English

Español

Français

Aerospace

Automotive

Base metals

Chemical, pharmaceutical and bio-science

Energy

Glass, cement, ceramic and associated industries

ICT, electrical and electronics

Mechanical Engineering

Mining and DGOJP

Pulp and paper

Rubber

Shipbuilding and shipbreaking

Textile, garment, shoes, leather and textile services

Sectors

Action Plan 2025-2029

Action on textile and garment industry

Clean up shipbreaking

Ratify ILO C176

United for a just future - time to pay up!

Disinvest from Myanmar

Campaigns

Global Framework Agreements

Union building

White-collar workers

Health & safety

Industry 4.0

Women

Youth

LGBTQI+

Gender, equality, diversity and inclusion (GEDI)

Just Transition

Organizing with industriALL

What we do

Affiliates

Statutes

Elected Officials

Executive Committee

Geneva head office

South East Asia

Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Caucasus

Latin America and the Caribbean

Middle East and North Africa

South Asia

Sub-Saharan Africa

Regional offices

About us

Global worker No1 2022

Global worker No2 2022

Publications

Resources

Press

<img height="40" src="" width="100" alt="" />
A coal mine blast in China that killed four women on 6 April has drawn angry responses from women&rsquo;s groups. Nine miners died when the explosion occurred at Dongtang Coal Mine in central Hunan Province. Production at the mine had been suspended earlier this year when owners had failed to apply for a work safety certificate. Since 1993, Chinese mine safety law forbids women from working in underground mines. 
 
The gas blast, in which five miners&mdash;including two women&mdash;managed to escape, caused local police to detain owners and investors of the enterprise. But the production manager of the Dongtang Mine and his wife fled the area as soon as word of the blast occurred. 
 
In a another mine catastrophe, seven miners died and four were injured on 11 April when a shaft collapsed at the Tanhan Coal Mine in Shanxi Province.

Chinese Coal Mine Blast Kills Four Women

<img height="40" src="" width="100" alt="" />
With the supply of European energy sources becoming increasingly political, German affiliate IGBCE has called on the EU to update its coal regulatory policies in order to become less reliant on imported resources. In a letter to the European Commission calling on consultation to begin on re-working a 2002 regulation on coal mining, IGBCE said it is strategically important for the EU to have access to domestic raw materials. 
 
&ldquo;The development of world energy markets with dramatic price increases and increasing energy use,&rdquo; said IGBCE President Hubertus Schmoldt, &ldquo;makes it clear that Germany and Europe cannot let go of its own energy sources.&rdquo; The union continues to advocate for a balanced energy mix, but says the Commission&rsquo;s regulation must include promotion of domestic hard coal beyond the year 2010.

IGBCE Calls on EU to Develop Domestic Energy Sources

<img height="40" src="" width="100" alt="" />
Contract workers for Goodyear Tire &amp; Rubber in Bangkok, Thailand, won another victory for fairness and justice recently. Goodyear was ordered by the country&rsquo;s Industrial Relations Commission (IRC) to reinstate 18 contract workers&mdash;some working up to 10 years under single-year term agreements&mdash;who were sacked last year for attempting to exert collective bargaining rights. The contract workers are members of the Tyre Makers Union, which is affiliated to ICEM member Chemical Federation of Thailand (PCFT). 
<img height="100" src="" width="100" alt="" />
The workers, employed in rubber stock and warehouse operations of Goodyear&rsquo;s 40-year-old factory in Bangkok, now will press again for collective bargaining rights. A hearing on that matter was held in a separate court on 26 April, but an outcome was delayed by a new judge who was just assigned to the case. 
 
Goodyear found itself under considerable pressure last October when it discharged the contract workers, in spite of deducting union dues from them through a check-off system for as long as four years. In an effort to correct its mistake, the American-based company halted direct employment of contract workers, and brought in a labour agency to handle employment. 
 
Eighteen of 25 contract workers refused employment with the agency, preferring instead full-time employment with Goodyear. The IRC ruling in early April calls for Goodyear to reinstate the workers. Two of the 18 contract workers cited in the victory have passed away in the meantime, one due to heart disease in 2005, the other of cancer the day before the IRC issued its ruling.

Contract Workers Triumph at Goodyear in Thailand

<img height="45" alt="" src="" width="80" />
In Finland on 1 May, a new policy takes effect that will no longer restrict the free movement of labour from the new EU Member States. Over the past two years, since the addition of ten new countries into the EU, Finnish control mechanisms have been put in place through a subscriber liability law. The legislation now makes it harder to abuse foreign workers, and also puts meaningful stops to the grey economy. 
 
