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<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100" height="39" alt=""/>
The Goodyear Tyre Makers’ Union in Thailand, part of ICEM affiliate Petroleum and Chemical Workers’ Federation (PCFT), conducted a strike from 5pm on 18 November until 3pm on 23 November, demanding equal treatment of workers doing the same job, and changes to the collective agreement on shift length and social benefits. 
 
The previous collective agreement expired on 11 August 2010. There have been 12 rounds of negotiation meetings between the union reps and management since mid July 2010, as well as nine rounds of meetings with government mediators, the latest 10 November. 
 
The trade union reps conducting the negotiations were repeatedly frustrated that the company officials in bargaining had no decision-making authority, rendering the talks fruitless. Although the management representatives in the talks agreed with the union on many points where improvement was needed, they were powerless to act. It was agreed that several serious violations of the collective agreement and of Thai labour law had occurred. 
<img border="0" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Goodyearblogbanner.jpg" width="370" height="82"/>
Workers at the Goodyear-Thailand Ltd. plant in Bangkok complained of many unfair dismissal cases. 
 
Meetings are continuing between the bargaining committees, and have been joined by the company Human Resources Director for the Asia-Pacific region, and also a mediator from the Thai Labour Ministry. 
 
Management informed workers that if they did not end the strike and return to work they would lose their social benefits. Striking workers were locked-out during the strike. Management will now not end the lock-out unless the union agree to separate the Work Rules from the collective agreement. This would give management the flexibility to sack workers. 
 
Among other demands, the union wants including into the collective agreement a limit of 7.5 hours work per day, an overtime wage for work which continues during the worker's rest time of 30 minutes at a rate of 1.5, 40 hours paid activity of union officials per year, improvements to the retirement and medical coverage. 
 
620 union members have been locked out since Monday 22 November. 
 
Since the beginning of the strike management has pressure on office and contract workers to sign individual contracts, to waive the union proposal, as well as any entitlements and social benefits which may be resulted from the ongoing bargaining.

Thai Goodyear Workers Strike over Harassment, Bargaining Frustrations 

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In a sign that the economic crisis has waned, at least in Germany, IG Metall reported that companies employing 20% of some total 3.4 million metal and electronics workers in the country to date have moved the scheduled 2011 wage increase up from April to February. Companies and their Works Councils including Audi AG, Bosch GmbH, Siemens, and Voith, the paper machine and engineering manufacturer, have agreed to pay the scheduled 2.7% increase in February. 
 
Several more companies are expected to do the same in the coming weeks. The union said some 670,000 workers are now on schedule to get the raise in February. In collective agreements negotiated in February 2010, IG Metall agreed to a historic job preservation pact in exchange for two lump sum payments of €320 each in 2010 and early 2011. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Berthold Huber IG Metall.jpg" width="110" height="122"/>
IG Metall President Berthold Huber
The 2011 percentage increase was scheduled for April 2011, but according to the agreement Works Councils were given the authority to negotiate the 2.7% sum effective two months prior to April 2011, but no later than two months after that date. The 25-month agreement last year also mandates that there will be no operational redundancies before 30 June 2012. 
 
IG Metall credits the early raises to a strong economic recovery in the country. 
 
Additionally, Siemens, in appreciation to its global workforce of 400,000 for exemplary performance throughout the crisis, announced earlier in November that it would grant a total of US$430 million in a “one-time special bonus.” The pay-out, to be made between December and January, will amount to about €1,000 per worker, with German workers getting the bonus in January and the 2.7% increase the next month.

Many German Metal, Electronics Workers to Get 2011 Pay Hike Early

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/image_aids_ribbon.gif" width="40" height="40"/>
In this issue of ICEM’s HIV/AIDS newsletter, we report on the HIV/AIDS Workshop in Trinidad & Tobago, on the 1 December World AIDS Day statements, as well as on the 2010 UNAIDS report.
The ICEM Calls on its Affiliates to Contribute to this e-bulletin 
 
ICEM affiliates are engaged in a wide range of HIV/AIDS activities. To spread the information on new agreements, awareness, and prevention campaigns, and educational activities, affiliates and project coordinators are invited to send news and information to <a href="mailto:hiv.aids@icem.org">hiv.aids@icem.org</a>. Any feedback on the format and contents of the e-bulletin is also welcome. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/image_aids_ribbon.gif" width="40" height="40"/>
OWTU: Make HIV/AIDS Workplace Policies a Priority! 
 
