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&nbsp;
&nbsp; Enactment of the unpopular WorkChoices labour reform law in Australia will reverse the course on gender equality in the workplace, said Sharon Burrow, president of the Australian Council of Trade Unions.
&nbsp;Contents<a name="BackUp"></a>
<a href="#A1">1. WorkChoices Act - Australian Women&rsquo;s Rights Hit Hard</a> 
<a href="#A2">2. Nepal - Equality for Women Goes from Strength to Strength</a> 
<a href="#A3">3. USA - A New Movement for Family-Friendly Policies</a> 
<a href="#A4">4. Canada - C$100 Million Pay Equity Settlement</a> 
<a href="#A5">5. China - Women&rsquo;s Pay Still a Long Way from Equal</a> 
<a href="#A6">6. Colombia - Court Legalises Some Abortions</a> 
<a href="#A7">7. Finland - 100 Years of Women&rsquo;s Suffrage</a> 
<a href="#A8">8. Malaysia - Give Women What is Fair</a> 
<a href="#A9">9. Mexico - Women Allege Sex Abuse by Police</a> 
<a href="#A10">10. Switzerland - Work-Life Balance Means a High Return on Investment</a> 
<a href="#11">11. UK - Iraqi Women Visit Trade Unions</a> 
<a href="#A12">12. Resources</a> 

<img height="25" alt="" src="" width="20" /><a name="A1"></a><a name="1"></a>
1. <a name="1"></a>Australia &ndash; Women&rsquo;s Rights Hit Hard 
 
The Australian government&rsquo;s industrial relations reforms have set back women&rsquo;s fight for equal rights at work by decades, according to the national labour centre, Australian Council of Trade Unions. 
 
ACTU president Sharan Burrow told a recent women&rsquo;s conference that female equality in the workplace was unachievable under WorkChoices. She said, &ldquo;We were already struggling&hellip;.now with WorkChoices we&rsquo;ve lost the tools to do anything about it.&rdquo; The tools included the Australian Industrial Relations Commission, unfair dismissal laws and equal pay principles. She said the changes had angered many women who had fought hard in the past three decades to try to achieve equality. 
 
But she also predicted the Howard government&rsquo;s reforms will prompt a new generation of women to rally behind the cause for work rights. Burrow is the first woman ever to serve as president of the ICFTU. 
<a href="#BackUp">Back Up</a>
<img height="25" alt="" src="" width="20" /><a name="A2"></a><a name="2"></a>
2.<a name="2"></a> Nepal &ndash; Equality for Women Goes from Strength to Strength 
 
The General Federation of Nepalese Trade Unions (GEFONT) congratulates all women in Nepal for the new victory in the fight for equality. The House of Representatives made one more landmark declaration guaranteeing the right of women, by providing a 33% requirement in all state bodies. 
 
It will secure women a one-third representation on all security forces, bureaucracy and constitutional bodies, including Parliament. It will be imperative for every political party and mass organisation to follow the same rule. Moreover the declaration put an end to the patriarchal nature of the existing citizenship law and ensured citizenship to all. 
 
Now Nepali citizenship will be awarded on the basis of both mother and father, contrary to the previous practice of citizenship based on the father&rsquo;s only. By this declaration all discriminatory laws and practices against women will be annulled. The demands were the major agenda of Nepali women&rsquo;s movement including working-class women, the trade union movement and gender-friendly organisations. 
 
The ICEM congratulates GEFONT and all women in Nepal on this important achievement in the immediate aftermath of the political capitulation of King Gyanendra.
<a href="#BackUp">Back Up</a>
<img height="25" alt="" src="" width="20" /><a name="A3"></a><a name="3"></a>
3.<a name="3"></a> United States &ndash; A New Movement for Family-Friendly Policies 
 
Patti Devlin from LIUNA wrote about the new movement for family-friendly policies because of the family crisis in America. Mothers and families are in trouble. A full quarter of families with children under six live in poverty, at least 9 million children have no health care, and far too many parents cannot afford to stay home with sick children. 
 
