English

Español

Français

Aerospace

Automotive

Base metals

Chemical, pharmaceutical and bio-science

Energy

Glass, cement, ceramic and associated industries

ICT, electrical and electronics

Mechanical Engineering

Mining and DGOJP

Pulp and paper

Rubber

Shipbuilding and shipbreaking

Textile, garment, shoes, leather and textile services

Sectors

Action Plan 2025-2029

Action on textile and garment industry

Clean up shipbreaking

Ratify ILO C176

United for a just future - time to pay up!

Disinvest from Myanmar

Campaigns

Global Framework Agreements

Union building

White-collar workers

Health & safety

Industry 4.0

Women

Youth

LGBTQI+

Gender, equality, diversity and inclusion (GEDI)

Just Transition

Organizing with industriALL

What we do

Affiliates

Statutes

Elected Officials

Executive Committee

Geneva head office

South East Asia

Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Caucasus

Latin America and the Caribbean

Middle East and North Africa

South Asia

Sub-Saharan Africa

Regional offices

About us

Global worker No1 2022

Global worker No2 2022

Publications

Resources

Press

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="49" />
After review of the deadly clash between workers and police at Advanced Chemical Industries Ltd. (ACI) in Siddhirganj, Bangladesh, on 23 January, the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine &amp; General Workers&rsquo; Union (ICEM) finds ACI&rsquo;s conduct contemptible and the root cause of the violence that left one worker dead and over 100 hospitalised. 
 
The Geneva-based ICEM also supports trade unions in Bangladesh who are risking repression and have demonstrated since last Sunday in opposing the heavy-handed use of police force in central Narayanganj district in putting down the legitimate protests of ACI workers on 23 January. 
 
After numerous attempts to correct disparities inside the 407-worker ACI Pharmaceutical plant, full-time and temporary workers alike attempted to stage a peaceful protest. ACI&rsquo;s response to the worksite protest was to call police, who caused mayhem by firing rubber bullets and some 30 canisters of tear gas at the protestors. 
 
One worker, a 25-year-old temporary worker, Enamul Huq, died in a hospital from wounds inflicted from police. Scores others remain hospitalised and the police now have unfairly issued arrest warrants for workers involved in the protest.
<img src="" width="123" height="151" alt="" />
Arrest warrant: Beaten Striker
The ICEM determines that responsibility for the melee belongs with ACI, which too long neglected the pleas of both workers and their plant-level trade union in addressing legitimate workplace concerns. Workers&rsquo; grievances center on failure to give temporary workers full-time, permanent work status, with some temporary staff working as long as 12 years in those unsecured position and without the level of benefits that permanent workers receive; refusal to allow temporary workers to join the plant-level union; and failure to address extremely low wage rates for both permanent and full time workers. 
 
&ldquo;The fact that nearly all 400 workers, temporary and full-time alike, participated in this disaffection and that is one signal that management of ACI failed in its duties,&rdquo; said ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re in total support of workers&rsquo; grievances and call on ACI to adopt a higher level of social conduct.&rdquo; 
 
The ICEM also reminds civil society that Bangladesh has ratified ILO Conventions 87 and 98, freedom of association/right to organise/right to organise/bargain collectively conventions, and the Bangladesh government has a duty to ensure these global standards are applied. 
 
The ACI plant produces drug aids for human use. The plant employs 167 full-time workers and 240 temporary workers. ACI is major Asian manufacturer, marketer, and distributor of drug aids, agri-chemical and pesticide products, and basic consumer products. 
 
The ICEM is a Global Union Federation representing 20 million workers, encompassing 467 trade unions in 132 countries. 
 
For further information, contact: ICEM Information Officer Dick Blin, <a href="mailto:dick.blin@icem.org">dick.blin@icem.org</a>, +41 22 304 1842, or +41 79 734 8994.

ICEM Condemns ACI Conduct in Deadly Bangladesh Chemical Plant Riot

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
The ICEM this month began a search for qualified candidates to assume the duties of Mining/Diamond, Gems, Ornaments, and Jewelry Production Officer. The vacancy was created when Joe Drexler decided to leave the ICEM to resume his duties with the United Steelworkers in North America. 
 
The position will be based in Geneva. The successful candidate must have fluent written and spoken English language skills, as well as IT skills. The Mining/DGOJP position at ICEM offers an excellent salary and level of benefits. 
 
