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The ICEM affiliate, Oil and Gas Workers&rsquo; Union of Azerbaijan (AzOGWU), came to terms over a historic social development contract, covering 65,000 workers of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR). 
 
Announcement of the pact came at AzOGWU&rsquo;s Third Ordinary Congress in Baku on 2 November, by the union&rsquo;s president, Jahangir Aiyev, and Socar President, R&ouml;vneq Abdullayev. The agreement amounts to a detailed social plan for all departments, sections, and workplaces of SOCAR. It also comes immediately after sizeable wage gains and working conditions were negotiated. 
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Foremost to the social plan is a SOCAR commitment to provide free of charge housing to 6,000 employees between now and 2010. Assurances of health and safety upgrades is part of the social development plan. Employees in all departments will also realise better transportation allowances, and safer and more modern sea transportation to offshore worksites. The social plan also spells out better catering, creation of sports and cultural centres, and other amenities for workers. 
 
AzOGWU&rsquo;s Congress, attended by 250 delegates, re-elected Jahangir Aiyev as President, and Fetullah Mustafayev as Vice President. Special guests at the Congress included Lev Mironov, ICEM Vice President and President of the Russian Oil and Gas Workers Union (ROGWU); Ivan Mochnachuk, also an ICEM Vice President and President of the Russian Independent Coal Employees&rsquo; Union; Mustafa &Ouml;ztaskin, President of Turkey&rsquo;s Petrol-Iş; and Kemal &Ouml;zkan, ICEM&rsquo;s Chemicals and Rubber Industries Officer.

Azeri Oil and Gas Workers’ Union Achieves Historic Pact with SOCAR

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The 4th ICEM World Congress begins this Thursday, 22 November, and participants and others can find Congress information on a special sub-section of the ICEM website. Through <a href="/congress">www.icem.org/congress</a>, you will find all background information, including several Congress documents, as well as practical information on the venue, the Queen Sirikit Convention Center, Bangkok, Thailand. 
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The week-long set of meetings around the Congress, which runs 22-24 November, actually began this past weekend. A two-day Women&rsquo;s Conference was held 17-18 November, and a Contract and Agency Labour Conference will run on Wednesday, 21 November. 
 
In addition, a special meeting of the ICEM&rsquo;s Pulp and Paper Sector will occur, also on 21 November. 
 
During the Congress, this web-page will also be the place to look for updates and news on the Congress.

ICEM Website Set for GUF’s World Congress

The 20-million-member International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers&rsquo; Unions (ICEM) is lending its support to the Government Pharmaceutical Organisation Local Union (GPOLU), and its allies, in calling for defeat of draft legislation that would, effectively, privatise Thailand&rsquo;s pharmaceutical drug industry. 
The ICEM is in full support of a manifestation on Monday, November 12, at the Ministry of Public Health in Nonthaburi. That rally, beginning at 13h00, is being organised by GPOLU, the Confederation of State Enterprise Unions (SERC), and allied consumer and civil society organisations. The ICEM encourages Thai citizens to attend. 
<img height="255" alt="" src="" width="300" />&nbsp;
Rawai Pupaga, GPOLU President and 
Chairman&nbsp;of the ICEM Thai Labour Committee
&ldquo;We lend the name of the global trade union for all chemical and pharmaceutical workers to defeat this bill,&rdquo; said ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda. &ldquo;We believe that removing the government as a provider of essential health needs, in any form, is a recipe for higher costs, with a bigger portion of the population going without adequate health care.&rdquo; 
In a letter to be read at the manifestation, the ICEM pledged to stand with the GPOLU as they &ldquo;prevail upon current government ministers and lawmakers &hellip; that government procurement of pharmaceuticals, first and foremost, must benefit Thailand&rsquo;s citizens.&rdquo; 
 
The ICEM, representing 384 trade unions in 118 countries, will be holding its 4th Congress, 22-24 November, at the Queen Sirikit Convention Center in Bangkok. Some 880 trade union leaders from national unions representing workers in the oil, gas, mining, chemicals, pharmaceutical, and processed industries such as pulp, paper, cement, rubber, glass industries will attend the ICEM&rsquo;s quadrennial Congress.

