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The ICEM-affiliated Belarusian Independent Trade Union (BNP) conducted a heated Congress in Soligorsk on 16 April, resulting in a change of union leadership. After a day-long debate that resulted in a narrow &ndash; 32-29 &ndash; no-confidence vote for the current leadership, the body elected Nikolai Zimin as chairman. 
 
Zimin, a mineworker, is a machine operator employed at state-owned JSC Belaruskaliy and works in the company&rsquo;s potash and potassium chloride operations near Soligorsk. He is a ten-year trade union activist and had served as secretary-treasurer, and then deputy chairman of BNP. He defeated incumbent Vasiliy Korobov and challenger Sergei Antusevitch in a three-way race, with Zimin getting nearly three times the vote total as runner-up Antusevitch.
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In the ballot for deputy chairman, incumbent Nikolai Novik withdrew his nomination after the no-confidence vote, and Antusevitch and Yuriy Shvets, an oilworker at Gazprom&rsquo;s Mozyr refinery, were elected co-deputy chairmen. Aleksandr Korolev was elected secretary-treasurer. 
 
BNP is affiliated to the Belarus Congress of Democratic Trade Unions, and both the fledgling national labour centre and BNP face continual suppression and harassment at the hands of Belarus dictator Alexander Lukashenko and the Belarus Federation of Trade Unions (FPB). 
 
BNP is engaged in serious struggles to gain rightful trade union recognition from Belarusian regional authorities, including at Delta Style, a garment maker (see <a href="-Local-Government-Blocks-Women-Garment-Workers-in-Organising">ICEM report</a>) and at OJSC Naftan, a polymer and chemicals operation.

BNP of Belarus Elects New Union Leadership

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A 24-hour warning strike that started a week ago by Solidarnosc representing the majority of 22,000 workers at Poland&rsquo;s Jastrzębska Spolka Weglowa (JSW) in Silesian coal mines has produced negotiations with the state-run company. Those talks started last Thursday and will continue tomorrow, 26 April, in Katowice, along with the provincial Committee on Social Dialogue. 
 
Miners took industrial action in resistance to the government&rsquo;s plan to list JSW, Europe&rsquo;s largest coking coal producer, on the stock exchange. They are also seeking a 10% wage increase from a state company that has seen hefty earnings, posting net profits of &euro;300 million, or US$422 million in 2010. The government, meanwhile, is anxious to proceed with the listing on 30 June because of current high raw materials costs for steel production. 
 
The government is making the case that listing on the Warsaw Stock Exchange will improve JSW&rsquo;s position in the marketplace because of greater access to funding for mine development and clean coal technology. Government officials were critical of the industrial action, saying that such social action &ndash; despite being legal &ndash; devalues the company. 
 
The state is offering free-of-charge shares to JSW staff as it intends to float 30% of JSW, while retaining 51%. However, the door has been left open to future sales of shares.
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The warning strike and blockade of coal exiting five JSW mines on 8 April came ten days after miners voted by 95% in a referendum for industrial action. A total of 78.5% of the 22,000 miners participated in the vote. 
 
If JSW is privatised, the mineworkers&rsquo; unions seek a 10-year guarantee of employment. Because of the current negotiations, unions cancelled another strike that was to occur tomorrow. The one-day warning strike last week is said to have cost the company PLN 30 million, or &euro;7.6 million (US$11 million). 
 
JSW is the first of the major coal producers in Poland that the government seeks to privatise. In the middle of 2012, it intends to sell Katowicki Holding Weglowy (KHW), a thermal coal producer employing 19,200 workers. Unions there have already agreed to a redundancy scheme that will see about 1,000 miners take early retirement by the end of next year. The government intends to combine KHW with the state-run export company Weglokoks in the 2012 public listing.