Candidates must send full details of their background in a cover letter in English, along with a CV to General Secretary Manfred Warda and ICEM&rsquo;s Finance and Administration Officer Marie-France Sarfati <a href="mailto:marie-france.sarfati@icem.org">here</a>, (or to fax no. +41 22 304 1841) by 15 February 2011. 
 
The letter of job posting can be found <a href="/index.php?id=5&amp;la=EN&amp;doc=4203">here</a>, and a job description for the position in English can be found <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/Job%20description%20mining%20and%20DGJOP%20Officer.pdf">here</a>.

ICEM Seeks Mining Officer Based in Geneva

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
Ge&ccedil;en hafta İstanbul'da yapılan Kimya Sekt&ouml;r Konferansı'nı a&ccedil;an ICEM Kimya İşkolları Başkanı Tomas Nieber k&uuml;resel kriz nedeniyle d&uuml;zenleyici kuralların ve standartların artırılması &ccedil;ağrısında bulundu. ICEM &uuml;yesi IGBCE'nin Ekonomi B&ouml;l&uuml;m&uuml; başkanı olan ve yeniden ICEM'in kimya ve ila&ccedil; sekt&ouml;r başkanı se&ccedil;ilen Nieber, sekt&ouml;r&uuml;n 2010'da hafif bir toparlanma g&ouml;sterdiğini, politikacıların ve h&uuml;k&uuml;metlerin krize yol a&ccedil;an eski politikalara d&ouml;nmemesi gerektiğini s&ouml;yledi. 
 
27-28 Ekim g&uuml;nlerinde İstanbul'da yapılan ICEM'in kimya konferansına 40 &uuml;lkeden 250 delege katıldı. Konferansın evsahipliğini T&uuml;rkiye'deki petrol, kimya ve lastik iş&ccedil;ilerinin sendikası Petrol-İş yaptı. 
<img alt="" src="" width="218" height="163" />
Petrol-İş Genel Başkanı Mustafa &Ouml;ztaşkın
Nieber k&uuml;resel kriz nedeniyle d&uuml;nya &ouml;l&ccedil;eğinde istihdamda 34 milyon kayıp olduğu s&ouml;yledi ve -akaryakıt fiyatındaki artış ve her iki sekt&ouml;rde s&uuml;rd&uuml;r&uuml;lebilir politikalar uygulama zorunluluğu gibi- sekt&ouml;r&uuml;n karşı karşı bulunduğu zorlukları vurguladı. 
 
Nieber, &ldquo;Sendikalar olarak d&uuml;zenlemelerin artırılmasını talep etmeliyiz&rdquo; dedi. 
 
Petrol-İş Genel Başkanı Mustafa &Ouml;ztaşkın delegelere hoşgeldiniz dedikten sonra, &uuml;lkesinde sendikaları etkisizleştirme politikaları uygulandığını vurguladı. &ldquo;Sendikal hak ve &ouml;zg&uuml;rl&uuml;klerle ilgili uluslararası s&ouml;zleşmeler sistemli olarak ihlal ediliyor&rdquo; diyen &Ouml;ztaşkın ş&ouml;yle devam etti: &ldquo;&Uuml;lkemizde sendikal faaliyeti d&uuml;zenleyen mevzuat baskıcı ve yasak&ccedil;ı &ouml;z&uuml;n&uuml; koruyor.&rdquo; 
<img alt="" src="" width="220" height="135" />
Konferansa Japonya'dan 27 delege katıldı
&Ouml;ztaşkın, referandumla kabul edilen son anayasa değişikliklerinin aslında sendikal hakları bir&ccedil;ok y&ouml;nden geriye g&ouml;t&uuml;rd&uuml;ğ&uuml;n&uuml; belirtti. Petrol-İş başkanı, T&uuml;rkiye'nin kimya &uuml;retiminde d&uuml;nyadaki ilk on &uuml;lke arasında yer almasına rağmen, yıllardır s&uuml;ren &ouml;zelleştirmenin istihdamı y&uuml;zde 60-70 d&uuml;ş&uuml;rd&uuml;ğ&uuml;n&uuml;, sendikasız ve g&uuml;vencesiz işg&uuml;c&uuml;n&uuml;n kural haline geldiğini s&ouml;yledi. Ayrıca, T&uuml;rkiye'de sendikaların sosyal sorumluluk standartları, atık y&ouml;netimi, iş sağlığı ve g&uuml;venliği standartları ve temiz teknoloji alanlarında &ouml;nc&uuml;l&uuml;k yapmaya başladığını vurguladı. 
 
