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The 20-million-member ICEM, the predominant global trade union federation in the oil industry, today applauded the victory by Union Sindical Obrera de la Industria Del Petroleo (USO) in Colombia in the 37-day strike that concluded yesterday with state-owned Ecopetrol. 
 
An agreement was reached 26 May between USO and the Colombian government that will roll back newly written contracts with favorable terms to the oil multinationals on the exploration and production of oil fields, thus preserving the company and keeping oil reserves in the hands of the citizens of Colombia. 
 
"We extend our congratulations to the leaders and members of USO in this pivotal strike to keep in Colombia what rightfully belongs in Colombia," stated ICEM General Secretary Fred Higgs. 
 
The victory, in essence, avoids the privatisation of Ecopetrol. The new agreement calls for oil fields now operated by outside firms to revert to Ecopetrol control once the contracts expire. 
 
Some 250 USO members including President Gabriel Alvis who were sacked after the government declared the strike illegal will retain their full pension rights and have an opportunity to win their jobs back through the arbitration process. Ecopetrol management and the government had sought to eliminate oil workers' pensions, as well as reducing the workforce. 
 
The strike, which began 22 April, has caused production losses of up to 500 million Colombian pesos per day (US$180,000), according to published reports by analysts. The government has claimed that contingency plans put in place prior to the strike would not affect refinery or oil field production. 
 
The ICEM spearheaded a global drive among energy unions and other affiliates to back USO by registering direct protests with the Colombian government of President Alvaro Uribe.

Colombia Oil Strike Ends in Victory

T he 20-million-member ICEM, the leading global union federation in the chemicals and pharmaceutical sectors, warned the Serbia-Montenegro government of Vojislav Kostunica to halt immediately the holding and interrogation of trade union leaders by the country's Ministry of Internal Affairs. 
 
Between 18-20 May, trade union representatives of the Federation of Chemical, Non-Metal, Energy & Mining Industries, the ICEM-affiliated section of national union NEZAVISNOST, were questioned about the collective agreement and privatisation agenda of Icelandic generic drug-maker Actavis Group HF, formerly known as Pharmaco, and ICEM contends this is blatant intimidation. 
 
"This incident is completely illegitimate and unlawful," stated ICEM General Secretary Fred Higgs in a letter to the Serbian government this week. "We demand an immediate stop to these police activities. This type of action is an open and flagrant violation of human and basic trade union rights." 
 
The ICEM acted in response to a request from the chemical section of NEZAVISNOST. ICEM's letter of protest was also directed to Dragan Jocic, Serbia-Montenegro Minister of Internal Affairs, and Slobodan Lalovic, the minister of Labour, Employment and Social Policy. 
 
"The Serbian government puts itself in a very tenuous position by restricting trade union rights," Higgs said today. "The ICEM calls on the government to fully respect, and not to impede trade union activity as Serbia grows in trade and development." 
 
The ICEM's letter to Serbia-Montenegro officials was also sent to trade union leaders in Iceland. Actavis (formerly Pharmaco) is a company that has become a prominent pharmaceutical producer in Eastern and Central Europe's generic drug market. In November 2002, it purchased a 70% stake in Serbian drug-maker Zdravlje, and less than a year later bought a 15% share in Serbian drug distributor Velefarm. 
 
In addition to the ICEM's letter to the Serbian government, the global union federation also has called on all 390 affiliated trade unions globally to register complaints with the Serbia-Montenegro government over its restrictive trade union practices.

ICEM Calls Attention to Serbian Labour Harassment

The 20-million-member ICEM has added its voice to fairness and equity in Botswana. Standing firmly behind its mining affiliate, the Botswana Mining Workers' Union (BMWU), the Brussels-based Global Union Federation has lodged two formal complaints in separate mining disputes with the government of President Festus Mogae and the world's leading diamond producer DeBeers Group SA. 
 
The mining disputes revolve around one of the world's richest diamond operations called Debswana, a joint venture between the government of Botswana and DeBeers, and a copper, nickel and cobalt operation in the eastern part of the country near Selebi-Phikwe in which Botswana firm Bamangwato Concession Ltd. (BCL) fired the entire branch bargaining committee of the BMWU following 2004-2005 wage negotiations. 
 
At Debswana, a set of four highly developed diamond mines that accounts for nearly 75% of all Botswana's export earnings, a wage dispute has been brewing since late July for 6,000 miners. The threat of a strike has been blocked by industrial court rulings backed by President Mogae. At issue is a small pay and bonus proposal offered by the government and DeBeers in light of large pay hikes and bonuses already granted salaried staff at Debswana. 
 
