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Over the last six months, public opposition has been growing in the eastern Indian State of Bihar over plans for a factory to manufacture asbestos products. Local residents took to the streets en-masse on 10 February in the state capital Patna in a rally coinciding with the group &quot;Citizens Forum Against Asbestos&quot; submitting a memorandum seeking the cancellation of the industrial license given to the proposed factory. 
 
The campaign against the new factory is now pressuring the federal Indian government to offically impose&nbsp;a nationwide ban on the&nbsp;large-scale import of asbestos. Bihar state Chief Minister Nitish Kumar shifted blame from his administration to the national government. &quot;This factory has received the environmental clearance from the government of India. There should be a uniform policy, and asbestos factories stopped all over the country,&quot; he stated. 
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Construction at the Balmukund Cement and Roofings Ltd. (BCRL) factory has now been suspended. 
 
While India&rsquo;s national government has banned the mining of asbestos, it allows trade, manufacture, and use of the mineral, despite&nbsp;proven dangers of inhaling asbestos fibre. World Health Organisation (WHO)&nbsp;estimates that&nbsp;90,000 people die of asbestos-related illnesses every year. The White Asbestos Bill is currently pending&nbsp;in the Indian Parliament and awaits further debate. The legislation would ban the use and import of the deadly mineral. Almost half of the imported asbestos into India is mined in Canada. 
 
Inhaling asbestos fibre or dust can result in the&nbsp;painful and&nbsp;eventually fatal condition called mesothelioma, a form of&nbsp;lung cancer. Most patients are poor workers without access to medical care. Asbestos is banned in the European Union, Australia, and Japan.
A much-criticised memorandum of understanding was signed on 31 December 2010 between the Board of Trade of Montreal, Canada, and the Indian Chamber of Commerce for the &quot;safe&quot; use of asbestos. The agreement is seen as a clear disregard for the health of Indian workers, as profit-motive is the priority for&nbsp;both groups. The inclusion of a representative of Balcorp Ltd., a major asbestos miner and exporter, in the trade mission to India led by Quebec&rsquo;s Economic Development Minister earlier this month, has caused much concern for Indian activists.

Mass Popular Protests against Proposed Asbestos Factory in Bihar, India

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ICEM Colombian affiliate Sintracarb&oacute;n averted a strike last week at the world&rsquo;s largest set of&nbsp;coal mines, and accepted a two-year labour accord with&nbsp;Carbones del Cerrej&oacute;n, the producer of rich thermal coal from La Guajira state that is owned jointly by AngloAmerican, BHP Billiton, and Xstrata. 
 
In a statement, the ICEM praised the new contract, calling it a result of respectful social dialogue, a process set in place with ICEM assistance back in 2004. The economic stakes counting down to a planned 8 February by 4,200 Sintracarb&oacute;n members were so high that Colombia Vice President Angelino Garz&oacute;n and Vice Minister of Labour Relations Ricardo Echeverry brokered final talks. 
 
The two-year labour accord between the mining union and Cerrej&oacute;n&nbsp;calls for a first-year wage increase of 6.5%, retroactive to 1 January 2011, and a 2012 increase of the greater between 5% or 2% above the Consumer Price Index. 
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But more importantly, Sintracarb&oacute;n continued to make improvements at the bargaining table for the communities surrounding the massive coal complex and tangible gains for over 5,500 contract workers employed at Carbones del Cerrej&oacute;n and Puerto Bolivar, the company&rsquo;s deep-water port 150 kilometres from the mine. 
 
The union recorded improvements in health benefits for workers and their families, transportation stipends to reach medical care, education and scholarships for family members, and an increase in the number of housing loans for workers. 
 
