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 2021-2025

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

Logos of IndustriALL Global Union

Press

<img height="40" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief 1.gif" width="100"/>
On 8 March, ICEM affiliate IGBCE and BAVC, the chemical employers’ association in Germany, came to terms on a 14-month renewal contract covering 550,000 chemical workers. The contract includes adequate pay gains, but, more importantly, continues a trend of job growth inside Germany’s chemicals sector. 
 
A salary increase of 3.6% is the base of the agreement. Workers will also receive an extra payment of 0.7% of their salary, times 13 months, before 30 June 2007 as a one-off. An additional lump sum tied to training is also included. 
 
“The percentage increase, combined with the one-time payment, gives us an increase of 4.3%,” said IGBCE Head of Collective Bargaining, Werner Bischoff. “This is an acceptable and a decent compromise.” Bischoff said protests by workers after the first round of national talks on 8 February had moved the BAVC at the bargaining table. 
<img height="200" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Germany.png" width="200"/>
The IGBCE also won rights for 16,800 training placements to occur in 2007 and 2008, a proud achievement for the union in a four-year-old programme to retain and develop highly-skilled German chemical workers. 
 
“It is good that we continue the efforts in the area of training at this high level,” said Bischoff, adding that the IGBCE and chemical employers succeeded in meeting social responsibility goals. 
 
The renewal agreement, which effectively covers some 19,000 chemical employers, also calls for 2009 and 2010 levels of new training jobs to be determined inside collective bargaining. Bischoff noted that, through the 8 March agreement reached in Lahnstein, the IGBCE’s “Future through Training” programme, which began in the 2003’s round of collective bargaining, is now engendered until at least 2010.

IGBCE Secures Wage Gains, Furthers Job Opportunities in Germany’s Chemicals Sector

<img height="40" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief 1.gif" width="100"/>
Union members of ICEM affiliate Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Union (LHMU) of Australia began industrial action 8 March at a tyre factory in Salisbury, South Australia. The 500-member workforce voted on 2 March for strike action due to wide differences in future wage increases. LHMU began four-hour work stoppages last Thursday. 
 
Bridgestone responded by issuing temporary suspensions to some workers, claiming the suspensions were necessary due to production cuts. Management issued the suspensions without consultation with the union. LHMU has informed the company that an overtime ban is in effect all this week, and that a 24-hour strike will begin on 19 March. 
<img height="56" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/AUSTRALIALHMU.gif" width="350" alt=""/>
Bridgestone had initially offered either a three-year contract with wage hikes of 4% over the entire contract, or a 6% increase over four years. That was modified to 6% over three years, with a bonus payment of A$2,000 per worker and productivity bonuses that could total A$3,000. Workers are seeking a 4% increase for each year of the renewal agreement. Talks have been ongoing for nearly a year. 
 
LHMU claims workers at the auto and truck tyre plant have been struggling to win adequate wage increases just to keep pace with inflation. “For the past six years, they’ve received an annual raise of just 3%,” said LHMU Organiser Jim Watson. “Now the company wants to offer them even less.” 
 
On the day of the 8 March job action, LHMU members at the tyre factory received the solidarity of the United Steelworkers (USW) of North America in a letter. The USW is currently engaged with Bridgestone in difficult talks in the US, covering 5,000 workers at eight factories. 
<img height="102" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Australia.png" width="200"/>
“The USW has a history of difficult negotiations with Bridgestone,” wrote Executive Vice President for Rubber, Ron Hoover. “One lesson we have learned in our dealings with Bridgestone and other companies is that union power is bolstered when unions across the globe stand together in disputes with common employers. 
 
“We are happy to stand together with LHMU in its current effort to achieve a fair contract with Bridgestone,” pledged Hoover. 
 
Japan-based Bridgestone Corporation is currently engaged in a share buy-back plan, totalling A$50 million, of Bridgestone Australia Ltd., which would make the company privately-held and a direct subsidiary of the Japanese parent.

Bridgestone Workers in Australia Take Industrial Action for Fair Gains

<img height="40" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief%201.gif" width="100"/>
On the eve of critical Nigerian national and state elections, the country’s two national labour centers elected the two presidents of both ICEM’s oil workers’ unions to key positions. 
 
