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After nearly three weeks of relentless bombing and ground attacks by Israel in Lebanon, the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine &amp; General Workers&rsquo; Unions (ICEM) today added its voice to the calls for an immediate cease fire by both Israel and the militia of Hezbollah. 
 
The ICEM believes that Israel&rsquo;s actions have reached an unbearable level, particularly after the killings on 30 July of 56 civilians and children in Qana, southern Lebanon, by an Israeli air strike. 
 
&ldquo;The ICEM condemns the totally disproportionate use of military force by Israel in Lebanon,&rdquo; stated General Secretary Fred Higgs. &ldquo;Israel has effectively imposed collective punishment on all Lebanese people and destroyed the viability of the Lebanese state by destroying the country&rsquo;s infrastructure.&rdquo; 
 
Higgs stressed, &ldquo;There must be an internationally-imposed cease fire immediately so that a genuine and lasting peace for the region can commence.&rdquo; 
 
The ICEM says the abusive way in which Israel is punishing the Lebanese people in hopes of destroying Hezbollah has created a humanitarian crisis that can only be addressed with the immediate cessation of lethal force and the acceptance by all parties to begin a process for a lasting peace. 
 
Across the Middle East Region as a whole, peace will only be achieved with resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian crisis, including the formation of a viable, independent Palestinian state. 
 
The ICEM is the Global Union Federation for the energy, chemicals, mining and other industrial sectors with affiliated trade union unions in both Lebanon and Palestine. The ICEM has 20 million members worldwide through its 403 affiliated trade unions in 122 countries. 
Click here for an <a href="/index.php?id=77&amp;doc=1898&amp;la=AR">Arab translation of this news release</a>.
Click here for an <a href="/index.php?id=24&amp;doc=2000&amp;la=AR">Arab translation of the Global Info article on an ICEM visit to Palestine</a>.

ICEM News Release: Call for an Immediate End to Israeli Aggression

Mid-July proved to another deadly period in the coal mines of China. In total, over 100 miners lost their lives in six separate and recorded tragedies occurring over in just over a week&rsquo;s time.
<img height="80" alt="" src="" width="120" />
&nbsp;The largest number of industrial deaths occurred in north China&rsquo;s Shanxi Province, at the Linjiazhuang Coal Mine in Lingshi county. A coal dust explosion on 15 July killed 57 miners, with only six miners managing to escape. Also on 15 July, a flash flood in the central Chinese province of Hunan killed 14 workers at the Shenjiawan Coal Mine. Only one of those workers was underground at the time, but the flooding also trapped rescue workers. 
 
Another mine flood in yet another province on 15 July took the lives of 18 miners. This occurred at the village-run Pianpoyuan Coal Mine in southwest China&rsquo;s Guizhou province, near the town of Anshun. On 16 July, an explosion at the Lilan Coal Mine in Junlian county, province of Sichuan province, claimed the lives of five miners. Thirty-four coalminers managed to escape. 
 
Eight miners were feared drowned inside a mine shaft that flooded on 10 July. This occurred in Shanxi province at the Dongchuan Coal Mine in Luliang City. Ten miners escaped, but rescue efforts were hampered by the necessity to pump some 2,000 cubic metres of water from mine shafts. On 8 July, a colliery in neighbouring Liulin county of Shanxi province, saw six miners trapped and presumed dead by flooding.

Spate of China Coal Mine Accidents Occur in Mid-July

The month-long strike by Norway&rsquo;s NOPEF union that is beginning to cripple energy production across the country&rsquo;s oil patch will get an airing today before a state mediator. It will be the government&rsquo;s second attempt to resolve issues that prompted NOPEF to strike a selective list of oil service companies on 21 June. 
 
Efforts just prior to the start of the strike by the state mediator failed.
<img height="90" alt="" src="" width="120" />
&nbsp; 
The strategic strike by 87 NOPEF trade unionists is aimed at normalising the national oil services&rsquo; work agreement with other national contracts inside Norway&rsquo;s energy sector. Work schedules and working terms and conditions common to other staff inside the sector remains the central issue to the strike. 
 
The striking NOPEF members are employed by Halliburton, Baker Hughes, Schlumberger, Weatherford and Oceaneering. Other oil service companies such as Aker Kvaerner, Geoservices, and Acergy are also affected. Major oil companies that are losing time and money on well development projects, new drilling exploration, and maintenance include Statoil, ConocoPhillips, Norsk Hydro, Shell, ExxonMobil, and Chevron. 
 
