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<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100" height="39" alt=""/>
The ICEM-Lukoil Global Framework Agreement, first negotiated in May 2004, was updated and extended last week for a further year at a meeting at Lukoil’s headquarters in Moscow. 
 
By signing the document, OAO Lukoil confirms its adherence to the principles of the UNO Global Initiative, as well as to the basic labor and environmental principles specified in the conventions of the UNO and the ILO. Under the agreement, Lukoil intends to keep its employees’ lives and their health protection as a top priority in relation to production performance. 
 
Signing the agreement were ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda, Lukoil President Vagit Alekperov, Russian Oil, Gas, and Construction Workers’ Union (ROGWU) Chairman Lev Mironov, and Georgy Kiradiev, Chairman of the Council for the International Association of Lukoil Trade Union Organizations (OAO LUKOIL IATUO). 

<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1005.lukoilsigning2010.jpg" width="225" height="156" alt=""/>
From left, Georgy Kiradiev, Vagit Alekperov, Manfred Warda, Lev Mironov 
Photo: Lukoil
Following the signature ceremony, the parties engaged in a detailed question and answer session, outlining each other’s views of the present situation in the global oil and gas industry, as well as forthcoming activities. Lukoil also presented an overview of recent investment decisions and challenges posed by the world economic crisis. 
 
Both the ICEM and company and ICEM concentrated at first on the major oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, a disaster so serious it was already impacting on both production and further exploration decisions in deep and ultra-deep water deposits worldwide. 
 
ICEM discussed its program of social dialog in the Caspian Sea region, where Lukoil had recently brought on-stream the Yu Korchagin field in the Russian offshore of the Caspian Sea. The field was discovered by Lukoil in 2000 and the maximum expected output is 2.5 million tons of oil and 1 billion cubic meters of gas annually. 

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Between 2004 and 2009, LUKOIL invested a total of RUR 34.4 billion into field development. The company expects to extract 343,000 tons of oil by the end of the year. 
 
There was also a discussion on the company's recent investment in Iraq, as well as the ICEM World Energy Conference, slated for Stavanger, Norway, from 6-8 September 2010. 
 
Lukoil, ICEM, and the Russian trade unions present agreed that there should be further detailed discussions on all of the issues raised.

ICEM, Lukoil Renew Global Agreement for Another Year

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Two ICEM Belgian affiliates and members of the Confederation of Christian Trade Unions (CSC/ACV) consummated a merger Congress in the city of Gent on 5 June. CSC/ACV Energy and Chemicals Union and CSC/ACV Construction Union merged to create a stronger union structure representing 284,000 Belgian workers.
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1006CSCBIElogo.jpg" width="100" height="59"/>
The union will be known in French as CSC Bâtiment-industrie & Énergie (CSC-BIE), while its Flemish name is ACV Bouw-industrie & Energie (ACV-BIE). The merged union will cover workers in many sectors, including construction, chemicals, gas, electric, and oil, graphical and paper, pharmaceutical, wood products, leather, and even hairdressing and beauty fitness.
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1006ACVBelgium.jpg" width="180" height="120"/>
Vice President Alfons De Potter and President Luc Van Dessel  

The prior president of the Construction Union, Luc Van Dessel, was elected President and Alfons De Potter, previously the President of the Energy and Chemicals Union, was elected Vice President. De Potter will continue in his role as a member of the ICEM Presidium, and two of the newly-elected National Secretaries of the merged union, Justin Daerden and Franćois Laurent, will also remain active in ICEM structures.
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1006ACVBelgium2.jpg" width="200" height="143"/>
Newly elected leadership of ACV-BIE/CSC-BIE
The merger Congress was a celebratory event, with song and dance throughout. It also contained an overview of the union’s new statutes. CSC/ACV Confederation President Luc Cortebeeck delivered a video speech from Geneva, where he was attending the 99th Session of ILO’s International Labour Conference. ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda also attended the congress.
The new union will have 15,000 elected shop-floor delegates.

CSC Chemicals and Energy, Construction Unions Merge in Belgium

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On the heels of a gainful first contract victory against with Covanta on the US east coast, a branch of the ICEM affiliate Utility Workers Union of America (UWUA) mounted another mobilisation in the US Midwest to stave off unneeded concessions, winning another excellent collective agreement. 

