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The ICEM teamed with NOPEF, Norway’s dominant oil workers’ union, to bring a set of highly successful workshops to women of Palestine’s General Union of Petroleum, Mining and Chemicals Workers' Union. The Palestinian workshops occurred last month, 10-12 June, in neighboring Jordan.
Contents
 <a href="#pal">1. Palestine – ICEM and NOPEF Hold Women’s Training Session</a> 
<a href="#2">2. Botswana – ICEM African Women’s Committee Meeting</a> 
<a href="#coun">3. Council of Europe – Inequality Has a Price</a>  
<a href="#3">4. Jordan – Women Workers are Discriminated Against</a>  
<a href="#4">5. Kuwait – Women Vote for the First Time</a> 
<a href="#5">6. Nepal – Third National Women’s Conference Demands More Women’s Representation</a> 
<a href="#6">7. Pakistan – Working Women Organization Protests Against 18th Century Laws in the 21st Century</a> 
<a href="#res">From our Readers</a> 
<a href="#8">8. Switzerland – Women Demand Equal Pay for Equal Work</a> 
<a href="#9">9. United Kingdom – Black Women are in Low Paid and Low-status Jobs</a> 
<a href="#10">10. United States – Goodyear Discriminates Against Women</a> 
<a href="#11">11. ILO: New Forms of Violence at Work Are on the Rise Worldwide</a> 
<a href="#12">12. Resources</a>
<img height="25" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/womenlogo.jpg" width="20"/><a name="pal"></a><a name="1"></a>
1. Palestine – ICEM and NOPEF Hold Women’s Training Session  
 
From 10-12 June 2006, the ICEM organised training for women women workers who are members of the General Union of Petroleum, Mining and Chemicals Workers' Union of Palestine in Amman, Jordan.
The course provided training on women’s health as well as collective bargaining. The aim is to develop women’s leadership in the union. The point was mostly to understand how gender affects men and women differently in all areas of life, from privatization to health issues. 
 
Turid Øygard from NOPEF made a presentation on women in Norway and their roles in unions and working life. She also led group work on democracy in trade unions. 
 
