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The last three major mining disasters in Russia&rsquo;s Kemerovo and Vorkuta Regions, which took 159 lives in three months, are a clear indication that the system of mining safety in the country is making miners hostages of profitability. 
 
Officially, the two methane explosions in Kemerovo resulted from faulty cables, which short-circuited and detonated the mixture of methane, air, and coal dust. Systems used at the mine to automatically localise and suppress explosions all failed (and were later prohibited for use in all Russian mines). 
<img height="95" alt="" src="" width="100" />
The high concentration of methane remained undetected because the mines&rsquo; gas detection systems were tampered with. Meters showed methane concentration in the mines to be significantly less than it actually was, and the complete power shut-down, which would normally prevent any short-circuiting in such situations, therefore never took place. 
 
Ruben Badalov, First Vice President of the ICEM-affiliated Russian Independent Coal Miners&rsquo; Union (ROSUGLEPROF), and a member of the Russian State Duma, the lower chamber of the Russian Parliament, was on the federal investigatory team at the Ulianovskaya mine. Probing beyond the immediate causes, he exposes several indirect ones, whose nature cannot be reduced simply to matters of production discipline. 
<img height="185" alt="" src="" width="240" />
These indirect causes fall into a number of categories: from mistakes in the extraction estimates to assumptions of legal &ldquo;liberalisation&rdquo; of the whole mining safety control system. This makes it virtually impossible for public supervisory agencies, like Rostechnadzor, or the union&rsquo;s own inspectors, to enforce timely closures of unsafe mines. The common denominator for all the categories is a lack of regulatory mechanisms in the industry where the rule of the market is largely unchecked.
&ldquo;The actual methane content of the coal seam at the Ulianovskaya mine turned out to be several times higher than the project estimates,&quot; says Badalov, himself a mining engineer with extensive experience. 
<img height="58" alt="" src="" width="329" />
&ldquo;Moreover, the intensive extraction schedule contributed to the release of still greater amounts of methane into the mine, which was never properly degassed &ndash; a costly procedure. The roof was defined in the project documentation as highly resistant to caving and prone to overhanging. At the same time, the seam liability to rock bumps had been assumed to manifest itself ten metres below the level where the explosion took place. As a result, no precautionary measures, such as preventive degassing of the mine, or induced caving of the roof, had been scheduled. It was during the uncontrolled caving of 70 metres of the overhanging roof that huge amounts of methane were momentarily released into the mine.&rdquo; 
 
Both mines were designed by the same people, belonging to the same school of mining engineering, and while the licensing procedure is still in place, there&rsquo;s no meaningful quality control as the development of the mining science in Russia was hindered by lack of support from the state. 
<img height="88" alt="" src="" width="200" />
Ruben Badalov maintains that, as a purely commercial approach inevitably brings a temptation to simplify processes and disregard relevant specificities, there must be state supervision of all engineering work related to hazardous production processes. 
 
The Kuzbass disasters once again highlight the existing disparity between the fixed component of the coal miner&rsquo;s wages and the productivity-driven parts. The drop in income during outages to less than half of regular wages pushes miners to reckless behaviour. At the Yubileinaya mine, all it took to deceive the gas detection system was a piece of cloth wrapped around a gas sensor. 
 
&ldquo;This doesn&rsquo;t stimulate productivity, this stimulates coal extraction at any cost,&rdquo; says Badalov. In the course of the Federal Industry Agreement negotiations earlier this year, ROSUGLEPROF tabled a proposal to raise the fixed part of the wages to 70%, and although the target could not be achieved uniformly and in full, there were companies who were prepared to take this figure as a reference point.

