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ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda last week congratulated mining unions in India, especially the ICEM affiliated Indian National Mineworkers'&nbsp; Federation (INMF)&nbsp;and its General Secretary BK Das, who took&nbsp;a leading role in achieving a new wage agreement. 
 
The National Coal Wage Agreement (NCWA-VIII) gives 500,000 miners across India pay increases totalling 24% over five years. 
 
The agreement, signed in New Delhi on 24 January, also improves working conditions. MK Pandhe, Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) President, commended the successful negotiations that were made possible by the unified work of five national federations, CITU, INTUC, BMS, AITUC, and HMS. 
 
The agreement provides a minimum benefit hike of 24% of gross wages effective 1 July 2006, and an annual increment of 3% with cumulative effect. It provides for an open-ended pay scale which ensures no wage stagnation for any employee during the period of the agreement. The agreement also gives a 50% increase in all allowances, effective 1 January 2009. The underground allowance will be 12.5% of the basic scale, and will be treated as part of the basic wage. 

<img height="107" alt="" src="" width="220" />
The agreement will ensure a minimum weekly base wage for a coalminer at INR 9,346 (US$188), the highest in the Indian public sector. 
 
Under the agreement, employees will be provided with a uniform and a monthly washing allowance of INR 75, as well as a transport subsidy of at least INR 10.50 per day. The underground allowance will continue to be paid at 12.5% of the revised basic salary, along with an attendance bonus of 10% of basic pay and a special dearness allowance of 17.95% of the attendance bonus. Annual leave with wages will continue to be governed by the provisions of the Indian Mines Act of 1952. 
 
The unified mining workers rebuffed efforts by management to make the agreement ten years in length. 
 
Current challenges facing INMF are the struggle against privatization, outsourcing, corruption, unsafe working conditions, and the rise of Contract and Agency Labour in the Indian mining sector. 
 
The ICEM joins INMF, CITU, and other union federations in appealing to all coal miners to strengthen the unity achieved with this contract to continue bringing short-term contract and agency workers into the union fold. 
 
During a visit to India recently by Warda, he met with the Committee of the Indian Mineworkers&rsquo; Union on Health and Safety, encouraging the union to work towards an ICEM-sponsored tripartite meeting late this year on Indian ratification of ILO Convention 176, the Safety and Health in Mines Convention. 
 
Warda also inaugurated a workshop on Contract &amp; Agency Labour (CAL) that was held in Puri on 15-16 February that was attended by 28 contract workers from the Mahanadi Coalfields, Ltd. He supported the efforts of CITU to organise fixed-term and agency workers. It was reported that since the federation started its campaign to organise, 30,000 CAL workers had joined unions. 

<img height="136" alt="" src="" width="100" />
Kanti Mehta
The ICEM General Secretary also unveiled the life-size bronze statue of the late Kanti Mehta, the founder of the INMF, who passed away on 20 October 2007 at the age of 87. The unveiling occurred on 15 February, on what would have been his 90th birthday.

ICEM Salutes Indian Mining Unions in Wage Accord for 500,000 Miners

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The US labour board has issued a blanket unfair labour practice complaint against Covanta Energy at more than 50 worksites across America. The charge was brought by ICEM-affiliated Utility Workers Union of America (UWUA), which organised Covanta staff at a worksite in Rochester, Massachusetts, in May 2008, but has since been unable to secure a first collective agreement because of company intransigence. 
 
Covanta is a waste-to-energy company that operates incinerators and then sells electric power generated from those incinerators to local grids. The ICEM has assisted the UWUA in its first contract fight over the past several months by tracking the company as it seeks new contracts in Ireland and the UK. The ICEM has alerted trade unions, public officials, and environmental groups of the Chicago-based company&rsquo;s anti-union bias. 
 
