English

Español

Français

Aerospace

Automotive

Base metals

Chemical, pharmaceutical and bio-science

Energy

Glass, cement, ceramic and associated industries

ICT, electrical and electronics

Mechanical Engineering

Mining and DGOJP

Pulp and paper

Rubber

Shipbuilding and shipbreaking

Textile, garment, shoes, leather and textile services

Sectors

Action Plan 2025-2029

Action on textile and garment industry

Clean up shipbreaking

Ratify ILO C176

United for a just future - time to pay up!

Disinvest from Myanmar

Campaigns

Global Framework Agreements

Union building

White-collar workers

Health & safety

Industry 4.0

Women

Youth

LGBTQI+

Gender, equality, diversity and inclusion (GEDI)

Just Transition

Organizing with industriALL

What we do

Affiliates

Statutes

Elected Officials

Executive Committee

Geneva head office

South East Asia

Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Caucasus

Latin America and the Caribbean

Middle East and North Africa

South Asia

Sub-Saharan Africa

Regional offices

About us

Global worker No1 2022

Global worker No2 2022

Publications

Resources

Press

<img height="31" alt="" src="" width="25" />
1. Costa Rica - Parliament Approves Law to Penalize Violence against Women 
2. Denmark - From our readers: Marianne Bruun, 3F, writes 
3. Ecuador - Women Workers&rsquo; Coordinate and Meet 
4. India - Women&rsquo;s Ceremony for Children of Worker Victims 
5. Iraq - May Day in Basra 
6. Korea - Women Workforce Expands 
7. Mexico - Mexico City Legalises Abortion 
8. Morocco - Women&rsquo;s Network Holds Workers&rsquo; Memorial Day Cause 
9. South Africa - Pushes for Constitutional Guarantees of Gender Equality 
10. Resources
<img height="31" alt="" src="" width="25" />
1. Costa Rica &ndash; Parliament Approves Law to Penalize Violence Against Women
On 12 April 2007, the Costa Rican Legislative Assembly passed pioneering legislation to penalize violence against women. The aim is to protect the rights of the victims of violence and to sanction such in all its forms &ndash; physical, psychological, sexual, property &ndash; in the context of a relationship of power or confidence. This will only be the second time in the world, after Spain, that this type of legislation has been passed. 
The law implies a change in the penal code and the traditional concept of related crimes. Women should thus have better protection against violence in relations with partners. Costa Rica is now a reference point in the Americas in terms of legislation against violence against women. 
<img height="31" alt="" src="" width="25" />
2. Denmark
From our readers: Marianne Bruun, 3F, writes: 
Average male earnings are higher than average female earnings in the Danish labour market. Depending on how hourly wages are calculated, the unadjusted pay differences, i.e., the percentage difference between the average earnings of men and women, is between 12-19%. 
The main single explanation of the pay differences between men and women in Denmark is that women work in other professions than men, and that people working in those professions are generally paid less than people working in the typically male professions. 
 
For years we have asked for statistical tools that would show pay inequalities in various lines of business and job categories. The Danish government has now adopted legislation requiring that major enterprises prepare gender-separated statistics. 
If they prefer it, the enterprises may instead prepare reports on equal pay, provided employees agree with this. Such reports must contain information about matters that have an impact on male and female employees&rsquo; pay in the enterprise, and must also describe initiatives taken by the enterprise to avoid pay inequality. 
 
The new legislation applies to enterprises with 35 or more full- and part-time employees and have at least ten people of each gender employed in the same job function. Enterprises that do not have any groups of at least ten men and ten women do not have to prepare gender-separated pay statistics. 
 
In the trade union movement, we are not at all pleased with this limitation, which means that only a small proportion of our members will be covered by the new legislation. We have therefore decided to create a number of supplementary tools that can be used by union representatives in most workplaces, thus enabling them to collect data on pay themselves and to identify any pay inequality issues in their own enterprise. 
Paternity leave 
In connection with the recently finalised collective bargaining in Danish industry, we have achieved two very important improvements in the field of equal opportunities for men and women. 
 
