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The 5th congress of the Slovak Chemical Workers was held in Svit, Eastern Slovakia, 25-26 November. It was followed by a merger congress with the energy workers which elected Juraj Blahak as President of the new union. Attempts to get the glass workers and construction workers also interested in the merger had failed before. 

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Juraj Blahak
Congress heard reports on economic development, very similar to those heard by the Hungarian Chemicals Workers, reported above (InBrief 146). Especially the automobile industry and with it the tyre industry is catching up, but there are still many uncertainties. Different speakers (also from the side of employers and employer associations who were invited) emphasized the relevance of social dialogue in addressing the effects of the global crisis. Employers criticized the government for prioritizing the attracting of investment from foreign companies, while neglecting to do enough for domestic companies.

5th Congress of Slovak Chemical Workers

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The joint publication of the Global Union Federations (GUFs) on climate change and other issues addressed at COP15, Copenhagen, is now available via the Council of Global Unions website <a href="http://www.global-unions.org/spip.php?article306">here</a>.&nbsp; Print copies are being distributed to the trade union delegation to the climate conference 

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The joint publication, entitled &ldquo;Getting the World to Work: Green Growth for Jobs and Social Justice,&rdquo; includes sectoral perspectives from each GUF, with a joint article published from ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda and International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF) General Secretary Jyrki Raina. The publication also includes explanation of union consensus positions on climate debate issues from the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC). 
 
The publication follows the success of a similar Council of Global Unions&rsquo; publication called &ldquo;Getting the World to WORK: Global Union Strategies for Recovery,&rdquo; in which global trade union federations, together with the ITUC and TUAC of the OECD, came together to present strategies in response to the global economic crisis.

GUFs’ Magazine on Climate Change Available Through Council of Global Unions

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The ICEM has expressed condolences to the families of victims of a horrible methane gas explosion in Turkey. The blast killed 19 miners and occurred late in the evening, 10 December, at a privately owned mine near Mustafakemalpasa, Bursa province. 
 
The explosion happened some 200 metres underground and caused a cave-in to several narrow mine shafts. Seven miners were rescued and hospitalized with gas poisoning. All of the dead miners&rsquo; bodies have now been recovered. 

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The Turkish Trade Union of Miners issued a statement following the blast, stating that mines in the country are plagued by lack of proper safety regulations and inadequate inspections. Turkey&rsquo;s Minister of Labour and Social Security, Omer Dincer, was at the site of the tragedy and said the mine had undergone numerous inspections. 
 
The ICEM has targeted Turkey as a country that must ratify ILO Convention 176, the Safety and Health in Mines Convention. Stated ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda, &ldquo;The ICEM calls upon the Turkish government and employers to support the ICEM campaign for ratification of ILO Convention 176.

Explosion Kills 19 Inside Coal Mine in Western Turkey

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With a negotiated settlement between ICEM-affiliated Ghana Mine Workers&rsquo; Union (GMWU) and AngloGold Ashanti occurring early this month, negotiations in the gold mining sector of Ghana came to a successful conclusion. 
 
Earlier, the country&rsquo;s labour commission issued a mediated settlement between GMWU and 2,100 miners of Goldfields, while Ghana&rsquo;s third major gold producer, US-based Newmont Mining, reached satisfactory terms with the union in October. 
 
Three-year collective agreements for some 10,000 miners, retroactive to 1 July 2009, are now in place in Ghana, ending the threat of more strikes and labour discord that marked labour relations in the country&rsquo;s gold sector in third quarter 2009. (See InBrief No. 140 <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/3398-Ghana-Miners’-Escalate-Pay-Dispute-with-Gold-Producers">here</a>.) 
At AngloGold where 5,000 staff are employed at three mines, GMWU agreed to a 12% increase in 2009, and 10% salary adjustments in both 2010 and 2011. The union also won improvements in rent allowances pertaining to on-site housing, and won guarantees to review the union-management Provident Fund scheme and to align it more closely with the National Pension scheme. 