Work has been interrupted at Statoil&rsquo;s Snorre and Stratford platforms, and at the Norwegian state company&rsquo;s northern Sn&oslash;hvit and Kristin oil fields, while the strike has slowed work at Norsk Hydro&rsquo;s Heidrun and Oseberg platforms, and at ConocoPhillip&rsquo;s Ekofisk platform.

Mediation Today in NOPEF’s Oil Services Strike

The UK&rsquo;s Transport &amp; General Workers&rsquo; Union (TGWU) has enlisted a core of allies, including the ICEM, to resist 800 job redundancies and closures to English China Clay (ECC) operations in the South West by Imerys. TGWU has mapped a comprehensive community and global campaign against the French-based building materials group, which purchased ECC in 1999, in efforts to block the sackings.
<img height="55" alt="" src="" width="100" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <img height="51" alt="" src="" width="100" />&nbsp; <img height="100" alt="" src="" width="100" />
&nbsp; 
The TGWU, together with two other UK trade unions representing Imerys workers in the South West, Amicus and the GMB, have already placed the dire economic consequences of the sackings squarely in front of both local and national government officials. They will now engage a full community awareness campaign aimed at pressuring Imerys to honour a pledge made two short two years ago. That pledge, made after some jobs were lost in the South West, promised that 800 other jobs would remain. 
 
The campaign will consist of mass meetings, rallies, and a petition that will be taken door-to-door across towns and villages of the region. The campaign is also aimed at the British government in hopes that initiatives can be put in place to retain the jobs. The ICEM will head up the campaign on the global level. 
 
The proposed restructuring plan of Imerys fell like a bombshell on the economic fragile South West, where the average Imerys worker earns an annual salary of ₤23,000, some ₤4,500 higher than the local incomes average. Imerys&rsquo; surprise announcement in early July said that by the start of 2008, nearly all ECC mines and processing facilities across Cornwall, Devon and Lee Moor would be shuttered, as it moves production of kaolin and high-grade coatings for the paper industry to Brazil. The company cited high energy costs as the reason. 
 
At an emergency debate session in the House of Commons on 11 July, MP Matthew Taylor from the South West said one in five households in the region would be directly affected by the proposed restructurings, &ldquo;and the number is probably one in three when the knock-on effects are taken into consideration.&rdquo; Taylor said besides the 800 direct jobs on the line, 800 other jobs likely would be lost due to reduced spending power in the South West.
<img height="119" alt="" src="" width="120" />
&nbsp; 
The European Works Council (EWC) of Imerys responded with a terse 17 July message directed at the company. The statement condemned an Imerys decision to close a 100-member workplace in France, as well as the proposed mass layoffs in the UK. The EWC &ldquo;objects against the recent decisions of the group of closing a site in France and a huge restructuring in the United Kingdom,&rdquo; read the statement. 
 
&ldquo;This strategy of de-localisation of the activities, here to Hungary and to Brazil, is guided only by the search for higher profits. The members of the EWC Committee require Imerys, which is in excellent economic and financial health, to assume the full social consequences of these decisions, both in France and in the United Kingdom. The EWC will also be extremely vigilant on the conditions of employment for the workers in Hungary and Brazil. 
 
&ldquo;It is not enough that the director of Human Resources for the group, challenged on these subjects during the meeting of 6 July, claims to be open to social dialogue and negotiation. It is also his responsibility to make certain that this policy is applied by the local HR directors. As regarding social relations and also issues of health and safety, local management has carried out actions in total contradiction with principles posted by the Imerys group.&rdquo; 
 
The overall financial health of Imerys, according to first quarter 2006 disclosures, has not been affected by high global energy prices. The company&rsquo;s first quarter results show that sales had increased 10.8% over the same period in 2005, and net income was up 13.2% over that of the first quarter of last year.

Campaign Mounts to Block Shift of UK Jobs by Imerys

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
The global recession&rsquo;s impact on the rubber industry, collective bargaining, work relationships, health and safety, global solidarity, and a plan of action to address these issues were key topics discussed in the US at the ICEM&rsquo;s World Conference for the Rubber Industries in Nashville, Tennessee, 12-13 May. 
 
The conference, which was hosted by US-based United Steelworkers (USW), attracted some 90 trade unionists from throughout the world. The swine flu epidemic and visa problems into the US prevented the conference from having even more participants. 
 
USW Secretary-Treasurer Stan Johnson, who leads the host union&rsquo;s rubber sector, opened the conference. A 22-year veteran of the tyre industry, Johnson led a successful strike as a local branch president against Italian tyre-maker Pirelli at a Nashville plant in the mid-1990s. He was unanimously elected as ICEM&rsquo;s permanent chairman for the Rubber Industry at this conference. 

