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Multi-stakeholder negotiations in Indonesia, bringing together major sportswear brands, key manufacturers and five unions – including ITGLWF affiliates SPN and Garteks – have cumulated in the signing of a protocol to protect trade union rights. 
 
The negotiations began in November 2009 following a major Play Fair campaign and a commitment by major sportswear brands to engage country-by-country with trade unions in order to agree concrete steps to bring about improvements to working conditions in the industry. 
 
The protocol, signed on 7 June, addresses the fact that unions in Indonesia’s garment and footwear sectors are frequently denied the time and space they need to carry out their duties. The protocol outlaws all forms of anti-union discrimination and requires that a CBA, where none exist, be negotiated within six months. The agreement provides for the release of union officials from work duties in order to carry out their union activities; requires provision of adequate office, meeting and notice board space; gives unions the freedom to distribute information without interference; and commits signatory factories to facilitate a check-off system for collecting union dues. 
 
Initial signatories comprised multinational brands adidas, Nike and Puma, their key suppliers, and five Indonesian unions including SPN and Garteks. Playfair 2012 launched an action, exactly one year before the London 2012 Olympics, to encourage additional brands to commit to the protocol. The action was well supported and since then Pentland – owners of the Speedo brand, Asics, and New Balance have agreed to sign the protocol. 
 
Although implementation is in the embryonic stages, some steps have been taken to socialise the protocol. adidas have held workshops for their 58 Indonesian suppliers to inform them about the protocol and encourage them to agree to its provisions, and Nike have promised that all of their suppliers will know about the protocol by the end of October. ITGLWF affiliate Garteks report that the protocol has opened the door for them to negotiate a CBA and they have also seen their membership increase in that factory. 
The ITGLWF is urging all garment and footwear brands sourcing from Indonesia to sign the protocol.

Multi-Stakeholder Negotiations Lead to Garment Framework Agreement

The ArcelorMittal Health and Safety Committee, created in June 2008 in a common effort by the company and unions to improve safety in ArcelorMittal, issued its first report of activities on 15 August called “Together for Safety.” The number of fatalities has declined since 2008, but remains unacceptably high in the company. 
 
In 2008, ArcelorMittal management and unions signed an agreement to create a Joint Health and Safety Committee to address the high number of fatalities in the company’s units. The Committee is composed of representatives of the IMF, the European Metalworkers’ Federation, the United Steelworkers (USW), CNM-CUT, a mining area representative, and company Health and Safety representatives. 
 
On 15 August, the Joint Global Health and Safety Committee launched its first report, concluding it has had a positive impact on the number of fatalities, which it ascribes to good workplace cooperation between trade unions and management. 
 
Since its inception, the Committee has created local health and safety committees and made site visits in priority company sites in Kazakhstan, Brazil, Mexico, Czech Republic, Romania, South Africa, USA, Argentina, and Ukraine. During these visits, local union members and management met with committee members to review the local safety situation and develop a health and safety action plan. The committee has then arranged follow-up visits. 
 
The committee concludes that it has had a positive impact on the number of accidents in the workplace, especially fatalities, and helped reduce risk faced by workers. It has also helped to improve communication and cooperation between unions and management, locally and globally. 
 
The committee, however, also notes an increase in the number of fatalities in the last year – from 36 in 2009 to 41 in 2010, which is considered to be unacceptably high by both unions and management. 
 
There remain issues of dispute between unions and management. The company has publicised a set of “Golden Rules” for safety and associated actions, including penalties for violations, while unions fear that this violations policy will impede safety by dissuading workers to report about minor accidents and near misses, thereby creating a lazy safety management culture. 
 
There is also joint criticism of inconsistent responses to requests for health and safety training, and a deficient dialogue on the subject at some business units and work sites. 
 
The parties remain committed to the committee’s work, and see the joint report and accompanying union and management statements as evidence for a working dialogue and commitment to building a positive workplace culture. 
 
The report, “Together for Safety,” has been issued in English, and will be published also in French, Spanish, German, and Portuguese. 
 
For further details, contact Joint Committee co-chair Rob Johnston at <a href="javascript:void(0);/*1316099350265*/">rjohnston@imfmetal.org</a>.

