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Facing tremendous pressure to refrain from taking action, the Korean Power Plant Industry Union (KPPIU), which represents around 3,000 members at five power plants that belong to the Korea Electric Power Corporation, or KEPCO, went on strike for 15 hours on 4 September 2006. 
 
The strike was a response to the unwillingness of KEPCO management to negotiate such issues as better working conditions, the rotation system, the expansion of the scope of trade union work and the reinstatement of fired colleagues. The trade union action followed a decision by the National Labour Relations Commission, a day earlier, to call for government arbitration over the labour dispute. 
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Both the company and the government took a very antagonistic stand towards the workers. Neither party was open to any negotiation whatsoever, administrative actions against strikers were announced, and the government warned against taking part in what it called an &ldquo;illegal strike.&rdquo; Reportedly, the government even had 3,500 emergency substitutes ready, just in case. 
 
Workers returned to work late Monday afternoon, as the government intervened to halt the strike, with union executives under threat of arrest. However, in the end, negotiations between labour representatives and the managements of the power plants resumed later the same day.

Short Strike by Korean Power Workers

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Rubber workers in the US, members of ICEM affiliate United Steelworkers (USW), expressed their displeasure with Continental AG at a pair of rallies in recent weeks. Union members protested the manner in which the German tyre-maker closed a factory in Charlotte, state of North Carolina, last spring. 
 
One rally occurred on 4 September in Charlotte, and then another one when USW members converged on the International Tire Exhibition and Conference in Akron, state of Ohio, protesting Continental&rsquo;s anti-worker practices. The company was an exhibitor at the trade fair. 
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Continental was cited by the US National Labor Relations Board with violations of the country&rsquo;s labour law when it refused collective bargaining with the USW over a new contract for 800 workers in Charlotte. The USW had attempted to reach a new labour agreement and keep the Charlotte plant open by offering the company US$16 million in cost-savings. But the company refused to consider the proposal and used 1 May as the date to announce all tyre production would cease at the plant. 
 
In early August, the USW formally called on the US State Department to initiate an investigation over alleged breaches of work practices under guidelines of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). &ldquo;The conduct of this German company and its apparent belief that it can violate US laws and (OECD) Guidelines with impunity is shocking,&rdquo; wrote USW President Leo Gerard to the US OECD National Contact Point (NCP). &ldquo;The full force of the US Government, including NCP intervention, should be brought to bear.&rdquo;

US Steelworkers Protest Continental Tyre’s Labour Policies

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ICEM affiliate FNV Bondgenoten has called attention to the continued high incidence rate of safety negligence in the chemicals industry in The Netherlands. In an article published in the union&rsquo;s magazine, &ldquo;Kadermagazine,&rdquo; Bondgenoten says the rate in the current annual report of the Labour Inspectorate is the same as it was in 2003. 
 
&ldquo;Since 2003, the Inspectorate has found a high level on incidents after FNV Bondgenoten revealed as much in a thorough survey of shop stewards&rdquo; inside the chemicals industry, stated the union&rsquo;s Egbert Schellenberg. The report was submitted to Parliament. Schellenberg said that there already had been vast concern among union members in 2003. &ldquo;Now, nothing has changed. When will something be done?&rdquo; he asked. 
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The survey by FNV Bondgenoten finds that an incident involving a dangerous substance occurs nearly once every day, on average. And a quarter of safety incidents involve casualties of one form or another. The union says that many occurrences happen during maintenance periods, with injuries due to inhaling fumes of dangerous substances or from burns. 
 
Schellenberg says that employers in the chemicals industry must shoulder the responsibility and respond in a manner that reduces injuries and illnesses. He also says that the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment must also play a role in reducing the incidence rate in the chemicals industry. 
 
FNV Bondgenoten has scheduled a social dialogue session with the ministry on 21 September to discuss this serious concern.