This one was with DTE Energy, the electric and gas provider that formerly was known as Detroit Edison. Some 4,000 UWUA Local 223 are now voting on a three-year labour agreement that will give them 3% annual salary increases, plus a US$750 contract signing bonus.
<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1006.uwua.2.jpg" width="220" height="146" alt=""/>
 UWUA President Mike Langford, at 1 June Local 223 meeting. At left, Executive Vice President Steven VanSlotten and Local 223 President Rich Hawkins. At right, Local 223 President Jim Harrison
The proposed agreement, negotiated in contentious bargaining that went right up to the 6 June expiry of a prior three-year agreement, came primarily because of workers’ anger in being presented with concessionary proposals by a company posting rich (US$230 million) net profits in first quarter 2010, and then handsomely rewarding its top executives. 

DTE Energy had proposed huge increases to the portion of worker-paid health care coverage, elimination or cuts to retiree health care, and the stripping of job security provisions. On 1 June in a fiery, over-full mass union meeting that needed the police of Livonia, Michigan, for crowd control, Local 223 members voted 97% to give strike authorization to the bargaining committee. 

Workers were angry that they contributed US$100 million in continuous improvements at Edison and MichCon. At the mass meeting, UWUA President Mike Langford said, “The national union will not allow this to happen. We won’t let DTE line the pockets of executives while it empties the wallets of our workers.”
<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1006.uwua.3.jpg" width="300" height="200" alt=""/>
Local 223 members turned out in force on 1 June to resist DTE Energy’s takeaways  

Bargaining resumed the next day and by the time weekend (4-6 June) talks concluded, the company had moved from its entire slate of concessions. “We’re proud that we were able to work together to achieve an outcome that values our employees, serves our customers and supports Michigan’s economic recovery,” appropriately stated the company in a joint news release. 

UWUA Local 223 represents electric line workers, skilled trades-persons, technical staff, power plant operators, electric and gas service and distribution workers, and customer service, office, and clerical staff. Local 223 members also serve as first responders in times of crisis and in times of life and death situations in Detroit and surrounding communities.

US Utility Workers Win Again, This Time with Detroit Electric Company

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From 1-3 June, the second meeting of unions organizing in Spanish multinationals was held in Bogotá. It was attended by 25 trade unions from across Latin America. The meeting was organized by ISCOD, the Spanish Trade Union Development Institute that is connected to one of Spain’s national labour centres, the UGT, as well as ICEM and Union Network International (UNI). 
 
The main objective of the meeting was to monitor the activities and to provide for measures to assure trade union rights are adhered to in Spanish multinationals. The activities must be geared to strengthening union organization, promoting unity processes, and reinforcing trade union alliances as well as campaigns for equality. 
 
Representatives were present from the private oil and gas workers’ federation of Argentina, CNQ Brazil, Sintraelecol of Colombia, and UGT delegates from Endesa, Gas Natural-Fenosa, and Repsol in Spain. 
 
One of the aims of holding the meeting in Colombia was to address the issue of murders of trade unionists. Sub-contracting in Colombia as it contributes to union busting is a further concern. The recent passing of the Free Trade Agreement between Colombia and the European Union was one further topic of discussion. The meeting demanded assurances for respecting trade unions, citizens and consumers.
<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/0911SergioNovais.jpg" width="120" height="131" alt=""/>
ICEM Latin American/Caribbean Region Vice Presdient Sergio Novais 
Sergio Novais, ICEM Vice-President for the Latin American/Caribbean Region, said, “At this second meeting, we insist that multinationals have the same conduct in Latin America as they do at home. In the specific case of Colombia, there is no guarantee that trade union leaders can perform their duties with impunity. ICEM has seven affiliates in Colombia, and leaders of all of them have to carry out their activities with bodyguards. We have been denouncing this outrage for many years.” 
 
The participants were concerned about the impacts of the crisis in Spain and the possible effects on Spanish multinationals and their employees in Latin America. A more profound exchange of experience was seen to be one way to avoid abuses. This project is on-going through the auspices of ISCOD and ICEM’s Spanish affiliate, the FIA-UGT, who are thanked and congratulated for their support.

