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One year ago, New Zealand’s labour unions, led by its national centre, the Council of Trade Union (NZCTU), successfully prevented a regressive bill from becoming law. The so-called Probationary Employment Amendment Bill would have made it easy for employers to hire and then sack temporary workers during their first 90 days of employment. 
 
The unions did it with mass demonstrations and outreach to many groupings that effectively generated mass support among New Zealanders. 
<img height="142" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/CALhorse.jpg" width="100" alt=""/>
Now labour unions and the CTU are pushing for passage of legislation that would aid contract workers. The Minimum Wage and Remuneration Amendment Bill is now before the Parliament, and the measure has a good change of passing. The proposed law would assure that people doing work under individual contracts are at least paid New Zealand’s minimum wage. 
 
Currently, many of the people that are economically dependent on the sale of their labour are not defined by the law as employees, thus not afforded protections under the country’s minimum wage law. 
<img height="115" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/NewZealand.png" width="250" alt=""/>
“Most contractors in New Zealand are remunerated well above the minimum wage,” stated CTU Secretary Carol Beaumont. “But this bill would help certain groups of workers who are being unfairly disadvantaged by contracting relationships, and are being paid below the minimum wage.” 
 
Added Beaumont, “The minimum wage marks a minimum standard in New Zealand that is considered acceptable for anyone being paid for their efforts. That standard deserves to be extended to everyone.” 
 
The bill was introduced in July and received its first reading late in August. It could pass NZ’s Parliament next month.

New Zealand Labour Pushing Law to Protect Contract Workers

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Dear Colleagues, 
 
It is a pleasure to welcome you to the 4th World Congress of the ICEM. It is with a great deal of pride that we hold this Congress in Thailand, a country in which the ICEM has played a role in a number of labour and social causes. 
 
There has been discussion on why the ICEM would hold a Congress in a country that only a year ago experienced a military coup. We consulted with our Thai affiliates on this matter, and they assured us that our presence would be a symbol of hope and expectation that free and democratic elections will occur soon in Thailand. We take this as proof of both the quality of work that ICEM has done in Thailand, and the work that still must be done in this great nation. 
<img height="125" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Senzeni.jpg" width="101"/>
Senzeni Zokwana, ICEM President
This Congress marks a historic moment for the ICEM. With forces of globalisation rapidly impacting the lives of workers in today's world, the global trade union movement has come together and made the commitment that it will unite to protect workers' interests. 
The ICEM's 4th World Congress will engage several major issues, including enhancing cooperation with the family of Global Union Federations and other world trade union organisations. 
<img height="125" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/0704Manfred.jpg" width="91"/>
Manfred Warda, ICEM General Secretary 

We will begin a process to establish a strong sustainable development policy across all ICEM sectors, and we will reaffirm our commitment to challenge the growing threat of Contract and Agency Labour and the scourge of HIV/AIDS in our workplaces and in workers' lives. 
 
This Congress also marks the full integration into the ICEM of trade unions from the World Federation of Industry Workers. We welcome those unions and we know that your participation and involvement in our structures will make us stronger. 
 
Let us have great success at this Congress, and let us come away fully invigorated with the energy of Unity and Solidarity in order to fulfill the necessary work that we face! 
 
Fraternally, 
Senzeni Zokwana and Manfred Warda

Fraternal Greetings to the ICEM's 4th Statutory Congress!

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ICEM affiliate Engineering, Printing, and Manufacturing Union (EPMU) in New Zealand has voiced its sentiments concerning mine safety on two fronts: at home and in China. The country’s largest labour union, which represents nearly all of New Zealand’s coal miners, issued a statement calling on mandatory mine check inspectors to be included in any new mining regulations. 
 
The EPMU’s call follows news in New Zealand that the surviving spouse of a miner killed inside a shaft in 2006 plans to campaign for changes to New Zealand’s mining regulations. 
<img height="115" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/NewZealand.png" width="250" alt=""/>
EPMU National Secretary Andrew Little said dedicated mine check inspectors would be a major improvement in mine safety. “Having someone on-site whose express purpose is to check worksite safety, equipment standards, and make sure that the right procedures are followed, and who has the confidence of miners, would make mining that much safer,” said Little. 
 
