English

Español

Français

Aerospace

Automotive

Base metals

Chemical, pharmaceutical and bio-science

Energy

Glass, cement, ceramic and associated industries

ICT, electrical and electronics

Mechanical Engineering

Mining and DGOJP

Pulp and paper

Rubber

Shipbuilding and shipbreaking

Textile, garment, shoes, leather and textile services

Sectors

Action Plan 2025-2029

Action on textile and garment industry

Clean up shipbreaking

Ratify ILO C176

United for a just future - time to pay up!

Disinvest from Myanmar

Campaigns

Global Framework Agreements

Union building

White-collar workers

Health & safety

Industry 4.0

Women

Youth

LGBTQI+

Gender, equality, diversity and inclusion (GEDI)

Just Transition

Organizing with industriALL

What we do

Affiliates

Statutes

Elected Officials

Executive Committee

Geneva head office

South East Asia

Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Caucasus

Latin America and the Caribbean

Middle East and North Africa

South Asia

Sub-Saharan Africa

Regional offices

About us

Global worker No1 2022

Global worker No2 2022

Publications

Resources

Press

&nbsp;<img height="40" src="" width="100" alt="" />
Some 1,000 German coal miners will convene in Dresden tomorrow, 28 November, to lobby the Christian Democratic Party to preserve federal coal subsidies. 
 
Miners will handbill the CDU&rsquo;s Congress with a leaflet entitled &ldquo;We Fight for Germany&rsquo;s Energy Future&rdquo;, aimed at reminding German Chancellor Angela Merkel of promises she made to the preservation of the country&rsquo;s coal mining industry. 
 
The action is supported by ICEM German affiliate IGBCE. 
 
Some 700 miners will arrive from the Ruhr region and from Ibbenb&uuml;ren, some 300 others from the province of Saarland. The miners and their union are reacting to motions passed by CDU&rsquo;s North Rhine-Westphalia and Saarland regional delegations to reduce the current level of coal mining in those areas, as well as proposing to phase-out mining subsidies by the first half of the next decade. 
<img height="62" src="" width="100" alt="" />
The miners contend that domestic coal is necessary in a balanced energy mix, and argue that Germany has become too dependent on imports of both coal and natural gas. 
 
The handbilling campaign also seeks to remind Merkel, as well as North Rhine-Westphalia Prime Minister J&uuml;rgen R&uuml;ttgers and Saarland Prime Minister Peter M&uuml;ller, of pledges they made that any adjustments in the coal mining industry would be socially acceptable, and occur without closures to existing mining operations.

German Coal Miners Take Protest to CDU Congress on 28 November

<img height="40" alt="" src="" width="100" />&nbsp;
Following failed bargaining between negotiators for the United Steelworkers (USW) and the Goodyear Tire &amp; Rubber Co. from 14 to 17 November, the ICEM North American affiliate has heightened its safety and awareness campaign against the US tyre-maker. 
 
On 2 December, the USW will dispatch hundreds of strikers and supporters to 13 cities in the US and Canada to handbill Goodyear retail outlets. The effort, following a similar one on 18 November, will call attention to possible safety defects of Goodyear tyres to be sold in America. The company is attempting to run production at several of the 16 plant sites that are currently on strike with managers and temporary workers. 
<img height="109" alt="" src="" width="350" />
The USW has erected an &ldquo;Investor Alert&rdquo; website, <a href="http://www.usw.org/goodyearalert">www.usw.org/goodyearalert</a>, aimed at some 15,000 industry analysts, in an effort to drive the company&rsquo;s stock price down. The site calls into question Goodyear&rsquo;s third-quarter earnings report, and gives a truthful account of the company&rsquo;s future while skilled crafts-people are on strike. 
 
A total of 55% of the company&rsquo;s outstanding shares is owned by ten institutional investors.
The USW has also begun using a video-sharing site called YouTube to educate the public about the strike and the safety concerns stemming from union members being out. That site can be found at <a href="http://www3.youtube.com/watch?v=QDKGJu5eMZo">http://www3.youtube.com/watch?v=QDKGJu5eMZo</a>. 
The union has moreover begun targeting the NASCAR racing circuit, which is 100% supplied by Goodyear, providing high-quality and expensive race car tyres. USW begins a renewed radio advertising campaign this week, targeting consumers in the New York City area with the safety alert. 

