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ICEM Latin America/Caribbean affiliate Oilfields Workers&rsquo; Trade Union (OWTU) of Trinidad and Tobago was proud to have ICEM President and National Union of Mineworkers (South Africa) President Senzeni Zokwana keynote its 24-25 July Delegates Conference. Over 300 militant OWTU members attended the conference inside the proud union&rsquo;s headquarters in San Fernando, with OWTU terming opening day and Zokwana&rsquo;s keynote a &ldquo;momentous occasion.&rdquo; 
 
His theme was &ldquo;The Only Way Out of the Global Economic Crisis: an Independent Workers&rsquo; Agenda and Solidarity Actions.&rdquo; Comrade Zokwana highlighted the need for independent trade unions to engage political activism and collective mass action in solidarity with workers everywhere. He also addressed the necessity for unions to fight hard to always retain the right to strike and other protests. 
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Ancel Roget and Senzeni Zokwana
&ldquo;Your conference is taking place at a critical time when the global political economy is facing major challenges,&rdquo; said Zokwana. He added that the crisis has sent sharp signals to trade unions and citizens in the developing world &ldquo;that capitalism as a system cannot deliver.&rdquo; 
 
The Delegates&rsquo; Conference also reviewed the OWTU&rsquo;s Report of the General Council, which confirmed that the country&rsquo;s most powerful union, led by General President Ancel Roget, is continuing OWTU traditions of placing workers&rsquo; interests first on the agenda of Trinidad and Tobago. 
 
The conference ended on a high note on 25 July with delegates&rsquo; expressing full commitment to OWTU&rsquo;s &ldquo;Rescue Mission,&rdquo; a programme whereby the OWTU lends solidarity to all workers in struggles, with a series of community meetings held in areas affected by employer neglect and labour strike.

ICEM President Zokwana Addresses OWTU Delegates’ Conference in Trinidad/Tobago

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Last week, ICEM North American affiliate United Steelworkers (USW) pulled out of talks with the American Petroleum Institute on developing two new safety standards, worker fatigue and a set of process-safety performance indicators. 
 
The discussions originated with a 2007 US Chemical Safety Board report investigating BP&rsquo;s deadly Texas City, Texas, oil refinery explosion, which killed 15 contract workers in March 2005. The Safety Board recommended that labour unions and the industry lead a working group to develop the two standards in the aftermath of the disaster. 
 
The USW formally withdraw from the process on 4 August, citing skewed industry representation on the committee and lack of earnestness toward transparency issues, overtime work, and contract labour questions inside US refineries regarding safety. 
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Gary Beevers 
&ldquo;This industry will simply not get serious about developing standards that have real meat in them,&rdquo; said USW Vice President and ICEM Executive Committee Member Gary Beevers. He added that USW realised its work on the committee was being met by industry wanting &ldquo;as few regulations and mandates as possible.&rdquo; 
 
USW sought to introduce transparency measures by proposing to make public all safety failures in facilities. The union also wanted manning levels monitored and increased due to an industry practice of constant overtime and continuous work that has led directly to worker fatigue. USW was met with resistance on this, saying industry has called it strictly a &ldquo;management rights issue, and their solution is to force overtime.&rdquo; 
 
In a news release announcing the withdrawal, the USW was sharply critical of an American Petroleum Institute statement claiming injury rates inside refineries average less than in other manufacturing sectors. In fact, the union said, the industry drew data only on refinery workers that are directly employed by a primary energy operator, and failed to account for injuries, accidents, and deaths of contract employees. 
 
The work group is charged with developing two new standards for the American National Standards Institute. It had been composed of representatives from 22 oil companies and only three trade union representatives, with government and other stakeholders serving as well. 
 