The women concluded that they needed more self-confidence and self-esteem. The intifada has influenced women. But women are able to fight and should be accepted as fighters. As a next step, the women seek to create more awareness among men on the role they are capable of fulfilling. 
<img height="230" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/0606CBJordan2.jpg" width="350"/>
<a href="#back">Back Up</a> 
<img height="25" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/womenlogo.jpg" width="20"/><a name="2"></a>
2. Botswana – ICEM African Women’s Committee Meeting 
The highlights of the meeting included the election of Baru Gaithoboge as vice-chair of the ICEM’s African Regional Women’s Committee. Baru’s election will boost the representation of African women at ICEM events. Congratulations to Baru. 
The women reported that the general secretaries in Namibia and Zimbabwe were still resistant to forming joint ICEM women’s structures. 
In Nigeria, the affiliated unions held a women’s meeting in 2005 and are planning to hold another one in 2006. Ghana has embarked upon community development by training mineworkers’ wives. 
Fabian Nkomo, project coordinator for the shop steward development programme in Africa, reported on the project in Namibia, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Botswana and Tanzania. He said the project was supposed to increase the level of activity targeted toward women. Thus women would be enlisted to strengthen unions, not least of all in connection with dues payments. 
Thanks to Oluchi Okorie from NUPENG in Nigeria for providing this report! 
<a href="#back">Back Up</a>
<img height="25" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/womenlogo.jpg" width="20"/><a name="2"></a>
3. Council of Europe – Inequality Has a Price <a name="coun"></a>
The Sixth European Ministerial Conference on Equality between Women and Men was held in Stockholm on 8-9 June 2006. The conference focused on the economic advantages that equality entails. 
According to the Swedish equality minister, economies in the most equal societies have higher growth rates. The highest cost to society is generated by domestic violence. 
Spanish figures show that violence toward women costs Spain €2.4 billion a year, which entails hospital costs, psychological assistance, legal costs and work absenteeism. 
In Finland, inequality is estimated to cost €17.4 per person. In the UK, inequality is estimated to cost each person up to €555 per year in terms of health costs and social costs. UK authorities have calculated that if women participated in the labour market there to the same extent as men, the government would take in between €22 billion and €34.5 billion euros more per year. 
In Sweden, the argument is that women continue working after the birth of their children, which in turn yields more tax income to the government. This allows further investment in childcare, thus allowing more Swedish women to enter the workforce. In Sweden, 40% of women, however, work part-time, and that brings a dramatic effect to their pensions. With women on average living longer than men, they have less money available to them in retirement. 
For more information, see <a href="http://www.coe.int/equality-conference">www.coe.int/equality-conference</a>. 
<a href="#back">Back Up</a>
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4. Jordan – Women Workers are Discriminated Against
In Jordan, women workers are discriminated against and are often paid below the legal minimum wage, even with the recent increase in the minimum wage. 
The government increased the monthly minimum wage to US$142 in May to help defray higher costs of living due to higher fuel prices. Some women were earning only US$60 before the wage increase for working 10 to 12 hour days, and may continue to not be paid the full legal wage. 
This is due to the fact that women are “reluctant to file lawsuits against employers for fear of retaliation,” and also because of inadequate implementation of labour laws, according to the General Federation of Jordanian Trade Unions. 
Over 200,000 Jordanians in the workforce are women, the majority of whom come from impoverished families. Unemployment is almost 15%, and one-fifth of the 5.5 million people living in Jordan live below the poverty line.
<a href="#back">Back Up</a>
<img height="25" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/womenlogo.jpg" width="20"/><a name="4"></a>
5. Kuwait – Women Vote for the First Time 
Kuwait’s first parliamentary elections in which women could vote were a victory for political reformists but a disappointment for female candidates, none of whom won a seat to the governing body. In total, 27 women ran in the recent elections. Women had won the right to vote and run for office last year. 
Female votes accounted for 57% of the electorate. Women turned out in large numbers to vote for the first time. Before women won the right to vote, members of Parliament had resisted granting them suffrage with the argument that it contradicted Islam. This year’s elections were seen to be crucial, as they affected reforms and economic development programmes. 
<a href="#back">Back Up</a>
<img height="25" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/womenlogo.jpg" width="20"/><a name="5"></a>
6. Nepal – Third National Women’s Conference Demands More Women’s Representation 
Nepal’s Parliament adopted a declaration setting the minimum for women’s participation at 33% at all levels. Now the question is to implement this standard. 
At the Third National Women’s Conference, the representative of the All Nepal Women’s Association presented a road map for women’s participation. The other thematic issues had to do with the changes in laws to prevent discrimination. 
GEFONT Deputy General Secretary and ICEM Vice President Binda Pandey presented a comparative analysis on programmes, achievements and challenges between the Second and Third National Women Workers’ Conferences. Altogether, 616 women from the rank and file attended this most recent conference. The conference outcomes will be used to develop policy. 
 
Women in Nepal earn NPR 80, while men earn NPR 100-150 (NPR 100 = US$ 1.36). The rates have been frozen for ten years. Men are said to be stronger, work harder and produce more, which is why it is possible to pay women less. 
<a href="#back">Back Up</a>
<img height="25" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/womenlogo.jpg" width="20"/><a name="6"></a>
7. Pakistan – Working Women Organization Protests Against 18th Century Laws in the 21st Century 
On 23 June, thousands of workers took to the streets all over Pakistan to protest against the amendments in labour laws that set minimum working time of 12 hour per day, and exclude piece rate workers from overtime payment. 
The Working Women Organization staged agitation and expressed their anger about workers’ poor conditions, shameful amendments to the laws and the violation of ILO standards. The changes in labour law will enable employers to exploit workers even more, and especially women workers who already have irregular work, long working hours, dangerous working conditions, very low wages and no right of organization. 
<a href="#back">Back Up</a>
<img height="25" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/womenlogo.jpg" width="20"/><a name="res"></a>
From our Readers: 
 
