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Strategic planning was the focus of an ICEM Latin American/Caribbean Region meeting in Montevideo, Uruguay, from 8-9 May. Following up on ICEM Congress motions, delegates defined actions and activities for the period 2008-2011. 
 
The meeting was attended by members of the regional committee, ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda, ICEM Latin America/Caribbean Vice President Sergio Novais, country project coordinators, regional Contact Person Carol Bruce, as well as Regional Secretary Jorge Almeida of the Federaci&oacute;n Internacional de Trabajadores de las Industrias Metal&uacute;rgios (FITAM), the regional body of the International Metalworkers Federation (IMF).
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ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda&nbsp;
Warda explained the concrete meaning of many decisions made at Congress, including offering means for social dialogue with multinationals and working toward Global Framework Agreements with companies. He noted that in Latin America, Rhodia, Freudenberg, Endesa, Degussa, SCA, Lafarge, and Umicore are companies in which ICEM has agreements. An effective workers&rsquo; rights agenda at those companies can be implemented, he said. 
 
Warda encouraged trade unions in the region to check that these companies adhere to the principals contained in the respective agreements. He also cited Brazilian state oil company Petrobras and the growing global mining house from Brazil, Vale, as companies in which to approach for social dialogue. 
 
The ICEM campaign of Contract and Agency Labour was also thoroughly discussed. Warda said the ICEM is beginning to coordinate this campaign with other Global Union Federations (GUFs) in efforts to counter the worst trends of this phenomenon. It was also noted that in Latin America, there have been excellent examples of meaningful social dialogue with companies on the issue, and that those experiences should be shared with other regions. 
 
The regional committee also moved to commemorate 28 July 2008 as a memorial to the 200 contract workers who lost their lives due to a landslide while constructing a hydroelectric dam 25 years earlier near Ubal&aacute; Cundinamarca, Colombia.
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Brazilian Women March&nbsp;
ICEM&rsquo;s HIV/AIDS policy was also confirmed at the regional meeting, as well the GUF&rsquo;s policy on gender equality. The issue of sustainable development was also introduced. 
 
A major discussion point was cooperation with other GUFs. It was emphasized that GUF cooperation globally is meaningless unless real ties between trade unions are made on the national and regional level. Colombia was cited as one example in which efforts are being made to build a single national trade union centre. 
 
Most countries in Latin America have strong mining economies, but only in a few of those economies does one find a match with equally strong mining unions. It was stressed that mining trade unions must meet the demands that major investment in the sector brings. 
 
Also at the regional conference, the Coordination of Mercosur Trade Unions presented their work. The organisation campaigns for living wage, eradication of child labour, and better distribution of wealth in the region. It has also a working group engaged on the issue of biofuels, as well as a commission encompassing electric power trade unions. 
 
Since all Latin governments in Mercosur are currently progressive and socially-oriented administrations, delegates said it was a good time to draft a model for social development in the region, as well as draft in detail a social charter. The challenge facing the Mercosur Trade Unions is the low degree of efficiency of union organisations, and how to improve that. 
 
The group defined these priorities and conclusions in the region: subcontracting; Global Framework Agreements and trade union rights; HIV/AIDS; the environment; and gender equity. Delegates concluded that networks, social dialogue, and cooperation were the key. 
 
The issue of modernisation of trade union structures and involvement of young workers in the trade union movement was discussed and stressed as imperative in strengthening those structures. This will take further involvement in the ICEM.
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Immediately following the strategic planning conference in Uruguay, ICEM organised a meeting in Buenos Aires with trade unions there to heighten relationships. Germany&rsquo;s Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Foundation (FES) lent valuable assistance in order for this to occur.

ICEM Latin American/Caribbean Region Firms Action Plan for 2008-2011

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Kemianliitto, ICEM&rsquo;s Finnish affiliate in the chemicals, rubber, and textile sector, held its semi-annual Union Council meetings in Helsinki on 22-23 May, and reaffirmed its position to be part of a six-union merger across Finland&rsquo;s industrial sectors. 
 