First of all, a number of weeks have been earmarked for leave for fathers. Danish legislation provides a total of 32 weeks of leave to be shared by parents (in continuation of the mother&rsquo;s 14-week maternity leave). However, in most cases it is the woman that takes the entire &rsquo;shared&rsquo; leave, while men are rarely keen to take leave. One reason is that women want to have the entire leave; another is that colleagues and employers are reluctant to let men take time off to go on paternity leave. 
 
It has now been agreed that a family is entitled to full pay in nine of the thirty-two weeks of leave, but that either parent may only take leave for six of those nine weeks. This means that at least three weeks are earmarked for leave for the father if the family wants to receive full pay for nine weeks. We hope this will make more men go on paternity leave. 
 
Another important aspect is that we will now do something about the fact that women who take maternity leave lag behind in terms of pensions, as they do not contribute to any pension scheme while they are on leave. The new collective agreements compensate a bit for that. 
Reconciliation between family and working life
We have long discussed our members&rsquo; need for a better work-life balance, so in order to find out what our members mean when they say they want a better balance between work and family life, we have carried out a questionnaire survey. 
 
Our members, first of all, point out that they believe this particular issue should be one of the union&rsquo;s focus areas. They also express a strong wish to have family policy included in our collective agreements, which it has not previously been in Denmark. 
 
The survey also shows that stress is a common phenomenon among our members. This is particularly true of women members, not least single mothers. The distribution of work in families is still far from equal, which means that most women work full-time outside the home and also have to do the housework. That is why our focus will be, to an increasing extent, targeting labour market demands that can possibly make daily work-life easier for families with young children. 
<img height="31" alt="" src="" width="25" />
3. Ecuador &ndash; Women Workers&rsquo; Coordinate and Meet
The Eighth Meeting of the Coordination of Andean Women Workers took place on 2-3 May in Manta, Ecuador, with the proposal to fight for equal opportunities between men and women. About 20 women from trade union national centres met in Bolivia. Representatives from Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela attended the meeting of COMUANDE. 
 
The meeting adopted a proposal to be passed on to the Andean Community of Nations that equal opportunities between men and women must become reality once and for all. COMUANDE meets once a year in regional assembly at rotating venues. It is a space for coordination and exchange to make proposals regarding trade unions, social policy, and politics in the process of Andean integration. 
<img height="31" alt="" src="" width="25" />
4. India &ndash; Women&rsquo;s Ceremony for Children of Worker Victims 
In the framework of Workers&rsquo; Memorial Day, 28 April, the Society for Working Life held a women&rsquo;s meeting in New Delhi to organise a candle ceremony with children of worker victims. Local trade unions in Bihar state also organised a similar commemoration. SWL, the Society for Working Life, is involved in the Women, Work, and Health Initiative, and works with NGOs in Bihar to create awareness of HIV/AIDS among migrant workers. 
<img height="31" alt="" src="" width="25" />
5. Iraq &ndash; May Day in Basra 
<img height="285" alt="" src="" width="380" />
&nbsp;The GFIW Says Strong Unions Need Women 
<img height="31" alt="" src="" width="25" />
6. Korea &ndash; Women Workforce Expands
Women comprise more than 42% of the Korean workforce, according to a recent survey by the state-run Korean Employment Information Service. This marks a steady increase over the years. 
 
The survey analysed the nation&rsquo;s employment structure based on gender, salary, and occupational category. The female workforce increased most in the chemical industry, with a 6.5% rise. On the other hand, the number of women&rsquo;s jobs decreased by 4.1% percentage points in the industrial arts and furnishing services. And fewer women took jobs in the electric and telecommunication sectors. 
 
An earlier survey by the Korea Institute of Finance showed that women had outpaced men in the tight job market. According to the National Statistical Office, women took 154,000, or 69.4%, of about 222,000 new jobs in various high-paying professions in 2006. Those jobs included lawmakers, high-ranking government officials, lawyers, doctors, and professors. 
 