The US labour law complaint, issued by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), cites the company with numerous illegal work rules, as outlined in its employees&rsquo; manual. Such violations include threatening to terminate workers for providing any information &ndash; such as environmental or health and safety &ndash; to government regulators, news media, or other &ldquo;outside representatives.&rdquo; 

<img height="160" alt="" src="" width="216" />
The NLRB complaint also challenges a Covanta rule prohibiting distribution of &ldquo;unauthorised&rdquo; material on &ldquo;company property&rdquo; or on &ldquo;company time,&rdquo; a form of anti-union bias that has been illegal in the US for 60 years. Other Covanta workplace policies ruled illegal include guidelines prohibiting workers from discussing their wages with each other, or from wearing &ldquo;political slogans&rdquo; while at work. 
 
The UWUA filed the charge in Massachusetts but since Covanta uses the same employees&rsquo; manual at all US worksites, the NLRB issued the nationwide complaint at all company locations. Only a handful of Covanta&rsquo;s 50 plus workplaces are unionised. 
 
&ldquo;We want Covanta employees everywhere to know that our union will stand up for their rights, not only in Massachusetts but at every other Covanta location,&rdquo; said Gary Sullivan, President of UWUA Local 369, which represents the 130 Covanta workers in Massachusetts. 
 
As Covanta seeks to expand its trash to electric energy business globally, the ICEM will continue to alert social partners of its anti-worker policies in the US.

Covanta Energy Violates US Labour Law

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The ICEM has intervened in efforts to prevent harsh discipline this week against an Iraqi trade unionist, who is being persecuted for leading a protest in order to gain wage arrears for workers at the State Company for Petrochemical Industries (SCPI). (See previous story&nbsp;<a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/3024-Iraqi-State-Petrochemical-Company-Uses-Military-to-Bust-Peaceful-Protest">here</a>.) 
 
The ICEM learned over the weekend that Kareem Johi Sahan, a trade union leader for the Petrochemical Workers&rsquo; Union of Basra, is scheduled to be punished Thursday, 26 February, for his role in leading the 28 January workers&rsquo; protest. Following several weeks of interrogation of Johi and three other union leaders, Johi faces the possibility of immediate discharge, or reductions to his salary. 
 
The ICEM also has learned that the severe interrogations have inflicted Johi with heart problems. 

<img height="200" alt="" src="" width="223" />
Kareem Johi (centre) handling leaflets at an October 2008 demonstration
SCPI is 100% owned by Iraq&rsquo;s Ministry of Industry and Minerals. In a letter dated today to MIM Minister Fawzi al-Hariri, ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda urged the ministry to intervene directly with management of the enterprise to prevent any form of discipline this week. (See that letter <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/16%20letter%20to%20Petrochem%20Iraq%20-%2023%20Feb09.pdf">here</a>.) 
 
Kareem Johi, 51, is a recognised trade union leader of the Petrochemical Workers&rsquo; Union of Basra at SCPI, who, since the end of 2006, has used internationally-recognised free speech and assembly to draw attention to remuneration claims, cuts in fuel subsidies to workers, and other regressive policies by SCPI management. 
 
SCPI is Iraq&rsquo;s only petrochemicals complex, employing 5,000 workers, and its six plants produce ethylene, polyethylene, vinyl chloride, and other chemicals.

ICEM Seeks Halt to Discipline of Iraqi Trade Union Leader at Petrochemicals Complex

Motion on ICEM Project work 
ICEM Executive Committee, June 2008 
 
Whereas it is acknowledged that there is a need for a clear, transparent and open ICEM policy in regard to ICEM projects and ICEM project related activities; 
 
Whereas, due to the global structure of the ICEM, the number of affiliates in need exceeds the number of affiliates that are able to offer structural assistance. 
 
Whereas it is commonly known that the expectations and demands of affiliates for international support action exceed the services that the ICEM can provide to its affiliates as a global union organisation, working only through income from affiliation fees; 
 
Whereas it is recognised that there is a wide array of possible external funding organisations, ranging from traditional donor organisations, usually trade union organisations themselves, or organisations set up by unions, over union-friendly and/or union-related organisations and governmental, or government-related, organisations, to companies and/or corporate or employer organisations; 
 
Whereas project related activities can consist of ICEM-organised activities and programs through extra-budgetary funding, as well as through in-kind contributions by external organisations; 
 