“Mining remains one of the most dangerous jobs, and it is about teamwork and trust,” he added. 
<img height="200" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/0608EPMUALittle.jpg" width="132" alt=""/>
EPMU National Secretary Andrew Little 
The EPMU also struck out at New Zealand’s National Party for its cynical attack on Kiwi efforts to bring better safety techniques to China’s mines. Leaders of the political party were sharply critical of a government-funded initiative to assist the Chinese. The initiative had the involvement of the EPMU, New Zealand’s Council of Trade Unions, and state-run Solid Energy. 
 
“The EPMU helps Chinese miners because we value human life,” said Little in a statement. “National’s criticism of this (programme) is astonishingly short-sighted and petty, and makes clear where their party stands on decent labour standards – they don’t care.”

EPMU Strikes Hard on Mine Safety at Home, and in China

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New Zealand’s Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union (EPMU) is giving support to a Private Member’s Bill put forward by an MP that would give labour agency workers the right to be covered by a collective agreement. 
 
Labour MP Darien Fenton has submitted the legislation to New Zealand’s Parliament, saying contract labourers and agency workers are often placed in a workplace to do the same job that full-time workers perform. But, he added, they are paid less and have fewer rights. 
 
The proposed legislative change is called the Employment Relations (Triangular Employment) Amendment Bill. 
<img height="50" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/NewZealandFlag.gif" width="100" alt=""/>
Fenton saw first-hand the unfairness faced by temporary workers. He recently visited a worksite where temporary workers from an agency are employed. “Entitlements are few and far between,” he said. “There are no entitlements to breaks apart from lunch. There are no shift payments, no overtime rates, no weekend rates or other allowances, even though directly-employed workers receive these things. 
 
“Under my bill, workers like these will be able to join the collective agreement in force at the workplace, thus ensuring they have the same pay and rights as directly-employed workers.” 
 
Since Fenton’s bill is a Private Member’s Bill, in New Zealand it means that it will have to wait to be drawn from the ballot before it is brought before Parliament.

Private Member’s Bill Surfaces in New Zealand on Agency Labour

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Tuesday, 4 December, is Unilever Day of Action in Europe, and beyond. European trade unions will manifest in Rotterdam, Netherlands, and Unilever workers throughout the world are expected to take action. The Anglo-Dutch consumer products conglomerate is inflicting job cuts on 20,000 workers worldwide. 
 
Half those numbers are occurring in Europe. Already, Unilever’s reorganisation has cost hundreds of jobs in The Netherlands, UK, and Italy. 
<img height="150" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/0711Unileverlogo150.jpg" width="150"/>
The Rotterdam agenda tomorrow includes a 13h00 forum at De Doelen conference centre, Kruisplein 40, that will highlight adverse Unilever case studies of job abuse from six countries. European labour leaders will also speak. At 15h00, a march to Unileverhouse in central Rotterdam will happen. 
 
The ICEM has joined with the International Union of Food Workers’ Association (IUF) to call attention to this Action Day against Unilever in workplaces and at union meetings globally. Unilever initially avoided proper social dialogue in its recent European reorganisation, and the company has violated workers’ rights in India, Pakistan, Chile, Colombia, and South Africa. IUF has brought abuses in India and Pakistan before the UK National Contact Point for OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. 
 
ICEM and IUF encourages Unilever workers throughout the world to distribute the joint statement that can be found <a href="/index.php?id=154&doc=2488&la=EN" type="internal">here</a>. 
Take action against Unilever on European Day of Action, 4 December!

Day of Action on Unilever Rings Tomorrow in Europe

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Less than a month after the US-based Ross International company agreed to joint talks with ICEM Colombian affiliate Sintravidricol at three factories, the company reversed course and said it would not recognise the union at two of those plants, or at two others in Colombia. The company manufactures metal moulding for the glass industry, and is a specific supplier to glassmaker Peldar, the Owens-Illinois subsidiary in South America. 
 
This labour relations shift is another attempt by owner Larry Ross to avert unionisation by both direct workers and contract workers at four of five of his Colombian factories. Sintravidricol has a collective agreement at Moldes Medellin, Ross’s plant in Sabaneta, and it was in late October that the company agreed to hold joint, three-plant talks with Sintravidricol at Moldes Medellin, as well as at two other Ross businesses: Andes Tooling and Andes Cast Metals. 
<img height="248" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/0712Sintravidrico1.jpg" width="330"/>
For over a year, the ICEM and its US affiliate, the United Steelworkers (USW), have campaigned, together with Sintravidricol, to pressure Ross, which established four other Colombian factories staffed with contract workers to weaken the union at Moldes Medellin. 
 