The American Petroleum Institute responded defensively to USW&rsquo;s withdrawal. In a statement, also issued on 4 August, it charged the union with undermining the process and &ldquo;trying to silence the voices of other stakeholders on the committee.&rdquo; Beevers, in an interview with the Houston (Texas) Chronicle newspaper, called industry&rsquo;s assertion &ldquo;absolutely ridiculous.&rdquo; 

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Leo Gerard
Amerca&rsquo;s largest industrial union forewarned of management&rsquo;s recalcitrance to improve safety and health inside the downstream oil and gas sector in collective agreement talks that concluded early in 2009. After making health and safety the primary topic in the negotiations, USW was stonewalled on the issue, with USW President Leo Gerard saying &ldquo;the industry refused to allow us to be equal partners with them in resolving health and safety problems.&rdquo; 
 
The USW will now conduct a survey related to the two proposed standards and then use it in a direct and targeted campaign in order to get the US Chemical Safety Board to recommend proper fatigue and process-safety standards.

Steelworkers Say US Oil Industry Tainting Safety-Practice Standards

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Contract workers at a Petrobras refinery called Get&uacute;lio Vargas, in Araucaria, Paran&aacute; state, achieved considerable advances in working conditions and salaries, following a strike. The 17-day work stoppage ended Monday, 27 July, after agreement was reached between the Central &Uacute;nica dos Trabalhadores do Paran&aacute; (CUT-PR) and the state-run company. 
 
The talks chaired by the National Ministry for Labour. 
 
Gains achieved by the unions include a minimum monthly salary of US$726, a 10% increase, a new food and housing allowance of US$150, and improvements to overtime. Overtime from Monday to Saturday will be paid at 60% above regular work rates, and on Sundays and holidays, 120%. Workers will now also receive a hazard allowance, health and life insurance, and bonuses linked to profits made by Petrobras. 
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Roni Anderson Barbosa 
&quot;The negotiation has fulfilled its purpose. We gained a good collective agreement for most workers,&quot; stated Parana State President of CUT, Roni Anderson Barbosa. 
 
There are 31 contract companies operating at the two plants in Araucaria, employing around 10,000 workers. The CUT Parana mobilised support and solidarity, nationally and internationally, for the workers of Repar Fosf&eacute;rtil, during negotiations.

Agreement Ends Oil Workers’ Contract Strike in Brazil

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A full season of biannual wage negotiations is nearly complete, following several fierce but short strikes in a handful of ICEM sectors. Other sectors, including public service and the construction trades witnessed raucous strikes in July. 
 
In mining, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) settled major gold and coal contracts covering 200,000 miners without strikes, while another ICEM affiliate, the Chemical, Energy, Paper, Printing, Wood, and Allied Workers&rsquo; Union (CEPPWAWU) was forced to take industrial actions against companies in the chemicals, pulp and paper, pharmaceutical, and fast Moving Consumer Goods in order to achieve wage objectives. 
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One set of negotiations that remains contentious is in electricity, with ICEM affiliates NUM and the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) poised to take protest and industrial actions this week against Eskom. The state-run utility, Africa&rsquo;s largest electrical provider, and the unions are not far apart in negotiations, talks now being conducted by South Africa&rsquo;s Commission for Conciliation, Mediation, and Arbitration (CCCM). 
 
The agency presented a mediated offer of 9.5%, but the unions, including a third one, seek an increase in housing allowances on top of a first-year 9.5% increase. Eskom has remained fixed on offering only 8%, but that is likely to change this week as industrial actions draw closer. Some 29,000 workers are employed at Eskom, with NUM representing 16,000 and NUMSA covering 5,000. On 5 August, the two unions held a joint strategy meeting and charted a common course of action for the coming days. It will start with a march and mobilisation scheduled for Thursday this week, 13 August. 
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It is unclear what shape industrial actions will take against Eskom since, by law, the power generator and supplier is considered an essential service. A majority of workers at Eskom would be exempt from striking. But the unions are prepared to stretch the law in order to win fair wage gains. &ldquo;Our workers are angry, they are very angry and they are prepared to get fired by Eskom if need be,&rdquo; said NUM&rsquo;s Eskom Chief Negotiator, Paris Mashego. 
 
Elsewhere in South Africa, wage discussions that now are complete show better than inflation gains. The Consumer Price Index had been 8% or higher during most of the second quarter, but dropped to 6.9% late in June. The rand has weakened of late, which should help the country&rsquo;s export-oriented economy and the major hope is that the jobs situation will improve. 
 