Global Union Federation, ICEM, Calls for Defeat of Thai Public Health Amendments

Bangkok, 17-18 November 2007 
&ldquo;Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre&rdquo;, Bangkok
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Day 1 
 
9:30&nbsp; Opening
Evgenia Esenina, Chair of ICEM Women&rsquo;s Committee 
Senzeni Zokwana, President of ICEM 
Manfred Warda, General Secretary of ICEM 
 
Greetings from: Elsa Ramos, ILO, Vesna Rodic, FES 
 
THEME ONE: PEACE 
 
Contributions from: 
<ul>
 <li>
 <div>Burma</div>
 </li>
 <li>
 <div>Sintraelecol, Colombia</div>
 </li>
 <li>
 <div>General Union of Electricity Workers and Technicians, Iraq</div>
 </li>
 <li>
 <div>General Union of Petroleum, Mining Chemicals and Similar Substances Workers in Palestine</div>
 </li>
 <li>
 <div>Zimbabwe Electricity and Energy Workers Union </div>
 </li>
</ul>
11:00 Coffee break 
 
11:30 Conference reconvenes 
 
 
THEME TWO: CONTRACT AND AGENCY LABOUR 
 
Presentations by: Thailand and India 
 
Discussion 
 
13:00 Lunch 
 
14:30 Conference reconvenes 
Two presentations by Government Pharmaceuticals Organisation 
 
 
THEME THREE: HEALTH 
 
Presentations by Brazil and Germany 
 
17:00 Meeting of ICEM women from Central Europe, Northern Europe, Western Europe 
 
18:00 End of Day One 
 
 
Day Two 
 
9:00 Presentation by Japanese Affiliates on work-life balance 
 
9:30 Working Groups on work-life balance 
 
10:30 Report Back from Working Groups 
 
11:00 Coffee break 
 
11:30 Conference reconvenes 
 
13:00 Lunch 
 
14:30 Conference reconvenes 
 
14:30 Working Groups on Motions 
 
16:00 Elections of Chair and Vice-Chair of Women&rsquo;s Committee 
 
17:00 End of Women&rsquo;s Conference

4th ICEM World Congress - Women’s Conference

<a href="#PPT">For a collection of Powerpoint presentations at the meeting, click here</a>
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Draft Agenda 
Chair of the meeting: Sjaiful DP, FSP KEP Indonesia
<ul>
 <li>9.00. Opening by Manfred Warda, ICEM General Secretary 
 </li>
 <li>9.10 Welcome by Vesna Rodic, Resident Director FES Thailand 
 </li>
 <li>9.15. Aranya Pakapath, ICEM Project coordinator, overview of the contract and agency labour situation in Asia 
 
 9.30. Sergio Novais, ICEM Vice-President, overview of the contract and agency labour situation in Latin America 
 
 9.45. Kenny Mogane, ICEM Project coordinator, overview of the contract and agency labour situation in Sub-Saharan Africa 
 
 10.00. J&oslash;rgen Juul Rasmussen, DEF, Denmark, overview of the contract and agency labour situation in Western and Northern Europe 
 
 </li>
 <li>10.15. - 10.45. Break 
 </li>
 <li>10.45. - 12.30. Additional speakers 
 
 Bambang Surjono, FSPKEP, Indonesia, Indonesian case study 
 Mato Lalic, ICEM Project coordinator, on the situation in Central Europe 
 Tony Burke, UNITE, UK, UK case study * 
 Carol Fraser, CEP Canada, on the situation in North America 
 Lev Mironov, ROGWU, Russia, on the situation in Eastern Europe 
 Olucha Umeh, NUPENG, Nigeria, case study 
 Maria Angelica Vera Horma, FENATRAPECH, Chile, Chilean case study * 
 Hassan J&rsquo;Aama, IFOU, Iraq, on the situation in Middle East * 
 
 </li>
 <li>12.30. - 14.00. Break </li>
</ul>
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<ul>
 <li>14.00. ILO representative* 
 
 14.15. Jim Baker, Council of Global Unions Coordinator, on the impact for organising and bargaining 
 
 14.30. Evgenia Esenina, ICEM Vice-President, ROGWU, Russia, on the gender aspect 
 
 </li>
 <li>14.45. Plenary debate 
 </li>
 <li>15.00. Break 
 </li>
 <li>15.30. Brendan Martin, ICEM Project consultant, past and future of the ICEM contract and agency labour campaign 
 
