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Dear Mr. President, 
 
On behalf of 45 million industrial workers represented by the International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF) and the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM) we are writing to you to express our serious concern with the situation in Mangystau Province, Kazakhstan. 
 
We have been informed that oil workers of Karazahnbasmunaigaz had to work in harmful conditions. After numerous attempts to settle the issue with the employers with no results oil workers decided to go on strike in May 2011 demanding the employer to improve working conditions and pay additional compensation for the work in bad conditions. Workers of Uzenmunaigaz and other operations in the region joined the strike later on. Unfortunately instead of engaging in good faith negotiations with the workers the employers recurred to tactics of pressure. This led to the aggravation of the social situation in the region. 
 
To our knowledge, the oil workers&rsquo; strike resulted in numerous acts of repression. 
 
On August 8 Natalia Sokolova, a union lawyer, was sentenced to six year imprisonment for alleged offence of &ldquo;inciting social hatred&rdquo;. During her one week trial, the judge allowed neither testimonies of defense, nor evidence by independent experts. 
 
A number of other workers and activists involved in the strike were also accused of participation in illegal protests and spent some time in prison and/or were ordered to pay substantial fines. Hundreds of workers were fired. 
 
On July 8 and 10 workers&rsquo; rally in Aktau was stormed by riot police. The participants of the rally were violently beaten. 
 
The situation in the region was aggravated by a number of horrendous murders. 
 
On August 2 Zhalsylyk Turbaev, 28-year old drill operator and a union activist, was murdered right at his workplace, his skull was broken. 
 
On August 24 Zhansaule Karabalaeva, 18-year old daughter of the president of the union committee at Uzenmunaigaz, was found dead on the outskirts of Zhanaosen. She received multiple knife wounds; her skull was broken, her jaw was crushed. 
 
Oil workers and their family members are frequently beaten by thugs. Every day workers also receive death threats. 
 
Mr. President, we believe that human rights issues are one of your central concerns. In 2010 Kazakhstan took the presidency in the OSCE. At the OSCE summit in Kazakhstan, Astana Commemorative Declaration was adopted, once again reinstating the commitment of OSCE members to human rights. In the word and spirit of this declaration, as well as the Constitution of Kazakhstan and international standards, we urge you to start immediate investigation of the facts of persecution and violence in Mangystau province, and take all the necessary measures to stop the suffering of the workers. 
 
Yours faithfully, 
 
 
Manfred Warda, ICEM General Secretary 
Jyrki Raina, IMF General Secretary

ICEM-IMF Letter to Nursultan Nazarbaev, President of Republic of Kazakhstan

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Following a full year of negotiations, ICEM German affiliate IGBCE and the Northeastern Chemical Employers Association, or AGV Nordostchemie, reached terms on a trendsetting work-time agreement in Germany&rsquo;s eastern states. 
 
On 2 November, the social partners announced completion of a collective agreement that reduces work-time for both younger and older staff, as well as further harmonizing pay and other remuneration with chemical workers in western Germany. The social contract covers 36,000 employees at some 130 companies operating in the five eastern states. 
 
The key component is creation in 2013 of a monetary fund that employers will subsidize through 2.5% of their total annual payrolls, which will initially come to &euro;30 million. It will be used to maintain wage levels for older workers, age 60 and above, who choose to work one less day every other week. For shift workers of the same age, they have the option to work one day less per week. 
<img alt="" src="" width="175" height="132" />
IGBCE Chief Negotiator Peter Hausmann
The fund will also work for younger workers in order for them to tend to family and child care responsibilities. Their normal 40-hour work week in the east will be reduced by 3.5 hours with a minimal pay cut, but not proportional to the time off. In the chemicals sector in western states, the work week is 37.5 hours and the agreement is seen as harmonizing working hours without loss of pay. 
 
It is also seen as a means to retain skilled workers in eastern chemical enterprises, particularly with 70% of eastern workers between the ages of 44 and 59. The agreement bridges the demographic divide by rewarding older workers with sector knowledge and experience, specifically with the statutory retirement age expected to increase upwards from 65. The agreement also creates a &ldquo;work-time bank&rdquo; that allows staff to accumulate extra hours. 
 