Cerrej&oacute;n stood firm on a first-year wage offer of 6% but following a 27 January strike ballot in which workers voted 96.4% for industrial&nbsp;action, the company first raised its offer to 6.3% and then 6.5% in mediation in Bogot&aacute; with the Vice President. 
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ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda
&ldquo;We have witnessed both sides reach the brink of negotiations in the past several sets of two-year talks,&rdquo; said General Secretary Manfred Warda in the ICEM statement. &ldquo;The fact that Sintracarb&oacute;n and Cerrej&oacute;n have not had a strike in over 20 years is testament to mutual respect and shared responsibility by both the union and management in looking after the welfare of communities, workers, and their families.&rdquo; 
 
The ICEM congratulates the union members of Sintracarb&oacute;n for mobilising for job action and then winning a deserved 2011 pay increase of 6.5%, better than double Colombia&rsquo;s current 3.19% CPI. The ICEM notes that Cerrej&oacute;n is a highly profitable enterprise for the parent companies, as well as for Colombia, which exported 76 million tonnes of coal in 2010 &ndash; 31 million tonnes of which was generated by the members of Sintracarb&oacute;n.

Sintracarbón, Cerrejón Reach Satisfactory Terms in Colombia

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Full work rights for irregular workers took a big step forward in Korea last week. A ruling by the Seoul High Court against Hyundai Motor and for a sacked subcontract worker was greeted as a marker for those following this critical global issue. 
 
In a case reviewed, overturned, and then sent on to the Seoul High Court by Korea&rsquo;s Supreme Court, the ruling rightfully declared that Choe Byeong-seung, 35, was a direct employee of Hyundai while employed at its Ulsan manufacturing complex between 2003 to 2005. 
 
In issuing the verdict on 10 February, the High Court said Choe &ldquo;carried out his duties mixed with regular workers on either side of the conveyer belt, and Hyundai Motor made decisions regarding workload, methods, sequence, etc.&rdquo; 
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Following the ruling, the Hyundai Irregular Workers&rsquo; Union and its parent, the Korean Metal Workers&rsquo; Union (KMWU), held a press conference in front of Hyundai&rsquo;s headquarters in Seoul. Their message is that the world&rsquo;s fifth largest auto maker must take this ruling as signal to bring all subcontract workers&nbsp;to direct employment. 
 
Hyundai employs roughly 34,500 workers at its plants in Korea, with nearly one-quarter of them irregular workers. Choe, for instance, was hired by the car maker through a labour agency, but he sued Hyundai, not the agency, for restitution of his work rights. He was sacked, allegedly, for exercising his right to belong to a union. 
 
For the company&rsquo;s part last week, it denigrated the judgment by announcing it would appeal the High Court&rsquo;s ruling back to the Supreme Court, and stated it&nbsp;might even file a Constitutional Petition. 
 
The plight that irregular workers face is again becoming a hot-button issue in Korea&rsquo;s politics. All political parties are engaged on the issue, and even a leading member of the ruling Grand National Party declared it &ldquo;hypocritical to talk about welfare issues while ignoring the problem of irregular workers.&rdquo; On 27 January, the opposition parties, Democratic Labor Party (DLP) and People Participations Party (PPP), broke new ground by debating the issue of irregular employment in a public forum. 
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The urgency of the issue, in no small part, also arises from last November-December&rsquo;s 25-day sit-down strike at Ulsan, as well as job actions by non-regular workers at Hyundai plants in Asan and Jeonju during the same period. The strike at Ulsan caught the world&rsquo;s attention, revealing accurately a major global manufacturer in an OECD country capitalising on servitude. 
 
Hyundai is hardly the only Korean equipment maker that exploits precarious workers. The GM Daewoo Irregular Workers&rsquo; branch of the KMWU in Incheon City has been battling for full-time rights for nearly four years. Despite local government and civil society pleas to GM Daewoo Auto &amp; Technology Co. to begin talks with the union over misuse of irregular workers, the company has refused, citing no responsibility because it is not the official employer. 
 
Workers staged a sit-in atop an arch leading into the factory in December and later that month, the branch&rsquo;s President, Sin Hyeon-chang, went on a hunger strike.