Comrade Peter Esele, president of white-collar PENGASSAN Union, was elected President-General of the Trade Union Congress (TUC) of Nigeria on 3 March in Lagos. The TUC is a newly-formed association of 22 unions, representing some 2.5 million senior staff in varying services and industries. 
 
Two weeks earlier, Peter Akpatason, president of blue-collar NUPENG, was elected Trustee of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC). 
<img height="124" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/NigeriaNupeng.gif" width="120"/>      <img height="116" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/NigeriaPengassan.JPG" width="110"/>
For the first time since 1999, the 38 affiliates of the NLC have new leadership. Comrade Adams Oshiomhole was given a rousing send-off as a dynamic trade union leader. Abdul Waheed Omar, president of the Nigerian Union of Teachers, won election as President of NLC on 17 February. Oshiomhole has left his trade union post to seek election as governor of Edo State from a multi-party alliance that includes the Labor Party and the Action Congress Party. 
 
In a message to the NLC’s 9th National Delegates’ Conference at Abuja, Oshiomhole commended the role the four-million-member NLC has played in the enhancement of the welfare of workers, the consolidation of democracy inside Nigeria, and the war against corruption. 
 
He said that democracy with all its imperfections was better than the most benign dictatorship. Oshiomhole added that the NLC has become a democratic, independent, socially responsible, and effective organisation that commanded the confidence of workers, trusted by the public, and respected by the government and employers. 
<img height="115" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Nigeria.png" width="250"/>
The national and state elections in April will be held at a time when security for oil and other workers in Nigeria is seriously threatened, and when corruption among public officials is rampant. Lack of development and job opportunities for local people in the oil-rich Niger Delta has spawned scores of ransom kidnappings, while theft, or bunkering, of petrol from pipelines has jeopardized public security.
Last week, for instance, a communiqué issued by NUPENG typifies what workers face in Nigeria. The union issued a 21-day ultimatum to police in the Port Harcourt zone to halt the “illegal extortion of money from tanker drivers by the police.” The statement added that on most occasions, tanker drivers are “unnecessarily delayed to the point of breaking their resistance, to offer money as ransom before they are eventually released to continue with their journey.” 
 
NUPENG contends that such extortion by police occurs under the guise of law enforcement fighting pipeline vandalism, when, in fact, NUPENG’s Port Harcourt zonal branch has evidence of police complicity in pipeline vandalism. 
 
The two oil workers’ unions, NUPENG and PENGASSAN, have also warned against election rigging as the coming presidential and state governorships balloting draws near.

Nigerian Oil Workers’ Leaders Elected to Posts in National Union Centres

<img height="48" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief 1.gif" width="120"/>
ICEM affiliate United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) issued a detailed safety report on the gas explosion at International Coal Group’s (ICG) Sago mine in the state of West Virginia. The report states unequivocally that the tragedy that killed 12 on 2 January 2006 at ICG’s non-union mine was preventable, and never should have occurred. 
 
The 68-page report, which also contained 20 appendices, was released at a Washington, D.C., press conference in the US Capitol Building on 15 March. The press conference was attended by the two US senators from West Virginia, as well as a US congressman from the coal-producing state. 
 
“Twelve men are dead who should not be,” stated UMWA President Cecil Roberts. “Their deaths came as the result of a series of bad decisions made by the company and the federal mine safety regulatory agency.
 “Had the government done its job and (IGC’s) Sago mining done their job, all of these miners would be alive.”
<img height="167" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/RobertsCecimwal.jpg" width="120"/>
UMWA President Cecil Roberts
The tragedy was the worst US mining disaster in years, and captured the attention of the American public in the early days of 2006. IGC’s management first reported that all the trapped miners were safe, bringing joyous relief to family members gathered at the mine site. Only hours later, the company admitted that the news was premature. It then took 41 hours to reach the miners. Only one miner was found alive, and he had suffered brain damage due to high levels of carbon monoxide. 
 
Stated the daughter of one Sago miner at the UMWA’s press conference, “It breaks my heart to have to think that those men barricaded, wondering and waiting when they were going to be rescued, knowing now that they did not have to die. It’s not fair.”
<img height="122" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/ICEMminingsector5.jpg" width="120"/>
The UMWA report cited several conditions that led to the deaths. It said the company’s substandard mine seals, the mine’s ventilation system, the lack of adequate oxygen devices inside mine shafts, no safety chambers, no two-way communications, no tracking devices, and no onsite, experienced mine rescue teams all played roles in the tragedy. 
 
