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Whereas, the current global financial crisis was brought on by speculative anarchy of the market system and it has already created great economic hardships in the manufacturing sectors of ICEM sectors, with a fuller and deeper impact certain to come; and 
Whereas, a common fact in economic crises’ of the past is that the people least responsible in the world for an economic collapse are generally the most vulnerable, worst affected, and the least able to cope in the aftermath of such crises’; and 
Whereas, the crisis has already resulted in reduced trade, more competition for a lesser amount of credit, and flight away from developing world projects by investors, with more emphasis on protecting financial institutions and their shareholders than on societies at large; and 
Whereas, in the United States, where the crisis had its origins, the US$700 billion bailout, as depicted by the United Steelworkers in the letter to the US Treasury Department, grants taxpayer funds to a handful of financial institutions at valuations far greater than what other investors might pay for similar stakes in these institutions, thus serving as a government means to save a sector from its own mismanagement at taxpayer expense; and 
Whereas, the global financial crisis was preceded by illogical borrowing and speculation, an unprecedented period of leveraging assets to obtain short-term and excessive profits, characterized by massive executive salaries and bonuses while wages and working conditions have become depressed; now 
Therefore, Be it Resolved, that systems of workers’ capital, namely pension funds, public funds, and other common sets of assets be used to enhance workers’ interests and defend workers’ rights, wages, and work standards; and further 
Be it Resolved, that the ICEM recognise the third quarter 2008 financial collapse as a turning point in history in which the current system of capital has not worked, and must be revamped, and which, insertion of public money into financial institutions demands greater public influence, as well as recognition by all social partners that the financial sector needs re-regulation; and further 
Be it Resolved, that the ICEM calls on the Council of Global Unions in early 2009 to adopt a policy calling on the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the World Trade Organisation, as well as the world’s Group of Eight, the OECD, not to abandon existing commitments regarding project development in the countries that need it the most, or to abandon or diminish the Millennium Development Goals; and further 
Be it Resolved, that the ICEM use its structures, and its involvement in the Council of Global Unions, to call for creation of a new and fairer system of global capital, and that this system contain stringent financial oversight and governance, including a new set of global regulations, as well as inclusion of more governments, particularly those of developing countries, to the list of countries that currently control global capital.

ICEM Resolution of the Financial Crisis

ICEM WOMEN’S BULLETIN 32

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After a long process of collective organisation and negotiation, ICEM affiliate Sintravidricol of Colombia, together with the workers of Caldas Glass Company, VICAL S.A., achieved a significant victory against Contract and Agency Labour (CAL). The right to organise collectively was established, and the first collective agreement was signed by this group of workers. 
 
It follows a similar collective agreement covering part-time workers achieved with Peldar Glass – part of Owens-Illinois – at Zipaquira, Colombia. There, ICEM’s Colombia Project successfully combined the federation’s global CAL programme, and a Social Dialogue project unique to multinationals operating in Colombia, to bring full-time status for many of Peldar’s temporary workers. 
 
The unionisation of the workers at Caldas Glass had been attempted by various groups repeatedly for the past 20 years, notably by Risaralda-CUT. 
The artisan workers at the Caldas Glass Factory make various glass products, using mainly only their hands (and lungs) in their work. At least 80% of the workers in the plant are employed through temporary work contracts, with tose agreements lasting less than a year. 

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Even workers with 15, 20, 30 years of service remain on one-year contracts, and its non uncommon for them to receive wages and social benefits late. Under these conditions, the workers took the brave decision to organise. 
 
The three priorities of the newly organised workers: to end the system of separating workers from their years of service by imposing the yearly contracts; full recognition of the union by Caldas and registry with the Ministry of Social Protection; and labour stability, a key component to achieving a better and more productive workplace. 
 
Impressively, early talks with management indicate that the new union will achieve all three goals. Caldas, as well, will meet with Sintravidricol in a labor-management committee to analyse the problems of workers. The union also has established regular meetings with the president of the company. In addition, the first negotiations achieved scholarships for children of all employees of thirty thousand pesos (US$2,200) each, a productivity bonus, and a salary increase, equivalent to the percentage of the minimum wage increase as ordered by the national government. 
 
The ICEM commends its Colombian affiliate, Sintravidricol, in this very significant achievement.

Hard Fought Victory for Colombian Trade Unionists

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Fourteen Turkish trade unions, comprising the ICEM Coordinating Committee of Turkey, met in Ankara on 20 November and formulated an ambitious agenda related to union-building activities. 
 