Men claimed the remaining 68,000 new jobs. The number of lawmakers, corporate executives, and managers reached 571,000 in 2006, down 3,000 from 2005, but the number of women increased by 2,000 during the same period. 
<img height="31" alt="" src="" width="25" />
7. Mexico &ndash; Mexico City Legalizes Abortion 
 
The Mexico City legislature passed a bill to legalize abortion during the first three months of pregnancy. This occurred on 24 April. 
 
Feminists hailed the decision as a victory. For decades women, especially poor women, have been forced by way of backstreet abortions and questionable practices to end unwanted pregnancies. Thousands die every year due to botched abortions. 
 
Mexico City has now become the largest entity in Latin America after Cuba and Puerto Rico where women may have abortions on demand in the first three months of pregnancy. Most other states in Mexico only allow abortion in cases of rape or danger to the woman&rsquo;s health. 
 
Opponents have condemned this measure, passed in this highly Catholic country. Court battles and clashes are bound to be launched. It may ultimately be challenged by the Supreme Court. The Pope publicly condemned the bill. 
<img height="31" alt="" src="" width="25" />
8. Morocco &ndash; Women&rsquo;s Network Holds Workers&rsquo; Memorial Day Cause 
The women&rsquo;s network &ldquo;Women and Sustainable Development&rdquo; lit candles on 28 April to commemorate victims in countries without protective legislation. They also rang out an alarm at fetal deformities due to cancer in women because of health hazards on the job, or pollution. 
 
The women called on politicians to pay more attention to health and safety, and for trade unions to be more involved in job-related safety issues in Arab-Muslim countries. The network appealed to women throughout the world to stand in solidarity against victims of injustices, and with women in areas of conflict in order to promote peace. 
 
The network aims to connect with women workers throughout the world in order to promote sustainable development and occupational safety. It started with women in Arab-Muslim countries, and now extends to Algeria, Bahrain, Djibouti, Egypt, Iran, Jordan, Kenya, Mauritania, Morocco, Kuwait, Tunisia, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Malaysia, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syrian Arab Republic, Sudan, Somalia, United Arab Emirates. 
<img height="31" alt="" src="" width="25" />
9. South Africa Pushes for Constitutional Guarantees of Gender Equality 
 
South Africa&rsquo;s Cabinet is 42% women, one of the highest percentages in the world. South Africa&rsquo;s Commission on Gender Equality has called consultations on a draft protocol to break new ground to make first-time commitments on gender equality in a sub-regional document. 
 
In August, the Heads of State of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) will be called upon to elevate the SADC Declaration on Gender and Development to a more biding Protocol. NGOs have audited the 1997 declaration and decided that non-binding measures have not worked. Legally binding measures are now being sought to move SADC to implementation. 
 
The African Union has come out in favour of gender parity, but it has not set targets. 
 
Setting targets has the effect of mobilising those who lag behind, since no country wants to be seen as the worst performer. All SADC countries, except Botswana, have increased the proportion of women in parliament. The increases have been particularly marked in Swaziland, Malawi, and Mauritius. On average, women comprise 20% of the region&rsquo;s legislators, second only to the Nordic countries. 
 
In addition, countries would be required to specify that in case there is a conflict between customary and state law, the national constitution will take precedence, as is the case in South Africa. Customary laws govern most women&rsquo;s lives in the region, so that this change may be the most significant of all. These changes are slow but necessary if the root inequalities are to be eliminated. 
<img height="31" alt="" src="" width="25" />
10. Resources
The World Bank&rsquo;s Global Monitoring Report on the Millenium Goals shows that progress toward gender equality is lagging. Available on the World Bank&rsquo;s website: 
<a href="http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/NEWS/0,,contentMDK:21296903~pagePK:64257043~piPK:437376~theSitePK:4607,00.html">http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/NEWS 
/0,,contentMDK:21296903~pagePK:64257043~ 
piPK:437376~theSitePK:4607,00.html</a>
Coalition of Labor Union Women, the working women&rsquo;s organization in the United States: 
<a href="http://www.cluw.org">www.cluw.org</a>
The Berger-Marks Foundation assists organizations in organizing: 
<a href="http://www.bergermarks.org">www.bergermarks.org</a>
Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific 2007 (draws attention to gender inequalities) 
<a href="http://www.unescap.org/publications/detail.asp?id=1205">www.unescap.org/publications/detail.asp?id=1205</a>