<img alt="" src="" width="110" height="136" />
USW Secretary-Treasurer Stan Johnson
Johnson painted a picture of the current global economic crisis&mdash;a halt in the auto industry, collapse of the tyre market, and factories operating at low capacities. &ldquo;Our opportunity lies in making sure that work and the value of workers is once again important,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It is our responsibility individually and collectively to step forward and change our future.&rdquo; 
 
ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda pointed out that bad policies allowed irresponsible corporate conduct to occur. He said corporate greed was behind &ldquo;casino capitalism,&rdquo; and that national solutions alone will not work to end the crisis. A global response is needed with unions playing an integral role. 
 
&ldquo;Recovery cannot mean the status quo,&rdquo; said Warda. &ldquo;A sustainable economy must be created. There is a great need to build trade union unity to combat the excesses of unregulated globalization.&rdquo; 
 
Warda also presented a resolution on the US Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), important legislation currently before the American government that would eliminate the unfair advantages that employers commonly use to restrict workers from organising. (See the Resolution <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/EFCA%20Resolution.pdf">here</a>.) 

<img alt="" src="" width="240" height="114" />
USW scribe Lynne Baker (left) interviews Forestry, Logging, and Industrial Workers&rsquo; Union of Liberia&rsquo;s (FLIWUL) Austin Natee and Edwin Cisco. At right, USW&rsquo;s&nbsp;Marilyn Brown 
Photo: Kenny Carlisle, USW Communications Department 
But the conference centered primarily on the global economic crisis. Presenters mapped out the problems confronting rubber workers throughout this crisis and the opportunities for positive change. The problems cited were common to all: layoffs, reductions in pay and hours worked, outsourcing to low cost countries, leave without pay, wage freezes, use of contract and agency labour, shutdowns, production declines, and lack of investment, all factors leading to increased family and community stress. 
 
Presenters told how some employers were using the economic crisis to avoid their commitments to workers, and rather to create new work structures, including the use of non-regular and short-term contract workers. 
 
&ldquo;Trade unions need to be at the vanguard of developing a new model that guarantees globalization of rights, an agenda to decrease poverty, and to better regulate the financial sector,&rdquo; said Fabio Lins from Brazil&rsquo;s CNQ/CUT union in Brazil. 

<img alt="" src="" width="120" height="120" />
Fabio Lins of CNQ/CUT, Brazil
Peter Bakvis, director of the International Trade Union Confederation/Global Unions office in Washington, D.C., presented a five-point strategy for the ICEM and other global unions to tackle the economic crisis and build a fairer and more sustainable world economy. 
 
The strategy focuses on job creation through public investment, including active labour market policies and protection of the most vulnerable; nationalization of insolvent banks and new roles and mechanisms to control global finance; extension of collective bargaining coverage and strengthening of wage-setting institutions; negotiation of an ambitious international agreement on climate change; and governance reform of the global financial institutions like the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the World Trade Organisation. 

<img alt="" src="" width="377" height="160" />
ICEM Rubber Conference participants
At the conclusion of the conference on 13 May, Chemicals and Rubber Industry Officer Kemal &Ouml;zkan presented an ICEM action plan that included campaigning for basic trade union rights and union organising; providing immediate solidarity during conflicts; providing effective and active solidarity for collective bargaining; striving for decent work in the rubber sector, meaning campaigning for sector-wide standards on use of contract and agency labour, equal pay initiatives, and use of Global Framework Agreements to address such issues. 

<img alt="" src="" width="200" height="114" />
ICEM Chemicals and Rubber Industry Officer Kemal &Ouml;zkan 
Photo: Kenny Carlisle, USW Communications Department 
As well, the work includes improving, strengthening, and creating new workers&rsquo; networks; creating a global level of industrial relations through existing instruments; establishing industry and company-wide standards for health, safety, and sustainable jobs; seeking to improve cooperation between Global Union Federations in the auto-parts and auto supply industries along the global production chain; and providing special solidarity to US unions for passage of the EFCA, to tyre workers at Hankook and Bridgestone in Hungary, to French and German workers of Continental AG, and to Mexican miners. 
To view the action plan in its entirety, as well as to see the presentations made by speakers, click <a href="/index.php?id=20&amp;la=EN&amp;doc=3207">here</a>.
Special thanks to Contributor Lynne Baker, USW Communications Department.

ICEM’s Rubber Conference Focuses on Problems, Opportunities in Economic Crisis

<img height="39" alt="" src="" width="100" />
The prestigious Febe Elisabeth Velasquez Trade Union Award was given last week to a woman trade unionist from Iraq, Hashmeyia Muhsin Saadawi, the President of ICEM-affiliated General Union of Electricity Workers and Technicians. 
 