Murders, Union Rights Discussed at Observatory of Spanish Firms in Bogotá Meeting

Policy positions differ in the trade union movement, both at national and international levels concerning the use of temporary work agencies. Views vary from total bans on such agencies, to partial bans, to strict regulation. There are also differences as to on what basis workers should be covered by collective bargaining agreements. However, there are certain views shared by all Global Unions. 
 
The first principle is that the primary form of employment shall be permanent, open-ended and direct employment. 
<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/CGU.jpg" width="95" height="95" alt=""/>
Concerns and challenges 
 
The use of workers provided by temporary work agencies raises concerns and challenges for trade unions. This includes the effect that the use of temporary work agencies has on workers with regular and permanent employment as well as on the conditions under which work is performed by workers engaged through such agencies. The triangular relationship between the worker, the user enterprise and the temporary work agency that supplies the worker can undermine labour and social protection, as well as the effective realisation of the right of all workers to form or join trade unions and to bargain collectively. 
 
Agency workers must be specifically guaranteed the right to join a union with a collective bargaining relationship with the user enterprise and be part of a bargaining unit comprising direct employees of the user enterprise and be covered by all collective bargaining agreements applying to the user-enterprise. 
 
Using temporary work agencies as a way of replacing direct and permanent employment 
 
There may be legitimate demand-driven or business reasons for using temporary agency workers, including surges of work and seasonal employment, although such work can also be performed through direct employment. However, not all reasons for using temporary agency work are related to staff shortages or the “fluctuation of business” and it has become common to use temporary agency workers to fill previously permanent and direct positions and to reduce costs. Increasingly, workers provided by agencies are used to fill “core” jobs but are not given any opportunity to transition to direct permanent employment. In a growing number of instances, entire workforces are provided by temporary work agencies. 
 
Using temporary work agencies to adversely change employment conditions, avoid social responsibilities and evade laws 
 
Employers often use temporary agencies in order to avoid their legal obligations. This can and does lead to abuses such as social dumping and all kinds of discrimination. Work then becomes precarious and workers are denied the employment rights and working conditions to which they would otherwise be entitled. Sometimes these agencies are creations by the company or employer concerned, with the user enterprise becoming the sole client. 
 
Workers provided by agencies frequently receive significantly lower compensation than regular employees performing the same work. Such workers are also often not entitled to the same levels of social protection, such as retirement provision, the right to unemployment compensation, sickness benefits or maternity leave. Employers commonly do not invest sufficiently in the education or training of agency-supplied workers. Inadequate education and training may undermine the quality of service provided by the agency workers, while lack of training on health and safety increases the risk of occupational accidents and diseases. 
 
The cost of downsizing is lower if temporary agency workers are engaged because ending a commercial contract is often less costly than terminating an employment relationship. In various countries and sectors, the financial crisis resulted therefore in massive job losses for temporary agency workers, who are not generally entitled to any of the compensations that are required to be paid in the case of forced redundancies. This experience heightens the danger that as economies recover, employers will increasingly favour temporary agency work as a means to avoid the costs of terminating regular employees. This would add additional instability and volatility to the economy. 
 
Where more and more workers are made “disposable”, many business risks are shifted from employers to workers. 
 
Using temporary work agencies to weaken trade unions, avoid collective bargaining or prevent union organising 
 
Employers are, at times, deliberately using temporary work agencies to reduce the number of workers covered by collective bargaining at their enterprises or to prevent unorganised sections of the workforce from seeking union representation and exercise their right to bargain with the user enterprise, which effectively controls terms and conditions of employment. 
 
One of the principal reasons why workers do not form or join trade unions is fear of discrimination or dismissal. Temporary agency employment increases this fear because it is a way to avoid dismissal legislation, which has the effect of, indirectly, protecting the right to organise. Too often, contracts are simply ended. In addition, temporary agency employment reduces the workers’ stake in an enterprise, as well as the opportunity to participate in trade unions. 
 
The use of workers supplied by temporary work agencies to replace striking workers or to undermine industrial action at a user enterprise is a serious violation of trade union rights. 
 
Using temporary work agencies as a means of exploitation. 
 