Companies are now obligated to investigate the handling of taxation, social security payments and work practices of their subcontractors. The Finnish government will also seek to tighten control over foreign agency labour through a new policy that requires foreign workers from EU states to register at an employment bureau within two weeks of arrival. Finnish trade unions have fully endorsed the policy changes. 
<img height="42" alt="" src="" width="80" />
In the United States on May Day, a day that bosses in the late 19th century stripped of significance so that American workers would not have the same Labour Day, immigrant workers will wage a general strike as well as a consumer strike. The strikes are further protests against restrictive measures against immigrants that have surfaced in the US Congress. 
The day will vividly illustrate not only the jobs that immigrants fill in America, but also the purchasing power they have in the marketplace. Leading up to the twin strikes, businesses and companies in several large US cities have fired thousands of migrant workers who participated in marches in March and April. 
<img height="52" alt="" src="" width="80" />
In Belgium on 1 May, trade unionist Paul Lootens and historians Marie-Louise De Roeck and Julie Urbain will unveil their new book, Tutti Cadaveri: The Trial of the Catastrophe at the Bois du Cazier in Marcinelle. The book depicts the aftermath of Belgium&rsquo;s worst mining tragedy in history, a fire that raged inside a coal mine near the Wallonian town of Marcinelle, killing 262 miners. 
<img height="134" alt="" src="" width="120" />
The tragedy occurred on 8 August 1956 and the book marks the 50th anniversary of the devastating loss of so many lives. The book&rsquo;s title, Tutti Cadaveri, comes from an Italian rescuer who, after surfacing from the mine, said, &ldquo;All corpses.&rdquo; 
The book is available from Aden Publishers for &euro;22 and can be ordered from Aden by contacting editionsaden@skynet.be, or calling +32 2534 46 61. The ICEM will bring further attention to the 50th Anniversary events as the August date draws closer. 
<img height="49" alt="" src="" width="80" />
On Monday, 1 May, German IGBCE President Hubertus Schmoldt will deliver a major speech in Osnabr&uuml;ck on some fundamental issues affecting Germany and its trade unions, including joblessness, health reform and an energy policy. 
<img height="136" src="" width="100" alt="" />
The trade union leader will warn against the notion that the German economy can be strengthened by lowering wages, or through increasing the number of hours in the work week. IGBCE also calls for minimum standards, including wage levels, to be maintained for all sectors of the economy. 
<img height="53" alt="" src="" width="80" />
From Argentina on May Day comes a greeting from ICEM affiliate SUTNA. The union reminds us of the origins of International Workers&rsquo; Day&mdash;the fight for an eight-hour workday in the US city of Chicago, which produced a mass general strike that was met by brutal repression and then execution of those leading the strike by the state. &ldquo;SUTNA salutes, on the occasion of this International Workers&rsquo; Day, all workers who continue the excellent work that was started by the martyrs of Chicago.&rdquo; 
<img height="53" alt="" src="" width="80" />
The All Pakistan Trade Union Federation, which has organised huge May Day rallies for Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar, Rawalpindi/Islamabad and Quetta, sends this message: &ldquo;The growing economic might of multinationals and transnational corporations, and the imposition of policies of globalisation, have led to an unprecedented large-scale offensive against the democratic and social achievements of working people, and against the trade union movement.&rdquo; 
<img height="40" alt="" src="" width="80" />
And from Azerbaijan, Jahangir Aliyev, chairman of the Oil and Gas Industry Workers Trade Union (OGWU), expresses &ldquo;health, happiness and great progress for the welfare of all labour people.&rdquo;

May Day Actions, Greetings from Around the World

<img height="40" src="" width="100" alt="" />
Leading into May Day, International Workers&rsquo; Day, news from Nepal is that King Gyanendra has met his fate, as defying protestors stood their ground on the streets during curfews and martial law. 
 
During what is now known as Popular Movement II, a general strike in Nepal, which lasted for 23 days, forced the despotic king late on 24 April to restore the country&rsquo;s Parliament, a first and necessary step toward a constituent assembly to draft a new constitution. &ldquo; 
<img height="125" src="" width="200" alt="" />
With the sacrifice of nearly 20 people&rsquo;s lives, some 5,000 who were seriously injured, and the arrests of 2,000, continuous struggle has meant we have achieved something,&rdquo; wrote Binda Pandey, ICEM Vice President and a leader inside Nepal&rsquo;s labour federation, GEFONT. &ldquo;Let us celebrate this together as an initial victory, but there still is a long way to go to sustainable peace, prosperity and a dignified Nepal.&rdquo; 
 