Warning Strike Ends, Negotiations Start in Southern Poland Coal Fields

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In a first for the European chemical sector, the European Mine, Chemical, and Energy Workers&rsquo; Federation (EMCEF) and the European Chemical Employers&rsquo; Group (ECEG) signed a framework agreement outlining job profiles for process operators and front-line supervisors.
Signed during a 15 April conference between the social partners that was held at the offices of CSC B&acirc;timent-Energie in Brussels, the agreement is termed &ldquo;Competence Profiles for Process Operators and First Line Supervisors in the Chemical Industry.&rdquo;
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&nbsp;ECEG&rsquo;s Simon Marsh, EMCEF&rsquo;s&nbsp;Reinhard Reibsch, ECAG&rsquo;s Jean Pelin
The pact defines a set of four minimum core competencies and training for both occupations and is described by EMCEF as &ldquo;a strong example of how the trade unions and employers in the chemical sector have worked to help businesses and workforces through the global economic crisis and build a platform for sustainable growth.&rdquo; 

The agreement is set up to deliver equal quality and value of education and training across EU nations, and was negotiated to support the &ldquo;Europe 2020&rdquo; goals of the EU. It also references mobility across Europe in the chemical sector and establishes core competence benchmarks for national qualifications, national vocational education and training for both workers and managers in their human resource development. It also contains a principle encouraging dialogue between workers and companies on job design and development. 
The framework compact says it is not an alternative to national provisions already underway in place, nor shall it impact collective bargaining agreements or remuneration levels in the European chemicals sector. Yearly reports on actions taken under the agreement will be presented to the sector&rsquo;s social dialogue forum, and full evaluation will take place after three years. 
The signing came during a day-long social partners&rsquo; conference entitled &ldquo;Framework Agreement in the Field of Education, Training, and Lifelong Learning.&rdquo; A panel on the topic of the agreement included Alfons de Potter of CSC B&acirc;timent-Energie, Belgium, and Jan Kilmes of Odborovy svaz ECHO of the Czech Republic.
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Coincidentally, on the same day &ndash; 15 April &ndash; the European Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation and the Council of European Employers of the Metal, Engineering and Technology-based Industries (CEEMET) issued a joint statement, both applauding the European Commission on recognising the importance of an industrial base and urging the body take further decisive action to strengthen that base in order to meet &ldquo;Europe 2020.&rdquo; 

In part, the statement calls on the Commission to exhibit leadership and responsibility, urging strong coordination between the different Directorate Generals. &ldquo;CEEMET and the EMF underline that there are strong links between industrial and social policy. Only sustainable competitive industries can create high quality jobs and an effective industrial policy fosters the social dimension of Europe.&rdquo; 

In addressing restructurings, the statement credits sector and company level decisions in finding temporary solutions to recent economic challenges. But it also states that in a quickly changing economic landscape, &ldquo;there will still remain a need for rules on employment which provide sufficient adaptability and flexibility for companies to meet that chance.&rdquo;

EMCEF, Chemical Employers Sign Process Operators, Front-line Supervisors Pact

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Pressure on the Finland Forest Industries Federation (FFIF) ratcheted upward last week, even as a <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4363-Proliitto-Strike-in-Finland-Against-Paper-Firm-UPM-Continues">two-week strike by Ammattiliitto Pro</a> &ndash; representing 1,000 white-collar, technical, and clerical workers &ndash; ended at 20 workplaces of leading Finnish paper producer, UPM. 

That pressure was mainly caused by Stora Enso, which has tried to bully shift managers and others in breaking an overtime ban by the ICEM affiliated salaried workers&rsquo; union, Ammattiliitto Pro. If there is no result from national conciliation talks set for tomorrow, a second two-week strike will start on Tuesday, 26 April, a day earlier than originally planned because of employers abusiveness,&nbsp;and&nbsp;will target Stora Enso and Mets&auml;liitto, which include the latter&rsquo;s partly-owned paper companies &ndash; Mets&auml;-Botnia, M-real, and Mets&auml; Tissue. 
 