But in spite of the October guarantee by the company, Ross is not willing to recognise Sintravidricol at the other four plants. Colombian management recently informed the union that Larry Ross is not willing to sign any agreement that recognises trade union rights for workers in the other plants. 
 
Sintravidricol began a strike at the three factories on 27 November. In a letter to the company, the ICEM again reiterated its demand to Ross International that Sintravidricol workers are engaged in a basic “struggle for trade union freedom.” 
 
Among items Sintravidricol was hoping to resolve at the joint bargaining table are redress to low salaries, and a check on the widespread use of contract and agency labour. 
<img height="115" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Colombia.png" width="250"/>
In the US as well, the USW has again picked up the campaign against the privately-held, Pennsylvania-based company. The union has nominated Larry Ross as “Grinch of the Year” within the US-based labour and community organisation, “Jobs with Justice.” The union has submitted Ross’s name as an example of a company “engaging in a global race to the bottom, in search of low wages and the ability to violate workers' rights.” 
 
The USW is allied with “Jobs with Justice,” an activist grouping that holds an annual election to get the grinch which has done most to harm working families. To cast your vote for Larry Ross, please go here: <a href="http://www.jwj.org/grinchnominate.html">http://www.jwj.org/grinchnominate.html</a>.

US Ross Company Breaks Colombian Pledge, Glass Workers Strike

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An 11-day strike ended peacefully and successfully for ICEM mining affiliate FSP KEP of Indonesia at PT International Nickel (PT-Inco), a unit of Canadian-based/Brazilian-owned CVRD-Inco. The business is the world’s largest nickel operation, located on the Indonesia island of Sulawesi. 
 
The strike started on 15 November and ended on 26 November. FSP KEP won bonus payments similar to those paid to Inco North American workers, won internal promotion procedures, made advances on local hiring versus outside contractors, and PT International agreed to hold no recriminations on workers who waged the effective, gain-filled strike. 
<img height="254" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/0711IndonesiaCVRD3.jpg" width="380"/>
The strike was successful due to global unity between miners and steelworkers in North America and Brazil. A year ago, when Brazilian mining giant Cia Vale do rio Doce (CVRD) bought Canadian-based Inco, unity came quickly between CVRD and INCO workers on several continents. The Indonesian strike at Sorowako, South Sulawesi, was done by 2.500 dedicated trade unionists, who won gains for 3,500 workers at a nickel mine and matte smelting operation. CVRD-Inco holds the mineral rights to Sorawki until 2025. 
 
The strike saw FSP KEP diligently follow all legal requirements. Sjaiful Patombong, President of FSP KEP, said, “Nobody is allowed to prevent workers from using their right to strike legally, orderly, and peacefully.” Ten days into the strike, on 25 November, management was ready for talks and presented a proposal. It called for the two sides “to honour and maintain harmonious industrial relations between both parties without prejudice to the prevailing laws and regulations, including the Collective Bargaining Agreement.” 
<img height="115" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Indonesia.png" width="250"/>
The accord produced a third quarter 2007 bonus, an item PT Inco was denying, citing uncertainty by Brazilian CVRD owners. Workers won, in addition, a production bonus in 2008 that is based on global nickel prices. If prices reach US$13-per-pound, all workers receive a 12% monthly bonus. The strike also produced a company sum for scholarships targeted to the children of PT Inco employees. 
 
FSP KEP President Patombong recognised the global solidarity. “The ICEM and our friends in Canada (USW), the USA (USW), and in Brazil have firmly performed the global unity and solidarity between workers around our globe, particularly within the ICEM family.” 
 
PT Inco is 61% owned by CVRD-Inco Ltd. of Canada. A 20% stake is held by Sumitomo Metal Mining Co. of Japan. The company has a US$1 billion plan on the boards to expand nickel operations on Sulawesi Island, with construction of two new processing plants.

Indonesian Strike Wins Gains for CVRD-Inco Nickel Miners

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Some 190 Petrol-İş members in Turkey at the Sanovel İlaçları pharmaceutical company, located in Silivri, Istanbul, were sacked after joining the ICEM-affiliated Turkish union. 
 