The President General of the Trinidad/Tobago’s Oilfields Workers’ Trade Union (OWTU), Ancel Roget, called on all companies, state or privately owned, to negotiate with unions and jointly adopt and implement HIV/AIDS workplace policies when he spoke at the opening of the OWTU/CEP/ICEM HIV/AIDS workshop in San Fernando, Trinidad & Tobago, on World AIDS Day, 1 December. 
 
OWTU can argue from a point of strength as it adopted its own workplace policy on HIV/AIDS and other life-threatening illnesses in June 2009. Roget also warned employers that the union would take decisive action against any employer engaging in covert HIV/AIDS testing of employees. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/AncelRogetOWTUgenpres.jpg" width="130" height="162"/>
OWTU President General, Ancel Roget
The workshop was attended by some 45 participants from OWTU, as well as representatives from the country’s Communications Workers’ Union, Banking, Insurance and General Workers’ Union, Fires Services Association, and the Estate Police Association. It was sponsored by the Humanity Fund of ICEM affiliate Communications, Energy, and Paperworkers (CEP) Union of Canada. 
 
The workshop put HIV/AIDS in the context of decent work to reduce and eliminate stigma and discrimination. ILO HIV/AIDS Technical Specialist Madhuri Supersad introduced the new ILO Recommendation No. 200 concerning HIV/AIDS and the World of Work. She said that a focus must be on prevention and that behaviour change and a prevention revolution must begin at the workplace. 
 
The ICEM HIV/AIDS Consultant, Hans J Schwass, reaffirmed the Global Union Federation’s commitment to fight the pandemic. When for every one person put on treatment, there are two new infections, we know that prevention must be our focus and the workplace is an ideal entry point to eliminate stigma and discrimination, and advocate voluntary counselling and testing. He also drew attention to the ICEM website on which a model workplace policy and other materials and resources are available. 
 
Participants under the guidance of OWTU Head of Education and Research, Ozzi Warwick, who organised the workshop, worked on an action plan for 2011, which includes a January 2011 peer educators’ course for two unionists from each of the 27 OWTU units and a minimum of three activities by peer educators within six months of the training. Such activities should comprise workplace interventions, community awareness programmes, and interaction with youth groups and schools. 
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ILO on World AIDS Day: Workplace Policies to Tackle HIV and AIDS 
 
On World AIDS Day, 1 December, ILO online spoke to Dr. Sophia Kisting, Director of the ILO Global Programme on HIV and AIDS and the world of work (ILO/AIDS) about progress made on giving effect to Recommendation 200 since its adoption in June 2010. 
<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1012.ILO_Sophia_high[1].jpg" width="201" height="134" alt=""/>
Dr. Sophia Kisting, Director of the ILO Global Programme on HIV and AIDS 
Kisting said that the response to this strong human rights standard that can help improve the issues of stigma and discrimination at the workplace has been overwhelming. There is also an important understanding that countries need to report back to the Committee of Experts at the 2011 International Labour Conference on progress made in giving effect to the Recommendation. 
 
Referring to the Governing Body’s decision to develop a plan of action, she stated that one of the most important steps is the development of national workplace policies on HIV and AIDS and to make sure that these become part of national programmes and strategies so that the workplace is not separate from the broader national response to HIV and AIDS. 
 
(Source: ILO website Communication and Public Information) 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/image_aids_ribbon.gif" width="40" height="40"/>
Global Unions on World AIDS Day 2010 
 
In its World AIDS Day statement, the ICEM affirmed that HIV/AIDS is a social disease. HIV transmission mainly takes place along the fault lines caused by poverty, gender inequality, and social injustice. HIV/AIDS is also a workplace issue. The workplace is crucial for successful action to combat the pandemic. 
 
HIV and AIDS funds are in recession due to the impact of the global financial crisis; HIV and AIDS are not in recession. Still for every three people put on treatment, five more become infected. That is why awareness and prevention as well as advocacy for voluntary counselling and testing are crucial in the fight against the epidemic. These are also cornerstones of the ICEM HIV/AIDS project. 
<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1011.wad logo.jpg" width="110" height="96" alt=""/>
HIV is also a human rights issue closely related to workplace non-discrimination laws and regulations. The ICEM calls on its affiliates to negotiate and adopt HIV/AIDS workplace policies, which are rights-oriented, non-discriminatory, and do not victimise people living with HIV and AIDS. 
 