CEPPWAWU used nine-day rolling strikes against several employers to win wage increases ranging from 8% to 10% for 45,000 workers. Companies that faced walkouts included industrial chemicals firms Sasol, Omnia, and Afrox; pulp and paper producers Sappi and Mondi; pharmaceutical companies GlaxoSmithKline, Pharma, and Indigo Cosmetics; and Fast Moving Consumer Goods, such as Unilever, Colgate, and Tiger Brands. Strikes lasted from 20 July to 29 July. 

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CEPPWAWU negotiates with industry associations or companies in ten separate areas, including petroleum, glass, sawmilling, tissue and allied, particle board, and Sasol Mines. In petroleum, a two-year accord was reached with such companies as BP, Shell, PetroSA, Engen, and Chevron&rsquo;s Caltex without a strike. The agreement calls for a 9.5% increase effective 1 July, with another 0.5% hike coming in January 2010 that will be based in June 2009 wages. 
 
In 2010, petroleum workers will receive the South African inflation rate then, plus 1.5%. They will get another 0.5% increase in January 2011. 
 
A priority for CEPPWAWU in this set of talks was extending paid maternity leave, and abolition of labour brokers and upgrading jobs held by casual workers to permanent status. In pharmaceuticals, where 10% gains were realised, and in Fast Moving Consumer Goods, maternity leave was extended to six months, at 33% of pay. 
 
As for the NUM, the gold and coal contracts were concluded for the first time without dispute resolution involvement by the CCCM. On 28 July, NUM settled with the mining houses in both sectors. In gold, with AngloGold, Harmony, and Goldfields leading the way, miners will see 10.5% for lower-classified staff and 9% for those in the higher categories. In 2010, the increase will be inflation plus 1%, with a minimum increases of 7.5% guaranteed. 
 
In coal mining, where BHP Billiton, AngloAmerican, and Xstrata dominate, lower-tiered miners receive 11% retroactive to 1 July, with higher classified workers getting 9%. 
 
The NUM is in dispute with Murray and Roberts, a contract mining and construction services company, and with Two Rivers Platinum, jointly owned by African Rainbow Minerals and Impala Platinum. Talks with the major platinum producers are continuing. 
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Fierce strikes were waged by the NUM in mid-July against construction companies, specifically on the FIFA 2010 World Cup stadium, and by the South African Municipal Workers&rsquo; Union (SAMWU) late in July. Satisfactory wage terms were reached in both, ending the strikes. The Communications Workers Union (CWU) is still in dispute with several companies, including Telkom.

Eskom Strike Looms, But South African Pay Talks Wind Down

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At the 26th Constitutional Convention of the US&rsquo;s largest national labour center last week in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, delegates elected Richard Trumka as president. Trumka, a member of ICEM-affiliated United Mine Workers&rsquo; of America (UMWA), had been serving as secretary-treasurer of the AFL-CIO since 1995. 
 
A third generation miner from western Pennsylvania, Trumka pledged to reinvigorate the American labour movement by recruiting more young people into the ranks of organised labour. In his acceptance speech, Trumka promised to build &ldquo;a new kind of labour movement &ndash; one shaped to meet the needs of Americans in a changing economy.&rdquo; 
 
Trumka succeeds John Sweeney of the Office, Professional Workers&rsquo; Union, who retired after three terms as head of the AFL-CIO. A labour attorney by training, Trumka worked in the Legal Department of the UMWA starting in 1974. In 1982, he was elected as president of the UMWA, a position he held until joining Sweeney as part of a new AFL-CIO leadership team in 1995.
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Arlene Holt-Baker, Richard Trumka, and Liz Shuler&nbsp; 
 

Elected last week to replace Trumka as secretary-treasurer of the 56-union, ten-million-member federation was Liz Shuler, a member of the Electrical Workers&rsquo; Union (IBEW) from the state of Oregon. She served most recently as executive assistant to the president of the IBEW. Elected as executive vice president was Arlene Holt-Baker. A member of the public employees&rsquo; union, AFSCME, she has held that position since 2007 after being appointed by the AFL-CIO Executive Council . 
 
Among some 70 resolutions passed, two dealt with Iraq. One called on US President Barack Obama&rsquo;s administration to use its influence on the Iraqi government to adopt internationally-accepted work rights, including passage of an ILO-written labour law that assures the legitimacy of trade unions in Iraq. The other calls on the US government to end its military occupation and bring a speedy withdrawal home of both troops and US armed contractors from the Middle Eastern country. 
 
