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ICEM French affiliate Chemical and Energy Workers Union, FCE-CFDT, hosted a group of 15 Japanese trade union leaders and five managers from Kansai Electric Power Co. (KEPCO) in France last week. The two-day visit, organised by the ICEM, followed a day-long orientation at the ICEM offices on 5 February in Brussels. 
 
The French portion of the trip tightened the bonds of unity between French trade union leaders in the energy sector and their Japanese counterparts. The 20-member Japanese delegation visited two worksites of Groupe V&eacute;olia, a global waste management concern, and received extensive briefings on a number of labour and French social issues in the offices of FCE-CFDT.
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Japanese, French trade unionists at FCE-CFDT offices&nbsp;
Besides presentations on French social legislation and collective bargaining relations, participants discussed European energy concerns for the future and the corresponding social aspects that are at stake. The Japanese delegation posed queries on workers&rsquo; rights inside energy companies, as well as on the union rights of FCE-CFDT members at these companies. 
 
The Japanese delegation also asked questions regarding women&rsquo;s rights at work, as well as their work-life balance in French society. 
 
Following the discussions, the delegation toured, with FCE-CFDT delegates from Groupe V&eacute;olia, two plants in the greater Paris area. Workers at these plants tear apart and recycle electric appliance components.
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Tour of Applicance Recycling Plant
The sites are located in Saint Ouen l&rsquo;Aum&ocirc;ne and Gonesse. &ldquo;With respect for the environment and sustainable development, the recycling of appliances is seen as a value to the communities,&rdquo; said FCE-CFDT Representative Jacques Caltot. 
 
Groupe V&eacute;olia is a world leader in water, waste, and energy transformation, with some 270,000 employees in 64 countries. Osaka-based KEPCO is Japan&rsquo;s second largest utility, and employs 30,000 workers. The company operates over 150 hydro, fossil fuel, and nuclear energy plants in Japan.

FCE-CFDT Hosts Japanese Kansai Electric Power Leaders in France

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The members of ICEM affiliate, the Chemical, Energy, Paper, Printing, Wood and Allied Workers' Union (CEPPWAWU) have engaged in a protected strike in companies around the country. The strike began on 20 July. The Union&rsquo;s 40,000 striking workers are demanding wage increases of between 13-15%, while employers are willing to pay between 8-10%. The negotiations have taken over two months and a dispute was officially declared last month, Skhumbuzo Phakathi, CEPPWAWU&rsquo;s International Coordinator, informed the ICEM. 
 
A countrywide march is planned for today. Thabane Mdlalose, the deputy general secretary of CEPPWAWU says the pulp and paper section met with employers at the Commission for Conciliation Mediation and Arbitration last Monday, without agreement. &ldquo;All our members are still picketing,&rdquo; he added. The labour union also wants six months paid maternity leave and temporary employees to be made permanent staff members. 

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The union&rsquo;s Bargaining Council for the Wood and Paper Sector (NBCWPS), oversees the strike in the country&rsquo;s Pulp and Paper industry, focused at SAPPI and Mondi. The wage demand is 13% and the offer from the employer is 7.5%. 
 
CEPPWAWU&rsquo;s National Bargaining Council for Chemical Industries (NBCCI) has the following sectors currently on strike; Pharmaceutical, where the demand of 13.6% is countered with an offer of 7%, Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG), where the demand is 10% and offer is 8%, Industrial Chemicals, with a demand of 11% versus an offer of 8%. 
 
CEPPWAWU&rsquo;s compromise position is a rise of 10% across all sectors, for settlement. Employers have offered 8 percent, which was the rate of inflation in May. 

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The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) has come out in support of the CEPPWAWU mass action, warning that if employers do not better their wage offer, the federation's 2 million members will come out in support of its affiliate. 
 
In the petroleum sector, employers have settled for an acceptable offer covering a two year period, with 40% for maternity leave. 
 