Hyundai Court Win for Irregular Worker Lifts Stakes in Korea

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The global trade union for the mining industry, the ICEM, congratulates the miners of Carbones del Cerrejon and their union, Sintracarb&oacute;n, as well as management of the coal enterprise in la Guajira state in reaching contract terms early this week in Colombia. In a statement, ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda noted that through respectful social dialogue &ndash; a process instituted with the assistance of the ICEM seven years ago &ndash; the two parties reached a mutually acceptable collective agreement, thus abandoning a planned strike. 
 
The two-year labour accord between the 4,000-member ICEM-affiliated mining union and the company operating the world&rsquo;s largest set of open pit coal mines, owned jointly by AngloAmerican, BHP Billiton, and Xstrata, was reached with the assistance of Colombia Vice President Angelino Garz&oacute;n and Vice Minister of Labour Relations Ricardo Echeverry late last week. That mediation illuminates the importance of social dialogue at the highest level in a country usually devoid of such labour-management tools. It also averts a costly strike that would have placed a heavy toll both on union members of Sintracarb&oacute;n and Cerrejon. 
 
&ldquo;We have witnessed both sides reach the brink of negotiations in the past several sets of two-year talks,&rdquo; said Warda. &ldquo;The fact that Sintracarb&oacute;n and Cerrejon have not had a strike in over 20 years is testament to mutual respect and shared responsibility by both the union and management in looking after the welfare of communities, workers, and their families.&rdquo;
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The 2011-2012 labour agreement calls for a first-year wage increase of 6.5% and a 2012 increase of two percent over next year&rsquo;s Consumer Price Index. But more importantly, the ICEM noted, Sintracarb&oacute;n continued to make improvements at the bargaining table for the communities surrounding the massive coal complex in north-east Colombia, improvements in health benefits for workers and their families, and education benefits for family members. 
 
The ICEM commends the involvement of Vice President Garz&oacute;n, Vice Minister Echeverry, and the Cerrejon management for recognizing in this set of talks that contract workers not directly employed by Cerrejon have the right of association and the right to form a union of their own choosing without interference from sub-contracting companies of Cerrejon, or the mining enterprise itself. 
 
The ICEM congratulates the bargaining committee of Sintracarb&oacute;n for achieving a deserved 2011 pay increase of 6.5%, better than double Colombia&rsquo;s current 3.19% CPI. The ICEM&rsquo;s notes that Cerrejon is a highly profitable enterprise for the parent companies, as well as for Colombia, the world&rsquo;s fifth biggest exporter of coal. 
 
&ldquo;The union&rsquo;s organised process of collective negotiations and it&rsquo;s method of mobilising 4,000 workers behind the bargaining team is an example to all unions worldwide,&rdquo; said Warda. &ldquo;In this set of bargaining, they succeeded in raising the bar on work standards inside Colombia that should be an aspiration to all workers.&rdquo;

Sintracarbón, Cerrejon Reach Commendable Contract in Colombia

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Ge&ccedil;en hafta İstanbul'da yapılan Kimya Sekt&ouml;r Konferansı'nı a&ccedil;an ICEM Kimya İşkolları Başkanı Tomas Nieber k&uuml;resel kriz nedeniyle d&uuml;zenleyici kuralların ve standartların artırılması &ccedil;ağrısında bulundu. ICEM &uuml;yesi IGBCE'nin Ekonomi B&ouml;l&uuml;m&uuml; başkanı olan ve yeniden ICEM'in kimya ve ila&ccedil; sekt&ouml;r başkanı se&ccedil;ilen Nieber, sekt&ouml;r&uuml;n 2010'da hafif bir toparlanma g&ouml;sterdiğini, politikacıların ve h&uuml;k&uuml;metlerin krize yol a&ccedil;an eski politikalara d&ouml;nmemesi gerektiğini s&ouml;yledi. 
 
