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ICEM'e ge&ccedil;en hafta sonu gelen haberlere g&ouml;re, Irak'ta devlete bağlı petrokimya şirketi SCPI'nın y&ouml;netimi Basra Petrokimya İş&ccedil;ileri Sendikası'nın y&ouml;neticilerinden Karim Johi Sahan'a disiplin cezası vermişti. 
Kimya tesislerinden altı ay uzaklaştırma cezası verilen Sahan, ayrıca, bu nedenle en d&uuml;ş&uuml;k &uuml;creti alacak. Ocak ayı sonlarında barış&ccedil;ıl bir protesto eylemi d&uuml;zenlediği i&ccedil;in bu cezaya maruz bırakılan Karim Johi bu eylemi nedeniyle acımasızca sorgulanmış ve bunun sonucunda kalp rahatsızlığı ge&ccedil;irmişti. 
Irak Sanayi ve Maden Bakanlığı SCPI hisselerinin y&uuml;zde 100'&uuml;n&uuml; elinde tutuyor. 
<img height="161" alt="" src="" width="180" /> 
Karim Johi (ortada) bildiri dağıtıyor 
ICEM Genel Sekreteri Manfred Warda Irak Maden ve Sanayi Bakanı'na bu hafta g&ouml;nderdiği mektupta şunları vurguladı: &ldquo;Karim Johi Sahan'a verilen bu disiplin cezası onun temel insan haklarının ihlalidir. Karim Johi uluslararası d&uuml;zeyde kabul g&ouml;ren s&ouml;z &ouml;zg&uuml;rl&uuml;ğ&uuml;n&uuml; ve barış&ccedil;ıl toplantı yapma hakkını kullandı ve bu nedenle yaşamı tehlike altında. Devlet Petrokimya Şirketi'ndeki y&ouml;neticileriniz tarafından verilen bu kararın derhal geri alınmasını talep ediyoruz.&rdquo; 
 
ICEM adalet sağlanana kadar bu konudaki baskısını s&uuml;rd&uuml;recektir.

ICEM Iraklı Sendikacılara Verilen Cezaları Protesto Ediyor

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Collaboration between ICEM&rsquo;s Latin American/ Caribbean Region, the International Labour Foundation for Sustainable Development, Sustainlabour, and the Trade Union Confederation of the Americas (TUCA), will result in an international conference on health and safety in the Chemicals Sector in S&atilde;o Paolo, Brazil, next month, 14-16. The venue is Fundacentro, or Brazil&rsquo;s National Labour Centre. 
 
The meeting is part of the program to facilitate the implementation of the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM), a United Nations policy framework that fosters sound management of handling of chemicals. This particular program was initiated in November 2007 with the objective of reducing workplace risks to staff in the chemicals sector. 

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The tripartite coordination, between ICEM, Sustainlabour, and TUCA, will focus activities in Brazil, Chile, and Uruguay between November 2008 and October 2010. This conference will seek to strengthen the alliance between the three groups for the common goal of improving health and safety in the chemical industry. Further objectives of the conference are to share information on health and safety in the industry and to look to developing partnership with governments. 
 
Nilton Freitas of the ICEM affiliate, Sindicato dos Qu&iacute;micos do ABC, is playing a leading role in organizing the conference on behalf of the ICEM and its partners. 
 
Find the registration form and program for the conference at <a href="http://www.fundacentro.gov.br">www.fundacentro.gov.br</a>.

SAICM Conference on Health, Safety in Chemical Sector – 14-16 April

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The Serbian union, EPS Trade Union, has made a stand for some 7,200 displaced Kosovo workers, who lost their jobs from state-run Electric Power Industry of Serbia (EPS) in 1999 due to war. Since then, unemployed workers have received 60% of median wages from the utility. 
 
But beginning in January, a government decree from the Ministry of Energy and Mining ordered that amount reduced to the minimum state-level wage, reneging on an agreement it had with the union in a 2008 EPS business plan. On 19 February, 5,000 of those workers showed up in freezing temperatures and a sleet storm in Gracanica and Priluzje to protest the cuts. EPS Trade Union President Milan Đorđević intervened to block the rollbacks, and the union has pledged to be vigilant in retaining the 60%. 

