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	The ICEM this week protested the unfair dismissal of 14 employees of Molds Medellin in Sabaneta La Estrella, Colombia. The members of Colombian affiliate Sintravidricol were informed on 22 March of the immediate cancelation of their contracts with no prior discussion with union representatives and with no reason given.

	Writing to the new CEO of Ross International, Tom Lusk, ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda stressed the international attention and expectation on the company&rsquo;s management following the recent passing of Mr Larry Ross, the company founder.&nbsp;

	<img alt="" height="174" src="" width="232" />

	Similar damaging downsizing inside Ross International&rsquo;s operations is affecting ICEM members of the United Steelworkers in the US. Since 2008 the closures of Ross&rsquo;s Penn Mold facility in Washington, Pennsylvania and the OMCO Mold facility in Winchester, Indiana have ended employment of approximately 150 mould makers. Currently the workforce at Brockway Mold in Brockway, Pennsylvania has been reduced by 50 percent to 44 mould makers with a further 12 slated for layoff.

	Reminding Ross International that their conduct in Colombia was in breach of international labour law, Warda insisted on the company&rsquo;s respect for the fundamental principle of dialogue with workers, which the unions are sure, could lead to alternative solutions to downsizing and shop closures.

ICEM Protests Ross International’s Unfair Dismissal of 14 Colombians

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	In February the Play Fair campaign &ndash; a coalition of trade unions and NGOs including the ITGLWF and the International Trade Union Confederation - published a report highlighting code of conduct abuses in factories producing merchandise for the London 2012 Olympic Games. Play Fair researchers interviewed a range of workers from two factories in China &ndash; one producing pin badges and the second producing stuffed toys of the Olympic mascots.

	The organisers of the London Olympics &ndash; LOCOG &ndash; have a code of conduct which states that &ldquo;To every extent possible work performed must be on the basis of recognised employment relationship established through national law and practice&rdquo; and &ldquo;Obligations to employees under labour or social security laws and regulations arising from the regular employment relationship shall not be avoided through the use of labour-only contracting&hellip;&rdquo;.

	<img alt="" src="" style="width: 112px;height: 160px" width="390" />

	Despite the strong language in the code, Play Fair&rsquo;s researchers found that workers in one of the factories had no idea of the terms of their contract, and had never been provided with a written contract of employment. Not a single worker interviewed for the research was employed on a permanent contract.

	At a second factory researchers found that core workers were employed on five-year fixed term contracts and that during periods of high orders the factory hired about 300 temporary workers, more than doubling the workforce. These temporary workers were employed on a daily wage and received only 40 CNY rather than the statutory minimum of 50 CNY per day. Temporary workers were not provided with social security payments.

	The full report is available <a href="http://www.play-fair.org/media/wp-content/uploads/play_fair_en_final.pdf">here</a>.

Toying with Workers’ Rights

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	The Global Unions Research Network (GURN) is collating information, links and publications on precarious work and making the information available through its <a href="http://www.gurn.info/en/topics/precarious-work">website</a>.

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	The website has been developed as part of the follow-up to the International Workers&#039; Symposium on Policies and Regulations to Combat Precarious Employment which took place in Geneva from 4 &ndash; 7th October 2011, and will be regularly updated.

Global Unions Research Network web resource on Precarious Work

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	More than 200,000 workers dressed in yellow and red took to the streets in 32 city centres in South Africa in an extraordinary show of worker power against labour brokers.

	A general strike against e-tolling and labour brokers organised by the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) on March 7, 2012 was a resounding success.

	Addressing tens of thousands of people that gathered in Johannesburg, COSATU General Secretary Zwelinzima Vavi said the protest was not a march, but &quot;an occupation of the city of Johannesburg by the workers&quot;. South African unions are resolved to bring an end to the use of labour brokers. &quot;This is a class battle. This is a class war. Labour brokers do not create jobs - they destroy the agenda of decent work,&quot; said Vavi.

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	General Secretary of the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA), Irvin Jim addressed thousands of strikers in East London in the Eastern Cape. &quot;Decent work is a right. Labour brokering is just like slavery and is causing major problems for the working class,&quot; Jim said, &quot;They are taking up jobs from us and I am raising my finger at them. We must take a firm stand and see them banned for good.&quot;

	The strike was also organized to protest e-tolling, a toll road system that is being implemented in Gauteng province in April this year which Vavi called &quot;a new apartheid&quot; as the increased cost to travel would restrict people&#039;s movement, especially the poor working class.

	Vavi warned that labour was prepared to take action again on the issue. &quot;If they say they will go ahead with the tolling, we will take all the people here, and more, and put them on the highways of Joburg,&quot; he said. &quot;If they insist we pay for public roads then, just as we made the apartheid system unworkable, we will make this system unworkable.&quot;

	The protest against labour brokers and e-tolling had wide popular support and many civil society groups and ordinary South Africans spoke out in support of the strike. (Story provided by the IMF).

