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="48" alt="" src="" width="120" />
A Unity Accord was developed 19-21 March in Canada for unions representing workers at Brazilian-based Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (CVRD). Last year, the giant Brazilian iron ore, coal, and metal mining company took over Canadian-based, the western world&rsquo;s leading nickel producer. 
 
Signing the accord, which contains six priorities for the trade unions, were the United Steelworkers (USW) of Canada, host of the unity event in Sudbury, Ontario, and trade unions from Brazil, Mozambique, and New Caledonia. ICEM Vice President Ken Neumann, USW&rsquo;s National Director for Canada, opened the conference.
<img height="157" alt="" src="" width="140" />
USW Canadian National Director Ken Neumann&nbsp;
The unions participating include the National Confederation for Workers in the Mineral Sector (CNTSM) and Sindi-Metals (CNM-CUT) of Brazil, the National Union of ConstructionWorkers (SINTICIM) of Mozambique, and Union des Syndicate d'Ouvriers et Employ&eacute;s de Nouvelle-Cal&eacute;donie (USOENC) of New Caledonia, the largest mining union on the French territorial islands. They were joined by branch unions of the USW from five CVRD/Inco locations in Canada.
<img height="77" alt="" src="" width="140" />
USW President Leo Gerard, a former miner at Inco in Sudbury, said the Unity Accord was not signed in an adversarial or confrontational manner. &ldquo;When there are companies as big as CVRD, it is tremendously important that workers come together in solidarity and unity, in order to build on each other&rsquo;s victories and to minimize each other defeats,&rdquo; said Gerard at a press conference, as reported in the Sudbury Star newspaper. 
 
Added USW District Canadian District 6 Director Wayne Fraser, &ldquo;As companies become more global, it&rsquo;s no longer a matter of flag-waving for your union. You need to be a global union network, because you are dealing with a global, transnational company.&rdquo; 
 
The six priorities of the CVRD Unity Accord include: stronger collective agreements; pushing for more capital expenditures to ensure job security in mining communities; safe and healthy workplaces, and environmentally sustainable operations; respecting the human rights within communities, including the right to organise and bargain collectively; full access from CVRD on acquisitions, mergers, or other reorganizations; and eliminating outsourcing and contract labour.

Union Mining Alliance Comes Together Around CVRD of Brazil

<img height="48" src="" width="120" alt="" />
Sector level national negotiations in Argentina&rsquo;s rubber industry will continue tomorrow at the Labour Ministry, announced ICEM South American affiliate Sindicato Unico Trabajadortes del Neum&aacute;tico Argentino (SUTNA). 
 
The union aims to get fair and equitable wage terms for 4,000 of the nation&rsquo;s rubber workers at companies such as Bridgestone, Pirelli, and FATE, which employ the majority of rubber workers in Argentina. 
 
Prior talks occurred on 19 March. SUTNA Gen. Sec. Pedro Wasiejko said no worker in the rubber industry should earn less than ARS2,741 (&euro;600) per month. SUTNA is demanding a 38% pay increase.
<img height="130" src="" width="280" alt="" />
&ldquo;This is a sector where the salary costs are only between 4 and 6% of total production costs,&rdquo; said Wasiejko, adding that 38% &ldquo;would not tremendously affect the sales price of the product, or be a change to the consumer.&rdquo; 
 
He added, &ldquo;The private sector today has huge profits and workers need to make sure that these profits are distributed in a fair and equal way.&rdquo;
<img height="120" src="" width="120" alt="" />
SUTNA has conducted meetings in all rubber plants and tomorrow&rsquo;s union agenda reflects the wishes of workers in those plants. The union expressed its faith in honest collective bargaining, and said it is convinced that a transparent and participatory negotiations system is in the best interests of all. 
 
The outcome of the national talks will not only determine working terms at the three big Buenos Aires tyre plants of Bridgestone, Pirelli, FATE, but at hundreds of smaller rubber producers and rubber suppliers.