The late May conference was the Council&rsquo;s first meetings since elections were held recently by Kemianliitto&rsquo;s 12 electoral regions, which are organised by respective industries. Re-elected President was Timo Vallittu, who has headed the union since 1995, and elected as Union Secretary was Hannu Siltala, who comes to Kemianliitto from the Finnish Railwaymen&rsquo;s Union.
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Kemianliitto President Timo Vallittu&nbsp;
A 15-member Executive Committee also had been elected. 
 
The Council meetings were marked by a large influx of new &ndash; and young &ndash; trade unionists that now comprise Kemianliitto&rsquo;s 53-member Executive Council. Some 40 members are newly elected. The Union Council moved to continue work toward a 2010 merger of Finnish trade unions, and committed to hold a democratic referendum among all Kemianliitto members on that merger. It also adopted resolutions that included establishing two separate work groups to revise future work strategies for the union.
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&nbsp;Kemianliitto Union Secretary Hannu Siltala 

Speakers at the Council meetings included ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda, Swedish IF Metall Vice President Anders Farber, and Lauri Ihalainen, the President of the Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions (SAK). 
 
The 47,000-member Finnish trade union is composed of four sectors: shoe, leather, and rubber; glass and ceramics; textile and clothing; and chemicals. It is a product of union mergers in the 1990s, which brought together unions from the chemicals, rubber and leather, and glass and porcelain sectors. In 2004, the Finnish Chemical Workers&rsquo; Union merged with Teva, the Textile and Clothing Workers&rsquo; Union. 
 
The proposed six-union merger in Finland is tentatively to be called TEAM, and will number 360,000 workers. Besides Kemianliitto, other unions engaged in discussions toward that merger are the Finnish Electrical Workers&rsquo; Union, the Wood and Allied Workers&rsquo; Union, the Finnish Media Union, Finnish Railwaymen&rsquo;s Union, and the Finnish Metalworkers&rsquo; Union.

Finnish Chemical Workers’ Union Holds Key Executive Council Meeting

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Today in Helsinki, Toimihenkil&ouml;unioni TU, the Union of Salaried Employees of Finland, issued a 14-day strike notice against companies aligned with the Finnish Forest Industries Federation. The union&rsquo;s Paper Industry Bargaining Council, and then the ICEM affiliated trade union&rsquo;s Executive Committee, voted in back to back sessions for industrial action across the country&rsquo;s pulp and paper sector. 
 
The strike notice, filed under the country&rsquo;s Employment Contracts Act, could mean 6,500 salaried, technical, and professional workers begin taking rolling strike actions against 100 employers on 16 June. It is expected that Stora Enso salaried staff will begin the actions at all but two mills on 16 June, with staff at other companies to then strike in the following weeks if an agreement is not reached.
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The union and employers&rsquo; association have bargained since 11 April over a contract that expired Saturday, 31 May. The association entered talks again on 29 May by announcing they would not budge on unresolved issues. 
 
Those issues include offering no pay increases, agreeing to no job security, retraining, or other financial cushioning in the event of redundancies, and refusal to meet pay equity differences with Paperiliitto, the pulp and paperworkers&rsquo; union which reached accord with the Forest Industries Federation in April. 
 
&ldquo;The ICEM has been monitoring TU&rsquo;s talks with the industry for the past six weeks,&rdquo; said General Secretary Manfred Warda, &ldquo;and we are disturbed by the lack of employer movement. We now will alert our trade union affiliates globally, within these relevant companies, of this dispute but we urge the Finnish employers to return to talks and to make meaningful progress toward a renewal contract.&rdquo;
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In Finland, TU represents 1,000 salaried staff at Stora Enso, 1,000 staff at UPM, as well as less numbers of workers at major pulp and paper producers M-Real, Myllykoski, and Mets&auml;-Botnia. The negotiations also cover salaried staff at a number of other global paper producers, and staff inside power generating facilities, pulp and paper maintenance companies, and paper converting firms. 
 
The industry has turned a deaf ear to a TU proposal for six months of pay and re-training for staff made redundant; to a 12-month special job security and training measure to protect shop stewards and health and safety personnel that might face redundancy; a bonus for staff who train other salaried personnel; and travel time for staff moving from one site to another. 
 
Since 2000, the pay gap between TU members and Paperiliitto members has widened because of smaller pay raises on the national level, and greater job development incentives for blue-collar workers at mill level. Since 2000, Finnish pulp and paper companies have shed some 1,500 jobs among TU&rsquo;s ranks.