Jumana Jodi Dreraghmi from the Palestine General Federation of Trade Unions writes that she is now using the methods she learned in the course. She divides people up into groups and everyone gives their views. She is preparing a meeting on 7 July to share what she learned from the Amman workshops with other Palestinian women. 
<a href="#back">Back Up</a>
<img height="25" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/womenlogo.jpg" width="20"/>
<a name="8"></a>
8. Switzerland – Women Demand Equal Pay for Equal Work 
 
Women in Switzerland called for the wage gap to be closed between women and men ten years after the equal opportunities law first came into force. The nationwide campaign is distributing cards shaped like 50-franc notes, which are depicted as being worth only CHF39, thus representing the reality of the workplace. 
Unia, an ICEM affiliate and the country’s largest trade union, marked the campaign by calling on those in the retail sector to pay their female employees more. According to a study, women receive 12.7% less than their male colleagues, amounting annually to CHF1 billion. 
Unia reports that discrimination is also rampant in businesses that employ more than 2,500 employees. In 2004, women earned on average CHF4,781 gross per month, whereas the figure for men was CHF5,953, amounting to a difference of 19.7%. In 2002, that difference was 20.7%. 
<a href="#back">Back Up</a>
<img height="25" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/womenlogo.jpg" width="20"/><a name="9"></a>
9. United Kingdom – Black Women are in Low Paid and Low-status Jobs 
The Trades Union Congress (TUC) of the UK released a report entitled Black Women and Employment, which was originally presented at the Black Workers’ Conference in 2006. The report looks at the barriers black women face to gaining employment and then progressing in their jobs. 
The government, according to the report, must take initiatives to combat race and sex discrimination in employment. Facts reveal that black and minority ethnic women are more likely to be unemployed or economically inactive than any other group in the labour market. 
Black and minority ethnic women suffer from cultural stereotyping by employers that result in them having to take jobs at lower skills levels than match their qualifications. Also, black and minority ethnic women are disproportionately likely to be working in temporary jobs. 
The TUC believes that there is a need for concerted and coordinated action by government and trade unions through collective bargaining to eliminate race and sex discrimination in the labour market and in society, through legislative and community-based initiatives. 
The organisation and recruitment of black women is vital if future progress is to be made in addressing the problems that black women face in the workplace, and in encouraging increased participation in the trade union movement. 
<a href="#back">Back Up</a>
<img height="25" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/womenlogo.jpg" width="20"/><a name="10"></a>
10. United States – Goodyear Discriminates Against Women 
The US Labor Department has sued Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., alleging hiring discrimination against hundreds of women who sought jobs in the late 1990s. The lawsuit seeks to force Goodyear to hire, pay back wages, and provide retroactive seniority and other benefits to the women who were denied employment. 
In 1998 and 1999, Goodyear followed a “hiring process and selection procedures that discriminated against hundreds of female applicants for entry-level positions on the basis of gender,” said the Labor Department in a statement. A spokesperson for Goodyear denied the charges and claims that Goodyear is working to resolve the matter. 
<a href="#back">Back Up</a>
<img height="25" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/womenlogo.jpg" width="20"/><a name="11"></a>
11. ILO: New Forms of Violence at Work Are on the Rise Worldwide 
Violence at work, ranging from bullying and mobbing, to threats to psychologically unstable co-workers, sexual harassment and homicide, is increasing worldwide and has reached epidemic levels in some countries. This is according to the ILO study, Violence at Work, Third Edition. 
The global cost of workplace violence is enormous and costs untold millions of dollars in losses due to absenteeism and sick leave, among other causes. It also notes that professions that used to be sheltered from workplace violence such as teaching, social services, library services and health care are being exposed to increasing acts of violence in both developed and developing countries. 
Bullying, harassment, mobbing and similar behaviour can be just as damaging as outright physical violence, according to the report. 
Today, the instability of many types of jobs places huge pressures on workplaces, leading to more such violence. In developing countries, the most vulnerable workers include women, migrants and children, according to the report. 
In Malaysia, 11,851 rape and molestation cases at workplaces were reported between 1997 and mid-2001. Widespread sexual harassment and abuse were major concerns in South Africa, Ukraine, Kuwait and Hong Kong, states the report. 
<a href="#back">Back Up</a>
<img height="25" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/womenlogo.jpg" width="20"/><a name="12"></a>
12. Resources: 
See <a href="http://www.payscale.com/">www.payscale.com</a> to compare your salary. 
 