&ldquo;We have agreed on a work-time model that provides a collective response to demographic changes,&rdquo; said IGBCE Chief Negotiator Peter Hausmann. &ldquo;For employees with children or dependents, for shift workers and for our older colleagues, this creates significant work-life opportunities.&rdquo; 
 
And IGBCE Northeast Regional Director Petra Reinhold-Knape said, &ldquo;We put in place a very innovative work-time model,&rdquo; adding the agreement will bring to parity the remaining differences between the east and west by &ldquo;putting more money in the pockets&rdquo; of eastern chemical workers. 
 
That was achieved by lifting eastern workers&rsquo; 13th month Christmas salary payment in two stages to match the 95% that western workers get by 2014. Workers in the east now receive 65% for the 13th month. 
 
As well, pay increases for job levels will be harmonised between east and west. Currently, the wage increases within each level are different, with those in the west 8% higher. Next year, that divide will be halved, with parity coming in 2014, the time when IGBCE and AGV Nordostchemie enter the next round of bargaining.

IGBCE Reaches Novel ‘Work Time’ Pact in Eastern Chemicals Sector

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Union members of Teamsters (IBT) Local 495 approved a long-term agreement with the successor employer to BMW at an auto-parts distribution warehouse in Ontario, California. Local 495 members, who waged a <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4570-US-Teamsters-Ardently-Resist-BMW-s-Auto-Parts-Outsourcing">summer-long campaign</a> to retain their jobs after BMW said it would terminate the labour agreement and outsource the operation, ratified a new accord 46-2 on 28 October. 
 
The ratification means that none of the 70 workers currently employed by BMW North America will be laid off and they will begin employment under a logistics company called the 2 AM Group on 1 January with full seniority and full union rights. The contract also contains nearly the same wage and benefit package as currently paid by BMW. 
 
The 2 AM Group is a logistics provider for BMW at assembly plants in the US states of South Carolina and Alabama, and also operates services for the luxury automaker in Munich, Germany, and Puebla, Mexico. 
<img alt="" src="" width="308" height="161" />
Teamsters handbilling in Seattle
This is the first collective agreement for 2 AM Group in the US. 
 
Although the agreement calls for a slight pay decrease from the base US$25-per-hour wage to US$23.50, the upcoming contract contains performance incentives that could lift overall pay. 
 
Local 495 and its Washington, DC-based parent union, the IBT, ran a pressure campaign against BMW in Germany, the UK, and across the US aimed at job retention and continued union representation at BMW&rsquo;s Southern California warehouse. That campaign won partial success on 9 August when the two sides agreed to extend a collective agreement expiring on 31 August for another six months. (Read <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4610-Campaign-Action-Wins-US-Teamsters-BMW-Contract-Extension">ICEM report</a> here.)&nbsp; 
 
The new accord with 2 AM completes the victory and proves that active campaigning by a trade union when confronted with workplace restructuring can reverse a company&rsquo;s intended plans. 
 
IBT Director of Global Strategies Tim Beaty expressed the appreciation of the union on behalf of General President Jim Hoffa and Local 495 Secretary-Treasurer Bob Lennox to the trade unions in Europe and the US that helped bring the message to BMW over the summer.

US Teamsters Win Job Security with BMW’s Auto Parts Successor

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Negotiations to end the eight-week strike by 10,000 workers of the PT Freeport Indonesia Workers&rsquo; Union (SP KEP SPSI) at Freeport-McMoRan&rsquo;s Papuan mine complex called Grasberg got back on track today. But union and management at the world&rsquo;s largest recoverable gold and copper deposit are far apart. 
 
Production at the 175,000-ton per day operation has completely ceased due to a road blockade by strikers and family members. The blockade has prevented the US-based company from getting construction crews to a set of slurry pipelines that were ruptured by vandals. 
 
The pipelines carry gold and copper concentrate 114 kilometres from the Grasberg mine 4,200 metres high in the Sudirman Range to the port city of Timika, where today&rsquo;s bi-lateral talks are being held. A diesel fuel line running from the Timika airport up to the mine also has been slashed. 
<img alt="" src="" width="288" height="160" />
Last week an ICEM-led global trade union delegation met separately with both the union and mine managers doing the bargaining. The delegation successfully convinced the union (see <a href="/en/77-All-ICEM-News-Releases/4747-Global-Trade-Union-Delegation-Urges-Restraint-Good-Faith-Talks-to-Resolve-Grasberg-Mine-Strike">ICEM news release</a>) to return to talks, while PT Freeport Indonesia tried unsuccessfully to get the ICEM team to have SP KEP SPSI lift the blockade.&nbsp; 
 
The company said it was stockpiling ore with some 3,000 temporary workers and contractors&rsquo; employees, which is a violation of Indonesian labour law. The ICEM met as well with Indonesian ministry officials and an MP from Papua. In another meeting with a commissioner of the Indonesian National Commission on Human Rights, the delegation was told the strikers are within their rights to engage in strike activity at the blockade points. 
 