Konferansta iki g&uuml;n boyunca altı panel yapıldı. Bunlardan biri &ldquo;&Ccedil;alışma İlişkileri, Sosyal Diyalog ve Sosyal Sorumluluk&rdquo; &uuml;zerineydi. Bu panele şu kişiler katıldı: Uluslararası Kimya İşverenlerinin &Ccedil;alışma İlişkileri Komitesi Genel Sekreteri Lutz Mugl, Rhodia Kimya Başkanı Bernard Chambon, Umicore İnsan Kaynakları ve Gelişme M&uuml;d&uuml;r&uuml; Mark Dolfyn ve ICEM Kimya İşkolu Sorumlusu Kemal &Ouml;zkan ile eski IGBCE Başkanı ve EMCEF Başkanı Hubertus Schmoldt. 
<img alt="" src="" width="215" height="161" />
Rusya Kimya İş&ccedil;ileri Sendikası heyetinin başında Başkan Alexander Sitnov, sağda, vardı
Konferans &ouml;n&uuml;m&uuml;zdeki d&ouml;rt yıllık d&ouml;neme ilişkin 11 maddelik bir eylem planının kabul&uuml;yle sona erdi. Eylem/&ccedil;alışma planına <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/Chems%20Conf%20ActionPlan%20TURK%20.pdf">buradan</a> ulaşılabilir. 
<img alt="" src="" width="219" height="164" />
Irak Petrol Sendikaları Federasyonu'ndan (GFIW) Hasan Cuma Avad Sdave &ldquo;K&uuml;resel Sendikal G&uuml;&ccedil; ve Dayanışma&rdquo; konulu panelde konuştu
Kimya Konferansı, ayrıca, kemer sıkma politikalarına ve &ouml;nlemlerine karşı greve giden Fransa, Romanya ve diğer Avrupa &uuml;lkelerindeki sendikaları destekleyen bir kararı onayladı. Bu karar &ouml;nce 26 Ekim'de yine İstanbul'da toplanan ICEM Presidyumu (Başkanlar Kurulu) tarafından kabul edildi.

Rekor katılımlı ICEM Kimya Konferansı sonuçlandı

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
The second meeting of the Latin American Trade Union Network of Dutch multinational Akzo Nobel was held on from 7-9 December 2010 in S&atilde;o Paulo, Brazil. The meeting was jointly organized by the project called CUTMulti, CUT`s International Relations Secretariat, and ICEM&rsquo;s Dutch trade union affiliate, FNV Bondgenoten. 
 
The meeting was attended by trade union representatives from Brazil, the Netherlands, US, Mexico, Argentina, and Colombia, together with representatives from the Brazilian national labour centre CUT, ICEM, and Brazil&rsquo;s Social Observatory Institute. 
 
At the opening session, the general coordinator of ICEM affiliate CNQ/CUT &ndash; the National Workers Confederation of the Chemical Sector &ndash; Antenor Nakamura (Kazu) congratulated the initiative to expand the committee, and highlighted the importance of trade union networking in the chemicals sector. 
<img alt="" src="" width="320" height="147" />
Delegates put forward their expectations from the network. Marcel Tesselaar, representative of FNV Bondgenoten, the union representing headquarters workers of AkzoNobel, acknowledged that the company has different behaviours in the Netherlands from the rest of the world. &ldquo;Through meetings like this, we can create a real social dialogue process,&rdquo; he said. 
 
James Carvin, a sub-district director of ICEM&rsquo;s North American Affiliate, the United Steelworkers (USW), told the meeting that his union&rsquo;s intention is to intensify the work with the network and promised to reproduce work done in Brazil in the US. 
 