ICEM WOMEN’S BULLETIN 22

<img height="40" src="" width="100" alt="" />
ICEM affiliate Petroleum, Mining, Chemical Workers&rsquo; in Palestine (GUPMCWP) undertook a two-day course in Ramallah on trade union education and committee building. The workshops took place 27-28 April. 
 
The training for 25 workers is a continuation of programmes and practices that the union is engaged in to build a democratic trade union movement. 
 
In February, some 60 Palestinian labour activists took part in a similar seminar, also in the Palestinian West Bank city of Ramallah. 
<img height="115" src="" width="250" alt="" />
Workers in Palestine have suffered immeasurably due to restrictions by the Israeli military on freedom of movement to and from jobs. The production of goods from Palestine and the providing of services have also stricken the country&rsquo;s economy, in what the ICEM has stated is &ldquo;collective punishment of a people.&rdquo; 
 
Viable and democratic trade unions hold the future for growth and a measure of prosperity for millions of Palestinians, the ICEM believes. To help achieve that, the ICEM has established a programme with GUPMCWP that includes training for women workers inside Birzeit Pharmaceutical, a factory that has experienced shortages of raw products due to delays caused by the Israeli authorities. 
<img height="129" src="" width="100" alt="" />
GUPMCWP President Mohammad Mousa Jadallah 
GUPMCWP President Mohammad Mousa Jadallah said that the Palestinians that are hurt the most by Israel&rsquo;s blockade on movement, trade, and revenues are women, children, and the elderly. 
 
Jadallah said the union&rsquo;s workers&rsquo; training programmes will heighten awareness to potential gains that can be made for all Palestinian workers. 
 
Nabeel Mahmmoud, GUPMCWP&rsquo;s International Director, said the training serves as basic organising, and that building of democratic committee structures inside workplaces &ndash; particularly Birzeit Pharmaceutical &ndash; is a necessity in Palestine to alleviate poverty.

Palestine Trade Union GUPMCWP Conducts Further Trade Union Courses

<img height="40" alt="" src="" width="100" />
The ICEM has expressed shock and anger at the mid-April killing of General Federation of Iraq Workers (GFIW) Vice-President Moaaid Hamid and his wife. The two were killed in the province of Nineveh during a clash between forces of the Iraqi army and terrorist elements inside the province. 
 
Hamid was a contributor to the founding of the Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions in 2003, before that trade union centre evolved into the GFIW. He had been a victim of Saddam&rsquo;s regime against free and independent trade unions, and after the invasion, had been abducted and tortured by terrorists before he was freed by Iraqi security forces. 
&nbsp;<img height="36" alt="" src="" width="300" />
In a letter to the GFIW, the ICEM wrote, &ldquo;This appalling violence, coming as it does so soon after the abduction, torture, and subsequent murder of Najim Abd-Jasem, the General Secretary of the Mechanic Workers&rsquo; Union of your Federation, strengthens our view that there is a systematic campaign to eliminate the leadership of the newly formed independent and democratic unions that strongly oppose sectarianism.&rdquo; 
 
The letter was sent by ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda on 29 April 2007.

ICEM Mourns Killing in Iraq of GFIW Vice-President

<img height="40" alt="" src="" width="100" />
On the eve of critical Nigerian national and state elections, the country&rsquo;s two national labour centers elected the two presidents of both ICEM&rsquo;s oil workers&rsquo; unions to key positions. 
 