The statement of the Global Unions AIDS Programme (GUAP) reiterated the commitment by trade unions to give effect to the implementation of Recommendation 200. The workplace cannot be left out of a coherent strategy to control the epidemic. GUAP also called for the adoption of national HIV/AIDS workplace policies and for them to be rights-oriented, non-discriminatory, and mainstreamed into national Decent Work strategies. 
 
The International Trade Union Congress (ITUC) reminded unions that World AIDS Day is a focus for action in the workplace. The union movement is intensifying its push for national implementation of the new ILO Recommendation 200 on HIV and AIDS and the world of work. This landmark ILO instrument breaks new ground by providing a framework for HIV and AIDS to be dealt with as a workplace issue, and by reinforcing the human rights consequences of the pandemic. 
 
The ITUC also announced the result of the first-ever writing contest, “Positive Workers Write!” which was open to HIV positive workers in Latin America and the Caribbean. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/image_aids_ribbon.gif" width="40" height="40"/>
2010 UNAIDS Report: Beginning to Reverse the Spread of HIV 
 
The 2010 Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic by the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) shows that the AIDS epidemic is beginning to change course as the number of people newly infected with HIV is declining and AIDS-related deaths are decreasing. 
 
Data from the report show that an estimated 2.6 million people became newly infected and that approximately 1.8 million died from AIDS-related illnesses in 2009. Both figures are down by about 20% compared to those five years ago. Still, 33.3 million are living with HIV. And there are two new infections for every one person starting treatment. 
 
From 2001 to 2009, the rate of new HIV infections stabilized or decreased in 56 countries around the world, including 34 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Among young people in 15 of the most severely affected countries, the rate of new infections has fallen by 25%, led by young people using safer sexual practices. Significant progress has also been made in the prevention of mother- to-child transmissions. 
 
(Source: UNAIDS Press Release, 23 November) 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/image_aids_ribbon.gif" width="40" height="40"/>
International Guidelines Launched to Protect Health Workers 
 
Health Workers are at the frontline in providing prevention, treatment, and care for people living with HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis. They are at risk of occupational exposure to HIV and TB, but often lack access to protection and treatment. 
 
To address this gap, new international guidelines were launched by the ILO, WHO, and UNAIDS to protect doctors, nurses, and other medical staff. There are an estimated 60 million health workers throughout the world. The 14 action points of the guidelines are based on respect for workers’ rights, as well as practical workplace health and safety programmes. 
 
(Sources: ILO, WHO, UNAIDS Press Release, 19 November) 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/image_aids_ribbon.gif" width="40" height="40"/>
Global Fund: Serious Deficiencies in Grant Management 
 
The Global Fund Observer devoted its entire issue 132 to reports released by the Global Fund’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) on deficiencies in grant management and poor performance of principal recipients (PR) in a number of countries. 
 
In Zambia, the PRs have shown evidence of significant financial management and control weaknesses, episodes of misappropriation and fraud, and losses of grant funds, according to a report issued by the OIG. The OIG concluded that the two governmental PRs, the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Finance and National Planning, were not fit to continue as PRs. More than US$10 million in expenses was identified as either ineligible or not properly documented. 
 
According to the OIG, there are a number of significant deficiencies in Cameroon in the financial management control framework of the Ministry of Public Health, principal recipients (PRs) and sub-recipients (SRs). The OIG was particularly critical of the Ministry, which was the PR for five of the six grants. Some US$3.4 million constituted overpayments which have to be recovered. The PR for the sixth grant was Care Cameroon, a non-governmental organisation. The OIG found that the internal control environment at Care Cameroon was strong, and made only minor recommendations. 
 
Insufficient grant management was also reported for Haiti (prior to the earthquake) and Cambodia. 
 
As one consequence, Sweden did not announce a pledge at the Global Fund’s replenishment meeting in New York in early October because it was concerned about how the Global Fund is responding to findings by the OIG concerning misappropriated grant money. 
 