<img height="50" alt="" src="" width="100" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <img height="53" alt="" src="" width="100" />
That alert is reminiscent of the campaign the union engaged in against Bridgestone/Firestone some 11 years ago. After that lockout, researchers at Princeton University in the US state of New Jersey examined the causes of the Ford Motor recall of 14.4 million Firestone tyres, and linked it to the temporary workers utilised during the dispute. 
 
These tyres were later linked by the US National Highway Safety Transportation Authority to some 271 road fatalities and more than 800 injuries. 
The Goodyear strike at the 16 US and Canadian tyre and auto accessory plants by 15,000 steelworkers began on 5 October, after America&rsquo;s biggest rubber company proposed harsh concessions and refused to guarantee job security at the unionised plants. 
<img height="80" alt="" src="" width="80" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
The proposed concessionary terms include closing company-paid health care coverage for retirees and a two-tier wage scheme in which new employees will be paid US$13-per-hour with no future opportunity to make what current rubber workers earn. The company also seeks to close at least one tyre-making plant, in Tyler, Texas, where 1,100 workers are employed. 
 
In the mid-November bargaining &ndash; the first talks since the strike began &ndash; Goodyear proposed to create a US$600 million trust fund for retiree health care. The Akron, Ohio-based company, however, carries a US$1.2 billion liability for retiree care. The proposed US$600 million trust would only provide current retirees with six years of coverage, leaving nothing for future retirees. 
 
The USW has promised to escalate the campaign to an even higher level if the strike is not settled by the first of 2007. The Steelworkers&rsquo; general website on all Goodyear related activity can be found at <a href="http://www.gkdsolidarityexpress.org">http://www.gkdsolidarityexpress.org</a>.

Steelworkers Ramp up Campaign Surrounding North American Goodyear Strike

&nbsp;<img height="40" alt="" src="" width="100" />
Today starts the ICEM World Conference for the Energy Industries in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. The conference will run until Wednesday, 29 November. On that day, a second ICEM conference will start, the World Conference for the Chemical Industries.
Documents from the two ICEM World conferences
<a href="/?id=166">Click here for the ICEM Energy Conference 
</a> 
<a href="/?id=165">Click here for the ICEM Chemical&nbsp;Conference</a>
ICEM sectoral conferences are held once every four years, providing ICEM affiliates from the respective sectors the opportunity to discuss and exchange information on global, regional, and national developments and challenges in their sectors. 
 
The two conferences have their own specific agendas. Some issues, however, such as the increasing use of contract and agency labour and the HIV/AIDS pandemic, two global ICEM priorities, will be discussed at both conferences. Gender and health and safety issues will also be part of both agendas, as will be global framework agreements and global networks. 
<img height="100" alt="" src="" width="100" />
The energy conference will be opened by Lars Myhre, Chair of the ICEM energy section, Errol K. Mcleod, General President of OWTU, Hon. Partrick Manning, Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago and Fred Higgs, ICEM General Secretary. 
 
Some of the main topics include: a general outlook for the global energy sector, climatic challenges, clean coal technologies, alternative sources, LNG, the challenge of renewable energies, the nuclear renaissance and the ICEM-ITF Global Oil and Gas alliance. 
 
One specific subject of the Energy Conference will be a presentation by the Communications, Energy, Paperworkers (CEP) Union of Canada on the booming oil extraction occurring in Alberta&rsquo;s tar sands, with specific emphasis on the union&rsquo;s agenda of assuring that refining occurs inside Canada. 
<img height="99" alt="" src="" width="100" />
On 29 November, the Chemicals Conference, the second of its kind ever, will start. The first two days of the conference will be devoted to the chemicals sector. The last day, 1 December, will deal exclusively with issues involving the pharmaceutical sector. 
 
The chemical agenda includes, among many other things, company mergers and acquisitions, the increasing demands of China and the Middle East, REACH, the Globally Harmonised System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS), and the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM). 
 
On Friday, 1 December, which is World HIV/AIDS Day, the conference will discuss the responsibility of the pharmaceutical industry in delivering HIV/AIDS-drugs to the least developed countries on a fair and equitable basis.

ICEM World Conferences on Energy and Chemicals Opens Today

&nbsp;<img height="40" alt="" src="" width="100" />
The oil industry of Argentina saw two strikes over the past two weeks, as workers protested against current and exorbitant taxation rules. A third strike was postponed to allow labour and management to continue bargaining. 
 