The union alleged the US Mine Safety and Health Administration allowed Sago’s owners to build coal mine seals using lightweight Oemga Blocks, rather than sturdier and explosion-proof mine seals, as specified under the US’s Mine Safety Act. The report also provides dozens of recommendations for tougher standards aimed at preventing such needless mine deaths in the future.
<img height="172" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/KaneDanUmwa.jpg" width="120"/>
UMWA Sec.-Treas. Dan Kane
“We cannot afford to wait,” said UMWA Sec.-Treas. Dan Kane at the press conference. “The sooner we implement these recommendations, either as law or regulations, the more secure miners will be in the knowledge that their jobs are as safe as possible. As this report indicates, we’ve got a long way to go before we reach that point.” 
 
Six days after the UMWA was released, ICG temporarily closed the Sago mine doe to a downturn in coal prices. IGC, owned by New York-based investor Wilbur L. Ross, is a seven-year-old coal company that has specialised in buying abandoned coal operations from bankruptcy proceedings, and then mining them. The company now operates 11 coal mines in the eastern US, all of them using non-union miners.

UMWA Says Sago Mine Tragedy in US Could Have Been Prevented

<img height="48" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief 1.gif" width="120" alt=""/>
Over 100 Chinese miners were killed in eight gruesome coal mine tragedies over the past three weeks. The China mine deaths again occur under odd and peculiar circumstances, including mine-owner cover-ups and careless safety practices. The eight tragedies represent only those deadly mine tragedies that have been reported in the Chinese press. 
 
Three separate incidents over the past week were marked by initial cover-ups by mine owners. On 22 March at the Shangjiwu mine in Ruzhou city, Henan province, 15 miners died after flooding and high levels of methane gas encapsulated mine shafts. Mine owners attempted failed rescue attempts and only alerted mine safety officials two days later, on 24 March.
<img height="175" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/04miningsafety.jpg" width="240" alt=""/>
  
Two other cover-ups occurred in the aftermath of a pair of tragedies on 18 March at illegal mines. At the Miaojing mine near Jincheng city, southeast Shanxi Province, 21 miners died in a gas explosion. Two days later, on 20 March, the mine owner and 10 others were arrested, charged with operating an illegal mine and failing to report the explosion. 
 
The mine owner of the Dongfang No. 1 coal mine in Liaoning Province was arrested on 21 March after a deadly fire occurred in his mine. He tried to hide the incident and the deaths from work safety officials. Six miners were killed and 15 injured in this tragedy near Dongliang Township in the Fuxin Mongolian autonomous county. 
 
On 15 March, six people were crushed to death when the coal mine tailings area they were on gave way due to a massive sinkhole. This occurred near Huludao city, southwest Liaoning Province. The five women and one man who died were on land directly above an abandoned mine site. 
 
On 8 March, eight miners died inside shafts after a gas leak near the city of Xingyang, northern Henan Province. The mine was being operated illegally. On the same day in the Ningxia Hui autonomous region, a cave-in at a colliery operated by the town government of Changle killed two miners. 
 
China’s worst mine disaster in March occurred at state-owned Fushun Group’s Laohutai mine near the city of Fushun, Liaoning Province. On 10 March, 29 miners were swept to their deaths off a mine platform, following a mass release of water. The mine is one of Fushun’s main operations and contains several unused pits.
<img height="80" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/ChinaFLAG.gif" width="120" alt=""/>
The government ordered some 900 private coal mines shut in the province for a week after this disaster, and State Administration of Work Safety Director Li Yizhong issued pointed statements on its cause. “This accident could have been averted if the mine knew about the conditions in the unused pit and taken measures to prevent floods,” he said in an online interview. 
 
On 6 March in Hunan Province, 15 miners died during illegal operation of the Hongfa coal mine in Shaodong County. The mine had been shut for safety maintenance repairs, and the methane gas blast was caused by damaged ventilation shafts and illegal electrical systems in areas where miners were working. 
 
In Li Yizhong’s mid-March interview, he said China leads the world in coal mine deaths with an average of 2.041 people killed for every million tons of coal mined. That is four times higher than death rates in Poland, Russia, and South Africa.