(Source: Global Fund Observer, Issue 132 of 2 November. GFO is a free service of Aidspan <a href="http://www.aidspan.org">www.aidspan.org</a>; to receive GFO send an email to <a href="mailto:receive-gfo-newsletter@aidspan.org">receive-gfo-newsletter@aidspan.org</a>) 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/image_aids_ribbon.gif" width="40" height="40"/>
Global Fund Should Expand Non-CCM Window 
 
In an interesting commentary published in the Global Fund Observer issue 133, the author, David Garmaise, argues that it is time for the Global Fund to make some changes to the eligibility criteria for proposals from organisations other than country coordinating mechanisms (CCM). It is evident that in many countries the needs of key vulnerable populations are not being addressed by the national response because CCMs too often are still dominated by government representatives. Civil society organisations could fill this gap. 
<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Global Fund logo.gif" width="250" height="53" alt=""/>
The Global Fund has always discouraged applications from Non-CCMs, which can apply only if they are from a country that is without a legitimate government; that is, in conflict or in an emergency situation, or that is facing a natural disaster – or if they are from a country that suppresses, or has not established partnerships with civil society. Of the 150 Non-CCM proposals submitted in Rounds 5-9, more than 90% were deemed ineligible. The most common explanation provided for screening out these proposals was that the applicant had failed to explain why it had applied outside its national CCM. 
 
(Source: Global Fund Observer, Issue 133 of 15 November) 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/image_aids_ribbon.gif" width="40" height="40"/>
News from Global Union Federations 
 
The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF – <a href="http://www.itfglobal.org">www.itfglobal.org</a>) in its latest HIV/AIDS updates No. 95 and 96 of 1 and 15 November, respectively, reports on HIV/AIDS workshops and strategic campaign meetings by its affiliates in the US, Tanzania, Ecuador, and South Africa. 
 
While we focus on sub-Saharan Africa, it is often forgotten that according to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than one million people are living with HIV in the US. More than one in five of those people living with HIV are unaware of their infection. Despite increases in the total number of people living with HIV in the US in recent years, the annual number of new HIV infections has remained relatively stable. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/image_aids_ribbon.gif" width="40" height="40"/>
Five Years Ago: From the December 2005 Issue 
 
The first issue of the ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin was published in October 2005. In future issues, we will refer to an article from the same month five years ago and reflect on developments. 
 
In December 2005, The ICEM HIV/AIDS newsletter reported on the Second Regional HIV/AIDS Workshop held in Johannesburg, South Africa, with the theme “Fighting for our Rights.” This workshop led to the publication of the ICEM Training Manual for Collective Bargaining on HIV/AIDS, a publication which is still relevant and widely used. Furthermore, as witnessed by this issue and previous activities, negotiating HIV/AIDS clauses in collective bargaining agreements and workplace policies has become a focus of ICEM’s HIV/AIDS work. This is also in line with giving effect to the new ILO Recommendation No. 200. 
 
The Epidemic Update 2005, a joint report by UNAIDS and WHO, which was summarised in the December 2005 newsletter, estimated that there were five million new infections in 2005, bringing the total number of people living with HIV and AIDS globally to 40.3 million. As the summary of the 2010 update in this issue shows, some progress has been made since then. But this is still far from satisfactory and universal access goals have not been reached at the end of 2010. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/image_aids_ribbon.gif" width="40" height="40"/>
This ICEM HIV-AIDS Newsletter – How to Subscribe 
 
To subscribe to the e-bulletin, send an email to <a href="mailto:press@icem.org">press@icem.org</a>. Please put “subscribe ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin” in the subject line.

ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin - No. 63, December 2010

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The Finnish Parliament, in an interpellation or action to proceed to a motion of confidence over the government, voted on 19 November to challenge the government more vehemently on measures to ensure full-time, permanent work. Lawmakers from all political parties, left to right, voted 105 to 67 to challenge the government’s job creation policies in a no confidence ballot aimed at stemming the grey economy. 
 