 15.50. Discussion 
 
 </li>
 <li>16.50. Conclusion 
 </li>
 <li>17.00. End of meeting </li>
</ul>
* to be confirmed
Conference facilitator: Jeannette van Dongen, ICEM Project Officer
<a name="PPT"></a><img height="60" alt="" src="" width="70" align="absMiddle" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <img height="60" alt="" src="" width="121" align="absMiddle" />
&nbsp;<img height="55" alt="" src="" width="61" align="absMiddle" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;<img height="44" alt="" src="" width="200" align="absMiddle" /><a name="PPT"></a>
Presentations from the Meeting
&nbsp;

ICEM Contract and Agency labour Conference

<img height="28" alt="" src="" width="25" align="absMiddle" />
<a href="/en/?id=184&amp;doc=2485&amp;la=EN">ICEM Congress Closes with Strong Motions on Burma, Iraq</a> 
24 November 2007
<img height="28" alt="" src="" width="25" align="absMiddle" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
<a href="/en/?id=184&amp;doc=2484&amp;la=EN">ICEM elects Senzeni Zokwana, Manfred Warda to lead 20-Million-Member Global Union Federation</a> 
23 November 2007
&nbsp;<img height="28" alt="" src="" width="25" align="absMiddle" />
<a href="/en/?id=184&amp;doc=2481&amp;la=EN">ICEM Congress Opens with Cry of Better Mine Safety, Curbs to Capital Markets</a> 
22 November 2007
<img height="28" alt="" src="" width="25" align="absMiddle" />
<a href="/en/?id=184&amp;doc=2482&amp;la=EN">4th ICEM World Congress 
Opening Speech by ICEM President Senzeni Zokwana</a> 
22 November 2007
<img height="28" alt="" src="" width="25" align="absMiddle" />
<a href="/en/?id=184&amp;doc=2483&amp;la=EN">4th ICEM World Congress 
Speech by ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda</a> 
22 November 2007
<img height="28" alt="" src="" width="25" align="absMiddle" />
<a href="/en/?id=184&amp;doc=2479&amp;la=EN">Contract and Agency Labour - a Global and Negative Phenomenon</a> 
21 November 2007
<img height="28" alt="" src="" width="25" align="absMiddle" />
<a href="/en/?id=184&amp;doc=2474&amp;la=EN">ICEM Women Elect New Vice President, Adopt 7-Point Programme</a> 
18 November 2007

4th ICEM World Congress - CONGRESS NEWS

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Following overwhelming rejection of a collective agreement proposal on 28 September, 500 members of New Zealand&rsquo;s Engineering, Printing, and Manufacturing Union (EPMU) have put off industrial action late last week after the plastic employers&rsquo; association promised to improve their offer.
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EPMU National Industry Officer Rachel Mackintosh said the decision to call off the strike was taken reluctantly, but employers pledged in talks late last week to revise the offer to include added leave time and recognition for long-time service. &ldquo;At this stage, we don&rsquo;t know the details of the offer, but the heat is on the employers because they know we&rsquo;re determined to see this through and get a fair deal,&rdquo; said Mackintosh. 
 
She said the union&rsquo;s bargaining committee for plastics thought it was important to give bosses one further opportunity to include added leave time in a new proposal. The EPMU represents plastics manufacturing workers of 13 companies at 16 worksites.
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On 28 September, 81% of the workers voted to reject a prior industry offer based on the failure to address their service leave claim. They also endorsed a resolution to engage in industrial action. In the first two weeks of September, EPMU members in plastics manufacturing had rejected an earlier employers&rsquo; proposal. 
 
EPMU members in metal sector bargaining won an extra week&rsquo;s leave in that set of talks in 2007, and plastics workers of the EPMU are adamant on posting the same gains.

Plastic Manufacturing Strike in New Zealand Averted for Now

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Three US congressional members from the US House of Represents have written to American management of Continental AG, asking that they rescind the deep medical cuts made to a retirees&rsquo; health care plan when the company closed tyre plants in the US. 
 
