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New England Teamsters Union members, 400 strong including trade unionists of another American union, are effectively blockading 20 cement plants and terminals of Swiss-based Holcim subsidiary Aggregate Industries in the US states of Massachusetts and New Hampshire. 
 
The strike, and subsequent sympathy strikes by other branch Teamster locals and Operating Engineer locals, started 16 August when Holcim&rsquo;s American and UK subsidiary implemented work terms making drivers and plant operators part-time workers. The ICEM intervened late last week, stating this in a letter to Holcim CEO Markus Akermann: 
 
&ldquo;ICEM affiliates, together with BWI, represent hundreds of thousands of workers at Holcim and other cement plants throughout the world. We will expose your actions and make this a truly global campaign, starting right here in Switzerland.&rdquo; 
<img alt="" src="" width="110" height="109" />
Last week&rsquo;s strike actions find global justification because Aggregate Industries unilaterally implemented part-time work status at one facility while legally engaged with the union in negotiations at the same time. Truck drivers and operators of Teamsters Local 170 diligently had worked for Aggregate Industries for five months past expiration of a prior labour agreement. Holcim rewarded that loyalty by taking the decision that it could and would reduce work-day time to four hours without negotiating with the union. 
 
Following the walk-out by Local 170 teamsters, supportive trade unionists from Teamsters Locals 25 and 379 in New England downed tools at other Aggregate Industries plants, as did members of the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE). A few of these local branch unions have upcoming contract expirations with the national cement-products producer, and workers across Holcim&rsquo;s New England operations clearly recognize that such a one-sided work rule is tantamount to social dumping. The ICEM applauds the actions of cement drivers and workers in New England, and pledges all necessary support. 
 
The ICEM reiterates its demand that Holcim in Switzerland take responsibility for this labour breach and immediately rescind the unilateral implementation of reduced working hours. To negate social dialogue over an economic issue of this depth is counter to the principles that Holcim supposedly adheres to. 
 
Holcim bought Aggregate Industries, active in several US and UK regional markets, in 2005. Early in 2010, Zurich-based Holcim merged Aggregate Industries US fully with Holcim US to create a single business unit.

American Teamsters Union Strikes Holcim Cement Subsidiary

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Global trade union and civil society outrage was heard loud and clear last week by the latest setback to reconstruction in Iraq. The Iraqi government, on 20 July, invoked a ministerial order to shut and seize all offices and property of electrical workers&rsquo; trade unions. 
 
Within a day of the order, police were inventorying equipment, furniture, and files of several electrical workers&rsquo; union across Iraq, including those of two ICEM affiliates &ndash; the Electrical Power Workers&rsquo; Union of the Federation of Workers&rsquo; Council Unions of Council (FWCUI) and the General Union of Electricity Workers and Technicians (GUEWT), affiliated to the General Federation of Iraqi Workers (GFIW). GUEWT President Hashmeya Muhsen Al-Saadawi said the police were polite, yet forceful in cataloging and closing offices. 
 
In Iraq, issuance of the order and implementing it within a day is a record. Normally, administrative orders can take weeks and months to put in place. In this case, the anti-union bias of Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani is evident. He has only recently been appointed Acting Minister of Electricity. The order states that trade union leaders who stand in the way of the closures will be charged under Iraq&rsquo;s 2005 Terrorism Act. 
<a href="http://www.iraqitradeunions.org/cgi-bin/campaign1.cgi"><img alt="" src="" width="320" height="184" /></a>
-Click for campaign website 
 
Last week&rsquo;s targeting of electrical trade unions stands as a malicious muscle-play by the government to keep a ban on all public-sector unions. That ban, Order 8750, was imposed by the occupation forces in August 2005, and, in turn, had upheld a Saddam law from 1987 that banned free and independent trade unions. The electrical raids also serve as stark reminder that meaningful labour law in Iraq will be very difficult under leaders of this government. 
 