Strike Against Labour Brokers in South Africa

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	As the use of CAL continues to grow around the world more and more unions and their members are taking to the streets to protest against the degradation of employment relationships.

	An all-India general strike was held on 28th February which brought together workers from various sectors to oppose the neoliberal policies of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh&#039;s government. One key demand of the action was to ensure that contract workers are award the same rights and protections as permanent workers.

	The Indian Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act stipulates that contract workers who perform the same or similar work as permanent workers will be entitled to the same wages and conditions. Under this Act, contract labour ought not to be permitted for permanent or core functions.

	&nbsp;<img alt="" src="" style="width: 245px;height: 160px" width="390" />&nbsp;

	However, as regularly reported by the ICEM, this Act is widely violated and contract workers in India habitually receive inferior terms and conditions of employment despite performing core tasks. On 12 January, the ICEM joined a complaint to the OECD submitted by its local affiliate Pragatisheel Cement Shramik Sangh (PCSS) regarding the illegal treatment of contract workers in India by the Swiss multinational cement company Holcim. Further information on the complaint is available <a href="/en/7-Asia-Pacific/4900-Holcim-s-Violations-in-India-Taken-to-OECD">here</a>.

Indian Workers Mobilise to Protest Against Neo-liberal Policies Including CAL

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	IndustriALL Global Union, which will be established in June 2012 and will bring together affiliates of the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers&rsquo; Unions (ICEM), the International Textile, Garment, Leather Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITGLWF), and the International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF), will prioritise the fight against contract and agency labour, and other forms of precarious work.

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	IndustriALL will build on the work which has been done through the ICEM&rsquo;s Contract and Agency Labour campaign, the IMF&rsquo;s &lsquo;Precarious Work Affects Us All&rsquo; campaign and the ITGLWF&rsquo;s work on insecure employment in countries such as Peru, Cambodia, India and Turkey.

	The campaign against precarious work will be launched by IndustriALL at its founding congress in June, and the new Global Union will call on all affiliates to mobilise around this issue on the World Day for Decent Work on 7thOctober.

IndustriALL to Prioritise Fight Against Precarious Work

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	The ICEM&rsquo;s Contract and Agency Labour (CAL) project publishes a quarterly newsletter intended to bring the latest news, developments, and trade union initiatives against the growing use of precarious work.

CAL Newsletter March 2012

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Union members of ICEM North American affiliate United Steelworkers (USW) began a strike on 1 September against Anchor Glass Container Corp. at nine US plants. The 140 USW-represented workers are mould makers at Anchor, the US&rsquo;s third largest glass bottle and container manufacturer behind Owens-Illinois and Saint-Gobain Containers. 
 
Workers went on strike immediately after expiration of a prior labour agreement due to regressive and ill-willed contract proposals by the Tampa, Florida-based company. Specifically, Anchor seeks to create a two-tiered health care and pension plan, as well as more excessive out-of-pocket health care costs borne by workers. Wages are also an issue in the dispute. 
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Photo: Mike Perleberg-Eagle 99.3
Privately-held Anchor issued a threatening statement at the outset of the strike saying it would continue glass-bottle mould work without the USW members. The company used high US unemployment and economic uncertainty as a warning against the strike. 
 
Anchor produces glass for the beverage and foods industries. The largest plant that has been hit by the USW industrial action is in Zanesville, Ohio, where 65 workers have struck due to the company&rsquo;s radical rollback proposals. Other Anchor glass plants where work stoppages are in effect include Jacksonville, Florida; Warner Robins, Georgia; Shakopee, Minnesota; Salem, New Jersey, Elmira Heights, New York; Henryetta, Oklahoma; and Lawrenceburg and Winchester, Indiana. 
 
USW negotiators reached a <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/1109.ross%20usw%20agreement.pdf">settlement with Ross International</a> on 31 August, achieving wage gains for each year in a three-year agreement, protecting pensions and preventing a two-tier benefit plan for new hires. Among other improvements achieved was enhanced language on subcontracting at the company.&nbsp;

USW Glass Workers at Anchor Begin Strike Action

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Building on their first meeting in 2010, just prior to the historic May Day celebrations in Taksim Square, global unions conducted the second meeting of this kind on defending trade union rights in Turkey. Around sixty participants from centers and Turkish affiliates of ITUC, CGU, ICEM, ITF, IUF, PSI, IMF, BWI, ITGLWF and UNI came together in Istanbul at the workshop held on 8-9 September. The meeting also welcomed international NGOs such as Labourstart and Amnesty International who consistently support labour rights in Turkey. The ICEM was present at the workshop through its Director of Industry and Corporate Affairs Kemal &Ouml;zkan as well as its affiliates Tes-Is, Petrol-Is, Belediye-Is, Lastik-Is, Kristal-Is, Cimse-Is, Sel&uuml;loz-Is and T&uuml;mka-Is. 
 