27-28 Ekim g&uuml;nlerinde İstanbul'da yapılan ICEM'in kimya konferansına 40 &uuml;lkeden 250 delege katıldı. Konferansın evsahipliğini T&uuml;rkiye'deki petrol, kimya ve lastik iş&ccedil;ilerinin sendikası Petrol-İş yaptı. 
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Petrol-İş Genel Başkanı Mustafa &Ouml;ztaşkın
Nieber k&uuml;resel kriz nedeniyle d&uuml;nya &ouml;l&ccedil;eğinde istihdamda 34 milyon kayıp olduğu s&ouml;yledi ve -akaryakıt fiyatındaki artış ve her iki sekt&ouml;rde s&uuml;rd&uuml;r&uuml;lebilir politikalar uygulama zorunluluğu gibi- sekt&ouml;r&uuml;n karşı karşı bulunduğu zorlukları vurguladı. 
 
Nieber, &ldquo;Sendikalar olarak d&uuml;zenlemelerin artırılmasını talep etmeliyiz&rdquo; dedi. 
 
Petrol-İş Genel Başkanı Mustafa &Ouml;ztaşkın delegelere hoşgeldiniz dedikten sonra, &uuml;lkesinde sendikaları etkisizleştirme politikaları uygulandığını vurguladı. &ldquo;Sendikal hak ve &ouml;zg&uuml;rl&uuml;klerle ilgili uluslararası s&ouml;zleşmeler sistemli olarak ihlal ediliyor&rdquo; diyen &Ouml;ztaşkın ş&ouml;yle devam etti: &ldquo;&Uuml;lkemizde sendikal faaliyeti d&uuml;zenleyen mevzuat baskıcı ve yasak&ccedil;ı &ouml;z&uuml;n&uuml; koruyor.&rdquo; 
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Konferansa Japonya'dan 27 delege katıldı
&Ouml;ztaşkın, referandumla kabul edilen son anayasa değişikliklerinin aslında sendikal hakları bir&ccedil;ok y&ouml;nden geriye g&ouml;t&uuml;rd&uuml;ğ&uuml;n&uuml; belirtti. Petrol-İş başkanı, T&uuml;rkiye'nin kimya &uuml;retiminde d&uuml;nyadaki ilk on &uuml;lke arasında yer almasına rağmen, yıllardır s&uuml;ren &ouml;zelleştirmenin istihdamı y&uuml;zde 60-70 d&uuml;ş&uuml;rd&uuml;ğ&uuml;n&uuml;, sendikasız ve g&uuml;vencesiz işg&uuml;c&uuml;n&uuml;n kural haline geldiğini s&ouml;yledi. Ayrıca, T&uuml;rkiye'de sendikaların sosyal sorumluluk standartları, atık y&ouml;netimi, iş sağlığı ve g&uuml;venliği standartları ve temiz teknoloji alanlarında &ouml;nc&uuml;l&uuml;k yapmaya başladığını vurguladı. 
 
Konferansta iki g&uuml;n boyunca altı panel yapıldı. Bunlardan biri &ldquo;&Ccedil;alışma İlişkileri, Sosyal Diyalog ve Sosyal Sorumluluk&rdquo; &uuml;zerineydi. Bu panele şu kişiler katıldı: Uluslararası Kimya İşverenlerinin &Ccedil;alışma İlişkileri Komitesi Genel Sekreteri Lutz Mugl, Rhodia Kimya Başkanı Bernard Chambon, Umicore İnsan Kaynakları ve Gelişme M&uuml;d&uuml;r&uuml; Mark Dolfyn ve ICEM Kimya İşkolu Sorumlusu Kemal &Ouml;zkan ile eski IGBCE Başkanı ve EMCEF Başkanı Hubertus Schmoldt. 
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Rusya Kimya İş&ccedil;ileri Sendikası heyetinin başında Başkan Alexander Sitnov, sağda, vardı
Konferans &ouml;n&uuml;m&uuml;zdeki d&ouml;rt yıllık d&ouml;neme ilişkin 11 maddelik bir eylem planının kabul&uuml;yle sona erdi. Eylem/&ccedil;alışma planına <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/Chems%20Conf%20ActionPlan%20TURK%20.pdf">buradan</a> ulaşılabilir. 
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Irak Petrol Sendikaları Federasyonu'ndan (GFIW) Hasan Cuma Avad Sdave &ldquo;K&uuml;resel Sendikal G&uuml;&ccedil; ve Dayanışma&rdquo; konulu panelde konuştu
Kimya Konferansı, ayrıca, kemer sıkma politikalarına ve &ouml;nlemlerine karşı greve giden Fransa, Romanya ve diğer Avrupa &uuml;lkelerindeki sendikaları destekleyen bir kararı onayladı. Bu karar &ouml;nce 26 Ekim'de yine İstanbul'da toplanan ICEM Presidyumu (Başkanlar Kurulu) tarafından kabul edildi.