The vote was highly significant since it did garner cross-party support and was met with little employer opposition. It also sets the stage for better and more worker-friendly amendments next year to the Finnish law on the Contractor’s Obligations and Liability when Work is Contracted Out. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/finland.border.jpg" width="132" height="81"/>
The interpellation, initiated by Left Alliance Leader Paavo Arhinmäki, was supported by many parliamentarians of Finland’s centre-right ruling government, and very likely will lead to legislation that goes beyond the requirements of the European Union’s Directive on Temporary Agency Work. As well, any new legislation in Finland would likely limit the employers’ use of fixed-term contracts and prohibit employers from repeatedly using temporary workers when their need is a permanent workforce. 
 
One trade union leader in the country said lack of business resistance to the interpellation vote is a clear signal that employers realize productivity is better and Finnish society as a whole benefits when full-time employment is the norm. 
 
Last month’s interpellation vote was preceded by the Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions (SAK) publishing a list of 25 proposals that should be contained in legislation to stifle the grey economy. One such proposal would give more power to the country’s trade unions to enforce, through courts and other venues, nefarious work practices.

Broad Political Support in Finland to Erase Precarious Worker Abuse 

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/CAL_en.jpg" width="110" height="50"/>
The ICEM held, as part of its ongoing series of national and international events, discussions on Contract and Agency Labour (CAL, known as “tercerización” in Latin America), at an international conference in Montevideo, Uruguay, on 16-17 November 2010. Participants at this CAL campaign event, sponsored by Swedish LO/TCO and LO Norway, came from Uruguay, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, and ICEM headquarters. 
 
Judging by participants’ accounts, the problem of outsourcing and precarious labour seems to be at least as widespread in Latin America as it is in other parts of the world. It was said, for example, that it is not uncommon for up to 40-50% of the formal workforce in these countries to work for subcontracting companies, with outsourced workers often doing exactly the same work as permanent staff, but for a much lower salary. 
 
That said, in nearly all countries in the region there also were - in addition to a large number of bad practice examples - encouraging stories on how different unions successfully managed to deal with part of the problem. 
 
In the host country Uruguay, for example, some unions now have CAL workers as board members and, in the paper sector at least, most outsourced workers are union members. On the other hand, the country is also known for its omnipresent “use” of cooperatives, which seems to be a means in Uruguay to avoid unionisation. 
 
These cooperatives, which were said to employ great numbers of workers, very often are small, worker-owned and independent enterprises that cater to other, larger enterprises. As such, they have become part of the subcontracting chain and it is not unusual for an entire department of a company to be turned into an “independent cooperative.” 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1011RosaneSasse.jpg" width="113" height="110"/>   <img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1011EliasPintado.jpg" width="101" height="110"/> 
 
ICEM Latin American CAL Project Coordinators Rosane Sasse and Elias Pintado
During the last few years, Uruguay has adopted two new laws on temporary employment. The most recent one, adopted in 2007, introduces the idea of co-responsibility in case something goes wrong when workers are in a triangular relationship (i.e., when working for a “third” company, which is not the “user-enterprise”). 
 
This co-responsibility, which was mentioned by trade unionists from various countries as a key item, makes sure that workers can claim their salary, benefits, and/or social security from the user-enterprise in case “their real employer” fails to pay, or, as is fairly common, simply disappears. 
 
An interesting presentation was made by ICEM Project Coordinator Patricio Sambonino on the contract and agency labour situation in his home nation, Ecuador, a country where the government in 2008 adopted a new law that bans “tercerización.” 
 
According to a 2010 FES-ICEM research effort that looked into the effects of this new law, the success of the recent ban on outsourcing (the key point of the new law, which still allows exceptions for such jobs as catering, cleaning, security) has been mixed. Among the problems found by the FES-ICEM research was that workers that had to be rehired by the user-enterprise started at a lower salary than those that already had or have permanent jobs. Most workers also did not get lost rights, such as seniority or a decent pension. It was further pointed out that some companies have in the meantime found new ways of outsourcing.
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1011PatricioSambonino.jpg" width="95" height="110"/>
ICEM Project Coordinator Patricio Sambonino 
In the Ecuadorian mining sector, the level of informal work appears to be so high that the new law has not been able to make a difference. The study described the use of cooperatives in mining and in many cases, cooperatives are, in fact, just another form of bogus self-employment. In the oil sector, the new law has not brought the hoped for progress for workers. In the electricity sector in Ecuador, on the other hand, unions are very happy with the new law and the protection it brings, since many more workers now have direct and permanent contracts. 
 