Argentine Rubber Union, SUTNA, Continues Rubber Talks Tomorrow in Buenos Aires

<img height="48" src="" width="120" alt="" />
Over 100 Chinese miners were killed in eight gruesome coal mine tragedies over the past three weeks. The China mine deaths again occur under odd and peculiar circumstances, including mine-owner cover-ups and careless safety practices. The eight tragedies represent only those deadly mine tragedies that have been reported in the Chinese press. 
 
Three separate incidents over the past week were marked by initial cover-ups by mine owners. On 22 March at the Shangjiwu mine in Ruzhou city, Henan province, 15 miners died after flooding and high levels of methane gas encapsulated mine shafts. Mine owners attempted failed rescue attempts and only alerted mine safety officials two days later, on 24 March.
<img height="175" src="" width="240" alt="" />
&nbsp; 
Two other cover-ups occurred in the aftermath of a pair of tragedies on 18 March at illegal mines. At the Miaojing mine near Jincheng city, southeast Shanxi Province, 21 miners died in a gas explosion. Two days later, on 20 March, the mine owner and 10 others were arrested, charged with operating an illegal mine and failing to report the explosion. 
 
The mine owner of the Dongfang No. 1 coal mine in Liaoning Province was arrested on 21 March after a deadly fire occurred in his mine. He tried to hide the incident and the deaths from work safety officials. Six miners were killed and 15 injured in this tragedy near Dongliang Township in the Fuxin Mongolian autonomous county. 
 
On 15 March, six people were crushed to death when the coal mine tailings area they were on gave way due to a massive sinkhole. This occurred near Huludao city, southwest Liaoning Province. The five women and one man who died were on land directly above an abandoned mine site. 
 
On 8 March, eight miners died inside shafts after a gas leak near the city of Xingyang, northern Henan Province. The mine was being operated illegally. On the same day in the Ningxia Hui autonomous region, a cave-in at a colliery operated by the town government of Changle killed two miners. 
 
China&rsquo;s worst mine disaster in March occurred at state-owned Fushun Group&rsquo;s Laohutai mine near the city of Fushun, Liaoning Province. On 10 March, 29 miners were swept to their deaths off a mine platform, following a mass release of water. The mine is one of Fushun&rsquo;s main operations and contains several unused pits.
<img height="80" src="" width="120" alt="" />
The government ordered some 900 private coal mines shut in the province for a week after this disaster, and State Administration of Work Safety Director Li Yizhong issued pointed statements on its cause. &ldquo;This accident could have been averted if the mine knew about the conditions in the unused pit and taken measures to prevent floods,&rdquo; he said in an online interview. 
 
On 6 March in Hunan Province, 15 miners died during illegal operation of the Hongfa coal mine in Shaodong County. The mine had been shut for safety maintenance repairs, and the methane gas blast was caused by damaged ventilation shafts and illegal electrical systems in areas where miners were working. 
 
In Li Yizhong&rsquo;s mid-March interview, he said China leads the world in coal mine deaths with an average of 2.041 people killed for every million tons of coal mined. That is four times higher than death rates in Poland, Russia, and South Africa.

Rash of China Coal Mine Deaths Occur in March

<img height="97" alt="" src="" width="100" />
Whereas, the dispute between the workers of the National Federation of &ldquo;Chemistry&rdquo; &ndash; CL &ndash; &ldquo;Podkrepa, ICEM affiliate in Bulgaria, and their employer, Turkey-based Sisecam, continues at two glass plants of the Group in Targovishte, Bulgaria; 
 
Whereas, the workers have been on strike since May 19, 2007, demanding a proper payment for night work, as well as for work performed during overtime, beyond the country&rsquo;s legal minimum wage; 
 
Whereas, the workers merely demand their rights, as already guaranteed under existing Bulgarian labour law, and a signed collective agreement with their company; 
 
Whereas, the company continues its resistance toward a reasonable collective agreement and engages in blatant anti-union behaviour; 
 
 
Be it resolved, that the participants at the ICEM regional conference for Central Europe, meeting in Hungary on 5 and 6 June 2007,&nbsp;strongly support the Sisecam workers in their legitimate struggle for justice; 
 
Be it further resolved that the participants vigorously condemn the actions taken by the company to threaten workers, as well as the Bulgarian Government, with withdrawing investment in Bulgaria if existing labour laws are not changed, and if the union does not halt the strike.