Rekor katılımlı ICEM Kimya Konferansı sonuçlandı

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Roquette Fr&egrave;res is a family-controlled transnational based in Lestrem, France, that in September 2009 signed the ten principles of the UN Global Compact. One year later, the company submitted over 70 regressive contract proposals to the US union, Local 48-G of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco, and Grain Millers (BCTGM) Union at a corn wet milling plant in Keokuk, Iowa. 
 
When union members rejected the drastic cuts to their living and work standards on 28 September 2010, Roquette America locked its 240-member workforce in Keokuk off their jobs. 
 
That move has now produced an official protest to George Kell, head of the Global Compact. The recommendation to de-list Roquette from the voluntary body comes from the International Union of Food, Agricultural Workers' Association (IUF), the BCTGM&rsquo;s Global Union Federation, the ICEM, and the American labour centre, AFL-CIO. 
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&ldquo;We believe that Roquette Fr&egrave;res actions undermine the legitimacy of the Global Company,&rdquo; stated IUF General Secretary Ron Oswald, ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda, and AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka in a 3 December letter to Kell. &ldquo;The company should not be able to claim that it supports the Global Compact when in reality it is systematically violating fundamental human rights.&rdquo; 
 
(The entire letter can be viewed <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/1012.Roquette.global%20compact%20letter$.pdf ">here</a>.) 
The company&rsquo;s collective bargaining agenda in a proposed four-year renewal agreement is especially egregious. It seeks unlimited rights to employ temporary workers at the corn starch plant in America&rsquo;s heartland; it wants a two-tier wage scheme in which new hires will receive 47% less than other workers; it desires big increases in worker co-payments on their health care; an end to the company&rsquo;s defined benefit pension scheme, to be replaced by a pension savings plan; elimination of sick leave, maternity leave, and personal days; and Roquette America is seeking an end to workplace seniority on layoffs and job bidding. 
<img alt="" src="" width="116" height="210" />
The company also wants a wage freeze for the four years. 
 
A week into the lockout, Roquette hired scab workers to run the plant. It has brought in management personnel from a plant it owns in Gurnee, Illinois, and is using replacement workers from temporary labour agencies and an enterprise in the state of Ohio that specializes in providing contingency workers when staff of a company strike or are locked out. 
 
In a further rebuke to the principles of the Global Compact, earlier this year Roquette&rsquo;s Keokuk plant was hit with a US$1 million fine as a civil penalty regarding air pollution violations. The penalty was part of a consent order by a local district court judge in agreement with the state of Iowa and Roquette, in which the company admitted wrongdoing.
(The IUF's campaign on Roquette can be viewed <a href="http://www.iuf.org/cgi-bin/campaigns/show_campaign.cgi?c=539">here</a>.)&nbsp; 
 
Roquette Fr&egrave;res operates in 12 countries and manufactures different corn starches in Keokuk, including starch derivatives and polyols, or sugar alcohols, from the corn wet milling process for use in food and pharmaceutical grade dextrose, corn syrup, and other products.

ICEM Joins IUF in Global Compact Protest of French Firm’s US Lockout

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The ICEM has developed a short guide to dealing with Contract and Agency Labour (CAL). The guide, intended to help unions raise awareness of the prevalence and impact of precarious work, outlines what types of employment are included in the ICEM&rsquo;s definition of CAL, and highlights some of the most common problems associated with such work. 
 
The guide also gives an overview of what the ICEM and its affiliates around the world are doing to promote permanent, direct employment, and at the same time to promote better conditions for CAL workers. 
 