In total, over 200,000 Ecuadorian workers have been made permanent since 2008. This must be qualified by stating that in many cases, the permanent status is only for one year, after which workers were dismissed again. This is the case for many oil workers. Still, a lot of workers were able to join the social security system for the first time and a few thousand “subcontracting” companies have closed their doors. 
 
Another important point is that, even though it was “predicted” by those opposed to the law, none of the major investors left the country as a result of the ban. Unions in Ecuador, who were not involved in the drafting of the law at the time, are now looking to dispel the negative consequences of what is, essentially, an excellent improvement for workers. 
 
Also noted is the fact that multinational companies in Ecuador seem to have accepted the new law much easier than most national companies. Reportedly, multinational companies were faster to calculate that the changes would not bring extra costs, and if any, certainly not in comparison to their total turnover.
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1011Uruguay1.jpg" width="274" height="149"/>
Participants at the Montevideo Seminar 
An interesting “best practice” example was provided by the representatives of Argentinean ICEM affiliate FASPyGP, the Federación Argentina Sindical del Petróleo, Gas y Biocombustibles. 
 
In each of their sectors (oilfields, oil refineries, and gas) good sectoral collective agreements exist. And each of these sectoral agreements also fully covers all outsourced workers. The result is that, even though the outsourcing rate is around 60%, all workers - CAL or not - receive the same salaries and the same benefits for equal work of equal value. 
 
Participants at the meeting in Uruguay were also informed about proposed legislation that is currently being prepared in Brazil by one of the national labour centres, CUT. If and when adopted, this proposal would strengthen earlier laws that deal with Contract and Agency Labour, which now already foresees co-responsibility in triangular work relationships. 
 
The new law would introduce, among other items, a ban on outsourcing core jobs, a strengthening of the co-responsibility, language to make sure that the union at the actual workplace can also represent the CAL workers, equal pay for equal work, and an obligation to inform unions in advance of any outsourcing plans. 
 
Finally, also mentioned at the seminar was a study by the Brazilian ICEM affiliate FUP, which showed that it would - all things considered - actually be cheaper for state-owned oil giant Petrobras to turn all its outsourced workers into direct workers. Knowing that, there still is a long way to go for Petrobras, as the company employs just over 70,000 direct employees, with almost 250,000 outsourced staff working on its assets.

Precarious Work Mounts in Latin America … But So Do Union Actions to Counter It 

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/CAL_en.jpg" width="110" height="50"/>
The last issue of this Contract and Agency Labour newsletter reported that a draft report on precariously-employed women workers was presented to the European Parliament by Danish Social Democratic MEP, Britta Thomsen. 
 
The report called on the European Commission and European Union Member States to ensure that all employees are granted equal access to social services and benefits regardless of their employment conditions. 
 
On 19 October, the European Parliament adopted a resolution expressing disappointment that the EU employment law package and the directives on fixed-term, part-time, and temporary agency work do not adequately address the precarious nature of employment, and called on the Commission and the Member States to take further specific legislative measures. Those measures include introducing binding minimum social standards for employees and granting all employees equal access to social services and benefits, including maternity leave, health care and retirement pensions, as well as to education and training, regardless of employment conditions. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1009.cal.britta.thomsen.png" width="100" height="126"/>
Britta Thomsen, MEP
The resolution recognises that the “over-representation of women in precarious work is a key contributing factor to the gender pay gap.” It also states that “improving job quality for women will reduce the gender pay gap.” The resolution calls on the Member States to take legislative measures to put an end to zero-hour contract and to introduce controls to regulate all types of false training, which conceal actual employment without proper payment or protection. 
 
The Commission and the Member States are requested to develop strategies on precarious work in order to emphasize decent work and green jobs, and incorporate gender balance; and to take action in order to reduce the double burden of work on women. 
 
Attention is brought on the fact that studies have shown that precarious employment, in which minimum health and safety standards often are ignored, carries higher injury rates and a greater risk of disease and exposure to hazards. The Commission and the Member States are requested to enhance their monitoring of minimum health and safety requirements in the workplace, paying particular attention to the specific risks to female workers. 
 
Due to the lack of adequate research on the subject, the resolution calls on the Commission and Eurofound to cooperate with the European Institute for Gender Equality and to initiate targeted research in order to assess the cost of de-skilling and welfare loss resulting from precarious employment, taking into account the gender aspect. 
 