Where temporary work agencies are permitted to operate, they must be properly regulated and monitored in order to prevent abuses of workers, such as human trafficking or fee charging in cross border placements. When agencies involved in recruiting workers in one country for work in another country charge fees to the workers concerned instead of to the user enterprise, those abuses lead to extreme exploitation, including bonded or slave labour. All recruitment fees, including visa, transportation and hiring fees, must therefore always be borne by the user enterpriser. 
<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/CGU.jpg" width="95" height="95" alt=""/>
 
Fundamental principles on temporary work agencies 
 
• The primary form of employment shall be permanent, open-ended and direct employment. 
 
• Workers provided by temporary work agencies must be accorded equal treatment and opportunities, including equal pay for equal work, with regular and permanent employees with respect to terms and conditions of employment. 
 
• Workers employed through temporary work agencies must have a recognised and enforceable written contract of employment, specifying their terms and conditions of employment. 
 
• Where agencies are permitted to operate, they must be strictly regulated, including through licensing. 
 
• Temporary work agencies must not be used to eliminate permanent and direct employment relationships, diminish the conditions under which work is performed, avoid collective bargaining relationships with trade unions or effectively make it impossible for an agency worker to join a trade union. 
 
• Employers should consult trade unions before agency workers are used and negotiate over any effects that the use of these agency workers might have on regular employees, on working conditions or on the collective agreement. 
 
• The use of temporary agencies should be restricted to cases of legitimate need. As a minimum, there should be defined limits on the use of agency workers, as well as restrictions on the duration of such employment. 
 
• Workers provided by temporary work agencies must be guaranteed access to information on health and safety regulations in the workplace and be given the same equipment, induction and training as permanent workers. 
 
• Adequate and continuous social protection for agency workers, including social security coverage, must be ensured by employers and government alike. 
 
• Temporary work agencies must treat workers without discrimination on the basis of race, ethnic origin, colour, sex, sexual orientation, religion, political opinion, nationality, social origin, age, disability or any other form of discrimination. Appropriate regulatory frameworks (governmental, co-regulation or self-regulation) on private employment agencies should include and promote these principles, rights and obligations. These include the minimum standards outlined in ILO Convention No. 111. 
 
• Given the general over-representation of women in agency employment and the disparity in wages between permanent and agency workers, particular attention must be given to ensure that the equal pay provisions of Convention No. 100 are applied, including equal pay for work of equal value. 
 
• The ILO should play a much more active role in ensuring that temporary employment agencies respect basic labour standards, as well as in collecting data on abuses and best practices, while at the same time monitoring and analysing trends in employment in both the private and public employment agency sector. This research should focus on issues relating to the economic crisis and the Global Jobs Pact. The Global Unions should participate in this work. 
 
• Workers supplied by temporary work agencies must never be used to replace striking workers or undermine industrial action. 
 
• Temporary work agencies must not charge any fees to workers for dispatching them. 
 
• The user-enterprise must be held liable for all financial and other obligations with respect to temporary agency workers should the agency fail to honour its responsibilities. 
 
 
Principles of public policy with respect to temporary agency work 
 
• Governments have the responsibility to protect the interests of society in stable employment relationships and to ensure the applicability of labour law, the branch of law developed to protect workers in both public and private sectors, in their unequal relationship with employers. 
 
• Governments can limit or ban the use of temporary work agencies in order to protect these broader societal interests. 
 
• Government must set strict regulations and licensing conditions if agencies are permitted to operate. 
 
• Governments should consult trade unions on issues related to working and employment conditions of the agency workers, as well as on conditions of use of temporary agency work prior to making changes in the regulatory framework. 
 
• The respective roles, obligations and rights of the workers, the temporary work agency and the enterprise using the worker must be clarified when there is an employment relationship between a temporary work agency and a worker. 
 
• Governments must take genuine and concrete measures such as changes in legislation to ensure that workers dispatched by temporary work agencies are able to effectively exercise their right to join or form trade unions. This includes the right to join a union with a collective bargaining relationship with the user enterprise and be part of a bargaining unit comprising direct employees of the user enterprise and be covered by all collective bargaining agreements applying to the user-enterprise. 
 
• Governments should strengthen labour inspection, including through providing adequate resources, in order to effectively apply labour law and regulations to employment via temporary work agencies. 
 
• Governments should provide effective mechanisms to protect all workers from health and safety hazards and ensure health & safety conditions of temporary agency workers are the same as of permanent ones. Governments should introduce sanctions for user-enterprises, public and private, not complying with health & safety requirements. 
 
