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The negotiations towards a new national collective agreement for the manufacturing industry in Denmark had been deadlocked, see ICEM report <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/3634-Danish-Contract-Negotiations-Deadlocked-on-National-Level">here</a>, but the renewal of the agreement was signed on Monday 22 February by the ICEM-affiliated general union, Central Organization of Industrial Employees in Denmark (CO-industri) and the Confederation of Danish Industry (DI). However the HK private trade union rejected the agreement. 
 
Gains for workers across the sector include two additional weeks for parental leave, improved redundancy pay, improved monitoring of health and safety for night-shift workers, improved working conditions for shift workers, and newly created authority on equal pay. 
 
The collective bargaining round directly affects 240,000 workers in the manufacturing industry. But it also indirectly affects an additional 350,000 workers in the private sector. As previously reported by ICEM, historically, the manufacturing agreement is used as a blueprint for other negotiations. 

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Both Hans Christensen, the negotiator for DI business, and Co-industri President Thorkild E. Jensen, were content with the renewed agreement, after negotiators worked through the night to beat a deadline which would have moved negotiations to a tribunal. Jensen described the agreement as &ldquo;balanced and guaranteed our members&rsquo; jobs&rdquo;. The agreement is valid for the period 1 March 2010 to 1 March 2012. 
 
Night workers were a priority for trade union negotiators in the talks, with free health exams provided every two years and for those employees who are advised against night work, their employer must find them another job. Night workers will also be eligible for up to ten extra days off annually. Changes to the rules on pension contributions will discourage employers from moving to precarious contracts. Apprentices see a 4.5% pay increase over the two years. 
 
The deal has been described as a &ldquo;crisis agreement&rdquo; and sees trade unions agreeing to only a small pay increase and for the first time since 1991, no increase in pension contributions.

Danish Manufacturing Collective Agreement in Place

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More and more, multinational companies, as well as the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and its subsidiaries, are using non-direct and contract workers to perform key functions in Nigeria&rsquo;s oil and gas industries. That is the assessment of both ICEM affiliates in the country, the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN). 
 
The proliferation of such employment &ndash; referred to as casualisation in Nigeria &ndash; in fact, has meant that many companies have completely done away with full-time junior staff, or blue-collar workers, in their employ. One example is Mobil Producing Nigeria, a subsidiary of the world&rsquo;s largest energy concern, ExxonMobil, which has completely phased out NUPENG members in favour of contract staffing. 
<img alt="" src="" width="90" height="95" />&nbsp;&nbsp; <img alt="" src="" width="100" height="103" />
Casualisation in Nigeria is synonymous with cheap labour and maximisation of profits. The common fact is that when companies phase out full-time staff, they re-surface as short-term contract workers where rights to Freedom of Association are limited, their social entitlements are curtailed, and career paths become vague or non-existent. 
 
In early February, the two unions combined to wage a two-day strike against Mobil Producing&rsquo;s downstream operations across several states along the Niger Delta. The root cause of the strike was that several contractors serving Mobil Producing had sacked Nigerian nationals from full-time positions, replacing them disposable, casual workers. Those sackings were not just to junior staff, but also came among the ranks of highly skilled, professional, and experienced nationals in technical, engineering, administrative, and commercial positions. 
 
Despite several conventions between the unions and employers to address casualisation, Mobil Producing refused to address the issue. This led the ICEM to bring the matter to the attention of the US-based parent company. That letter can be found <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/15.exxonmobil.ceo.16Feb.pdf">here</a>. 

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Pengassan and Nupeng leaders at ICEM Headquarters
At one subsidiary of NNPC, the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas Company (NLNG), it is estimated that a full 60% of all workers are hired through labour brokers. They have no registered terms or conditions of work, are without social welfare benefits, and can be fired at will. It is equivalent to a modern form of slavery. 
 