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The GMWU has worked to enhance efficiencies and lower operating costs at AngloGold&rsquo;s Obuasi and Iduapriem mines, and that work will continue under terms of the new agreement. The Johannesburg-based mining house, the world&rsquo;s third largest gold producer, said the cost of gold production at Obuasi has decreased by US$150 per once to US$671 per once in third quarter 2009, and that cost is expected to be go even lower in the next three years with cooperation from GMWU. 
 
GMWU General Secretary Prince William Ankrah called the new accord &ldquo;historic,&rdquo; stating it &ldquo;places the human equation at the centre of corporate thinking.&rdquo; 
 
Ankrah also said the issue of pay disparity between expatriate workers and Ghana miners will continue to be a point of discussion with AngloGold Ashanti. 
 
At Goldfields, a government arbitration panel determined that a 13.5% increase be granted to miners. The agreement with Newmont was reached with less discord, primarily because the company did not attempt to link the shrinking US dollar to salary adjustments. Pay talks for miners at Newmont will be again be addresses in the first half of 2010. 
 
With 2009 salary negotiations now complete with the major mining houses, GMWU will now turn attention to signing new accords with smaller companies and mining contractors.

2009 Gold Mining Talks Finally Conclude in Ghana

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A sequence of labour-management stand-offs at paper company Sappi&rsquo;s Nimjegen, Netherlands, mill on 2-3 December was what it took to bring labour peace, following three months of rancorous dispute. The defining stand-off that ended this dispute was a mill-wide, non-paid lockout by local managers, an anomaly to Holland&rsquo;s to social bargaining practices. 
 
That lockout, announced during the final hours of a legal 38-hour industrial action by four Dutch unions, including ICEM affiliates FNV Bondgenoten and CNV Bedrijvenbond at Nimjegen, set off high emotions inside the mill and forced fast intervention by Sappi&rsquo;s European management. 

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The result was a one-year rollover of the existing social agreement for 800 workers at the Nijmegen and Maastricht paper mills. The compromise, moreover, preserves &ldquo;seniorendaggen,&rdquo; or loyalty days away from the job for long-serving workers. This key issue was resolved with both labour and management agreeing that this social Dutch benefit would be retained until at least 1 July 2014. Accrual of senior days for new workers hired after 1 January 2010 will be eliminated. 
 
Following no response by Sappi to a workers&rsquo; proposal to end the dispute on 26 November, 24-hour industrial actions began at both Nijmegen and Maastricht. By 1 December, when Sappi still had failed to respond to a modest union proposal that could have ended the dispute, Nijmegen staff announced a 38-hour strike, while Maastricht workers would down tools for 24 hours starting early on 3 December. 

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The dispute&rsquo;s turning point then came late on Wednesday, 2 December, at the Nijmegen mill. With tempers short and rumours rife that the shutdown might last longer, mill managers escorted the few staff working off the job, and announced a non-paid lockout. 
 
Sappi also sent a letter to the unions requesting bargaining. Over the next 24 hours, through European corporate involvement, a compromise was hammered out. 
 
One fact that proved helpful for the Dutch unions is that on 15 October they staged a manifestation at Sappi European headquarters in Brussels, presenting senior executives with a petition signed by 800 angry workers. That manifestation was joined by written protests from global pulp and paper unions. 
 
Sappi did rearrange its contract terms in the days following the Brussels manifestation, but still wanted to be rid of having to grant senior days. The four unions decided to put Sappi&rsquo;s offer to joint vote, but Dutch paperworkers rejected it by 99%. 

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The industrial actions a fortnight ago, leading to the Nijmegen lockout, brought the dispute to a head. The compromise reached keeps the 2008 social agreement from Maastricht in place at both locations until 1 October 2010, and grants a one-year salary increase of 1.2%, backdated to 1 July 2009. 
 
The workers&rsquo; strikes at Nijmegen were the first such industrial stoppages in the history of the mill, while the walkouts in Maastricht were in first in over 30 years. 
 
&ldquo;We are grateful for the messages of support from trade unionists all over the world,&rdquo; said Ans van den Akker of FNV Bondgenoten. &ldquo;A special thanks goes to our Belgian colleagues who made sure that no struck work was brought to them at the Lanaken mill.&rdquo; 
 
The ICEM commends the courage and collective power displayed by workers of all four unions at Nijmegen and Maastricht. It was through their common resolve that they retained the rights most important to them, while earning the respect of Sappi management in doing so.