 
Migrant workers dispatched through temporary agencies face specific problems. 
 
• Migrant workers should receive details of their living and working conditions in a language they understand before leaving their country of origin. 
 
• Governments must take active measures to prevent human trafficking and the exploitation of migrant workers by labour intermediaries, both public and private, including temporary work agencies. 
 
• Governments should ensure that immigration legislation governing migrant workers recruited through agencies does not conflict with labour laws by imposing restrictions on migrant workers’ rights to join trade unions or bargain collectively. 
 
• Workers should not be required to pay deposits, visa, transportation and hiring fees. In the case of agencies dispatching workers to other countries, the agencies should be required to repatriate workers in the event that their employment ends or the user company disappears. 
 
• Workers must not be required to surrender their passports or other travel or identity documents. 
 
• Temporary migrant workers should have full rights to legal redress in the country where they work.

Global Union Principles on Temporary Work Agencies

IMMEDIATE RELEASE, 17 June 2010 – Two Global Union Federations (GUFs) representing a combined 45 million workers will conduct a two-day conference on economic, environment, and social dimensions of sustainability in Toronto beginning tomorrow, aimed at forging a worldwide workers’ and communities’ declaration for the upcoming G8 and G20 summits. 
 
The “Triple Crisis of Sustainability” Conference is sponsored by Geneva, Switzerland-based International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine & General Workers’ Union (ICEM) and International Metalworkers’ Federation (IMF), and will include voices from 270 trade union and other leaders from over 50 countries. 
 
The conference runs from 9h00 to 17h30 on both 18 and 19 June in the Dominion Ballroom of the Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel, 123 Queen Street West. 
 
“The financial crisis that brought the world’s economy to its knees needs correcting and it needs the resonating voices of those most affected by runaway greed and banking calamities,” said ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda. “Environmental catastrophes, monetary disparities, and destabilized societies all have related origins, and this is the pivotal time for the world’s economic and political leaders to correct the imbalances.” 
 
Added Jyrki Raina, General Secretary of the IMF: “The uncertainties that workers and their families face is now unprecedented. We want guarantees that the G8 and G20 summits address the legitimate concerns of workers for social justice and long-term, sustainable employment, and include the introduction of a global tax on financial institutions.” 
 
The two GUFs believe that the crises of failing economies, environmental inaction, and social disorder are interconnected. ICEM and IMF also believe these crises have been produced by absence of global financial and environmental regulations, as well as inept financial governance of markets. The conference will ensure that the voices of global workers are heard on these issues before the G8 and G20 summits convene. 
 
Jobs, workers’ rights, social protections, quality public services, and sustainability – both on environmental stewardship and in providing decent work – will serve as the heart of a common declaration from the conference to the G8 and G20. 
 
A keynote speech on 18 June will be delivered by United Steelworkers President Leo Gerard, whose union has been victimized by the merciless globalization and one of the world’s largest and most profitable mining companies in Ontario. A panel on the opening day will address the economic crisis. 
 
Other panels will be on topics of sustainable development and climate change, and on corporate governance. On the concluding day, 19 June, David Donnelly, a leading environmental attorney connected with Canada’s Blue-Green Alliance, will speak, as will John Evans, the General-Secretary of the Paris-based Trade Union Advisory Committee (TUAC) to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). 
 
The conference’s programme has been built to allow for maximum comments from the 250 participants in order to gain a wide-ranging discourse over the effects of the social, environmental, and economic crises. 
 
The ICEM counts 467 trade union affiliates in 132 countries, and represents 20 million workers. The IMF represents the collective interests of 25 million metalworkers from more than 200 unions in 100 countries.
Note to Media Outlets: A Press Briefing will occur at the venue at 12h30, 18 June.)
For more, contact: Dick Blin, ICEM Information Officer on-site at <a href="mailto:dick.blin@icem.org">dick.blin@icem.org</a>, +41 79 734 8994 (mobile); or Alexander Ivanou, IMF Communications, <a href="mailto:aivanou@imfmetal.org">aivanou@imfmetal.org</a>, +41 22 308 5033 (land line).