NLNG and other companies operating in Nigeria&rsquo;s energy sector claim it is essential to their viability to outsource work not related to their core activities. But the question of what constitutes a company&rsquo;s core business remains open. Is it exploration and drilling, marketing and transportation, catering and cleaning, clerical and administrative? Companies operating in Nigeria&rsquo;s oil and gas patches make the argument that all are non-core. But in reality, all workers in these areas are oil and gas workers, and all deserve a minimum set of social benefits and job security measures, as set by national law and international labour standards. 
 
NUPENG&rsquo;s newly elected President Igwe Achese said there is ample evidence that &ldquo;multinational companies and their indigenous collaborators collude in reducing direct employees in efforts to de-unionise, create disaffection among workers, and to evade responsible employment practices. 
 
&ldquo;All workers, whether full-time workers or those employed by contractors performing tasks for primary employers, deserve set conditions of work, rights and privileges, and certainty in career paths in order that they know they have secure futures.&rdquo; 
 
The ICEM will continue to champion NUPENG and PENGASSAN in the unions&rsquo; initiatives to combat the menace that casualisation brings to quality work life in Nigeria.

Casualisation Eroding Decent Work Doctrine in Nigeria’s Oil, Gas Sectors

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ICEM&rsquo;s Colombian affiliate the National Oil Workers Union (USO) called for international solidarity in their conflict with British Petroleum (BP). Workers at the BP plant at Tauramena, part of the Cusiana oil field in Casanare, Eastern Colombia, have been striking since 22 January for improved wages. On 15 February the notorious ESMAD, Colombia's notorioius riot police, were sent in to attack the strikers&rsquo; picket line. Three USO members are still in hospital with injuries sustained from the police attack. 
 
View a union video of the attack <a href="http://www.usofrenteobrero.org/index.php?option=com_content&amp;view=article&amp;id=519:trabajadores-petroleros-de-tauramena-agredidos-por-el-emad-video&amp;catid=60:tauramena&amp;Itemid=100">here</a>.&nbsp; 
 
Last week BP attempted to bring in scabs to the central processing plant, but they were stopped by strikers who chained themselves to the entrance gates. This sparked local BP management to come to an agreement with the USO Bargaining Committee; however the outsourced contractors, SAR Energy, operating at Tauramena refused to recognize the agreement. Negotiations have been ongoing since then, through five negotiating committees: labour problems, social investment, goods and services, environment, and human rights, these temporary committees are working toward a deadline of 16 April, when agreement must be reached. 

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USO supporters outside BP Headquarters, London
USO&rsquo;s call for solidarity actions was answered last Friday, 5 March, when protestors demonstrated noisily opposite the BP Headquarters in London. The action was organised by the Colombia Solidarity Campaign. USO urges its supporters to continue to mobilise while the negotiations are ongoing. The ICEM supports the call on the Colombian government to insist that oil companies operating in Colombia respect the rights of workers to organise and to take strike action. USO is also calling for an official enquiry into the close links between paramilitary groups, and oil exploitation companies. 
 
Send protest messages to BP CEO, demand that the company conducts peaceful negotiations with the union, and condemns the ESMAD police repression. Send your message to Executive Director and Group Chief Executive Tony Hayward at email: <a href="mailto:tony.hayward@bp.com">tony.hayward@bp.com</a> 
 
Send messages of solidarity to the workers via USO Human Rights Commission email: <a href="mailto:usopaz@yahoo.com">usopaz@yahoo.com</a> 
 
Visit the Colombia Solidarity Campaign website <a href="http://www.colombiasolidarity.org.uk/content/view/486/">here</a>.&nbsp;

Oil Workers in Colombia Suffer Police Repression

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Today in Brazil, the Central &Uacute;nica dos Trabalhadores (CUT) will begin a 100-kilometre, 10-day march from Campinas in S&atilde;o Paulo state to the city of S&atilde;o Paulo itself in honour of International Women&rsquo;s Day. The march, celebrating 100 years of the announcement of International Women&rsquo;s Day and under the banner &ldquo;We&rsquo;ll Keep Marching Until Every Woman is Free,&rdquo; will highlight the continuing fight for common rights and public services, peace and demilitarization, economy autonomy, and an end to violence against women. 
 