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Milan Đorđević
Separately, EPS Trade Union has issued a five-day deadline for earnest negotiations to begin with the government over several issues involving the public utility&rsquo;s mines and businesses. One of the chief demands is fulfilment of an agreement signed with the government on 23 October 2008 and another is dialogue on the 2009 business plan. 
 
Other demands include full consultation on several operational issues, as well as possible privatisation plans by EPS. 
 
The union will hold a press conference tomorrow in Belgrade to discuss the government&rsquo;s failure in February to address the demands and will follow that up with a protest on Thursday, 12 March, in front of the Government of Serbia building in Serbia&rsquo;s capital city.

Serbian Union Preserves Wage Payments for Kosovo Electric Workers

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Following a failed mediation session on 4 March, some 65,000 Polish coal miners are poised to strike state run and operated Kompania Weglowa (KW), Europe&rsquo;s largest coal producer. Miners, forcefully united behind the country&rsquo;s three main mining unions &ndash; ICEM affiliate NSZZ Solidarność, Kadra, and the Polish Miners&rsquo; Trade Union &ndash; have been denied a fair wage proposal for 2009. 
 
Mediated talks will resume tomorrow, 10 March, but if no resolve occurs, Kompania Weglowa will face a two-hour warning strike on 12 March. If that doesn&rsquo;t force a change of stance by the company&rsquo;s board, a full strike at all of KW&rsquo;s 16 mines will then commence. 
 
Reportedly, the company&rsquo;s directors are offering a wage hike of 1.5%, while the unions are seeking 6%. In last week&rsquo;s mediated talks, the unions revised their proposal to delay the 6% increase from January to March. Miners are seeking increases in daily subsidies as well. 

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Also locked in wage talks are 40,000 miners at two other state-owned coal servicing and production companies, Jastrzebska Spolka Weglowa (JSW) and Katowicki Holding Weglowy. Both companies are seeking to impose a wage freeze on miners this year. 
 
Talks with the same unions at JSW will continue on 11 March. But the unions consider KW the lead company, despite the managing board&rsquo;s reluctance to engage in earnest dialogue. In fact, the dispute has become exasperating because management has issued conflicting economic data. 
 
In January, the KW board boasted of significant profits from 2008, but countered that recently by informing the unions about losses. Meanwhile, KW&rsquo;s board members received a 6.9% salary increase for 2009 as part of a procedure in all Ministry of State Treasury enterprises, further inflaming the dispute. 
 
KW&rsquo;s coal production is 47 million tonnes annually, and it holds a 50% market share inside Poland&rsquo;s healthy coal-driven economy.

Miners’ Strike Looms in Poland at Europe’s Biggest Coal Company

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A strike by 190 Turkish paperworkers, members of ICEM affiliate T&uuml;mka-İş, against Procter &amp; Gamble is now 16 days old, with little progress made in recent negotiations. The wage dispute began 21 February at a factory in Gebze, just outside of Istanbul, where the American company manufactures paper towels, tissue, and hygiene products, including nappies. 
 
Strikers and supporters held a rally at plant gates on 26 February, where messages of support were read from a number of trade unions from around the world. The ICEM, which generated the support, also lodged a protest with Turkish management of the company. That letter can be found <a href="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/0903.Turkey.p&amp;g.pdf">here</a>. 
 
On the day of the manifestation, managers revised upward their wage offer, but not significantly. They also told leaders of T&uuml;mka-İş they were content to allow paper products once marketed from the Gebze plant to originate from expanded Procter &amp; Gamble operations in Poland. 

<img height="132" alt="" src="" width="180" />
Gebze Manifestation, 26 February
A prior two-year labour agreement expired on 31 August 2008. 
 
The wage revision proposal 11 days ago saw the company move its offer from no increase to 2% for the first six months, followed by three increases, separated in six-month segments, of two-thirds the rate of Turkish inflation. The union is seeking an 8% increase for the first six months, and revised its proposal for the remaining three periods to match Turkey&rsquo;s inflation rate. 
 
T&uuml;mka-İş General President Kemal Yilmaz and Erg&uuml;n Tavşanoğlu, a union Executive Committee member who is the central T&uuml;mka-İş leader at the Procter &amp; Gamble plant, expressed gratitude to the family of ICEM trade unions in the Paper and Packaging sector who extended their support at the outset of the strike.