The ICEM and many other unions and NGOs, including Amnesty International, immediately protested. On 22 July, ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda wrote to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki: &ldquo;This order is a direct affront to all trade unions in Iraq, particularly trade unions such as the GUEWT that ICEM and its affiliated unions across the world have been working with in order to establish free and democratic institutions for the betterment of all Iraqi people.&rdquo; (The full letter is <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/76.ICEM.Iraq.Electric.22july.pdf">here</a>.) 
 
In another letter, this one to new UK Foreign Secretary William Hague by Trades Union Congress (TUC) General Secretary Brendan Barber, the decree was labeled &ldquo;a violation of the Iraqi constitution, and one of the most draconian acts by the Iraqi Government since the fall of Saddam. It comes from Hussain al-Shahristani, the Minister for Oil, who has recently taken over the electricity portfolio and has a worrying track record of using Saddam-era labour laws against trade unions.&rdquo; 
 
The TUC began a campaign on LabourStart to protest this willful action, and that can be joined <a href="http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/solidarityforever/show_campaign.cgi?c=740 ">here</a>. 
 
In Iraq by week&rsquo;s end, there was discrimination against trade union leaders who attempted to gather to discuss the sudden closures and seizures. At one such gathering that took place outside the offices of an electric enterprise, police came by to verbally assault trade unionists. In Basra on 22 July, union leaders did meet with some members of the Basra Governorate Council to discuss the aggressive and illegal, under Article 22 of the Iraqi Constitution, ministerial order 
 
The ICEM urges trade unions and activists to engage the Iraqi government by joining the LabourStart campaign.

Outrage at Iraq’s Raids Closing Electrical Workers’ Offices

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Labour, management, and the Liberian government celebrated the signing on 28 June of the second collective agreement between ICEM-affiliated Firestone Agricultural Workers&rsquo; Union (FAWUL) and Firestone Rubber Plantation. Some 4,500 workers and their families will again benefit when the two-year contract takes effect in December 2010. 
 
The ever-evolving labour-management relationship between FAWUL and Firestone is fast becoming a showcase in modern industrial relations for the administration of Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. 
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Labour Minister Taiworn Gongloe stated at the celebration that the social relationship &ldquo;has broken from the past,&rdquo; and thanks to enlightened leadership coming from the President, the rights of workers and the interests of the company both are now guaranteed. Added Firestone Managing Director Charles Stuart, &ldquo;What we're celebrating here is the result of management and employees working in a peaceful and respectful manner. Without you we are nothing and together, anything can happen.&rdquo; 
 
It was only a short three years ago that FAWUL was fighting the last vestiges of an illegitimate yellow union that had been propped up by Firestone management for decades. Following free and open elections, and an ambitious years-long union-building project by the US-based United Steelworkers (USW), FAWUL won union certification in 2007. (See ICEM reports <a href="/en/77-All-ICEM-News-Releases/2511-ICEM-Calls-on-Liberia-to-Recognise-Correct-Trade-Union-at-Firestone-Rubber-Plantation ">here</a> and <a href="/en/77-All-ICEM-News-Releases/2526-ICEM-Welcomes-Liberia's-Certification-of-Legitimate-Firestone-Union ">here</a>.) 
 
A year later, on 27 July, FAWUL won its first collective agreement, giving workers a 24% pay increase backdated 19 months, reducing a quota system on tapping natural rubber from trees, and granting new schools and free tuition for the sons and daughters of workers. 
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This second contract goes further: a 3.5% wage increase, the construction of more schools and school transportation, and perhaps the most important gain, a mechanized transport system to haul the rubber latex to weigh stations. For decades, workers had to haul 150-pound buckets of rubber sometimes miles on their shoulders to the stations. 
 