Salaried Staff in Finland’s Pulp and Paper Industry Brace for Strike Actions

Established in October 1999, ICEM&rsquo;s South American BASF Workers&rsquo; Network and Social Dialogue programme will close in on its tenth anniversary next year. The 17th gathering of the Network was held from 13-17 May, 2008, in Santiago, Chile. 
 
Composed of trade union representatives from Brazil, Argentina, Chile, and Peru, last week&rsquo;s meetings were also attended by representatives from ICEM&rsquo;s German affiliate, IGBCE, as well as representatives of the BASF European Works Council and ICEM staff. 
 
Before the Social Dialogue section of the meeting, in which management of various BASF South American facilities take part, representatives from trade unions held a preparatory meeting. On the first day, following a presentation by ICEM Chemicals and Rubber Industries Officer Kemal Ozkan on ICEM activities in general, as well as in Latin America, IGBCE&rsquo;s Michael Wolters from the union&rsquo;s International Department, made a presentation.
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&nbsp;Trade union participants to the 17th BASF South American meetings in Santiago, Chile 
 

After that, the 25 trade unionists present discussed possible amendments on the principals and status of the Network. 
 
On day two, national reports were heard on developments in Brazil, Argentina, Peru, and Chile, and work that has been done by the Network in the period 2006-2008 was discussed. Having heard presentations by Robert Oswald from the European Works Council on the situation in Europe, and from Michael Vassiliadis, a Supervisory Board member of BASF, who also is an Executive Committee member of both IGBCE and ICEM, on the company&rsquo;s general and human resource policies, delegates to the 17th Network meeting debated the activities of the Network for the coming 2008-2009 period.
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Chile
They also elected representatives from countries who led the Social Dialogue portion of the meetings. Those elected included Fabio Lins of Brazil, the current coordinator of the Network, and Vilobaldo Machado, also of Brazil; Ruben Caroselli and Fabian Akim of Argentina; Victor Ramirez and Fernando Saldano of Chile; and Germ&aacute;n Remigio of Peru.
The meeting was chaired by ICEM Vice President for Latin America/Caribbean, Sergio Novais, who served as the first coordination of the Network at inception in 1999. Novais also served as co-chair of the Social Dialogue section, together with Wagner Brunini from BASF management.
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Brazil
At that meeting, the BASF global situation was presented, which included financial data from the group and the regions, the Global Site Benchmark initiative was discussed, and the CO-2 balance measure was addressed by Dr Harald Schwager, chief global human resources manager of the company. Also making a presentation was Dr Rolf Dieter Acker, head of BASF&rsquo;s South American region, who addressed regional and country data, as well as developments since 2006. 
 
The meeting also heard the company&rsquo;s international human resource polices, including facts and figures, and the human resources strategy and the company&rsquo;s Global Employee Survey, as well as corporate social responsibility practices.
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Argentina&nbsp;
The trade union group then presented results of its preparatory meeting, and constructive discussion ensued. The main topics in the following day&rsquo;s meeting, as defined by the workers&rsquo; group, were creation of workplace committees in plants located in Colombia and in Faria Lima, Brazil; establishment of a trade union organisation in BASF&rsquo;s Peruvian factory; and enhancing social dialogue in Argentina between trade unions and management. 
 
Trade unionists also raised problems created by subcontracting, that deeper national dialogues must occur to find solutions to it and promotion Decent Work, and also discussed health and safety, company restructuring, specifically the need for transparency on information, and creation of communications and negotiations, and also on the issue of termination of employment contracts with justified reasons.
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Peru&nbsp;
It was also decided to produce a special publication for the tenth anniversary of the Network for next year. 
In parallel to the well-tuned BASF Workers&rsquo; South American Network, the ICEM&rsquo;s BASF Asia-Pacific Workers&rsquo; Network meetings will take place in August 2008. There are also plans to do similar activities in other regions, such as North America, as a basis of global level Social Dialogue in line with the special resolution adopted at ICEM&rsquo;s 4th Congress in Bangkok in November 2007.