Little Progress Made to Resolve Two-Week Procter &amp; Gamble Strike in Turkey

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French trade unions confirmed in late February that they will issue a call for a day of mobilization on Thursday, 19 March, &ldquo;resulting in strikes and demonstrations throughout the country.&rdquo; The joint statement was made by members of the Inter-Eight group at CFTC headquarters. 
 
The CFDT, FO, CFTC, CFE-CGC, CGT, FSU, Solidaires, and UNSA continue to show their trade union unity, building on the one-day general strike of 19 January 
 
Although the 19 January action did lead to some changes to government legislation, such as establishing a social investment fund, ICEM&rsquo;s French affiliates regard the measures as too fragmentary to change the course of economic policy in these trying times. 
 
French President Nicolas Sarkozy refused to increase the minimum wage, to change his policy on public sector employment, and refused to return taxes on overtime pay. Other factors in organizing the 19 March strike are continued job cuts, further trends toward partial unemployment, and heavy reductions in workers&rsquo; purchasing power, all of which amplify the current economic recession for French workers. 

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Several workers&rsquo; protests began last week. French workers from two Grenoble area factories of US-based Caterpillar protested in the French Alpine city and then marched in Paris over announced plant closure. Rubber workers at a Continental tyre factory north of Paris also protested due to a threatened closure. 
 
And in Lyon on 3 March, 40 workers of auto-parts firm Preciturn began a 30-hour sit-in at the offices of a subsidiary of Royal Bank of Scotland. The highly debt-laden subsidiary, an accounting firm, had abandoned its contract with Preciturn, leaving unpaid bills and an inability to meet salaries. 
 
In extending its joint declaration of 5 January, the eight trade unions listed their targeted goals as: &ldquo;Upholding public and private employment; Fighting against job insecurity and social and economic deregulation; Calling for compensation policies that maintain the purchasing power of wage earners, the unemployed and pensioners; and Defending the collective framework of solidarity and social protection.&rdquo; 
 
The social protests which began last week are expected to gain momentum between now and 19 March, with calls for mobilization among employees in the education sector, doctors and hospital staff, as well as police. According to a 2 March opinion poll, 58% of company executives support the manifestation of 19 March. Workers at Air France have already confirmed that they will take part in the strike. 
 
The group of eight unions will meet again 20 March 2009.

French Unions Call Workers Out on Strike 19 March

The ICEM has intervened in a retaliatory dispute by French-based Michelin at a large tyre factory called Laem Chabang in Chonburi Province, Thailand. The Global Union Federation, together with French trade union affiliate CFDT, brought the matter before Michelin&rsquo;s European Works Council (EWC) and Michelin Group Manager Jean-Dominique Senard at a EWC meeting in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain, on 31 March. 
 
The situation in Thailand is serious. On 25 March, local management locked 383 workers off their jobs after they refused to withdraw their names from a petition submitted two weeks earlier. The petition called on management not to unilaterally impose 13% wage cuts, and to engage in consultation with workers&rsquo; representatives over effects of a downturn in the tyre market. 
 
The petition also called on the company to jointly identify solutions with workers, not to unilaterally dictate terms and conditions. It also asked Michelin&rsquo;s Laem Chabang managers to stop forcing workers to sign acceptance forms on the wage cuts, and to quit victimising workers who did not sign the forms. 
 
Michelin managers responded by suspending eight worker representatives, and imposing a 35% pay cut on workers who refused to disavow the petition. They also reduced their yearly allotment of holidays to six. They then &ndash; on 25 March &ndash; locked out 383 of 458 workers who signed the petition. 
 
&ldquo;This is extreme and harsh behaviour against loyal workers from a company that expects to recover from the global economic crisis,&rdquo; said ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda. &ldquo;We have no choice but to demand that the EWC take action. We also call on rubber workers worldwide to take notice, and demand that Michelin rescind this retaliatory punishment.&rdquo; 
 
The tyre workers have been trying to organise with ICEM affiliate Petroleum and Chemical Workers&rsquo; Federation (PCFT) since February, the second time in ten years that staff at Laem Chabang have attempted to unionise. 
 