ICEM&rsquo;s Kemal &Ouml;zkan reported on the current situation of the chemical industry worldwide. A international labor standards and other tools for union action presentation was made by Jos&eacute; Drummond, with emphasis on the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, the ILO tripartite declaration for multinationals, UN Global Compact, Socio-Labor Declaration of Mercosur, ISO 26000, and various companies codes of conduct. Data on the AkzoNobel restructuring process was presented by the DIEESE. 
<img alt="" src="" width="266" height="161" />
The meeting also included country reports on existing situations at AkzoNobel plants. A plant visit to Mau&aacute;, discussions on communication of the network, its expansion and political coordination, and strengthening of the Latin American network were the major topics of the meeting programme. 
 
The activities closed on 10 December with a social dialogue session with the participation of the company`s management for South America. Some eight managers attended, including human resource managers and union relations consultants hired specially to deal with the workers network. The social dialogue debates included a presentation of the company on strategic investments in China, a report of the network on the proposals put forward in this second Latin American meeting, international labor standards, the social dialogue process, organization at the workplace, corporate social responsibility, the company&rsquo;s code of conduct, and a proposal on training and labour/union relations for the management of the company.

Latin American Union Network for AkzoNobel Held in São Paulo, Brazil

<img src="" width="100" height="39" alt="" />
Cements workers and others of Jindal Cement and its parent, Indian steel conglomerate Jindal Group or JSW, had a demonstration busted up by riot police firing gunshots over their heads in Gadivemula, India. The 4,000 demonstrators were protesting on 23 January over the misery sum Jindal offered to pay the family of a construction worker who fell and died at the cement plant. 
 
Managers called area Kurnool police used near-deadly force to disperse the workers, who then hurled rocks and other objects at police, damaging a police vehicle. Some workers were injured when they jostled with police while trying to gain entry to the cement plant. 
<img src="" width="180" height="83" alt="" />
Workers claim it was Jindal&rsquo;s negligence that led to the death of the 43-year-old worker, Bikakalagudur, who fell from a high beam while employed on construction of the company&rsquo;s Gadivemula cement works. 
 
Jindal Cement at first offered to pay only one-half the standard ex-gratia to the dead worker&rsquo;s family. 
 
Mumbai-based JSW Group, a US$8 billion concern, is busy constructing cement plants adjacent to many of the company&rsquo;s steel mills in order to take advantage of slag and flyash for use in cement manufacture.

Cement Workers in India Vehemently Protest Over Dead Colleague

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
The ICEM directed criticism at Advanced Chemical Industries Ltd. (ACI) of Bangladesh last week over 22-23 January protests inside a pharmaceutical factory in Siddhirganj, central Narayanganj district, that left one worker dead. The ICEM believes that both full-time and temporary workers were pushed to their limits by ACI Plant Manger Ishtiaque Ahmed, who exhibited notoriously cruel behaviour to workers with constant threats of dismissal. 
 
Following peaceful worker protests on 22 January, ACI management responded by calling for armed police action against nearly all 400 workers inside the plant on the following day. The ICEM learned that management refused several times in recent months to engage in earnest discussions over workers&rsquo; grievances. 
 
The ICEM&rsquo;s protest to ACI can be found <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/2.GDFSUEZunitedwatLet.pdf ">here</a>. Police fired rubber bullets and 30 canisters of tear gas on 23 January to break up the in-plant protests. One worker, 25-year-old temporary worker Enamul Huq, died from wounds suffered by he police assault. Over 100 others, including some police officers and the plant manager himself, were hospitalised. 
<img alt="" src="" width="123" height="151" />
Arrest Warrant: Beaten Worker
In the early days of last week, local Narayanganj police issued arrest for 30 named workers and another 300 whose names were not listed. 
 
The ICEM finds that the mayhem is attributable to ACI, which for too long neglected the pleas of workers and their plant-level trade union to address issues. Those issues include extended temporary work status to deserving workers, denying those workers union representation, and employing temporary workers at a sub-par level of benefits. Some temporary staff at ACI Pharmaceutical in Siddhirganj have worked as long as 12 years in unsecured job postings. 
 
The ICEM noted that nearly 400 of the plant&rsquo;s 407 workers took part in last weekend&rsquo;s protests. The ACI plant employs 167 full-time and 240 temporary workers. 
 
The ACI plant produces drug aids for human use. The plant employs 167 full-time workers and is a major Asian manufacturer, marketer, and distributor of drug aids, agri-chemical and pesticide products, and basic consumer products.