Some of the major companies currently facing strikes are; Adcock Ingram, Air Liquide, Aspen Pharmacare, Barloworld Decorative, Umicore Autocat. Others are Afrox, Johnson and Johnson, Plascon paints, Dulux Paints, Unilever, Colgate/Palmolive, Lake International, Mondi, Sappi, and&nbsp;others across the different&nbsp;sectors. 
 
The ICEM will report developments as&nbsp;strikes continue.

South African Wage Strikes Continue

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The ICEM has received information from the Federation of Workers Councils Unions in Iraq (FWCUI) that one of their leading women activists is under attack. The management of the General Company for Leather Industries (GCLI) has punished Sawsan Mahmoud, by transferring her to another company. The decision follows her leadership and participation in a strike at the beginning of April 2009, after protesting against the company's failure to make all outstanding payments due to workers in April. 
 
The company's management, in cooperation with the Ministry of Industry and Minerals, has transferred the trade union activist to Elez Company, a subsidiary of the Ministry. Sawsan has appealed to the Minister for the cancellation of the transfer. As a result the Ministry required the company&rsquo;s reasons for the transfer, which were reported by the company as being her participation and incitement of workers to go on strike at the beginning of last April, &ldquo;strike instigators are not keen on the stability of the country&quot;. The company reiterated its reply to the Ministry that the transfer was due to the recent events, referring to its workers' last strike. Subsequently the management of the company also proceeds now to punish another six workers for the same reasons. 

<img alt="" src="" width="120" height="143" />
FWCUI President Falah Alwan
The FWCUI has taken up her case and that of the other victimised workers, mounting a media campaign and a legal case against the company and the Ministry. They have called on the international trade union movement to publicise the case and protest the action of the Ministry and the company. ICEM has done so and is in communication with ITGLWF about further support action. 
 
In a letter to Fawzi Franso Hariri, the Iraqi Minister of Industry and Minerals, ITGLWF General Secretary Neil Kearney expressed his concern over the treatment of Sawsan Mahmoud. Kearney stated that the company&rsquo;s behaviour &ldquo;represents a blatant breach of the right of freedom of association which protects the right of workers to strike as a means of defending their interests. This fundamental right is enshrined in the Iraqi Constitution as well as in Conventions 87 and 98 of the International Labour Organisation, which apply to Iraq by virtue of its membership of the ILO&rdquo;.

Iraqi Labour Federation Protests Attack from Industry and Government Ministry

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Over 1,000 mineworkers at the Chinese owned Marcona mine in Peru, ended their indefinite strike action on 24 July, returning to work following a government resolution ordering increased wages, plus a one-off bonus. The workers are members of the ICEM affiliated Federaci&oacute;n Nacional de Trabajadores Mineros, Metal&uacute;rgicos y Sider&uacute;rgicos del Per&uacute; (FNTMMSP). 
 
Shougang Hierro Peru is the country&rsquo;s only iron producer, producing 7.5 million tones of iron ore in 2008. Production was halted at the Marcona mine, 217 miles south of the capital Lima in Ica Province, when workers downed their tools on July 13, starting an indefinite strike action for higher wages. 

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Shougang mineworkers in Marcona
The global financial crisis has lowered prices for most of Peru&rsquo;s metals exports; companies throughout the industry are using that as an excuse to avoid making overdue salary rises. &quot;Shougang has the capacity to raise our salaries, just with 4 percent of its profits,&quot; union leader Julio Ortiz stated at the outset of the strike. Nearly 10,000 mineworkers have lost their jobs in Peru since November 2008. 
 
Ortiz then reported last Friday &quot;We have lifted the indefinite strike following a (pay) increase granted by the Ministry of Labour, although we don't agree with the increase,&quot; 
 
The Chinese Shougang Group, which has run the mine since 1993, had previously offered an hourly wage increase of US$0.23 but that was rejected by the union. The Peruvian government instead passed a resolution ordering a US$1.1 a day increase, plus a one-off bonus of US$433. The 1,124 striking workers had been seeking a US$3.3 increase on their US$18.3 daily wage. The rise is backdated to 31 March 2009. 
 