Working toward common sense, family-friendly policies, like those covered in The Motherhood Manifesto, will help all families. To support common sense family-friendly policies that protect and invest in mothers, children and families. Please sign the petition at: <a href="http://www.momsrising.org/">www.momsrising.org</a>.
<a href="#BackUp">Back Up</a>
<img height="25" alt="" src="" width="20" /><a name="A4"></a><a name="4"></a>
4.<a name="4"></a> Canada &ndash; C$100 Million Pay Equity Settlement 
 
BCE Inc., Canada&rsquo;s largest telephone company, agreed to pay about C$100 million to workers represented by the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers&rsquo; (CEP) Union of Canada. 
 
The union filed suit in 1992 to seek equal pay for Bell&rsquo;s largely female operators, and dining and housing-service employees. About 2,000 people who work or have worked full time as operators would each receive between C$25,000 and C$30,000, plus an adjustment to their pensions. 
 
&ldquo;People have waited a long time for this settlement,&rdquo; said CEP President Bryan Payne. The settlement covers current and former employees who worked for Bell between 1993 and 1999. Most of the people covered by the proposed agreement no longer work for Bell because their jobs were cut in the 1990s.
<a href="#BackUp">Back Up</a>
<img height="25" alt="" src="" width="20" /><a name="A5"></a><a name="5"></a>
5. <a name="5"></a>China &ndash; Women&rsquo;s Pay Still a Long Way from Equal 
 
While more Chinese believe both genders are equal, a recent national survey by the All-China Women&rsquo;s Federation found women were still in a passive and disadvantageous position in the workplace. 
 
According to the survey, the employment rate of women age 18 to 49 has decreased by more than 16 percentage points compared to 1990. More than half of all laid-off workers are women. For working women in cities, their average income is roughly 70% that of men, representing a disparity of about 7% wider than a decade ago. This could be based on the fact that far fewer women want to have a voice in the managerial affairs of their units, even though China has many more women leaders in every aspect of social life than ever before, said survey analysts. 
 
According to the survey, only about 42% of women staff are concerned with the politics of their organisations, in contrast with more than 58% of men. 
 
While most men surveyed said their suggestions had been taken on board, most of the women said their suggestions had only brought &ldquo;negative&rdquo; results. It is this attitude towards the ability of women that freezes almost 65% of women in low-ranking positions, said Deng Li from the federation. &ldquo;While gender equality is widely recognized in China, the social tradition and climate promoting a subordinate female role in relation to the male role persists,&rdquo; Deng said. 
 
Consequently the survey found 20% of the men had promotion opportunities in the past three years, while only a little more than 16% of their female counterparts had the same opportunities. 
 
In addition, fewer women have been protected by proper unemployment and retirement pensions, which Deng said will prompt the federation to suggest that the National People&rsquo;s Congress write &ldquo;safeguarding equality in employment&rdquo; into the Law on the Protection of Women&rsquo;s Rights and Interests. 
 
&ldquo;Discrimination against women has become the most severe problem in the employment market in China, ranging from higher recruitment requirements for women to scarce promotion opportunities and humiliating workplace abuse,&rdquo; Deng said. 
<a href="#BackUp">Back Up</a>
<img height="25" alt="" src="" width="20" /><a name="A6"></a><a name="6"></a>
6. <a name="6"></a>Colombia &ndash; Court Legalises Some Abortions 
 
Colombia&rsquo;s highest court has legalized abortion under limited circumstances. The decision is expected to embolden women&rsquo;s rights groups across Latin America to use courts in their countries to try to roll back some of the world&rsquo;s most stringent abortion laws. 
 
The court overturned Colombia&rsquo;s complete ban on abortion and ruled that the procedure would be permitted when the life of a mother was in danger, or the foetus was expected to die or in cases of rape or incest. 
 