Dutch Lockout by Sappi Spurs One-Year Labour Accord

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The Building and Wood Workers&rsquo; International (BWI) held its 2nd World Congress at the Grand Palais in Lille, France, last week, under the theme &ldquo;Global Solidarity for a Sustainable Future.&rdquo; The vision of the Congress read, &ldquo;A world with strong independent and democratic trade unions in the building and timber trades, where all workers have equitable access to stable jobs, fair wages and safe and healthy working and living conditions.&quot; 
 
Just fewer than 700 delegates, representing construction, and wood and forestry workers throughout the world, debated the most important issues in these sectors, as well as adopting the Global Union Federation&rsquo;s (GUF) strategy for the next four years. The plan sets out how to improve working and living conditions in the building and wood sectors and promote sustainable industrial development. 

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Outgoing BWI General Secretary Anita Normark
A host of meetings were held around the Congress, including the BWI International Women&rsquo;s Conference on 5 December, a Global Youth Conference and International Women&rsquo;s Committee on 6 December, regional committee meetings on 7 December, BWI&rsquo;s World Board and World Council on 8 December, with the main Congress taking place on 9-10 December. 
 
The Congress took up the General Secretary&rsquo;s report which prioritized the following areas of work: global migration, climate change, Chinese multinationals, the need for vocational training for affiliates worldwide, and the need to pursue the GUF&rsquo;s membership growth. 
 
The BWI said farewell to outgoing General Secretary Anita Normark. with BWI President Klaus Wieseh&uuml;gel, who was re-elected to another term, stating she would be badly missed by all. &quot;She has never forgotten the needs of trade union members and affiliates,&rdquo; said Wieseh&uuml;ge. 
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Newly elected General Secretary Ambet Yuson 
Newly elected General Secretary Ambet Yuson also paid tribute to Normark: &ldquo;Anita, you have been a great leader for this organization. To be your successor will not be easy.&rdquo; The new general secretary laid out his vision to create &quot;One International, One Movement and One Vision working together.&rdquo; 
 
Ambet, of the Philippines, worked for 20 years in his country&rsquo;s pro-democracy movement, which brought down the dictator Marcos. He has served as BWI&rsquo;s regional representative for the Asia-Pacific Region from mid -2007 to the present, and also worked for over 12 years with BWI affiliates as project coordinator and then globally as education secretary.

BWI Says Fond Farewell to Anita Normark; Elects Ambet Yuson New GS

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A steep three-month wage, bonus, and vacation scheme cut to 35,000 miners and metalworkers in Kazakhstan was lifted, effective 1 October. JSC ArcelorMittal Temirtau, owner of a network of coal mines and a massive steel mill in the Karaganda region of Kazakhstan, negotiated the cuts with Steel and Coal Divisions Trade Unions within the company last spring in hard bargaining. 
 
ArcelorMittal Temirtau cited the global economic crisis for proposing the cuts, saying the Kazakhstan unit had taken a US$100 million operating loss in first quarter 2009. 

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After a series of difficult negotiations through a bi-lateral Conciliation Commission, representatives of the unions and management agreed on a compromise that saw coal mining wages cut by 14% and metal-working remuneration cut by 9%. In addition, vacation schedules contained in collective agreements were reduced and production bonus schemes halted. The company had initially sought 30% salary cuts 
 
Extension of the so-called &ldquo;anti-crisis agreement&rdquo; beyond 30 September remained an option, but on that day management said it would not extend it and the prior wage base and benefit levels would be restored, according to the chair of a miners&rsquo; trade union at a processing plant. 
 
In 2008, ArcelorMittal Temirtau announced it would construct a new four-million-tonne steel mill in the region, but in August plans for that new steel mill were shelved. 
 
ArcelorMittal is the world&rsquo;s largest steelmaker, with some 67 steel mills in 27 countries. About 8% of its steel-making capacity comes from its Temirtau operations. It operates eight coal mines in the Karaganda region, employing about 24,000 miners.