The guide lists a number of specific attempts unions have made to keep employment permanent and direct, for example, by agreeing to a cap on the number of CAL workers who can be employed in a particular company or sector, or by restricting the number of times a fixed-term contract may be renewed before employment becomes permanent. 
 
In terms of ensuring respect for the rights of CAL workers, ICEM affiliates have sought guarantees that CAL workers will receive equal treatment from the first day of their employment and that those on fixed-term contracts will receive severance fees in the event their contracts are not renewed. Unions have also attempted, and in some cases succeeded, in negotiating collective bargaining agreement clauses, which require the company to consult with the union, and to get their approval, before outside labour is used. 
 
The guide proposes ways in which unions can build relations with CAL workers, suggesting that unions consider altering their internal rules to permit CAL workers to join; create a dedicated precarious workers&rsquo; section or representative; or consider introducing different membership fee levels and alternative methods of dues collection. 
 
The guide concludes by encouraging affiliates to initiate a discussion on CAL within their own unions, and suggests a number of questions which may help to get these discussions started. 
 
The ICEM&rsquo;s Mini Guide to Dealing with CAL is available <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/1012.ICEM%20Mini%20Guide%20CAL%20HQ.pdf">here</a>.

ICEM Launches Mini Guide to Dealing with Contract, Agency Labour

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The global mobilization of trade unions affiliated to four Global Union Federations, calling for trade union rights in Mexico, is now two weeks away. Affiliates of the ICEM, International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF), International Transport Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITF), and UNI have planned coordinated actions across the world during the week that marks the five-year anniversary of the Pasta de Conchos mine disaster. 
 
In February 2006, an explosion happened in that mine and 65 miners were killed. The tragic blast followed continued pleas by the Mexican Miners Union, Los Mineros, for improved safety conditions at the mine. 
 
The campaign has now made available posters, hand-bills, and information backgrounders in various languages, available <a href="/en/5-Mining-DGOJP">here</a>.&nbsp; 
<img alt="" src="" width="368" height="87" />
In Geneva, a high-level delegation from the four coordinating GUFs will meet with the Mexican ambassador to the UN in the Swiss city, to communicate the demands of the global action and seek explanations on sustained efforts to bust unions by the Calder&oacute;n government. An action in front of the Mexican mission in Geneva will be joined by other Global Union Federations, including the Building and Woodworkers International (BWI), Public Services International (PSI), and the International Union of Food and Agricultural Workers (IUF). 
 
Mexico&rsquo;s assault against trade unions, specifically against Los Mineros, continued last Monday, 24 January, when a US representative of the USW, Manny Armenta, was arrested by Mexican customs police on his way to assist attorneys for Los Mineros. He was accused of driving a stolen vehicle. Armenta immediately presented documentation for the car, but was still instructed to pay a fine to a corrupt officer of US$15,000. On refusing to pay, Armenta was arrested and detained, until Los Mineros posted a bond of US$7,500 for his release. Armenta&rsquo;s car is still impounded and his wallet was returned to him by police minus US$700. 
<img alt="" src="" width="261" height="177" />
USW's Manny Armenta in Mexican Prison Cell
Steelworker President Leo Gerard stated, &ldquo;It is ironic that although Mexican courts have issued 20 warrants for Germ&aacute;n Larrea &ndash; the owner of Grupo M&eacute;xico &ndash; the government has never been able to arrest him. Yet they can arrest Manny because he is in Mexico helping the mineworkers defend their rights.&rdquo; 
 
In a further clear example of the Calder&oacute;n government&rsquo;s complicit support for union-busting efforts, three leaders of the Los Mineros Section 142 were arrested at 5.30am on 26 January. Ministerial police violently pulled the men from their homes, still in their underwear in an effort to intimidate the section, currently on strike at the El Cubo mine, in Guanajuato. 
 
Those arrested were Juan Andr&eacute;s Villa Licea, President of the Strike Committee, Mart&iacute;n Reina Cruces, and Jorge Ram&oacute;n Monsiv&aacute;is Ortega, all senior members of the union.