Local press had reported that the strike had cost the company over US$6 million, the claims were denied by the company. Negotiations between the union and company management were brokered by Labour Minister Manuela Garc&iacute;a, and provincial Governor R&oacute;mulo Trive&ntilde;o. 
 
Peru is the world's top producer of silver, and second top producer of copper and zinc.

Peruvian Miners Achieve Wage Gains at Chinese Owned Iron Mine

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Negotiations are presently taking place between the ICEM-affiliated, Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions (IFOU) and the Iraqi Drilling Company, following demonstrations and a workplace strike 24 June, 2009. 
 
Management called in Iraqi security forces, who cordoned off the demonstrators and workplaces. We are informed that only the demonstrators&rsquo; determination and good will prevented violence, given that the management had informed the military forces that the demonstrators were terrorists. Workers left at the end of their working hours but returned on the second day, gathering in front of the worksites and halting operating machines. 
 
Workers submitted their demands to the management which include: reopening the trade union, which had been closed by the Director-General, upon the Minister's directive; re-activating the productivity allowances payments and various other allowances; and moreover, the workers called on the ministry to be patient in the signing of licensing contracts which the ministry want to conclude. 

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Iraq&rsquo;s oil workers are legally prevented from forming unions, based on remaining Saddam Hussein-era laws. The workers have organized nonetheless. The 2005 Constitution calls for new labour laws. 
 
Iraqi oil unions have repeatedly protested working conditions; including pay and housing, and opposition to the draft oil law, viewed as too open to foreign investment. The Oil Ministry has instructed its state oil companies not to deal with the unions and has come down hard in the past, as often reported by the ICEM. See recent ICEM reports on Iraq <a href="/en/67-Search-ICEM-site?keywords=IFOU">here</a>.&nbsp; 
 
Iraq has the world&rsquo;s third largest oil reserves, with considerable potential for increased levels of production. Iraq earns around 95 percent of state income from oil sales, nearly $62 billion last year. 
 
Negotiations are continuing with workers at the Iraqi Drilling Company. The ICEM will report further developments in this brave struggle for trade union rights.

Iraqi Oil Workers Struggle for Trade Union Rights

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In this issue of the ICEM HIV/AIDS newsletter, we report, among other items, on the VCT campaign in Tanzania sponsored by the IG BCE&rsquo;s Women Department, the efforts to include people living with HIV/AIDS in the health insurance scheme in India, and how the 2010 Soccer World Cup can score goals of another kind.
The ICEM Calls on its Affiliates to Contribute to this e-bulletin 
 
ICEM affiliates are already engaged in a wide range of HIV/AIDS activities. To spread the information on new agreements, awareness, and prevention campaigns, and educational activities, affiliates and project coordinators are invited to send news and information to <a href="mailto:hiv.aids@icem.org">hiv.aids@icem.org</a>. Any feedback on the format and contents of the e-bulletin is also welcome. 
 
Editor: Hans J Schwass, ICEM HIV/AIDS Consultant 

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IG BCE Women Support Project in Tanzania 
 
Since their Congress in October 2008, the Women&rsquo;s Department of the German ICEM affiliate IG BCE (mining, chemical and energy workers) has collected funds for an HIV/AIDS project in Tanzania, in cooperation with ICEM affiliates TUICO (industry) and TAMICO (mining). 
 
After extensive preparatory work, which included a workshop for the TAMICO and TUICO Women&rsquo;s Committees, and a refresher course for male and female peer educators and lay counsellors, activities culminated in a &lsquo;Know-your-Status&rsquo; Campaign in Dar es Salam on 13 June. 

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Workers and their families were mobilised through union structures and at the workplaces and by pre-campaign radio announcements. With the technical support from the African Medical and Research Foundation (AMREF), facilities for voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) were set up. 
 