A main objective of the pilgrimage will be CUT&rsquo;s drive for total wage equality between men and women. Even though Brazil has ratified ILO Convention 100, the 1951 Equal Remuneration Convention, the South American country has a long ways to go in order to achieve wage parity. 

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CUT Secretary of Working Women, Rosane Silva, said that every nation that has ratified ILO Convention 100 must speed up laws and practices to ensure that the articles of the convention are met. In Brazil, as a means to enhance subsidies to meet that goal, CUT has done a national study on wage disparities. Throughout 2010, the national labour centre will present those figures before governing bodies and employers to get them to comply with Convention 100. 
 
Also today in S&atilde;o Paulo, Sindicato Nacional dos Papeleiros (SINAP), the ICEM pulp and paper affiliate that is part of CNQ/CUT, will conduct a manifestation demanding equal rights for women in front of the Suzano paper mill.

CUT-Brazil to Conduct 100-kilometre, 10-Day Women’s March

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Today, International Women&rsquo;s Day, was marked in Geneva with a large demonstration at plaine de Plainpalais, between 12pm and 2pm. The ICEM, along with other Geneva-based Global Union Federations turned out in support. 
 
The manifestation, organized by ICEM&rsquo;s Swiss affiliate UNIA, protested the issues of raising the retirement age of women, fighting for gender equality on wages, the effective application of equality legislation, protesting against the proposed lengthening, in Switzerland, of opening hours of shops, this sector employs more women than men. 

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Today&rsquo;s action will be followed by a national Women&rsquo;s March in Bern on Saturday 13 March. Saturday&rsquo;s march is again organized by UNIA, pick up from Geneva will be 10am from Place des 22 cantons. Call the UNIA Secretariat at +41 22 949 1200 to sign up to Saturday&rsquo;s action. 
 
The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) has recently published a report &ldquo;An examination of the factors influencing women&rsquo;s decisions for work&rdquo;, view that document <a href="http://www.ituc-csi.org/ituc-report-decisions-for-work.html ">here</a>. 
 
Visit the official website of International Women&rsquo;s Day <a href="http://www.internationalwomensday.com/default.asp ">here</a>, to see what actions are being organized in your home country.

Geneva Marks International Women’s Day

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The International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers&rsquo; Unions (ICEM) today signed a Global Framework Agreement (GFA) with Petr&oacute;leo Brasileiro SA, or Petrobras, the world&rsquo;s third largest energy company. The agreement, the 20-million-member ICEM&rsquo;s 16th since 1998, was signed at the Brazilian company&rsquo;s headquarters in Rio de Janeiro by ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda, and Petrobras Director for Gas and Industry, Maria Das Gracas Silva Foster, Executive Director for Human Relations, Diego Hernandes, and Joao Antonio de Moraes, General Coordinator of FUP (the Oil and Gas Workers&rsquo; Unified federation of Brazil). 
 
A GFA is a social pact between a multinational company and a Global Union Federation that puts in place the very highest standards regarding trade union and human rights, health, safety, and environmental practices, and quality of work principles across all of a company&rsquo;s global operations. 
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ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda signs Petrobras GFA
&ldquo;This is ICEM&rsquo;s fourth such agreement with an oil and gas concern,&rdquo; said Warda, &ldquo;and it embodies many of the social principles that we expect companies in extractive industries to adhere to.&rdquo; The ICEM has previously negotiated GFAs with Statoil of Norway, Eni of Italy and Lukoil of Russia. 
 
The agreement was signed with approval from ICEM Brazilian trade union affiliate, the Oil and Gas Workers&rsquo; Unified Federation (FUP), whose leaders were present at the signing together with ICEM Latin America/Caribbean Regional Vice President Sergio Novais of Brazil. Support from both FUP and Sergio Novais was important in reaching the agreement. 
 