Three Mining Disasters Take 159 Lives in Russia

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Pointed with direction from ICEM Norwegian affiliate Industri Energi, the Nordic country's national labour centre, LO, has advised state oil company Statoil not to open an office in Iraq. 
<img height="100" alt="" src="" width="100" />
The reason cited is Iraqi Oil Minister Hussein Shahristani's letter from July 2007, which bans trade unions in the public sector. His decree replicates the ban on unions in the country's oil sector imposed by both the regime of Saddam Hussein and the occupational forces following the 2003 invasion. (See <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/2357-Reckless-and-Repressive-Union-Busting-by-Iraqi-Oil-Minister">here</a> for more). 
Statoil is planning to open the office in the northern Iraq city of Erbil. According to a Norwegian press report, LO President Roar Fl&aring;then said the opening of the office shows poor judgement on Statoil's part. The LO has also officially called on Norway's government to block Statoil from moving into Iraq at this time. The Norwegian government is the majority shareholder of Statoil. 
<img height="150" alt="" src="" width="150" />
LO Norway's President Roar Fl&aring;then 
LO and Industri Energi's stand on this issue is also supported by the Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions (IFOU), a collection of some ten oil workers' unions in southern Iraq. IFOU President Hassan Jumaa Awad al Assadi has warned both Statoil and Norway's government that, until full recognition of trade unionism occurs, the company should not carry out any activity inside Iraq.

Norway&#039;s Unions Tell Statoil to Stay Out of Iraq for Now

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The workers at the chrome Bulqiza mine in Albania resumed their earlier industrial action on 13 August, following the death of Mr. Zaim Hysa, the Secretary of a trade union of the Bulqiza mine on Friday 10 August 2007. 
 
The unfortunate accident came just over one month after the workers signed an agreement with the management at the largest mine in Albania. That particular agreement was only reached after demonstrations and a hunger strike by the workers, and following intense negotiations that saw the involvement of senior managers of Darfo, the Italian company which owns the chrome mines and a ferrochrome smelter (click <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/2330-Chrome-Hunger-Strikes-End-in-Albania ">here</a> for more). 
<img height="115" alt="" src="" width="250" />
The July agreement dealt, in addition to salary issues, with health and safety and working conditions, areas where, as can sadly be seen from the death of the trade union leader, very little to no progress was made over the last few weeks. 
 
Miners at the Bulqiza mine refused to enter the mine on 13 August and claimed, at a rally with 600 workers, that they would not start working again until the company fulfilled their demands for better working conditions. Reportedly, workers have to work with inadequate equipment that comes from other bankrupt mines throughout the country. Miners, which have already seen four fatalities in the mine this year, are also asking for proper employment contracts. 
 
Mr. Zaim Hysa, 40 years old, was married and had children. He was known for having complained repeatedly about the poor working conditions in the mine.

Tragedy Continues for Workers at the Albanian Bulqiza Mine as Trade Union Leader Dies

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Negotiation partners reached an agreement in early August on the future of the mining sector in Germany. Following months of discussions, a programme was agreed that sets out a path on how to deal with Germany's 200-year-old coal industry over the coming years. The agreement, which was brokered by, among others, the cabinet of Chancellor Angela Merkel and ICEM affiliate IGBCE, intends to have a gradual phase-out of coal subsidies. 
 
The plan will now go to the parliament&rsquo;s lower and upper houses for approval. A fully approved law is needed, so that compensation payments can be prepared for the industry&rsquo;s 34,000 workers. Besides payments to the workers, the plan also projects to deal with the overall social and environmental effects of coal mining in the country. 
<img height="200" alt="" src="" width="200" />
Germany's federal and state governments will, as per the agreement, subsidise the coal sector with an estimated &euro;21.6 billion until 2018. In addition, the agreement foresees the creation of a foundation for the coal company RAG, which will hold a substantive share of the company. This foundation will administer, until 2018, the funds for the eight remaining German coal mines, as well as the money that is intended to go to the mining workers. 
 
Shares in RAG, currently a consortium in which ThyssenKrupp, Arcelor, E.On and RWE are involved, will be transferred to the new foundation. Besides that, preparations have also been made to float RAG shares (for its profitable non-mining activities, such as power stations, real estate and chemicals production) on the stock exchange as of next year. This initial public offering is expected to yield &euro;5 to 8 billion, which will also be used to help cover the costs of the phasing out of the coal industry. 
<img height="100" alt="" src="" width="100" />
Following efforts by the IGBCE, a clause was added to the agreement, which calls for a serious re-examination of the plan in 2012, taking into account not only the possibility of an unexpected drop in energy reserves, but also that other energy sources might become prohibitively expensive 
 
IGBCE President and ICEM Vice President Hubertus Schmoldt called the decision one of &ldquo;historic consequence.&quot; The union&rsquo;s members will be given the opportunity to end their careers gradually and the miners that work in those mines that will close earlier will receive compensation when they loose their jobs.