BASF South American Workers’ Network Nears 10th Anniversary

The ICEM Women&rsquo;s Committee adopted a strong action plan on Zimbabwe 19 June, at its annual Women&rsquo;s Committee meetings, which followed the Global Union Federation&rsquo;s Executive Committee in Geneva, Switzerland. The action plan, prepared by Angeline Chitambo, an ICEM Vice President, who is President of the Zimbabwe Electricity and Energy Workers&rsquo; Union (ZEEWU), presents a six-point plan in which ICEM affiliates can lend assistance to what has become a deteriorating political situation.
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&nbsp;ICEM Women's Leaders and Vice Presidents, Evgenia Esenina and Angeline Chtambo 
 

In a statement presenting the plan, the Women&rsquo;s Committee said: &ldquo;Though the situation has always been bad in Zimbabwe, we have seen the worst after the 29th March 2008 elections &hellip; the violence that was released by the government, mainly in rural areas, affected women mostly, as the bulk of women stay in the rural areas where they work on the land for survival.&rdquo; 
 
The statement says that many women give in to pressure, and become prostitutes in order to make ends meet. The result is the increasing spread of HIV/AIDS. 
 
The statement adds: &ldquo;Those who are affected by HIV/AIDS are more vulnerable. Imagine you are the mother, your child dies of AIDS and after all that you have gone through, you cannot bury your child in time because there is no fuel, or the gravediggers are on strike because the city council cannot pay their salaries.&rdquo; 
 
The statement reports that women in Zimbabwe are prepared to go to the offices of the ruling ZANU PF political offices on 27 June to stand up to their repressive and violent measures, and demand the reconstruction of their country.
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The ICEM Women&rsquo;s Committee is calling on affiliated trade unions to: 
 
Understand what is occurring in Zimbabwe and how it affects workers and the poor; Send a team to get a full understand of the Zimbabwean situation; Mobilise basic food supplies to assist affiliated trade unions inside Zimbabwe; Task neighbouring trade unions in respective countries to assist; Press Zimbabwean embassies in home countries on the situation, and get NGOs and other Global Union Federations to assist; and pressure Zimbabwe&rsquo;s government to make food commodities available and affordable.
The ICEM will issue a Circular related to the Women's Committee action in the enar future.
&nbsp;

ICEM Women’s Committee Adopts Action Plan on Zimbabwe

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Last-ditch efforts today by Finnish National Conciliator Juhani Salonius to avert a strike across the nation&rsquo;s pulp and paper sector succeeded, with ICEM affiliate Toimihenkil&ouml;unioni TU and the Finnish Forest Industries Federation agreeing to a 21-month labour agreement. 

The employers&rsquo; association entered the mediation session this morning at 08h00 claiming inability to offer a pay increase, but by late morning the two sides had agreed on a pay increase of 5.3% over the life of the agreement.
Effective 1 July 2008, salaried staff will receive an increase of not less than 2.7%, or &euro;60-per-month. In addition to that, pay hikes of 1.3% and a one-off bonus of &euro;110 per worker will be paid out on local levels.
<img height="68" alt="" src="" width="120" border="1" />
&nbsp;A 0.4% increase is scheduled for distribution on the local level in March 2009. Also, a national pay increase of 0.9% will take effect in March 2009. 

Both parties retain the right to terminate the agreement in March 2009. 

&ldquo;Our rank and file will get a just compensation for the significant increase of their work load and responsibility,&rdquo; stated TU President Antti Rinne, referring to significant job cuts that have occurred since the year 2000. 

He added that the agreement &ldquo;will close the gap between the pay development of salaried employees and (other) workers&rdquo; within the country&rsquo;s pulp and paper industry. He said it was important for TU that pay decisions on the local level will not be solely made by the companies. 

The agreement also states that the two parties will begin a multi-year programme to develop pay patterns for salaried workers. Other improvements made include family leave, specifically a six-day paid paternity leave. Added compensation for safety representatives was achieved, and a working-hour bank established. 
 