The agreement commits Petrobras to recognizing the right of freedom of association and to bargain collectively for all employees, as well as establishing formal dialogue channels between staff and management. It also promotes working conditions that are favorable to a balance between work, personal, and family life. 
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ICEM, Petrobras, FUP
The GFA states that Petrobras &ldquo;will strive to get all service providers to comply&rdquo; with nine labour relations points contained in the agreement, including health and safety and providing necessary equipment, permanent institutionalization of negotiation channels, and equal opportunities and promotion of training opportunities. 
 
The agreement also recognizes global standards contained in the ILO Tripartite Declaration on Principles for Multinational Corporations and Social Policy, the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Corporations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the UN Global Compact. 
 
Warda and Petrobras CEO Jos&eacute; S. Gabriella de Azevedo initiated talks on the ICEM-Petrobras GFA as board members of the Global Compact some three years ago. 
 
Petrobras, 56% owned by the Brazilian government, has 80,500 employees and operates in some 30 countries. The company is a leader in exploration and production of oil, and operates 16 refineries as well as numerous petrochemical, biofuels, pipelines and other installations. The ICEM is composed of 255 national trade unions operating in 94 countries.

ICEM Signs 16th Global Agreement with Petrobras of Brazil

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The manufacturing sector in the United Kingdom is under attack from the Tory government and its destructive policy of austerity cuts. ICEM&rsquo;s UK affiliate Unite at its National Sector Conferences last week set out a new strategy to revive and rebuild the industry. 
 
The strategy document, put forward by Unite Assistant General Secretary Tony Burke, underlines the vital importance of the manufacturing sector to the British economy, a sector built on a highly skilled workforce. The strategy paper calls for investment in skills, apprenticeships and for full utilization of modern technologies, for a long-term solution. 
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Tony Burke, Unite
The need for this investment is even greater, according to Burke, as Tory Chancellor George Osborne&rsquo;s austerity cuts are crippling consumer domestic demand. Government policy which seeks to shift the bill for economic failure onto the working men and women of Britain is hitting Unite members across its sectors. At last week&rsquo;s National Sector Conferences, examples were discussed from Aerospace, Shipbuilding, Engineering, Chemicals, Sciences, Print, Paper, IT, Vehicle Building, Motor Components, Steel, Servicing, Communications, Electronics and Electrical Engineering. 
 
In the document Unite proposes ten pillars upon which a manufacturing revival should be based: 
&bull; Build a framework of policies to defend strategically important industries. 
&bull; Continued financial support through interventionist policies. 
&bull; Targeted support for small and medium sized enterprises. 
&bull; Better use of government purchasing power to secure manufacturing jobs in the UK. 
&bull; Maximising the opportunities that the low carbon revolution offers. 
&bull; Delivery of an education and skills framework, which meets all industry&rsquo;s needs. 
&bull; Creating a university structure, which builds on the science base so necessary to secure high skilled jobs. 
&bull; Create right investment environment for research and development. 
&bull; Creation of a level playing field to deliver security and fair pricing for energy. 
&bull; A framework of legislation, which promotes transparency and engagement for all stakeholders in the future of manufacturing. 
 
&ldquo;Manufacturing should be driving our economy, but the government has no strategy for UK manufacturing. This Tory-led government is doing more damage to UK manufacturing than any previous Conservative government,&rdquo; stated Burke, &ldquo;If this government is serious about rebalancing the economy, we need to invest in the UK&rsquo;s manufacturing skills base with a long-term solution.

Unite’s 2020 Vision Calls for Investment in Skills to Protect UK Manufacturing

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The US-based International Association of Machinists &amp; Aerospace Workers (IAM) gave full proof last week that collective bargaining is value-added, and Boeing workers no doubt in South Carolina took notice of pay, pension and job security provisions won by 28,000 aircraft manufacturing workers primarily in the state of Washington. 
 