The lawyer in Bogot&aacute; who brought the case fought on the grounds that Colombia was violating its own commitments to international human rights treaties ensuring a woman&rsquo;s right to life and health. The court, explaining its decision, said the life of a foetus could not be put ahead of the life of the mother, and called the complete ban &ldquo;disproportionate&rdquo; and &ldquo;irrational.&rdquo; Advocates of abortion rights say the arguments are applicable to other Latin American countries as well. 
<a href="#BackUp">Back Up</a>
<img height="25" alt="" src="" width="20" /><a name="A7"></a><a name="7"></a>
7. <a name="7"></a>Finland &ndash; 100 Years of Women&rsquo;s Suffrage 
 
Finns are celebrating a century of being the first country to grant women full political rights. On the First of June, 1906, a law was enacted giving all citizens the right to vote and full political rights for women, the first country in the world to do so. A year later, 19 women were elected into the 200-member single chamber. In 1893, New Zealand became the first country permitting women to vote, but it initially did not allow them to compete in elections. 
 
Finland&rsquo;s Foreign Minister, Erkki Tuomioja, said the country was among &ldquo;the most advanced nations in gender equality. We&rsquo;re not perfect, we have a lot to do still, but we are an example for the rest of the world,&rdquo; Tuomioja said in an article distributed by the Associated Press. 
<a href="#BackUp">Back Up</a>
<img height="25" alt="" src="" width="20" /><a name="A8"></a><a name="8"></a>
8. <a name="8"></a>Malaysia &ndash; Give Women What is Fair 
 
Referring to the complaint that salary should not be the basis for maternity pay, companies still treat women indifferently, especially when it comes to maternity leave. Employers could be charged in court if they sack a female employee just because she is pregnant, as provided by the 1955 Employment Act. Many companies give two months&rsquo; paid maternity leave (up to the fifth child), even though their salaries are above RM 1,500. 
 
Efforts are being made to amend the Employment Act for the definition of workers to include those who earn more than RM 1,500. The Malaysian government has not ratified ILO Convention 183 on maternity protection, which sets a requirement for 14 weeks&rsquo; paid maternity leave, parenting leave for the spouse, breastfeeding breaks for nursing mothers and provision of childcare centres. 
<a href="#BackUp">Back Up</a>
<img height="25" alt="" src="" width="20" /><a name="A9"></a><a name="9"></a>
9.<a name="9"></a> Mexico &ndash; Women Allege Sex Abuse by Police 
 
Mexico&rsquo;s human rights agency said on 30 May it has filed complaints with prosecutors after nearly two dozen women claimed they were raped or sexually abused by police following a violent protest. 
 
The allegations are the most serious to arise against police, frequently accused of corruption and violence, during the administration of President Fox, said Guillermo Ibarra, coordinator-general of projects and communication for the Mexican National Human Rights Commission. He said seven women reported that they were raped and 16 others, including three foreign nationals, said they were sexually abused by police who detained them after violent clashes last week in the town of San Salvador Atenco. 
 
Ibarra said his panel has filed criminal complaints with the attorney general&rsquo;s office in the central state of Mexico, where local, state and federal police officers have been accused by the women in the alleged abuses. 
<a href="#BackUp">Back Up</a>
<img height="25" alt="" src="" width="20" /><a name="A10"></a><a name="10"></a>
10. <a name="10"></a>Switzerland &ndash; Work-Life Balance Means a High Return on Investment 
 
The Swiss union UNIA has found that work-life balance is profitable for companies; that it provides an 8% return on investment. 
 
A government study proves this figure for three reasons. Mothers come back to work after their maternity leave, which lowers the rate of fluctuation and reduces costs for new hiring. New hiring costs for bringing low-paid workers (CHF 4,000 to 90,000) on to payrolls is significant, and making better use of part-time workers means that companies use their human resources more efficiently. And finally, work-life balance makes it possible for mothers to have qualified careers in spite of their family responsibilities. Motivation and company image were not taken into account in these figures. 
 