The resolution has been sent to the European Council, the European Commission, and the governments of the Member States.

Precarious Women Workers’ Resolution Passed by European Parliament 

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The formation of a strike committee by ICEM-affiliated Federation of Chemical, Energy, and General Workers’ Unions (VDSZ) at Hankook Tyre Magyarország Kft. in Hungary prompted the Korean-based company to increase wage rates by an average of 8%. 
 
That happened last week, after the VDSZ Tyre Manufacturing Workers’ Union threatened strike action ten days earlier on 3 March. They did so because management had failed to raise salaries to compensate for Hungarian tax changes that went into effect 1 January. 
 
Some 1,700 workers at the 1,800 workforce will receive an average 8% pay hike retroactive to 1 January. In addition, workers will receive HUF 20,000 (€73.40) yearly in non-wage benefits. Hungary’s National Interest Conciliation Council was recommending 4-6% increases to offset the tax change. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/0912.hungary.tamas.jpg" width="166" height="221"/>
VDSZ President Tamás Székely
The average 8% wage increase surprised many due to the negative labour climate made by Hankook since opening the Rácalmás factory near Dunaujváros in 2007. Only last year, Hankook Tyre Magyarország was fined by the Hungarian Labour Inspectorate for obstructing VDSZ’s legitimate duties of representation inside the plant. And shortly after production began in 2007, Hankook was charged or found guilty of non-payment of overtime remuneration, forcing a six-day work-week, making work mandatory on public holidays, and interrogating workers over their lawful union activities. 
 
Hankook, 10% owned by French Michelin, is the world’s seventh largest tyre producer, capable of making 87 million tyres a year from five plants – the Guemsan and Daejeon factories in Korea, the Jiaxing and Jiangsu plants in China, and Rácalmás in Hungary. It is expected to jump to the world’s fifth biggest producer after factory start-ups in Liang Jiang, Chongqing province, China, and the Bekasi, Java, Indonesia, over the next few years.

Hankook Tyre Averts Hungary Strike with Pay Rise

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Elefsina, an industrial town on the outskirts of Athens, was the venue for the 38th Congress of ICEM – affiliated trade union, the Pan-Hellenic Federation of Employees in Petroleum Products, Refineries and Chemical Industry. ICEM Energy Officer, Jim Catterson represented the ICEM at the Congress which brought together several hundred delegates together with guests from the across the political spectrum of Greek political parties as well as international trade union guests from Cyprus, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, and Turkey.
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The world economic crisis and its effects on the Greek economy with the imposition by government of a severe austerity package was subject to extensive and lively debate, including the messages from both political and international guests who also discussed the RETUN-SEE network of Energy Unions, the future role of Greece as a transit country for gas and petroleum supplies to European Union countries as well as the changing economics and structures of European petroleum refining. 
 
The Congress elected a Presidium to guide the union’s work in the next Congress period. It will elect the President and other leading officials of the union at its first meeting. 
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Prior to the Congress the union arranged a first meeting between ICEM and senior management of Hellenic Petroleum, a significant multinational involved in Petroleum refining and distribution throughout the Balkans, as well as exploration in both Macedonia and Egypt. Jim Catterson was able to describe ICEM priorities in the industry including Global Framework Agreements as well as discuss in general the challenges facing the industry, ranging from the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico to the present turmoil in the Middle East and North Africa.

Petroleum, Energy Workers of Greece Celebrate 38th Congress

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Industrial development in mining and manufacturing sectors will continue to be an essential part of economic development in Latin America, for both the economic giants of Brazil and Mexico and for the other countries in the region, such as Argentina, Peru, Chile and Venezuela. 
 
Despite improvements over the last decade, poverty and inequality continue to be a major feature across the region both within and between countries. Ensuring the benefits of industrial and economic development flow to working people requires a strong and united trade union movement across all sectors, including in mining and manufacturing. 
 
Commodities, particularly oil, silver, copper and iron ore, are generating a lot of wealth in the region and Brazil, Argentina and Mexico have led the way in also developing a significant manufacturing industry, particularly in automotive, petroleum and textiles, on the back of this wealth. 
 