IAM District Lodge 751 reached terms in a ten-months-early labour agreement in US states Washington, Oregon and Kansas with Boeing that not only gives machinists improved work and life stability, it deflates a political flashpoint that became the biggest threat to the independent integrity of the US National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in the government agency&rsquo;s 76-year history. 
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The award-winning IAM contract, which will receive wide acceptance when workers vote on it on 7 December, means the IAM will withdraw a vile discrimination complaint issued by the NLRB against Boeing for public statements it made when opening a production line of the 787 Dreamliner aircraft in North Charleston, South Carolina, this year. 
 
The NLRB determined that Boeing violated US labour code by boldly stating its anti-union bias in opening a factory in union-repressive South Carolina. Boeing&rsquo;s action unleashed a political venom by Republican Party politicians both nationally and in South Carolina that turned into nothing less than a witch hunt to destroy the NLRB as the governing agency for American US labour law. 
 
The IAM agreement now closes that debate and a new discourse should begin on the benefits and values of a collective agreement, particularly for Boeing workers in South Carolina right now who do not have one and will see their numbers increase from 1,500 to 5,000 as production on the 787 Dreamliner ramps up. 
 
Pacific Northwest IAM Lodge 751 President Tom Wroblewski said the early agreement &ldquo;secure(s) thousands of jobs while raising machinists&rsquo; pay and pensions.&rdquo; The agreement preserves jobs by guaranteeing that Boeing will make the 737, 747-8, and US military aircraft tanker aircraft in IAM-represented shops in Washington and Oregon. 
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IAM Lodge 751 President Tom Wroblewski
In recommending the four-year contract extension to 28,000 skilled workers, IAM Local 751 said to membership: &ldquo;What has resulted is an unprecedented commitment by Boeing to Puget Sound and Portland for the 737 MAX and the related manufacturing that&rsquo;s currently being performed here. This will generate long-lasting security for our members. It also resulted in a Boeing commitment to the success and continuation of the other airplane programs where our members have shown time and again their expertise, productivity and quality, resulting in increased profits for the company.&rdquo; 
 
The agreement contains 2% yearly wage increases, and a US$5,000 ratification bonus, as well as continued cost-of-living escalators in the four years. It includes pension enhancements that will lift the monthly retirement benefit by US$91 through the life of the agreement. 
 
And perhaps most significantly &ndash; and especially noteworthy to newly-hired South Carolina Boeing workers &ndash; the IAM negotiated and won job and work rights&rsquo; protections at full benefit levels for all future Boeing employees. 
 
IAM and Boeing agreed to continued dialogue by creating bi-lateral committees to address opportunities and conflicts. IAM Vice President Rich Michalski predicted such an &ldquo;approach and these committees can guide the new relationship going forward.&rdquo; 
 
Boeing&rsquo;s main Puget Sound facility, in Renton, Washington, is the world&rsquo;s longest-tenured aircraft factory, and the new labour contract will ensure 737 production and associated parts work in the area for two decades to come. 
 
Boeing&rsquo;s move to South Carolina and the NLRB&rsquo;s labour law complaint saw Republican lawmakers spew unseemly rhetoric against both US trade unions and the US regulatory framework that governs labour-management relations. 
 
The Republican-dominated US House of Representatives passed in September the reactionary &ldquo;Protecting Jobs from Government Interference Act&rdquo; that if enacted would de-fund the NLRB and strip the agency of remaining powers. The IAM labour agreement effectively blocks this draconian bill from getting heard in the US Senate.

Early Boeing Accord Eases US Labour Law Tensions

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On 14 September, the ICEM will sponsor a two-hour panel discussion on ILO Convention 176, the Safety and Health in Mines Convention, in Istanbul, Turkey. The panel is in conjunction with the 19th World Congress on Safety and Health at Work (WCSHW) and will be held in the Kasimpaşa-2 Room, Kuleli Building, of the Hali&ccedil; Congress Centre from 14h to 16h. 
 