ILO study on “Decent Working Time: New Trends, New Issues,” available at 
<a href="http://www.ilo.org/public/english/bureau/inf/pr/2006/28.htm">www.ilo.org/public/english/bureau/inf/pr/ 
2006/28.htm</a> 
 
ILO study on “Changing Patterns in the World of Work,” available at 
<a href="http://www.ilo.org/public/english/standards/relm/ilc/ilc95/reports.htm">www.ilo.org/public/english/standards/relm/ilc/ 
ilc95/reports.htm</a>
<a href="#back">Back Up</a>

ICEM WOMEN’S BULLETIN N° 13

<img height="40" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief 1.gif" width="100"/>
Oil fields workers’ in southern Chad launched a three-day strike against Esso-Tchad, US-based ExxonMobil’s operating unit there, over wage discrimination and neglect over implementation of a career development plan by the oil and gas supermajor. Oil workers in Chad are also upset that the money produced through their labours is not reflected in their socioeconomic standing. 
 
The strike by over 400 workers lasted from 4 to 6 July in the Doba oil fields of Kome, Miandoum, and Bolobo. Oil workers served notice that future strikes would occur, possibly production of the 200,000 barrel-a-day output sent through the three-year-old Chad-Cameroon pipeline, unless workers’ demands are met. The strike was caused by Esso-Tchad when it placed an inferior pay offer before the workers a day before the walkout began. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/ICEMOil.JPG" width="100"/>
Management offered a pay increase of only 7.5%, while workers are seeking 25% in order to bring pay levels closer to oil workers on the transit side of the upstream development in Cameroon. Chad’s national labour centre, Union des Syndicats de Tchad (UST), is assisting oil workers in talks. 
 
In March, the union representing the workers issued demands in the form of a statement that called out the unequal pay practices between oil workers in Chad and Cameroon, and charged that a phantom “career progression plan had never been seen by the Chadian personnel, who continue to receive a salary that is not equivalent to the services rendered or the socioeconomic situation.” Esso-Tchad made no response to those demands. 
 
The Doba fields, connected to the Cameroon port of Kribi by a 1,063-kilometre pipeline, belong to a consortium of oil companies, with ExxonMobil holding 40%, Malaysia’s Petronas 35%, and US-based Chevron a 25% stake. The World Bank-funded development project became mired in controversy when, in January 2006, Chad’s government changed the bank’s financial arrangements, and diverted monies away from poverty relief and social programmes to counter civil strife, leading to a mass of refugees entering eastern Chad from the Sudan. 
 
With a stalemate brought by the World Bank’s dispute with Chad’s government, ExxonMobil decided to stop royalty payments to the government of Chad, worth some US$20 million per month, which further choked resources in one of the world’s poorest countries. 
 
The World Bank-sponsored Chad-Cameroon pipeline has been plagued by other labour and human rights problems as well. In September 2005, Chad’s national gendarmerie broke up peaceful protests by contract workers who had been denied overtime pay while employed by Chad-Cameroon Constructors, the oil companies’ consortium building the pipeline. The police action left three dead and three seriously injured.