FAWUL Secretary-General Edwin Cisco said the months long bargaining was hard and arduous, but that a &ldquo;new day of social dialogue between management and workers has begun and the days of confrontation and agitation are over.&rdquo; 
 
&ldquo;This is a major success story in so many ways,&rdquo; stated ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda, &ldquo;and we should never lose sight of the fact that the Steelworkers Union of America did the hard and difficult work up front to make it happen. We commend the workers, FAWUL leadership, and Firestone Rubber management, and see a long, productive, and precedent-setting relationship unfolding inside Liberia.&rdquo;

FAWUL, Firestone Rubber Plantation in Liberia Sign Second Two-Year Pact

On April 20, 2010 there was an explosion on the drilling rig &quot;Deepwater Horizon&quot;. 
 
Eleven oil workers were killed. Two days later the rig sank in an ocean of fire. Oil is flowing completely uncontrolled and is still doing so after almost two months. 
 
We do not know what caused the blow out. The ICEM-IMF-ITGLWF Sustainability conference will however declare that: 
 
1) an independent and open inquiry must be held, and trade unions should be granted full insight in the process; 
 
2) at all times the responsibility rest solely on the operator; 
 
3) blow out prevention (BOP) systems should have remote control capabilities, for instance acoustic signal actuators, in addition to traditional BOP controls; 
 
4) when working in new areas, deep water, and other special conditions, it must be demanded that more than one rig be present in the area to ensure safer evacuation in case of an emergency and to be able to start drilling a relief well in case of a blowout. Two months after the blowout in the Gulf of Mexico, it is a catastrophic disaster that the drilling of a relief well had not been started; 
 
5) sufficient and effective oil booms and/or other means to collect oil spillage must be available or in place in all areas where offshore drilling takes place; 
 
6) the demands of deregulation must be reversed. More regulations are needed and the &quot;best available technology&quot; must be demanded, at least in all new and challenging areas.

Global Governance Includes Better Governance of Oil Companies

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The ICEM affiliate in Peru, the National Miners&rsquo; and Metalworkers&rsquo; Union (FNTMMSP), have ended a 10 day strike at Chinese-owned iron ore miner Shougang Hierro Peru and accepted a deal proposed by Ica region's labour department (DRTI). Acting as arbitrator to the dispute, the DRTI proposed a 3.1 sol (US$1.10) per day raise for the 1,600 mineworkers and a 93 sol (US$35) per month increase for non-mineworkers, as well as a one-time bonus of 1,000 soles. 
 
The original proposal, made by the national Ministry of Labour, offered workers a one-time bonus of 900 soles, as well as a wage increase of 87 soles for non-mineworkers and 2.9 soles for miners. Rejecting this offer, workers began an indefinite strike on 28 June. Operations at the Marcona mine were also halted in March as a result of a three-day strike by workers, see ICEM report <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/3697-Peru’s-Doe-Run-Miners-Reach-Agreement-Ending-Strike">here</a>. 
 
Shougang is Peru's only iron ore producer, output in the first quarter of 2010 was 1.47 million tonnes, a 45.4% increase on last year. 
 
The strike, halting production, caused the company major losses and Shougang was forced to declare force majeure on iron ore shipments. 
<img alt="" src="" width="160" height="120" />
FNTMMSP General Secretary, Luis Castillo Carlos
Elsewhere in Peru&rsquo;s mining industry, US-owned Doe Run continues to refuse to restart operations at the polymetallic smelter in the town of La Oroya, as a 27 July deadline approaches. Before restarting operations, the company is asking for flexibility to pay taxes and fines, as well as modification of a 1997 privatization agreement that would protect the firm and its parent company from environmental lawsuits abroad. 
 
Doe Run Peru also requested the government to delay application of environmental standards at the La Oroya complex. The area is described as one of the most polluted areas in the world. 
 
While the company continues to dodge government demands, workers have been without work. One possible solution considered by Doe Run Peru is to relocate operations entirely, this would decimate the economy in La Oroya and neighbouring Junin region, and Doe Run Peru workers will not accept relocation plan. 
 
Doe Run Peru is an affiliate of the New York-based Renco Group.