Petrol-İş started an organising effort at the plant a year ago. Sanovel İlaçları, one of the top ten pharmaceutical companies in Turkey, dismissed five union members on 4 April 2007, after all production workers joined the union.
<img height="99" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Turkeypetrolis4.jpg" width="100"/>
On the 6 June, the company announced that it had terminated the employment of 190 union members. Management said union status disqualified the workers from being able to continue to perform their jobs. 
 
Protesting the firings, all workers at Sanovel İlaçları began a protest in front of the plant. 
<img height="200" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/0706TurkeySanovel.jpg" width="348"/>
Striking workers at Sanovel
A large majority of the workers are paid only the minimum legal wage at Sanovel. The average wage at the company is YTL 500, the equivalent of € 275. While working under extremely difficult conditions, workers are not paid any social benefits. 
 
Public opinion in Turkey is on the side of the sacked workers, and other trade unions, as well as a number of political parties, are backing efforts to get the 190 workers reinstated. On 27 June, Salih Kilic, President of Turk-Iş, the national centre to which Petrol-İş is affiliated, visited the dismissed workers and offered the federation's support.

190 Petrol-Is members in Turkey Dismissed for Belonging to a Union

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Nepal’s reconstruction efforts, in progress since trade unions and their peaceful civil protests ended martial law a year ago in the Himalayan country, have now been snubbed. The country’s National Planning Commission has excluded the three national labour centres from participation on the National Development Forum. 
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The General Federation of Nepalese Trade Unions (GEFONT), the Nepalese Trade Union Congress (NTUC), and the Democratic Confederation of Nepalese Trade Unions (DECONT) all have had their leaders excluded from the 222-member National Development Forum. 
 
“Though it is designed to finalise the three-year National Interim Plan, which includes different organisations, civil society, NGOs, political parties, women’s and ethnic groups, it excludes the working class representatives who cover more than half of the population of the country,” the three labour centres said in a statement. 
<img height="115" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Nepal.png" width="250"/>
“We are shocked by the decision of the government and consider it an insult to the entire working population of the nation.” 
 
To protest the snub, trade union leaders intend to stage a strike at the hotel in which the National Development Forum is meeting unless members of Nepal’s planning commission issue a public apology, and place union representatives on the forum.

GEFONT and Nepal’s Other National Labour Centres Condemn Exclusion

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The World Federation of Industry Workers (WFIW) held its Dissolution World Congress in Houffalize, Belgium, on 14 June 2007. The 80 participants at this historic meeting, from 25 countries, unanimously took the decision to integrate the WFIW structures into the ICEM, a process which will be finalised at the ICEM's 4th World Congress in November 2007 in Bangkok. 
 
The WFIW is one of the International Trade Federations formerly affiliated to the World Confederation of Labour (WCL), the international trade union confederation which, together with the former ICFTU, recently merged to create the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC). 
 
The Dissolution Congress, with ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda present, was just one step in a longer process to prepare the WFIW’s integration into the ICEM. That process starting in 2004 at a WFIW meeting in Sofia, Bulgaria. 
<img height="284" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/0706WFIWDissolution.jpg" width="380"/>
From left to right: Justin Daerden; Carlos Geatan; Italo Rodomonti; Bart Bruggeman; Manfred Warda; Achille Dutu and Romuald Nuwopke
Further essential decisions were taken at the May 2005 WFIW Congress, held in Dakar, Senegal, where the WFIW adopted a resolution entitled “Solidarity and Future Actions,” which gave the WFIW Executive Committee a mandate to continue the integration process with the ICEM. That paved the way for the WFIW dissolution Congress in Houffalize last month. 
 
Most WFIW affiliated unions, roughly two-thirds of the WFIW's membership, operate in ICEM sectors, and are expected to join the ICEM at or following its Bangkok Congress. 
 
WFIW General Secretary Italo Rodomonti said he strongly believes that “after the integration of the WFIW members into the ICEM, pluralism within the international trade union confederation will form a firm basis for a stronger international trade union federation.” 
 
The Dissolution Congress elected Italo Rodomonti, as well as Achille Dutu from Romania, as future ICEM Presidium members. Brazil's Wilson Wanderlei Viera and Alphonse Beya Tshimbu from the Democratic Republic of Congo were elected to become ICEM Executive Committee members. 
 
The Dissolution Congress was followed by a two-day seminar, which highlighted the many problems related to immigration, with discussions centring on possibilities regarding social dialogue in this complex area.

WFIW Dissolution Congress Prepares Integration of its Affiliates in the ICEM

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