From early morning on 13 June, the Mnazi Mmoja grounds were crowded with people wearing white T-shirts, emblazoned with the four logos of the IG BCE, ICEM, TAMICO, and TUICO, and the slogan of the campaign &ldquo;Know Your HIV Status &ndash; Get Tested&rdquo;, in Swahili. People living with HIV/AIDS gave their testimonies and urged participants to get tested. Condoms and femidoms, as well as leaflets and educational brochures were distributed. 
 
More than 600 people turned up at the grounds and well over half of them queued up in front of the African Medical and Research Foundation (AMREF), tents to be tested. 
 
In this outstanding example of international solidarity, EUR 14,000 has been collected so far by the women of IG BCE. This was the first VCT campaign organised by the trade union movement and as donations are still coming in from IG BCE regional and local structures, it is expected to continue the work in 2010. 
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India: Health Insurance for People with HIV/AIDS? 
 
The National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) is set to make a case for a social security safety net for people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHA). It is exploring the options of getting the Union Labour Ministry's health insurance scheme (RSBY) extended to PLHAs. This health insurance related policy proposal, along with an anti-discrimination Bill protecting PLHAs, and another Bill seeking to protect consumers from being exploited when they procure blood for transfusion, are among the priorities of NACO. 
 
The RSBY scheme was introduced by the Labour Ministry for families below the poverty line in April last year. The Centre or State pays the premium, while the individual pays INR 30 (about USD 0.60) as a registration fee and receives INR 30,000 coverage for hospitalisation for a five-member family. NACO supports PLHAs for HIV-related illnesses, but they are also susceptible to other illnesses such as malaria, appendicitis and heart-attacks, illustrating the need for a social security net. 
 
The anti-discrimination HIV/AIDS Bill, seeking among other things to protect PLHAs at their workplace, has been with the Union Law Ministry for some time. 
 
(Source: Business Line, The Hindu, 3 June) 
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Soccer World Cup Campaign 
 
Authorities in South Africa have begun construction of one of the 20 planned Football for Hope centres in Africa -- part of a 2010 World Cup campaign called &quot;20 Centres for 2010&quot; aimed at reducing the prevalence of HIV/AIDS, poverty and crime in local communities. The centre, under construction in South Africa's Khayelitsha Township, will include a soccer field, community centre and after-school programs that will focus on sex education and HIV/AIDS education. 
 
The International Federation of Football Associations (FIFA) is providing the campaign with $10 million in funding. Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Namibia, Rwanda and other African countries will be home to the remaining 19 centres. According to FIFA President Joseph Blatter, the centres will &quot;provide a platform for communities to address social issues such as children's rights, education, health, HIV/AIDS prevention and will leave a legacy for Africa that will last long after the final whistle of the 2010 FIFA World Cup has been blown.&quot; 
 
(Source: Medical News Today, 28 May) 
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South Africa: President Addresses Increased Access to ARVs 
 
In his first state-of-the-nation address, South African President Jacob Zuma said he wants to have 80 percent of HIV-positive South Africans who need antiretrovirals (ARVs) on them by 2011. The government would strive to step up measures to improve health care in Africa's strongest economy. &quot;We have set ourselves the goals of reducing inequalities in health care ... and step up the fight against the scourge of HIV and AIDS, TB and other diseases,&quot; Zuma said. 
 
Over 630,000 people are on the government's ARV programme currently and provisions are in place to increase that number to 1.4 million by 2011. During his address Zuma also discussed the need for the government to collaborate with stakeholders on a comprehensive plan which aims to reduce the rate of new HIV infections by 50 per cent by the year 2011. 
 
According to the third national &lsquo;HIV prevalence, incidence and communication survey&rsquo;, conducted in 2008 by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC), the percentage of people living with HIV in South Africa has barely changed in the last six years, but the survey revealed that between 2002 and 2008 there were many changes in HIV knowledge, risk behaviour and testing habits. 
 