Safety in Netherlands Chemicals Industry Not Improving, Bondgenoten Reveals

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Belgian ICEM affiliate La Centrale G&eacute;n&eacute;rale / de Algemene Centrale, together with its national centre FGTB/ABVV organised a series of actions on 13 September in Belgium at the occasion of its second &ldquo;Day on the Rights of Temporary Agency Workers.&rdquo; 
 
About 300.000 copies of the &lsquo;Interim Times,&rsquo; a special free &ldquo;newspaper&rdquo; dedicated to the issue of agency labour, were distributed at train stations throughout the country. The Francophone version of newspaper is available online on the union&rsquo;s site <a href="http://www.accg.be/sec/be-fr/ser/inte/news/20060913%20Interim%20Times%20FR.pdf ">here</a>. For the Flemish (Dutch language) version, click <a href="http://www.accg.be/sec/be-du/ser/inte/news/20060913%20Interim%20Times%20NL.pdf ">here</a>. 
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Among other things, the paper contains a series of personal stories, revealing a large number of problems related to agency labour. These include obvious insecure job situations and the often all too vague promises for permanent work &ldquo;later on.&rdquo; Possibly less obvious, but equally omnipresent, are several other problems, such as the difficulty to fight for one&rsquo;s rights, which opens the door for abuse, or simply not being able to get a loan from a bank. 
 
The &ldquo;Interim Times&rdquo; paper was also available on many shop floors, where meetings were held by health and safety committees or company councils to discuss the issue of agency labour. The FGTB wanted all relevant bodies to talk to their managements about the problems connected to agency labour. 
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The FGTB warns that temporary agency work tends to replace more and more permanent jobs. The union also observes many legal violations in the sector. Under Belgian law, temporary agency labour can only be used in three circumstances: when a worker with a permanent contract needs to be replaced temporarily; in case of a temporary increase of the work volume at a company; or when extraordinary work needs to be performed. 
 
However, there is an ongoing discussion on the subject of a &ldquo;fourth category,&rdquo; which would allow employers to also use temporary agency workers as an &ldquo;in-flow&rdquo; method. The FGTB&rsquo;s position is clear in this: there is to be no agreement as long as there are no guarantees towards permanent employment and towards solid trade union verification. The FGTB also rejects the idea of temporary agency work in the public sector. 
 
On the occasion of the day of action, the FGTB encouraged all its members to consider a few key questions: does the company inform the workers&rsquo; representatives and/or company councils adequately on its use of agency labour? Does management stick to the rules in those cases where it needs to have an agreement from the workers representatives on agency labour? Is agency labour only used for temporary work, as required by law?

Agency Labour Day in Belgium

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The ICEM has a new Norwegian affiliate, the result of a merger between oil and gas union NOPEF and chemicals union Norsk Kjemisk. On 4 September in Oslo, the two unions officially merged during a day-long joint Congress to form Industri Energi. 
 
The merged union, with a combined membership of&nbsp;45,000 members, will have its headquarters in Oslo. 
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NOPEF President Leif Sande was elected Industri Energi&rsquo;s first president, while Liv Undheim, former Deputy President of Norsk Kjemisk, won election as Vice President. After a long and successful career as Norsk Kjemisk President, Olav Stoylen took a well deserved retirement, effective with the 4 September Congress. 
 
The union marriage marks the second such merger this year among Norway&rsquo;s trade unions. Last January, ICEM affiliate Fellesforbundet took in the Norwegian Graphical Workers&rsquo; Union, creating one big union for the pulp, paper, graphical and cardboard industry.

Industri Energi the Result of NOPEF, Norsk Kjemisk Merger in Norway

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Despite a compromised wage proposal by the union, ICEM affiliate Oilfield Workers&rsquo; Trade Union (OWTU) and Trinidad and Tobago&rsquo;s state oil company, Petrotrin, are no closer to an agreement on a new three-year contract, dating from 2005 to 2008. 
 
The two sides, however, with assistance from the Labour Ministry, continued intense negotiations through last week. 
 
Some 1,500 OWTU members at the company&rsquo;s lone refinery carried out another wave of industrial actions in the nine-month dispute, staging short work stoppages on 7 and 8 September. The action effectively shut production at the Pointe-a-Pierre refinery, and was the fourth such industrial action taken by OWTU members at the refinery since last March. 
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On 5 September, refinery workers marched on Petrotrin&rsquo;s main offices in Pointe-a-Pierre. They were joined by many of the 3,500 other members employed at Petrotrin, who also await updated labour agreements. 
 
In bargaining in early September, OWTU lowered its wage demands from 32% over three years, but Petrotrin has not moved upward from its 10% proposal. OWTU is attempting to negotiate fair and equitable settlements in five labour agreements, covering 5,000 workers. 
 