The plant employs 1,500 staff and produces auto and light truck tyres. Michelin has two other tyre manufacturing plants in Thailand, the Nong Khae plant in Saraburi, employing 1,300 workers, and the Phra Padaeng factory in Samut Prakarn, where 1,500 Thai workers are employed. The latter is unionised by PCFT, with strong union membership. The three plants are 90% owned by Michelin, with the Siam Cement Group holding the remaining 10% stake. 
 
For further information, contact Dick Blin, ICEM Information Officer, +41 22 304 1842, or dick.blin@icem.org.

ICEM Condemns Lockout of Thai Workers by Michelin

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Some 65,000 miners at Europe&rsquo;s largest coal company, Poland&rsquo;s Kompania Weglowa, will not take a 24-hour strike action tomorrow, 7 April, following an agreement on wages last week, 2 April. State-owned Kompania Weglowa and most of the 12 unions representing miners, led by ICEM affiliates NSZZ Solidarność and Kadra, as well as the Polish Miners&rsquo; Trade Union, reached accord for significant 2009 wage increases. 
The settlement came just before Poland&rsquo;s Minister of Economy froze the salaries of board members of all state-owned and operated coal concerns, as well as cutting the salaries of top executives at Kompania Weglowa. Reportedly, the decision freed up money to increase miners&rsquo; salaries. 
<img height="94" src="" width="150" alt="" />
Miners at Kompania Weglowa voted by a 92% margin to launch a day-long strike during the week of 23 March, after government ministry mediators failed to bring the two sides together. On 12 March, workers at Kompania Weglowa&rsquo;s 16 mines staged a two-hour protest strike over their wage demands. 
But last week, just prior to the Economy Ministry&rsquo;s 3 April decision, the company&rsquo;s supervisory board agreed to increase salaries by PLN 900 per month (&euro;200), or about 5%. Kompania Weglowa mining unions had been seeking an 8% increase, but had lowered demands to 6% in mid-March mediation efforts. 
Meanwhile, a total of 40,000 other coal miners at two other state-operated coal production and servicing concerns, Jastrzebska Spolka Weglowa (JSW) and Katowicki Holding Weglowy (KHW), are still seeking fair wage settlements. Both companies say they will stick to a wage freeze for 2009, while Polish miners at JSW and KHW seek parity with Kompania Weglowa miners. Both JSW and KHW have planned extraction investments in coal mining that will come on line in the next several months. 
 
At the country&rsquo;s multinational copper company, KGHM, a breakthrough appears imminent following management&rsquo;s initial proposal for a 2009 wage freeze. Trade unions Solidarność and the Association of Copper Industry Employees (ZZPPM) expect 2009 wage increases to be on the bargaining table later in April. Publicly-listed KGHM is 41.8% held by the Polish state.

Polish Miners at Kompania Weglowa Agree to Wage Terms

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ICEM affiliate the United Steelworkers (USW) hosted the North American ICEM meeting in Burnaby, British Colombia, last month. Among central topics discussed were the conflict with LaFarge, concrete efforts around the energy issue in Canada, the U.S., and Mexico, responses to the financial crisis, climate change, and solidarity with Mexico&rsquo;s National Miners&rsquo; and Metalworkers&rsquo; Union (SNTMMSRM). 
 
Ken Neumann of USW-Canada and Dave Coles of the Communications, Energy, Paperworkers (CEP) Union of Canada serve as ICEM Vice Presidents for North America. 
<img height="135" alt="" src="" width="120" />&nbsp;&nbsp; <img height="120" alt="" src="" width="179" />
Ken Neumann &amp; Dave Coles
Napoleon Gomez, the exiled leader of SNTMMSRM, attended the meeting and provided new insights into the trade union situation in Mexico. ICEM North America affiliates unanimously voted to recommend to the ICEM Executive Committee acceptance&nbsp;of the union, also called Los Mineros, as an ICEM affiliate. The union has 250,000 members. 
 
Following this regional meeting, the third Tri-National Meeting of Energy Workers of North America was held from 16-18 March in Mexico City. Several unions, along with networks and social movement organizations, sought solutions to the major challenges facing the sector throughout the region. Workers in the energy sector in the three countries have been hard hit by the global financial crisis, with the loss of jobs en masse and the disappearance of social support. 
 
