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Amicus Union in the UK has launched a massive fundraising effort among members to raise money for sanitary products for women in Zimbabwe. The campaign, announced on 26 April, came after Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions&rsquo; (ZCTU) Women&rsquo;s Committee Chairperson Thabitha Khumalo gave moving accounts at an Amicus conference and regional events on how women are forced to bear the brunt of the economic crisis gripping Zimbabwe. 
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Sanitary pads cost about a third of a woman&rsquo;s monthly wage, and most women have resorted to newspapers and rags, causing infections. Recently, Amicus was a party to bringing one million sanitary pads into Zimbabwe from South Africa. 
Fundraising efforts will now develop into a monthly project in which sanitary products will be distributed free of charge through the ZCTU. The products will be sourced in Zimbabwe, which will prevent the government of Robert Mugabe from blocking shipments as it has attempted to do in the past.

UK’s Amicus Union Launches Campaign to Aid Zimbabwean Women

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A coal mine blast in China that killed four women on 6 April has drawn angry responses from women&rsquo;s groups. Nine miners died when the explosion occurred at Dongtang Coal Mine in central Hunan Province. Production at the mine had been suspended earlier this year when owners had failed to apply for a work safety certificate. Since 1993, Chinese mine safety law forbids women from working in underground mines. 
 
The gas blast, in which five miners&mdash;including two women&mdash;managed to escape, caused local police to detain owners and investors of the enterprise. But the production manager of the Dongtang Mine and his wife fled the area as soon as word of the blast occurred. 
 
In a another mine catastrophe, seven miners died and four were injured on 11 April when a shaft collapsed at the Tanhan Coal Mine in Shanxi Province.

Chinese Coal Mine Blast Kills Four Women

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With the supply of European energy sources becoming increasingly political, German affiliate IGBCE has called on the EU to update its coal regulatory policies in order to become less reliant on imported resources. In a letter to the European Commission calling on consultation to begin on re-working a 2002 regulation on coal mining, IGBCE said it is strategically important for the EU to have access to domestic raw materials. 
 
&ldquo;The development of world energy markets with dramatic price increases and increasing energy use,&rdquo; said IGBCE President Hubertus Schmoldt, &ldquo;makes it clear that Germany and Europe cannot let go of its own energy sources.&rdquo; The union continues to advocate for a balanced energy mix, but says the Commission&rsquo;s regulation must include promotion of domestic hard coal beyond the year 2010.

IGBCE Calls on EU to Develop Domestic Energy Sources

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Contract workers for Goodyear Tire &amp; Rubber in Bangkok, Thailand, won another victory for fairness and justice recently. Goodyear was ordered by the country&rsquo;s Industrial Relations Commission (IRC) to reinstate 18 contract workers&mdash;some working up to 10 years under single-year term agreements&mdash;who were sacked last year for attempting to exert collective bargaining rights. The contract workers are members of the Tyre Makers Union, which is affiliated to ICEM member Chemical Federation of Thailand (PCFT). 
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The workers, employed in rubber stock and warehouse operations of Goodyear&rsquo;s 40-year-old factory in Bangkok, now will press again for collective bargaining rights. A hearing on that matter was held in a separate court on 26 April, but an outcome was delayed by a new judge who was just assigned to the case. 
 
Goodyear found itself under considerable pressure last October when it discharged the contract workers, in spite of deducting union dues from them through a check-off system for as long as four years. In an effort to correct its mistake, the American-based company halted direct employment of contract workers, and brought in a labour agency to handle employment. 
 
Eighteen of 25 contract workers refused employment with the agency, preferring instead full-time employment with Goodyear. The IRC ruling in early April calls for Goodyear to reinstate the workers. Two of the 18 contract workers cited in the victory have passed away in the meantime, one due to heart disease in 2005, the other of cancer the day before the IRC issued its ruling.