Led by the ICEM Secretariat, Turkey’s leading trade union officials agreed to an Organising and Social Dialogue Project, sponsored by the global arm of the Dutch national labour center, FNV Mondiaal; they agreed to launch a cross-border series of solidarity activities with Iraqi unions; and they agreed to begin a campaign on getting Turkey’s government to ratify ILO Convention 176, the Safety and Health in Mines Convention. 
 
The meeting was hosted by Tes-İş, the Turkish Energy, Water, and Gas Workers’ Union, and chaired by Mustafa Kumlu, the union’s President, who also serves on the ICEM Executive and is President of Turkish national labour center Türk- İş. He addressed the negative effects brought on by the global financial crisis inside Turkey’s industrial sectors. 

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Tes-İş President, Mustafa Kumlu
ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda and Chemicals and Rubber Officer Kemal Özkan presented the two-year FNV Mondiaal project for Turkey and the necessity for ratification of Convention 176. Later, Türkiye Maden-İş, the largest mining union in Turkey, agreed to lead the ratification effort. 
 
The project will consist of eight activities in which 500 trade unionists will come together to begin recruitment exercises, create proper workers’ representation systems within workplaces, and to develop techniques to establish constructive bargaining and social dialogue practices with employers. 
In Coordinating Committee business, Turkish union leaders decided to establish a technical committee to prepare background information to the full committee. Besides Tes-İş and Türkiye Maden-İş, other trade unions participating included: Çimse-İş, Cement, Ceramics, Pottery, and Glass Workers’ Union; Belediye- İş, the Municipal and General Workers’ Union; Petrol-İş, Oil and Chemical Workers’ Union; Genel Maden-İş, representing Mine Workers; and Dev Maden-Sen, another union representing Mine Workers. 
 

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Participants at ICEM's Coordinating Committee
 
Also, Lastik-İş, Petroleum and Rubber Workers’ Union; ESM, or the Energy, Industry, and Mining Union of Public Employees; Selüloz-İş, Pulp, Paper and Paper Products Union; Kristal-İş, Glass, Cement, Ceramic and Soil Workers’ Union; Türk-Enerji-Sen, the Energy, Mine, Metal, Petroleum and Chemistry Branch Employees’ Union; Tümka-İş, the All Pulp and Paper Workers’ Union; and Türk Tarim Orman-Sen, a Union of agricultural, forestry, and environmental services’ workers. 
 
The ICEM Secretariat delegation also received commitments from Çimse-İş and Kristal-İş to co-host ICEM’s 2009 World Conference for the Materials Industry. Also attending the Coordinating Committee meeting was Michael Mersmann, head of the International Department of German affiliated union, IGBCE.

ICEM’s Turkish Coordinating Committee Takes on Dutch Project

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After four years of existence, the Global Union Research Network (GURN), a joint ILO and global unions research forum, unveiled a more user-friendly and attractive web site. Users will find it much easier to navigate and search for documents and information on the many topics covered by the institute. 
 
A new addition to the site is the topic on Public-Private Partnership, which allows GURN to provide information on eleven important research topics: Corporate Governance; Economic Alternatives and Poverty Eradication; Global Trade Union Strategies (Union Renewal); Health Politics and Trade Unions; Migration; OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises; Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) & International Financial Institutions (IFIs); Public-Private Partnerships; Sustainable Development; Trade; and Wages and Collective Bargaining 
 
The new Public-Private Partnership (PPP) page is created to shed light on the issues and concerns related to PPPs in different countries. 
 
GURN is a platform for trade unionists and researchers dealing with the challenges of globalization from a labour perspective. Partners to it include the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), the Trade Union Advisory Committee (TUAC) of the OECD, the Global Union Federations, the ILO’s Bureau for Workers’ Activities (ACTRAV), and the ILO’s Institute for Labour Studies. 
 
The new site can be found <a href="http://www.gurn.info/en/">here</a>.

GURN Launches New Website

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Some 125 trade union leaders from the pulp and paper sector of the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine, and General Workers’ Unions (ICEM) conclude deliberations today in Uruguay toward shaping strategies for the sector. In the final session of day two of the 8-10 December conference in Piriápolis yesterday, delegates from 35 countries embarked on a four-point work plan focusing on national collective bargaining schedules in 2009. 
 
Delegates received a thorough mapping of the different trade unions representing pulp and paper workers in the sprawling Brazilian pulp and paper sector, as well as those in Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay. Day two also featured a trade union panel that probed the consequences on workers of the current global recession. 
 
