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Nigeria’s two oil and gas workers’ unions, ICEM affiliates NUPENG and PENGASSAN, condemned the country’s privatisation of Eleme Petro Chemical Ltd. to a Thailand-based investment concern. At a joint news conference in Lagos on 10 August, the two unions called the sale of an olefins refinery at Port Harcourt to Indorama Petrochem Co. Ltd. lacking in transparency. 
 
NUPENG and PENGASSAN made documents available proving that Nigeria’s privatisation arm, the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), had undersold the state’s 75% stake in the polyethylene and polypropylene refinery and that Indorama could not secure adequate financing for the privatisation deal. The unions said BPE gave the plant to Indorama after it paid only 30% of the US$250 million selling price. Also, the government still holds a US$300 million liability on the plant. 
<img height="109" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/NigeriaNupeng.gif" width="105"/>        <img height="105" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/NigeriaPengassan.JPG" width="100"/>
The unions charged that Indorama has no proven track record in petrochemicals. Indorama, based in Bangkok, is a three-year old company that is owned by Indorama International Finance Co. Ltd. of the UK. 
 
The two oil workers’ unions, cooperating effectively under the aegis of NUPENGASSAN again, “condemns in its entirety, the whole transaction, as this action is capable of jeopardizing the future of our members and is not in the interests of Nigerians and the economy.” The statement added that state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. had “the technical know-how and competence to run and manage” the petrochemical operations.

NUPENG, PENGASSAN in Nigeria Condemn Petrochemicals Privatisation

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Trade union members of SIPTU, ICEM Irish affiliate Services, Industrial, Professional & Technical Union, began industrial action at a Smurfit Kappa paper converting plant in Togher, Cork, a week ago. The 130 paperworkers staged a one-day work stoppage on 14 August in protest to management’s refusal to introduce a non-contributory sick pay scheme. 
 
Further strikes were scheduled for today, and again next Monday, if the issue is not resolved. 
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Workers took industrial action after rejecting a recommendation from a Labour Court that would double the contribution they make toward sick leave and impose a sliding scale of payments down to just €100 a week for workers with long-term sicknesses. On average, under the court recommendation that is favoured by Smurfit Kappa, workers on sick leave would receive only a weekly payment of €127, half of which they would contribute themselves. 
 
A SIPTU representative said workers at the corrugated box plant have been fighting for a proper sick pay scheme for years. “As far as we are concerned, the Smurfit plant can well afford a non-contributory sick pay scheme,” stated Bill Mulcahy of SIPTU’s Cork No. 7 Branch. “The local plant is doing well – making profits of around €2 million last year – and the Smurfit Group as a whole has turnover in the billions.” Paperworkers at the Togher plant are also conducting a work-to-rule campaign, which includes a refusal to perform overtime work.

SIPTU Paperworkers in Ireland Take Action Against Smurfit Kappa

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The French joint trade union front against the privatisation of Gaz de France (GDF), consisting of CGT, FO, CFE-CGC, and CFTC, called for a second national manifestation day tomorrow, 3 October, in Paris and in other French cities. This new call for demonstrations follows the union’s first day of action on 12 September. 
 
Tomorrow is the day when the National Assembly in France is set to vote on proposed legislation that, if adopted, would clear the way for the government-planned merger between GDF and the Franco-Belgian utility, Suez Group. 
 
Another demonstration day is scheduled to occur 14 October. According to a report published by the unions, who quote banking sources – specifically banking giant ING – some 20,000 jobs could be lost over the next three years if the merger deal goes through. The unions have also written to President Jacques Chirac, asking him to stop the privatisation of GDF. 
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Opposition to the merger deal, which was brokered by Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin to fend off a hostile bid of Suez by Italian energy company Enel, appears to be growing, with not only opposition parties and trade unions fighting it, but also with some members of the ruling UMP Party resisting. 
 
In spite of this growing resistance, the first legal step to the merger process was taken last week when deputies in the National Assembly voted in favour of one key article of the proposed law, a measure to reduce France's stake in GDF from over 70% to 34%. However, as far as the unions are concerned, this “file has not been closed yet.” The proposed merger has yet to be voted on in its entirety, nor is it yet a done deal. 
 
The CGT, the union with the largest membership inside GDF, as well as Electricité de France (EDF), said in a statement: considering “the growing opposition by French citizens to the privatisation of GDF, it is no longer tolerable in this country for fundamental dossiers, such as the privatisation of the energy sector, to be dealt with only in the interest of one political party.” The union found it surprising that “with 80% of the French being against the privatisation, the Prime Minister announces this as a victory.” 
 
On 20 September, GDF and Suez announced a proposal of five measures, including asset transfers, in reply to the EU Commission’s anti-trust demands. FCE-CFDT seriously questions these proposed remedies forwarded by the two companies, saying wide ramifications would occur that have not been properly thought through. 
 