Whereas there is a need, given the envisaged closer cooperation of ICEM with other Global Union Federations, in particular IMF, ITGLWF and BWI, to also recognise their work, specific experience, and objectives in the area of project work; 
 
Whereas projects are expected to contribute to the general development aid objectives of creating world-wide justice and equality, concentrating especially on decent work, trade union building, the strengthening of unions at national level, as well as on the strengthening of international mutual support at the regional and global level, 
 
Whereas the ICEM, as part of these discussions, decided at its Executive Committee meeting in Bangkok, in November 2007, on a list of activities that should be given priority in 2008/2009; 
 
 
There is need for a regular evaluation of ongoing projects in regard to targets set, as well as for a timely discussion on future activities; 
 
Linked to the above, good and regular follow-up and input from ICEM affiliates is required, including at ICEM-meetings at regional and international level; 
 
It is recommended that the internal debate in the ICEM should be based on the principles, views and objectives listed here below. 
 
 
The ICEM considers project work, where well chosen and effectively managed, to be a strategically important addition to the regular day-to-day activities of the ICEM; 
 
ICEM project work should concentrate on assisting those in need and those that need our international assistance the most. This issue does not only need to be looked at from a geographical angle. To some extent, sectoral issues also come in to play. The mining sector is an example of an area with, on the one hand, a great deal of activity in developing countries, and, on the other, a decreasing membership base in the majority of the OECD countries. 
 
The ICEM continues to believe that project work should be an integral part of the normal national and international daily trade union activities. Project work will be planned with links to, and in support of, other ICEM day-to-day work, or otherwise contribute directly to the main ICEM goals. In addition, and in return, the aim should be that where a donor funds a particular project, it gets the assistance of the whole international organisation; 
 
Projects will therefore be selected, chosen and agreed upon, on the basis of their capacity to advance the realisation of key ICEM priorities, especially those set at ICEM Congresses; 
 
Project work can be used, as long as it is linked to the ICEM&rsquo;s key priorities, to realise both the organisation&rsquo;s overall general global main objectives, as well as certain specific, at times, detailed goals; 
 
The ICEM believes that its work can not only greatly profit from cooperation with the traditional, trade-union-friendly solidarity support organisations (SSOs), but also from cooperation with other donors, including private/public partnerships, provided the integrity and independence of the ICEM as an international trade union organisation is not compromised; 
 
The ICEM does recognise, nevertheless, that there is a need to continue to monitor, at all times, the risk to become too dependent on external funding. Internal assessments shall therefore be made, including through appraisals on a continuous basis; 
 
Wherever possible, project work will make an effort to simultaneously advance different ICEM priorities. Particular emphasis in social dialogue, or framework agreement discussions, for example, could go to such ICEM key issues as contract and agency labour, HIV/AIDS, or health and safety. Reinforcing unions through improving negotiations skills on these issues, as a union-strengthening effort, is a similar example; 
 
It is agreed that the following are among the most important priorities for ICEM project work: 
 
&bull; The strengthening/modernisation of trade unions continues to be a high priority for the ICEM. Many of our affiliates still are in need of external and international assistance. Indeed, many affiliates identified this kind of solidarity as an important contribution to become equal partners to the world&rsquo;s (multinational) companies, as well as to their governments. Related to this is the continued need, within numerous affiliates, to improve internal structures, and to train union leadership, shop stewards and trade union members on a range of subjects, from basic trade union issues, over international economy and international trade union rights, to globalisation issues and ways to deal with multinational companies. Examples of specific subject matters include International Financial Institutions, Global Framework Agreements, ILO standards and the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises; 
 
&bull; Of specific importance for project work in this area is the need to build strong branch or industrial unions, at national and/or regional level. Many affiliates use this project support to move away from company unionism; 
 
&bull; Linked to the above is the need for union consolidation at national level. In too many cases, unions are in competition with each other at national level, and, as a result, not strong enough to bargain effectively with their employers; 
 
&bull; Defending basic trade union rights, and fighting violations thereof, also continues to be an essential part of project work, albeit to various extents, depending on national situations and practices; 
 