Wages Restored to Miners, Metalworkers at ArcelorMittal Temirtau in Kazakhstan

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The Third General Assembly of the South-East European Regional Energy Trade Unions Network took 
place in Belgrade, Serbia, on 19 September 19, under the chairmanship of Milan Kovacevic of EPS Trade Union, the host union. 
 
The gathering brought together delegations from both electric power and oil and gas trade unions from throughout the former Yugoslavia. Also present were the unions from Greece, Albania, Turkey, Cyprus, and Romania. 
 
Jim Catterson represented ICEM and EMCEF, with Public Services International (PSI) and the European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU) being represented by Josef Krejbych, PSI&rsquo;s Secretary for Central Europe. 

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The meeting gained considerable press attention with the opening covered by Serbian TV. 
 
Held under a banner proclaiming that &ldquo;Energy is a Public Good in All Countries of the World,&rdquo; the conference focused on building a countervailing force to the neo-liberal politics that had created an &ldquo;economy of chaos&rdquo; in the region. Delegates all gave a report on their situation and developments in the energy sectors of their respective countries. 
 
Many interventions called for closer cooperation between their international and European organisations, with the unions being a mixture of affiliates to ICEM and PSI, together with a number of unions unaffiliated internationally. The network is formally independent of the international union structures although ICEM traditionally has always participated, when invited, to the South-East European Energy Trade Union Network. 

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Delegates agreed to a number of statutory changes and increased the size of the Executive Committee to include the Presidents of each member union. A discussion also focused on expanding membership, with hopes expressed that the grouping would be able to bring in presently uninvolved unions from all the Vizegrad countries, as well as more unions from Bosnia, Cyprus, and Greece 
 
The conference closed with the unanimous endorsement of a series of resolutions, including a political declaration from the network, a strategy document towards the Social Forum and Energy Community&rsquo;s Ministerial Council for South East Europe, and a warning to the Serbian Government against privatization. 
 
An appeal was made to all South-East European trade unions to join the network and a further appeal was made to the international and European organisations to increase joint work and create unity. The network finally decided to hold its next General Assembly in Romania.

South-East Europe’s Energy Unions Meet in Serbia in September

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The ICEM has strengthened its connections with mining unions in Albania after attending the 5th National Congress of the Union of Independent Trade Unions of Albania (BSPSH). Two ICEM affiliates, the Independent Trade Union of Mines and the Trade Union Federation of Chemical and Metal Workers are key members of the BSPSH. 
 
The BSPSH and the Confederation of Trade Unions of Albania (KSSH), a second trade union confederation, have been under attack by the government of Albania after they were forcibly and illegally removed from their offices and had computers and records destroyed or confiscated. The ICEM pledged to support efforts to have the property of the trade unions returned. 

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BSPSH Congress
Joe Drexler, ICEM Director of Industry and Corporate Affairs, represented the ICEM at the Congress and saluted the work of the BSPSH in developing democratic trade unions. He particularly noted the historical contributions of miners and their president, Kezim Kalaja, who in 1991 led a general strike that ushered in an era of political change and democracy that allowed trade unions to develop. Kalaja also became president of the BSPSH and was re-elected at the 5th Congress by acclamation in recognition of his decades of leadership. 
 
Also attending the Congress were national federations from Italy, Azerbaijan, Kosovo, Serbia, and Poland. 

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Joe Drexler &amp; Kezim Kalaja, centre
Drexler visited an underground copper mine and enrichment plant, owned and operated by a Turkish-based company, in the Northeast of the Albania. President Kalaja and Gjon Zeka, the trade union&rsquo;s regional secretary, joined the tour. 
 
Albania is only one of only 23 countries which have ratified International Labor Organization Convention 176 on Health and Safety in Mines.

ICEM Strengthens Connection with Trade Unions in Albania

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The Solidarity Support Organisation of the Central Labour Organisation of Finland (SASK) is an important partner of many Global Union Federations (GUFs) in joint work in Africa, Latin America and the Asia Pacific Regions. But until now, it has not undertaken support work with a GUF in the Middle East. 
 