The panel will highlight the urgent need for Turkey to ratify Convention 176 and will include Dr. Fikret Sazak, Director of Education for Maden-İş, the Mine Workers&rsquo; Union of Turkey; Radha Gobinda Mohanty of the Indian National Mineworkers&rsquo; Federation; Glen Mpufane, ICEM Mining/DJOGP Officer; and Brian Kohler, ICEM Health, Safety, Sustainability Officer. 
<a href="/en/209-ILO"><img alt="" src="" width="175" height="247" /></a>
Click here for information on ILO Convention 176
Turkey is notorious for unsafe coal mines, with many of the mines in government hands but operated by contractors utilizing sub-standard equipment and practices. 
 
The ICEM event is open to everyone but those interested should visit the <a href="http://www.safety2011turkey.org ">WCSHW website</a> for information on the entire Congress, which runs from 11-15 September. The address for the WCSHW at Hali&ccedil; Congress Centre is S&uuml;tl&uuml;ce Mah. Eski Karaağa&ccedil; Cad., 34445 Beyoğlu, Istanbul.

ICEM to Hold Mine Safety Forum in Turkey This Week

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On 31 August, Finnish paper company UPM announced closure of two mills, the shutdown of a paper machine at another mill, the intended sale of a French mill, and the sacking of nearly 1,300 workers in total. The announcement came within months of the world&rsquo;s third largest integrated pulp and paper company buying Myllykoski, another major European paper producer based in Finland. 
 
The decision does not sit well with the blue-collar and white-collar trade unions representing workers in Finland&rsquo;s paper sector, Paperiliitto and Ammattiliitto Pro. Specifically, did UPM engage in the proper and correct dialogue with European Works Council (EWC) members in accord with an EWC directive on social dialogue? 
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UPM said the plant closures, machine shutdown, and job losses would occur by the end of the year, leaving little time for workers and their union representatives to obtain re-training funds, seek other job opportunities, and negotiate adequate redundancy packages for the soon-to-be displaced workers. 
 
Strike action is also a possibility. But at a Paperiliitto executive board meeting on 6 September, union leaders put that option on the back burner in order to engage the company &ndash; and Finland&rsquo;s government &ndash; in obtaining the very highest re-training and redundancy packages. The union began that process on the local level at one mill &ndash; the Myllykoski mill in Kouvala County in eastern Finland &ndash; late last week. 
 
Ammattiliitto Pro has begun connecting with victimized workers and their unions and EWC representatives on the European level to apply pressure on UPM. 
<img src="" width="156" height="161" alt="" />
Myllykoski mill
At the Myllykoski mill, an operation with three paper machines producing magazine or lightweight coated papers, the planned redundancies amount to 371 full-time blue-collar jobs, 71 fixed-term jobs, and 101 full-time white-collar jobs. In addition, maintenance contractor ABB will see 106 permanent workers leave the rural mill. Also, other Finnish jobs staffed mainly by Ammattiliitto Pro members will be eliminated at UPM workplaces in Lahti and Pietarsarri, bringing the total job loss in Finland to 650. 
 
UPM will also shutter the Albbruck mill in Germany that produces uncoated magazine papers, costing 557 jobs. It will shut one of three paper machines that make uncoated paper and newsprint at Germany&rsquo;s Ettringen mill, as well as temporarily shutting one paper machine producing uncoated fine papers at the Nordland mill. 
 
In France, the company will seek a buyer for its Stracel mill that makes coated magazine papers and specialty newsprint. In total, UPM intends to take 1.3 million tonnes annually of paper out of the marketplace and it is now clear that the company&rsquo;s spring 2011 purchase of the Myllykoski company was all about capacity reductions and job curtailments. 
 
The ICEM will assist the two Finnish unions, as well as German and French unions representing workers at UPM, in all ways possible. A major tenet to ICEM&rsquo;s Pulp and Paper Sector work plan, adopted at the Uruguay conference in 2008, is to extend full practical support to paperworkers of the global North who are victimized by the rampant shutdowns or paper operations in developed nations. The priority will now be to exert as much pressure as possible on UPM in order that job losses the company has created through consolidation do not escape correct and ethical social treatment.

Finnish Paperworkers’ Unions Critical of UPM’s European Mill Closures

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