Another resolution calls on the US to sanction the military regime in Honduras by withdrawing the US ambassador, freezing assets of those responsible for the June 2009 coup, and for the US government to seriously consider suspending all trade with Honduras until Manuel Zeleya is restored as President of a democratic Honduras.

US Mineworker, Richard Trumka, Elected Head of AFL-CIO

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ICEM French affiliate F&eacute;d&eacute;ration Chimie-Energie (FCE-CFDT) denounced market reforms that the government of France recently announced and has planned for EDF, the state-run electricity provider. In a statement issued 17 September, FCE-CFDT said reforms proposed by the government would put at risk the entire enterprise if it had to share revenues from nuclear generation with competitors.
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Electricity market reform in France, with a proposed effective date of 1 July 2010, would destabilize the company, FCE-CFDT warns, with competitors able to buy power at rates far below EDF&rsquo;s production costs. The union said such reforms would also prevent the competition from engaging in their own investments, and calls for a plan that would mandate all electricity providers to make investments. 
 
Further, FCE-CFDT states that although there are supposed safeguards in the reform plan, nothing in the plan would protect consumers from electricity price hikes. The union is calling for the French energy regulatory body, the Commission Champsaur, to re-work its proposals, giving redress to economic development issues, social cohesion, and climate change challenges.

FCE-CFDT Issues Caution Against French Electric Reform Concerning EDF

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The profitable electrical and gas distributor National Grid Plc. has provoked industrial actions in the UK with plans to outsource service work to India. British trade unions GMB and Unison, representing some 2,500 workers, are planning further strike actions in company operations in the near future. 
 
The first such strike, a 24-hour one, occurred on 11 September when workers at a service center in Newcastle walked off jobs and manifested at a public square. Some 181 invoicing, procurement, and other jobs could be lost in Newcastle if National Grid gets its way to offshore jobs. Hundreds of other jobs are at risk in the company fulfills its planned agenda.
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&nbsp; 
Further job actions likely will occur in Warwick and Newcastle. National Grid is the major owner and operator of electric grid distribution and gas distribution in England and Wales, serving 52 million customers. It also controls lucrative electric and gas distribution networks through its private enterprises in the US. 
 
GMB National Secretary Gary Smith says it is &ldquo;absolutely immoral&rdquo; that the company would consider turning its back on UK workers and transferring work to India. &ldquo;It is a shameful example of corporate greed that a hugely profitable UK business is threatening to sack loyal and dedicated staff.&rdquo; 
 
National Grid posted profits of &pound;3 billion in 2008 and the company and workers have identified &pound;3 million in cost savings. Yet, National Grid has already narrowed a search to two contract companies that would outsource the service work to India. 
 
GMB and Unison are getting strong support from North American ICEM affiliate Utility Workers Union of America (UWUA). In a recent trip to the US, Smith met with UWUA-represented workers employed by National Grid subsidiaries in the state of Massachusetts, and engaged first-hand with the UWUA in is first contract battle with waste-to-energy company Covanta. ICEM-affiliated GMB, as well as other UK unions, have assisted the UWUA in bringing to light Covanta&rsquo;s derisive anti-worker practices in the US just as the company attempts to expand into the UK.
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In a letter to GMB&rsquo;s Commercial Services Section, UWUA President Michael Langford called National Grid &ldquo;one of the most profitable, privatised monopolies in the world.&rdquo; He added, &ldquo;In our view, it is unacceptable (for the company) to turn its back on the employees who have sacrificed so much to make National Grid a success.&rdquo; 
 
On 7 September, GMB and Unison counted ballots, revealing a 97% vote for industrial action. Those strikes likely will occur in the coming weeks if the electric/gas distributor does not retreat from its outsourcing plans.

UK Unions GMB, Unison Begin Industrial Actions Against National Grid

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The ICEM extends its condolences to the families of miners killed and injured in a deadly Polish mine explosion on Friday, 18 September, as well as to all mining unions representing workers at the Katowicki Holding Weglowy (KHW) company. 
 