ICEM resolution on Sisecam dispute in Bulgaria

Due to the Iraqi military surrounding striking Basra oil pipeline workers, the 20-million-member ICEM today called on the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to conclude peaceful negotiations with the Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions (IFOU) in order to resolve their legitimate trade union demands. 
<img height="100" src="" width="100" alt="" />
In a letter to the Prime Minister from ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda, the global union federation of oil, gas, and energy unions throughout the world, stated, &ldquo;On Tuesday evening, we learnt from the union that the Iraqi army had surrounded the strikers yesterday (5 June). The situation was, we understand, extremely tense. Urgent negotiations with your representatives have led to a temporary return to work to allow further negotiations, but the army remains in position and the situation remains very tense.&rdquo; 
Pipeline workers of the 26,000-member IFOU, first struck pipe number 42 in the early hours of Monday, 4 June, following a company communication that a normal payment made to workers would not be forthcoming. Prior to the strike there had been weeks of negotiation, over a range of demands including terms and conditions of work, health and safety, and the future of the oil industry in Iraq. 
The following morning, 5 June, the strike strengthened when oil workers cut off the flow of oil from another pipeline. That was followed by Iraqi military troops surrounding the strikers. 
<img height="115" src="" width="250" alt="" />
&ldquo;I assure you that military intervention in the dispute is not the way to resolve matters,&rdquo; stated the ICEM letter to Prime Minister al-Maliki. &ldquo;In particular, we urge you to ensure that there are no arrests or detentions of any strikers or strike leaders, and no one involved is physically harmed. Genuine negotiations over the workers&rsquo; legitimate grievances must take place.&rdquo; 
 
The ICEM is calling on all its 384 affiliated trade unions in 124 countries to send messages of support to IFOU. The ICEM is coordinating efforts to assist the IFOU together with the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), the US Solidarity Center, and the UK&rsquo;s Trades Union Congress. 
 
For background on this week&rsquo;s strike, visit <a href="/en/77-All-ICEM-News-Releases/2284-ICEM-Supports-IFOU-in-Today’s-Oil-Industry-Strike-in-Basra">/en/77-All-ICEM-News-Releases/2284-ICEM-Supports-IFOU-in-Today&rsquo;s-Oil-Industry-Strike-in-Basra</a>. 
 
For further information, contact Jim Catterson, Intl. Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine &amp; General Workers&rsquo; Unions (ICEM) Energy Officer: +32 2 626 2045 - <a href="mailto:Jim.catterson@icem.org">Jim.catterson@icem.org</a>

ICEM Protests Iraqi Military’s Involvement in Basra Oil Strike

At 6:30 AM this morning, 4 June 2007, oil workers struck the pipeline company in Basra, Iraq, bringing an immediate stop to the free flow of oil products, including kerosene and gas through pipe number 42. 
 
The pipe transfers oil and gas to Baghdad and the governorates of the central region of the country. The workers are members of the Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions (IFOU). 
 
The IFOU, previously known as the GUOE-Basra, and led by President Hassan Jumaa Awad Alasady, has over 26,000 members throughout the ten state oil companies operating in the south of Iraq. The union has a past history of strike action in defense of its members, and the oil industry as a whole of southern Iraq. 
<img height="100" alt="" src="" width="100" />
The ICEM, the global union federation of national energy unions throughout the world, supports the IFOU in their strike action today. 
 