Comrade Peter Esele, president of white-collar PENGASSAN Union, was elected President-General of the Trade Union Congress (TUC) of Nigeria on 3 March in Lagos. The TUC is a newly-formed association of 22 unions, representing some 2.5 million senior staff in varying services and industries. 
 
Two weeks earlier, Peter Akpatason, president of blue-collar NUPENG, was elected Trustee of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC). 
<img height="124" alt="" src="" width="120" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; <img height="116" alt="" src="" width="110" />
For the first time since 1999, the 38 affiliates of the NLC have new leadership. Comrade Adams Oshiomhole was given a rousing send-off as a dynamic trade union leader. Abdul Waheed Omar, president of the Nigerian Union of Teachers, won election as President of NLC on 17 February. Oshiomhole has left his trade union post to seek election as governor of Edo State from a multi-party alliance that includes the Labor Party and the Action Congress Party. 
 
In a message to the NLC&rsquo;s 9th National Delegates&rsquo; Conference at Abuja, Oshiomhole commended the role the four-million-member NLC has played in the enhancement of the welfare of workers, the consolidation of democracy inside Nigeria, and the war against corruption. 
 
He said that democracy with all its imperfections was better than the most benign dictatorship. Oshiomhole added that the NLC has become a democratic, independent, socially responsible, and effective organisation that commanded the confidence of workers, trusted by the public, and respected by the government and employers. 
<img height="115" alt="" src="" width="250" />
The national and state elections in April will be held at a time when security for oil and other workers in Nigeria is seriously threatened, and when corruption among public officials is rampant. Lack of development and job opportunities for local people in the oil-rich Niger Delta has spawned scores of ransom kidnappings, while theft, or bunkering, of petrol from pipelines has jeopardized public security.
Last week, for instance, a communiqu&eacute; issued by NUPENG typifies what workers face in Nigeria. The union issued a 21-day ultimatum to police in the Port Harcourt zone to halt the &ldquo;illegal extortion of money from tanker drivers by the police.&rdquo; The statement added that on most occasions, tanker drivers are &ldquo;unnecessarily delayed to the point of breaking their resistance, to offer money as ransom before they are eventually released to continue with their journey.&rdquo; 
 
NUPENG contends that such extortion by police occurs under the guise of law enforcement fighting pipeline vandalism, when, in fact, NUPENG&rsquo;s Port Harcourt zonal branch has evidence of police complicity in pipeline vandalism. 
 
The two oil workers&rsquo; unions, NUPENG and PENGASSAN, have also warned against election rigging as the coming presidential and state governorships balloting draws near.

Nigerian Oil Workers’ Leaders Elected to Posts in National Union Centres

<img height="40" alt="" src="" width="100" />
Power Workers&rsquo; Union of Canada (PWU) has called the government&rsquo;s plan to close all coal-fired electric generation plants by 2014 &ldquo;unrealistic and risky.&rdquo; The ICEM affiliate reiterated this stand in a statement welcoming the federal government&rsquo;s ecoTrust plan, an investment vehicle to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. 
 
PWU states that energy needs are growing rapidly across Canada. Advocating electric supply in the province of Ontario from many sources, the union is urging the province to use its share of ecoTrust monies to clean up carbon emissions by investing in better and cleaner technologies. 
<img height="30" src="" width="250" alt="" />
&ldquo;Ontario needs affordable electricity for its growing needs and the existing coal-fuelled plants are a necessary part of the mix,&rdquo; said PWU President Don MacKinnon. &ldquo;The technology to dramatically reduce air pollution from these plants is readily available, and the PWU believes it should be installed.&rdquo; 
 
The PWU also believes the best way to lessen the risk over electric supply &ndash; besides clean-coal methods &ndash; is new and refurbished nuclear plant capacity. &ldquo;This is an affordable way to immediately reduce pollution, while the province makes investments in conservation and demand management, viable new energy sources, and new transmissions lines,&rdquo; said the PWU statement. 
 