But the situation is tense at Miles 27 and 28, the points near Timika were the blockade is in force. Twice last week local police issued 24-hour ultimatums for the strikers and their families to move, or be met with police force. Both times the warnings passed and nothing occurred. The ICEM delegation was told by multiple sources, including members of the union committee, that workers will not be moved and will fight in resistance. 
<img alt="" src="" width="241" height="160" />
Mile 28 Blockade
On Friday, 4 November, police did approach the blockade. Skirmishes broke out and police fired over the heads of strikers before retreating. The stand-off is compounded by mass media reports last week that Freeport-McMoRan was subsidizing local police in the amount of US$14 million for mine security. 
 
When confronted with this by the ICEM, management said it has been completely transparent on these costs and that figure was for 2010. Managers said 2011 security payments to public law enforcement have yet to be calculated. They also said 80% of such costs are for in-kind services, including all-terrain vehicles, food, fuel and other necessities for police. 
 
On 1 November, ICEM North American affiliate United Steelworkers (USW) lodged a complaint with the US Department of Justice over such payments being illegal under America&rsquo;s Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. (The <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/usw%20fcpa%20freeport%201%20Nov%202011.pdf ">USW letter</a> can be seen here.) 
In Timika, in Indonesia&rsquo;s eastern-most Papua province, the two sides are wide apart. When bargaining halted on 27 October, the company had increased a prior 25% wage offer first to 28% and then to 30%. The union is seeking an average hourly wage of US$7.50, which is some 250% above the current rate US$2.13 for non-staff miners and US3.54 for staff. Some seven other issues also need to be negotiated, including educational assistance, dependent care, housing loans and assistant, and aspects to a savings plan programme. 
 
The PT Freeport Indonesia Workers&rsquo; Union is supporting the 10,000 strikers and their families with five mass open-air feeding kitchens some 500 metres in distance. But supplies are running short and the union&rsquo;s Solidarity Fund is low. This week the ICEM will put a call out to affiliates to replenish that fund in order that the union can continue nourishing strikers and their families.

Grasberg Talks Resume, But Tensions High in Papua, Indonesia

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Swiss trade union UNIA is fighting across the country to reverse the decision of Novartis to &ldquo;restructure,&rdquo; meaning close plants and dismiss 1,100 workers. Mass mobilisation campaigns to fight the decision are gathering momentum and wide support from regional communities, politicians, and international trade unions. 
 
The ICEM marched with 300 Novartis workers of Nyon on 4 November. The march, led by regional UNIA Industry Secretary Yves Defferrard, received extremely strong support from Nyon residents as it passed through the town centre. 
<img alt="" src="" width="150" height="136" />
Yves Defferrard
Many local businesses depend on the wages generated at Novartis. It is predicted 2,000 jobs in Nyon will go if the company closes the plant, ending over 90 years of drug production in Nyon. 
 
What leaves a particular sour taste is the company&rsquo;s long standing emphasis on a positive social impact, portraying itself as a &ldquo;carer&rdquo; and &ldquo;healer.&rdquo; But the restructuring comes at a time of considerable profit for the firm. Novartis workers in Nyon are proud of their work, proud of the products they have discovered, developed, and produced. 
 
Management&rsquo;s shock decision, announced 25 October, to close significant sections of the Nyon and Basle plants came only weeks after Novartis posted third quarter net sales up 18% to US$14.84 billion from US$12.58 billion in the same period in 2010, with net income increasing 7% to US$2.49 billion, from US$2.32 billion in 2010. 
<img alt="" src="" width="184" height="161" />
Novartis plans to cut 2,000 jobs internationally, with 760 at its Basle headquarters and 320 in Nyon. 
 
The ICEM Global Pharmaceutical Unions&rsquo; Network, meeting in Geneva 28 October, conveyed solidarity and support to the UNIA members at Novartis, and this message was announced at the 4 November rally. ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda wrote to company CEO Joseph Jimenez communicating the anger of ICEM affiliates at the decision, and demanding good faith dialogue with UNIA. 
 
