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<img height="285" alt="" src="" width="380" />
FETIESC Women march at Itapema on 25 March for equality and dignity
<img height="31" alt="" src="" width="25" />
1. Australia &ndash; Professional Women Are Remaining Childless 
2. Brazil &ndash; Sao Paulo Electricity Workers Commemorate Women&rsquo;s Day 
3. Peru &ndash; Adoption of Equal Opportunities Law 
4. Russia &ndash; ILO/FNPR Seminar Held on Gender Audits in Russian Unions 
5. Senegal &ndash; Parliament Passes Bill on Gender Balance in the Legislature 
6. Spain &ndash; Guidelines are Proposed for Company Equality Plans 
7. Venezuela &ndash; New Law Defends Women&rsquo;s Rights 
8. Resources
<img height="31" alt="" src="" width="25" />
1. Australia &ndash; 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. 
&nbsp;<img height="31" alt="" src="" width="25" />
2. Brazil &ndash; Sao Paulo Electricity Workers Commemorate Women&rsquo;s Day 
On 7 March, the Sao Paulo Electricity Workers celebrated International Women&rsquo;s Day with the slogan, &ldquo;Women and Agenda 21, a Commitment to a Better World.&rdquo; 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. 
&nbsp;<img height="31" alt="" src="" width="25" />
3. Peru &ndash; 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. 
&nbsp;<img height="31" alt="" src="" width="25" />
4. Russia &ndash; ILO/FNPR Seminar Held on Gender Audits in Russian Unions 
<img height="172" alt="" src="" width="230" /> 
 
ICEM women&rsquo;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. 
&nbsp;<img height="31" alt="" src="" width="25" />
5. Senegal &ndash; 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="" width="25" />
6. Spain &ndash; 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">
&bull; Work site, fixed employees, casuals, type of contract; 
&bull; Departments; 
&bull; Work groups, seniority; 
&bull; Wages and salaries; 
&bull; Schedules, shifts (night), working time; 
&bull; Reductions in working time, flexibility; 
&bull; Leave time; 
&bull; Training, continuous, how much training per year; 
&bull; Content of risk assessment; 
&bull; Is the mutual society elected in consent with trade union consent?; 
&bull; Are there agreements with the mutual society for more benefits?; 
&bull; Are examinations extended with specific proof?; 
&bull; 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="" width="25" />
7. Venezuela &ndash; New Law Defends Women&rsquo;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&rsquo;s Right to a Life Free of Violence, punishes all those who attack women&rsquo;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. 
&nbsp;<img height="31" alt="" src="" 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&rsquo;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&amp;Reference=P6-TA-2007-0063&amp;language=EN">http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?Type=TA&amp;Reference=P6-TA-2007-0063&amp;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>&nbsp; 
 
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%20m&eacute;xico.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>&nbsp; 
 
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="48" src="" width="120" alt="" />
ICEM Turkish affiliate CIMSE-Iş, the Cement, Ceramic, Soil, and Glass Workers&rsquo; Union, signed a successful collective agreement on 29 March for 6,000 ceramics workers at 11 factories. The agreement was signed with the employers&rsquo; 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="48" src="" width="120" alt="" />
ICEM affiliate United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers (UE) Union won a decision by an ILO committee in favour of public-sector bargaining rights in the US state of North Carolina. The Freedom of Association case is now passed on to the ILO&rsquo;s Governing Body with a recommendation that it monitor progress. 
 