&bull; The work on multinational companies is one of the major focal points of the ICEM&rsquo;s project work. The many priorities here include work and discussions on global framework agreements and, most certainly, international company networks, which already centre prominently in the ICEM&rsquo;s current project work. The setting up of such international networks for ICEM affiliates and their members, working with and for the same multinational company, or within the same industry, has proven to be a valuable tool for workers and is widely seen, for various reasons, as one of the main achievements within the ICEM&rsquo;s project work; 
 
&bull; A key priority in the work with MNEs, but also with other companies, is the issue of social dialogue. The ICEM will give priority to projects that deal with this issue. Not only as they are in high demand, but also as this is an area where the ICEM has a good and longstanding expertise, and because it is an area where the organisation can make a difference. Closely related to social dialogue, collective bargaining, and improvements thereof, also remains a highly important priority within the ICEM&rsquo;s project work; 
 
&bull; Another key aspect, and obvious necessity in relation to multinational companies, but also beyond, is the organising of new members. Almost all ICEM projects already support organising efforts; 
 
&bull; The issue of contract and agency labour &ndash; unquestionably one of the key threats currently for not only the ICEM, but also many other global union federations, as well as countless unions around the world &ndash; is not only an important factor in our strengthening-of-unions exercises, it also plays a vital role in the ICEM&rsquo;s work vis-&agrave;-vis multinational enterprises; 
 
&bull; The work on HIV/AIDS will also continue to be a key project priority, given the success of the current HIV/AIDS project. This can not only be measured by the goals it has already achieved, but also because of the positive effects it has in attracting lesser-traditional funding in this area; 
 
&bull; The gender dimension is a central part of all ICEM project work. This work includes efforts to look at how to better involve women in union work, and improve their participation in leadership structures; 
 
&bull; Health and safety also remains a priority for the ICEM&rsquo;s project work, including as a topic for international social dialogue. Health and safety in the mining sector is a concrete example of an issue where the ICEM could be highly instrumental in making further progress at the international level. Project activities should, where possible, support the ICEM&rsquo;s campaign to sign on to the principles of the ILO Convention 176 on health and safety in mining; 
 
&bull; Linked to the work on health and safety is the subject of sustainable development, an subject matter that is increasingly gaining in importance, not only in project-related work. On a slightly different level, but also related to the sustainability effort is the work on corporate social responsibility; 
 
&bull; As, of course, not all multinational companies are equally looking forward to working with the international trade union movement, failed efforts to establish a meaningful and positive social dialogue can, and in many cases, should be offset by corporate campaigns, which can also be a substantial part of project work; 
 
&bull; Finally, particular emphasis will go to the problems of trade unions in those regions and countries that were given priority in the most recent set of ICEM Congress resolutions, such as the Middle East, Iraq, Burma, Colombia, Palestine and Zimbabwe.