Contract Workers Triumph at Goodyear in Thailand

A 24-hour strike 20 September by FNV Bondgenoten largely shut down the city of Rotterdam, The Netherlands. The following day saw thousands of workers protesting in The Hague, Utrecht, Arnhem and Eindhoven. FNV and other Dutch unions are protesting government proposals to slash social protections and healthcare. A mass strike over the issue will occur this Saturday, 2 October, beginning at 12:00 noon in Amsterdam.

Bondegenoten Shuts Rotterdam in Protest to Proposed Social Cuts

Canadian affiliate CEP at the same 13 September labour rally and march over health care issued a call to adopt a national pharmacare programme aimed at providing low-cost and accessible drugs to Canadian citizens. The rising cost of drugs, the CEP asserts, has produced a number of examples of bargaining table discord between the union and employers.

CEP Proposes &#039;Pharmacare&#039; Programme for Canada

ICEM affiliate CFMEU was forefront during mid-September international actions protesting building materials firm James Hardie&rsquo;s dodge of asbestos liabilities in Australia. The company in 2001 shifted its headquarters from Sydney to The Netherlands in a move seen as cutting its liability for over 60 years of asbestos exposure to workers in Australia. On 15 September, 20,000 workers rallied across Australia&mdash;still home to the vast number of Hardie shareholders&mdash;while a contingent of mesothelioma victims with trade union leaders including the CFMEU&rsquo;s Lindsay Fraser went to Amsterdam for James Hardie&rsquo;s AGM on 17 September. A damning report on the company was issued September 21 by an Australian state government inquiry, which found that the chief executive had misled investors and the company developed a &ldquo;culture of denial.&rdquo;

Australian Unions Angry Over James Hardie’s Asbestos Cover-ups

The ICEM launched an aggressive global campaign to stem the use of contract and agency labour at a conference in Brussels 16-17 September. Trade union leaders of ICEM affiliates were uniform in their consensus that long-term and wide-ranging strategies are needed to protect the community-enriching benefits that permanent employment offers. Central among all strategies developed will be a programme aimed at primary employers in all ICEM sectors.

ICEM Launches Bold Campaign on Contract and Agency Labour

The hostile Trade Union Act in Nigeria may have begun to fall apart in the country&rsquo;s Senate. Amendments to President Olusegun Obasanjo&rsquo;s union-busting measure passed last week included removal of a &ldquo;no strike&rdquo; clause to the bill, as well as language making all union membership voluntary. The General Assembly&rsquo;s lower chamber began debate late last week with the leader of the All Nigerian People&rsquo;s Party, Salik Ahmed, calling for outright dismissal of the bill.

Nigerian Unions Paring Worst Aspects from Labour Reform Bill

In South Africa at an ethylene plant run by Sasol, seven workers were killed following a gas blast on 1 September. The section of the plant in Secunda, Mpumalanga, where the explosion occurred was down for maintenance while some 450 contract workers and 100 permanent employees worked in the area. Reportedly, a valve was mistakenly opened. It was the third accident at the Sasol complex over the past three months in which deaths occurred. ICEM affiliate CEPPWAWU, one of three unions representing workers at Sasol, is attempting to be part of the investigation team, but the South African firm is trying to limit the probe.

Recent Blast at Sasol in South Africa Kills Seven

Archive

UK’s Amicus Union Launches Campaign to Aid Zimbabwean Women

Chinese Coal Mine Blast Kills Four Women

IGBCE Calls on EU to Develop Domestic Energy Sources

Contract Workers Triumph at Goodyear in Thailand

Bondegenoten Shuts Rotterdam in Protest to Proposed Social Cuts

CEP Proposes 'Pharmacare' Programme for Canada

Australian Unions Angry Over James Hardie’s Asbestos Cover-ups

ICEM Launches Bold Campaign on Contract and Agency Labour

Nigerian Unions Paring Worst Aspects from Labour Reform Bill

Recent Blast at Sasol in South Africa Kills Seven

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