At the national level, the organization of companies often sees workers linked through highly integrated supply chains from one sector to the next. For example, in the Maquiladoras of Mexico there is a concentration of textiles, electronics and automotive parts production where workers face similar challenges in organizing and securing a fair share in the profits of the companies. 
 
Solidarity between Mexico’s mine workers and automotive parts workers under the leadership of the Mexican Miners’ Union is creating opportunities for gaining freedom of association previously not achieved, as witnessed in the case of <a href="http://www.imfmetal.org/index.cfm?c=23862&l=2">Johnson Controls in Puebla</a>. After a long struggle and with the support of the Mexican Miners’ Union, Johnson Controls workers at the Resurrección plant in Puebla were able to join a union of their choice and through this union reach an agreement at the plant. 
 
Meanwhile, in the Export Processing Zones of the Dominican Republic, textile and electronics workers live and work along-side each other facing many of the same problems and working conditions. Unions here have found that the same strategies are required to organize across both sectors. (See below Gertrudis Santana on cross-sector organizing in Dominican Republic EPZs.) 
 
In Brazil, more than three million workers are employed by mining and manufacturing companies in a very integrated cross-sectoral process. From mine sites to the production lines of airplanes, ships, and cars, workers are organized by mine, chemicals, textiles, and metal workers’ unions that fight together for better work conditions and benefits. 
 
For unions in Latin America and beyond, a strong international approach will also be required in tackling the transnational corporations that are emerging mostly from Brazil and Mexico in this region. Many of these “multilatinas,” such as Vale, Gerdau, Cemex, Grupo México, and Tenaris, have a notorious history of anti-union and poor labour relations, which is being exported by the companies as they expand regionally and globally.

Latin American Industrial Landscape Requires United Cross-sectoral Approach

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Organizing has always been a top priority of unions, requiring significant effort and resources to be successful. Particularly challenging is organizing workers in union hostile areas like Export Processing Zones (EPZs). 
 
The IMF affiliate in Dominican Republic, Federación Nacional de Trabajadores Mineros y Metalúrgicos (FENATRAMIM), through the Federación Nacional de Trabajadores de Zonas Francas (FENATRAZONAS), is specialized in organizing at EPZs, also known locally as Zonas Francas. 
 
When Gertrudis Santana, the national education secretary of FENATRAZONAS, first became active with her union, she was working at a shoe factory in one of the zonas francas of Dominican Republic. She became an organizer at the EPZ in San Pedro de Macoris. Soon Santana was responsible for organizing at other zonas francas, including both textile and electronics sectors. 
 
“Initially,” explains Santana, “in the EPZs of the Dominican Republic one could see only textile factories present. Later on production of electronic chips also moved in and the metal sector became present through the use of gold in cloth manufacturing.” 
 
Nowadays Santana does not organize workers directly; she is more involved in the political work within her union. As national secretary of education, she trains activists on issues of organizing. Her union constantly has to deal with challenges in organizing due to the problem of restricted access to workers. 
 
“The working conditions in EPZs these days have changed,” continues Santana. “Before workers used to have fixed working hours, now they are paid for finished product. Despite claims that this will result in higher earnings, in practice workers’ income has shrunk and working hours have increased.” 
 
From her experience Santana notes that in organizing at EPZs the organizing tactics and strategies in different industrial sectors are very similar as the conditions are often the same. However some of the sectors, like welding in metalworking, are notorious with health hazards, while in textiles it is much easier for an employer to change the location of an enterprise as in most cases the machines are rented. 
 
“Freedom of association is still a dream for us,” says Santana, giving the example of the EPZ in San Pedro de Macoris, which is the largest electronics industry area in the Dominican Republic. 
 
According to national legislation a union can be established with at least 25 workers. However the creation of a union is not the final goal, since these workers will achieve little at an enterprise employing thousands of workers. Instead the main goal is to form a union big enough to bargain collectively. The union’s current campaign, “Fuerte” (from Spanish “strong”), has organizers communicate with workers at factory gates, bus stops and also try to obtain their addresses in order to contact them at home and convince them to join the union. 
 
The results of this work are promising: nine collective agreements were concluded by FENATRAMIM in EPZs, and considering that 50% plus one rule is an obligation for the union to start collective bargaining, this is a very serious achievement.

Gertrudis Santana on Cross-sector Organizing in Dominican Republic EPZs

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