The findings, based on interviews with about 21,000 individuals, 15,000 of whom agreed to anonymous HIV tests, give a fairly detailed picture of South Africa's mixed success in fighting the largest HIV epidemic in the world. Prevalence appears to have stabilized at about 11 per cent, and infection rates among children and teenagers have decreased, not least because of a significant increase in the use of condoms. 
 
HIV infection in the country's nine provinces still varies widely. KwaZulu-Natal, which has consistently carried the highest burden, now has a prevalence of 26 percent in the 15 to 49 age group, up from 22 percent in 2005; in Western Cape, levels increased slightly from 3 percent in 2005 to 5 percent in 2008, but are still the lowest in the country. 
 
(Source: Medical News Today, 9 June and IRIN PlusNews, 9 June) 

<img alt="" src="" width="40" height="40" />
Namibia: Court Case Highlights Workers&rsquo; Rights 
 
In a landmark case in Namibia, 22 hotel workers are taking their employer and a doctor to court for allegedly testing them for HIV without their informed consent. According to the allegations, the owner of the Oshakati Country Lodge hired a doctor to conduct HIV tests on all the lodge&rsquo;s employees. 
 
The Legal Assistance Centre (LAC) in the capital Windhoek, which is handling the case, said that the test results were displayed on notice boards in the lodge. The LAC is seeking monetary compensation on the basis that the lodge owner and the doctor violated the workers&rsquo; rights to privacy and dignity, as guaranteed by the country&rsquo;s constitution. The case will be heard by the High Court in Windhoek at the end of July. 
 
(Source: IRIN PlusNews, 3 July) 

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Joint Action for Results &ndash; UNAIDS Outcome Framework 2009-2011 
 
UNAIDS recently launched its outcome framework for 2009-2011 called Joint Action for Results. This Outcome Framework, which builds upon the UNAIDS Strategic Framework (2007&ndash;2011), will guide future investment and hold the Secretariat and the Cosponsors accountable for making the resources of the UN work for results in countries. 
 
Under the Outcome Framework for the period 2009&ndash;2011, UNAIDS will focus its efforts on achieving results in eight priority areas. These priority areas have been selected, based on a series of consultations with the cosponsors, communities, civil society, and a broad range of other stakeholders, their realization will accelerate the achievement of universal access. 
 
The eight priority areas include: the prevention of mothers from dying and babies from becoming infected with HIV; treatment of people living with HIV; the prevention of people living with HIV from dying of tuberculosis; the protection of drug users from becoming infected with HIV; the removal of punitive laws, policies, practices, stigma and discrimination that block effective responses to AIDS; stopping violence against women and girls; empower young people to protect themselves from HIV; and enhancing social protection for people affected by HIV. 
 
(Source: UNAIDS website <a href="http://www.unaids.org">www.unaids.org</a>) 
The full document can be downloaded&nbsp;<a href="http://data.unaids.org/pub/BaseDocument/2009/JC1713_Joint_Action_en.pdf ">here</a>. 

<img alt="" src="" width="40" height="40" />
News from the Global Union Federations 
 
The fortnightly HIV/AIDS updates of the International Transport Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITF) report on, among other things, the UNAIDS Outcome Framework 2009-2011, the inclusion of the Guyana Clerical and Commercial Workers&rsquo; Union in the country&rsquo;s Global Fund Coordinating mechanism, and on increased efforts in Ghana to create HIV/AIDS workplace policies (<a href="http://www.itfglobal.org">www.itfglobal.org</a>). 
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This ICEM HIV-AIDS Newsletter &ndash; How to Subscribe or Translate? 
 
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ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin No. 46 July 2009

pulp and paper/pâte et de papier/pulpa y papel

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
The ICEM lodged strong protest a week ago, demanding Turkey President Abdullah G&uuml;l veto a bill giving &ldquo;Private Labour Offices&rdquo; broad rights to place temporary workers in enterprises. On 9 July, President G&uuml;l did veto the bill, and now the ICEM demands the Turkish Parliament not bring it back. 
 