The award is presented by FNV, a national labour centre in the Netherlands, and is given to a trade union leader who has worked under difficult circumstances, taken enormous personal risks, but has defended trade union rights in countries where such rights are routinely violated. 
 
Hashmeyia Muhsin, the tenth recipient of the award, was nominated by the ICEM. She was honoured at the FNV Congress in Amsterdam, and presented the award on 12 May. 

<img height="175" alt="" src="" width="170" />
In nominating her, the ICEM said Hashmeyia Muhsin &ldquo;has dedicated herself to the protection of both trade union rights and wider human rights in a country which remains under occupation &hellip; and which continues to apply trade union legislation from the Saddam era.&rdquo; 
 
She is the first woman to head a national trade union in Iraq, and is believed to be the first woman to lead a union anywhere in the Arabic-speaking world. The ICEM noted her courage in leading marches, demonstrations, and strikes in the Basra area, while under the threat of death. She also is a dedicated advocate for electricity access to all citizens of Iraq. 

<img height="181" alt="" src="" width="230" />
First elected to head the Electricity Workers and Technicians in September 2003, she has been re-elected twice since, and also is Vice Chairman of the General Federation of Iraqi Workers (GFIW). In 2007, she was elected to the ICEM&rsquo;s Executive Committee. 
 
The Febe Elisabeth Velasquez Award was named after a Salvadorian trade union leader and former General Secretary of Fenastras. Velasquez was killed on 31 October 1989 when a bomb exploded at the offices of the trade union centre. Previous FNV award recipients include Kim You Mee of Korea, Frank Kokori and Milton Dabibi of Nigeria, Maria Alieva of Belurus, Dr. Taye Woldesmiate of Ethiopia, and Mansour Osanloo of Iran.

Dutch FNV Trade Union Award to Goes to Iraq’s Hashmeyia Muhsin Saadawi

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
Hundreds of ICEM affiliates from every continent responded to an ICEM Circular to lend support to American trade unions in their legislative battle to pass the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA). In recent weeks, support letters arrived in droves to ICEM&rsquo;s nine US trade union affiliates, which together with the rest of the American trade union movement are waging a bitter fight against a rabid business lobby in order to enact the first meaningful labour law reform measure in the US in 50 years. 
 
The EFCA would simplify and make the process fairer for workers who choose to organise and win US government certification for collective bargaining. The proposed law would give workers the choice of union representation if a simple majority in any given workplace signed a card or petition seeking unionisation. 
 
Currently, it is the employer that chooses which of two methods &ndash; &ldquo;card-check&rdquo; recognition or a one-sided election procedure &ndash; to certify a bargaining representative. In nearly all instances, a company chooses the election method because the government-conducted vote is held at the worksite and trade unions have no on-the-job access to workers in the 30-45 days leading up to the vote. 

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="100" />
Instead, over the past three decades, employers have fine-tuned the process, using stop-work meetings to vilify the union, sacking workers who support the union, and utilising threats and intimidation by stating that if the union is voted in, layoffs or plant closures will occur. Although such union-avoidance tactics currently do violate US labour law, no penalties are attached so bosses have crafted the election process to their distinct advantage. 
 
If the EFCA is passed, financial penalties will be levied on employers who deploy such tactics. Perhaps most significantly, the proposed legislation contains a first-contract arbitration provision in which contract proposals are submitted to a government mediator if an initial collective agreement cannot be reached. Oftentimes at present, management&rsquo;s strategy following a union win in a government-supervised election is to &ldquo;surface bargain&rdquo; without ever intending to come to an agreement. After one year, the union can then be decertified. 
 
ICEM&rsquo;s call to its global affiliates came immediately after Global Unions, comprising the 11 Global Union Federations, plus the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and the Trade Union Advisory Committee (TUAC) of the OECD, issued a statement, demanding passage of the EFCA: &ldquo;There is no defense for employers who interfere in workers&rsquo; decisions to form trade unions &hellip; It is time for the United States to join the other democracies around the world that respect the fundamental rights of workers to form trade unions and bargain collectively with their employers. Members of the US Congress should muster the courage to resist a massive, multi-million dollar employer campaign of propaganda, scare tactics, and distortion. 