Earlier strike calls in May were postponed after the union gained a meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki. That meeting, on 16 May, resulted in the creation of a committee tasked with working on finding solutions acceptable to both sides. The ICEM understands that although several of the union demands have been fully agreed to by Iraqi authorities, the IFOU is still far from having all their demands fulfilled. This is what led to today&rsquo;s strike. 
 
The union is currently focussing on two core demands in its strike at the pipeline company:
&bull; They demand that the Oil Ministry take action to force the general manager of the pipeline company to resign; and 
&bull; They demand that the company be financially and administratively independent from the Baghdad-based central ministry, and that the pipeline company be managed locally.
ICEM is informed that the reason for the first demand, and the catalyst for today&rsquo;s action, is that the general manger of the pipeline company, Adel Aziz, who is based in Baghdad rather than in Basra, blocked the orders of Prime Minister Nouri Al-Mailiki to release delayed benefits due workers. Moreover, he stopped a Iraqi Dinar (IQD)50,000&nbsp;allowance which the workers are regularly entitled to. 
 
The background is available at: 
<a href="/en/77-All-ICEM-News-Releases/2260-Threatened-Oil-Industry-Strike-in-Iraq">/en/77-All-ICEM-News-Releases/2260-Threatened-Oil-Industry-Strike-in-Iraq</a> 
 
A second phase of the strike has been threatened to begin tomorrow morning, again at 6.30 AM, in the event the IFOU does not receive signs signalling compliance with their demands. The second phase would expand the strike by closing pipeline number 48, which feeds the southern governorates with oil products. 
 
ICEM, together with the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), US Solidarity Center, and the UK&rsquo;s Trades Union Congress (TUC) of the UK is following developments closely, and will keep trade union affiliates and the public fully informed on developments in this key dispute. 
 
For further information, contact Jim Catterson, Intl. Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine &amp; General Workers&rsquo; Unions (ICEM) Energy Officer: +32 2 626 2045 - <a href="mailto:Jim.catterson@icem.org">Jim.catterson@icem.org</a>

ICEM Supports IFOU in Today’s Oil Industry Strike in Basra

<img height="48" src="" width="120" alt="" />
With labour agreements now complete at two major tyre producing plants in Argentina, ICEM affiliate Sindicato Unico Trabajores del Neum&aacute;tico Argentina (SUTNA) is focused on obtaining a renewal two-year contract with the third &ndash; FATE S.A.I.C.I., an Argentine based producer and the country&rsquo;s largest tyre-maker, employing some 1,200 workers. 
 
Workers at FATE had rejected the company&rsquo;s prior offer, a proposal that fell short of wage gains and bonus payments made at Pirelli S.p.A. and Bridgestone-Firestone Argentina. Negotiations will resume at the Ministry of Work on 6 June. Rubber workers have protested FATE&rsquo;s inferior demands, but have taken no industrial action.
<img height="93" src="" width="140" alt="" />
Earlier this spring, agreement was reached with both Pirelli and Bridgestone-Firestone, which employ a combined 1,400 SUTNA union members at Buenos Aires factories. At both worksites, workers won pay increases totaling nearly 25%, which included ratification and other bonuses. 
 
At the Firestone plant, workers received a 10% increase effective April 2007; they will receive a 6.5% increase in October 2007; 3.5% in March 2008; and 2.5% in May 2008. At Pirelli, SUTNA also negotiated a 10% increase effective in April 2007. Three percent is due in January 2008; 2% for April 2008; and 1.23% for June 2008. 
 
SUTNA General Secretary Pedro Wasiejko pledged early this spring that, in this round of national rubber bargaining, no worker would earn less than 2,741 pesos (&euro; 600) per month.