In addition, in the chemical and pharmaceuticals industry in the Basel region, UNIA managed to boost maternity leave from 16 to 18 weeks. 
<a href="#BackUp">Back Up</a>
<img height="25" alt="" src="" width="20" /><a name="11"></a>
11.<a name="11"></a> United Kingdom &ndash; Iraqi Women Visit Trade Unions 
 
Iraqi and Kurdish women trade unionists visited the UK in March with the support of the Trades Union Congress, and unions Unison and Amicus. 
 
The delegation consisted of Nazanin T. Ali, Head of Women&rsquo;s Affairs at the Kurdistan Workers Syndicate, member of the Service Workers Union; Hoda S Rafiq, member of the Kurdistan Journalists&rsquo; Union, who works for the Kurdistan Workers Syndicate newspaper; Hassana Abdulsatar, member of the Mechanics, Metal and Printing Workers Union, and a member of her union&rsquo;s women&rsquo;s committee; and Violet Issa Qalaab, President of the Oil and Gas Workers Union Al Zubair Branch and member of the Iraqi Women&rsquo;s League. 
<a href="#BackUp">Back Up</a>
<img height="25" alt="" src="" width="20" /><a name="A12"></a><a name="12"></a>
12. <a name="12"></a>Resources: 
 
The EU&rsquo;s Responsibility at the WTO: Environment, Gender and Development, written by Women in Development Europe and Friends of the Earth Europe, 2006. 
 
This publication aims to contribute to a constructive dialogue between civil society representatives from the North and the South, and representatives from the EU that could contribute to an EU trade policy consistent with social and gender justice and environmental sustainability. 
The first part reports on the public hearing, entitled &ldquo;The EU&rsquo;s Responsibility at the WTO: Environment, Gender and Development,&rdquo; highlighting issues such as the commoditization of natural resources under the WTO, the importance of people&rsquo;s food sovereignty, the gender dimension of the trade agenda and biosafety. 
The second part consists of an analysis of the outcome of the Hong Kong Ministerial meeting, from a feminist and environmentalist perspective. Available online at: 
<a href="http://www.eurosur.org/wide/Globalisation/WTO06.pdf">http://www.eurosur.org/wide/Globalisation/WTO06.pdf</a>
<a href="#BackUp">Back Up</a>

ICEM WOMEN’S BULLETIN N° 12

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In New Zealand, offshore energy and drilling workers belonging to ICEM affiliate Engineering Printing &amp; Manufacturing Union (EPMU) are expected to ratify a new multi-employer collective agreement that will merge separate onshore and offshore agreements into one agreement. 
 
EPMU issued a strike notice to the five drilling companies and several oil firms involved. The strike was to have started on 24 May. Employers responded by filing a court injunction preventing a work stoppage. 
 
But two weeks ago, employers presented a revised two-year pay offer that EPMU&rsquo;s oil and gas negotiating committee was recommending for ratification to the 200 workers. Voting is expected to conclude on the contract proposal in the near future.

New Zealand’s Offshore Oil and Gas Workers Get Tentative Agreement

<img height="40" src="" width="100" alt="" />
The global mining industry did produce one piece of good news over the past fortnight. Canadian mining house Ivanhoe announced it would withdraw from Burma, expressing to sources discomfort with having to deal with the military junta, which jointly owns a copper mine with Ivanhoe. The company will sell its 50% in the Monywa mine to a consortium of South Korean investors, including Daewoo International, which already has investment deals with the Burmese generals. 
 
The Ivanhoe Mines exit will happen in a July 2006 sale. Last week, Burma&rsquo;s military junta extended the house arrest on Aung San Suu Kyi, 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner. Her strong voice for democracy and human rights in Burma has now been silenced for the past three years by the corrupt Burmese military rulers. In total, she has spent a total of ten of the past 17 years in detention.

