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ICEM&rsquo;s Global Network of ExxonMobil Workers&rsquo; Solidarity is spotlighting recent deaths and physical abuses to protesters among 4,000 contract workers who have been denied overtime pay by Chad-Cameroon Constructors (TCC), a pipeline-building consortium led by Esso-Tchad, Chevron, and Petronas of Malaysia. 
<img height="80" src="" width="120" alt="" />
On 18 September, national gendarmerie of Chad violently broke up a peaceful sit-in, leaving three dead, three with serious injuries and 30 arrested. Workers have been protesting in the capital of N&rsquo;djamena and in the southern oil regions of Chad. 
The network&rsquo;s attention on the Chad-Cameroon pipeline, opened in 2003 and now carrying 200,000 barrels-per-day, comes just months after Amnesty International issued a comprehensive report on how commercial contracts between Chad&rsquo;s government and private-sector interests have destroyed human rights for both workers and civilians. 
Contract workers are owed some US$12 million in overtime wages collectively for completing the US$3.7 billion pipeline ahead of schedule. Visit the website of the ExxonMobil workers&rsquo; network at www.ExxonMobil-solidarity.org.

Two Dead Among Contractors on Chad-Cameroon Pipeline

Fourteen workers were hospitalized and 30 treated for injuries following a 24 September hydrogen sulphide leak at Caltex Australia Ltd.&rsquo;s refinery in Sydney. Less than a week later, on 29 September, another suspected gas leak forced evacuation of hundreds of oil workers at the country&rsquo;s second largest refinery. The incidents occurred near a new, A$395 million clean fuels plant inside the Kurnell refinery, a major producer of transport fuels in Australia. Caltex, 50% owned by US-based Chevron, is behind schedule and has been burdened with unplanned maintenance and outages at the 124,000 barrel-per-day refinery.

Leak Hospitalizes 14 at Caltex Refinery in Australia

New Zealand paper workers at a Carter Holt Harvey (CHH) converting factory in Auckland have won a 5% pay hike, but CHH workers in the woods sector are still staging industrial actions to get similar pay increases. On 23 September, 200 workers at a laminated veneer plant at Marsden Point in Whangarei began a week-long strike aimed at achieving affiliate Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union&rsquo;s (EPMU) goal of 5% in 2005. The EPMU has succeeded in getting 5% hikes in 269 collective agreements since it&rsquo;s Fair Share Campaign began in February 2005, 85% of all contracts open this year. The &ldquo;5% in &lsquo;05&rdquo; Campaign prompted an industry association spokesman to remark, &ldquo;If you get the message out there, it can become a self-fulfilling prophecy.&rdquo;

New Zealand Affiliate Succeeding at 5% Wage Hikes

French ICEM affiliate F&eacute;d&eacute;ration Chimie Energie CFDT is calling for a tripartite commission to be established to resolve wage talks in the paper carton industry of France. The trade union rejects the inferior minimum levels put forward by the trade industry grouping Nationale des Industries Papeti&egrave;res pour les Affaires Sociales (l&rsquo;Unipas). FCE-CFDT says the heavy pressure to hold down wages will not be good for this papermaking sector since workers will become reluctant to take promotions into jobs requiring higher technical skills.

French Affiliate Seeks Wage Hikes in Paper Sector

Tomorrow, a general strike will occur throughout France, called by the nation&rsquo;s five major trade union confederations. French workers are saying no to privatisations, no to the new jobs contract proposed by the government, no to erosion of job security, and yes to public service investments and fair pay gains. Some 140 public demonstrations will be held across France, and a weekend opinion poll says 74% of French citizens support the day of actions. The strike has postponed&mdash;at least temporarily&mdash;a government campaign to promote partial privatisation of Electricit&eacute; de France (EDF). Release of analysts&rsquo; reports of EDF&rsquo;s initial public offering commissioned by the government have been ordered delayed until after 4 October strikes.

French Trade Unions Stage 4 October Actions

The Canadian government was target of a 9 September International Day of Protest against the export of asbestos products. Unions in Australia, Asia, India, Africa and Latin America joined the protest against Canada&rsquo;s government, which bans the sale of asbestos products to its own citizens yet profits by export of it. Canada is the world&rsquo;s third largest exporter of asbestos products. Demonstrators gathered in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra, Australia, demanding a ban, and Canadian embassies in 12 countries were delivered strongly-worded letters asking for Canada to stop its asbestos exports. In Japan, where 60% of all asbestos comes from Canada, three unions sent a high-level delegation to the Tokyo embassy of Canada formally requesting that its export promotion policy be terminated.

Global Unions Protest Canada&#039;s Asbestos Exports

French oil refinery workers at Total began partial disruptions to production late on 6 September, successfully making the global oil company modify its disciplinary actions against four workers the next day. The four were exclusively blamed for a fuel leak on 7 August at a refinery in Marseille. The refineries in which job actions occurred included Donges, Saint-Nazaire; Normandie, LeHavre; Grandpuits near Paris; Feyzin, Lyon; and the Provence refinery, Marseille.

French Total Workers Strike over Disciplinary Measures

Eighteen Russian coalminers on Sakhalin Island ended their 11-day hunger strike 142 meters underground 9 September when they won backwages totaling four million roubles for 428 miners for the month of June at the bankrupt Sakhalinugol mining firm. They also won assurances that July and August wages due them will be paid this month through sale of mining equipment. The coalmine shut in August. Separate from the strike, the trustee of the mining enterprise in the Uglegorsk region, Tatyana Dmitriyeva, was arrested in early September and charged with profiteering from sale of mining and earth-moving equipment prior to the mid-August shutdown.