Peru’s Shougang Mineworkers End Strike, Achieve Wage Gains

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ICEM Brazilian affiliate, Confedera&ccedil;&atilde;o Nacional do Ramo Qu&iacute;mico (CNQ/CUT), at its 6th congress, elected Antenor Eiiji Nakamura, of the Chemical Workers Union of S&atilde;o Paulo, known affectionately as &lsquo;Kazu&rsquo; to the position of National Coordinator. CNQ Congress was held from 28 June to 2 July in Recife. 
 
The unanimity of the vote was important for Kazu who praised the internal unity of the CNQ, even more significant as the 1 July Congress was the organisation&rsquo;s largest in terms of number of participants. 
 
Kazu, elected for the period 2010-2013, identified expansion of the organisation as a key challenge now. 
<img alt="" src="" width="182" height="219" />
CNQ/CUT National Coordinator, Antenor Eiiji Nakamura
Antenor Eiiji Nakamura, Kazu, began political participation in the Ministry of Youth in the East Zone of S&atilde;o Paulo. He participated in the student movement while studying Philosophy at University, and working in the chemical industry. Joining the union in 1988, he moved on to head the Department of Education and International Relations at CNQ-CUT. 
 
In total, the CNQ-CUT leadership is made up of 39 activists; this list was confirmed by Congress, also for the term of 2010-2013. ICEM Vice-President Sergio Novais was elected as treasurer.
<img alt="" src="" width="279" height="186" />
Photos - Dino Santos 
 
The congress debated a host of issues from international trends to the national situation which is marked by the elections scheduled for later in the year. CNQ sectors were analysed in detail together with the production chains. In addition there was an in-depth discussion of the paper, oil and pharmaceuticals industries, which are currently booming in Brazil. Other topics that were debated were trade union structures and organisation, contract and agency labour, reductions in working time, health and safety, profit sharing, corporate social responsibility, gender and race relations and youth. A special publication was presented on women which includes research on the profile of women workers in the chemical industry in five Brazilian states. The publication was sponsored by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES). 
CNQ/CUT is the largest industrial trade union federation in Brazil, representing workers in chemicals, pharmaceuticals, rubber, glass, ceramics, and other process manufacturing sectors. 
 
In the framework of these visits to Brazil, ICEM General Secretary made a stopover for talks with BASF management in order to get social dialogue with the workers&rsquo; regional network back on track.

Brazilian CNQ-CUT Elects New Leader

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The ICEM French trade union affiliate, the Federation of Chemical and Energy Workers (FCE-CFDT) Union, elected Jean-Fran&ccedil;ois Renucci to the post of General Secretary, with the 48 year-old succeeding Patrick Pierron, who&nbsp;served seven years as General Secretary. 
 
Jean-Fran&ccedil;ois Renucci was unanimously proposed by the union&rsquo;s Federal Executive and subsequently elected by the Federal Steering Committee. Renucci began in his new role on 1 June, as the federation&rsquo;s third general secretary. 
 
The FCE-CFDT has described their new General Secretary as a dedicated trade unionist, with the necessary determination and experience to lead the trade union action of the federation, during turbulent financial conditions, globalisation, and ever-changing social conditions. 
<img alt="" src="" width="197" height="222" />
Jean-Fran&ccedil;ois Renucci
Jean-Fran&ccedil;ois has identified social dialogue as the key in the effort to improve conditions and rights of workers, individually and collectively. According to the new general secretary, collective bargaining is the only way to ensure fair treatment of employees in small, medium, and large sized companies. Jean-Fran&ccedil;ois has been involved in negotiating collective agreements in all sectors and at all levels, local, national and international, and he has consistently identified mutual respect, trust and confidence as key factors to success of collective bargaining. 
 
Jean-Fran&ccedil;ois has made communication and participatory debate a priority for effective decision making, and the internal democracy of the federation. He hopes that in changing the general secretary, the organisation will not change its line or direction, but will give a renewed impetus to continue to implement decisions agreed collectively. 
 
The ICEM salutes and thanks outgoing Patrick Pierron, and congratulates Jean-Fran&ccedil;ois Renucci.