Rash of China Coal Mine Deaths Occur in March

<img height="48" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief 1.gif" width="120" alt=""/>
Sector level national negotiations in Argentina’s rubber industry will continue tomorrow at the Labour Ministry, announced ICEM South American affiliate Sindicato Unico Trabajadortes del Neumático Argentino (SUTNA). 
 
The union aims to get fair and equitable wage terms for 4,000 of the nation’s rubber workers at companies such as Bridgestone, Pirelli, and FATE, which employ the majority of rubber workers in Argentina. 
 
Prior talks occurred on 19 March. SUTNA Gen. Sec. Pedro Wasiejko said no worker in the rubber industry should earn less than ARS2,741 (€600) per month. SUTNA is demanding a 38% pay increase.
<img height="130" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Argentina.png" width="280" alt=""/>
“This is a sector where the salary costs are only between 4 and 6% of total production costs,” said Wasiejko, adding that 38% “would not tremendously affect the sales price of the product, or be a change to the consumer.” 
 
He added, “The private sector today has huge profits and workers need to make sure that these profits are distributed in a fair and equal way.”
<img height="120" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/ICEMrubber.JPG" width="120" alt=""/>
SUTNA has conducted meetings in all rubber plants and tomorrow’s union agenda reflects the wishes of workers in those plants. The union expressed its faith in honest collective bargaining, and said it is convinced that a transparent and participatory negotiations system is in the best interests of all. 
 
The outcome of the national talks will not only determine working terms at the three big Buenos Aires tyre plants of Bridgestone, Pirelli, FATE, but at hundreds of smaller rubber producers and rubber suppliers.

Argentine Rubber Union, SUTNA, Continues Rubber Talks Tomorrow in Buenos Aires

<img style="WIDTH: 122px; HEIGHT: 48px" height="48" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief 1.gif" width="120" alt=""/>
The Finnish Electrical Workers’ Union succeeded in a four-month campaign, winning €700,000 in backpay and reciprocity for 88 Polish electricians. The electricians worked on construction projects in Finland. 
 
The union discovered that a Gdansk, Poland-based contractor, MSB, was violating Finnish pay guidelines at a huge construction site near Tampere in November 2006. 
 
The electricians were earning €5-per-hour, while the average electrician’s pay in Finland is about €14-per-hour.
<img height="285" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Finland.png" width="280" alt=""/>
When the Electrical Workers’ Union sought information from MSB on working conditions in November, the company did not respond. The union then commenced a blockade against MSB, preventing the Polish company from performing any work in Finland. The union demanded that all companies, and their workers, abstain from working with MSB on any construction project. 
 
The Electrical Workers’ Union also pressed Finnish state authorities to intervene in the company’s illegal work practices, as well. 
 
The pressure campaign worked. In early February, MSB came to agreement with the union on the process for paying wage arrears, as well as social security and tax reciprocation with Poland’s government. Last week, Trade Union News from Finland reported that the agreement calls for wages to be brought up to levels common in Finnish collective agreements – €12.30- to €14-per-hour – and that of the €700,000 sum, €330,000 will be transferred to the Polish tax and social security authorities. 
 
“This case is a strong message to companies that employ foreign labour,” the Electrical Workers’ Keijo Rimmistö told Trade Union News. “Respect, voluntarily, the Finnish collective agreements, as, in case you don’t, our union will compel you to pay the arrears payments. Letting things go … you not only risk your reputation, but also risk waking the interest of the police.”

Boycott Pressure Forces Polish Firm to Pay Back-Wages in Finland

<img height="48" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief 1.gif" width="120" alt=""/>
ICEM Turkish affiliate CIMSE-Iş, the Cement, Ceramic, Soil, and Glass Workers’ Union, signed a successful collective agreement on 29 March for 6,000 ceramics workers at 11 factories. The agreement was signed with the employers’ association for ceramics. 
 
Retroactive to 1 January, workers will receive monthly salary increases of 5%, plus a bonus of new TRL55, effective also on 1 January 2007. 
 
Regarding social benefits, a press release issued by CIMSE-Iş on 3 April reports that, on average, a 25% increase was won for all union members.