The theme of the conference is “North Meets South: Global Unity, Global Strength,” and ICEM Pulp and Paper Chairman Jouko Ahonen said networking between trade unions of the North and the burgeoning South – even with project curtailments brought on by the sudden economic collapse – is essential. “This strategic plan is ambitious and we did get commitment that unions in South America, Asia, and the traditional pulp and paper-producing of the North will come together to forge common a programme,” said Ahonen, who serves the ICEM sector as President of Paperiliitto Union of Finland. 

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The work plan, which can be found <a href="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/EN%20PulpPaper2009WkPl.pdf" type="internal">here</a>, centers on establishment of a global communications and support network for the many national unions that have bargains in 2009. Sector-wide negotiations will occur in the Nordic countries, as well as eastern Canada and several European countries. Major agreements also come due at mills in Australia, the US, and Argentina and union leaders pledged to monitor talks and take global action when requested. 
 
The work plan also addresses strategies aimed at renewal talks of Global Framework Agreements with Norske Skog of Norway and SCA of Sweden, which occur in 2009. And in line with the conference’s theme, the plan includes intensive work toward greater harmony and association between trade unions inside Brazil, together with unions in the other Mercosur countries of Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay. That effort will occur through a proposed project undertaken by Finnish trade unions of the sector and the global solidarity arm SASK, part of Finland’s national labour centre. 
 
On Monday, 8 December, delegates heard presentations from Ilkka Hämälä, President and CEO of Metsa-Botniä Oy, and Jeronimo Ruiz, Director of Pulp and Paper for BRACELPA in São Paulo State and also the head of Collective Bargaining for Brazil’s employers’ association. Workers’ representatives queried the industry leaders on the delivered cost of pulp from the South to the North, and on wood supply issues. 
The conference also heard on day one from Uruguay Industry and Energy Minister Daniel Martinez and Labour and Social Security Minister Eduardo Bonomi. Both spoke on issues related to the country’s developing pulp and forestry sectors, and efforts by the left-leaning government to balance environmental and social standards of common Uruguayans with that agenda. 
 
The three-day ICEM forum was preceded by a two-day conference, 6-7 December, on forest certification programmes sponsored by the global union federation, Building and Woodworkers’ International (BWI). 
 
Delegates to the ICEM conference also stepped out of their sector and passed a resolution supporting American trade unionists of affiliated union United Electrical, Radio, Machine Workers (UE) for its occupation of the shuttered Republic Windows and Doors factory in Chicago. The resolution specifically commended US President-Elect Barack Obama for his published support of the action. The resolution can be found <a href="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Emergency%20Resolution.pdf" type="internal">here</a>. 
 
The 20-million-member ICEM, the dominant global union federation representing workers in the pulp, paper, and paper converting sector, represents 467 affiliated trade unions in 132 countries on the global level. 
 
For further information, contact Dick Blin, ICEM Information and Pulp and Paper Officer, +41 79 734 8994, or +41 79 734 9052.

ICEM Pulp/Paper Conference in Uruguay Focuses on 2009 Collective Negotiations

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Every year, on April 28, the world commemorates workers killed, injured, or made ill as a result of their jobs. 
 
How many are there? Collecting good data on occupational injuries and deaths is very difficult. The most credible source of international statistics is the ILO. Their numbers are staggering. The ILO has estimated that globally, there are two million work-related deaths annually. That's more than 5,000 every day, and for every fatality, hundreds more injuries and illnesses occur. 
 
These numbers, as incredible as they seem, are generally believed to be gross underestimates. 
 
Fatalities are under reported by workers and employers. Often, an occupational fatality is not identified as such. Once reported, a fatality must be "accepted" or recognized by a country's regulatory authority or workers' compensation board to be counted among the statistics. In many jurisdictions, large numbers of workers are exempt from workers' compensation coverage. Data for injuries are even less reliable than for fatalities. 

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Worker deaths that are immediate and obvious tend to be recognized. Deaths due to illnesses that have an occupational origin are rarely recognized. Cancer is one of the biggest work-related killers, but rarely is it properly acknowledged. Relatively few occupational diseases are recorded in official statistics. 
 
Injury and illness data are notoriously subject to bias and methodological problems. Many workers' injuries, illnesses, and even fatalities, are simply never recorded. Workers' compensation assessments and insurance premiums are often based on these statistics, creating a huge financial incentive for employers to suppress or discourage the reporting of accidents. 
 
This is done in a number of ways, ranging from schemes that bring injured workers into the workplace so their injuries won't be counted as "lost time," to sophisticated psychological techniques like "behaviour-based" safety programs. Threats of discipline or discharge following a reported accident are not uncommon. "Post-incident drug-testing" has been highly effective in causing workers to conceal injuries rather than risk a false-positive test result. 
 