Jean-François Renucci Becomes FCE-CFDT General Secretary

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The negative impacts of the Thai government&rsquo;s unjust National Verification process continue to hit Burmese migrant workers in the country, as they are deported to Burma and suffer human rights abuses at the hands of Burmese ethnic militia, Thai officials and numerous brokers. 
 
The ICEM supports calls for an independent investigation into the claims, to be headed by the United Nations, especially in light of Thailand holding the Presidency of the UN Human Rights Council currently. The allegations are very grave indeed, with mentions of torture, forced labour and systematic corruption. 
 
Migrant workers from Burma in Thailand make up 5-10% of the Thai labour force. 
 
According to fresh reports, Burmese migrants who are arrested by Thai officials are transported to a checkpoint on the Thai-Burmese border, on the Moei River, known as &ldquo;Gate Zero&rdquo;. The checkpoint is controlled by the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA), a proxy militia of the Burmese regime. 
<img src="" width="250" height="115" alt="" />
In the weeks since the National Verification order was issued, thousands of migrant workers have been arrested throughout Thailand and sent by police bus to Mae Sot, where their personal details are recorded and they are deported by boat across the river to Gate Zero. 
 
Upon arrival at Gate Zero the DKBA demands 1,200 baht (US$37) for a deported person's release, and offers a return trip to Bangkok for 10,000 baht. 
 
Local labour activists believe the proceeds from these fines are shared between the DKBA, brokers and Thai officials. 
 
The fine is huge for migrant workers, and many are unable to pay. In these cases, the worker&rsquo;s family is informed of the need to pay the release money, with the worker detained and in some cases tortured.

Burmese Migrant Workers in Thailand Suffer Gross Human Rights Abuses at Border

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The 8th General Assembly of the European Mine, Chemical and Energy Workers&rsquo; Federation (EMCEF) was held on 30 June-1 July in Paris, France, hosted by the organisation&rsquo;s French affiliates within CFDT, CGT, FO and CFTC, with around 130 participants from various European countries. 
 
According to the statutes of EMCEF, during the period between Congress&rsquo;s, the General Assembly is convened as a forum to discuss important political issues with an authority to implement decisions taken by the Congress and to review EMCEF&rsquo;s policies, without the right to change the statutes. 
 
The General Assembly was attended by two guests, namely Kemal &Ouml;zkan, Chemical and Rubber Industries Officer of ICEM and Peter Scherer, General Secretary of the European Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (EMF). Patrick Itschert, General Secretary of ITGLWF and ETUC:TCL could not be present in the meeting because of other obligations and sent his apologies. 
<img alt="" src="" width="200" height="150" />
EMCEF President Hubertus Schmoldt
In his opening speech, EMCEF President Hubertus Schmoldt pointed to the financial crisis, its effects on social issues and unemployment as well as joint European policies in the crisis environment. He particularly underlined mass youth unemployment in Europe, which is more than 20% on average, even around 40% in some European countries. Referring to the Presidium meeting which took place just before the General Assembly, Schmoldt explained the importance of the creation of a new European Industrial federation in the metal, chemical, energy, mine and textile sectors. 
 
EMCEF General Secretary Reinhard Reibsch submitted his Secretariat report to the General Assembly on the following issues: 
 
a. European Integration 
i. Lisbon Treaty, new EU Council President, new EU Commission, EU integration process (Iceland, Croatia, Turkey) 
ii. Belgium Presidency with an agenda of EU2020 Strategy, Financial Supervision, Social Issues, Energy and Climate Change, Strengthening EU&rsquo;s external action 
iii. Recent Elections in some EU countries, particularly in the UK and Hungary 
iv. Important Changes by the Reform Treaty 
v. Financial Policy 
 
b. Activities of EMCEF Committees: 
i. Industrial policy, health, safety and environment committee &ndash; implementation of REACH and ECHA, nanotechnology, climate change, impact of crisis 
ii. Social dialogue committee &ndash; sectoral social dialogues in chemical, electricity, gas, extractive industries and pulp/paper sectors. 
iii. European Works&rsquo; Councils committee &ndash; formation of new EWCs, renewal of list of country coordinators, joint work with EMF and ETUC:TCL 
 