Linda S&aacute;nchez (California), Stephen Lynch (Massachusetts), and Michael Michaud (Maine), members of the Labor and Working Families Caucus of the US Congress, called on the German company to &ldquo;promptly fulfil Continental&rsquo;s contractual obligations to retired workers.&rdquo;
The letter was on behalf of ICEM affiliate United Steelworkers (USW), which has pressed through court and other actions that Continental&rsquo;s unilateral change to the health care plan was illegal. Effective 1 March 2007, the rubber maker imposed a US$3,000 annual cap on health care payments for each of 2,500 retired Conti workers and dependents. The USW contends that some retirees now must pay up to US$12,000 per year in out-of-pocket money to cover their health care needs. 
<img height="63" alt="" src="" width="120" />
On 31 July 2007, a US federal district judge, in a summary judgement in the state of Ohio, ruled that Continental had illegally reduced the benefit levels for retirees and dependents, stating the company must fulfil its contractual obligations with the USW over health care premiums and funding. Continental Tire of North American, the US subsidiary, immediately filed an appeal to that judgement in another US court. 
 
The decision to appeal and delay rightful health care benefits was a blow to former Continental workers in Charlotte, state of North Carolina; Mayfield, state of Kentucky, and Byron, Ohio, where, in 2006, they had already been victims of Continental plant closings. 
 
The US elected representatives, speaking out for fairness and justice, told Continental that its practices were having a devastating impact on its American retirees. The letter stated that considering the 30-plus years of dedicated service by former Continental employees performed, as well as the extraordinary health hazards inside the tyre industry, it is hard to understand the inadequate health care benefits these retirees now receive.

US Congress Members Urge Continental AG to Rescind Retiree Health Care Cuts

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An ICEM affiliate in New Zealand, the Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union (EPMU), has rebuked a report from the New Zealand Institute, which suggests the country ought to follow rather than lead the climate control debate to avoid having businesses leave due to &ldquo;carbon flight.&rdquo; 
 
EPMU challenged that assertion, and said the country can not afford to follow on climate change, saying that a policy response &ldquo;must ensure a just transition for workers in emission-intensive industries.&rdquo;
<img height="50" src="" width="100" alt="" />
EPMU said the report brings forth the debate on just transition. 
 
&ldquo;We don&rsquo;t want to see good, highly skilled jobs going offshore with no thought about how that skilled labour may be redeployed,&rdquo; said the EPMU in a statement. &ldquo;A just transition means encouraging investment in new technologies that demand new skills and therefore investment in training for the future. 
 
&ldquo;However, this should not be used as an excuse to drag our heels on climate change as the New Zealand Institute and other business lobby groups appear to be suggesting. The long term economic consequences of doing nothing are far more costly than emission-reduction actions now.&rdquo; The EPMU represents 50,000 New Zealanders, including workers in coal mining, manufacturing, electricity generation, and oil extraction.

EPMU Says New Zealand Must Lead, Not Follow Climate Change Transition

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In February 2006, 550 trade unionists and academics from around the world gathered in New York City for a conference called &ldquo;Global Companies, Global Unions, Global Research, Global Campaigns.&rdquo; Now, a book called &ldquo;Global Unions: Challenging Transnational Capital Through Cross-Border Campaigns&rdquo; has been published from the conference. 
 
Edited by Kate Bronfenbrenner, the book contains 11 narratives from the best of the papers submitted at the conference. It contains essays on Global Framework Agreements, Transnational Companies and Human Rights Abuse in the Global South, and National or European: Local Trade Union Politics within Transnational Business. 
<img height="169" alt="" src="" width="120" />
George Becker,&nbsp;1928 - 2007
The conference was organised by the New York State Industrial and Labour Relations School of Cornell University, and had strong support from the AFL-CIO and the United Steelworkers (USW). The book is dedicated to former USW President George Becker, who was gravely ill at the time of the conference. A special tribute to him at the conference focused on his steadfast work during the 1994-95 strike at Bridgestone-Firestone in the US, and the international work that influenced that strike. 
 
The 280-page book is available by visiting <a href="http://www.Cornellpress.cornell.edu">www.Cornellpress.cornell.edu</a>, and orders and sales can be made by contacting Nathan Gemignani at <a href="mailto:ndg5@cornell.edu">ndg5@cornell.edu</a>. The book&rsquo;s cost is US$22.50, GB&pound;11.50, or A$39.95.

Book from New York Labour Conference Available from Cornell University Press

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