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="100" />
&ldquo;We, the Global Unions, representing around 200 million workers on all continents and in all industries, call on the United States Government to adopt the EFCA.&rdquo; 
 
Many of the ICEM affiliates that wrote to the US unions alluded to the current global economic crisis, and the best means to rise out of that crisis. &ldquo;We know that a strong economy depends on workers given the opportunity to join a trade union and to bargain collectively so that fair wages and social benefits are lifted for all in a society.&rdquo; 
 
The letters concluded by stating: &ldquo;Please pass to your union membership, as well as to your elected officials, that our union fully supports EFCA, and that we consider it an essential element in a free society that workers be allowed to join a trade union in an unobstructed way.&rdquo; 
 
American trade unions are currently pushing members of the US Senate to adopt the bill. US unions played the major role in electing members of the Democratic Party to substantial majorities in both the Senate and US House in last year&rsquo;s elections. But a number of supposed pro-worker Democrats in the Senate have come under the influence of the business lobby&rsquo;s misinformation campaign putting passage of EFCA in jeopardy. 

<img alt="" src="" width="227" height="100" />
As committees of Congress prepare to debate EFCA, Democrats in the Senate are suggesting compromises, such as workers submitting &ldquo;card-check&rdquo; authorization directly by mail to the US labour board, or proposing alterations to the first-contract arbitration procedure. 
 
This is the fourth time in recent years that EFCA has been proposed in the US Congress, but the first time it has a realistic chance of enactment. This is due to President Barack Obama&rsquo;s pledge to sign it, as well as the US labour movement&rsquo;s yeoman work in elections six months ago that gave a political mandate to do away with George Bush&rsquo;s draconian policies. 
 
In March 2007, the last time the measure was before Congress, it passed the US House by a 241-185 vote. But it died in the US Senate when proponents failed to gain the 60 votes necessary to invoke cloture, or the vote to shut down filibustering on a piece of legislation. In the coming weeks, Democrats are expected to have exactly 60 seats in the 100-seat Senate. Labor&rsquo;s strategy this time is to first gain passage of EFCA in the US Senate before taking it to the House.

Trade Unions Worldwide Respond to ICEM’s Call for Fair Organising in the US

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
The Communications, Energy, Paperworkers (CEP) Union of Canada launched a national fight-back campaign Friday, 15 May, in front of the Montr&eacute;al headquarters of AbitibiBowater, the world&rsquo;s biggest producer of newsprint. AbitibiBowater is seeking to avoid its pension obligations through bankruptcy filings. 
 
The ICEM affiliate&rsquo;s main target, however, is the Canadian government. The federal government has done too little to protect the jobs of forestry workers, asserts the CEP. 
 
&ldquo;Workers are not responsible for the crisis in the forest industry, but we are the ones facing demands for cuts to our wages and pensions,&rdquo; said CEP President Dave Coles. 
 
&ldquo;It is totally unfair that a company like AbitibiBowater can use bankruptcy protection to avoid paying severance and making payments to the pension plan,&rdquo; he added. 

<img alt="" src="" width="110" height="145" />
CEP President Dave Coles
On 7 May, a Superior Court in the Province of Qu&eacute;bec issued an order that the paper company could suspend pension payments into its unfunded liabilities account for workers, thus shrinking that account and pushing workers&rsquo; pension payments on Abitibi&rsquo;s creditors list. 
 
&ldquo;There is something seriously wrong with a system that puts workers&rsquo; pensions in the same category as hedge fund credit,&rdquo; said CEP Secretary-Treasurer Ga&eacute;tan M&eacute;nard. &ldquo;When workers go to work to earn a living and a pension, they certainly don&rsquo;t see themselves as venture capitalists making a risky investment. 
 
Last Friday&rsquo;s CEP action in Montr&eacute;al was the first in a string of manifestations that the union will do in attempts to shake the Conservative government of Stephen Harper into taking action on behalf of forest industry jobs. CEP is demanding that the Canadian federal government weigh in with loan guarantees to halt paper and wood mill closures, and to protect jobs and pensions. 
 
&ldquo;There will be a lot of pressure,&rdquo; said Coles. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re going to take to the streets and we&rsquo;re going to make noise until we&rsquo;re heard.&rdquo; Further actions will target Canadian federal cabinet ministers and a mass rally is scheduled in the capital city of Ottawa on 2 June. 
 
Meanwhile, due to AbitibiBowater&rsquo;s bankruptcy filing, the CEP and ICEM American affiliate, the United Steelworkers (USW), have taken a wait-and-see position before entering into bargaining with AbitibiBowater. The CEP and USW have agreed to coordinate bargaining at the newsprint producer&rsquo;s 12 mills in eastern Canada, where the CEP represents 7,000 workers, and at a USW-represented mill in the state of South Carolina. 
 