Chad’s Oil Workers Target ExxonMobil for Strike Action

<img height="40" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief.gif" width="100"/>
The ongoing protests across Thailand seeking the resignation of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra were joined last week by thousands of public utilities’ workers, taking personal leave to march in the streets. Unions at the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT), the Metropolitan Electricity Authority and other state utility enterprises encouraged workers to join the protests on 13 and 14 March, with senior level EGAT managers assisting by granting all requests for leave from workers. 
<img height="464" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/0603Thaiprotest.jpg" width="300" alt=""/>
The State Enterprise Relations Confederation, made up of these public service labour unions, called a general assembly on the same days, in efforts to get workers to participate in protests. 
A mass rally was held at Sanam Luang, Monday, 13 March, continuing into the next day when 100,000 people marched on the Government House to present a petition demanding Thaksin’s resignation. The workers and the utility unions of Thailand are also using the protests to demand an end to Thaksin-led efforts to privatise the state enterprises, a major undercurrent leading to the call for the billionaire’s resignation.

Thai Public Utility Unions March Against Thaksin

British trade union and ICEM affiliate Amicus began strike action today at International Paper Co.’s Inverurie Mill in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Bargaining to achieve a pay increase for 231 Amicus members failed this week, and the union will go ahead with a four-hour strike beginning at 16.00 today. 
<img height="82" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/UKAmicus.jpg" width="160"/>
“Talks broke down yesterday after the management put forward a deal we had already rejected,” said Amicus Aberdeen Branch official Willie Wallace. “There has to be an increase in the hourly rate if there is any chance of reaching an agreement.” 
 
The US-based company proposed a pay freeze for 2006, and a small one-off payment in 2007. Workers at the paper mill have been contributing 3% of their weekly earnings for two consecutive years now in order to fill a gap in the company’s pension scheme. 
 
Amicus Assistant General Secretary Tony Burke said industrial actions will escalate if the company does not move from its pay freeze. “Our officials and union stewards want to resolve this, but the company doesn’t seem to want to.” 
 
Amicus union members at the mill took a vote for industrial action on 10 March that passed by a four-to-one margin. The union has reached reasonable settlements for other workers in UK’s paper industry. 
The ICEM today sent a <a href="/index.php?id=19&doc=1720&la=EN" type="internal">letter of support</a> to Amicus and the Inverurie paperworkers.

Strike Action Today at International Paper’s Scottish Mill

Whereas, nine trade unions from eight countries met in Brussels on March 22 and 23 to discuss common problems faced by workers at DuPont Company, a multinational chemical company headquatered in the U.S.
Whereas, this meeting was organized in cooperation with the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers’ Unions, representing 20 million workers throughout the world; 
 
Whereas, the following unions were present at the meeting: 
<ul>
 <li>Gewerkschaft der Chemiearbeiter Österreichs (Austria) </li>
 <li>La Centrale Générale/FGTB (Belgium) </li>
 <li>LBC-NVK/CSC (Belgium) </li>
 <li>CNQ-CUT (Brazil) </li>
 <li>3F (Denmark) </li>
 <li>FCE-CFDT (France) </li>
 <li>IG BCE (Germany) </li>
 <li>FNV Bondgenoten (Netherlands) </li>
 <li>USW (USA) </li>
</ul>
Whereas, there was a free and open discussion among the trade unions present and a full exchange of opinions and ideas; 
 
Whereas, the key issues addressed by the trade unionists included 
<ul>
 <li>the out-sourcing of DuPont’s human resource functions; </li>
 <li>growing concern about worker and community exposure to PFOA (C8) from Teflon-related chemicals; </li>
 <li>lack of full company reporting of accidents; </li>
 <li>company support of union-busting in the United States, and </li>
 <li>the lack of a business strategy or an adequate response for dealing with redundancies in Europe at DuPont’s performance coating business; </li>
</ul>
Therefore be it resolved that all of the trade unions present at the meeting hereby form the Global Union Network of DuPont Workers to share information and develop strategies to protect DuPont workers and the communities where the live; 
 
Be it further resolved that the Global Union Network of DuPont Workers invites other trade unions to become members; 
 
Be it further resolved that the Global Union Network of DuPont Workers will exist to exchange information and to coordinate trade union strategy to address ongoing problems at DuPont.

Resolution from the ICEM Global Union Network of DuPont workers

Trade unionists from 8 countries, gathering today in Brussels, Belgium, established the ICEM Global Union Network of DuPont workers. 
 