Some 1,500 Ammattiliitto Pro are prepared to take legal stop-work actions this week in this second full strike. 
 
Top-level supervisors at Stora Enso have proven to be the serious offenders in this month-long dispute. After attempting to force overtime on salaried personnel at the Imatra mill ten days into the lawful overtime ban of 1 April, 350 white-collar employees of Stora Enso and maintenance contractor Efora walked off jobs for two days on 14 April. That was repeated by 100 Pro members of Stora and Efora at the Oulu mill on 21 April when supervisors threatened and coerced workers to break the overtime ban.
<img alt="" src="" width="300" height="200" />
Stora Enso Imatra&nbsp; 

The problem started when management verbally attacked and then threatened Pro shop stewards who were trying to enforce the overtime ban. In Finland, it is illegal to apply pressure or sanctions on workers over lawful industrial actions. Pro&rsquo;s job actions were legally certified by the Finnish government in March. 

&ldquo;We have zero tolerance when a company attacks our shop stewards over actions that are legal,&rdquo; said Ammattiliitto Pro's chief negotiator for Pulp and Paper, Jukka H&auml;m&auml;l&auml;inen. &ldquo;These actions have only hardened our members&rsquo; desire to get what they justly deserve.&rdquo; 

The dispute, with Stora Enso now the antagonist, was compounded last week when Stora management at its global financial service centre in Kotka ordered 35 clerical workers to train replacement workers brought in from Tallinn, Estonia, in preparation for the two-week strike starting now on 26 April. Workers refused and on Wednesday morning, 20 April, the Pro members began their Easter weekend early. 

Although FFIF did offer a token national pay increase in government talks on 19 April, that offer still falls short of what Pro and 4,000 of its members employed in pulp and paper demand. That is a pay package structured on current work skills and work requirements in a sector that has seen rampant job losses in Finland. 

Considering the egregious actions by one employer, the labour relations climate in this sector is pitched, traditionally an aberration in Finnish labour relations but something occurring more and more frequently. The growing discontent of Pro members caused by the heavy-handedness of one company, in turn, has put pressure on FFIF to reach satisfactory terms to end the dispute.

Paper Dispute in Finland Worsens; Strike Expands

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from the ITGLWF 
 
The Global Union representing workers in the garment industry last week released a damning report on working conditions in Asian sportswear supply chains. 
 
Says Patrick Itschert, General Secretary of the International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITGLWF): &ldquo;This report highlights how factories supplying multinational sports and garment brands, many of whom will be fitting out teams for the London 2012 Olympics, are routinely breaking every rule in the book when it comes to labour rights.&rdquo; 
 
The report focuses on conditions in 83 factories in Sri Lanka, the Philippines, and Indonesia which together employ over 100,000 workers.
<img alt="" src="" width="180" height="138" />
ITGLWF General Secretary Patrick Itschert
Through worker interviews and surveys, researchers uncovered a litany of workers&rsquo; rights abuses, including the widespread suppression of the human right to join or form a trade union by means of harassment, bribes, the failure to renew short-term contracts, and even factory closure. In Indonesia, the majority of trade union officials reported that they were denied the basic facilities to enable them to adequately perform their duties. In Sri Lanka, the Board of Investment promotes the use of Employee Councils as a form of worker representation, but the workers interviewed had no way of raising concerns at these Councils and unions expressed frustration that they are used to undermine true freedom of association. 
 
Not one of the 83 factories surveyed was reported to pay a living wage, and workers in the Philippines explained that they were so destitute by the months&rsquo; end they had no choice but to pawn their ATM cards in exchange for loans. Some factories denied workers the legal minimum wage, while others linked the payment of basic wages to unachievable production targets which workers struggled desperately to meet. 
 
Although international labour standards restrict overtime to 12 hours a week on a voluntary basis, workers told researchers they regularly work up to 100 hours of overtime per month. In many cases workers could not refuse overtime. In Sri Lanka, workers who tried to leave at the end of their shift were denied permission to go and harassed by their supervisors. 
 