Global Trade Unions Meet in Toronto for Sustainability Conference

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In October 2009, Paperiliitto of Finland faced a re-opener inside a 22-month labour agreement. Then, the state of the Finnish pulp and paper industry was so depressed that employers were certain to seek deep concessions from the union’s 20,000 members. 
 
Instead, Paperiliitto opted to let the collective agreement terminate and wait until spring 2010 to renew bargaining. Even though the industry is not much better off now than it was last year, that strategy has worked. In recent weeks, the union and the Finnish Forest Industries Federation came to agreement on a two-year contract that began 8 April and runs until 31 March 2012. 
 
The new agreement contains no concessionary items. In fact, several forward-looking contract language provisions have been inserted in the agreement. Finnish paperworkers will realize a modest 2010 wage increase of 0.5%. A second-year wage increase and possible further language modifications will be negotiated before 15 March 2011. 

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/0511paperpresident1.jpg" width="180" height="151"/>
Paperiliitto President Jouko Ahonen
“Paperiliitto’s Union Council believes this new agreement creates a good foundation for Finnish employers to secure continuous production at the endangered mills and gives our members the job security they deserve,” said President Jouko Ahonen. 
 
The new agreement contains five amendments intended to protect workers in terms of job security. One major aspect of the accord is creation of six labour-management sub-groups that will engage in continuous negotiations on select items. 

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/0810PaperRollArt.jpg" width="240" height="145"/>
Paperiliitto achieved trial language in the contract that makes alternative work due to injury or sickness to be non-compulsory, with any assigned alternative work subject to the individual employee’s consent. A work-time bank was also established, thus opening flex-time scheduling at the local level through negotiations between Paperiliitto’s chief shop stewards and mill management. And a prior, tentative provision from 2008 giving workers three-day sick leave without a medical certificate was made permanent, a precedent inside Finland. 
 
In ratifying the agreement last month, Paperiliitto’s Union Council sounded warning to Finland’s government that upcoming decisions on energy supply for the pulp and paper industry must be made with job retention in mind. As well, the Council noted, “The government can secure raw material supplies to the forestry industry in a far better way than previously. Besides close cooperation between the government and social partners, timely measures are required to secure the sustainability of employment, growth, and public financing.”

Paperiliitto Ratifies Improvements to Labour Accord in Finland’s Pulp, Paper Sector

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The ICEM French trade union affiliate, the Federation of Chemical and Energy Workers (FCE-CFDT) Union, has launched a new section of their website that includes WebTV and online forum debates, open to all. 
 
Click <a href="http://www.fce.cfdt.fr/ ">here</a> to view. 
 
The forum, the union’s first interactive online tool, enables dialogue between its members, employees, and activists. Personal questions and queries are explained by union staffers, with the explanations open for anybody, including workers considering joining the FCE-CFDT. This level of access to debates would not be possible using traditional tools. The new communicating tool is predicted to attract new members. 

<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1005.fce.cfdt.jpg" width="240" height="221" alt=""/>
The forum was recently used by the union to conduct a poll on the union’s popular new slogan, with the slogan “Let us invent the CFDT of tomorrow!” receiving the most votes. 
 
The WebTV gives free and open access to films and interviews on the work of the union, as well as news, federal campaigns, and actions underway. The ICEM applauds our French affiliate’s initiative!

French FCE-CFDT Launches Online TV

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On 20-21 April, 82 trade union leaders from 14 countries participated in a wide-ranging conference of the ICEM’s Asia-Pacific Region. The Sydney, Australia, meetings were expertly hosted and coordinated by the Construction, Forestry, Mining, and Energy Union (CFMEU) of Australia, which also provided generous support for many trade unions of the region to attend. 
 
ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda was scheduled to attend, but scheduled flights out of Europe were grounded throughout that week due to volcanic ash from Iceland. Instead, Warda initiated a late-night telephone conference exchange with delegates from Geneva. 

<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1005.ap.regional.conf.jpg" width="320" height="122" alt=""/>
The ICEM’s Asia-Pacific meetings were co-chaired by Kiyoshi Ochiai of UI Zensen, Japan, CFMEU’s National President Tony Maher, and ICEM Asia-Pacific Regional Contact Person Phee Jung-sun. The CFMEU’s John Sutton chaired the first day’s union meeting. 
 