The role of local and federal politicians in the process is vital, especially as it is speculated that a major factor in management&rsquo;s decision to close is an angry retort at Swiss authorities&rsquo; price cutting of pharmaceutical drugs. Even though the Swiss market represents only 1.15% of turnover for Novartis, the company management had reacted angrily to the persistence of Swiss federal councillors in this regard. 
<img alt="" src="" width="221" height="144" />
UNIA achieved a small victory on 3 November in bargaining by pressuring management to publish a detailed audit report for the Nyon site, as figures put forward by the company are questionable. Novartis moved immediately to bring in a high level financial expert from the US to present the numbers. 
 
The next major mobilisation is planned for 12 November in Nyon, if the company continues to pursue its irresponsible redundancy plan. 
 
Novartis Chief Executive Daniel Vasella is the highest paid person in Switzerland, with an annual salary of CHF 40 million. 
 
Sign <a href="http://www.unia.ch/Novartis.6010.0.html?&amp;L=1">UNIA&rsquo;s petition</a> against the Novartis job cuts here.

Swiss Pharma Workers Mobilise Against Novartis Plant Closings

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A branch union of the ICEM-affiliated National Miners&rsquo; and Metalworkers&rsquo; Union (FNTMMSP) of Peru is continuing its struggle for a decent new collective agreement at the Sociedad Minera Cerro Verde copper and molybdenum mine in southern Arequipa region. For the first time in the 40 year history of the mine, national government declared industrial action to be legal, as all 1,220 FNTMMSP members downed tools on 29 September for indefinite strike action. 
 
The legal status for the strike means the ministry of labour will arbitrate negotiations, with both sides meeting this afternoon, Monday, for talks. Striking miners are being replaced with 600 scabs and management staff in company efforts to continue production, breaching Peruvian labour law. If company negotiators continue to push regressive proposals, the union will demand the government and Congress send labour inspectors to determine operations are in line with regulations. This would paralyse all production. The branch union general secretary Leoncio Amudio Pe&ntilde;a alerted labour authorities to the pending request for inspections on 8 October. 
<img alt="" src="" width="241" height="161" />
Cerro Verde is offering workers a rise of less than US$1 per day, whereas the union seeks US$3. Local management also wants to replace future salary increases with a production bonus. As well as improved wages, strikers are demanding improved working conditions and better health and safety conditions. Branch general secretary Pe&ntilde;a reports that the company only offers solutions to 4 out of 40 union demands. Union and management positions are also far apart on the length of the agreement, with the union wanting a one-year duration and the company originally seeking 5 years, now 3. The previous agreement which expired 31 August was 3-year, but that was extended as a one off in exchange for company concessions. 
 
The strike was preceded by a 48-hour work stoppage in early September and an indefinite strike mid-September that was suspended due to a technicality making it illegal. 
 
Cerro Verde produced 312,336 tonnes of copper in 2010, 2% of the world&rsquo;s copper creating a net profit of US$1.05 billion. The open-pit mine is owned by US-based Freeport-McMoRan (53.7%), SMM Cerro Verde Nederlands (21%), a unit of the Japanese Sumitomo Corp., and Peru-based Compania de Minas Buenaventura (19.3%). Mining profits are soaring on global markets due to increased metals prices, with massively increased profit margins not shared with workers.

Peruvian Cerro Verde Miners Launch Legal Indefinite Strike

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Several hundred garment workers conducted a hunger strike in front of the National Press Club in Dhaka on 29 September, demanding payment of outstanding wages and allowances of workers at five garment factories. Protestors also sought legal compensation for dismissed workers from four garment factories. The pressure exerted achieved payment of the moneys owed by some, but not all of the employers. 
 
The strike was organised by the National Garment Workers Federation (NGWF), a highly active member trade union of the International Textile, Garment &amp; Leather Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITGLWF). The hunger strike action was followed by the submission of a memorandum to the Ministry of Labour by a five-member delegation led by NGWF General Secretary Ms Safia Parveen. The memorandum called for immediate government intervention. 
<img alt="" src="" width="214" height="160" />
Each of the five garment factory employers had failed to pay wages since July, with overtime and other payments also outstanding. This affected 900 workers at S Nahar Garments of Kawran Bazar in Dhaka city, 200 workers at Bristi Garments of Tikatuli, 200 workers work in Jas Fashion of the Dab Star group in Arambagh, 1000 workers of Reo Fashion of the Dab Star Group also in Arambagh, and 350 workers at Millennium Garments of Tikatuli. Following the protest, Bristi, Jas, Reo, and Millenium groups made the payments, with Nahar promising to pay by today. 
 