Agreement on Future of the German Coal Industry

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Kimberly Clark has, after more than three weeks of strike action at its two South African tissue plants, finally settled its industrial dispute with the ICEM-affiliated Chemical, Energy, Paper, Printing, Wood, and Allied Workers&rsquo; Union (CEPPWAWU). 
 
On August 22, when the CEPPWAWU was determined to step up support for their striking Kimberly Clark members by launching a secondary strike that would have targeted the company&rsquo;s raw material suppliers and retailers, Kimberly Clark decided to accept the terms of the Pulp and Paper Employers Association, as negotiated in the Wood and Paper Bargaining Council just before July 30. The terms include, among other things, an 8.5% wage increase and demands for permanent employment of temporary workers. 
<img height="115" alt="" src="" width="250" />
The CEPPWAWU victory in the Kimberly Clark industrial dispute, during which the union received international support from various parts of the world, ended the last of the national strikes which the union launched across its sectors on July 30, after negotiations at the Chemical and Wood and Paper Bargaining Councils became deadlocked. 
 
The ICEM congratulates its affiliate on this resounding success which vividly demonstrated that international solidarity support can effectively augment the strength unions derive from the unity and resolution of their members and leadership.

Kimberly Clark Settles South African Paper Dispute with CEPPWAWU

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US paperworkers employed at International Paper Co., members of ICEM affiliate United Steelworkers (USW), voted to accept a precedent-setting master labour agreement with the firm on 23 August. 
 
The four-year accord covering workers at 14 pulp and paper mills in the US contains wage increases on top of negotiated local (or mill-by-mill) agreements, improvements in health insurance benefits, and lays the groundwork for improved health and safety standards, as well as labour-management cooperation on public policy issues. 
 
But perhaps most importantly, the framework pact contains a &quot;successorship clause,&quot; meaning if the company sells any of its unionised mills, the new owner must, as part of the sale agreement, retain all workers, recognise the USW as bargaining representative, and honour the collective bargaining agreement. 
<img height="82" src="" width="150" alt="" />
&quot;The overwhelming support for this agreement shows how united our members are in pursuing master agreements in the paper industry,&quot; said USW President Leo Gerard. 
 
&quot;Successorship clauses protect workers from the unconscionable behaviour of corporations that sell a mill, then disregard the union and the collective bargaining agreement and summarily fire hundreds of people who have dedicated their lives to work there,&quot; added Gerard. 
 
The wage portion of the agreement amounts to a 2% increase upon expiration of local agreements, and another 2% on the second anniversary of the contracts. In addition, workers will receive a US$1,000 lump sum payment on the first and third anniversaries of the contracts. The USW represents 8,200 International Paper employees at mills, paper converters, and packaging plants in the US.

US Steelworkers Ratify Master Framework Agreement with International Paper

ICEM WOMEN’S BULLETIN 25

Pay rises averaging between 2.01 and 3.13 per cent have been secured this year by Japanese unions affiliated to the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM). 
 
Despite the recent economic downturn in Japan, ICEM unions there demonstrated their strength by winning real pay increases for their members. This year's average wage hikes were only slightly down on the 1997 increases of between 2.29 and 3.19 per cent in plants organised by the ICEM's Japanese unions. But the 1998 annual bargaining round, the shunto, was certainly the toughest in recent years, and the negotiations took longer than usual.

Japanese Unions Win Pay Rises

Pekka Aro, a senior official of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and past deputy general secretary of the ICEF - forerunner of the ICEM - died on Saturday 5 April in a Beijing hospital of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), at the tragically young age of 52. 
 
 

<img height="344" alt="" src="" width="250" />
Pekka Aro 
photographed in 1988 as 
ICEF Deputy General Secretary
After working for the Finnish Glass and Porcelain Workers' Union and the Paper Workers' Union, he distinguished himself in the international trade union movement. He became Deputy General Secretary of the International Federation of Chemical, Energy and General Workers' Unions (ICEF) in 1984 and served in that position until 1989. During this time he was a major motivator in the establishment the joint Working Party on Occupational Health and Safety involving the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) and the International Trade Secretariats (ITS - now known as Global Union Federations; GUF). The Working Party has since gone from strength to strength and is now a well-established annual event that has broadened its membership to include health, safety and environmental activists from around the globe. 
 