Contract, agency and other precarious workers, who comprised 25% of the workforces covered, were found to be particularly likely to suffer exploitation. Although these workers were paid even less than their permanent counterparts, they told researchers they feared they would lose their job if they complained. 
 
Concludes Itschert: &ldquo;The multinational companies sourcing from these factories need to live up to their rhetoric and ensure that every single workplace in their supply chains complies with national law and international labour standards.&rdquo; 
 
Key findings of the report (based on research carried out in the final quarter of 2010): 
 
Freedom of Association: 
 
 Freedom of Association is widely suppressed by means of harassment, bribes, the failure to renew short-term contracts and even factory closure. 
 Employees Councils are used by employers to undermining freedom of association in Sri Lanka. 
 Trade Union officials in Indonesia are targeted with huge workloads that are designed to prevent them from conducting union activities at lunch or after work. They face abuse if they fail to meet those targets. 
 In one factory in the Philippines the majority of the CAL workers unionised and notified the employer. The employer immediately began a sustained harassment of union members and subsequently decided to close the factory without any prior notice or payment of wages, severance payments and benefits due. 
 
Contract and Agency Labour (CAL): 
 
 Up to 85% of employees in the factories in Indonesia and the Philippines are employed on short term contracts or on a temporary basis. 
 Systematic circumvention of the law through the use of 5 month contracts in the Philippines. 
 CAL workers are paid less, rarely receive legally mandated benefits, and have lower levels of unionisation for fear or non renewal of contracts. 
 
Forced Overtime: 
 
 Workers in all three countries are frequently forced to work in excess of 100 hours overtime per month. 
 In Sri Lanka workers at one factory workers are forced to work 130 hours overtime per month - the equivalent of 3 full weeks additional work each month. 
 At one factory in Indonesia researchers recorded that management had locked 40 workers that failed to meet production targets in a small room, without water or ventilation for 3 hours at time. This is reportedly a regular occurrence at the factory. 
 At the same factory workers are forced to work up to 160 hours overtime per month. 
 
Wages: 
 
 Not one of the 83 factories surveyed pays a living wage. 
 30% of surveyed workers in the Philippines are paid below the minimum wage. 
 CAL workers earn as little as 33% of the wage of a permanent employee. 
 The wages of some workers in Sri Lanka are linked to productivity targets rather than the legally stipulated daily rates. 
 At two factories in Indonesia workers would have to work 15-20 years to secure a loyalty bonus to make up for non payment of minimum wage. This bonus has never been paid to a worker. 
 
Gender: 
 
 On average 76% of the workforce is female 
 In the Philippines women are more likely to be employed on short term and temporary contracts 
 4 factories in Sri Lanka forced prospective employees to take pregnancy tests before an offer of employment is made.

ITGLWF Finds Horrid Work Conditions in Asian Sportswear Chains

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The Thai Industrial Gases Labour Union (TIGLU), part of ICEM affiliate Petroleum and Chemicals Workers&rsquo; Federation of Thailand (PCFT), benefited from a two-day training course presented by the German union, IGBCE, in Saraburi province, Thailand. The union achieved a new collective agreement with Linde at 13 Thai worksites immediately after, indicating the success of the workshop. 
 
The agreement, signed last week on 20 April and running for three years, will see Linde pay 50% to the provident fund for workers with one-to-two years&rsquo; service, and 100% after two years. It also grants three days of paid paternity leave and increases the number of holidays for more senior workers. 
 
Paid union leave was also won, which will prove valuable for trade union leaders in training and labour education, and health care coverage is now extended to retirees until the end of the calendar year in which they retire. TIGLU has had a rather contentious relationship with Linde Thai management, and the IGBCE training is seen as perhaps a benchmark toward a new, more positive relationship. 
 