Protestors also called on the government to intervene in the struggle for compensation to illegally dismissed workers of four garment factories, 97 at Benson Apparels of Tejgaon, 30 at Riz Fashion of Matuail, 25 at Aditi Apparels of Mirpur, and 45 at Bristi Garments. All saw their jobs disappear in cost cutting efforts over the last two years. Bristi has since paid, while Aditi promised to make payments by today. 
 
Focus now concentrates on Benson and Riz fashion. 
 
Speakers called for more action from the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) to whom the NGWF submitted a grievance on 15 July. See prior <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4557-Bangladesh-Garment-Workers-Take-Hunger-Strike-Actions-over-Delinquent-Employers">ICEM report</a>.&nbsp; 
 
NGWF President Amirul Haque Amin presided over the hunger strike. Speakers included, Coordinator of the Bangladesh Garment Workers Unity Council Salauddin Swapan, General Secretary of the Bangladesh Garment Trade Union Centre Ruhul Amin, NGWF leaders Ms Safia Parveen, Mohammad Faruk Khan, Mrs Sultana Aktar, Mohammad Kabir, workers&rsquo; representatives of the affective factories spoke on the occasion, and Harun Chowdhury of the Bangladeshi Communist Party.

Bangladeshi Garment Workers’ Hunger Strike Achieves Owed Wages

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The ICEM expressed outrage and condemned the cold-blooded assassination on 26 September of a Colombian contract worker who was working with affiliate Uni&oacute;n Sindical Obrera (USO) to bring trade union rights to temporary workers at Ecopetrol&rsquo;s Barrancabermeja refining and petrochemicals complex in the Santander department. 
 
Isidro Rivera Barrera, 45, was repairing a washing machine in front of his home in Barrancabermeja when a gunman jumped off the back of a motorcycle and shot him three times at point-blank range. The assassin and accomplice then escaped on the high-powered motorcycle. 
<img alt="" src="" width="120" height="130" />
In a press statement on the killing, ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda said, &ldquo;This cowardly act again reminds us that Colombia is a deadly country for those exercising freedom of association and free speech rights. We reiterate our trade union affiliate USO&rsquo;s call that Colombia&rsquo;s public prosecution office uses all means to apprehend and prosecute the criminals and masterminds behind this heinous crime.&rdquo; 
 
The ICEM also called on Ecopetrol, its major contractor at Barrancabermeja, Foster Wheeler AG, and all other sub-contractors to ensure the security of all oil industry workers in the city. The ICEM further called on 90% state-owned Ecopetrol and its contractors to create workplace climates where freedom of association and rights to join unions and bargain collectively are considered common civil liberties. 
 
Isidro Rivera was shot twice in the shoulder and once in the throat. He died within minutes of the shooting, slumped across the chair he was working on and in front of neighbours who came running after hearing the shots. Isidro Rivera was a recognised union member by Ecopetrol who was attempting to spread the trade union message to contract workers inside Colombia&rsquo;s biggest downstream oil and petrochemical facilities. He is survived by three children.

Leader of Contract Workers Struggle in Colombia Assassinated

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An agreement was reached 29 September between Lafarge and the French Central Works Council regarding the Frangey cement plant in the L&rsquo;Yonne province of Burgundy. The compromise agreement ended a ten-day hunger strike at Lafarge offices in the Paris suburbs by 12 workers plus the mayor of the nearest town to the plant, L&eacute;zinnes. 
 
Mayor Jean-Claude Galaud joined protesting workers in the hunger strike on 19 September. Workers and community members alike were fighting to reverse Lafarge&rsquo;s decision from last May to entirely close the 74-worker cement plant. In social dialogue on 29 September, Frangey workers submitted three proposals through the Works Council to group management while hunger strikers were visible outside Lafarge headquarters in Saint-Cloud. 
<img alt="" src="" width="284" height="160" />
In the days before, French trade unions CFDT and CGT were also conducting stop-work actions at 14 Lafarge cement plants in support of Frangey&rsquo;s 74 workers. 
 
The proposal that was agreed to includes extending the life of the plant from November 2011 to 31 March 2012, and then maintaining it as a grinding operation thereafter with an employment level of 40. That will include 35 workers plus five others who are within a few years of retirement. 
 