ICEM Says Bangladesh Chemical Company Provoked Riot that Killed One

<img src="" width="100" height="39" alt="" />
Release from International Textile, Garment, and Leather Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITGLWF) 
 
The Global Union representing workers in the garment industry is convened a meeting of jeans&rsquo; brands and retailers to raise awareness of the need to eliminate the use of sandblasting, a method used to give jeans a fashionably faded look. 
 
Patrick Itschert, General Secretary of the International Textile, Garment, and Leather Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITGLWF), said, &ldquo;Sandblasting is an extremely harmful process which can cause silicosis. The meeting on January 20 in Brussels provides an opportunity to hear contributions by experts, to examine best practices, to exchange points of view and to discuss further steps for action. 
<img src="" width="130" height="106" alt="" />
ITGLWF General Secretary Patrick Itschert
&ldquo;In Turkey, the world&rsquo;s third largest exporter of jeans and the only country so far where the impact of sandblasting on the health of workers has come under scrutiny, 550 former sandblasting workers have been diagnosed with silicosis since 2005 and 46 have so far died of the disease. These officially-documented cases are just the tip of the iceberg both in Turkey and globally. 
 
&ldquo;Clearly, government regulation is needed to ban the process or to enforce existing bans. However, in the absence of effective government regulation brands and retailers urgently need to take voluntary action. 
 
&ldquo;Even if brands and retailers adopt rigorous standards regarding sandblasting, there will always be suppliers that do not enforce those standards, thus putting unsuspecting workers at risk. Therefore the best policy is to ban sandblasting altogether in the garment industry. Several leading brands have already done so and we believe others should now do the same&rdquo;. 
 
Speakers at the meeting, entitled &ldquo;Towards the Elimination of Sandblasting in the Garment Industry,&rdquo; were trade union health and safety experts as well as brands that have taken the step to ban sandblasting.

ITGLWF Convenes Meeting of Jeans’ Companies on Perils of Sandblasting

<img src="" width="100" height="39" alt="" />
In early January, the ICEM learned of a major workers&rsquo; protest in al-Ferdous Square in Baghdad by Iraqi public employees and civil servants. More details are now available on that 4 January manifestation, thanks to the Federation of Workers&rsquo; Councils and Unions in Iraq (FWCUI). This legitimate protest was held to uphold work rights for Politically Dismissed Workers. 
 
An inquiry commission is about to wrongly verify documentation acknowledging the sackings of hundreds of workers from ministries and agencies within Industry, Commerce, Agriculture, Irrigation, and other departments of government over political allegiances.
<img src="" width="231" height="155" alt="" />
Public Workers Carry a Symbolic Coffin in Baghdad
The demonstration was vocal and visual, by all accounts. 
 
The manifestation&rsquo;s first demand called for the cancellation of all decisions by the inquiry commission. Secondly, the 4 January rally and march demanded that sacked workers&rsquo; dismissal periods count as actual employment and thirdly, the 500 protesters demanded a stop to proceedings of verification against the politically dismissed workers. 
<img src="" width="230" height="173" alt="" />
FWCUI President Falah Alwan
After trade union activists spoke at al-Ferdous Square, demonstrators carried a coffin as a death symbol to government officials destroying any semblance of global labour standards in this particular case. The march wound its way in central Baghdad to Square Wiz and then back again to al-Ferdous Square. 
 
The protest was widely covered by Baghdad television, radio, and print media outlets. 
 
The ICEM gives global support to Iraqi workers who exercise their legitimate rights under international labour standards.

Public Sector Workers Demand Justice for Sacked Workers in Iraq

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
A colliery in northern Notre de Santander state, Colombia, again became a death trap for miners. The La Preciosa coal mine in Sandinata municipality, where 38 miners have already perished over the past three years, was rocked by a methane gas explosion at the morning shift change on 26 January that saw 21 miners die. 
 
The locally-owned mine by La Preciosa Ltda. employs 110 staff and was ordered closed by the National Institute of Geology and Mines (Ingeominas) following the explosion. Twenty miners were killed inside a 600-metre horizontal shaft, while one worker died in an ambulance on the way to medical care. Six miners were rescued and are hospitalised in the city of C&uacute;cuta. 
 