Common Efforts Input to Workers’ Safety at ArcelorMittal

Similar to integration on the global level, European industrial union federations are integrating for greater strength and more social power. As part of that, the European Mine, Chemicals, Energy Federation (EMCEF), the European Metalworkers’ Federation (EMF), and the European Trade Union Federation – Textiles, Clothing and Leather (ETUF-TCL) issued a recent common and joint position on the Eurobonds debate aimed at the European Central Bank and the Council of the European Union. 
 
General Secretaries Michael Wolters (EMCEF), Ulrich Eckelmann (EMF) and Luc Triangle (ETUF-TCL) warned banks again could be the nemesis of the real economy and the fight over Eurobonds must be put on hold while action is focused on supplying the real economy with liquidity instead. 
 
The three federations said creation of a Eurobond market is no guarantee that banks will make necessary industrial investments with an economic environment that still allows speculation and opportunism to exist. This bodes badly for small- and medium-sized industrial enterprises, in particular, and lack of investment here could be a death knell. 
 
“The recovery of industry – and hence millions of jobs – is seriously threatened,” stated the three federations. “It is foolish and short-sighted to exclusively focus on austerity measures despite the need to discuss budget consolidations and develop a fair framework for responsible governance. 
 
Advocating the Financial Transaction Tax as a start, EMCEF, EMF, and ETUF-TCL said “sustainable investments are required to secure the stability of the real economy.” Necessary investments can be made by European Union future investment bonds which must be limited in time, related to specific projects, and financed by levies placed on the capital of wealthy speculators that caused the financial crisis in the first place.

European Trade Federations Demand Economic Liquidity for Job Creation

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Some 300 members of Australia’s Construction, Forestry, Mine and Energy Union (CFMEU) are locked in a fierce battle with the American door and window-maker Jeld-Wen. Woodworkers of the CFMEU’s Forestry, Furnishing and Timber Building Products Division have been on strike – and locked out five days – at factories in four Australian states. 
 
The central issue is pay. CFMEU has been negotiating with Jeld-Wen subsidiaries Corinthian, William Russell Doors, and Stegbar since June over a new enterprise agreement, but the meagre wage increases offered over a three-year proposal would mean actual pay cuts for workers. In recent talks, the company reshuffled its pay offer but it still fell far short of Australia’s 4.5% cost-of-living rise. 
 
Workers at six factories – including St. Mary’s near Sydney, New South Wales; Dandenong, Cambellfield and Scoresby in Victoria; Regency Park near Adelaide, South Australia; and Canningvale, Perth, Western Australia – took 48-hour strike actions on 6 September. They then were hit by the five-day lockout on 8 September. Workers immediately undertook further and varying strike actions over the last two weeks at the six worksites. 
<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1109.cfmeu jeld wen.jpg" width="242" height="161" alt=""/>
Photo: The Western Weekender
Global labour leaders attending the CFMEU’s National Construction Conference in Canberra recently visited the St Mary’s picket line on 16 September, and the Building and Wood Workers’ International (BWI) has picked up the cause and is actively supporting CFMEU members. BWI has launched a protest campaign through its website. Please join that protest <a href="http://www.bwint.org/default.asp?Index=3685&Language=EN">here</a>.  
 
CFMEU National lead Negotiator Phil Davies said the revised pay offer given after the company’s lockout ended on 13 September is worse than Jeld-Wen’s original “non-negotiable” pay proposal. If accepted, one-third of all job classifications would actually see a further decline in real wages compared to inflation. “All our members want is fair and reasonable pay and conditions,” he said. 
 
The company is seeking to abolish an attendance-based bonus scheme as well. Meanwhile, the employer has sent letters to workers warning of future lockouts. 
 
Family-run and closely-held Jeld-Wen, started in 1960 by Richard Wendt, purchased the Corinthian factories in Australia and Asia on the cheap during the Asian financial crisis in the mid-1990s, and in 1999 bought Stegbar from a UK-based company. In North America, Oregon-based Jeld-Wen overextended itself in recent years with diversification into ski resorts and holiday properties at the exact time housing and real estate markets crashed. 
 