This may be about to change. In a first such effort, SASK organised a three-day set of workshops in Amman, Jordan. The sessions ran from 29 September to 1 October, and were aimed at sharing information and experiences with the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and the GUFs. 
 
The ICEM&rsquo;s Jim Catterson represented the Geneva-based GUF during the discussions, which brought together representatives from SASK, the ITUC, and six GUFs. SASK has seen the main reason for its absence in the region as a lack of good project proposals being tabled before them. 

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Conference participants, outside the office of the General Union of Textile and Garment Workers in Jordan. 
After a brief formal opening session, ITUC representatives gave an up-to-date report on the trade union movement throughout the Arab World. This was followed by an overview from SASK on its global activities, methods of work and priorities regarding both work and information sharing with other Solidarity Support Organisations and the global union movement. 
 
Each GUF was then given time to describe its own activities in the region, developments in respective sectors, and GUF priorities for future work in the region. Here, Catterson emphasized that ICEM is still in a building stage in the Middle East/North Africa (MENA) Region, and a major overall priority is to integrate the union work. As well, a main priority is to integrate MENA affiliates into the global work and activities of the ICEM. 
 
Clearly, privatisation of industrial enterprises, as well as gaining greater access to MNC investment has led to new challenges for the trade unions throughout the region, Catterson said. Unions also need assistance to organise workers in the new enterprises. Trade unions delegates attending from the region expressed their wish to have more information, as well as advice on how to benefit from the range of &quot;international instruments,&quot; including ILO Conventions, OECD Guidelines, the Global Compact, and Global Framework Agreements. 

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Delegates receive a briefing in the local ITLGWU-affiliated union office inside a QIZ 
Catterson described in detail the joint work the ICEM is doing with the International Transport Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITF) in bringing together oil and gas workers&rsquo; unions with port and transport unions that are involved in energy transportation in Iraq. 
 
Further sessions included a detailed focus on the issue of Migrant Labour in the region and in Jordan in particular, which saw extensive presentations from International Textile, Garment, Leather Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITGLWF) and the ILO Better Work programme. This latter project focuses on the garment industry and after an initial program in Cambodia, has expanded to a number of other countries including Jordan. 
 
Jordan has a significant garment manufacturing industry with production geared on exports almost totally to the US. The industry is principally located in special export processing zones known as Qualified Industrial Zones (QIZs). Here, working and living conditions are truly appalling, with the overwhelmingly the number of workers foreign migrant workers. The ITGLWF Jordanian affiliate described the difficulties they face in organising workers in such conditions. Often, such workers distrust trade unions from experiences in their own countries and few speak Arabic. As well, access to either workplaces or living accommodations is tightly controlled by employers who often prevented union organisers from gaining access. However, ITGLWF had, in many instances, overcome such obstacles and continue to organise migrant workers in the industry. 
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Participants were able to see an example of these successes with a visit to a factory making jeans for the US market. The factory was in one such QIZ in an area north of Amman. The union has an office, staffed by multi-lingual organisers, with the office displaying the flags of nations in which migrant workers hail from. The organizers speak such diverse languages as Chinese, Urdu, Tamal, and Arabic. 
 
Workshop participants received an initial briefing by union officials and organizers in the union office, as well as a tour of a small but well-equipped medical clinic that serves workers and their families. The clinic provides free medical treatment, dental care, and diagnostics. 
 
It was established with support of the Asia and Pacific Regional Organisation (TWARO) of ITGLWF, along with the GUF&rsquo;s Japanese affiliates. It stands as a facility that any union would be proud to have. 
 
Management at one of the textile factories, employing around 1,500 workers, mainly from the Indian sub-continent, then joined the discussions for a question and answer session. Most of the workforce was organised by the union and a reasonable relationship had been built between union and management. 
 
ICEM will be in discussions with SASK in the future with a view toward developing joint programmes and providing solidarity and assistance to affiliated unions throughout the MENA Region.

ICEM Joins SASK of Finland, Others in Union-Building Workshops in Middle East

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