State statutes in North Carolina, as well as in some other US states, prohibit public employees from having collective bargaining rights. The UE, on behalf of municipal and state workers in North Carolina, filed the ILO complaint, and the committee requested that certain sections of the state statute be repealed. It also asked that the government promote the establishment of a collective bargaining framework.
<img height="114" src="" width="260" alt="" />
The committee noted that ILO Conventions 87, 98 and 151 are being violated. &ldquo;Although these Conventions have not been ratified by the United States, the complainants rely on the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work in support of the argument that the government is obligated to respect, promote and realize the principles embodied in these Conventions regardless of ratification.&rdquo; 
 
The committee&rsquo;s conclusions cited, &ldquo;&hellip; the failure to assure compliance with freedom of association principles in North Carolina has resulted in grievous working conditions for many public sector workers who report health and safety violations in their workplace, unconscionable wages, unreasonable and unsafe hours of work, extreme under-staffing, unreasonable forced overtime, favouritism, and disrespectful treatment from supervisors, as well as inconsistent grievance procedures devoid of any notion of due process.&rdquo; 
 
The UE took the international action on behalf of members of its Local 150 in North Carolina. That branch union is comprised of low-wage, public-sector workers such as janitors, garbage haulers, housekeepers, groundskeepers, medical helpers, and bus drivers.

US Union Gets Affirmation that Public Sector Bargaining Applies in North Carolina

<img height="48" alt="" src="" width="120" />
Workers, members of three of Peru&rsquo;s mining and metals unions, struck the copper and lead smelting operations of Doe Run Company last week for three days. The strike and blockade of smelting operations in the city of La Oroya caused nearly a 70% production decline, which affected markets. 
 
The 2,000 miners and metal workers took the job action to protest the company&rsquo;s 2006 dividend pay awards. The workers took struck action from 2-4 April and completely blocked the central motorway near La Oroyo from Lima on 1 April. La Oroyo is 175 kilometres away west of Lima. 
 
A branch union of ICEM affiliate FNTMMSP is one of the three unions involved in the pay dispute. The strike was called off after workers&rsquo; representatives and managers met on the afternoon of 4 April.
<img height="130" src="" width="280" alt="" />
Doe Run is a privately-held US company that began operating in Peru in 1997. It mines, mills, and smelts some 59,000-tons-per-yar of copper, 129,000 of lead, 40,000 of zinc, and minor amount of gold and silver. In the US, Doe Run operates in the states of Arizona, Missouri, and Washington in lead recycling and lead smelting. 
 
Last month, public health and environmental groups filed a petition against Peru before the human rights division of the Organisation of American States over contamination from Doe Run&rsquo;s La Oroya operations. The complaint charges the Peruvian government with failing to put in place pollution controls, thus trampling &ldquo;the human rights of the town&rsquo;s citizens.&rdquo;

Strike Crimps Production at US-based Firm’s Peruvian Mining, Smelting Operations

<img height="48" alt="" src="" width="120" />
Oil workers in Chad, two weeks ago, ended a three-day strike in the rich Doba oil fields, but warned further walkouts could occur. Some 500 workers are angry about job safety and security, as well as delays in meeting pay demands. US-based ExxonMobil operates the vast number of production sites in the Doba fields, as well as a controversial 1,063 kilometre pipeline to Kribi, the Atlantic port of neighbouring Cameroon. 
 
The oil workers, led by Chad&rsquo;s national labour centre UST, took three-day strike actions twice last July over pay disparities. The workers were then paid barely a third of what oil workers&rsquo; in Cameroon earn. Although the 2006 strikes did narrow that gap some, there is still a huge pay differential between oil workers in the two countries. 

<img height="147" alt="" src="" width="320" />
 
ExxonMobil operates the Chad-Cameroon pipeline with Patronas of Malaysia and Chevron of the US as partners. The rich Doba fields of southern Chad are now producing 150,000-barrels-per-day, and are expected to yield 200,000 in the near future. Doba has reserves estimated at 900 billion barrels over the next 25 years. 
 
Development of the Doba oil fields, together with the three-year-old pipeline to Kribi, has been mired in World Bank controversy. That included a year-long suspension of Bank funds for the project. Construction of the pipeline was also plagued by labour and human rights violations. Many contract workers for Chad-Cameroon Constructors, the building consortium put together by the oil companies, were not paid their wages. As well, an HIV/AIDS rate along the pipeline is three times the national averages of Chad and Cameroon, figures that reflect poorly on the partnering companies&rsquo; social responsibility.