The workshop coincided with a critical time, with Turkish trade union legislation under discussions for modification with a view to harmonise it in line with international standards and norms. Turkey was recently criticised by the International Labour Organization over the lack of genuine union rights in the country. &Uuml;zeyir Ataman, Director of the Collective Bargaining Department of ICEM&rsquo;s affiliate Lastik-Is, who is a part of a working group formed by the government to handle possible modifications, updated the workshop participants in a context of the history of Turkish labour legislation. 
 
Participants were informed of individual organising efforts of Turkish unions in cooperation and solidarity with respective global union federations. Hakan Ko&ccedil;ak, Director of the Organizing Department of ICEM affiliate Petrol-Is, presented his union&rsquo;s widely-publicised national level organizing campaign as well as the ongoing organising drive at Standard Profil with the contribution of the ICEM. The other examples showed the value of solidarity between individual unions and their global union federations in getting success in organising and recognition. 
 
The participants discussed international instruments in boosting union organising campaigns. Particular attention was given to global unions&rsquo; immediate actions such as protest letters, coordinating global solidarity and visits of picket lines. Opportunities in using the newly revised OECD guidelines, ILO tools as well as international courts were also reviewed. 
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ICEM's Kemal &Ouml;zkan addresses press conference
Towards the end of the workshop a press conference was organized with the participation of television and newspaper journalists. In a joint press release the global unions informed the Turkish media about the objectives and content of the workshop. Read out by Ron Oswald, General Secretary of ICEM&rsquo;s sister organisation IUF, the press release stressed that &ldquo;Turkish unions, union leaders from Turkey and representatives of those international bodies present at this meeting have pledged to work together actively and in a sustained and permanent way to support workers' efforts to access those universal rights and to have them universally accepted and respected in Turkey.&rdquo; 
 
The participants were later divided into two groups, as Turkish unions and global union federations to discuss ways to build and promote joint work in Turkey as a base for summary, conclusions and way forward from the workshop. Jim Baker, Coordinator of the Council of Global Unions, summed up discussions and conclusions of the workshop with a way forward. Baker underlined consensus on &ldquo;common action by global unions with their Turkish affiliates and among themselves to improve the quality and increase the effect of practical and concrete solidarity action to strengthen workers and their legitimate, democratic trade unions.&rdquo; 
 
&ldquo;Turkey is a highly critical place in the activities of all global unions, this country is a priority for the whole union movement&rdquo; said ICEM&rsquo;s Kemal &Ouml;zkan. &ldquo;The two-day workshop reaffirmed our commitment to reinforce solidarity with the Turkish trade union movement.&rdquo;

Global Unions Unite in Defending Trade Union Rights in Turkey

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A work stoppage and hunger strike by non-regular coal miners in Bangladesh ended on 6 September, three days after the 1,145 contract workers took up strike action again against state-owned Barapukuria Coal Mine Company Ltd. (BCMCL) and its extraction contractor, the China National Import and Export Corp. (CMC). 
 
The strike originally began on 23 August, but was suspended on 27 August so miners could celebrate the Islamic Eid vacation. In negotiations between the Barapukuria Coal Mine Miners&rsquo; and Workers&rsquo; Union, BCMCL&rsquo;s parent, the Bangladesh Oil, Gas, Mineral Corp. (PETROBANGLA), CMC, the country&rsquo;s Minister of Land, and Dinajpur Province authorities on 5 September, the union won production bonuses and holiday guarantees, as well as assurances that each year 10% of non-skilled workers will see their employment status regularized. 
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BCMCL, the country&rsquo;s only operating coal mine, guaranteed that production bonuses will take effect when coal output exceeds 70,000 tonnes per month. The contract miners, employed by CMC through an arrangement with the Xuzhou Coal Mine Group of China (XMC), also won a four-fold increase in festival allowances, a paid three-day holiday period each for two Eid vacations, and 20 kilos of rice per miner each month. 
 
Regularisation of employment, however, was the major achievement in the August-September strike action. Since CMC began operating the mine the mine in 2005, the contract miners were without many social protections, insurances, and pension pensions. 
 
Barapukuria Coal Mine Miners&rsquo; and Workers&rsquo; Union President Rabiul Islam called the settlement satisfactory, with BCMCL and the Chinese employer accepting a good share of the union&rsquo;s demands. 
 
BCMCL has a recoverable coal deposit of 64 million tones, of which only 1.13 million tones have been extracted since inception of the mine five years ago. The mine produces thermal coal with the bulk of it transported to Bangladesh&rsquo;s lone 250 megawatt electric generating plant.

Contract Coal Miners in Bangladesh Win Guarantees with Strikes

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