PWU, an affiliate of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), is the largest electric workers&rsquo; union in Ontario, representing employees in generation, transmission, distribution, regulations, and research and development.

PWU in Canada Calls for Cleaner Coal-Fuel Technologies

<img height="40" alt="" src="" width="100" />
Union members of ICEM affiliate Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Union (LHMU) of Australia began industrial action 8 March at a tyre factory in Salisbury, South Australia. The 500-member workforce voted on 2 March for strike action due to wide differences in future wage increases. LHMU began four-hour work stoppages last Thursday. 
 
Bridgestone responded by issuing temporary suspensions to some workers, claiming the suspensions were necessary due to production cuts. Management issued the suspensions without consultation with the union. LHMU has informed the company that an overtime ban is in effect all this week, and that a 24-hour strike will begin on 19 March. 
<img height="56" src="" width="350" alt="" />
Bridgestone had initially offered either a three-year contract with wage hikes of 4% over the entire contract, or a 6% increase over four years. That was modified to 6% over three years, with a bonus payment of A$2,000 per worker and productivity bonuses that could total A$3,000. Workers are seeking a 4% increase for each year of the renewal agreement. Talks have been ongoing for nearly a year. 
 
LHMU claims workers at the auto and truck tyre plant have been struggling to win adequate wage increases just to keep pace with inflation. &ldquo;For the past six years, they&rsquo;ve received an annual raise of just 3%,&rdquo; said LHMU Organiser Jim Watson. &ldquo;Now the company wants to offer them even less.&rdquo; 
 
On the day of the 8 March job action, LHMU members at the tyre factory received the solidarity of the United Steelworkers (USW) of North America in a letter. The USW is currently engaged with Bridgestone in difficult talks in the US, covering 5,000 workers at eight factories. 
<img height="102" alt="" src="" width="200" />
&ldquo;The USW has a history of difficult negotiations with Bridgestone,&rdquo; wrote Executive Vice President for Rubber, Ron Hoover. &ldquo;One lesson we have learned in our dealings with Bridgestone and other companies is that union power is bolstered when unions across the globe stand together in disputes with common employers. 
 
&ldquo;We are happy to stand together with LHMU in its current effort to achieve a fair contract with Bridgestone,&rdquo; pledged Hoover. 
 
Japan-based Bridgestone Corporation is currently engaged in a share buy-back plan, totalling A$50 million, of Bridgestone Australia Ltd., which would make the company privately-held and a direct subsidiary of the Japanese parent.

Bridgestone Workers in Australia Take Industrial Action for Fair Gains

<img height="40" alt="" src="" width="100" />
UK paperworkers, members of the Graphical, Paper and Media Division of Amicus, voted by nearly a two-to-one margin to approve a new pay package for 2007. The agreement covers some 3,500 workers in paper mills represented by the employers association, the Confederation of Paper Industries (CPI). 
 
Year 2007 pay gains will total 3%, similar to the wage increases achieved by Amicus with CPI for the corrugated packaging sector late last year. Paper mill workers voting for the 2007 wage increase numbered 1,351, while those voting against, 777. 
<img height="102" alt="" src="" width="100" />
This set of wage talks follows detailed negotiations over an 18-month period between the Amicus and CPI for a new national collective agreement for the UK&rsquo;s papermaking sector. The industry has been hard hit by rising energy costs and higher raw material costs, resulting in mill and paper machine shutdowns. The latest example is M-Real&rsquo;s closure of its 350-worker Sittingbourne mill in Kent. 
 
British paperworkers are due to ballot on a joint partnership plan with CPI, called &ldquo;Work Together, Grow Together, Stay Together.&rdquo; The programme will emphasize learning and skills, work-life balances, and better safety at work practices, as well as workplace improvement methods with employee information and consultation processes.