A pulp and paper collective agreement covering the entire industry in eastern Canada, with AbitibiBowater expected as the lead negotiating company, expired on 30 April, while a labour agreement in Catawba, South Carolina, covering 1,000 workers expired on 24 April for USW branch locals there.

CEP Launches Canadian Forest Jobs Campaign; Demands Canadian Government Support

<img src="" width="100" height="39" alt="" />
The merger of six Finnish unions is down to five, and the effective date has been delayed one year &ndash; to 1 January 2011 &ndash; in order to make the merged union structure, to be called TEAM, fully operational. 
 
A joint project management committee of the unions made that announcement on 5 May, stating the extra time is needed because of the deep economic recession and the demands caused by it on staff. Among those demands is administration of unemployment funds. 

<img src="" width="90" height="72" alt="" />
Meanwhile, an ICEM affiliate, the Electrical Workers&rsquo; Union, has withdrawn from the planned merger. On 6 May, a majority representation group from the union decided to withdraw. As it now stands, merger partners include: Kemianliitto, the ICEM-affiliated Chemical Workers Union; Metalli, the Finnish Metalworkers&rsquo; Union; the Wood and Allied Workers&rsquo; Union; the Finnish Media Union; and the Finnish Railwaymen&rsquo;s Union. 

<img src="" width="106" height="71" alt="" />
The Railwaymen&rsquo;s Union is currently conducting a referendum on the new merger, which will be completed on 20 May, while the Media Union has already adopted the name TEAM as its new moniker. In February 2008, Kemianliitto members passed a binding vote in favour of the merger, while Metalli also saw members give approve to the merger in a consultative vote that same month. 
 
The merged Finnish industrial union would comprise 330,000 members, and would be governed by a Congress occurring five years, with delegates to that Congress electing both a General Council and an Executive Committee.

Finnish Union Merger to be Delayed One Year, Effective Date: 2011

More Sappi Activity in South Africa 

Sappi: Health &amp; Safety is Sacred &hellip; Respond to this Call 

Sappi management at the Enstra mill in South Africa refuses to accept responsibility for a chain of events that happened at the pulp and paper mill 50 days ago. The matter involves safety, or more specifically, a worker who refused to perform unsafe work. 
 
Because CEPPWAWU shop stewards took up his case, 19 are now suspended and face discipline following spirited safety strikes. Now, Sappi refuses to do what is right and just and fair &hellip; to reinstate the trade unionists. 23 other workers face disciplinary panels. They are still on the job, but with no legitimate, duly-elected union representation. 
 
ICEM is urgently calling for further, decisive action. Write to Sappi and tell the company to drop this ugly dispute and correct the wrongs that have gotten out of hand at Enstra. Write Sappi CEO Ralph J. Bo&euml;ttger at <a href="mailto:Ralph.Boettger@sappi.com">Ralph.Boettger@sappi.com</a> and <a href="mailto:Wikus.van.Zyl@sappi.com">Wikus.van.Zyl@sappi.com</a> and <a href="mailto:Jan.labuschagne@sappi.com">Jan.labuschagne@sappi.com</a> with the message below, or one from your own hand. 
 
The ICEM considers the Sappi/Enstra situation at present a serious violation of basic trade union rights. Consider only part of the chain of events sequence: CEPPWAWU branch union and Sappi get bridge-building tools to forge a new relationship. A worker refuses unsafe work and the dispute escalates. But the issue is still safety. And that is borne out when the manager who ordered the unsafe work, supposedly apologizes inside a joint and subsequent report. The probe was done to get at the causes and effects of the work disruptions. But the report, presumable containing a different set of conclusions than what Sappi is now pursuing, has not been circulated. 
 
 
Take the message below and send it to Sappi executives above, with the simple heading Enstra: 
 
Sappi is displaying malicious, anti-democratic, anti-people conduct at the Enstra Pulp &amp; Paper Mill in South Africa. It is wrong to target union stewards and others because they have taken a stand on safety. It is wrong to deny workers at Enstra &ndash; CEPPWAWU members &ndash; no shop-floor protection because Sappi has suspended all 19 CEPPWAWU shop stewards at Enstra. 
 
First and foremost, safety; Sappi cannot afford this kind of reputation. Drop the disciplinary cases, Sappi, and get on with making paper at Enstra. 
 