Sakhalin Miners End Strike

The 20-million-member ICEM, the global union federation for the energy, mining, chemical and processed industries&rsquo; sectors, has succeeded in bringing a first-ever process of Social Dialogue between Colombian trade unions and multinational companies. In a series of meetings in Colombia this month between unions and employers facilitated by the ICEM, a formalized process was established with eight companies over dialogue on a full range of social issues. 
 
&ldquo;The ICEM is in a unique position. Through our global affiliates, we represent workers across the world at these companies,&rdquo; stated General Secretary Fred Higgs. &ldquo;Our affiliated trade unions in Colombia recognize this initiative as a vehicle for peace and reconciliation, and a meaningful attempt to establish full human and trade union rights.&rdquo; 
 
Higgs added, &ldquo;Trade Unions are among the few democratic structures in Colombia. We see this process of Social Dialogue with employers as a major step to achieving peace and justice in this war-torn country.&rdquo; 
 
The multinational companies that accepted the invitation of the ICEM and Colombia trade unions include: the Spanish energy firm Endesa; Spanish electrical distributor Uni&oacute;n Fenosa; Swiss oil and gas trader Glencore; Australian mining concern BHP Billiton; British-based mining company Anglo-American; German gas, engineering, materials handling and refrigeration firm Linde AG; UK&rsquo;s household products group Reckitt Benckiser; and Irish paper and packaging company Jefferson Smurfit Group. 
 
ICEM&rsquo;s Colombian trade union affiliates involved include: Sindicato de Trabajadores de la Electricidad (SINTRAELECOL), Sindicato Nacional de los Trabajores de la Industria del Carb&oacute;n (SINTRACARBON), Sindicato de la Industria Qu&iacute;mca (SINTRAQUIM), and Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de Cart&oacute;n (SINTRACARCOL). 
 
At the inaugural set of meetings in mid-October, the unions met with Colombian managers of all companies as a group, and then individually to set a working process into the year 2006. Labour and management began the process immediately at the company level by designating contact point persons and introducing procedures to follow within each company. Agreement was made to convene two collective seminars prior to June 2005 on international labour standards and human rights. And then in June another conference of all participants will convene with the ICEM to shape an agenda for 2006. 
 
Colombia&rsquo;s labour-management Social Dialogue process will operate on two levels: at corporate level, in which best practices will be developed regarding the international standards, labour relations, working conditions and physical security of trade union leaders; and at multi-company level, whereby initiatives and experiences will be shared with other companies operating in Colombia. 
 
The ICEM-initiated Social Dialogue process is part of a programme adopted at the GUF&rsquo;s 2003 Congress in Norway to provide resources and awareness to the trade unions of Colombia.

Colombia: 8 Multinationals Commence Social Talks with Unions

The 20-million-member ICEM, the global union federation for the oil, energy, chemical and other sectors, lent its support to Colombian trade unions and civil society organizations at a National Day of Action in defense of labour and human rights. ICEM Gen. Sec. Fred Higgs spoke at a mass rally and demonstration 12 October in Bogota, one of three major protests across Colombia condemning the policies of President Alvaro Uribe Velez. 

<img height="157" alt="" src="" width="350" />
ICEM's Fred Higgs spoke to Colombian workers in Bogota 
(photo by Carlos Bustos) 
&ldquo;These events in Colombia demonstrate the Trade Union Movement&rsquo;s determination to secure social justice for workers and all citizens,&rdquo; said Higgs. &ldquo;Trade unions are one of the few democratic structures in Colombia and the issues today prove the Trade Union Movement can be a force for peace and reconciliation in a country that so badly needs it.&rdquo; 
<img height="180" alt="" src="" width="350" />
Some 20,000 workers filled a square in Bogota on 12 October 
Higgs promised to Colombian workers they would not be alone in their struggle for social justice. &ldquo;Trade unionists across the world are conscious of the deaths, death threats and intimidation and harassment of trade union leaders and others in Colombia,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;The ICEM will remain active in Colombia and we will ensure that the struggle for justice and fairness continues to be heard worldwide.&rdquo; 
 
The rallies coincided with a 24-hour protest strike in which public sector workers shut down government administration, plus education, health care and other public sector services.
&nbsp; 
All ICEM-affiliated trade unions in Colombia took part in Day of Action events, as did all national union centers. The Trade Union agenda: 
* Oppose the re-election of Uribe; 
* Oppose legislation that cuts pensions, increases taxes on workers, and reduces money and aid for education and health; 
* Oppose security policies that are causing violent human rights abuses; 
* Oppose the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas, other regional free-trade agreements, and bi-lateral trade agreements with the US; 
* Oppose unilateral closure of hospitals, health clinics, and schools; 
* Begin the negotiation process to end armed internal conflict and seek humanitarian assistance. 
 
The ICEM, numbering 400 affiliates in 125 countries, has been engaged in Colombian union building and solidarity efforts for the past eight years. The GUF has now launched a Social Dialogue Process among affiliates in Latin America&rsquo;s most violent nation that has met success coordinating serious dialogue between individual affiliates and global employers.

ICEM Endorses Trade Union Agenda in Colombia

Archive

Two Dead Among Contractors on Chad-Cameroon Pipeline

Leak Hospitalizes 14 at Caltex Refinery in Australia

New Zealand Affiliate Succeeding at 5% Wage Hikes

French Affiliate Seeks Wage Hikes in Paper Sector

French Trade Unions Stage 4 October Actions

Global Unions Protest Canada's Asbestos Exports

French Total Workers Strike over Disciplinary Measures

Sakhalin Miners End Strike

Colombia: 8 Multinationals Commence Social Talks with Unions

ICEM Endorses Trade Union Agenda in Colombia

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