The bill was submitted by Parliament to G&uuml;l in late June after it cleared the legislative body without hearings or direct input from the country&rsquo;s labour federations. The ICEM calls attention to this anti-social fact because global unions are targeting actions in Turkey and Thailand on Day of Decent Work, 7 October 2009, specifically over the precarious labour issue. 
 
The legislation, as written, would have given fees to labour brokers and it would have created a slave market composed of short-term contract workers. The proposal read that any person or entity could establish a private labour hire agency with a modest investment of TL 20,000, or &euro;9,250. 

<img alt="" src="" width="250" height="115" />
&ldquo;We applaud President G&uuml;l and his administration for doing the right thing to veto this,&rdquo; said ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda. &ldquo;We now call on the global community to assist our Turkish comrades to make sure this bill does not surface again.&rdquo; 
 
The ICEM credits Turkey&rsquo;s three trade union federations for immediate and effective opposition to the legislation. The ICEM now calls on the Turkish Parliament to abandon this anti-people measure. 
 
Mustafa Kumlu, President of the Confederation of Turkish Trade Unions (T&uuml;rk-İş), said accurately it would render existing mechanisms between unions and government useless. Kumlu, an ICEM Executive Committee member, said &ldquo;social rights, social security, and other benefits&rdquo; would disappear under this legislation. 

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="161" />
Mustafa Kumlu
In the 7 July letter to G&uuml;l, Warda said creating such a labour system in a society is equivalent to &ldquo;placing dynamite under the social structures.&rdquo; He called it a &ldquo;21st century employment relationship based on slavery.&rdquo; 
 
ICEM work leading up to 7 October and after will partly focus on Turkish failure &ndash; in the eyes of the ILO &ndash; to implement Labour Conventions that the country has already ratified. A focus will also ensure that transparency and fairness become full partners in all social discussions leading to possible Turkish ratification of ILO Convention 181, the Private Employment Agencies Convention. 
 
The ICEM said in the letter to the Turkish government that the proposed law is not in compliance with the EU Directive on Temporary Agency Work, a standard passed in October 2008 that the ICEM insists must be adhered to by Turkey. The ICEM also labels the legislation a misguided response to the economic crisis, and an inhumane practice to even pronounce it as a measure to reduce operating costs.

Turkey: Labour Hire Veto Applauded, More Work Demanded

<img height="39" alt="" src="" width="100" />
With 95% and 85% strike votes over the weekend, 3,500 Canadian miners of two United Steelworkers (USW) branch unions voted to take joint strike action beginning early today against Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (Vale-Inco). 
 
The strike started in northern Ontario province and at a southern Ontario refinery and port. Production from Ontario accounts for 10% of the world&rsquo;s nickel supply, and the Vale-Inco assets in Ontario are considered among the world&rsquo;s richest nickel and plating resources in the world. 
 
The strike came after the USW, in late May, gave the Brazilian-based company a ten-week extension to complete talks. Management continued pressing for a concession-ridden collective agreement in that period, and Canadian miners spoke with one voice and multiple strike lines in total response to the company&rsquo;s social cuts. 
 
Picket lines went up at midnight on 13 July at mines, a smelter, and processing plants in the copper-nickel belt surrounding Sudbury, Ontario, and at Port Colborne, some 400 kilometres south on Lake Erie. USW represents some 3,300 miners in northern Ontario, while USW Local 6200 represents 200 workers at Port Colborne. A strike website has been created, and is <a href="http://www.fairdealnow.ca">here</a>. 
 
&ldquo;We have spoken to all the unions that work in the global operations of Vale and we have their unanimous support as well,&rdquo; said USW President Leo Gerard, himself a native of Sudbury and a member of Local 6500. 