Problematic issues include, for example, the fact that competing companies would get easy access to a public resource without guarantees on pricing. The FCE-CFDT reiterated its demand to examine the alternative solution of developing partnerships between Suez and GDF, which would keep GDF in the public sector.

French Unions Continue Resistance to GDF-Suez Merger

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A spate of disasters in Chinese mines occurred over the past month, including two on 29 and 30 September that claimed the lives of 17 miners. In all, at least 52 deaths occurred over the past 31 days, as reported by either the State Administration of Coal Mine Safety or the official news agency Xinhua. 
 
Four miners were overcome by carbon dioxide and suffocated on 29 September at the Changsheng coal mine in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region of northwest China. A day later, 13 miners were killed after a gas explosion at the Tianlong coal mine in the town of Hada, Heilongjiang province. Eight miners were rescued in that tragedy. 
 
On 22 September, two catastrophes occurred in Yunnan and Hebei provinces. At the Songzhu coal mine in Hauping County, Yunnan, a gas combustion explosion claimed the lives of two miners, while 27 others were injured. At an iron ore mine owned by Laiyuon Iron and Steel, a landslide also killed two miners, while injuring two others. The mine is a former state-owned enterprise that was operating without a work safety permit. 
 
Two separate accidents also happened on 13 September, claiming the lives of eight miners. At the privately-owned Xiren coal mine in Jilin province, work safety officials determined that miners inadvertently opened an adjacent mine tunnel, causing mass flooding. Seven died, while another 12 either escaped or were rescued. A gas leak at the Danangou coal mine, Datong city, Shanxi province, claimed one miner, while 45 were rescued. Both of these coal operations were licensed and qualified to operate. 
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In the central Chinese province of Hubei on 3 September, a mine shaft was flooded and six miners perished. That occurred at the Zhenxing coal mine in Daye city. A day earlier, eight miners died and four were seriously injured following a methane gas explosion at an illegal coal mine in southwest province.
On 31 August, nine workers died due to a gas blast inside the Lianyi coal mine in Lianyi city, Hunan province. They were killed after the mine owner hired them to repair tunnels. The owner had failed to measure the gas density inside shafts, and the workers’ electrical tools ignited, causing the explosion. 
 
Official statistics of the State Administration of Work Safety (SAWS) state that for the first eight months of 2006, through August, mine accidents have claimed 2,900 lives. SAWS claims that this is a 25% decline over the same period in 2005. All told, China has witnessed 1,824 colliery accidents during the first eight months of 2006. 
 
Separately, the Coal Mine Safety bureau said it will close a total of 4,861 small coal operations this year and in 2007. Coal production by small mines, considered less than 30,000 tonnes annually, accounts for one-third of the country’s total production. The agency says that such mines bring two-thirds of the total deaths from Chinese mining operations.

Deaths in China’s Mines Rise in September

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The Japanese Trade Union Confederation, Rengo, continues to post solid gains for part-time workers in this spring’s set of wage negotiations. The labour federation has targeted raises for temporary workers as a priority in this spring’s shunto, or spring wage offensive, as well as delivering improved working conditions for part-timers. 
 
Rengo is also encouraging part-time workers to file lawsuits against enterprises which are not in compliance with a court ruling that says they must not receive less than 80% of full-time pay. Speaking at a meeting of representatives from local chapters on 16 June, Rengo President Tsuyoshi Takagi said the labour umbrella group would assist part-time workers to pursue such lawsuits.

Rengo Continues Spring Offensive on Behalf of Part-Time Workers

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The ICEM participated in a United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) conference in Geneva, Switzerland, 19-21 June over implementation of SAICM – the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management. 
 
The conference, attended by 90 participants from governments, industry, trade unions and NGOs, discussed how to implement SIACM principles at national level, in order to raise awareness among workers, communities and customers of chemicals, ensuring safety and risk-free management. 
 
The conference’s workshops served as the first follow-up to the adoption of SAICM ambitious goals by the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) in February 2006. Many recommendations and suggestions were developed during last week’s conference. ICEM Chemicals and Rubber Officer Michael Wolters represented the Global Union Federation at the meeting.

Management in Chemicals Sector Gets Hearing at UN’s Training and Research Agency

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The ICEM’s 2006 World Conference for the Rubber Sector will be held later this week, 6-7 April, in Istanbul, Turkey. Co-hosted by Turkish trade union Lastik-Iş, the conference will draw some 106 trade union leaders from 15 countries. 
The quadrennial conference will discuss current developments and challenges facing workers in the global rubber sector, as well as crucial collective bargaining negotiations that will occur in some countries in 2006. Rubber sector trade union leaders from Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Brazil, Denmark, France, Germany, Japan, Romania, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Turkey, the UK and USA will be in attendance at this week’s conference. The ICEM’s last Rubber Sector Conference was held in 2002 in São Paulo, Brazil, while the 1998 conference was in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

ICEM’s Rubber Sector Conference in Turkey This Week

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A last-minute compromise in Norway late in the evening on 31 March averted a strike by 38,000 industry workers. A government-appointed mediator reconciled pay and other issues between ICEM affiliate Fellesforbundet and Norsk Industri, representing some 1,000 industrial firms. 
The union was seeking adequate salary increases for 2006, preservation of an early retirement programme, called avtalefesten pensjon (AFP), and a halt to the practice of paying foreign workers lower pay rates. Government mediation, however, failed to stop a construction strike that began yesterday, 2 April, between 19,000 trade unionists of Fellesforbundet and the National Association for the Building Industry.