Esso-Tchad Workers Strike for Higher Pay

<img height="48" src="" width="120" alt="" />
A string of three-day lockouts by management of Bridgestone Australia at a tyre plant near Salisbury has only toughened the resolve of members of three unions to gain fair wage increases. Managers locked out workers for three-day periods over the weekends of 23-25 March and again on 30 March to 1 April, and also from 27-29 March. 
 
The 500 workers and their unions have been locked in a pay dispute for nearly a year with the Japanese-based rubber company. Production workers, numbering about 450, are represented by ICEM affiliate Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Union (LHMU), while maintenance workers at the auto and truck tyre plant are represented by the Australian Manufacturing Workers&rsquo; Union (AMWU) and the Communications, Electrical, and Plumbing Union (CEPU), both also ICEM affiliates.
<img height="142" src="" width="280" alt="" />
&nbsp;Bridgestone is offering a mere 2% wage increase for each year of a proposed three-year contract, while workers and their unions are seeking 4% per year. The cost-of-living in Australia is 3.3%. 
 
A LHMU spokesman said rubber workers have struggled over the past several years to win pay increases that keep pace with inflation. Prior to 2006, annual raises totalled just 3% and now Bridgestone seeks to pay even less.
<img height="60" src="" width="120" alt="" />
&nbsp;The lockouts have been described by union representatives as aggressive and irresponsible, and come as Bridgestone Australia is asking staff to make improved productivity changes, while earning less money. 
 
Beginning in early March, workers began job actions, which included four-hour strikes and overtime bans. The company has admitted that the job actions have significantly disrupted production during the month of March, but it remains unwilling to reopen talks with the union. Instead, Bridgestone re-issued its insufficient salary adjustments in letters to individual workers that included the lockout notices.

Lockouts Strengthen Resolve of Bridgestone Rubber Workers in Australia

<img height="48" alt="" src="" width="120" />
Labour relations in Trinidad and Tobago tilt pointedly toward turbulent unrest, as witnessed by mounted riot police and barricades that met 200 labour protestors on 29 March at Whitehall, the prime minister&rsquo;s offices in Port-of-Spain. The 200 peaceful marchers were forced by the barricades and mounted patrols away from the site of their strategic protest, and into an adjacent park.
<img height="92" alt="" src="" width="200" />
 
Workers employed at national and global companies &ndash; firms that have either stalled collective negotiations, or refused to engage in them &ndash; marched on Whitehall during a cabinet meeting with PM Patrick Manning in protest of high food prices and nagging inflation. This economic hit on workers comes at a time when bosses are delaying salary increases. 
 
ICEM affiliate Oilfields Workers&rsquo; Trade Union (OWTU) organised the demonstration, together with its national ally, the Federation of Independent Trade Unions and Non-Government Organisations (FITUN). 
 
The 29 March demonstration comes amidst a wave of job actions on the Caribbean island nation, including a strike two weeks ago by OWTU members at state-owned oil company Petrotrin. Job actions also included a dockworkers&rsquo; strike last week. 
 
At the Whitehall standoff, workers from Petrotrin, Trinmar, PowerGen, Hilton Hotels, Telecommunications Service (TSTT), and University of West Indies (UWI) marched to the beat of a rhythm section right up to the barricades. TSTT and UWI workers demand that their employers negotiate with their chosen trade unions, while Hilton protested their management&rsquo;s refusal to negotiate a pension plan.
<img height="204" src="" width="200" alt="" />
Errol McLeod, OWTU President
Errol McLeod of OWTU said workers&rsquo; patience is grows thin due to the slow pace of wage negotiations at several private and public companies. Dockworkers, in fact, represented by Seamen and Waterfront Workers&rsquo; Trade Union (SWWTU), struck port facilities in Port-of-Spain because wage talks continue now for two years. 
 
McLeod said government officials and companies must realize that by settling wage demands will result in the desired effect of economic growth. The absence of that, he added, either by government, or on the part of management in the public or private sector, will bring only further unrest. 
 