Paperworkers of Amicus Ratify 2007 Pay Gains in UK

<img height="40" alt="" src="" width="100" />
Two short strikes in Zambia&rsquo;s copper belt ended early in March with assurances from managers that miners&rsquo; grievances would be addressed. On 7 March, a seven-day strike by 1,000 miners at Luanshya Copper Mines ended with the company pledging to ICEM affiliate Mineworkers Union of Zambia (MUZ) that it would rescind its threat to sack strike leaders, and engage in earnest wage talks with the union. 
 
Another strike at the Mufulira and Nkana mines of Mopani Copper, owned by Swiss Glencore International and First Quantum Minerals of Canada, started on 1 March and ended two days later when Mopani&rsquo;s 7,000 miners began returning to work. MUZ entered bargaining there with the company and secured an 18% wage increase for miners. 
At Luanshya, owned by J&amp;W Investment Group Ltd., miners marched to the offices of the company on 1 March after they received their February salaries. MUZ President Rayford Mbulo said management had threatened to dismiss strike leaders and other miners. He asserted that Luanshya managers had stated on five occasions that they were not willing to accept miners&rsquo; demands, despite workers meeting all the companies set production goals. 
<img height="115" alt="" src="" width="250" />
&ldquo;Management should not just be issuing threats of dismissing workers, but should take time to reflect on (workers&rsquo;) actions,&rdquo; said Mbulo to the Times of Zambia on the first day of the strike. He said the position of MUZ is that since copper prices have doubled over the past two years and the Luanshya mine was at peak production, it was only fair that miners were appropriately rewarded.
Workers at Luanshya earn as little as US$200 per month. They are seeking a fair wage increase, in part, because they now pay for basic services, including water and electricity. Previously, the Zambian state mining company paid such expenses. 
 
At Mopani, miners began returning to work on 3 March as an act of good faith that negotiations would succeed. The strike did force the company to increase its wage offer from 16% to 18%.

Two Copper Strikes in Zambia End with Assurances, Pay Gains for Miners

<img height="40" src="" width="100" alt="" />
While women across the globe celebrated work/life accomplishments on 8 March 2007, women in Iran had to cancel a planned demonstration for women&rsquo;s rights because of certain arrests. Only four days earlier, over 30 women were arrested while protesting and detained at Evin Prison in Tehran. 
 
In Palestine, different from Iran in that a vibrant trade union movement is underway, women celebrated through their union, ICEM affiliate Petroleum, Mining, and Chemicals Workers of Palestine (GUPMCWP). The union marked the day in a moving statement by paying tribute to the hard-won efforts of women everywhere, and then letting women leaders of the union speak for themselves. 
 
GUPMCWP Head Mohammed Jadallah said the day must be held up as one in which women have &ldquo;crossed the border&rdquo; between balancing family life with work in all walks of life. He said country after country began recognising International Women&rsquo;s Day in the early 20th Century when &ldquo;women started pushing the wheel of the economy in the west.&rdquo; 
<img height="60" src="" width="100" alt="" />
The head of the union&rsquo;s women&rsquo;s committee as well as the union&rsquo;s International Officer, Dr. Nuzha Mohammed Jadallah, said the participation of women in all trade unions must strengthen, and that mass participation by women must occur in all &ldquo;activities and organisations of civil society.&rdquo; 
The GUPMCWP&rsquo;s Nabeela Mahmmoud said the ability of women to take different courses regarding trade union issues is paramount to building strong women leaders. She said that &ldquo;educating the unionist women&rdquo; to the key roles they can play inside the union is the surest way to a strong union. 
 
The GUPMCWP concluded the statement by declaring their solidarity with the women strikers of Turkish ICEM affiliate, Petrol-İş, at Fresenius Medical Care. The Palestinian union said it was proudly supporting the strikers &ldquo;until they achieve their demands of dignity and justice, on and off the job, and our union in Palestine stands firmly with them to achieve their just demands. The working women in Palestine congratulate them on this International Women&rsquo;s Day, and the victory that is to follow for their and their union, Petrol-İş.&rdquo;

Women in Iran Try to Celebrate Women’s Day, Palestinian Women Share Thanks on 8 March

<img height="40" alt="" src="" width="100" />
Union members of Lastik-İş, ICEM&rsquo;s Turkish trade union affiliate in chemicals and rubber, returned to their jobs at a pharmaceutical factory in Istanbul, following a six-day plant occupation that ended on 6 March by police force. 
 