The regional forum had the distinction to hear representatives from the All China Federation of Labour (ACFTU) and the Oil and Gas Workers’ Union of Vietnam. Representatives from both gave candid and vivid descriptions of multinational companies operating in their countries, and engaged with ICEM’s Asia-Pacific delegates on a number of issues. 

<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1005.ap.regional.conf.2.jpg" width="320" height="148" alt=""/>
Left, Peter Tighe of Australia’s Communications, Electrical, and Plumbing Union, and CFMEU’s Forestry Division leaders Alex Millar and Michael O’Connor
On 20 April, a morning session consisted of experiences and potential work of trade unions is in the region, while the afternoon session covered ICEM’s Contract and Agency Labour (CAL) project in the region. Six unions from Australia and two from New Zealand also joined discussions in central coordination of activities and experiences with multinationals. 
 
Delegates passed two resolutions, one reiterating ICEM’s CAL work, but also stating strong and aggressive policies are needed toward senior leaders of corporations that deny trade union and other rights to temporary workers. 
 
The other resolution is specific to Thailand. It states that violations of freedom of association and the right to collectively bargain are rampant against both regular workers and temporary workers, and that education, establishment of company networks, and raising necessary resources for Thai unions to develop are necessary so that they can resist such anti-worker biases.

Asia-Pacific ICEM Regional Conference Held in Australia

Mine workers are backing a shareholders revolt against Xstrata Chief’s 41 % pay increase from last year, at the AGM of Swiss mining giant Xstrata on 5 May. 
 
A delegation of four coal miners from New South Wales and Queensland will travel to the AGM in remote Zug Switzerland, where Xstrata has its headquarters. 
 
CFMEU Mining and Energy Vice President and delegation leader Wayne McAndrew said the mining giant had spent the last year fighting a 3 % pay rise for mine workers, while Mick Davis earned $US7.75 million last year, a payrise of 41 % compared with the $US5.5 million he picked up in 2008. 
 
“Xstrata’s Australian coal operations are the most profitable parts of the company’s extensive global operations. Yet one quarter of Xstrata’s Australian coal mining operations currently face industrial disputes or unrest because of the company’s anti worker stance” 
 
“The union is able to work constructively with mining companies across Australia, but Xstrata has continually and consistently refused to work with us to gain the best results for everyone concerned in the mining industry, and most importantly the mine workers,” said Wayne McAndrew. 
 
“Xstrata is a company that is engaging in activities that are harming the future profits of the company and has the potential to affect its overseas mergers and acquisitions.” 
 
The miners union is representing its members in their pursuit of three basic conditions: job security, equal pay for equal work and a legally enforceable avenue for arbitration. In 2009, 37 percent of operating profit for the entire business came from Australian coal. Australian coal also has the highest profit margin of any part of the business, at 27 percent. 
 
Lee Webb a miner at the Tahmoor Colliery in Sydney’s south-west is travelling to Switzerland for the first time. 
 
“I am going to Zug to show the shareholders that it is the rank-and-file workers like me who suffer when Xstrata will not work with the Union,” he said. 
 
“I want the shareholders to know that we are not asking for much, just to be treated fairly and decently and to have job security and a little bit of respect for the dangerous job we do for the company.” 
 
The delegation will be led by Wayne McAndrew, CFMEU Vice President, Mining and Energy Division. He will be joined by coal miners from Newlands open cut mine in Queensland and Tahmoor Colliery in NSW.
The Geneva-based International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine, and General Workers’ Union (ICEM) is supporting its Australian affiliate, the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) in its protest against Xstrata. The ICEM is a global union federation consisting of 467 trade union affiliates in 132 countries.
Spokesperson: Wayne McAndrew will be available for interviews from Switzerland on +61 417 230 441(CFMEU); Please contact Dick Blin, ICEM Information Office, 079 734 8994 (mobile) for media assistance inside Switzerland.
ENDS 
 
The Xstrata AGM will be held in Zug, Switzerland on Wednesday 5 May at 11:00 am local time. (- 8 hours Australian EST) 
 
Media: For photos of miners at the AGM and to arrange interviews contact Angela Cuming (EMC) 0439 411 774

Australian miners flex industrial muscle in support of Xstrata shareholders revolt

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