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FUB-CNQ affiliate in Brazil is conducting meetings this week for 40,000 Petrobras oil workers to gain an affirmative vote for a five-day strike against the state firm beginning 19 October. The issue is an inferior pay proposal for active workers, and an inadequate benefit escalator for retirees. The union conducted surprise, 24-hour strikes in early October over four days protesting the company&rsquo;s unwillingness to pay. The two sides are 5.3% apart over this year&rsquo;s increase.

FUB Brazilian Affiliate May Strike Petrobras

A 24-hour strike 20 September by FNV Bondgenoten largely shut down the city of Rotterdam, The Netherlands. The following day saw thousands of workers protesting in The Hague, Utrecht, Arnhem and Eindhoven. FNV and other Dutch unions are protesting government proposals to slash social protections and healthcare. A mass strike over the issue will occur this Saturday, 2 October, beginning at 12:00 noon in Amsterdam.

Bondegenoten Shuts Rotterdam in Protest to Proposed Social Cuts

Canadian affiliate CEP at the same 13 September labour rally and march over health care issued a call to adopt a national pharmacare programme aimed at providing low-cost and accessible drugs to Canadian citizens. The rising cost of drugs, the CEP asserts, has produced a number of examples of bargaining table discord between the union and employers.

CEP Proposes &#039;Pharmacare&#039; Programme for Canada

ICEM affiliate CFMEU was forefront during mid-September international actions protesting building materials firm James Hardie&rsquo;s dodge of asbestos liabilities in Australia. The company in 2001 shifted its headquarters from Sydney to The Netherlands in a move seen as cutting its liability for over 60 years of asbestos exposure to workers in Australia. On 15 September, 20,000 workers rallied across Australia&mdash;still home to the vast number of Hardie shareholders&mdash;while a contingent of mesothelioma victims with trade union leaders including the CFMEU&rsquo;s Lindsay Fraser went to Amsterdam for James Hardie&rsquo;s AGM on 17 September. A damning report on the company was issued September 21 by an Australian state government inquiry, which found that the chief executive had misled investors and the company developed a &ldquo;culture of denial.&rdquo;

Australian Unions Angry Over James Hardie’s Asbestos Cover-ups

The ICEM launched an aggressive global campaign to stem the use of contract and agency labour at a conference in Brussels 16-17 September. Trade union leaders of ICEM affiliates were uniform in their consensus that long-term and wide-ranging strategies are needed to protect the community-enriching benefits that permanent employment offers. Central among all strategies developed will be a programme aimed at primary employers in all ICEM sectors.

ICEM Launches Bold Campaign on Contract and Agency Labour

The hostile Trade Union Act in Nigeria may have begun to fall apart in the country&rsquo;s Senate. Amendments to President Olusegun Obasanjo&rsquo;s union-busting measure passed last week included removal of a &ldquo;no strike&rdquo; clause to the bill, as well as language making all union membership voluntary. The General Assembly&rsquo;s lower chamber began debate late last week with the leader of the All Nigerian People&rsquo;s Party, Salik Ahmed, calling for outright dismissal of the bill.

Nigerian Unions Paring Worst Aspects from Labour Reform Bill

In South Africa at an ethylene plant run by Sasol, seven workers were killed following a gas blast on 1 September. The section of the plant in Secunda, Mpumalanga, where the explosion occurred was down for maintenance while some 450 contract workers and 100 permanent employees worked in the area. Reportedly, a valve was mistakenly opened. It was the third accident at the Sasol complex over the past three months in which deaths occurred. ICEM affiliate CEPPWAWU, one of three unions representing workers at Sasol, is attempting to be part of the investigation team, but the South African firm is trying to limit the probe.

Recent Blast at Sasol in South Africa Kills Seven

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Two life-taking industrial accidents over the past two weeks can be blamed on unsafe work practices of contract labour. On 9 September inside a copper mine near Kure, northern Turkey, a gas leak was ignited by a welding torch that killed 19 workers and injured scores of others. 
The mine had been privatized in February 2004 by Turkish state mining enterprise Etibank, which then shifted all work to Turkish construction firm STFA. Family members of those killed and injured by the torrid fire said many miners lacked oxygen masks and other safety equipment. (The other fatalities occurred at a Sasol chemical plant in South Africa: See Recent Blast at Sasol in South Africa Kills Seven.)

Recent Turkish Safety Fatalities Fault of Contract Labour

The ICEM&rsquo;s first thematic conference will be held this week, 16-17 September in Brussels. In-depth discussion will originate around a thorough working paper that will be presented on contract and agency labour across the world. The conference will develop future campaign activities for the ICEM on the subject of contract and agency labour. Some 140 trade unionists of ICEM affiliates are registered to attend.

Contract and Agency Labour Workshops to he held in Brussels

Progress was made 10 September in negotiations between the Botswana Mining Workers&rsquo; Union (BMWU) and Debswana, the diamond mining operation in the southern African nation. The two sides agreed to a 10% wage hike for 6,000 miners that is retroactive to 1 April 2004, plus a maximum 10% production bonus for 2004-05 with a minimum of BWP 3,500 (US$790). 
In a separate and thornier issue&mdash;the fate of some 500 strikers&mdash; Debswana has agreed to reinstate 100 and continue dialogue on the remaining. BMWU Gen. Sec. Donald Lebotse termed this second set of face-to-face negotiations in the six-week dispute &ldquo;positive engagement&rdquo; and said the firm, a joint venture between DeBeers and the government, has agreed to void the housing eviction notices for all those who were fired while the dialogue continues.

Botswana’s Mining Union Hopes Debswana Dialogue Will Continue

Archive

FUB Brazilian Affiliate May Strike Petrobras

Bondegenoten Shuts Rotterdam in Protest to Proposed Social Cuts

CEP Proposes 'Pharmacare' Programme for Canada

Australian Unions Angry Over James Hardie’s Asbestos Cover-ups

ICEM Launches Bold Campaign on Contract and Agency Labour

Nigerian Unions Paring Worst Aspects from Labour Reform Bill

Recent Blast at Sasol in South Africa Kills Seven

Recent Turkish Safety Fatalities Fault of Contract Labour

Contract and Agency Labour Workshops to he held in Brussels

Botswana’s Mining Union Hopes Debswana Dialogue Will Continue

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