The bodies of 16 miners were retrieved on the day of the disaster, while four were received on 27 January. 
<img alt="" src="" width="209" height="145" />
La Preciosa Miners Worry About Future
In unexpected candor, the Colombian government admitted that its mine safety laws and resources for stricter mine safety regulations are inadequate. Mining Minister Carlos Rodado arrived in Sandinata on 27 January and said the government lacks funds and staff &ndash; Ingeominas exploys only 17 mine inspectors &ndash; to monitor 6,000 legal mines. 
 
La Preciosa, which produces 3,000 tonnes of coal per month, is a legally-operated mine. But in October 2010, six miners died due to gas asphyxiation. In 2007, 32 miners died in a similar gas explosion to the one that occurred last Wednesday. In 2007, the mine stayed close for five months. 
 
A representative from an ICEM-affiliated miners&rsquo; union at another mine in Colombia said the government is too quick to award operating licenses to small- and medium-size companies which do not have the necessary mechanisms in place to monitor safe mining practices. Colombia has not ratified ILO Convention 176, the Safety and Health in Mines Convention. 
 
At a funeral service in the mountain town of San Roque on 28 January where ten of the 21 miners were remembered, thousand of residents turned out to mourn, with most residents of the mountainous town affixing Colombian flag to their homes. The mayor of Sandinata, Yamile Ragel, called the tragedy &ldquo;a crime&rdquo; that will &ldquo;not go unpunished.&rdquo; The ten were buried in a local cemetery following a Roman Catholic service. 
 
Ingeominas said that in 2010, Colombia recorded 84 mine accidents in which 173 workers died.

Methane Blast in Colombian Coal Mine Kills 21

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
An ICEM and Public Services International (PSI) affiliated trade union, Utility Workers Union of America (UWUA), has raised issue with the insolent social conduct of US managers of a subsidiary of GDF SUEZ. The conduct is pointedly contrary to standards GDF SUEZ only in November agreed to in a Global Framework Agreement (GFA) with three Global Union Federations (GUFs). 
 
The matter involves a US subsidiary of French-based GDF SUEZ, United Water Services Inc., a private utility that employs about 400 UWUA members in the US. UWUA called on the ICEM and PSI to rebuke United Water over an environment indictment levied in December by the US Justice Department, as well as troubling public comments made by United Water executives to minimize the seriousness of the alleged crimes. 
<img alt="" src="" width="112" height="112" />
After consulting with the third GUF that is signatory to the 16 November 2010 GFA, Building and Woodworkers International (BWI), the ICEM and PSI on 19 January issued the first complaint of this particular agreement, calling United Water&rsquo;s overall conduct a breach of GDF SUEZ corporate social responsibility. (That complaint can be found <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/2.GDFSUEZunitedwatLet.pdf ">here</a>.) 
On 8 December, the US government issued a set of 26 indictments against United Water for conspiracy and felony violations of the US Clean Water Act. The GDF SUEZ subsidiary and two of its executives are charged with tampering and manipulating water quality measurements at a Gary, Indiana, wastewater treatment plant that it had operated on behalf of the municipality&rsquo;s Sanitation Board. 
 
Specifically, over a five-year period, the US Justice Department charged United Water with a scheme that increased chlorine input levels immediately before US government E.Coli monitoring samples were taken, and then lowering the input levels afterward as cost-savings measures. United Water is accused of doing this 68 times. 
<img alt="" src="" width="220" height="69" />
The practice, the US government claims, poses a serious health risk to the public. 
 
The UWUA, ICEM, and PSI also took serious issue following the US Justice Department indictment with public comments made by United Water&rsquo;s president and senior vice president for Corporate Communications downplaying the charges. They stated that the indictments are mere technical disagreements, with the president of United Water, Robert Iacullo, calling the government&rsquo;s environmental charges &ldquo;an abuse of prosecutorial discretion.&rdquo; 
 
In the addendum to the GFA, GDF Suez states that it has &ldquo;responsibilities to society&rdquo; and that &ldquo;it will respect national law and regulations.&rdquo; The agreement also states: &ldquo;Among it activities, GDF Suez distributes energy and water, essential to the health and well-being of society.&rdquo; The ICEM/PSI intervention notes, &ldquo;If the US government&rsquo;s charges prove true, the discharge of untreated, or sub-standard wastewater into waterways poses a serious public health threat.&rdquo; 
 
The GUFs are currently awaiting reply from GDF SUEZ over the complaint.

US Affiliate, UWUA, Challenges GDF SUEZ Inside Global Agreement

Archive