The new agreement covers 851 workers at the 13 workplaces.
<img alt="" src="" width="240" height="180" />
The 16-17 April training was a follow-up to last year&rsquo;s founding of an Asia-Pacific Network of Workers for trade unions of Linde, a German-based global producer of industrial gases. 
 
The training was expertly organised by Yoon Hyowon, ICEM Asia-Pacific Project Coordinator, and included IGBCE&rsquo;s Michael Wolters presenting an explanation of the German system of collective agreements and how to improve relationships with management. ICEM Thai Project Coordinator Aranya Pakapath also participated.
<img alt="" src="" width="240" height="180" />
The workshop provided information on trade unions, the labour laws and political situation in Thailand, and a writing session to improve the writing skills of TIGLU colleagues. Further, Wolters organised a work group to prioritise bargaining demands and to gather collective arguments related to each demand. 
 
All 18 participants from TIGLU felt secure in their upcoming arguments with management and gained realisation of the German management perspective. TIGLU and Linde&rsquo;s prior 21-month collective agreement expired on 21 March.

German IGBCE’s Training with Thai Union Ends in New Linde CBA

Unions Make Work Safer: Today, 28 April, Every Day

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Uni&oacute;n Obrera Metal&uacute;rgical (UOM), the national Metalworkers&rsquo; Union of Argentina, reached accord with six employers&rsquo; associations recently in wage negotiations for 2010. Some three weeks after mandatory government reconciliation stopped a scheduled 10 April strike, the UOM and four employer groups agreed to a two-phase wage increase for 2010 that totals 26.5%. 
 
In early May, two other employer federations &ndash; the household goods association (FEDEHOGAR) and the metallurgical industry association (ADIMRA) &ndash; agreed to the salary package, which gives a 15% increase backdated to 1 April with another 10% due on 1 July 2010. The latter increase will be adjusted according to inflation, and workers should realize 11.6%. 

<img alt="" src="" width="250" height="116" />
The contracts cover 260,000 workers and will run until 31 March 2011. The four employer federations that initially agreed to terms included the small and mid-size metallurgical chamber (CAMINA), the auto and other component association (AFAC), electronic parts manufacturers (AFARTE), and the related metals industry association (CAIAMA). The UOM affiliates to the ICEM on its members in the nuclear power sector. 
 
The union had sought a one-stage 25% adjustment, which it said would cover what was lost due to Argentina&rsquo;s high inflation rate in 2009. Initially, employers offered 15% in three stages, but amended that to 20% in three phases upon the threat of a strike. 
 
The metals pact in Argentina is expected to serve as the benchmark for bargaining in other industrial sectors. Javier Sanchez of the UOM&rsquo;s Nuclear Branch credited UOM Secretary-General Antonio Cal&oacute; with leading difficult negotiations in delivering just wage adjustments for metalworkers without an industrial conflict.

Metalworkers in Argentina Negotiate 2010 Wage Gains of 26.5%

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The ICEM affiliated Kuwaiti union, the Oil and Petrochemical Industries Workers&rsquo; Confederation, vehemently opposed a Privatisation Bill that passed through the Persian Gulf country&rsquo;s Parliament, especially the inclusion of the oil industry of the country. 
 
The ICEM had closely monitored the situation since the legislation received strong backing in Parliament, on Thursday 15 April. Thirty-three MPs backed it, including the entire cabinet. This backing moved processing of the Bill to the Financial and Economic Committee of Parliament, where significant opposition moved the Committee&rsquo;s secretary, MP Yusif Zalzlah, to announce on 3 May that the panel advised against the inclusion of the oil and natural gas sectors in the legislation. 
 
The ICEM will remain alert to the threat of this legislation returning in the future, as MP Zalzlah stated that the government will remain &ldquo;very flexible&rdquo; on the issue in the future. 