An author of numerous articles and books, Pekka also played a crucial role in putting together and leading the ICFTU/ICEF investigative mission to Bhopal, India, in the immediate aftermath of the catastrophic chemical release from the Union Carbide plant in that city. The resulting ICFTU/ICEF 'Trade Union Report on Bhopal' subsequently came to be recognised as one of the most thorough reports on the disaster ever produced. The report and its findings were in large part responsible for the development of the ILO Convention on the Prevention of Major Industrial Accidents. Mike Wright, Director of Health, Safety and Environment at the United Steelworkers of America, principal author of the Bhopal Report and follow-on chair of the ICFTU/ITS Working Party, on hearing of Pekka's death said: &quot;Pekka combined vision with organisation and absolute integrity with a love for working people. He died on a mission to improve the lives of Asian workers. We will miss him terribly.&quot; 
 
During his tenure at the ICEF, Pekka was personally responsible for overseeing the effective introduction of new technology - long before its importance had been recognised by the rest of the international trade union movement, and long before the internet became a reality. 
 
In 1992 Pekka joined the International Labour Orgnisation (ILO) as a Brussels-based specialist on workers' activities. A year later he was in Budapest busy developing the ILO's work in Central and Eastern Europe in order to assist unions in that region with the enormous challenges of political, economic and social transition. In 1998 he joined the ILO's Employment Department, where he was responsible for its skills, knowledge and employability programme until his untimely death. 
 
In paying tribute to Pekka's memory, ICEM general secretary, Fred Higgs, said that: &quot;Pekka will be remembered by many people for many things. From the perspective of the ICEM, he will be particularly remembered as someone with a vision of a modern, effective organisation and the tenacity to make it happen. Pekka had a strong sense of international solidarity and great respect for different cultures. At this time all our thoughts are with his family&quot;. 
 
In a letter of condolences to his family, ICFTU General Secretary Guy Ryder recalled Pekka's &quot;Outstanding contribution to improving the lives of working people. Pekka Aro worked tirelessly for those most in need of his special talents. He always remembered his roots in the trade union movement, and his energy, good humour and commitment to building a better world will be sadly missed by all those who had the privilege of knowing and working with him&quot;. 
 
Pekka's many friends around the world are united in their sorrow for a life cut short in tragic circumstances. He is survived by his wife Ritva and three children, Eemili, Pilvi and Oskari.

Tribute to Pekka Aro

The oil sector's first-ever globally applicable agreement on industrial relations was signed in Copenhagen on 7 July between energy multinational Statoil and the trade unions. 
 
A major player in oil, gas and related industries, Statoil has operations in 27 countries and employs more than 18,000 people. 
 
The agreement covers basic trade union rights, health, safety and the environment, information and training. 
 

<img height="145" src="" width="200" alt="" />
IN GLOBAL ACCORD: (l. to r.) Statoil's Jostein Gaasemyr, ICEM's and NOPEF's Lars Myhre and ICEM's Vic Thorpe. 
(photo: ICEM) 

Signing for the unions were Lars Myhre and Vic Thorpe.
Myhre is President of the Norwegian oil and petrochemical workers' union NOPEF and chairman of the oil industry section of the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM). 
 
Thorpe is the ICEM's General Secretary. 
 
For Statoil, the agreement was signed by Jostein Gaasemyr, Vice-President of Labour Relations. 
 
The declared aim of the agreement is to &quot;create an open channel of information between NOPEF/ICEM and Statoil Management about industrial relations issues in order to continuously improve and develop good work practices in Statoil's worldwide operations.&quot; It applies to &quot;all Statoil operations over which the company has direct control, i.e. Statoil is the operator.&quot; 
 
Statoil, NOPEF and the ICEM &quot;affirm their support for fundamental human rights in the community and in the place of work.&quot; They also &quot;recognise the importance of protecting health, safety and well-being at work&quot; and share concerns about the impact that &quot;production and distribution may have upon the natural and human environment.&quot; 
 
Many of the agreement's specific provisions are linked to the relevant standards (Conventions) set by the UN's International Labour Organisation (ILO). 
 
