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ICEM affiliate CFMEU was forefront during mid-September international actions protesting building materials firm James Hardie&rsquo;s dodge of asbestos liabilities in Australia. The company in 2001 shifted its headquarters from Sydney to The Netherlands in a move seen as cutting its liability for over 60 years of asbestos exposure to workers in Australia. On 15 September, 20,000 workers rallied across Australia&mdash;still home to the vast number of Hardie shareholders&mdash;while a contingent of mesothelioma victims with trade union leaders including the CFMEU&rsquo;s Lindsay Fraser went to Amsterdam for James Hardie&rsquo;s AGM on 17 September. A damning report on the company was issued September 21 by an Australian state government inquiry, which found that the chief executive had misled investors and the company developed a &ldquo;culture of denial.&rdquo;

Australian Unions Angry Over James Hardie’s Asbestos Cover-ups

The ICEM launched an aggressive global campaign to stem the use of contract and agency labour at a conference in Brussels 16-17 September. Trade union leaders of ICEM affiliates were uniform in their consensus that long-term and wide-ranging strategies are needed to protect the community-enriching benefits that permanent employment offers. Central among all strategies developed will be a programme aimed at primary employers in all ICEM sectors.

ICEM Launches Bold Campaign on Contract and Agency Labour

The hostile Trade Union Act in Nigeria may have begun to fall apart in the country&rsquo;s Senate. Amendments to President Olusegun Obasanjo&rsquo;s union-busting measure passed last week included removal of a &ldquo;no strike&rdquo; clause to the bill, as well as language making all union membership voluntary. The General Assembly&rsquo;s lower chamber began debate late last week with the leader of the All Nigerian People&rsquo;s Party, Salik Ahmed, calling for outright dismissal of the bill.

Nigerian Unions Paring Worst Aspects from Labour Reform Bill

Hubertus Schmoldt, president of ICEM German affiliate IGBCE, drew attention to the challenges and opportunities facing the union movement in an end-of-the-year message. Schmoldt noted that international competition has grown stiffer with no let up in sight and said global trade union work stressing solidarity is welcome, but unions are only at the beginning of such positive developments. He described biogenetics and nanotechnology as key industries for the future but&mdash;particularly in the case of gene technology&mdash; Germany may soon lose research, development and production capacities. Schmoldt stressed the importance of education and training from early childhood to university levels as key.

Germany’s IGBCE Gives Year-End Challenges

That rebuilding effort, however, is proving as troublesome under the provisional Iraqi administration as it was under Saddam&rsquo;s rule, according to the Workers&rsquo; Council of the National Company for Chemicals and Plastics Industries in Baghdad. A statement by the fledgling union says &ldquo;the same fascistic policies of the former regime&rdquo; are still in place including punishments, dismissals, threats and dismissals. The council is demanding raises in the minimum wage to match inflation, rescinding punishments and full pay for 25 workers, and distributing the yearly gains of the company to workers.

Iraqi Occupation Hindering Workplace Progress

Political instability in Iraq and lack of security there was felt dramatically by the ICEM and the global trade movement on 4 January. That day the body of Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions (IFTU) Executive Committee member Hadi Saleh was found at his home in Baghdad after Saleh was strangled by electrical wire. Known as Abu Furat, Saleh, 58, was tortured prior to his murder, a murder in which the IFTU believes was done by remnants of Saddam Hussein&rsquo;s secret police. Saleh was sentenced to death in 1969 by Saddam&rsquo;s regime for engaging in independent trade union activities. After spending five years in prison, he fled Iraq for exile in Sweden. He returned in April 2003 in efforts to build an independent trade union movement. The ICEM and global trade union bodies are working with the IFTU and other Iraqi labour centers to construct a viable and independent union movement in the war-ravaged country.

Trade Union Leader Slain in Iraq

A court injunction 20 November ended a one-day strike by 100 oil workers, members of ICEM affiliate Engineering, Printing &amp; Manufacturing Union (EPMU) of New Zealand. The EPMU members employed at five oil and gas rigs in Taranaki and Taupo struck over lack of progress in NZ&rsquo;s Onshore Oil Exploration Drilling Rig Agreement, a multi-employer collective agreement. EPMU is seeking a 5% wage adjustment, better redundancy provisions, meal provisions, and changes to training time, which is currently done outside of regular work hours. NZ&rsquo;s Employment Court will conduct a full hearing on the temporary injunction gotten by oil drilling employers on 24 November.

Oil Companies Get Injunction to End New Zealand Onshore Strike

The CEP of Canada is requesting the OECD undertake an investigation of labour practices against Finnish papermaker UPM Kymmene under the Parisbased organization&rsquo;s Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. At UPM Kymmene&rsquo;s lone Canadian mill in Miramichi, New Brunswick, the firm unilaterally announced closure of the pulp mill&mdash;chopping 400 jobs effective 31 January 2005&mdash;but also engaged in vicious anti-union behaviour. Management turned rabid after the CEP local union protested the closure on grounds the firm&rsquo;s logging licenses for harvesting government lands mandates that it operate the mill. CEP charges UPM Kymmene with creating a &ldquo;cold war&rdquo; atmosphere of labour relations by suspending local union leaders for performing their statutory duties, monitoring and spying on workers&rsquo; activities with a hired security team, and refusing to negotiate with the union or to provide information pertinent to bargaining.

CEP of Canada Takes Paper Dispute to OECD

Nigerian unions led by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) called off a 16 November mass general strike after the government rolled back fuel prices 8% &ldquo;in the name of domestic peace.&rdquo; In September, the government again reduced fuel subsidies and imposed another round of higher fuel prices prompting a four-day general strike. The NLC says it will now rejoin a panel of government officials, parliamentarians and representatives from civil society to find a solution to Nigeria&rsquo;s refined fuel oil crisis.

Nigerian Government Backs Down; General Strike Called Off

ICEM French affiliate FCE-CFDT has voiced its opposition to a report issued last week by the Roulet Commission over recapitalization and partial privatization of Electricit&eacute; de France (EDF). The commission, headed by former Thomson SA and France Telecom chairman Marcel Roulet, recommends massive cost cutting inside the utility to prepare the way for an IPO to private investors. FCE-CFDT says France should exhibit responsible behaviour to EDF workers and French citizens firstly, and should not reduce the utility&rsquo;s level of activities to a single field&mdash;namely France and Germany. The chemical and energy union has vowed to stand tight with EDF workers to protect their interests.

French Roulet Commission Reports Brings Privatisation Doubts

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