Norwegian Industrial Disputes Settled on Eve of Strikes

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Strikes in the Turkish cement sector, scheduled to begin Monday, were averted when ICEM affiliate Çimse-Iş and the Cement Producers’ Association (ÇMIS) arrived at a new collective bargaining agreement covering 5,000 workers at 43 cement plants. 
 
The two-year agreement, retroactive to 1 January 2006, calls for an increase of 12% this year, and an amount equal to Turkey’s consumer price index in 2007. Increases were also realised in social benefits in each of the two years. Çimse-Iş had planned strikes at 23 cement plants on 1 May, with walkouts occurring at the other 20 plants on 8 May.

Turkish Cement Industry Calm as Settlement Reached

Trade union leaders from Guinea, who have been leading efforts to topple the corrupt regime of President Lansano Conté in the west African country, were in Brussels on 26-27 March, and they appealed to global trade unions to continue to apply pressure for democratic change there. 
 
The national centre leaders, which included the leader of ICEM’s mining union affiliate in Guinea, visited the ICEM on 27 March. They told of the continued impasse to dissolve the corrupt and authoritative government of Conté – despite the appointment of an acceptable prime minister – and they addressed the rampant poverty that has swallowed the resource-rich country, due primarily to that corruption. 
 
The three included: Rabiatou Sereh Diallo, General Secretary of the National Confederation of Workers of Guinea (CNTG); Dr. Ibrahima Fofana, General Secretary of the Trade Union of Workers of Guinea (USTG); and Yamodou Touré, General Secretary of the National Organisation of Free Trade Unions of Guinea (ONSLG), who also heads the National Union of Mine and Quarry Workers (SYNAMIC). 
<img height="253" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/0703Guinea2.jpg" width="380"/>
From left to right: Ibrahima Fofana, Rabiatou Sereh Diallo, Manfred Warda and Yamodou Touré
Guinea’s trade unions have become the voice and courage for all of civil society as they led mass strikes against Conté and his military regime last year, and again in January and February of this year. In January, the three leaders were arrested for leading the three-week general strike, and the arrests were interlocked with direct negotiations with Conté, talks that did make modest progress toward democratic reform. 
Conté's presidential guards killed a total of 113 people during this year's crisis. 
 
The Brussels visit was made possible by the ITUC, and included a visit to the European Union’s Commission. 
 
At the ICEM, Rabi Diallo said the January-February general strike was only a partial success, and civil society is now waiting for new Prime Minister Lansana Kouyate to re-shape a government that will address the needs of the people. “The stumbling block is that the president is still in power,” she said. “The commitments we have gained have not been implemented, so our struggle continues. Nothing is a given yet.” 
 
Dr. Fofana added, “We have initiated the first step, that government must be responsible to the people. We took action, the state tried to stop us, but we have persevered.” Fofana and the others are calling for an international conference of trade union and civil society groups to be held in Guinea this year. The conference is intended to promote proper social dialogue inside the country, as well “as to show the whole world what is occurring in Guinea today,” according to Fofana. 
<img height="115" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Guinea.png" width="250"/>
Yamodou Touré said the two biggest obstacles facing workers in Guinea are corrupt bosses, and the need for overhaul and drastic revisions to labour code and collective labour agreements. The three trade union leaders specifically told ICEM of the problems in Guinea’s mining sector, where taxes that are charged to global companies end up in personal accounts of Conté and his cronies. 
 
The country holds roughly half of the world’s reserves of bauxite, the chief mineral in the manufacture of aluminium, and also is a significant producer of copper, gold, and diamonds. 
 
The trade unionists said Russian bauxite producer RUSAL is a real problem in Guinea. The company, which operates the Friguia alumina plant, as well as serving as the managing partner in a joint venture with Conté’s corrupt regime, called Compagnie des Bauxite de Kindia, utilises child labour in many of its work areas. The company also relies heavily on subcontractors, “phantom” companies which are tied to Conté’s associates. 
 
These enterprises operate in the black, and are the worst abusers of workers’ rights in a country in which workplace rights are nearly non-existent. 
 
After meeting with ICEM Gen. Sec. Manfred Warda and ICEM staff, Warda stated, “The people of Guinea deserve our support and solidarity. They are living and working under the worst circumstances imaginable. It is incumbent for global trade unions to follow the lead of Guinea’s heroic unions, and to join their struggle for justice and democratic reforms.”

Struggle Continues for Trade Unionists in Bringing Democracy to Guinea

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