The credit ratings agency Moody&rsquo;s, meanwhile, has placed Petrotrin&rsquo;s foreign currency issue rating under review for possible downgrade due to the labour dispute. The review will &ldquo;assess the company&rsquo;s operations and debt servicing capabilities in light of its current labour unrest and the highly uncertain dynamics of labour negotiations,&rdquo; said Moody&rsquo;s in a statement. Roughly a quarter of refined output from the former Texaco refinery at Pointe-a-Pierre is for domestic use, with the remainder exported to eastern Caribbean islands, South America, and the east coast of the US.

Dispute in Trinidad and Tobago’s Oil Industry Continues

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Over 200 trade union leaders and activists throughout Zimbabwe were arrested last week, on 12 and 13 September 2006. A large number of them were treated in an extremely violent way by the police forces while in detention. 
 
Victims include the three top leaders of the national centre Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU). ZCTU President Lovemore Matombo and Secretary General Wellington Chibebe were so brutally assaulted that they could not stand up afterwards. First Vice President Lucia Matibenga could no longer walk. She was, as were others, severely beaten on the soles of her feet. 
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ZCTU General Secretary Wellington Chibebe
After being ill-treated at the Matapi Police station in Mbare on 13 September, the three top leaders were refused immediate medical attention. They were released later on bail. Speaking from his hospital bed, Brother Chibebe told the press afterwards he had been unconscious for over half a day. Police from Matapi later simply denied that the arrested were assaulted. 
 
Reportedly, their physical shape was such that senior police authorities refused to take them in custody at Harare&rsquo;s Central Police Station. Comrade Chibebe has a broken arm. Both he and Comrade Matombo suffered cranial/facial bruising and other head injuries. Many other arrested trade unionists equally suffered from the police violence, having their heads bashed against prison walls and being stamped and kicked in the head. 
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Police reports from last week suggest that the trade unionists could be charged under the Public Order and Security Act (POSA), a commonly used law to deter trade union activists in Zimbabwe. 
Ruling party Zanu PF militia had started the repression last week by intimidating and blocking union marchers in many cities, including in Harare. The ZCTU&rsquo;s demonstration was against the country&rsquo;s inflation rate of 1,000 %, in demand of higher incomes, lower taxes and better access to antiretroviral drugs needed to fight HIV/AIDS. 
 
Some 256 ZCTU activists were arrested in total, in at least 16 cities. ZCTU offices were blockaded and sealed by the army and police forces. Meanwhile, the union leaders vow to continue their protest.

Bloody Repression against Trade Union Leaders in Zimbabwe

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Nigeria&rsquo;s two oil workers&rsquo; unions, PENGASSAN and NUPENG, suspended a three-day warning strike after day two on 14 September. The unions received assurances from the government and its oil ministry that security concerns along the Niger Delta and other grievances would be addressed. 
 
The assurances included establishing a commission to investigate the kidnapping and death last month of PENGASSAN member Nelson Ujeya, who was killed in a hail of gunfire by a military task force as he was about to be released. 
 
Meeting in a joint National Executive Committee (NEC) session on 14 September in Abuja, leaders of the two unions requested that 20,000 Nigerian oil and gas workers return to their jobs the following day after government officials promised earnest dialogue to find lasting solutions to security matters and other concerns. The first such discussion forum will be held 21 September. 
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The strike on 13 and 14 September caused domestic disruptions as fuel depots shut, petrol stations closed, and fuel tanker lorries stayed off roads. Oil marketing companies in Lagos, Abuja, Warri, and Port Harcourt all stopped business. The strike also hampered oil and gas exploration and production facilities, although some offshore oil production and crude exports were allowed to continue. 
 
Besides the concerns over security, in which the government has failed to provide a safe and peaceful work environment, PENGASSAN and NUPENG seeks an honest and transparent process on the privatisation of state-owned assets. They cite the recent sale of the Eleme Petro Chemical Ltd. (EPCL) refinery in Port Harcourt and how the facility was under-valued and sold to a start-up company with little experience in the petrochemical business. (In meetings with Nigerian Minister of Petroleum Resources, Dr. Edmund Daukoru, on 13 September, the NEC did receive a commitment for work guarantees for all current staff of EPCL.) 
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Other demands of the two ICEM-affiliated unions include social commitments that jobs and skills development will occur in the country&rsquo;s oil patch for young Nigerians. They also demand strict adherence to past agreements made by energy companies and the government on expatriate quotas in the oil, gas, and related industries. The unions also object to merging the Petroleum Training Institute into the University of Benin. 
 