In the days leading up to 28 April, many statistics will be quoted. Appalling as the numbers may be, the truth is probably far worse. 
 
In the end, 28 April is not about numbers, it is about people. Next week, on Tuesday, let us pause and remember those who paid for their livelihoods with their lives or their health. Then let us renew the fight for safe and healthy workplaces.

28 April: Day to Renew Fight for Safe and Healthy Worksites

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The Governing Council of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), consisting of 140 countries, took a landmark decision at its deliberations in Nairobi in February 2009. The council moved to start negotiations toward an international treaty on mercury that either bans or places very strict restrictions on the dangerous chemical. 
 
UNEP’s unanimous decision may mean the beginning of the end for mercury, although the transition to either a no-mercury or low-mercury world will still take time. 

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UNEP has, for seven years, coordinated the intense scientific and policy debate on how best to deal with mercury, said the agency’s executive director and UN Under-Secretary, Achim Steiner. Now “the world’s environmental ministers, armed with the full facts and full choices, decided the time for talking was over – the time for action on this pollution is now.” 
 
The Governing Council also was unanimous on the risk to human health. Mercury and its compounds are highly toxic to humans, especially to the nervous system at even relatively low levels of exposure. It is particularly harmful to the development of unborn children. It accumulates in humans and animals and can be concentrated throughout the food chain, notably in certain types of fish. 
 
The EU has called for a ban to begin on mercury by 2011. UNEP’s main function is to promote international policy cooperation in the environmental field.

Say Farewell to Mercury? UNEP’s 2009 Nairobi Action Sets the Stage

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With over 70 confirmed participants, the ICEM’s quadrennial World Conference for the Rubber Industries will take place in Nashville, Tennessee, USA next week, on 12-13 May 2009. The conference, to be hosted be the United Steelworkers (USW), will be presided over by USW President Leo Gerard, Chairman of the ICEM Rubber Industry Sector. 

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Leo Gerard, Chairman of ICEM Rubber Industry Section & USW President
The venue is the Sheraton Music City Hotel, Nashville. 
 
Kemal Özkan, ICEM Chemicals and Rubber Industries Officer, will make a presentation on “Global Industry Trends and Challenges.” 
 
The Conference will also feature five panel discussions: “Effects of Global Crisis on the Industry and Trade Union Challenges,” “Rising Hardships and Distortion in Work Relationships,” “Global Agreements, Global/Regional Company and Sector Networks and Campaigns,” “How to Improve Health and Safety for Workers: What Kind of Industrial Policy for a Greener Environment for Securing Jobs,” and “How to Better Coordinate Global Union Solidarity, Support and Cooperation.” 

Other presentations on the agenda will include: “Collective Bargaining in the Rubber Industry,” “Global Trade Union Response Against Challenges,” and “Healthy and Safe Work, Environment and Sustainable Development.” The conference will conclude in the afternoon of 13 May with “Development of an Action Plan” for trade unions of the global rubber sector.  
 
ICEM Health, Safety, and Sustainability Officer Brian Kohler will make the health, safety, and sustainable development presentations. 
 
The Report for the Conference will be up on the ICEM website (<a href="http://www.icem.org" type="internal">www.icem.org</a>) under ICEM Sectors: Rubber by late this week, as will the agenda and other background documents.

ICEM’s World Rubber Conference Set for Next Week in Nashville USA

Global Unions, le conseil syndical mondial, composé de 13 fédérations syndicales mondiales, de la Confédération Syndicale Internationale (CSI), du TUAC, la Commission syndicale consultative auprès de l’OCDE, est conscient de l’importance que revêt en Amérique l’adoption de ce projet de loi sur le libre choix des salariés. Nous savons qu’une économie forte dépend de travailleurs ayant la possibilité d’adhérer à une organisation syndicale et de négocier de manière collective de sorte que des salaires justes soient payés et que les avantages sociaux soient améliorés pour tous ce qui font partie de la société. 
 
Pour nous, ceci est le fondement même de cette loi sur le libre choix des salariés. Notre organisation appuie résolument les organisations syndicales américaines qui se battent en faveur de l’adoption de cette loi bénéficiant de l’appui du Président Barack Obama. Faites savoir à vos militants et à vos responsables élus que notre organisation soutient sans réserve cette loi sur le libre choix des salariés. Pour nous, elle constitue un élément essentiel permettant aux travailleurs dans une société libre de se syndiquer sans rencontrer d’obstacles. 
 
(Signé….. Nom du responsable syndical) 
(Dénomination de l’organisation syndicale) 
(Pays)

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