A methane gas explosion followed by a fire at KHW&rsquo;s Wujek-Slask mine in the coal-dominated Silesa region of southwestern Poland killed 13, and seriously injured 18 other miners with severe burns. A total of 40 miners were hospitalized following the explosion. 
 
The deadly blast and fire, Poland&rsquo;s second worst in recent years, ripped through mine shafts 1,050 metres underground at mid-morning on Friday near the town of Ruda Slaska. 
 
The Polish government has declared today and Tuesday, 22 September, a two-day national period of mourning due to the horrible workplace tragedy.
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&nbsp; 
 
A Polish website, Pracownik, reported that a miner at the Wujek-Slask colliery made a video last April, showing methane measurements over four times the levels that are considered safe from such an accident occurring. The video was aired on a Polish TV station late Friday. 
 
Mine-safety activists in Poland hinted that any investigation must centre on whether or not methane reading instruments inside shafts had been tampered with in order to boost production. 
 
State-run KHW had merged the Wujek and Slash collieries in 2004 into a single enterprise in order to save costs. In November 2006, 23 miners perished in another Ruda Slaska mine called Halemba, owned by the state-operated Kampania Weglowa (KW). This was the worst Polish mine tragedy in three decades. The Halemba mine had been idled for eight months then, and the company had sent workers 1,000 metres below the surface to retrieve equipment when the blast occurred.

13 Perish in Poland’s Worst Coal Mine Disaster Since 2006

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Upwards of 30,000 trade unionists manifested in the streets of Switzerland&rsquo;s capital, Bern, Saturday, 19 September, in what the national general workers&rsquo; union, Unia, billed as a day in which workers declare, &ldquo;We Will Not Pay for the Crisis. The manifestation, sponsored by all Swiss trade unions, was intended to serve notice to a Parliament that it must adopt new policies to secure work, wages, and pensions in the face of the global economic crisis. 
 
The manifestation, in terms of sheer numbers, exceeded the expectations of Unia organisers. The union made plans for 20,000 demonstrators. Marches began in three different locations in Berne, and then converged at the Parliament House.
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&copy;Thierry Porchot&nbsp; 

The battle cry heard throughout the afternoon was the Swiss working class will not double-pay on a crisis it did not cause; meaning job reductions and the dismantling of social safety nets will not be tolerated. Speaker after speaker said the economic crisis was caused by greed and a blind faith that markets could regulate themselves. Speakers called for an end to erosion of social security systems and instead called on the government to restore safety nets to all people living in Switzerland. 
 
We are against a policy in which CHF 68 billion in government money is invested in UBS,&rdquo; said Paul Rechsteiner, President of the Swiss Trade Union Confederation (SGB), adding that the bank last week refused to implement effective measures against the crisis. 
 
The unemployment rate in Switzerland has now climbed over the 4% mark, which is considered high by Swiss standards.
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&nbsp;&copy;Thierry Porchot
Now is the time, asserts Unia, that effective measures must be undertaken to inject money into jobs and training, including programmes on youth employment, and extending options for shortened work hours at full pay. Unia also calls for adequate wage increases across Switzerland in 2010 in order to spur purchasing power. 
 
The manifestation culminated a week of action aimed at instituting a Swiss social order that focuses on people, not profits and greed. On Monday, 14 September, Rechsteiner told a press conference that Swiss workers demand decent wages and decent conditions of work, as well as a functioning system of social security.

30,000 Take to Streets in Bern Demanding Fairness in Economic Crisis

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A record number 364 union and management participants attended a Social Dialogue Conference in Thailand last week, 31 August, sponsored by the ICEM, the Thai Ministry of Labour, FNV Mondiaal of the Netherlands, LO-TCO of Norway, and the Employers&rsquo; Federation of Thailand (ECOT). 
 
The title of the conference was &ldquo;International Labour Standards and the Wisdom of Co-Existence,&rdquo; and central in purpose was to shape a common understanding of ILO core labour standards, as well as building responsible social governance between Thai labour unions and multinational companies. 
 