The strikes affected the leading oil and gas producing provinces of Neuquen, Chubut, Santa Cruz, and Rio Negro. 
 
Both ICEM affiliates from Argentina&rsquo;s energy sector, Federaci&oacute;n de Trabajadores de la Energ&iacute;a de la Republica Argentina (FeTERA) and Federaci&oacute;n Argentina Sindical del Petr&oacute;leo y Gas Privados (F.A.S.P.Y.G.P), were involved in the actions. 
<img height="69" alt="" src="" width="120" align="middle" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <img height="80" alt="" src="" width="58" align="middle" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
Oil and gas production plant workers first went on strike, just under two weeks ago. Their strike ended five days later after an agreement guaranteeing a bonus, ranging from US$30 to US$180 per month, to compensate for high taxes on overtime pay. A bill exempting food and transportation costs from income taxes was hastily put through Congress at the same time.
Early last week, a second strike broke out, this time by the supervisory staff of the oil &amp; gas production plants. Supervisors were seeking the same benefits granted to other workers in the plants. Here, as well, talks between supervisors and their employers, mediated by the Ministry of Labour, resulted in an agreement, on 22 November. In addition to agreeing on tax reductions, supervisory personnel also won the right to have their own collective bargaining agreement. 
<img height="100" alt="" src="" width="100" />
A third strike, by Argentina&rsquo;s 18,000 oil refinery workers, also seeking similar benefits, was postponed, as workers agreed, on 21 November, to abstain from striking to allow for a one-week period of negotiations. That was then extended to 15 days. Oil refineries, as well as upstream operations affected by the strikes and potential strikes include facilities and fields owned by Repsol, Royal Dutch Shell, Chevron, ExxonMobil, and Petrobras. 
 
Full blown strikes of the refineries would have a serious impact on the country&rsquo;s petrol supplies, since any shut down of operations would take weeks to re-open production. 
 
&ldquo;For the moment, there are no refineries on strike,&rdquo; said Alberto Roberti, Organisational Secretary of F.A.S.P.Y.G.P., quoted in the country&rsquo;s press late last week. &ldquo;We will use this window of opportunity to talk, even though, so far, we have not seen any changes from the employer&rsquo;s side.&rdquo;

Strike Actions Hit Argentina’s Oil Sector

<img height="142" alt="" src="" width="380" />
Contents&nbsp;
1. Chile &ndash; Government Publishes 
Gender Equity Guide 
2. France &ndash; Women&rsquo;s Position at EdF and GdF 
Worsens 
3. Germany &ndash; Men and Women 
Experience Stress Differently 
4. Kenya &ndash; Nairobi +21 Conference Held 
5. Korea &ndash; Equality Job Index&nbsp;Increases 
6. New Zealand &ndash; Government Prepares 
for Equal Pay Reviews 
7. Nicaragua &ndash; National Assembly Passes Total Abortion Ban 
8. South Africa &ndash; NUMSA Gender Awareness Quiz 
9. United Kingdom &ndash; Women&rsquo;s Pay Gap Narrows 
10. United States &ndash; Supreme Court&nbsp;To Hear Goodyear Case 
11. From Our Readers 
12. Resources 
<img height="31" alt="" src="" width="25" />
1. Chile &ndash; Government Publishes Gender Equity Guide 
 
SERNAM, the Chilean Women&rsquo;s National Office, published, on 9 November, a guide on gender equity in companies, called Gu&iacute;a para Impulsar la Equidad de G&eacute;nero en las Empresas. The guide contains examples of good practice, as well as tools to put the ideas into practice. 
 
With Chile&rsquo;s president Michelle Bachelet currently promoting corporate social responsibility, SERNAM found that discrimination against women continues to exist: women&rsquo;s average pay is still 30% below men&rsquo;s, with those in higher pay categories even earning 52% less. 
 
87% of all women work in services where they have less access than men to skills and management jobs. Chile ranks 110th out of 125 in terms of gender equity. There is, therefore, plenty of room for improvement. The SERNAM guide will soon be available on the Acci&oacute;n RSE site (in Spanish - <a href="http://www.accionrse.cl/">www.accionrse.cl</a>). 
<img height="31" alt="" src="" width="25" />
2. France &ndash; Women&rsquo;s Position at EdF and GdF Worsens 
 
In spite of the fact that an ambitious equal opportunities agreement was signed one and a half years ago, FCE-CFDT has found women&rsquo;s position worsening, or at best stagnating, at EdF (Electricit&eacute; de France) and GdF (Gaz de France). 
 