ICEM affiliates CEP of Canada, the USW, and the Utility Workers Union of America (UWUA) all attended, showing clear intent to reach out to Mexican energy workers. The ICEM coordinated a meeting between Los Mineros and Fellesforbundet of Norway as well. This meeting saw the message passed to the highest level of government in Mexico that repression of labour rights has a negative impact on potential trade. Important elements of the delegation were the Prince of Norway, Fellesforbundet, and representatives from StatoilHydro of Norway. 
 
Los Mineros General Secretary Napoleon Gomez is forced to conduct his union&rsquo;s negotiations from Canada.&nbsp; His success in achieving better wages and working conditions for Los Mineros members makes him a targeted figure by the mining concern Grupo Mex&iacute;co and the Mexican government. 
 
The ICEM thanks Atle H&oslash;ie, International Secretary of Fellesforbundet, for his work in facilitating the meetings with Los Mineros and the Mexican government. 
 
The ICEM calls on its North American affiliates in particular to publicise the repression of trade union rights in Mexico and the efforts made to destroy Los Mineros. 
 
An example last week of the anti-union alliance between Grupo Mex&iacute;co and the Mexican government was the announced closure of the Cananea copper mine, one of the largest copper mines in the world. The company sought government approval to fire the miners who have been on strike since July 2007 over contracts and safety issues at the mine. 
 
&quot;The cause is force majeure (due to) the damage caused to the mine ... Federal labor legislation includes the possibility that the company can terminate labour relations when this occurs,&quot; claimed Grupo Mex&iacute;co spokesman Juan Rebolledo. The case against the workers was bolstered last month when the government published a report stating that the mine was inoperable, due to the damage caused by the striking workers.

North American ICEM Meeting Leads to Solidarity for Mexican Miners

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From the American Solidarity Center Website 
 
The 12 Iraqi union women arrived in Istanbul on 7 March for a four-day visit. They hailed from Erbil, Baghdad, Dohuk, and Basra, and represented oil, chemical, electrical, and petrochemical unions from all of the Iraqi labour federations. The visit was supported by the Solidarity Center and hosted by ICEM&rsquo;s 13 Turkish union affiliates, led by Petrol-İş, whose headquarters are in Istanbul. 

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On their first day, the Iraqi women attended a special union cultural festival featuring music, songs, and dance. A special theatrical presentation depicted workplace violations and demonstrated how unions can be the best worker rights monitors. On their second day, the delegation marched in a glorious 10,000-person-strong parade to mark International Women&rsquo;s Day 2009. The women held banners lettered with greetings from Iraqi working women and their unions. 
 
During the remaining two days, Turkish and Iraqi union women participated in a workshop focusing on working women&rsquo;s situations in Turkey and Iraq, gender concepts and health concerns, introduction to collective bargaining, and the Turkish experience from the case study of Novamed &ndash; a good example of successful women&rsquo;s organising. 

<img height="160" alt="" src="" width="287" />
&ldquo;This was a truly historic meeting,&rdquo; said Solidarity Center Middle East and North Africa Director Heba El-Shazli. &ldquo;It was the first time Iraqi women unionists visited Turkey to exchange views and share experiences with their Turkish sisters.&rdquo; 
 
The Solidarity Center was honoured to support this programme, which could not have happened without the strong support and efforts led by ICEM officers and senior staff: Women&rsquo;s Officer Carol Bruce; Rubber Industry Officer Kemal &Ouml;zkan; Director and Regional Contact Person, Middle East and North Africa, and Energy Officer, Jim Catterson; and General Secretary Manfred Warda.

Iraqi Women Join Their Turkish Sisters for Historic International Women’s Day

Archive

ICEM Iraklı Sendikacılara Verilen Cezaları Protesto Ediyor

SAICM Conference on Health, Safety in Chemical Sector – 14-16 April

Serbian Union Preserves Wage Payments for Kosovo Electric Workers

Miners’ Strike Looms in Poland at Europe’s Biggest Coal Company

Little Progress Made to Resolve Two-Week Procter & Gamble Strike in Turkey

French Unions Call Workers Out on Strike 19 March

ICEM Condemns Lockout of Thai Workers by Michelin

Polish Miners at Kompania Weglowa Agree to Wage Terms

North American ICEM Meeting Leads to Solidarity for Mexican Miners

Iraqi Women Join Their Turkish Sisters for Historic International Women’s Day

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