ICEM Executive Committe Motion on Project Work

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<a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/0801KEMAL-OZKAN-SUNUM.ppt ">Altişveren ve D&uuml;zensiz Istihdam</a> 
Kemal &Ouml;zkan, ICEM
&nbsp;<img height="43" alt="" src="" width="30" />
<a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/0801CAN-SAFAK-KRISTAL-IS-SUNUM.ppt ">T&uuml;rkiye'de Cam Fabrikalarinda Altişveren Uygulamalari 
</a>Can Şafak, Kristal-Iş Sendikasi, Turkiye
<img height="43" alt="" src="" width="30" />
<a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/0801FIKRET-SAZAK-TURKIYE-MADEN-IS-SUNUM.ppt ">Madencilik Sekt&ouml;r&uuml;nde &Ouml;zelleştirmenin Etkileri ve Altişveren Uygulamaları</a> 
Fikret Sazak, Maden-Iş, Turkiye
<img height="43" alt="" src="" width="30" />
&nbsp;<a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/0801CELIL-COBAN-FNV-BONDGENOTEN-SUNUM.ppt">Altişveren ve D&uuml;zensiz Istihdam</a> 
Celil &Ccedil;OBAN, FNV Bondgenoten, Netherlands
<img height="43" alt="" src="" width="30" />&nbsp;
<a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/0801OSMAN-ELMACI-FNV-BONDGENOTEN.ppt ">Altişveren ve D&uuml;zensiz Istihdam 
</a>Osman Elmaci, FNV Bondgenoten, Netherlands 
<img height="43" alt="" src="" width="30" />
<a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/0801EMCEF-TR.ppt ">D&uuml;zensiz İstihdam</a> 
&nbsp;Reinhard Reibsch, EMCEF 
(Turkish version)
<a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/0801EMCEF-EN.ppt ">Contract and Agency Work</a> 
Reinhard Reibsch, EMCEF 
(English version)
<img height="43" alt="" src="" width="30" />
<a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/0801HANS-PALMQVIST-IFMETALL-TR.ppt ">D&uuml;zensiz İstihdam &ndash; İsve&ccedil; Modeli </a> 
Hans Palmqvist, IFMetall, İsve&ccedil; 
(Turkish version)
<a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/0801HANS-PALMQVIST-IFMETALL-EN.ppt ">Contract and Agency Labour &ndash; The Swedish Model 
</a>Hans Palmqvist, IFMetall, Sweden 
(English version)
<img height="43" alt="" src="" width="30" />
<a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/0801ILO-TR.ppt ">D&uuml;zensiz Istihdam: ILO&rsquo;nun Faaliyetleri</a> 
Vladislav Egorov, ILO 
(Turkish version) 

<a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/0801ILO-EN.ppt">Contract and Agency Labour - ILO Action</a> 
Vladislav Egorov, ILO 
(English version)
<img height="43" alt="" src="" width="30" />
<a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/0801MICHAEL-WOLTERS-IGBCE-TR.ppt ">ICEM D&uuml;zensiz İstihdam Konferansı</a> 
Michael Wolters, IG BCE, Almanya 
(Turkish version)
<a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/0801MICHAEL-WOLTERS-IGBCE-EN.ppt ">ICEM Workshop on Contract &amp; Agency Labour</a> 
Michael Wolters, IG BCE, Germany 
(English version)

Contract and agency labour presentations, Turkey, February 2008

<img height="39" alt="" src="" width="100" />
The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and the International Transport Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITF) are calling for another &ldquo;Day of Action&rdquo; on 6 March 2008, demanding the release of two trade unionists locked inside Iran&rsquo;s prisons. The two global federations are calling on trade unions worldwide to lobby their relevant governments, as well as public officials, regarding visits to Iran in order to win the release of the two trade unionists. 
 
The ICEM joins the ITUC and ITF in demanding the release of Mansour Osanloo, the leader of the Tehran and Suburbs Bus Workers&rsquo; Union, and the release of Mahmoud Salehi, the founding member of the Saqez Bakery Workers&rsquo; Association. 
<img height="212" src="" width="188" alt="" />
ITUC and ITF chose the date of 6 March because it is just prior to Iran parliamentary elections, as well as the Iranian New Year. 
Osanloo was arrested for the third time on 10 July 2007, following a tour of European labour institutions and labour unions, in which he spoke of the labour abuses and restrictions on freedom of association by Iran&rsquo;s Islamic regime. He was taken from Evin Prison on 24 January to a hospital where he underwent a second surgery for an eye disorder, an injury caused by beatings from government agents. 
Despite doctors recommending that he remain in the hospital for a month, he was returned to the harsh conditions of Evin Prison on 2 February. The ITF&rsquo;s website page on Osanloo can be found here <a href="http://www.freeosanloo.org">www.freeosanloo.org</a>. 
<img height="102" alt="" src="" width="102" />
Mahmoud Salehi, an Iranian Kurd, is also in ill-health, suffering from kidney disease. He also had to be hospitalized in December 2007. He was arrested for union activities in April 2007. 
 
Already last week, the Indonesian Seafarers Union, an ITF affiliate, has written to Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, urging him to cancel a planned trip to Iran in protest to the incarcerations, or face harsh political reprisals both at home and abroad. 
 