EMCEF Political Secretary Jorma Rusanen gave a report on the activities of the Collective Bargaining Committee. He highlighted the collective bargaining database developed through the Eurocob@n project, Europe-wide collective negotiations at sectoral and company levels and mandate procedures, discussions on EU&rsquo;s Working Time Directive (WTD) and Posting Directive (PWD). 
 
Delegates from Spain, the UK, France, Poland, Italy and Germany took the floor and raised their concerns on modification of two EU directives which could result in precariousness in employment, climate change, future of Europe&rsquo;s energy sector through valorisation of national raw materials and reinforcing manufacturing jobs through innovation in the industries. The report of the Secretariat was unanimously adopted. 
 
One major agenda item of the General Assembly was the creation of a new European Industrial Trade Union Federation by EMCEF, EMF and ETUF:TCL. President Hubertus Schmoldt explained the situation, by making reference to the resolution of the previous General Assembly in Istanbul, Turkey in 2006 on closer cooperation with other European Industry Federations and the decision of the EMCEF Congress in Prague, Czech Republic in 2008 towards creation of a new European Federation as well as a number of decisions of the Presidium and Executive Committee. 
 
EMF General Secretary Peter Scherer reported that creation of a new organisation is a political project rather than a technical one at a time when all the partners are in good situations in terms of finances and organisational structures which give great opportunity to focus on political aspects commonly affecting the whole manufacturing chain. The EMF was reported to be prepared to continue to work under&nbsp;one united&nbsp;umbrella organisation in Europe in the future which would make industrial unions much more powerful vis-&agrave;-vis employers and politics. 
<img alt="" src="" width="200" height="150" />
A&nbsp;new European Industrial Federation, will provide an opportunity for each European trade union federation to share its strengths, in order to become a common force. In this period of massive crisis for industry, the new federation will aim first to meet the needs of local trade union and company representatives at European level. It is also mentioned that the identity of the 3 founding federations should therefore be reflected in the composition of the leadership of the new federation. The aim is also foreseen to: 
a. create a new industrial federation, and therefore no fusion/absorption; 
b. build around an ambitious, common platform; 
c. optimising strengths and complementarities, through the right balance between &ldquo;pooling certain elements/synergies&rdquo; 
d. while maintaining a strong sectoral identity, especially in view of the fact that EMCEF has the widest sectoral coverage of all 3 federations. 
 
It was also noted that the Presidents and General Secretaries of the three federations, at their meeting on 25 March 2010, came out in favour of setting up a joint working group. This working group will in its composition reflect the regional diversity of the three organisations and be composed of representatives from the affiliates who carry a political responsibility. The three general secretaries will function as the secretariat for this working group. In this way the need for conducting deliberations in a transparent and democratic manner will be ensured. The respective statutory bodies, as well as all affiliated organisations, will be informed and consulted systematically for each step of the works.&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 
The Presidium&rsquo;s motion on the future European federation was unanimously adopted by the General Assembly. 
 