In particular, the unions' new global agreement with Statoil includes the following commitments [quote]: 
<ul>
 <li>
 <div>the right of every employee to be represented by a union of his or her own choice and the basic trade union rights as defined by ILO Conventions 87 and 98. Statoil therefore agrees not to oppose efforts to unionise its employees. 
 </div>
 </li>
 <li>
 <div>to employ no forced or bonded labour as proscribed in the ILO Conventions 29 and 105 
 </div>
 </li>
 <li>
 <div>to employ no child labour as proscribed by ILO Convention 138 
 </div>
 </li>
 <li>
 <div>to exercise equality of opportunity and treatment in employment as required by ILO Conventions 100 and 111 
 to pay fair wages and benefits according to good industry standards in the country concerned 
 </div>
 </li>
 <li>
 <div>to provide a safe work environment, deploying common &quot;best practice&quot; standards. 
 [end of quote] </div>
 </li>
</ul>
 
NOPEF/ICEM and Statoil will meet annually to review progress in implementing the agreement. In addition to general industrial issues and matters concerning health, safety and the environment, the annual meeting may address the following topics [quote]: 
<ul>
 <li>the economic and financial position of the company and the development of its business, major industrial and technological projects 
 </li>
 <li>general corporate policy on employment/occupational health, safety and environmental issues affecting the company 
 </li>
 <li>training matters 
 </li>
 <li>issues affecting the exercise of trade union rights 
 </li>
 <li>any other issues mutually agreed upon. 
 [end of quote] </li>
</ul>
The agreement gives full protection to union officers and to employees who provide information on its observance and implementation. Statoil itself undertakes to make available &quot;relevant information and other agreed facilities&quot; to union delegates, in return for a commitment by the unions to respect the commercial confidentiality of the information provided. 
 
The global agreement explicitly does not replace local-level industrial relations, and it embodies &quot;the principle that industrial relations issues are best resolved as close as possible to the place of work.&quot; 
 
&quot;NOPEF/ICEM and Statoil will both contribute to specific training programmes,&quot; the agreement states. This will include health and environment &quot;best practice&quot; training for union delegates from countries where Statoil is the operator and management training programmes within Statoil. &quot;In case of NOPEF/ICEM contributions to Statoil training programmes, costs may be covered by Statoil subject to agreement.&quot; 
 
Commented Statoil's Jostein Gaasemyr : &quot;This is an important step for Statoil, because we see the implementation of human rights as a crucial challenge in some of the environments in which we do business. This is an extension to the global level of the constructive, problem-solving relationship that Statoil has maintained with NOPEF for the past twenty years. We have long worked together with NOPEF,and NOPEF has now provided the link forward to our new global cooperation with the ICEM&quot;. 
 
The new agreement is &quot;a major step forward for global industrial relations in the oil industry,&quot; Lars Myhre commented. &quot;It will benefit the workers and the company. Not for the first time, Statoil has shown itself to be a far-sighted employer with a good understanding of its own longer-term interests.&quot; 
 
&quot;This is an important day for the ICEM and for the world trade union movement,&quot; said Vic Thorpe. &quot;Statoil has recognised that it makes sense for a global company to relate to trade unions globally, as well as nationally and locally. We are confident that more such agreements will follow soon in the oil industry and in other sectors where the ICEM represents the world's workers.&quot;

Oil Company and Unions Sign First Worldwide Agreement

Archive

Three Mining Disasters Take 159 Lives in Russia

Norway's Unions Tell Statoil to Stay Out of Iraq for Now

Tragedy Continues for Workers at the Albanian Bulqiza Mine as Trade Union Leader Dies

Agreement on Future of the German Coal Industry

Kimberly Clark Settles South African Paper Dispute with CEPPWAWU

US Steelworkers Ratify Master Framework Agreement with International Paper

ICEM WOMEN’S BULLETIN 25

Japanese Unions Win Pay Rises

Tribute to Pekka Aro

Oil Company and Unions Sign First Worldwide Agreement

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