April&rsquo;s general strike brought hundreds of thousands of Nepalese citizens to spontaneous demonstrations across the Kathmandu Valley. Wives, children and relatives of police and army personnel stepped to the front of barricades as a way of getting security forces to defy clear orders to beat and shoot demonstrators at will, highlighting the fact that it was a unified public action that crossed all castes, classes and ethnic origins. 
<img height="96" src="" width="120" alt="" />
On 22 April, some 300,000 marched to the centre of Kathmandu, to within 500 meters of Gyanendra&rsquo;s palace where they were met by soldiers with heavy weaponry. ICEM&rsquo;s four affiliated trade unions all played crucial roles in the organised movement. (The general secretary of the Nepal Independent Chemical and Iron Workers&rsquo; Union was badly beaten and hospitalised with a broken knee.) Scores of leaders and activists from the unions were either injured or arrested. 
 
The ICEM issues an alert that resources and organisational support from the global trade union movement will be needed once Nepal reaches a full people&rsquo;s democracy in order that unions and trade union rights can flourish in the Himalayan country.

Peoples Movement Defies King in Nepal

<img height="40" alt="" src="" width="100" />
On 25 April, ICEM French affiliate FCE-CFDT signed the wage accord for the country&rsquo;s chemical industry following consultations with the union&rsquo;s regional structures. FCE-CFDT says the agreement will mean improvements and real progress for chemical workers, as well as marking a new social dynamic in the industry&rsquo;s collective negotiations. 
<img height="53" alt="" src="" width="80" />
FCE-CFDT added that the agreement opens up the possibility for more &ldquo;forward-looking steps,&rdquo; which may help to make jobs inside France&rsquo;s chemical industry more attractive. &ldquo;With chemical companies being hit by restructurings and job losses, this agreement removes some of the social problems in the sector,&rdquo; said the FCE-CFDT&rsquo;s statement. 
 
The union is now hopeful the accord will pave a positive path for negotiations that will commence later this year. These talks will cover pay adjustments to the conventional salary scheme in the chemical sector.

French FCE-CFDT Approves Chemical Industry Agreement

Nigerian oil workers&rsquo; unions NUPENG and PENGASSAN demand the immediate release of a comrade recently kidnapped in Bayelsa State. Nelson Ujeya, the Community Liaison Officer for Shell Petroleum Development Company Ltd, a trade union member of white-collar PENGASSAN, was abducted on 8 August following an official visit to the Letugbene community to examine community projects. 
 
A NUPENGASSAN union communiqu&eacute; said the kidnapping occurred &ldquo;in the full glare of a team of senior Bayelsa State Government officials&rdquo; following the coordinated visit with officials to Letugbene. 
The two ICEM affiliates demanded in the statement &ldquo;that the Government and good people of Bayelsa should immediately produce our member whom they invited to a Community-related assignment.&rdquo; 
<img height="135" alt="" src="" width="130" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <img height="126" alt="" src="" width="120" />
&ldquo;On our part, considering the escalation of kidnapping and other violent acts in the Niger Delta Region, we are under tremendous pressure to take action that will guarantee the safety of lives and properties of our members.&rdquo; 
 
In Nigeria, NUPENG and PENGASSAN have been consistent in the call for a stop to the senseless kidnappings of oil workers&rsquo; of any nationality, but also for state and federal governments, as well as oil industry enterprises, to do more inside Niger Delta communities. 
 
The two unions, operating under the aegis NUPENGASSAN, call for education and skill development, and other meaningful social protections that improve the quality of life in these oil-rich areas. The ICEM stands behind the efforts of NUPENGASSAN, and applauds their trade union voice on this extremely serious problem in the global oil industry.

Call for Release of Kidnapped PENGASSAN Member in Nigeria

<img height="40" src="" width="100" alt="" />
Two UK trade unions, the Transport &amp; General Workers&rsquo; Union (TGWU) and Amicus, received a new pay offer last week after they issued a date for a one-day work stoppage. Pirelli of Italy increased its pay offer made to 1,100 tyre workers in the British Midlands to 3%, after attempting to force an unacceptable 2.2% raise on workers. 
<img height="50" src="" width="100" alt="" />
Workers and their union leaders at a Pirelli tyre plant in Carlisle and at another facility in Burton-on-Trent chose this coming Friday, 24 August, for industrial action. TGWU and Amicus members will now consider the offer in consultations. A Pirelli spokesman said the company was hoping to &ldquo;move forward from our national dispute&rdquo; to an agreement. 
 