Over 150 people more than were expected turned out for the conference, held at the Siam City Hotel in Bangkok. Managing directors and human resource executives from 28 companies attended, including representatives from Esso, Linde-TIG Industrial Gases, Goodyear Tire &amp; Rubber Co., and Norske Skog paper company.
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Part of the Partipants at the Social Dialogue Conference
ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda congratulated those present, and expressed hope that a true commitment to a new era of labour-management relations in Thailand was at hand. He also pledged to extend the resources of the Global Union Federation to Thailand in order that the country ratify core labour conventions, namely Conventions 87 and 98, freedom of association and right to collection bargaining, and Convention 111, the Discrimination in Employment and Occupation Convention. 
 
&ldquo;It is imperative that values of mutual faith and cooperation be built between managers of transnational companies and Thai labour unions,&rdquo; said Warda. &ldquo;For this to effectively begin, the Thai government must lead by starting the process toward ratification of ILO core labour standards.&rdquo; 
 
The ICEM organized the conference, jointly with the Thai Ministry of Labour, as a follow-up to a resolution from its 2007 Bangkok Congress. There, delegates recognized a Thai labour-management system structured on authoritarianism and hierarchal in industrial relations.
<img alt="" src="" width="280" height="186" />
&nbsp;Yoshio Sato of Japan, representing ICEM's Asia-Pacific Region; in rear,&nbsp;ICEM Thai Chairman Rawai Pupaga, ECOT Gen. Sec. Siriwan Romchat-thong, and the Thai Labour Ministry&rsquo;s Somchai Chumrat
&nbsp;
ECOT General Secretary Siriwan Romchat-thong confirmed in her opening remarks that the employers&rsquo; federation would support ratification of Conventions 87 and 98. A panel discussion composed of labour, management, and governmental leaders showed a consensus toward ratification in the immediate future. 
 
The Thai Permanent Secretary of the Labour Ministry, Somchai Chumrat, stressed the mutual benefit that can be gained through trust between labour and management by dialogue and understanding. &ldquo;Employers cannot live in a vacuum,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Managers and workers&rsquo; representatives must sit together to discuss the wisdom of conducting labour relations in peaceful cooperation.&rdquo; 
 
He added that although Thailand recognizes the benefit of foreign investment, senior executives of multinationals must clarify the roles of local managers in Thailand so that they act according to international labour standards and national laws. 
 
Another speaker that echoed the immediate need for a changed culture was Rawai Pupaga, chairman of the ICEM Thai Affiliates Committee and President of Government Pharmaceutical Employees&rsquo; Association (GPOTU). As a first step, he called on Thai workers and managers alike to show respect for workers&rsquo; rights by taking part in World Day for Decent Work activities on 7 October. 
 
Other resource people calling for a different labour-management culture were Tim de Meyer, senior specialist for the ILO on International Labour Standards and Labour Law, and Lae Dilokwidhayarat of Chulalongkorn University. Dilokwidhayarat stressed that the globalisation of capital and freedom of movement demands respect for the concept of decent work, meaning adequate compensation, trade union representation, and stability, security, and protection of workplace rights. 

A side meeting to the Social Dialogue Conference occurred between the ICEM, local executives of Linde and its Thai Industrial Gases subsidiary, and ICEM affiliate TIG Local Union. The Thai subsidiary of Linde has been neglectful over trade union rights at some 20 Thai workplaces, particularly in respect to work rights and full-time opportunities for short-term contract and temporary workers. The meeting did produce an understanding that TIGLU and the company&rsquo;s managing and human resource directors would meet in the near future to discuss problems and strive for a better relationship.
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&nbsp; 
Visit to the Norske Skog Mill in Singburi 

One employer that has practiced exemplary social responsibility in Thailand has been the Norwegian paper company Norske Skog. On 1 September, Warda, Rawai Pupaga, ICEM Thai Project Coordinator Aranya Pakapath, and ICEM&rsquo;s Asia-Pacific Contact Person, Phee Jungsun, visited the factory in Singburi, where workers and local managers, including Managing Director Torpong Thongcharoen, hailed a relationship that can serve as a standard within Thailand. Notably, the collective agreement at Norske Skog in Singburi has strict language regarding the use of contract and agency labour, language that both sides respect and adhere to.

ICEM Social Dialogue Conference in Thailand Exceeds Expectations

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