14-19 February Mexico Days of Action Draws Near

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In early January, the ICEM learned of a major workers&rsquo; protest in al-Ferdous Square in Baghdad by Iraqi public employees and civil servants. More details are now available on that 4 January manifestation, thanks to the Federation of Workers&rsquo; Councils and Unions in Iraq (FWCUI). This legitimate protest was held to uphold work rights for Politically Dismissed Workers. 
 
An inquiry commission is about to wrongly verify documentation acknowledging the sackings of hundreds of workers from ministries and agencies within Industry, Commerce, Agriculture, Irrigation, and other departments of government over political allegiances.
<img src="" width="231" height="155" alt="" />
Public Workers Carry a Symbolic Coffin in Baghdad
The demonstration was vocal and visual, by all accounts. 
 
The manifestation&rsquo;s first demand called for the cancellation of all decisions by the inquiry commission. Secondly, the 4 January rally and march demanded that sacked workers&rsquo; dismissal periods count as actual employment and thirdly, the 500 protesters demanded a stop to proceedings of verification against the politically dismissed workers. 
<img src="" width="230" height="173" alt="" />
FWCUI President Falah Alwan
After trade union activists spoke at al-Ferdous Square, demonstrators carried a coffin as a death symbol to government officials destroying any semblance of global labour standards in this particular case. The march wound its way in central Baghdad to Square Wiz and then back again to al-Ferdous Square. 
 
The protest was widely covered by Baghdad television, radio, and print media outlets. 
 
The ICEM gives global support to Iraqi workers who exercise their legitimate rights under international labour standards.

Public Sector Workers Demand Justice for Sacked Workers in Iraq

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A colliery in northern Notre de Santander state, Colombia, again became a death trap for miners. The La Preciosa coal mine in Sandinata municipality, where 38 miners have already perished over the past three years, was rocked by a methane gas explosion at the morning shift change on 26 January that saw 21 miners die. 
 
The locally-owned mine by La Preciosa Ltda. employs 110 staff and was ordered closed by the National Institute of Geology and Mines (Ingeominas) following the explosion. Twenty miners were killed inside a 600-metre horizontal shaft, while one worker died in an ambulance on the way to medical care. Six miners were rescued and are hospitalised in the city of C&uacute;cuta. 
 
The bodies of 16 miners were retrieved on the day of the disaster, while four were received on 27 January. 
<img alt="" src="" width="209" height="145" />
La Preciosa Miners Worry About Future
In unexpected candor, the Colombian government admitted that its mine safety laws and resources for stricter mine safety regulations are inadequate. Mining Minister Carlos Rodado arrived in Sandinata on 27 January and said the government lacks funds and staff &ndash; Ingeominas exploys only 17 mine inspectors &ndash; to monitor 6,000 legal mines. 
 
La Preciosa, which produces 3,000 tonnes of coal per month, is a legally-operated mine. But in October 2010, six miners died due to gas asphyxiation. In 2007, 32 miners died in a similar gas explosion to the one that occurred last Wednesday. In 2007, the mine stayed close for five months. 
 
A representative from an ICEM-affiliated miners&rsquo; union at another mine in Colombia said the government is too quick to award operating licenses to small- and medium-size companies which do not have the necessary mechanisms in place to monitor safe mining practices. Colombia has not ratified ILO Convention 176, the Safety and Health in Mines Convention. 
 
At a funeral service in the mountain town of San Roque on 28 January where ten of the 21 miners were remembered, thousand of residents turned out to mourn, with most residents of the mountainous town affixing Colombian flag to their homes. The mayor of Sandinata, Yamile Ragel, called the tragedy &ldquo;a crime&rdquo; that will &ldquo;not go unpunished.&rdquo; The ten were buried in a local cemetery following a Roman Catholic service. 
 
Ingeominas said that in 2010, Colombia recorded 84 mine accidents in which 173 workers died.

Methane Blast in Colombian Coal Mine Kills 21

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