The employers gave up their concessionary proposals on travel time, shift allowance cuts, and their demand to exclusively decide on working hours.
<img height="123" alt="" src="" width="120" />
&ldquo;We credit our Finnish affiliate, and their members&rsquo; decision toward strike action in order to resist the concessions the employers&rsquo; federation has put forward,&rdquo; said ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda. &ldquo;It is a progressive and forward-looking collective agreement, and most importantly it came without the necessity to conduct industrial actions.&rdquo; 
 
The settlement averts a strike planned at noon today by 1,000 senior employees at ten Stora Enso operations across Finland. Further rolling strikes were scheduled to occur at other major Finnish pulp and paper producers in June. Some 6,500 salaried, technical, and professional workers are covered by the new agreement.

Finnish Pulp/Paper Salaried Staff Dispute Settled in Last Minute Mediation

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ICEM Regional Vice President Rayford Mbulu chaired the GUF&rsquo;s Sub-Sahara Africa Regional Meeting 9 June in Accra, Ghana. The conference, attended by 35 delegates, adopted a four-point programme aimed at building trade union power in the region. Mbulu is the General Secretary of the Mineworkers&rsquo; Union of Zambia (MUZ). 
 
Delegates attended from Botswana, Cameroon, C&ocirc;te d&rsquo;Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Guinea, Namibia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. 
 
The action programme adopted target points in four areas: Collective Bargaining and Campaigns; Socio-Economic Issues; Politics; and Health and Safety. 
<img height="115" src="" width="250" alt="" />
Collective Bargaining and Campaigns: 
 
The regional delegates vowed to support the bargaining process for a living wage by the host union, the Ghana Mine Workers&rsquo; Union (GMWU), and called on all ICEM affiliates in the region not to agree to wage increases that fall under the rate of inflation in their respective countries, in light of escalating food and energy price increases. 
 
Delegates also endorsed and pledged to emphasize the global labour and the International Trade Union Confederation&rsquo;s &ldquo;World Day for Decent Work&rdquo; on 7 October 2008, a day of mobilization to end poverty and inequality, to establish rights at work for working women and men, and to establish Solidarity between trade unions on bilateral and multilateral levels. 
 
The statement also pledged to support a Women&rsquo;s Charter to enhance the role of women within all ICEM affiliates, and within the ICEM itself. And it called upon employers to further facilitate HIV education, testing, and access to anti-retroviral medication. 
 
Socio-Economic Issues: 
 
The conference condemned the xenophobic attacks on foreign nationals in South Africa. 
 
Politics: 
 
Delegates called upon leaders of countries in the region to ensure free and fair balloting in the run-off elections in Zimbabwe later this month. Regarding Somalia, delegates condemned the eruption of conflict, which has claimed the loss of many lives and has deeply affected the working class of the country. 
 
The regional conference also implored the citizens of the Niger Delta in Nigeria to embrace dialogue, and requested that the Nigerian government link dialogue with the urgency to create a sustainable infrastructure and human resource development for citizens in that region. Delegates also urged multinational companies operating in Nigeria to partner with trade unions and other stakeholders in order to institute a socially viable peace and cooperation in the area. 
 
Health and Safety: 
 
The conference took notice of the 8 June coal mine explosion in the Ukraine, resulting in 12 deaths, and called for immediate improvements toward safe mining practices across the world. Delegates also called for added attention by employers, governments, and trade unions on the dangers faced by uranium miners, and for an increase in work by the ICEM in this area.

ICEM’s Sub-Sahara Africa Conference Adopts Four-Point Work Plan

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The ICEM joined four other labour union federations at the ILO&rsquo;s 97th International Labour Conference to condemn the Iraqi government&rsquo;s neglect toward global labour standards, and its harassment of trade unions and trade union leaders in the Middle Eastern nation. 
 
The condemnation came at the ILO&rsquo;s Committee on Standards on 11 June, during a session in support of complaints from Iraqi trade unions. The ICEM joined the national center of the UK, the Trades Union Congress (TUC); the American federation, AFL-CIO; and fellow Global Union Federations, Education International (EI) and Public Services International (PSI) in declaring, before world governing bodies, that peace and prosperity in Iraq depends on strong, free, and independent trade unions. 
 
The statement denounces the occupying forces for raiding and ransacking union offices; condemns the government with maintaining laws that restrict trade unions and interferes with their internal and financial affairs; and admonishes &ldquo;so-called insurgents&rdquo; who &ldquo;target and kill trade union leaders and ordinary workers like teachers who are training the next generation in tolerance and human rights.&rdquo;
<img height="72" alt="" src="" width="155" />
The statement, read by ILO Government Board Member and TUC Representative Simon Steyne, also sets forth five major concerns that hinder peace and normal lives for Iraqi citizens. 
 