Canadian Ivanhoe Mines Pulls Out of Burma

<img height="40" alt="" src="" width="100" />
The coal rush in the eastern United States has brought six more mining deaths in recent days, and again it is a fledgling mining company responsible for five of those deaths. On 20 May, five miners at the non-union Kentucky Darby Mine No. 1 in Harlan County, state of Kentucky, died after a methane explosion inside a shaft. Two of the miners died instantly due to the blast, while three others died underground later due to carbon monoxide poisoning. 
 
On 24 May, a miner underground at International Coal Group&rsquo;s (ICG) Sycamore II Mine near Jarvisville, state of West Virginia, died when he was struck in the head by a heavy wooden object. ICG is the non-union coal operator of the Sago Mine in West Virginia in which 12 miners were killed on 2 January 2006 following an explosion. 
A miner who escaped the Harlan County blast questioned the reliability of self-contained oxygen packs provided to miners only a month before the 20 May explosion. Both ICG and Kentucky Darby LLC, which has operated the mine in eastern Kentucky since 2001, utilized the same emergency devices. Thirty-three mining deaths have happened in the US so far in 2006, with 19 of those deaths in West Virginia and ten in Kentucky. 
<img height="98" alt="" src="" width="150" />
On the day of the latest ICG death, the US Senate passed legislation mandating improved oxygen supplies, electronic tracking systems, fire-resistant lifelines, and local rescue teams, all areas in which start-up coal operators have been lax. The bill also requires up-to-date emergency preparedness and response plans that are continually monitored by the Mine Safety &amp; Health Administration (MSHA). A companion bill is now in the US House. 
The legislation is endorsed by ICEM affiliate United Mine Workers of America (UMWA), as well as by a coalmining employers&rsquo; group. But the association tempered its support over of a 15-minutes notification requirement to MSHA in the event of serious accidents. MSHA has also issued new rules on mine safety since the Sago Mine explosion. 
 
The UMWA has called for miner tracking devises, wireless communication and emergency rescue chambers already in use in Germany, Poland and Australia. UMWA Director of Occupational Health and Safety, Dennis O&rsquo;Dell, in a published report, said, &ldquo;The emergency rules do some good things but don&rsquo;t go far enough. We in the United States are really behind on the kind of technology that protects miners&rsquo; safety and is already saving lives in other countries.&rdquo;

Mining Deaths Keep Occurring in US Coal Industry

<img height="40" alt="" src="" width="100" />
In what the Chinese work-safety director is calling the worst coal mine disaster of 2006, 56 miners were trapped and killed by flooding at the Xinjing Coal Mine, Shanxi Province. Miners told managers to cease mining due to rising water levels six days before the 18 May mass flooding, but were ordered to continue mining. 
 
To make matters worse, local safety officials had attempted to cover up the extent of the disaster when it happened by stating only five miners were trapped. After two days, a State Administration of Work Safety (SAWS) investigation discovered 56 were trapped. Nine managers are under arrest, while the owner of the licensed mine is reported to have fled. In addition, six others were arrested in connection to the disaster, including two bankers as well as the person charged with work safety, who stands accused of leading the cover-up. 
Also on 18 May, near Beijing, a coal mine collapsed in Fangshan District, killing five miners. The mine is owned by Jingmei Coal, part of the Beijing Coal Group. These two mid-May tragedies follow a fierce explosion that occurred at the Wayaobao Coal Mine in Shaanxi Province on 29 April. It killed 32. 
 
Fatalities occurred in other Chinese mining sectors as well over the past month. On 13 May, at last three were confirmed dead after the Dalongshan Iron Mine collapsed in Anhui Province. On April 30, in an effort to heighten production, the Zhen&rsquo;an County Gold Mining Co., raised water levels on a dam, which then burst and killed 17 villagers. That incident happened in Shaanxi Province.