The ICEM strongly encourages affiliated trade unions to take meaningful action on 6 March.

Action Day in Support of Iranian Trade Unionists Set for 6 March

<img height="39" alt="" src="" width="100" />
Turkish has been added as the eighth language on the ICEM website. By clicking <a href="/tr">/tr</a>, Turkish-speaking and Turkish-reading trade unionists around the world can now follow the topical developments from the world of work, as reported on the ICEM site. 
 
This came about because of the work and assistance of ICEM&rsquo;s Turkish affiliates, particularly Petrol-İş. Many existing web-pages were translated into Turkish over the past several months, as well as the interface, including basic information on the ICEM, pages with information on ICEM activities, such as Contract and Agency Labour, Global Framework Agreements, HIV/AIDS, as well as many recent ICEM industry reports. 
<img height="66" alt="" src="" width="100" />
Through its Turkish homepage, the ICEM aims to continue updating the world&rsquo;s Turkish-speaking audience &ndash; in Turkey and beyond &ndash; on ICEM developments, as well as on relevant and useful news from ICEM&rsquo;s sectors. This new communication channel will also be used for updates on specific issues that are important to ICEM Turkish affiliates. Welcome, Turkish brothers and sisters!

ICEM Introduces Turkish Language News, Content to Its Website

<img height="39" src="" width="100" alt="" />
The ICEM is asking trade unionists to write protest letters to Unilever&rsquo;s vice president for Global External Affairs, drawing attention to trade union rights violations in Pakistan and India. The ICEM is assisting its sister Global Union Federation, the International Union of Food Workers&rsquo; Association (IUF), in protests to the company over its conduct at food and beverage plants. 
 
In November 2007, Unilever management at a factory in Rahim Yar Khan, Pakistan, fired all but five of the plant&rsquo;s temporary workers, following a Pakistani union&rsquo;s announcement that it would allow membership to the workers and fight to secure permanent status for them. 
 
The fired workers were replaced by staff from a labour agency. The sacked workers were forced to sign termination letters in front of armed police and Elite Troops forces, who were called into the plant by local management.
<img height="100" src="" width="100" alt="" />
This latest incident coincides with an IUF complaint to the UK contact point over violations of the OECD&rsquo;s Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. 
 
Additionally, Unilever managers at a plant in Assam, India, have actively undermined trade union leaders in that factory. Management has sponsored creation of a yellow union there in the course of a long lockout aimed at supplanting the legitimate trade union. 
 
A model letter can be found <a href="/index.php?id=7&amp;doc=2576&amp;la=EN">here</a>, that includes the name, address, and fax number of Unilever&rsquo;s Global External Affairs vice president. Please send a copy of your letter to ICEM&rsquo;s Chemicals Officer, Kemal &Ouml;zkan, at <a href="mailto:kemal.ozkan@icem.org">kemal.ozkan@icem.org</a>.

ICEM Encourages Unilever Protest Letters on Company’s Pakistan, India Conduct

<img height="39" alt="" src="" width="100" />
BHP Billiton&rsquo;s hostile bid for mining rival Rio Tinto escalated last week, just prior to a 6 February deadline by the UK Takeover Panel to either increase a November 2007 bid or walk away from the takeover for a period of six months. BHP Billiton increased its share-swap offer by 13%, offering 3.4 shares of BHP stock for one Rio Tinto share. 
 
In November, BHP offered a three-to-one share swap, meaning the price of the takeover would be US$120 billion. This latest unsolicited bid raised that price to US$147 billion. If successful, the combined company would dominate world production and sales of bauxite, coal, copper, diamonds, lead, silver, titanium, and uranium. It would also rank a high second, behind Brazilian Vale, in iron ore output, but would control vital markets of Australian ore destined for China. 
<img height="50" src="" width="100" alt="" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; <img height="51" src="" width="102" alt="" />
The proposed takeover would represent the world&rsquo;s second biggest corporate takeover. Only Vodafones&rsquo;s US$172 billion buy-up of Mannesmann in the year 2000 surpasses BHP&rsquo;s current bid to Rio Tinto shareholders. Rio Tinto executives said the latest offer still undervalues the assets of the Australian- and UK-based company. 
BHP was pressed to increase its offer following a 1 February purchase of some US$14 billion of Rio&rsquo;s London-traded shares by Aluminium Corp. of China (Chinalco), a state-run mining company. Chinalco put up US$12.8 billion, while US-based Alcoa put in US$1.2 billion. Together, they now own 9% of Rio Tinto, and the share price paid increased the valuation of Rio Tinto by 23%. The premium share purchase was seen as a blocking move by Chinalco that is sure to complicate a further, enhanced bid by BHP Billiton. 
 