"Due to favourable market conditions and increased production at Debswana mines, salaried staff have been rewarded with high bonuses and a double-digit pay hike that's nearly the twice your country's current rate of inflation," wrote ICEM General Secretary Fred Higgs to President Mogae. "Meanwhile, some 6,000 BMWU members primarily responsible for heightened production and spiked revenues are offered miniscule pay increases and promises of bonuses a fraction of what salaried staff received." 
 
In a separate letter to DeBeers Managing Director Peter Ralfe in Johannesburg, Higgs called on the world's leading diamond producer that sees three-quarters of its total production originate in Botswana to involve itself directly in the dispute in "meaningful, face-to-face dialogue with the Trade Union leaders of BMWU." 
 
Saying members of BMWU at Debswana are being treated "like neglected stepchildren," Higgs said it is "small wonder that miners are on the verge of striking, a strike that the ICEM-the preeminent Global Union Federation covering the mining industry-will not only support, but will build a worldwide campaign around." 
 
Debswana's four mines, Jwaneng in the southeast and Orapa, Letlhakane and Damatshaa in the north, make up one-third of Botswana's Gross Domestic Product and 45% of all government revenues. Miners are faced with an inflation rate of 7.5% and devaluation of the country's currency, the Pula, earlier this year. While the joint venture awarded senior staff and managers bonuses of BWP95,000 (US$20,356), the offer to rank-and-file miners has been BWP2,500 (US$536). The percentage pay hikes for 2004-2005 offered also fall far short of those managers received. 
 
A wage agreement for 3,000 unionised miners at the BCL copper-nickel mine near Selebi-Phikwe, majority owned by Botswana RST, appeared to be settled with a 7% incremental adjustment. But then BCL management backtracked on the deal in late July and illegally fired the entire BMWU committee of the Selebi-Phikwe Branch. The reason cited in a letter was that union negotiators possessed financial information that the union considers central to their workplace and essential for bargaining. 
 
"Such flagrant disregard for basic labour rights is appalling!" wrote Higgs to President Mogae. "Collective Bargaining is based on shared information, and through such, a shared trust develops between labour and management that more times than not propels the enterprise to success." 
 
Miners at BCL have threatened to strike over the sackings and issued a petition asking the four top managers of the mine resign. On 17 August, some 250 machinists at BCL did strike, a strike that was not sanctioned by the BMWU. 
 
In part, the BMWU petition states: "We have a management which is obsessed with doing what they call managing the company. They hide behind all manner of rules not to achieve the company objectives but to 1.) Prove that they are the management and have unchecked power to wield; 2.) Frustrate and destroy the union. Their stated intention but which they deny when challenged; 3.) Block all progressive thinking." 
 
The ICEM, with over 400 affiliates in 125 countries, has offered its assistance to the government of Botswana to help settle the disputes.

ICEM Protests Two Mine Disputes in Botswana

Union members of ICEM affiliate Sindicato Unico de Trabajadores del Neumático Argentina (SUTNA) took direct action to win a festering labour dispute with global rubber manufacturer Bridgestone/Firestone. The union and management, with the aid of both the national and provincial labour ministers of Argentina and Buenos Aires, put an 11-month dispute behind them by agreeing to terms 13 September over the illegal firings of 58 workers. 
 
The Japanese company also agreed to begin new talks toward a collective agreement, something managers had refused to do since expiration of a prior contract in 2001. 
 
The dispute began in October 2003 when the company unilaterally implemented a rationalization plan by imposing a new shift schedule at its Llavallol, Pcia, Buenos Aires tyre factory where 700 workers are employed. The work-rule changes circumvented Argentina’s labour code since managers failed to negotiate with SUTNA. Both the provincial ministry and national labour ministry issued rulings last winter against Bridgestone and ordered the company to reinstate the fired workers with backpay. 
 
Despite global union pressure applied by ICEM and the United Steelworkers of America, Bridgestone failed to adhere to the government’s directives until SUTNA union members imposed an eight-day blockade in late June and early July on suppliers delivering materials to the plant. That produced talks mediated by the Buenos Aires labour minister in which the firm agreed to recall nine workers, and a promise of further dialogue. 
 
But with no further progress, SUTNA struck the facility again last week. 
 
The subsequent discussions held inside the national labour ministry produced an agreement by Bridgestone to recall a total of 12 workers and grant all discharged workers full backpay dating to last October plus a level of social benefits exceeding those mandated by law. In addition, the firm will pay a fixed amount to each displaced worker for a period of 20 months and made a commitment to employ these workers on a sub-contracting basis as the need arises. 
 
In the presence of both the provincial and national labour ministers, Bridgestone managers Ariel Dipascuale and Daniel Benvenutti agreed to respect the independence of SUTNA at the Llavallol factory and to begin fresh dialogue toward a new collective agreement. 
 