CIMSE-Iş in Turkey Wins 5% Pay Gains, Benefit Increases for 6,000 Ceramics Workers

<img height="285" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/0704Brazilwomen.jpg" width="380"/>
FETIESC Women march at Itapema on 25 March for equality and dignity
<img height="31" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/womenlogo.jpg" width="25"/>
1. Australia – Professional Women Are Remaining Childless 
2. Brazil – Sao Paulo Electricity Workers Commemorate Women’s Day 
3. Peru – Adoption of Equal Opportunities Law 
4. Russia – ILO/FNPR Seminar Held on Gender Audits in Russian Unions 
5. Senegal – Parliament Passes Bill on Gender Balance in the Legislature 
6. Spain – Guidelines are Proposed for Company Equality Plans 
7. Venezuela – New Law Defends Women’s Rights 
8. Resources
<img height="31" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/womenlogo.jpg" width="25"/>
1. Australia – Professional Women Are Remaining Childless
A recent study by the Association of Professional Engineers, Scientists, and Managers of Australia found that many working women are not having children because it would be detrimental to their careers. 
 
A full 34% of women with children had not taken any maternity leave, and 26% more would not be paid for time they might take off. And more than half claimed that by taking time off, it would be detrimental to their careers. 
 
In addition, women are leaving their careers faster than men. Women cite the difficulty of balancing work and life, workplace culture and lack of senior job roles for them as being the most common obstacles they face in their career paths. 
 
In spite of the fact that there is a skills shortage in many areas, women are not able to fill the gap because of work-life difficulties. Moreover, women are still earning about 40% less than men for the same work. The OECD ranks Australia 45th out of 115 countries in terms of wage equality. 
 
This research shows that many women are still being forced to choose between children and a career. 
 <img height="31" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/womenlogo.jpg" width="25"/>
2. Brazil – Sao Paulo Electricity Workers Commemorate Women’s Day 
On 7 March, the Sao Paulo Electricity Workers celebrated International Women’s Day with the slogan, “Women and Agenda 21, a Commitment to a Better World.” Agenda 21 was the commitment signed by 170 countries in the UN framework to promote sustainable development. 
 
The event stressed the importance of guaranteeing youth representation, both women and men, in labour and environmental fora, and youth representatives from the union in international bodies were present. 
 
Questions that concerned the conservation of the Amazon were also discussed at the meeting. It was said that women have a historic role to play in conservation and preservation of forests, biological diversity, and maintaining ecosystems. 
 
At the meeting, the Sao Paulo Electricity Workers endorsed the Manifest for the Protection of the Amazon, an initiative also promoted by many Brazilian artists. 
 <img height="31" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/womenlogo.jpg" width="25"/>
3. Peru – Adoption of Equal Opportunities Law 
On 8 March, the Congress of Peru adopted the law on equal opportunities between women and men, after a number of debates in various areas. The law establishes public policies to guarantee the right to gender equality. 
 
It also guarantees the respect of the pluricultural and multilingual character of the Peruvian nation. The Executive is also called upon to carry out programmes to eliminate poverty and extreme marginalization. 
 
On 8 March, women in the three trade union national labour centres participated in a rally in Lima to demand effective policies to guarantee the real implementation of their rights. Article 7 of the law contains work-related guarantees such as the following: 
<ul>
 <li>
 <div>Guarantee of the right to productive work exercised in freedom, equity, security and human dignity; measures to avoid all kinds of work-related discrimination between women and men in access to employment, training, promotion, working conditions and the same pay for work of equal value. These guarantees also include protection against sexual harassment and the promotion of compatibility between family and work-related responsibilities. </div>
 </li>
 <li>
 <div>Guarantee of the protection of men and women workers in the informal economy, in urban and rural areas, in order to promote the formalization of the economy, as well as the protection of those who are in an unprotected and excluded situation. </div>
 </li>
 <li>
 <div>Guarantee of non-discriminatory treatment for men and women domestic workers. </div>
 </li>
 <li>
 <div>Recognition of reproductive work done at home and in the community to generate the conditions to improve the situation of those doing the work and to promote shared family responsibilities. </div>
 </li>
</ul>
Now the trade union centres are starting their work to ensure that the law is applied. 
 <img height="31" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/womenlogo.jpg" width="25"/>
4. Russia – ILO/FNPR Seminar Held on Gender Audits in Russian Unions 
<img height="172" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/0703Genia.jpg" width="230"/> 
 
ICEM women’s chair Genia Esenina, front row, at left 
From 26-28 March FNPR, the Russian trade union central organisation, held a workshop together with the ILO on gender audits in Russian trade unions. A total of 23 participants and members of the gender equality commission were trained in the theory and methodology of gender audits in this first seminar, which served as the pilot project covering gender audits. 
 <img height="31" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/womenlogo.jpg" width="25"/>
5. Senegal – Parliament Passes Bill on Gender Balance in the Legislature
On 27 March, the Senegalese Parliament adopted a bill that introduced gender parity on election lists that political parties present for elections on the basis of proportional representation. 
 