Linking workers employed by DuPont anywhere in the world, this new global trade union network aims to establish efficient co-operation and practical international solidarity between the different trade unions that represent DuPont’s workforce in their respective countries. Its main ambitions are the exchange of information and company strategies, useful for collective bargaining, as well as the planning of joint action where necessary. 
The unions at this inaugural meeting represent workers from Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands and the United States. 
<img height="233" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/0603DuPont.JPG" width="350"/>
Set up under the auspices of the ICEM, the network will be administered by the United Steel Workers (USW), ICEM's largest affiliate in North America. The network is the ICEM’s ninth global company network. ICEM Global Company Networks link, on a worldwide basis, workers and their representatives working for the same multinational company. 
<img height="82" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/USAUSW.jpg" width="150"/>
DuPont, a key player in the global chemistry industry, employs around 60.000 people world-wide, the majority of which are in the United States. The company is based in Wilmington, state of Delaware, and operates in over 70 countries. DuPont has a long standing history of industrial problems in the United States, where it continues to bitterly fight against trade union representation. 
 
The first meeting of the Global Union Network of DuPont workers adopted a resolution to guide its work. You can find the resolution here: <a href="/index.php?id=4&la=EN&doc=1722" type="internal">/index.php?id=4&la=EN&doc=1722</a>.  
 
In the resolution, a number of key problems are mentioned. These include: 
<ul>
 <li>the out-sourcing of DuPont’s human resource functions </li>
 <li>the growing concern about worker and community exposure to PFOA (C8) from Teflon-related chemicals </li>
 <li>the lack of full company reporting of accidents </li>
 <li>company support of union-busting in the United States </li>
 <li>the lack of a business strategy in Europe regarding DuPont’s performance coating business </li>
</ul>
“After this successful start of the network, we trust that we will be able to reach the vast majority of all DuPont’s workers world-wide through the participation from trade unions in all parts of the world”, said Michael Wolters, ICEM Chemical and Rubber Industry Officer. “It is only by working together globally that we can match the worldwide operations of multinational companies.”

Global DuPont Trade Union Network Launched

<img height="40" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief 1.gif" width="100" alt=""/>
Workers at Turkey’s state oil company, Tupras, members of ICEM affiliate Petrol-Iş, went on a day-long strike 28 March in protest to the postponement of a definitive ruling that would cancel the 51% sale of the oil company to a private company. 
The union won, on 2 February, a preliminary ruling from Turkey’s highest court, the Council of State, which blocked the US$4.14 billion sale to a consortium led by Koc Holdings and Royal Dutch Shell. The final ruling was scheduled to be handed down by the Council of State on 27 March, but is now delayed until 25 April. 
Workers halted production at Tupras’ four refineries, Izmit, Izmir, Kirikkale and Batman, as well as at a petrochemical plant located next to the Izmit refinery.

Petrol-Iş in Turkey Strikes Tupras Oil Refineries

Please send a message to 
(with a copy to the ICEM - <a href="mailto:info@icem.org">info@icem.org</a>) 
 
François YAO 
General Secretary SYNASEG 
E-mail : <a href="mailto:ykokora@cie.ci">ykokora@cie.ci</a> 
Fax :+225 21 23 38 25 
 
 
 
 
Dear Colleagues, 

Re: Your strike against CIE 
We have learned through the ICEM that you will be on strike against CIE from October 30 to November 1. 
 
We understand that for a long time, CIE has been using the following tactics in an attempt to weaken your union 
 
• Refusal to enter into dialog, and applying dilatory measures 
• Hindered union freedoms by prohibiting the posting of union notices, and refused to allow holding union meetings, etc. 
• Violated the union fees check-off agreement, by withholding fees, abusively use fees that have been collected in favour of third parties. 
• Arbitrary creation and use of a Mutual Investment Fund (FCP in its French acronym) supposed to benefit employees but which proceedings are not used in favour of workers whereas they are the only contributors. 
 