(Signed) 
&nbsp;
<hr />
&nbsp;
<img height="81" alt="" src="" width="300" />
&nbsp;
<hr />
&nbsp;
Poursuite de l&rsquo;action &agrave; Sappi, Afrique du Sud 
 
Sappi : la sant&eacute; et la s&eacute;curit&eacute; sont sacr&eacute;es &hellip; Merci de r&eacute;pondre &agrave; cet appel 
 
La Direction de Sappi r&eacute;cuse sa responsabilit&eacute; dans un encha&icirc;nement d&rsquo;&eacute;v&eacute;nements survenus il y a 50 jours dans la papeterie sud-africaine d&rsquo;Enstra. Cette affaire concerne la s&eacute;curit&eacute;, ou plus pr&eacute;cis&eacute;ment le refus par un ouvrier d&rsquo;effectuer des travaux dangereux. 
 
Pour s&rsquo;&ecirc;tre empar&eacute;s de cette affaire et avoir r&eacute;solument cess&eacute; le travail pour leur s&eacute;curit&eacute;, 19 employ&eacute;s affili&eacute;s au CEPPWAWU (Syndicat des travailleurs de la chimie, de l&rsquo;&eacute;nergie, du papier, de l&rsquo;impression et du bois) ont &eacute;t&eacute; mis &agrave; pied et risquent des mesures disciplinaires. Or Sappi refuse de rendre la plus &eacute;l&eacute;mentaire des justices &agrave; ces syndicalistes, c. &agrave; d. de les r&eacute;embaucher. Et 23 autres travailleurs sont expos&eacute;s &agrave; des proc&eacute;dures disciplinaires. Ils sont encore &agrave; leurs postes, mais sans repr&eacute;sentation syndicale l&eacute;gitime et d&ucirc;ment &eacute;lue. 
 
L&rsquo;ICEM appelle urgemment &agrave; poursuivre des actions r&eacute;solues. &Eacute;crivez &agrave; la soci&eacute;t&eacute; Sappi, exigez qu&rsquo;elle mette un terme &agrave; ce conflit indigne et qu&rsquo;elle redresse les torts qui n&rsquo;ont cess&eacute; de s&rsquo;aggraver &agrave; l&rsquo;usine d&rsquo;Enstra. &Eacute;crivez au PDG de Sappi, Ralph J. Bo&euml;ttger, <a href="mailto:Ralph.Boettger@sappi.com">Ralph.Boettger@sappi.com</a>, &agrave; <a href="mailto:Wikus.van.Zyl@sappi.com">Wikus.van.Zyl@sappi.com</a> et &agrave; <a href="mailto:Jan.labuschagne@sappi.com">Jan.labuschagne@sappi.com</a> en joignant le texte ci-dessous ou un message &eacute;crit de votre propre plume. 
 
L&rsquo;ICEM voit dans l&rsquo;actuelle situation &agrave; Sappi/Enstra une grave violation des droits syndicaux fondamentaux. Il suffit de se rem&eacute;morer quelques &eacute;v&eacute;nements de cette escalade : le syndicat de branche CEPPWAWU et Sappi tentent de se rapprocher et de forger de nouvelles relations. Mais un travailleur refuse d&rsquo;effectuer des travaux dangereux, le conflit s&rsquo;envenime et la s&eacute;curit&eacute; reste le probl&egrave;me. D&rsquo;autant plus que le dirigeant ayant ordonn&eacute; ces travaux dangereux se serait par la suite excus&eacute; dans un compte rendu conjoint. Une enqu&ecirc;te a &eacute;t&eacute; men&eacute;e pour conna&icirc;tre les causes et les effets de ces interruptions du travail. Or ce compte rendu, qui contient vraisemblablement des conclusions diff&eacute;rentes de celles que Sappi avance maintenant, n&rsquo;a pas &eacute;t&eacute; publi&eacute;. 
 
Envoyez aux dirigeants de Sappi le message ci-dessous assorti du simple intitul&eacute; Enstra : 
 
Sappi montre une attitude malveillante, antid&eacute;mocratique et hostile aux gens dans son usine Enstra de p&acirc;te et de papier en Afrique du Sud. Il est injuste de s&rsquo;en prendre aux d&eacute;l&eacute;gu&eacute;s syndicaux et &agrave; d&rsquo;autres sous pr&eacute;texte qu&rsquo;ils ont pris position en mati&egrave;re de s&eacute;curit&eacute;. Il est injuste de contester aux travailleurs d&rsquo;Enstra &ndash; et membres du CEPPWAWU &ndash; toute protection sur le lieu de travail, alors que Sappi a mis &agrave; pied les 19 d&eacute;l&eacute;gu&eacute;s syndicaux du CEPPWAWU &agrave; Enstra. 
 