The passing of the bill will mean that more women will be elected to parliament in Senegal in the future. 
 
Religious leaders, however, were concerned that this bill was out of step with a Muslim country. 
 
The Minister of the Interior defended the legislation with the argument that women, as the majority in the country, should be adequately represented in Parliament. At present, 23 women old seats in Parliament out of a total of 120, and new women members are certain to be added at the next election because of this legislation. 
<img height="31" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/womenlogo.jpg" width="25"/>
6. Spain – Guidelines are Proposed for Company Equality Plans 
Ramon Parra from FITEQA CCOO has drafted the following guidelines for company equality plans in the wake of new legislation in Spain that requires companies to draw up such plans: 
 
1. Create a commission for real equality between women and men. 
 
2. The commission should be made up of the company and the signatory trade unions. 
 
3. This commission will do a diagnosis of the situation on the basis of all data that a company provides, which will always be broken down by sex: 
<blockquote dir="ltr" style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
• Work site, fixed employees, casuals, type of contract; 
• Departments; 
• Work groups, seniority; 
• Wages and salaries; 
• Schedules, shifts (night), working time; 
• Reductions in working time, flexibility; 
• Leave time; 
• Training, continuous, how much training per year; 
• Content of risk assessment; 
• Is the mutual society elected in consent with trade union consent?; 
• Are there agreements with the mutual society for more benefits?; 
• Are examinations extended with specific proof?; 
• Are there suitable jobs for pregnant women? 
 
and also
</blockquote>
<ul>
 <li>
 <div align="justify">Composition of the Works Council; </div>
 </li>
 <li>Composition of the Health and Safety Committee; 
 Composition of the Environmental Protection Committee; </li>
 <li>Composition of the Equality Committee. 
 </li>
 <li>What sector does the company belong to? </li>
 <li>What agreement is applied? </li>
 <li>How many sites does it have? </li>
 <li>If it is a multinational, in what countries is it present? </li>
 <li>Does it have a committee to coordinate the different sites and how is it made up? </li>
 <li>Do trade unions participate? </li>
 <li>Do they meet regularly? </li>
 <li>Is there some plan or equality project? </li>
</ul>
A company must provide this data to the commission, and once it has studied it, the commission will define a work plan for each site to follow. Then, as a result, the objectives must be fixed to eliminate inequalities. 
 
For that purpose, deadlines, measures, and resources must be identified, both human and financial resources. 
 
On the basis of this diagnosis, the commission can decide what steps it needs to take and what advice it requires in order to establish measures, such as establishing a code of good practice, which, among other criteria, will explain the kinds of conduct and abuse that would be punishable, or even lead to dismissal in case of sexual harassment or sex discrimination. 
 
These are the two types of discrimination that violate the integrity of the person. The commission will ensure that these situations do not happen, and if they do, that they are punishable. 
<img height="31" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/womenlogo.jpg" width="25"/>
7. Venezuela – New Law Defends Women’s Rights 
A recent law passed in Venezuela calls for jail terms from 6 to 18 months for those who offend, humiliate, or threaten women. The law, called the Law on Women’s Right to a Life Free of Violence, punishes all those who attack women’s emotional and psychological stability. 
 
The law also condemns to prison terms for 20 months those who harass, threaten, insult women, and establishes more severe punishments for lascivious acts, such as forced prostitution, sex slavery, and work-related violence. 
 