Argentina’s Tyre Union Focuses Now on Pact with Single Company

<img height="48" alt="" src="" width="120" />
After a difficult year of negotiations, which included industrial actions this spring and a subsequent string of three-day lockouts by the company, 500 tyre workers at Bridgestone&rsquo;s Salisbury factory near Adelaide, South Australia, accepted the Japanese company&rsquo;s terms. 
 
Workers of three unions passed by the thinnest of margins &ndash; 240 to 225 &ndash; a new three-year agreement. The contract, some ten months after a prior one expired, grants workers 6% wage increases from May 2007 to May 2010, with possible bonuses interspersed.
<img height="35" alt="" src="" width="220" />&nbsp;&nbsp; 
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <img height="90" alt="" src="" width="90" /> 
 
Production workers, numbering about 450, are represented by ICEM affiliate Liquor, Hospitality, and Miscellaneous Union (LHMU), while most maintenance workers are represented by Australian Manufacturing Workers&rsquo; Union (AMWU), also an ICEM affiliate. Electricians at Salisbury are represented by ICEM affiliate Communications, Electrical, and Plumbing Union (CEPU). 
 
Bridgestone used the full weight of the 2005 WorkChoices law in Australia to leverage its inferior bargaining demands. Workers had engaged in four stop-work actions since March, as well as an overtime ban. The company punished workers for the unions&rsquo; actions by employing contract workers on maintenance and electrical work, and taking the offensive under WorkChoices by imposing three-day, non-paid lockouts. 
 
&ldquo;Clearly, the restrictions placed upon union members by the current Australian industrial relations legislation made pursuit of improvements more difficult for members,&rdquo; said LHMU lead negotiator, Jim Watson. &ldquo;The company relied on the legislation and frustrated union members into accepting the agreement.&rdquo; 
 
Bridgestone workers had last seen a pay raise in December 2005. The previous agreement had expired in June 2006.

Bridgestone Workers in Australia Come to Terms with Company

<img height="48" src="" width="120" alt="" />
On 19 May, in a testament to the growing Solidarity now coming to strikers at Novamed in Turkey, 16 energy-sector trade union leaders from Russia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Moldova, and Belorussia visited picket lines in the Antalya Free Trade Zone. 
 
Eighty-four strikers have been out since 26 September 2006, protesting the medical equipment company&rsquo;s harsh and unusual practices. Novamed, part of German-based Fresenius Medical Care, has refused to recognise ICEM Turkish affiliate Petrol-Iş.
<img height="158" src="" width="280" alt="" />
&nbsp;ROGWU President Lev Mironov Addresses Turkish Strikers 
 

Eighty-two of the strikers are women. They have been subjected to inhumane treatment, including being forced to apply for permission from company bosses before becoming pregnant. 
 
The delegation from Eastern Europe and Central Asia came to Turkey following discussion and prominence of the strikers&rsquo; plight at the ICEM&rsquo;s Executive Committee meetings earlier in May. They were greeted at the picket line by Petrol-Iş General Secretary Mustafa Cavdar and other leaders of Turkey&rsquo;s dominant oil and chemical workers&rsquo; union.
<img height="210" src="" width="280" alt="" />
&nbsp; 
In thanking the trade union leaders, Petrol-Iş President Mustafa Oztaskin stated that their presence is a solid reminder that &ldquo;this is a struggle backed by the whole trade union movement throughout the world.&rdquo; The strikers heard from Lev Mironov, president of the Russian Oil and Gas Workers&rsquo; Union (ROGWU); Melik Mirzoyev, general secretary of the ICEM&rsquo;s Interregional Oil and Gas Workers&rsquo; Federation; and Jahangir Aliyev, general secretary of the Oil and Gas Workers&rsquo; Union of Azerbaijan. 
 