1.) Saddam&rsquo;s 1987 Decree 150, banning public sector trade unions: &ldquo;The public sector in Iraq &ndash; including oil, energy supply, public service, and health &ndash; accounts for 80% of the workforce. The decree prevents the vast majority of Iraqi workers from exercising their fundamental rights and must be abolished.&rdquo; 

2.) Decree 8750, imposed by the occupation&rsquo;s forces: It &ldquo;empowers the Government to take over trade unions at will, and has been used to freeze all Iraqi union bank accounts. It is odious, contrary to (ILO) Convention(s), and it too should be abolished.&rdquo; 

3.) Labour and Social Security Law: &ldquo;Apparently, an ILO-compliant labour law sits in the Ministry of Labour. Though ready for several years, we are often told it is under review. It should be adopted and implemented as promised. Any review can take place once Iraqis have seen how it works in practice.&rdquo; 

4.) Government interference, through both Decrees 150 and 8750: &ldquo;Earlier this year, the government told the General Federation of Iraqi Workers (GFIW) that it would release some of the frozen funds so internal elections could be held. Those elections are needed &ndash; but it should be GFIW&rsquo;s members&rsquo; decision when to hold them &hellip; the Government insists that election candidates must be Iraqi citizens, which is unacceptable to a free trade union movement representing workers wherever they come from. And in flagrant violation of Convention 98, (such nominees for union office) must have the support of their employer. The Government has used Decree 150 to insist that only unions in the private sector will be involved. This would forcibly restructure those unions with members both in and out of the private sector, and prevents the vast majority of GFIW members from having any say in their organisation&rsquo;s leadership.&rdquo;
<img height="80" alt="" src="" width="120" />
5.) Physical Transfer of IFOU Activists: &ldquo;Eight leaders of the ICEM-affiliated Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions (IFOU) are to be moved from their jobs and homes in the southern oil fields to a violent part of Baghdad, in a move calculated to disrupt the union&rsquo;s activities and put them in danger. The same trick, tried previously against the leaders of the GFIW-affiliated port workers union in Um Asr, was prevented by international and Iraqi trade union opposition.&rdquo;
In conclusion, the statement, read, &ldquo;The Government must explain the contradictions between its words and its deeds, must halt anti-union repression and introduce a labour law promoting social dialogue, freedom of association, and collective bargaining.&rdquo; 
 
In a TUC statement, Simon Steyne said, &ldquo;It is strange that a Government too busy fighting violence should spend so much time and effort harassing one of the few institutions which unites workers regardless of tribal, ethnic, or religious boundaries and is committed to women&rsquo;s emancipation and the creation of a peaceful and prosperous Iraq.&rdquo;

ICEM Teams with Labour Groups to Condemn Iraq’s Trade Union Abuses at ILO

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The Canadian province of Quebec&rsquo;s Labour Relations Board issued a stern reprimand to Petro-Canada over its attempt to circumvent the bargaining committee of the Communications, Energy, &amp; Paperworkers (CEP). In a 4 June ruling, the provincial government ordered the company to cease its intimidation of individual workers, and to begin good-faith bargaining with CEP Local 175 of Montr&eacute;al in earnest efforts to end the company&rsquo;s seven-month lockout of 260 refinery workers there. 
 
Negotiations did re-start on 13 June, but there was no immediate indication that Canada&rsquo;s second largest energy company would meet the CEP&rsquo;s National Chemical and Energy Bargaining agenda. In prior talks this spring, the company placed further and more severe concessions on the table than what was proposed at the time of the 17 November 2007 lockout.
<img height="213" alt="" src="" width="160" />
CEP Local 175 Members Still Standing Strong
Then in early May, just prior to submitting another in a series of &ldquo;final offers&rdquo; to Local 175, managers at the Point-aux-Trembles refinery in Montr&eacute;al&rsquo;s east end contacted individual union members. They threatened closure of the refinery, urged an overthrow of the union&rsquo;s bargaining committee, and intimidated workers in attempting to coax them to accept the company&rsquo;s regressive proposal. 
 