In 2005, the average number of hours&rsquo; training that women took advantage of went down, as did the number of women taking vocational training. There were also fewer men taking parental leave than the year before. In addition, new hires are generally found in technical areas, where fewer women are present. 
 
Women make up 23.1% of the workforce in the two companies, whereas they make up 49% of the precarious jobs. The union has also found that stereotypes still prevail &ndash; management still refuses men&rsquo;s requests to look after sick children, for example. 
<img height="31" alt="" src="" width="25" />
3. Germany &ndash; Men and Women Experience Stress Differently 
 
IGBCE has launched a pilot project to investigate stress factors at three companies in Germany. The aim is for employees to cope better with stress so that, for instance, they can go home free of stress in the evening. 
 
Since women and men experience stress differently, preventive and curing measures have to be applied differently according to gender. In general, men have more injuries and accidents, whereas women suffer more from psychological problems. 
Men are more afraid of failure and high performance standards; women suffer more from poor communication and lack of recognition. Strategies to manage stress also differ &ndash; women get rid of stress by doing yoga or relaxation exercises, while men play football. 
 
The Infracor Company has distributed a questionnaire to track stress factors. While still analysing the results, one finding is that work against deadlines, heavy workloads, lack of decision-making power, fear of job loss or the double burden of working and looking after the family are all possible causes of stress. 
 
Stress has physical and psychological effects, which, if not eliminated, often reduce performance and concentration. However, they also lead to allergies and cardiovascular ailments. The IGBCE found that managing stress and health on the job pays for itself. 
<img height="31" alt="" src="" width="25" />
4. Kenya &ndash; Nairobi +21 Conference Held 
 
The Nairobi +21 Conference was held in Nairobi on 27 October 2006 to reflect on what has happened since the first UN International Women&rsquo;s Conference, which was held in 1985. Women evaluated the progress made over the years, by following the development of strategies aimed at fostering the advancement of women. Speakers reminisced about times gone by, when women&rsquo;s issues were treated with disdain. 
 
However, 20 years later, things are different. Kenya now has 18 women parliamentarians, and many women have been appointed to the judiciary and senior public service positions. Many battles have been won, but the war for realizing gender equality is far from over. 
 
Women are still under-represented in policy making. Societal and cultural biases and practices, such as female genital mutilation, still pose a health risk to girls. Insecurity and conflicts continue to expose more women to hunger, poverty and assault, and HIV/AIDS destructs millions of women&rsquo;s lives in sub-Saharan Africa. 
 
One conclusion of the conference was to demand better resource allocation for gender ministries and to push for 50-50 representation in leadership. 
<img height="31" alt="" src="" width="25" />
5. Korea &ndash; Equality Job Index Increases 
 
Two recent findings by the Korea Labor Institute are that the labor status of women in Korea is lower than men&rsquo;s and that the labor status of workers over 50 has been declining. These findings are the result of an analysis of the Employment Equality Index in Korea, which includes factors such as gender, age, labor status and wage levels for the past 10 years. 
 
The Employment Equality Index consists of four sub-categories: the Labor Compensation Index, based on wage levels per hour; the Labor Participation Index, based on the ratio of wage workers; the Labor Status Index, based on the ratio of management level workers; and the Job Security Index, based on the ratio of regular workers. A figure above 100 indicates that the employment equality status is higher than that of men, whereas a figure below 100 indicates that the status is lower. 
 
With the male workers&rsquo; Employment Equality Index set at 100, the female workers&rsquo; index started at 50.1% in 1995, went down to 49.5% during the 1998 crisis, and reached 55.7% last year. 
 
According to the study, the women&rsquo;s Labor Status Index was 8.1%, indicating that the number of female management-level workers is less than one tenth that of men. The women&rsquo;s Labor Compensation Index stood at 69.4%, and the Job Security Index at 61.3%. The study also found that the labor status of older workers was gradually worsening. 
 