“We commend the leaders and members of SUTNA,” said ICEM General Secretary Fred Higgs. “Their resolve and perseverance in the face of longstanding employer attacks is a lesson to us all.”

Bridgestone/Firestone Dispute Resolved in Argentina

Seven separate coal mine disasters in China over the past month have claimed 102 lives. On 3 August, 13 miners suffocated after a wooden support caught fire with flames spreading throughout shafts rapidly. The fire occurred at the illegal Taodingshan mine, Handan county, Hebei province. A day earlier on 2 August, a gas leak caused an explosion at the privately-run legal mine of Xingfa in Wenshu township, Henan province,killing 26. Managers of the mine fled the scene after the deadly accident.On 27 July, 14 miners perished due to a gas blast and ventilation shaft collapse at the village-run Fengxiangpo coal mine, Kaiyang county, Guizhou province. On 23 July, four miners were poisoned and died underground by gas at a mine in Tanghou village, Shaanxi province. And in the same province on 19 July at the Jinsuo mine near Tongchaun, 26 coal miners were killed when a gas explosion occurred. On 17 July, four miners were trapped by flooding while three escaped at the small-scale Xigou mine in Xin’an county, Henan province. On 14 July, a faulty explosives detonation caused collapse of an underground cave full of water, drowning 16 miners. That happened at the Fusheng mine near Xingning city, Guangdong province. Authorities in China on 21 July closed a total of 5,290 mines in which owners had failed to apply for safety permits.

Death Again Visits China's Coal Mines

An ongoing lockout by an investment house against chemical workers of US affiliate International Brotherhood of Boilermakers (IBB) has reinforced the ruthlessness capital wreaks on US unions when a manufacturing enterprise changes hands. 
In Meredosia, Illinois, chemicals company Celanese owned by equity trader Blackstone Group locked out workers 6 June, four months after buying the emulsions, adhesives and polymers plant. 
<img height="147" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/USABoilermakers.gif" width="125" alt=""/>
The crime of the 148 workers: refusal to accept steep concessions to their health care plan, opposing the company's plans to lose 41 jobs to contract labour and dissatisfaction with a three-year wage freeze. When workers again voted down the proposed cuts late in June, Celanese responded by harshly proposing 20-40% pay cuts. The ICEM has issued a Circular to all affiliates, and trade unions across the world are encouraged to respond to IBB Local Branch 484.

Harsh Lockout of Boilermakers Union in US

In South Africa, a statement was released by a coalition of trade unions, including ICEM affiliates NUM and National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA), expressing serious concern about possible job losses after the merger of the 7 power distribution business units of Eskom and those of the municipalities, consisting of 187 licensed municipal distributors. According to an industry restructuring document, about 1,000 jobs could be lost a year. The report contradicts statements by the Electricity Distribution Holdings (EDI), the state-owned company set up to reform the sector, which said that no jobs would be lost during the restructuring.

Unions Fear SA Electric Merger Migh Mean Job Cuts

In Jordan, ICEM affiliate, the General Trade Union of Workers in Mining and Metal Industries, decided to postpone a strike mid- August until 27 August. The decision was taken to give the managers of the Jordan Phosphate Mines Company (JPMC) at the Shidiyeh mines some more time to meet with the workers' demands. The dispute, in which the union president, Khalid Fanatsah, is taking a leading role, is on housing units to be built for the workers by the company. Support for the workers reportedly came from the king of Jordan himself, His Majesty King Abdullah, who announced that the units should be distributed to the workers.

Tension Remians at Jordanian Phosphatre Mine

Over the course of the summer, an asbestos scandal hit Japan and has been getting a lot of press attention ever since. According to reports, around 3,000 people die every year from asbestos cancer in Japan and it is feared that these numbers may rise considerably in the coming years. When in 1987, lobbyists began to call for a ban of crocidolite, used, amongst other purposes, in Japanese schools, the government failed to take the necessary action. Similarly in the 1990s, when a move to ban asbestos was blocked after "relentless opposition from within the asbestos industry."

Asbestos Issue Surfaces in Japan

The Global Employee Forum of Norwegian pulp and paper producer Norske Skog has issued a strong statement in support of ICEM affiliate Fellesforbundet. The union is seeking to keep open a 380-worker book and newsprint mill in Skien, Norway, called Norske Skog Union. But the company is intent on closing in order to reduce capacity even though buyers have lined up to acquire the mill. The firm’s Global Employee Forum has charged management that it has not “prioritized and not taken advantage of the book market’s shortage of book paper.” Norske Skog has said “no to inquiries from customers in this market” and the employees’ forum calls on the company to exhibit the necessary social responsibility to “see that production at Norske Skog Union is maintained, at least with new owners.”

Norske Skog Workers Protest Closure of Norwegian Paper Mill

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