Other leaders visiting the picket line on 19 May included: Yelena Mustafina, Oil and Gas Workers&rsquo; Union of Kazakhstan; Nikolay Stratila, Chemical and Energy Workers&rsquo; Union of Moldova; Yuriy Rovda, Belarus Petrol Gaz İş&ccedil;ileri Sendikasi Başkani; Ludmila Hrushetskaya, Belarus Mining and Oil Workers&rsquo; Union; and Tamara Bashuk, Ludmila Chubaryan, Natalya Navmova, Hasipat Hugayeva, Rostislav Zagorodniy, Vera Shchukine, Larisa Lukiyanova, Ludmila Brovkina, and Aleksander Vasiliyev, all of ROGWU.
<img height="225" src="" width="300" alt="" />
&nbsp;

Energy Trade Union Leaders Visit Novamed Picket Lines in Turkey

<img height="55" alt="" src="" width="138" />
Former ICEM Gen. Sec. Fred Higgs was awarded the Transport &amp; General Workers&rsquo; Union&rsquo;s (TGWU) highest award on 4 July when the Unite Joint General Secretary, Tony Woodley, awarded him with the Gold Patch at the TGWU&rsquo;s last Policy Conference. 
 
Higgs served as ICEM general secretary from 1999 to his retirement in late 2006. He is a 40-year member of TGWU and began his long service career with the union in 1979. Prior to his election as ICEM general secretary, Higgs served as National Secretary of TGWU&rsquo;s chemicals, oil, and rubber sectors.
<img height="200" alt="" src="" width="300" />
&nbsp;Fred Higgs Speaking at TGWU's Policy Conference 
 

In a speech upon receiving the award, Higgs told delegates of his disgust after reaching Brussels with the UK Labour Party government&rsquo;s complicity in occupying Iraq. He also spoke on global labour solidarity, and gave the story of TGWU&rsquo;s Peter Booth intervening with a British-based company to reinstate two sacked trade union leaders in Thailand. They had been sacked in 2004 for trade union activities, and they turned to the ICEM for help. 
 
Booth not only won their reinstatement but together with Higgs and the ICEM, won a guarantee that trade union organisation would not be interfered with at their plant. In the year since the two leaders have been back at work, they, along with fellow workers grateful to Booth and the ICEM, have organised 11 of the 12 plants that this particular British company operates in Thailand.
<img height="300" alt="" src="" width="200" />
Peter Booth 
 

The TGWU Policy Conference is likely to be the last such biannual gathering since new forums and structures will result in TGWU&rsquo;s merger with Amicus to form Unite. The conference reviewed TGWU&rsquo;s aggressive organising project, demanded the withdrawal of British troops in Iraq, and took a tough stance on the abuse of labour agency workers in the UK. Delegates heard vivid stories of such abuses, including the real life situation of a Polish woman who was forced to live her car after her agency evicted her from living accommodations. 
 
The Policy Conference made history by electing the first and last woman to chair this year&rsquo;s proceedings. &ldquo;Same old story &hellip; as soon as a woman gets to the top, the job is abolished,&rdquo; joked Brenda Sanders. &ldquo;This union will be carrying forwards our finest traditions together with our colleagues in Amicus as we build Unite to a powerhouse in the world of work and the 21st century,&rdquo; she added.

Fred Higgs Receives Gold Patch Award from Transport &amp; General Workers in the UK

Archive

Union Mining Alliance Comes Together Around CVRD of Brazil

Argentine Rubber Union, SUTNA, Continues Rubber Talks Tomorrow in Buenos Aires

Rash of China Coal Mine Deaths Occur in March

ICEM resolution on Sisecam dispute in Bulgaria

ICEM Protests Iraqi Military’s Involvement in Basra Oil Strike

ICEM Supports IFOU in Today’s Oil Industry Strike in Basra

Argentina’s Tyre Union Focuses Now on Pact with Single Company

Bridgestone Workers in Australia Come to Terms with Company

Energy Trade Union Leaders Visit Novamed Picket Lines in Turkey

Fred Higgs Receives Gold Patch Award from Transport & General Workers in the UK

About IndustriALL

Follow us

Contact us