Coal, Iron, Gold Disasters Kill Scores in China’s Mines

<img height="40" src="" width="100" alt="" />
A dispute has been settled and a first collective agreement is in place in Malaysia&rsquo;s paper industry. ICEM assisted its affiliate Paper and Paper Products Manufacturing Employees&rsquo; Union (PPPMEU), as did Norwegian trade union Fellesforbundet in achieving recognition and a contract at a Malaysian Newsprint Industries mill in Pahang. 
 
Malaysian Newsprint is 34% owned by Norske Skog, with whom ICEM and Fellesforbundet have a Global Framework Agreement. The matter was brought before the Norwegian-based company by Fellesforbundet. 
<img height="102" src="" width="100" alt="" />
A union was formed at the nine-year-old mill in October 2004 and, in March 2005, a government ministry verified PPMEU certification. The union submitted proposals toward a first collective agreement in July 2005, but the company stalled in meeting its bargaining obligations. When the company finally did meet with the union, it informed the union that 70 of 220 workers were in &ldquo;executive&rdquo; capacities and exempt from the union, even though they perform manual tasks. 
 
The ICEM and Fellesforbundet attention to the dispute, and no doubt the formal intent-to-strike notice issued by PPPMEU on 15 May, brought pressure on management to settle. The initial three-year collective agreement will be backdated to 1 October 2005. Even though the scope of the bargaining unit wasn&rsquo;t resolved, it will now be submitted to a Malaysian Industrial Court. Other partners in the newsprint mill include the Hong Leong Group of Malaysia (34%), the New Straits Times newspaper (21%), and Rimbuan Hijau Group of Malaysia (11%).

Global Agreement, Strike Threat Brings First Accord to Malaysian Paper Mill

<img height="40" alt="" src="" width="100" />
On 24 May, tens of thousands of Ukrainian workers, led by their trade unions, took to the streets of Kiev. Led by Alexander Yurkin, former ICEM Vice President, who now leads the Ukrainian Trade Union Federation (FPU), workers gathered in six main city squares and marched to Maydan Square, site of the 2004 Orange Revolution in the country.
In front of one of those squares, Mariyinskyy Park, some 500 trade union leaders picketed the Cabinet of Ministers&rsquo; building over the rapid and unjustified hike to both prices and tariffs on consumers&rsquo; utility rates. 
 
 
<img height="66" alt="" src="" width="100" />
Yurkin, addressing an estimated 50,000 protesters at Maydan Square, said the government has violated the trust of Ukrainian citizens by &ldquo;arrogantly and irresponsibly&rdquo; making a unilateral decision to increase utility pricing, thus breaking a General Agreement with trade unions. Trade unions insist that any increase in prices or tariffs must be preceded with definitive social protection measures.
A day before the 24 May demonstration, the country&rsquo;s National Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) again raised tariffs on natural gas and electricity distribution, this time by 41%, effective 1 June.&nbsp; 
 
NERC and the Ukrainian government already had hiked&nbsp;tariffs on gas and electricity distribution by 25%, and yet another round of increases is&nbsp;scheduled for 1 July. The FPU is demanding a rollback in prices and tariffs, and is insistent that the government start immediate negotiations with trade unions in order to introduce social protections.

Ukrainian Labour Protests Hikes in Utility Tariffs

<img height="40" alt="" src="" width="100" />
A major demonstration set for tomorrow, 30 May, in Sofia, Bulgaria, by trade union organisations there has the full support of the ICEM. The Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CITUB), together with another labour federation, will protest over government and employer disinterest in social dialogue talks with trade unions over a national income policy. 
 
The protest will also center on workers&rsquo; rights over their legitimate right to strike in Bulgaria, as well as gaining that rights for civil servants. 
In March 2006, the average monthly income of a Bulgarian family stood at &euro;241, while average household expenditures rose to over &euro;226 per month, according to the National Statistical Institute. &ldquo;Bulgaria is the only one among the countries that are acceding to the European Union that does not have an income policy bargained at the national level,&rdquo; said CITUB President Zhelyazko Hristov. 
 