Thus, the protection of the dignity, physical, psychological, sexual integrity, property, and legal rights of women is established in public and private. 
 <img height="31" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/womenlogo.jpg" width="25"/>
8. Resources
A toolkit has been published by EMCEF and EPSU on equal opportunities in the electricity sector in Europe, and is available at 
<a href="http://www.eurelectric.org/equalitydiversity">http://www.eurelectric.org/equalitydiversity</a>
The ILO has compiled links to ILO publications and sources for statistics and standards. It and can be found at 
<a href="http://www.ilo.org/public/spanish/support/lib/resource/subject/gender.htm">http://www.ilo.org/public/spanish/support/lib/ 
resource/subject/gender.htm</a> (in Spanish) 
 
The ILO has published trends in women’s employment in 2007, and can be found at 
<a href="http://www.ilo.org/public/french/employment/strat/download/getw07.pdf">http://www.ilo.org/public/french/employment/ 
strat/download/getw07.pdf</a> (in French) 
 
The WHO has published a document on the relationship between gender and health and safety problems, which can be found at 
<a href="http://www.who.int/occupational_health/publications/genderwork/en/index.html">http://www.who.int/occupational_health/ 
publications/genderwork/en/index.html</a> 
 
The Social Watch Gender Equity Index has been published, and can be found at 
<a href="http://www.socialwatch.org/en/avancesyRetrocesos/IEG/index.htm">http://www.socialwatch.org/en/avancesyRetrocesos/ 
IEG/index.htm</a>
The European Union has published a report on Equality and non-discrimination in the framework of the European Year of Equal Opportunities for All. 
<a href="http://web20.s112.typo3server.com/fileadmin/pdfs/Reports/Annual_Reports_2006/annualrep06_en.pdf">http://web20.s112.typo3server.com/fileadmin/pdfs/ 
Reports/Annual_Reports_2006/annualrep06_en.pdf</a>
On 13 March, the European Parliament adopted a roadmap on equality between women and men, which can be found at 
<a href="http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?Type=TA&Reference=P6-TA-2007-0063&language=EN">http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?Type=TA&Reference=P6-TA-2007-0063&language=EN</a>
IRIN has launched a new book on sexual violence against women and girls in conflict. 
<a href="http://www.irinnews.org/pdf/sow/IRIN-TheShameofWar-fullreport-Mar07.pdf">http://www.irinnews.org/pdf/sow/IRIN-TheShameofWar-fullreport-Mar07.pdf</a>  
 
CLADEM has published a report on the killings of women in Central American and Mexico. 
<a href="http://www.cladem.org/espanol/regionales/Violenciadegenero/Docs/Estudio%20Feminicidio%20en%20centroamerica%20y%20méxico.asp">http://www.cladem.org/espanol/regionales/ 
Violenciadegenero/Docs/Estudio%20Feminicidio%20en%20centroamerica%20y%20méxico.asp</a> (in Spanish) 
 
CLADEM has another study on sexual violence and armed conflict in Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Peru. 
<a href="http://www.cladem.org/espanol/regionales/Violenciadegenero/Docs/CLADEM%20Estudio%20Conflicto%20Armado.asp">http://www.cladem.org/espanol/regionales/ 
Violenciadegenero/Docs/CLADEM%20Estudio%20Conflicto%20Armado.asp</a>
The Inter-Parliamentary Union has done a survey on women in parliament worldwide. 
<a href="http://www.ipu.org/pdf/publications/wmn06-e.pdf">http://www.ipu.org/pdf/publications/wmn06-e.pdf</a>  
 
The Belgian Union FGTB organised a meeting on work-life balance on 8-9 March, the results of which can be found at 
<a href="http://www.fgtb.be/code/fr/c18_0000.htm">http://www.fgtb.be/code/fr/c18_0000.htm</a> (in French and Dutch)

ICEM WOMEN’S BULLETIN 21

<img height="40" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief 1.gif" width="100" alt=""/>
Worker safety institutes in Australia have almost unanimously said the advent of Prime Minister John Howard’s WorkChoices law will ultimately be detrimental to workplace safety. Now comes wisdom from another organisation, the Victorian Safety Institute of Australia. 
 
The institute says the government’s labour reforms, which dramatically changed union rights and employment rights, will pose the biggest threat to workplace safety since asbestos. 
 
Speaking prior to a Safety in Action conference held recently in Melbourne, the Victorian Safety Institute’s vice president, Kevin Jones said: “WorkChoices is opening a Pandora’s box of new health problems stemming from stress and high workloads. It’s the greatest threat to workers’ health since asbestos, because it harms people from all walks of life in such an insidious way – millions of Australians will suffer its potentially devastating effects.”

Australia: WorkChoices Law Brings ‘Undeniable’ Damage to Workplace Safety

Archive