&ldquo;If employers were to meet the just demands of unions, then there would be no need to protest,&rdquo; FITUN President David Abdullah said in a news report. FITUN has been heavily engaged with the Communications Workers&rsquo; Union (CWU) is its fight to get TSTT managers into meaningful collective bargaining. 
 
From 26-30 March, some 400 OWTU took job actions at oil-well facilities of Petrotrin, and protested in front of the company&rsquo;s Santa Flora production headquarters. The OWTU is protesting improper safety practices, brought on mainly through under-staffing. OWTU members also protested Petrotrin&rsquo;s failure to upgrade temporary workers &ndash; some who have worked for as long as 25 years &ndash; to permanent and full-time jobs.

Workers in Trinidad/Tobago Fight High Food Costs, Delays to Wage Increases

The ICEM has condemned the killing of General Federation of Iraqi Workers (GFIW) Union Leader Najim Abd-Jasem in a communiqu&eacute; to Iraq&rsquo;s prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki. 
 
The 20-million-member Global Union Federation (GUF) called this &ldquo;appalling murder another sign of a clearly systematic campaign underway in Iraq to eliminate the leadership of the newly formed independent and democratic unions that strongly oppose sectarianism.&rdquo;
Abd-Jasem, a husband and father of four children, was abducted in Baghdad on 27 March, and his body was found three days later, 30 March, with clear signs that he was tortured before his death. A staunch trade unionist, even as a member of the underground workers&rsquo; democratic movement during Saddam Hussein&rsquo;s ban on independent trade unions, Abd-Jasem was the elected General Secretary of the Mechanic Workers&rsquo; Union of the GFIW. 
<img height="115" alt="" src="" width="250" />
In the message to Nouri al-Maliki, ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda cited recent attacks on the head office of the GFIW, as well as previous murders and abduction of trade union leaders. &ldquo;Workers and trade unionists must be able to carry out their normal activities in your country without fearing for their lives,&rdquo; said Warda. &ldquo;We call on you to ensure full respect for the fundamental human and trade union rights of workers.&rdquo; 
Abd-Jasem was leader of the Mechanics Workers&rsquo; Union since 2003. He was also a founder of the Iraq Federation of Trade Unions (IFTU) and a trade union leader as the IFTU and two other labour federations merged to create the GFIW. During the Saddam regime, he worked as a mechanic in the Health Ministry, but was dismissed from that job for opposing Saddam&rsquo;s official union. 
 
The ICEM, a GUF representing 389 trade unions in 124 countries, expresses deep sorrow to the family of Najim Abd Jasem, as well as to the leadership of GFIW, which has lost a true martyr in the struggle for free and democratic trade unions in Iraq.

ICEM Condemns Killing of Iraqi Trade Union Leader

Trade union leaders from Guinea, who have been leading efforts to topple the corrupt regime of President Lansano Cont&eacute; in the west African country, were in Brussels on 26-27 March, and they appealed to global trade unions to continue to apply pressure for democratic change there. 
 
The national centre leaders, which included the leader of ICEM&rsquo;s mining union affiliate in Guinea, visited the ICEM on 27 March. They told of the continued impasse to dissolve the corrupt and authoritative government of Cont&eacute; &ndash; despite the appointment of an acceptable prime minister &ndash; and they addressed the rampant poverty that has swallowed the resource-rich country, due primarily to that corruption. 
 
The three included: Rabiatou Sereh Diallo, General Secretary of the National Confederation of Workers of Guinea (CNTG); Dr. Ibrahima Fofana, General Secretary of the Trade Union of Workers of Guinea (USTG); and Yamodou Tour&eacute;, General Secretary of the National Organisation of Free Trade Unions of Guinea (ONSLG), who also heads the National Union of Mine and Quarry Workers (SYNAMIC). 
<img height="253" alt="" src="" width="380" />
From left to right: Ibrahima Fofana, Rabiatou Sereh Diallo, Manfred Warda and Yamodou Tour&eacute;
Guinea&rsquo;s trade unions have become the voice and courage for all of civil society as they led mass strikes against Cont&eacute; and his military regime last year, and again in January and February of this year. In January, the three leaders were arrested for leading the three-week general strike, and the arrests were interlocked with direct negotiations with Cont&eacute;, talks that did make modest progress toward democratic reform. 
Cont&eacute;'s presidential guards killed a total of 113 people during this year's crisis. 
 