<img alt="" src="" width="120" height="120" />
The Oil and Petrochemical Industries Workers&rsquo; Confederation opposed privatisation of the oil sector, seeing it as a transfer of government assets into the hands of a small number of wealthy individuals. The confederation, which serves as the umbrella organisation for six unions representing Kuwaiti workers in the sector, pointed to the recent privatisation of petrol stations in Kuwait, which saw high levels of job losses. 
 
A total of 94% of Kuwait&rsquo;s revenues come from oil. ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda, in a letter to members of the Kuwaiti Parliament, stated, &ldquo;Kuwait&rsquo;s system of cradle-to-grave welfare is an example to all around the world; we believe strongly that the handing over of your oil assets would seriously jeopardise this welfare system.&rdquo; See the full letter <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/39.ICEM.Kuwait.Parliament.Oil.10May.pdf">here</a>. 
 
The Privatisation Bill was passed by Kuwait&rsquo;s Parliament on 5 May, but did exclude oil and gas production, as well as health and education. The bill angers Kuwaiti trade unionists, especially in sectors that were privatised. One trade union leader was forcibly removed from the public gallery during the parliamentary debate, for shouting slogans against the law. 
 
The new law will be effective in six months time and opens up public services to private ownership. A &ldquo;Higher Privatisation Council&rdquo; will be created, to be headed by the Prime Minister, and this council will oversee sale of public assets. 
 
There will be some regulation, with the law ensuring that when a public company is sold, 40% of its shares must first be offered for sale to Kuwaiti citizens, followed by 20% to be held by government, and 5% to Kuwaiti employees. The remaining 35% will be sold at auction to a local or foreign investor. 
 
In Kuwait&rsquo;s oil sector, striking workers at the Mina Al-Ahmadi oil refinery returned to work 14 May after a five-day strike was resolved. Workers at the utility unit, employed by the Kuwait National Petroleum Co., were protesting a cut in the workforce. Mohammad al-Hamlan, deputy president of the workers' union, reported that management had agreed to the union&rsquo;s demands, ending the strike. The utility unit workers had been joined in solidarity by the facility&rsquo;s tank farm workers since 11 May. The refinery is the country&rsquo;s largest, with production of 460,000 barrels per day.

Kuwaiti Oil Workers Succeed in Damping Sector from Privatisation

The annual ICEM Asia-Pacific Regional Contract and Agency Labour (CAL) seminar took place in Singapore on 18-19 April. The seminar, hosted by the ICEM with the assistance of Germany&rsquo;s Friedrich-Ebert Foundation (FES), brought together 52 delegates, including representatives of the ICEM, the Building and Wood Workers&rsquo; International (BWI), International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF), International Textile, Garment, and Leather Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITGLWF), Public Services International (PSI), and Union Network International (UNI). 
 
Union leaders and activists from 14 Asian countries, members of the Western European Team of experts from Denmark and Sweden, and representatives of the ICEM Secretariat and the FES attended the meeting, spoke about the impact of precarious employment in their countries, and shared strategies which they had developed to deal with CAL issues. 
 
ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda had been scheduled to attend the seminar, but was unable to do so because of the disruption to European flights caused by volcanic ash from Iceland. 
<img alt="" src="" width="241" height="181" />
Participants discussed how CAL is being used to undermine the right to freedom of association, by companies who are letting go of permanent staff and hiring temporary workers in their place. Participants also discussed how the global economic crisis is being used by multinational companies as an excuse to reduce their permanent workforce, despite the fact that CEOs are receiving ever increasing pay packages. 
 
The participants proposed a number of next steps, including that unions should make CAL a priority issue and prioritise organising of CAL workers; that they should cooperate in campaigning at a national level for legislation which would make user enterprises responsible for agency workers;, and that collective bargaining should fully include CAL issues. 
 
Participants also proposed that a workshop be arranged to discuss how dialogue can best be arranged with labour-hire agencies to assure that labour rights and standards are upheld.

Global Union Federations Gather in Asia-Pacific Region to Develop CAL Tactics

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