The Ministry of Labor hopes that more women will take management jobs after the government&rsquo;s affirmative action programs. The government also hopes to encourage workers over 50 to stay in the labor market. 
<img height="31" alt="" src="" width="25" />
6. New Zealand &ndash; Government Prepares for Equal Pay Reviews 
 
The New Zealand Cabinet has agreed on the terms of reference for the equal pay and employment equity reviews. Although the equal pay law has been in existence since 1972, women&rsquo;s average hourly earnings are still only 86.4% of men&rsquo;s. 
 
The public service, health and education sectors will all be subjected to a review designed to ensure that occupations dominated by women pay women fairly and provide equal employment opportunities. 
 
A template must be completed, which tests each occupation&rsquo;s job size and remuneration against a comparable occupation, before a pay equity or equal employment opportunity claim is lodged. A review will also be carried out before a claim is lodged. 
 
Depending on the review&rsquo;s findings, workers such as teachers, secretaries, librarians, dental therapists and nurses may have their pay boosted. 
 
New Zealand&rsquo;s Council of Trade Unions Vice-President Helen Kelly said that, with pay equity claims resolved, women would look at the state as a preferred employer, boosting the need for the private sector to undertake similar actions. 
<img height="31" alt="" src="" width="25" />
7. Nicaragua &ndash; National Assembly Passes Total Abortion Ban 
 
Nicaragua&rsquo;s national assembly has voted - 52 to 0 - to ban all abortions, even in those cases where the mother&rsquo;s life is at stake. Nicaragua already had restrictive anti-abortion laws, with women and doctors who take part in abortions facing prison sentences of up to six years. 
 
Members of Nicaragua&rsquo;s medical association and United Nations representatives opposed the timing of the vote, which coincided with the presidential elections on 5 November. They claimed the abortion debate had become too politicized. Hundreds of people protested outside the National Assembly in Managua before the vote took place, saying the law would be a death penalty for some. They fear the law will force women to die. 
<img height="31" alt="" src="" width="25" />
8. South Africa &ndash; NUMSA Gender Awareness Quiz 
 
NUMSA, the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa, has published a gender awareness quiz. Answer the questions and check where you stand on the public and private struggle. 
 
1. Your wife/partner wants to stand as a shop steward in her union. Do you: 
<ul>
 <li>
 <div>a) Say that she cannot stand because you are worried that the children will be neglected and it will interfere with the cooking and the cleaning of the household. </div>
 </li>
 <li>
 <div>b) Support her and say that together as a family you will all discuss how she can be active in the union and how the family will accommodate her. </div>
 </li>
</ul>
2. Your wife/partner is a shop steward and wants to attend NUMSA National Congress for five days. Do you: 
<ul>
 <li>
 <div>a) Say she cannot go because a NUMSA National Congress is not a good place for a woman to be. </div>
 </li>
 <li>
 <div>b) Encourage her to go and together with your family work out how you will all manage. </div>
 </li>
</ul>
3. Your workplace has many women workers. In shop steward elections, workers voted for three new women shop stewards. Do you: 
<ul>
 <li>
 <div>a) Carry on having your shop steward committee meetings after work as you have always done. </div>
 </li>
 <li>
 <div>b) Ask the new women shop stewards if the time is all right for them or if they want to suggest an alternative time. </div>
 </li>
</ul>
4. Your workplace has always had many women workers but no women have ever stood as shop stewards. Shop steward elections will take place in 18 months time. Do you: 
<ul>
 <li>
 <div>a) Assume that it&rsquo;s because women are not committed and that&rsquo;s why they don&rsquo;t stand as shop stewards. </div>
 </li>
 <li>
 <div>b) Speak to workers and set up a gender committee in your factory. Link the gender committee to the shop stewards committee and provide training to the gender committee reps so that they can learn the job of the shop steward. </div>
 </li>
</ul>
5. You are holding a shop steward council in your local. The meeting was meant to start at 9h00 and finish at 12h00. However some of the male office bearers are late and the meeting only started at 10h30. At 12h00 many people start to leave, especially the women comrades. Do you: 
<ul>
 <li>
 <div>a) Complain that those leaving are not committed. </div>
 </li>
 <li>
 <div>b) Apologise to those that are leaving for having started the meeting late and appeal to all those present to respect the times so that next time the meeting can start and finish on time. </div>
 </li>
</ul>
ANSWERS: If you answered mostly (a) then you need to seriously look at your views on gender and your relationship with your wife/partner. If you answered mostly (b) then you have opened the door to challenge patriarchy. Congratulations but don&rsquo;t stop here! 
<img height="31" alt="" src="" width="25" />
9. United Kingdom &ndash; Women&rsquo;s Pay Gap Narrows 
 
Women are closing the pay gap with men, as indicated by recent government figures. The gap between male and female pay is at its lowest since 1938, the year when recording began. 
 