La s&eacute;curit&eacute; est la premi&egrave;re des priorit&eacute;s ; Sappi ne peut pas se permettre ce genre de r&eacute;putation. Sappi, mettez un terme aux proc&eacute;dures disciplinaires et continuez &agrave; produire du papier &agrave; Enstra. 
 
(Signature) 
 

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Se intensifica actividad de Sappi en Sud&aacute;frica 
 
Sappi: la salud y seguridad son sagradas&hellip; es importante que respondan a este llamado 
 
La administraci&oacute;n de Sappi en la planta de Enstra en Sud&aacute;frica se niega a aceptar la responsabilidad por una serie de hechos que se produjeron hace 50 d&iacute;as en la planta de pulpa y papel que se indica. El asunto es una cuesti&oacute;n de seguridad, o, m&aacute;s espec&iacute;ficamente, de un trabajador que se neg&oacute; a realizar trabajo inseguro. 
 
Debido a que los enlaces sindicales de CEPPWAWU defendieron el caso de este trabajador, actualmente se ha suspendido a 19 personas, que enfrentan medidas disciplinarias despu&eacute;s de haber realizado algunos paros de protestas sin claudicar, reclamando soluciones a los problemas de seguridad. Ahora, Sappi se niega a hacer lo que ser&iacute;a justo y equitativo&hellip; la reincorporaci&oacute;n de los sindicalistas. Otros 23 trabajadores enfrentan paneles disciplinarios. Siguen trabajando, pero carecen de representaci&oacute;n sindical leg&iacute;tima y debidamente elegida. 
 
La ICEM est&aacute; iniciando una campa&ntilde;a con un llamado urgente para que se tomen nuevas y decisivas medidas. Rogamos escribir a Sappi, dici&eacute;ndole a la empresa que abandone su peligrosa actitud conflictiva y remedie los excesos cometidos en Enstra. Se debe escribir al Director General de Sappi, Ralph J. Bo&euml;ttger, en <a href="mailto:Ralph.Boettger@sappi.com">Ralph.Boettger@sappi.com</a>, a <a href="mailto:Wikus.van.Zyl@sappi.com">Wikus.van.Zyl@sappi.com</a>, y a <a href="mailto:Jan.labuschagne@sappi.com">Jan.labuschagne@sappi.com</a>, con el mensaje que se se&ntilde;ala m&aacute;s abajo, u otro que redacten Uds. mismos. 
 
La ICEM considera que la situaci&oacute;n actual en Sappi/Enstra constituye una grave violaci&oacute;n de los derechos sindicales fundamentales. Veamos una parte solamente de la secuencia de los hechos ocurridos: el ramo sindical de CEPPWAWU y Sappi obtienen herramientas para &ldquo;construir puentes&rdquo;, con el fin de crear una nueva relaci&oacute;n entre la empresa y los sindicalistas. Un trabajador se niega a realizar trabajos inseguros, y se intensifica el conflicto. El problema sigue siendo la inseguridad, lo cual se comprob&oacute; cuando el gerente que mand&oacute; a realizar el trabajo inseguro aparentemente pidi&oacute; disculpas en un informe conjunto posterior. Se realiz&oacute; una investigaci&oacute;n para averiguar las causas y consecuencias de la interrupci&oacute;n del trabajo. Sin embargo, todav&iacute;a no se ha hecho circular el informe, que presumiblemente contiene conclusiones diferentes de las que Sappi est&aacute; se&ntilde;alando actualmente. 
 
 
Rogamos enviar a los ejecutivos mencionados de Sappi el mensaje que se se&ntilde;ala a continuaci&oacute;n, con un encabezamiento que diga simplemente &ldquo;Enstra&rdquo;: 
 
Sappi demuestra conducta maliciosa, antidemocr&aacute;tica e inhumana en la planta de pulpa y papel de Enstra en Sud&aacute;frica. Est&aacute; mal el aplicar castigos a los enlaces sindicales y otros porque han adoptado una actitud firme, reclamando mayores medidas de seguridad en el trabajo. Est&aacute; mal que a los trabajadores de Enstra, que son miembros de CEPPWAWU, se les niegue protecci&oacute;n en el lugar de trabajo, porque Sappi ha suspendido a los 19 enlaces sindicales que laboran en Enstra. 
 
Antes que nada, est&aacute; la seguridad. A Sappi no le conviene esta mala fama. Deje los casos disciplinarios, Sappi, y ded&iacute;quense a producir papel en Enstra. 
 
(Firmado)
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ICEM pulp &amp; paper/pâte et de papier/pulp y papel : Sappi

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ICEM pulp & paper/pâte et de papier/pulp y papel : Sappi

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