According to Sweden&rsquo;s Raw Materials Group, a combined BHP Billiton/Rio Tinto would control a full 17% of world production of mined resources. If constituted under the latest bid, Rio Tinto shareholders would hold 44% of the combined company, an increase from the 36% under terms of the offer posed in early November.

BHP Billiton Raises Stakes in Pursuit of Rio Tinto

<img height="39" alt="" src="" width="100" />
The British labour movement came together last week to push a Private Member&rsquo;s Bill into committee stage of the House of Commons. That bill, authored by Labour MP Andrew Miller, would give labour agency workers the same rights and benefits as full-time, permanent workers. 
 
On 6 February, labour unions, led by the Trades Union Congress (TUC), held a mass day of lobby at Westminster, spotlighting a second hearing of Miller&rsquo;s bill that saw trade unions produce gruesome testimonies of abuse by agency workers themselves. British work sectors &ndash; from service to foods to industrial &ndash; have been flooded by labour agency firms offering low-wage, no-strings-attached workers to employers.
<img height="50" alt="" src="" width="100" />
&nbsp;Last week&rsquo;s turnout moved the Private Member&rsquo;s Bill to a House hearing, which will occur on 22 February. The day of lobby also came six days after the Labour Party&rsquo;s Executive Committee voted to endorse it, an action that Labour Party Prime Minister Gordon Brown cannot ignore without serious fall-out from trade unions. 
 
&ldquo;The Labour Party committed to introduce UK legislation to protect agency workers before the last election,&rdquo; said Chairman Tony Dubbins of the Trade Unions for Labour Organisation, &ldquo;and now we and 1.4 million agency workers in the UK&rdquo; have been promised it again. &ldquo;Now we need the government to act on that promise by backing Andrew Miller&rsquo;s bill.&rdquo; 
 
But that may not come easy, just like it didn&rsquo;t during the Blair government, despite a Labour Party commitment for equal rights to all workers contained in the 2004 Warwick Agreement. British business groups are opposing the measure, claiming it would hold back achieving flexible labour markets, and often, serve as a means for gaining a full-time job. 

TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said, &ldquo;Far from providing a bridge to permanent work, this runs the risk of creating a whole underclass of temporary workers who cannot get permanent work. Many employers are using agencies to replace secure jobs with reasonable terms and conditions with insecure, badly paid agency staff.&rdquo; 
The TUC points out that employer&rsquo; interests will advance when temporary workers gain equal workplace rights, at the same time as receiving fair pay and social benefits. The union federation said there is a disturbing lack of awareness among employers on how maximizing experience and skills of workers out of labour agencies can benefit their enterprises. 
Besides Barber, the day of lobby also featured Tony Woodley, Joint General Secretary of Unite, and Bill Hayes, General Secretary of the Communications Workers&rsquo; Union. Woodley called passage of the agency worker bill a &ldquo;defining moment&rdquo; for the British government &ldquo;because people are looking for equal treatment.&rdquo;
<img height="50" src="" width="100" alt="" />
In Ireland, trade unions are pressuring their government to stop acting as a barrier to a European Directive for equal treatment for contract and agency workers. Blair Horan, representing the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, said trade unions will withhold affirmative support to the Irish government for passage of the Lisbon Treaty referendum until the government reverses its agency-worker stand in Brussels. Ireland, Germany, Poland, and the UK have blocked a European Directive on Agency Workers.

UK Push for Law Granting Equal Rights to Temp Workers

Archive