Men&rsquo;s average pay went up by 3.5%, while women&rsquo;s pay rose by 4.2%. Women now earn, on average, 12.6% less than men, compared to 13% last year. A man&rsquo;s weekly average earnings stands at 487 pounds. A typical woman is paid 387 pounds a week. The reason for the large gap is that men work more overtime. 
 
A key reason behind the change is that more women now work in high-earning professions. In the 22-29 age group, women actually earn more than 1.5% more than men. But beyond the age of 29, male earnings greatly outstrip those of women, as women returning to the workplace after childbirth tend to miss out on several years of pay rises. 
 
The Equal Opportunities Commission estimates that the pay gap means that the average women working full time will lose out on about 330,000 pounds over her working life. That means 19 years of down payments on a house, 15 new cars or 10,500 nights out. 
<img height="31" alt="" src="" width="25" />
10. United States &ndash; Supreme Court To Hear Goodyear Case 
 
On 27 November, the US Supreme Court will hear the arguments on a pay discrimination case involving a former Goodyear employee. Ms. Ledbetter charged that she earned 15% less than the next lowest paid manager in her work group. She claimed that she had been underpaid for her management positions since she was first hired. 
 
Goodyear claims her lower salary was based on low performance ratings. Ledbetter, however, claimed her evaluations had been falsified, at least in part because one of those who reviewed her job performance was an immediate supervisor whose sexual advances she had rebuffed. 
 
A jury in the US District Court awarded Ledbetter nearly US$234,000 in back pay, almost US$5,000 for mental anguish and nearly US$3,3 million in punitive damages. In the end, the court was required by statute to limit the verdict to US$360,000. Goodyear is appealing this verdict. 
<img height="31" alt="" src="" width="25" />
FROM OUR READERS: 
 
Oluchi Okorie from Nupeng, Nigeria, comments about Bulletin 16: 
 
 
&ldquo;It is surprising that Indian women still face these problems of dowry to their husbands. Unlike in our country Nigeria, the reverse is the case. 
 
The bride&rsquo;s family receives the bride price and other gifts from the groom and his family. Some extended family members of the bride also make their demands which, if not met, sometimes will lead to the threat of withdrawing from the marriage contract. 
 
The major problem with this in some cases is that the groom will start maltreating the bride after the marriage must have been contracted with the belief that he bought her expensively. There are other cases where the groom may not have enough resources to take care of the bride after marriage. 
 
In either way, none is perfect because the whole thing falls back on women. We pray there should be a remedy to this in this modern age.&quot;
<img height="31" alt="" src="" width="25" />
RESOURCES 
 
Falling Through the Floor lets young Chinese women workers tell us in their own words about their arduous experiences of trying to earn a decent living in the boomtowns of the Chinese economic miracle today. See at: <a href="http://www.china-labour.org.hk/public/main">http://www.china-labour.org.hk/public/main</a>.&nbsp; 
 
WOMANKIND Worldwide helps women in developing countries - silenced or isolated by harmful traditions, conflict, violence and intimidation or the sheer exhaustion of surviving in poverty &ndash; to have a distinctive say in what goes on in their family, community and country. See <a href="http://www.womankind.org.uk/">http://www.womankind.org.uk</a>. 
 
Public Services International has done an evaluation of its 2002-2006 Pay Equity Campaign. The evaluation can be obtained from ICEM &ndash; write to <a href="mailto:carol.bruce@icem.org">carol.bruce@icem.org</a>.

ICEM WOMEN’S BULLETIN N° 17

<img height="40" alt="" src="" width="100" />
A founding Congress in Vienna, Austria, on 3 November gave birth to a new global union confederation for national labour centres. The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) was formed, taking the place of its two founding members, the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) and the World Confederation of Labour (WCL). 
 
