independent actuaries to examine the company&rsquo;s current pension plan. 
 
Other issues included the rapid influx of expatriates that violate the government&rsquo;s quota regulations, and hazardous equipment and facility deterioration, particularly in the company&rsquo;s western area of operations along the Niger Delta. The PENGASSAN branch cited leakages at two offshore oil pipelines of the company &ndash; Idoho and Edop &ndash; in February. 
 
The Nigerian government has agreed to conduct an audit regarding expatriate quotas, while a joint committee will be put in place immediately to develop a charter and recommendations on facility deficiencies. That committee will be on a stringent time frame, with reporting on or before 30 June.
<img height="101" src="" width="220" alt="" />
In the downstream sector, Mobil Oil Nigeria Plc., also jointly owned by NNPC and ExxonMobil, and the PENGASSAN branch there are in dispute over terms of a redundancy package negotiated late in 2007. The company made 67 of 170 senior staff members redundant, and intentionally targeted PENGASSAN members and activists for sackings. 
 
At question is a miscalculation in the redundancy package. In implementing a new information technology programme, ExxonMobil has eliminated jobs in Nigeria and moved them to Egypt, Taiwan, and Hungary. All the workers made redundant are to be paid their full salaries until 31 May, at which time the severance package is scheduled to take effect. The ICEM has demanded that the American company rectify its error.

Mobil Nigeria Upstream Strike Settled; Downstream Dispute Still Festers

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