Workers became angry when the Turkish arm of the Menarini Group, an Italian-based pharmaceutical firm, sacked ten union leaders after it became evident that the company, İbrahim Etham İla&ccedil;lari A.Ş., would not abide by a Supreme Court of Appeals decree recognising Lastik-İş as the workers&rsquo; bargaining representative. 
<img height="88" alt="" src="" width="100" />
Armoured police, together with security personnel and company management, forcefully ended the workers&rsquo; occupation on 6 March. Workers then gathered at plant gates, but police physically dispersed the assembled. Managers fired seven more Lastik-İş leaders in the final days of the occupation, bringing to 17 the number of sackings in this blatant abuse of trade union rights. 
 
During the six-day occupation, managers locked the gates to the plant cafeteria as a prelude to the stronger force that was to come. Workers improvised by bringing food from the outside past management&rsquo;s security team. Management has now agreed to meet with workers&rsquo; representatives, but not with Lastik-İş officials. 
 
Lastik-İş General President Abdullah Karacan spoke to family members, supporters and other workers outside the factory each day of the occupation. DISK President S&uuml;leyman Celebi spoke as well. Lastik-İş is part of this national labour centre. 
<img height="188" alt="" src="" width="250" /> 
 
Lastik-İş President Abdullah Karacan meeting outside the plant on 28 February
In mid-February, following the Supreme Court&rsquo;s decree, Lastik-İş called a workers&rsquo; meeting to discuss the decree and a future course of action. Menarini bosses countered by scheduling overtime work in efforts to prevent the meeting. Workers responded by occupying the plant, for the first time, on 21-22 February. On 28 February, the company fired five union activists. It repeated that illegal action on 2 March by sacking five more. 
 
In the days leading up to the second plant occupation, Lastik-İş did force one meeting with management, which included representatives from KIPLAS, the chemical employers&rsquo; association. İbrahim Etham İla&ccedil;lari managers promised to take the global labour standards issue to Italian headquarters of Menarini in Florence. At that point, workers and their union, Lastik-İş, promised to stop the job actions. 
 
But the truce was short-lived. Plant managers claim they are following corporate guidelines from Menarini by staying within the bounds of Turkish national law, even though such appeals have come to mean staunch union-avoidance by employers in Turkey through endless legal delays. 
 
In an 8 March letter to Menarini Chairman Alberto Aleotti, ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda said the company&rsquo;s anti-worker behaviour is &ldquo;flagrantly violating accepted trade union and human rights laid down in the core Conventions of the International Labour Organisation.&rdquo; 
<img height="174" alt="" src="" width="223" />
The ICEM letter added: &ldquo;For the last two years, your company has cynically abused the present Turkish legislation to make, what we are reliably informed, are spurious appeals, to the court system, and in this intervening period mounted major attacks on the right to freedom of association of your workforce in an attempt to pressure workers to resign their union membership.&rdquo; 
 
The ICEM is demanding that Menarini immediately intervene &ldquo;in what now has become a very volatile labour dispute to resolve the differences between the workers legally and lawfully represented by Lastik-İş and &hellip; this subsidiary company.&rdquo; 
 
Menarini is a privately-held, 121-year-old company priding itself on research and internationalisation. It is Europe&rsquo;s twenty-fourth largest chemicals company and does business in therapeutic areas, including cardiovascular, gastro-intestinal, antibiotics respiratory, anti-diabetics, and anti-inflammatory analgesics.

Tension Eases at Turkish Plant as Pharma Workers End Occupation

Archive