The Brussels visit was made possible by the ITUC, and included a visit to the European Union&rsquo;s Commission. 
 
At the ICEM, Rabi Diallo said the January-February general strike was only a partial success, and civil society is now waiting for new Prime Minister Lansana Kouyate to re-shape a government that will address the needs of the people. &ldquo;The stumbling block is that the president is still in power,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;The commitments we have gained have not been implemented, so our struggle continues. Nothing is a given yet.&rdquo; 
 
Dr. Fofana added, &ldquo;We have initiated the first step, that government must be responsible to the people. We took action, the state tried to stop us, but we have persevered.&rdquo; Fofana and the others are calling for an international conference of trade union and civil society groups to be held in Guinea this year. The conference is intended to promote proper social dialogue inside the country, as well &ldquo;as to show the whole world what is occurring in Guinea today,&rdquo; according to Fofana. 
<img height="115" alt="" src="" width="250" />
Yamodou Tour&eacute; said the two biggest obstacles facing workers in Guinea are corrupt bosses, and the need for overhaul and drastic revisions to labour code and collective labour agreements. The three trade union leaders specifically told ICEM of the problems in Guinea&rsquo;s mining sector, where taxes that are charged to global companies end up in personal accounts of Cont&eacute; and his cronies. 
 
The country holds roughly half of the world&rsquo;s reserves of bauxite, the chief mineral in the manufacture of aluminium, and also is a significant producer of copper, gold, and diamonds. 
 
The trade unionists said Russian bauxite producer RUSAL is a real problem in Guinea. The company, which operates the Friguia alumina plant, as well as serving as the managing partner in a joint venture with Cont&eacute;&rsquo;s corrupt regime, called Compagnie des Bauxite de Kindia, utilises child labour in many of its work areas. The company also relies heavily on subcontractors, &ldquo;phantom&rdquo; companies which are tied to Cont&eacute;&rsquo;s associates. 
 
These enterprises operate in the black, and are the worst abusers of workers&rsquo; rights in a country in which workplace rights are nearly non-existent. 
 
After meeting with ICEM Gen. Sec. Manfred Warda and ICEM staff, Warda stated, &ldquo;The people of Guinea deserve our support and solidarity. They are living and working under the worst circumstances imaginable. It is incumbent for global trade unions to follow the lead of Guinea&rsquo;s heroic unions, and to join their struggle for justice and democratic reforms.&rdquo;

Struggle Continues for Trade Unionists in Bringing Democracy to Guinea

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The International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF) is heading a global union campaign to draw attention to occupational cancer, the most common work-related cause of death. Titled &ldquo;Occupational Cancer/Zero Cancer,&rdquo; the campaign is endorsed by all Global Union Federations, as well as the ITUC, and contains materials and useful information for preventing cancer in the workplace. 
 
Those materials, and background information, can be found at <a href="http://www.imfmetal.org/cancer">www.imfmetal.org/cancer</a>. 
 
An IMF cancer prevention guide, for instance, states that an occupational cancer death occurs once every 52 seconds. The IMF maintains that one in ten cancer cases can be prevented because that percentage, at the very least, is due to predictable workplace exposure. 
 
&ldquo;Asbestos alone accounts for an estimated 100,000 deaths each year and yet there is not a worldwide ban on its use,&rdquo; said IMF Gen. Sec. Marcello Malentacchi. The IMF says too little attention is given to preventing workplace hazards by employers and government regulators, and Malentacchi points to the fact that &ldquo;only a small minority of countries have signed up to the ILO conventions on occupational cancer and asbestos.&rdquo;

IMF Spearheads Global Campaign on Occupational Cancer

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