PENGASSAN and NUPENG demands must now be met or further and longer strikes will occur in the immediate future. The short warning strike last week achieved the unions&rsquo; objective to gain the government&rsquo;s attention to the serious security concerns that oil and gas workers in Nigeria face.

Nigerian Warning Strike Succeeds in Grabbing Government’s Attention

Comrade Peter Esele 
President 
PENGASSAN 
PENGASSAN House 
288, Ihorodu Road, Anthony 
PO Box 10433 
Marina-Lagos 
NIGERIA 
 
Dear Comrade Peter, 
 
The ICEM has learned of the tragic and senseless death of one of PENGASSAN&rsquo;s members, Nelson Ujeya, earlier this week in the vicinity of Brass Creek or Biobou Creek, Bayelsa State. We understand that Brother Ujeya had been kidnapped on 8 August 2006 in Letugbene while performing his employment duties for Shell Petroleum Development Corporation. 
 
We also have unconfirmed reports that he died in a violent gun fight between Nigeria&rsquo;s Joint Military Task Force and militant youth groups on 20 August 2006 as he was about to be released after negotiations. 
 
The 20-million-member ICEM, the Global Union Federation for oil and gas workers, finds it reprehensible that such indiscriminate use of force by Nigerian government militia be used in such a situation. The ICEM stands firmly behind PENGASSAN in holding both the government of Bayelsa State initially responsible for the abduction of Brother Ujeya while in the presence of state officials, and the federal government for its new policy of &ldquo;force by force&rdquo; in dealing with kidnappings that occur in the Niger Delta. 
 
The ICEM calls on all energy companies operating in Nigeria to apply the same effort and resources in securing the release of kidnapped Nigerian workers as they do for their foreign national employees. 
 
Next week, on 30 August 2006, PENGASSAN and NUPENG will conduct a joint National Executive Council (NEC) in Benin City to discuss this and other security matters in the Niger Delta. The ICEM recognises that the combined voice of NUPENGASSAN in Nigeria has been one of reason and soundness in stemming the social instability occurring along the Niger Delta. We know that this combined voice has stood for education, skills training and other social development initiatives that will increase employment opportunities in the oil and gas sectors for Nigerians. We commend and fully endorse that stand. 
 
We would look forward to having a report from the NEC&rsquo;s deliberations as soon after 30 August as possible in order to publicise your sensible positions on the global level. 
 
In conclusion, please convey sincere condolences from the ICEM and its family of global trade unions to the family of Wilson Ujeya. We are very distraught on the circumstances of his horrific death. Also, please express our deep concern to all trade union members of PENGASSAN and NUPENG, who are forced to work in such a difficult and terrifying environment. 
 
Fraternally, 
 
 
Fred Higgs 
General Secretary

ICEM letter to Pengassan

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The worst Polish mining tragedy in three decades claimed 23 lives on 21 November, as a methane gas explosion struck deep inside the Halemba mine in Ruda Slaska in Poland&rsquo;s southern Silesia industrial region. The mine, which had not been operating since March 2006, is owned by the state-run Kampania Weglowa (KW), the EU&rsquo;s largest mining company. 
 
The miners were some 1,000 metres underground when the methane gas ignited. They were sent into the 50-year-old mine to retrieve equipment, valued by the company at US$23 million. The shafts in which they were working had been closed last spring, due to dangerously high concentrations of gas. 
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Poland&rsquo;s President, Lech Kaczynski, visited the area and declared a three-day national period of mourning from 23-25 November. All cultural and sports events across the country were cancelled. The government also announced a special fund totalling US$234,700 for family members of the victims. 
 
Some 60 persons, including 23 surviving children, will share the compensation award, expected to amount to about US$10,000 per person. 
 
Poland&rsquo;s Higher Authority for Mining set up a special commission to investigate the tragedy, with work beginning on 24 November. The KW supervisory board will meet on 11 December to take up the reasons and consequences of the catastrophe. Meanwhile, KW has dismissed general directors at all 17 of its collieries in Poland, and the mines will be managed by technical and administrative personnel.

23 Miners Killed inside Poland’s Halemba Coal Pit

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