In the 4 June ruling, Labour Relations Board Commissioner Suzanne Moro ordered the company to &ldquo;cease attempts to impede the activities of CEP Local 175, attempts to interfere in the activities&rdquo; of the union and &ldquo;attempts to dominate&rdquo; Local 175. 
 
The writ ordered company representatives to cease efforts &ldquo;to create double negotiations and to negotiate a collective agreement in good faith.&rdquo; Canadian press reports cited the company with denying the charges. But workers taped the conversations, and presented that as evidence to the labour board. 
 
&ldquo;The importance of this decision is it demonstrates what has been ongoing since bargaining began,&rdquo; said CEP Administrative Vice President for Quebec, Joe Gargiso, who also heads the union&rsquo;s Chemicals and Energy Bargaining Programme. &ldquo;Petro-Canada has had no intention of bargaining in good faith, only seeking a strategy of imposing a new collective agreement that our members don&rsquo;t want.&rdquo;
<img height="119" src="" width="200" alt="" />
CEP's Admin. Vice President (Quebec) Joe Gargiso
He added the locked-out workers are withstanding the pressures &ldquo;extremely well,&rdquo; and that they are &ldquo;united and standing solidly behind their bargaining committee.&rdquo; He also said the 260 oil workers are receiving strong financial support from the CEP, and from CEP&rsquo;s energy local unions across Canada. 
 
On 24-25 May, the union&rsquo;s National Chemicals and Energy local unions met in Montr&eacute;al, and adopted a strong statement to the company&rsquo;s president and CEO, Ron Brenneman, saying: 
 
&ldquo;We find it totally unacceptable that in Montr&eacute;al, your Company attempts to break the national Bargaining Settlement made with CEP at (Petro-Canada&rsquo;s) Edmonton refinery in April 2007. This settlement has been followed by Petro-Canada in its other locations, as well as by Imperial Oil, Shell, Husky, Suncor, etc. 
 
&ldquo;And we find it unacceptable and shameful that your Company is attempting to trash the Montr&eacute;al collective agreement by trying to impose a host of rollbacks in a clear design to curtail the union&rsquo;s ability to play its role in the workplace and ensure a safe environment.&rdquo; 
 
Petro-Canada has further breached Quebec&rsquo;s labour law by employing 34 replacement workers during the lockout. The inexperienced workers have teamed with managers, who are working 70-hour work-weeks in order to maintain outflow, and the combination has created obvious safety and environmental hazards to the refinery, which is located in a residential area.

Petro-Canada Breaks Law in Failed Effort to Break Workers’ Resolve

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A two-day workshop on Chinese investment in Africa was held 10-11 June in conjunction and following the ICEM&rsquo;s Sub-Sahara Africa Region meeting in Accra, Ghana. Thirty-one delegates attended the ICEM workshop, which had valuable support from Germany&rsquo;s Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Foundation (FES). 
 
Rayford Mbulu, ICEM Regional Vice President, who chaired the conference, said, &ldquo;We are experiencing a new form of direct investment from China and based on what we&rsquo;ve seen to date, we are deeply concerned that it could lead to a lowering of labour standards throughout the continent.&rdquo; 
<img height="115" alt="" src="" width="250" />
Participants at the workshop adopted a resolution, which will be presented to this week&rsquo;s ICEM Executive Committee meetings in Geneva for approval. 
 
The workshops focused on the thrust by Chinese state and other companies for the raw materials so vital to driving China&rsquo;s economy, and also on the exploitation of labour, communities, and the environment that such rapid development is leaving on Africa. The ICEM delegates concluded that any wealth generated from the extracted resources of the continent must be directly aligned with the ILO&rsquo;s concept of Decent Work, as well as providing for the health, housing, and education for Africans in a sustainable future. 
 
The conference also lauded the April 2008 Solidarity action by the South African Dockworkers&rsquo; Union (SATAWU), which refused to off-load a shipment of 77 tonnes of armaments destined for the repressive Zimbabwean regime of Robert Mugabe. A Chinese government cargo ship, the An Yue Jiang, was forced to depart the port of Durban with the cargo still on board.

ICEM’s Africa Delegates Attend Relevant China Investment Forum

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