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Leo Gerard
&ldquo;This is a global fight and we are a global union and we will use our global power to fight these concessions.&rdquo; 
 
Vale-Inco&rsquo;s concessionary proposals are many, including a new and reduced pension scheme for new hires, reductions to production bonuses, loss of value in cost-of-living increases, and amendments to contracting-out provisions, which will decrease job security for Vale-Inco workers. 
 
The company is attempting to supplant a defined benefit pension plan with a defined contribution plan for new hires. Other concessions proposed to the pension benefit include removal of the indexing provision and deep cuts to the disability pension. Regarding outsourcing, Vale-Inco seeks to give outside contractors&rsquo; use of the company&rsquo;s moving equipment, a serious threat in mining to full-time, permanent jobs. 

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In a solidarity letter to nickel miners and smelting and port workers of USW Locals 6500 and 6200 in Canada, the ICEM wrote, &ldquo; &hellip; the fact that young workers and old workers at Inco are standing tall and standing together to preserve future incomes&rdquo; is highly commendable. 
 
&ldquo;We must not let corporate greed and a rush to the bottom stop us from choosing the correct path out of financial malaise,&rdquo; said the ICEM letter. &ldquo;In this fight, in a strategic nickel-processing area of the world, union members of Locals 6500 and 6200 have chosen the correct road.&rdquo; 
 
Vale is the world&rsquo;s second biggest mining company. It bought Canadian-based Inco late in 2006. Also in Canada, at Vale-Inco NL, members of another USW branch local&nbsp;are braced to strike on 1 August at Voisey&rsquo;s Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador province. The company takes nickel, copper, and cobalt reserves from northern Labrador. Similar to Ontario, USW Local 9580 had given Vale-Inco a temporary contract extension to resolve bargaining issues, but little positive movement has come from Inco.

Miners of USW Strike Vale’s Nickel Riches in Canada

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The International Union of Food and Agricultural Workers' Association (IUF) scored a victory in its ongoing struggle for the rights of workers at Unilever in June, by reaching a settlement with the multinational to permanently employ members of a union Action Committee at the Rahim Yar Khan plant in Pakistan. 
 
Permanent positions were created for workers, who had previously been employed precariously. Unilever dismissed those workers after they protested against status as fixed-term contract workers. 
 
In October 2007, the IUF began a concerted campaign against the mass dismissals, supported by the National Federation of Food, Beverage, and Tobacco Workers of Pakistan, which was conducted in the country&rsquo;s courtrooms, as well as on streets. The Action Committee was then formed to fight for rights for permanent jobs. 
 
Last month&rsquo;s negotiated settlement was agreed to through mechanisms of the OECD, including applying standards of its Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, which require companies to ensure that all its subsidiaries conform to global labour standards, including ILO Conventions 87 and 98. 

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The 120 new positions were created at the Rahim Yar Khan plant as of 24 June 2009. All Action Committee members were appointed to these posts. Under the terms of the agreement, these workers are to suffer no discrimination or victimization, and will be free to organize and bargain collectively. 
 
Implementation of the agreement will be continuously monitored by the IUF and Unilever. 
 
Despite this positive settlement, Unilever continues its policy to employ large numbers of CAL workers. There has been no improvement to the rights of workers at the Lipton tea factory in Khanewal, Pakistan, which was reported <a href="/en/77-All-ICEM-News-Releases/3015-Support-Needed-for-Contract-Agency-Workers-Forming-Union-at-Unilever-Tea-Factory-in-Pakistan">here</a> by the ICEM in January 2009.&nbsp; 
 
&ldquo;I am encouraged by the news of a just settlement at the Rahim Yar Khan plant,&rdquo; said ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda. &ldquo;This is a step in the right direction, but there is still a long way to go before we succeed in ending the anti-union employment strategies of Unilever.&rdquo; 
 
The Khanewal factory employs just 22 permanent workers, with another 723 hired through six labour agency companies.

Victory Noted for IUF in Unilever Contract Labour Struggle in Pakistan

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