The new ITUC will represent 168 million workers from 306 affiliates in 154 countries. In addition to affiliates from the former ICFTU and WCL, eight other national trade unions, who were not affiliated to a global union organisation prior, are now affiliated to the new organisation. These include Nepal&rsquo;s GEFONT, France&rsquo;s CGT, Poland&rsquo;s OPZZ, Argentina&rsquo;s CGT and Colombia&rsquo;s CUT. 
<img height="166" alt="" src="" width="250" />
ITUC&nbsp;General Secretary Guy Ryder
At the Vienna Congress, the new organisation stressed the need to tackle the adverse consequences of economic globalisation and the devastating effect this has had on millions of workers. Specifically highlighted problems included off-shoring, abuse of workers&rsquo; rights, and increased levels of poverty. 
Fred Higgs, ICEM General Secretary, said the unification of ICFTU and WCL is an &ldquo;inevitable and welcome development, which we hope will lead to others uniting, creating a single global union confederation.&rdquo; 
 
He also said that the unity at the national centre level was preceded &ldquo;by agreements at sectoral level, including the one on integration between the ICEM and the World Federation of Industrial Workers (WFIW).&rdquo; 
 
Guy Ryder, former head of the ICFTU, was elected General Secretary of the ITUC, while Sharan Burrow of the Australian Council of Trade Unions won election as president. While those two were ICFTU incumbents, at the levels of deputy GSs and deputy presidents, each organisation will have one seat. 
 
Mamounata Ciss&eacute; (ICFTU) and Jaap Wienen (WCL) became the deputy GSs, while Michael Sommer (DGB-Gemany) and Luc Cortebeeck (CSC-Belgium) will serve as deputy presidents. The new ITUC will undergo a four-year transitional process, after which vice presidential seats and representation will be based on the organisation&rsquo;s affiliation protocol. 
 
The new website of the organisation is: <a href="http://www.ituc-csi.org">http://www.ituc-csi.org</a>.

ITUC Founding: A New International Trade Union Confederation

<img height="40" alt="" src="" width="100" />
The joint ICEM-IUF project for South East Europe has developed a website to better assist participating unions in the project. The ICEM and the International Union of Food Workers&rsquo; have been running this union-building project since 1998. 
 
The site, which is available in English and Croatian, can be found at&nbsp;<a href="http://icemiufsee.org/index.php?lang=en">http://icemiufsee.org/index.php?lang=en</a>.&nbsp; 
 
The South East Europe project of the two Global Union Federations aims to increase social dialogue and negotiations between the participating unions and the employers and governments of Balkan nations. Activities focus on workplace representatives for engaging in workplace actions that support dialogue with managements and governments, specifically during industrial restructurings and privatisations.

Joint ICEM-IUF Project in Balkans Gets Website

<img height="40" alt="" src="" width="100" />
A severe industrial explosion at DuPont&rsquo;s Guarulhos facility, in the Brazilian state of Sao Paulo, reportedly injured three local workers on 5 October. One worker was seriously wounded and brought to hospital, allegedly with burns on 50% of his body. 
<img height="74" alt="" src="" width="73" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; <img height="66" alt="" src="" width="120" align="absMiddle" />
Information on the accident is limited. According to the ICEM affiliated Brazilian chemical union, Sindiqu&iacute;micos, the local DuPont company declined to provide information on the accident. The union was not allowed to enter the plant, further stating that &ldquo;not even the number of victims&rdquo; was communicated by the company. 
Jim Rowe, United Steelworkers (USW) Local 943&rsquo;s president from New Jersey, visited both the Guarulhos and Cama&ccedil;ari DuPont facilities in Brazil in August 2006, together with USW Director Joe Drexler. The company denied them the opportunity to tour the plants. In a USW news release on the current accident, Jim Rowe wonders how &ldquo;DuPont continues to maintain its reputation as a safe company and sell its safety program to other companies in the wake of serious accidents?&rdquo; 
<img height="304" src="" width="350" alt="" />
Workers at DuPont&rsquo;s Guarulhos facility, waiting for information
The tour of the facilities in Brazil was part of a larger effort by the USW to draw attention to safety and environmental problems stemming from DuPont plants worldwide. 
 
The USW states in its news release that, last year, a worker was killed by an explosion at the Cama&ccedil;ari facility. According to a report from the State of Bahia in Brazil at the time, DuPont was blamed for failing to implement control devices to prevent the explosion. Three serious accidents also happened over the last two years at a US DuPont plant in Niagara Falls, state of New York. 
 