The company offered 1.1% when bargaining began in April. Workers voted for industrial action by 75% after the company had revised the pay offer to 2.2%. TGWU represents most workers at the two Pirelli worksites, including the auto and light truck tyre plant in Carlisle.

Pirelli Heads Off UK Industrial Action with New Tyre Offer

<img height="40" alt="" src="" width="100" />
In a meeting with French building materials company Imerys last week, British trade union Transport &amp; General Workers&rsquo; Union (TGWU) asked the company to reconsider its plans to cut 800 jobs by the beginning of 2008 in Cornwall, Devon, and Lee Moor in the country&rsquo;s South West. 
 
TGWU said the job cuts, which would bring economic devastation to the region, are &ldquo;totally unjustified&rdquo; and said the company must give serious consideration to counter proposals put forward at the 15 August meeting. 
<img height="55" alt="" src="" width="100" />&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; <img height="62" alt="" src="" width="120" />
&ldquo;The company is in a strong position to have a bright future in Cornwall, and everything should be done to persuade them to stay,&rdquo; said TGWU National Secretary Jennie Formby. &ldquo;(Imerys has) a hardworking, long-serving workforce who deserve better than being dismissed with massive job cuts and a redundancy offer that will in no way compensate for their lost employment.&rdquo; 
 
Added Malcolm Mellow, TGWU Convenor at Imerys in the South West: &ldquo;Members have been rocked by the news that they will lose their jobs after devoting years of loyal service to Imerys. The workforce and their families deserve better.&rdquo; 
 
Imerys cut some jobs in the region in 2004, but promised then that the remaining 800 jobs would be secure. That pledge was breached early in July 2006 when a proposed restructuring plan surfaced saying the vast majority of jobs in kaolin mining and processing at former English China Clay operations would be lost, and the work transferred to Brazil. Imerys bought English China Clay in 1999. 
 
The ICEM is working with affiliate TGWU, as well as with UK affiliated trade union Amicus, which represents a smaller number of Imerys workers in the South West, to preserve the jobs and the region&rsquo;s economic viability.

UK’s TGWU Meets with Imerys to Dissuade Job Cuts

An alliance between two Global Union Federations (GUFs) covering oil and gas workers became stronger this week when delegates to the International Transport Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITF) Congress in Durban, South Africa, gave rousing support to the ICEM/ITF Global Oil and Gas Industry Trade Union Alliance. The ITF and the International Chemical, Energy, Mine &amp; General Workers&rsquo; Unions (ICEM) have been jointly operating workers&rsquo; rights efforts in various parts of the world over the past two years. 
 
The ITF represents 4.5 million transport and logistics workers from 624 affiliated trade unions in 142 countries. The ICEM represents 20 million trade unionists from 379 affiliates in 123 countries.&nbsp;The ITF is&nbsp;based in London, while the ICEM is headquartered in Brussels.&nbsp; 
 
The two-year cooperative arrangement between the GUFs has mostly centered on the offshore portion of the industries. The official launch of the ICEM/ITF Global Oil and Gas Industry Trade Union Alliance now means that onshore work, from extraction and refining to distribution will get equal attention. 
 
&ldquo;The success that we&rsquo;ve had over the past two years demonstrates the strong synergies that exist between the two organisations,&rdquo; stated ICEM General Secretary Fred Higgs. &ldquo;Today&rsquo;s energy market and its inter-connecting infrastructure make this alliance a natural for workers&rsquo; and their trade unions to have far more power and influence at the very highest international levels of the major companies controlling these crucial markets.&rdquo; 
 
The union federations will organise on issues from the &ldquo;wellhead to the wheel,&rdquo; the motto adopted during the two-year-old project. It means forging a common bond of all workers engaged in work in the oil and gas sectors, from exploration, refining, to manufacture &ndash; ICEM&rsquo;s traditional sectors &ndash; through to distribution, including sea, road, rail, and pipeline, ITF&rsquo;s areas. 
 
The two GUFs have put in place a joint structure that includes affiliated trade unions of both organisations. Besides cooperating effectively on strategic issues that have arisen in such places as the Timor Sea, the Caspian Region, and Nigeria and West Africa, the alliance has mapped trade unions that exist across several oil companies and their major service contractors. The alliance will utilise ICEM&rsquo;s existing Global Framework Agreements to include transport services, and it will place a special emphasis on extending job protections to the massive number of contract workers employed throughout the oil and gas sectors. 

Contact: Dick Blin, ICEM Information Officer 
+32 2 626 2026 
+32 4 74 88 00 54 (mobile)

‘From Wellhead to Wheel,’ Global Oil and Gas Trade Union Alliance Surfaces

Archive