The General Assembly also adopted the following resolutions: 
a. Mandate Procedures proposed by Presidium and Executive Committee 
b. <a href="http://www.emcef.org/Bodies/GA/2010/Motions/GA2010-DemographicPolicy-EN.doc">Pensions, retirement and lifelong work</a> &ndash; an EMCEF policy on demography proposed by Collective Bargaining Committee 
c. <a href="http://www.emcef.org/Bodies/GA/2010/Motions/GA2010-EWCPolicy-EN.doc">Multinational Company Policy</a> proposed by European Works Councils Committee 
d. <a href="http://www.emcef.org/Bodies/GA/2010/Motions/GA2010-ClimateChangeMotion-EN.doc">Climate Change Policies</a> proposed by Industrial Policy Committee 
e. <a href="http://www.emcef.org/Bodies/GA/2010/Motions/GA2010SDMotion-EN.doc">Instrumentalisation of Social Dialogue on European and national level</a> proposed by Social Dialogue Committee 
f. <a href="http://www.emcef.org/Bodies/GA/2010/Motions/FITEQA-CCOO-FIA-UGT-EmploymentRights-en.doc">Protection and development of the European social model depends on the protection and extension of employment rights worldwide</a> proposed by FITEQA-CC.OO. &amp; FIA-UGT (with some changes by the Motions Committee) 
g. <a href="http://www.emcef.org/Bodies/GA/2010/Motions/Petrolis-motion-en.doc">Dialogue with the Regional Energy Trade Unions Network of South Eastern Europe (RETUNSEE)</a> proposed by Turkish union Petrol-Is (with some modification by Motions Committee) 
h. <a href="http://www.emcef.org/Bodies/GA/2010/Motions/Petrol-Is-EmergencyMotionGaza.doc">Gaza blockade, separation wall and solidarity with Palestinian workers and their unions</a> proposed by Turkish union Petrol-Is (a new text prepared by the Motions Committee was adopted) The General Assembly condemned the &quot;brutal and unacceptable attack by Israeli forces on the peaceful humanitarian flotilla carrying aid to Gaza.&quot; 
i. <a href="http://www.etuc.org/IMG/pdf_04-EN-Supplement-Resolution-Crisis.pdf">The Worsening Crisis &ndash; Europe at Risk</a> &ndash; an ETUC resolution was passed 
 
The General Assembly ended with the closing speech of EMCEF President Hubertus Schmoldt. Defining the General Assembly as an historic one, he announced that on the basis of the mandate given by the General Assembly, the Working Group for the creation of a new European Industrial Federation will be organised on 8 July. EMCEF will be represented by a group to be composed of its President, General Secretary and five other members representing different regions. It was also announced that on 29 September there will be a demonstration organised by ETUC in Brussels where EMCEF affiliates should also be present.

8th General Assembly of EMCEF, 30 June - 1 July, 2010, Paris, France

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Participants of the recent Joint ICEM-IMF World Conference on Sustainability, June 18-19, Toronto, Canada, adopted unanimously a statement regarding the British Petroleum (BP) oil well blow-out in the Gulf of Mexico. 
 
The statement demands an independent and open inquiry into the causes of the Deepwater Horizon disaster, a process to which trade unions should be granted full insight. 
 
In the years prior to the 20 April oil rig explosion that caused the current disaster, BP had repeatedly made assurances that &ldquo;best available technology&rdquo; is in use in all its operations. It has since become clear that this was not true at the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig operation. The Statement demands that &ldquo;blow out prevention (BOP) systems should have remote control capabilities, for instance acoustic signal actuators, in addition to traditional BOP controls&rdquo;.
<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="86" />&nbsp;&nbsp; <img alt="" src="" width="90" height="88" />&nbsp;&nbsp; <img alt="" src="" width="85" height="85" />
The participants at the Toronto Conference included 270 trade union leaders from the industrial and manufacturing sectors of some 50 countries, affiliated to the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine, and General Workers&rsquo; Unions (ICEM), and the International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF), and the International Textile, Garment, and Leather Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITGLWF). In total, the number of workers represented by these organisations and their affiliates exceeds 55 million people and includes the most important unions in the petroleum sector, worldwide. 
 
Local sponsors of the event in Canada included the Communications, Energy, Paperworkers Union of Canada (CEP), the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW), the Power Workers Union (PWU), the United Steelworkers (USW), and the International Association of Machinists (IAM). 
 
See the full statement <a href="/en/97-Sustainable-Development-Health-and-Safety/3897-Global-Governance-Includes-Better-Governance-of-Oil-Companies">here</a>.

ICEM, IMF, ITGLWF Affiliates Demand Better Governance of Oil Industry

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