The USW is the lead union in ICEM&rsquo;s Global DuPont Workers&rsquo; Network.

Explosion at DuPont Plant in Brazil

&nbsp;<img height="40" alt="" src="" width="100" />
The Frente Autentica del Trabajo (FAT) will file, on behalf of ICEM US affiliate, United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE), a rare complaint tomorrow, 17 October, with the US Labor Department over the inability of public employees in the state of North Carolina to engage in collective bargaining. 
 
The complaint, to be filed under the North American Agreement on Labour Cooperation (NAALC), a 1993 side agreement to the US, Mexico, and Canada free trade agreement (NAFTA), includes over 40 labour organisations as co-signees, including Global Union Federations ICEM and Public Service International (PSI). 
<img height="61" src="" width="100" border="1" alt="" />&nbsp;&nbsp; <img height="60" src="" width="113" border="1" alt="" />&nbsp;&nbsp; <img height="58" src="" width="115" border="1" alt="" />
A branch union of UE in North Carolina, Local 150, has aggressively built a membership of 3,000 public workers in the US Atlantic seaboard state. But state law bars the employees, both state and municipal workers, from collective bargaining rights. 
 
Such a prohibition not only violates NAALC, but is also a clear affront to established international labour standards. Two other ICEM North American affiliates have also co-signed the FAT/UE complaint: Communications, Energy, and Paperworkers (CEP) Union of Canada, and the United Steelworkers (USW), which has membership in both the US and Canada. 
 
FAT and UE have had a decades-long relationship that has protected workers' labour and human rights on each side of the US-Mexican border. 
 
NAALC, the only agreement signed by the US government that deals with labour standards as a supplement to an international trade agreement, ensures that the three countries' labour laws provide for &quot;high labour standards and continue to strive to improve those standards.&quot; 
 
The FAT/UE complaint will be submitted to the US Labor Department's Office of Trade Agreement Implementation (OTAI), which has 60 days to either accept or decline to review the complaint. If accepted, consultations on the issue begin with the respective national administration offices for the trade pact of the other two countries.

US Affiliate teams up with Mexican Labour Federation on Complaint under Trade Pact

&nbsp;<img height="40" alt="" src="" width="100" />
The 12-day strike by members of US affiliate United Steelworkers (USW) against Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. continues with no negotiations scheduled. The strike by 15,000 trade unionists at 16 US and Canadian plants began on 5 October, and is one of the biggest North American industrial strikes of this decade. 
 
Workers are striking the US-based tyre company for retention of job security guarantees won in 2003 negotiations. They also resist company proposals for steep wage and retirement benefit cuts. With Goodyear teetering on the edge of bankruptcy in 2003, the USW granted financial concessions in exchange for job security and job-retention protections. 
<img height="100" alt="" src="" width="100" />
This year, with Goodyear in excellent financial health, and with 2005 figures showing that North American production accounts for nearly one-half of its total US$19.72 billion in revenues, the company came to the bargaining table with intentions to take even more from its workforce. In addition, it proposes to close two tyre plants, employing 2,190 workers in Gadsden, Alabama, and Tyler, Texas. 
 
ICEM General Secretary Fred Higgs has called on all ICEM&rsquo;s rubber sector unions that represent Goodyear workers to monitor tyre inventories and production, so as to ensure that they are not undermining the USW's strike. The company claims that some US and Canadian production is continuing with supervisory personnel doing the work. Tyre production also continues from Goodyear's two non-union rubber facilities in Lawton, Oklahoma, and in Napanee, Ontario. 
 
The 12 US plants, eight tyre operations and four engineered rubber products operations in which 13,000 USW members are on strike, are located in: Gadsden and Tyler; Marysville, Ohio; St. Mary's, Ohio; Lincoln, Nebraska; Tonawanda, New York State; Topeka, Kansas; Union City, Tennessee; Danville, Virginia; Sun Prairie, Wisconsin; Fayetteville, North Carolina; and Akron, Ohio. 
 
The four Canadian plants in which 2,000 USW members are striking are at: Collingwood, Ontario; Owen Sound, Ontario; the Toronto, Ontario, logistics center; and the Toronto commercial retread plant.

No Talks Slated in USW Strike of Goodyear Rubber

Archive