In a poll taken last month, over 60% of Bulgarian trade union members insisted on national protest actions for the end of May, while 40% said they would join a national strike over the income and other issues if one were called. For ICEM&rsquo;s letter of support to affiliate National Labour Federation of Chemistry and Industry on the 30 May demonstration, <a href="/index.php?id=9&amp;doc=1810">click here</a>.

Bulgarians Protest Tomorrow over Low Wages, Labour Rights

<img height="40" alt="" src="" width="100" />
Lastik-Īş, ICEM&rsquo;s rubber and chemicals affiliate in Turkey, kept its collective agreement in the rubber sector intact. A week ago, under threat of a 22 May strike at four tyre plants by 3,500 workers, the rubber industry representing Pirelli Lastikleri, Goodyear and Brisa Bridgestone Sabanci, agreed to a two-year contract with the union that excludes all employer flexibility demands contained in a World Bank and IMF inspired labour code introduced in Turkey three years ago. 
<img height="151" alt="" src="" width="200" /> 
 
Lastik-Īş leaders outside the Izmit Turkey 
Goodyear plant
Lastik-Īş retained 50 years of gained rights, including holiday periods, wage rates of new hires, health care protections, and limitations on use of temporary workers.
The union won a 5% wage increase back to 1 January, which equals the country&rsquo;s inflation rate of the last six months of 2005, and also won wage adjustments every six months, based on the inflation rate level. Lastik-Īş negotiated increases based on the inflation rate for several social benefits, including education and child aid, sickness and disease benefits, and heating, food and other social gains.

Turkish Lastik-Īş  Preserves All Past Gains in New Tyre Agreement

<img height="40" alt="" src="" width="100" />
ICEM Nigerian affiliate PENGASSAN agreed to a 27% wage increase at the weekend for upstream workers of Mobil Oil Nigeria Plc. The company, a subsidiary of US-based supermajor ExxonMobil, was under an extended strike deadline to tomorrow by the white-collar oil workers&rsquo; union and its 1,700 members employed by the company. 
 
PENGASSAN had targeted ExxonMobil&rsquo;s Nigerian operations because prior wage negotiations with other multinational oil companies had yielded higher pay increases. The union and company will meet again in December to discuss further increases. 
<img height="50" alt="" src="" width="100" />
Meanwhile, dialogue will continue between the two sides on the use of contract labour in offshore oil operations, as well as PENGASSAN&rsquo;s demand that ExxonMobil comply with an expatriate quota and local content policies that are in effect in Nigeria. The union seeks more full-time employment for Nigerian workers in the oil and gas sector. 
 
On 25 May, PENGASSAN&rsquo;s National Executive Board met and elected Peter Esele as president. He had been serving as acting president since the tragic death of President Uche Okoro in an airline crash last December. Esele is a skilled negotiator and employed at Core Laboratories Nigeria Ltd. as a Health and Environment officer.

ExxonMobil Negotiates Equity Wage Increases to Avert Nigerian Strike

Archive

ICEM WOMEN’S BULLETIN N° 12

New Zealand’s Offshore Oil and Gas Workers Get Tentative Agreement

Canadian Ivanhoe Mines Pulls Out of Burma

Mining Deaths Keep Occurring in US Coal Industry

Coal, Iron, Gold Disasters Kill Scores in China’s Mines

Global Agreement, Strike Threat Brings First Accord to Malaysian Paper Mill

Ukrainian Labour Protests Hikes in Utility Tariffs

Bulgarians Protest Tomorrow over Low Wages, Labour Rights

Turkish Lastik-Īş Preserves All Past Gains in New Tyre Agreement

ExxonMobil Negotiates Equity Wage Increases to Avert Nigerian Strike

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