Lafarge will then seek to sell the grinding operation to another company for continued production. The workers who will be made redundant next year will be offered severance packages and jobs at other Lafarge plants in France. 
<img alt="" src="" width="140" height="91" />
The hunger strikers were treated as heroes when they returned to L&eacute;zinnes by bus in the early morning hours of 30 September. Fellow workers and towns-people greeted them with celebratory hugs and kisses. The hunger strikers lost on average between seven and ten kilos, but their day-to-day protests captured the attention of French politicians and many citizens. 
 
Mayor Galaud described the ordeal as a tough battle, but to keep industrial work at the Frangey plant at some level was a victory. &ldquo;This action created strong bonds between the (hunger strikers),&rdquo; said Galaud. &ldquo;I made 12 friends and it was an incredible life lesson.&rdquo; 
 
CFDT union leader Laurent Carrilero said the actions across France, as well as the hunger strike made it possible to guarantee substantial severance deals for workers who will be laid off next year. Previous ICEM coverage of this story can be found <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4676-Hunger-Strikers-Protest-Lafarge-s-French-Cement-Plant-Closing">here</a> and <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4466-French-Unions-Conduct-4-Hour-Strike-at-Lafarge-Today ">here</a>.&nbsp;

Lafarge Closure Deal Reached for French Workers at Frangey

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The Sixth Ordinary Congress of the Norwegian union Fellesforbundet is underway in Oslo with 465 delegates attending. The quadrennial Congress began on 7 October under the banner &ldquo;Organising for Welfare and Wealth Creation,&rdquo; and concludes with votes on a host of resolutions on 12 October. 
 
On the opening day, delegates approved a transfer of 7.5 million kroner (&euro;1 million) to the youth wing of Norway&rsquo;s Labour Party to rebuild Ut&oslash;ya Island. 
 
Deeded to the youth wing by Norwegian national labour centre LO in the 1980s, Ut&oslash;ya is the fateful place where on 22 July a racially motivated person killed 69 mostly young progressive Norwegians. In 2010, Fellesforbundet sold two summer camps in the Nordic nation and delegates moved to donate the proceeds from that to rebuild Ut&oslash;ya. LO Norway is trying to raise at least 15 million kroner to remake the island to reflect the inclusiveness of traditional Norwegian values. 
<img alt="" src="" width="241" height="160" />
Arve Bakke, left, with Jyrki Raina, Finn Erik Thoreson, and Liv T&oslash;rres following &lsquo;Trade Unions and the World&rsquo; forum
The Congress is taking up a number of structural changes, including statutory ones. One that was passed is another major step in the evolution of the 23-year-old union from a collection of work-based sectors to a unified and cohesive trade union federation. 
 
Instead of a 12-member executive body of five leading officers and seven federal secretaries heading around work sectors, delegates eliminated the specific occupation sectors and formed a seven-member executive. Early today, Arve Bakke was re-elected President of Fellesforbundet, or the United Federation of Norwegian Workers. 
 
Another statutory change that has been debated and will be voted on this week is returning a greater portion of the union&rsquo;s return on equity to local branches. A major policy change also up for a vote is revising the collective bargaining structure to a vertical system in order to strive for a single collective agreement across an entire company covering workers of all unions within a company. 
 
Delegates are expected to turn down a resolution asking the Norwegian government to adopt the European Union&rsquo;s directive on temporary work. Norway is not a member of the EU, but has adopted many of its directives. 
<img alt="" src="" width="240" height="160" />
Photo: Morten M. L&oslash;berg
On Sunday, 9 October, the Congress conducted a session &ldquo;Trade Unions and the World&rdquo; that featured the importance of work in the developing world. The session served as a precursor for a resolution in support of creation of a Palestinian state. It included Norwegian Peoples&rsquo; Aid leaders Liv T&oslash;rres and Finn Erik Thoresen, and the International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation&rsquo;s Jyrki Raina. 
 
Tomorrow, 11 October, Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg will spend a half day with delegates, addressing the Congress and then fielding questions and listening to debate. 
 
In his opening comments to the Congress, Arve Bakke said the 153,000-member union has taken in 73,000 new members in the past four-year Congress period, but is 7,000 less members than it was in 2007 mostly due to the effects of the global financial crisis. One positive note, he reported, is that 23% of active members are under the age of 30. 
 
Fellesforbundet was born in 1988 as an amalgamation of trade unions from the paper, wood, forestry, building construction, textile, and metal sectors. In 2005, unions from inside the printing and hotel and restaurant industries joined.

Fellesforbundet Takes Meaningful Action to Rebuild Norway’s Utøya Island

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