We fully support your decision to call for a strike this week and demand that CIE immediately open unconditional negotiations with SYNASEG. 
 
In Solidarity,

Model support letter for SYNASEG campaign

<img height="40" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief 1.gif" width="100"/>
ICEM Canadian affiliate Power Workers’ Union (PWU) supports the efforts of a Canadian company to build more nuclear power capability in the province of Ontario. Bruce Power, a privately held electric generating company based in Ontario, announced recently that it would begin the licensing process with federal and provincial regulators to construct more nuclear reactors. 
“The government of Ontario is clear on its direction to keep nuclear generation in Ontario’s electricity mix,” said PWU President Don MacKinnon. “We support any actions that begin the process of planning for the future of nuclear power.” 
<img height="48" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/CanadaPWU.jpg" width="269"/>
Bruce Power currently operates six nuclear reactors, with two other units currently under re-construction and expected back on line in 2009. The company is the source of 20% of Ontario’s power supply and has the capability to generate 6,200 megawatts. Bruce Power is seeking regulatory and licensing approval from the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission under the country’s Environmental Assessment Act to conduct more reactors that would begin operation after 2015. 
PWU is the largest electricity union in Ontario, and has union membership in all of the provinces nuclear and coal-fired power plants. The PWU also represents workers in hydroelectric, gas, oil, and biomass generation plants, as well as in regulatory and research aspects of the industry.

PWU in Canada Supports Efforts to Build More Nuclear Reactors

The 20-million-member International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine & General Workers Unions (ICEM), the Global Union Federation for oil and gas workers, condemned today the hostile actions of Iran toward a Romanian-owned oil rig in the Persian Gulf. On Tuesday, 22 August, Iranian gunboats fired on the rig Orizont, owned by Grup Servicii Petroliere (GPS), before boarding the vessel and holding 26 workers hostage. 
 
The violent and life-threatening actions by Iran were over a commercial dispute in which GPS had terminated services to a Dubai-based company, Oriental Oil Company, which had sub-leased development and production in the Iranian South Pars gas fields, off Hengam Island, to Petro Iran Development Company (Pedco), a subsidiary of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC).
<img height="67" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Iranflag.gif" width="120"/>         <img height="67" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/RomaniaFlag.gif" width="100"/>
Nineteen of the workers are members of ICEM-affiliated trade union Federatia Sindicatelor Libere si Independente din Industria Petroliera (FSLI Petrom) of Romania, while seven are of Indian descent and working for a catering company. 
 
“It is totally unacceptable and reprehensible to place innocent workers’ physical safety at risk, as Iran’s armed forces did in this matter,” said ICEM General Secretary Fred Higgs. “We understand that a commercial dispute was in progress between the companies, and this dispute must be settled through negotiation and the civil process.” 
 
The Orizont rig was under maintenance at the time, in Iranian waters and a very short distance from international waters. After boarding the vessel, Iranian armed forces kept the crew on the rig’s heliport for several hours without food and water. They then allowed the crew to return to other quarters, but cut off all communications between the workers and GPS. 
 
“The Iranian forces had no right to threaten our union members in this way,” said FSLI Petrom Vice President Florin Bercea. “It is an unnecessary demonstration of force by Iran, and our union condemns these hostile actions by the government of Iran.” 
<img height="123" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/RomaniaPetrom.jpg" width="300"/>
Bercea added that workers’ families are deeply concerned over the safety of their loved ones, and the Romanian trade union has reached out to them in order to facilitate direct communication with the oil workers. 
 
The commercial dispute between GPS and Oriental Oil occurred after the Romanian company terminated a contract in April 2006 after Oriental failed to get a renewed bank letter of credit for work this year. Prior to Iran taking military action on Tuesday, the dispute over the removal of Romanian rigs from Iran’s gas fields to maintenance facilities elsewhere had been taken up in Iranian courts, as well as brought before other international bodies. 
 
The ICEM represents the global interests of 379 affiliated trade unions in 123 countries.

Condemnation Towards Iran on Attacking Romanian Oil Rig

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