Next month, Canadian private equity company Onex is expected to close on a US$860 million infusion into Jeld-Wen, giving it 58% ownership of a company that operates 60 manufacturing and distribution sites in 22 countries. The deceased Wendt’s son, Roderick, will cease heading one of the world’s biggest door- and window-makers in exchange for an Onex selectee.

US Firm Slams Door on CFMEU Members Trying to Catch Inflation

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On 14 September 14, the ICEM held an education and awareness-raising event on ILO Convention 176, the Health and Safety in Mines Convention, at XIX World Congress on Safety and Health at Work (WCSHW), an important global occupational health and safety gathering. It took place at the Haliç Congress Center in Istanbul. 
 
The ICEM forum had the presence of two of the leaders of ICEM-affiliated mining unions, which indicated the commitment from them to get Turkey to ratify and implement the standards contained in Convention 176. Nurettin Akçul, President of Türkiye Maden-İş, the Mine Workers’ Union of Turkey, and President Eyüp Alabaş of Genel Maden-İş, the General Mine Workers’ Union of Turkey, participated and expressed the necessity of improved mine safety through adoption of global standards. 
 
ICEM Industry and Corporate Affairs Director Kemal Özkan introduced the panellists. He noted that the ICEM has made mine safety a top priority, and will vigilantly work to get more countries to ratify ILO Convention 176. 
 
The first panellist was Dr. Fikret Sazak, Director of Education Department for Maden-İş. He reviewed the deplorable occupational health and safety conditions in Turkey's mining sector, as well as generally. 
<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1109.c176 istanbul.jpg" width="230" height="160" alt=""/>
From left to right: Brian Kohler, Glen Mpufane, Eyüp Alabaş, Kemal Özkan, Nurettin Akçul, Fikret Sazak, Turhan Oral
Neo-liberal policies of deregulation, privatization, and globalization are devastating the sector, he said. There is a large informal sector within the Turkish economy. Even within the formal sector, there is high unemployment, low union density, and therefore a big problem with contract labour, flexible labour arrangements, and other forms of precarious work. 
 
Turkish mines are poorly regulated, and there are not enough government inspectors to adequately enforce even those regulations that do exist. 
 
Sazak concluded that the solution lies in enacting effective and enforceable occupational health and safety laws, much more education and training, and worker participation through joint Health and Safety Committees. ILO Convention 176 sets out a minimum standard for all of these things, therefore it should be a high priority for the government of Turkey to ratify it. This will not happen without strong unions. 
 
ICEM Mining Officer Glen Mpufane entitled his presentation “First Aid Needed for Safety and Health in the Mining Industry.” He focused on various incentive systems used to compensate miners – both workers and managers. This creates a race to the bottom where all standards are sacrificed to the altar of profit. 
 
Surveying recent mining disasters, in Pakistan, New Zealand, the US, China, Russia, Mexico and other countries, Mpufane concluded that the role of trade unions was crucial. The ICEM predecessor, the Miners’ International Federation (MIF), played a major role in drafting and adopting ILO Convention 176 in 1995, and now the ICEM is the major organization campaigning for country to country ratification. 
 
Brian Kohler, ICEM Officer for Health, Safety and Sustainability, reviewed some of the provisions contained in ILO Convention 176, and the associated Recommendation 183. 
 
The main features include recommendations for a strong national legislative and regulatory framework, including inspection, required accident investigation, and reporting and record-keeping; employers' responsibilities to provide adequate training and supervision; hazard control following the principle of eliminating or controlling the hazard as close to the source of the hazard as possible and relying on personal protective equipment only as a last resort, and a recognition of workers rights to participate in health and safety policy-making at the workplace level and to remove themselves from danger. 
 
Other important provisions include topics such as risk assessment and control, health surveillance, and risk communication. Good engineering design is a starting point for a safe mine, stated Kohler. Effective emergency response procedures and equipment are also necessary. 
 
Kohler concluded by saying when it comes to occupational health and safety, governments and employers have responsibilities – workers have rights.

ICEM Holds Forum on ILO C. 176 at Safety Congress in Turkey

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Loyal to the organisation’s motto “an injury to one is an injury to all,” 10,000 members of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) marched to the Chamber of Mines in Johannesburg in early October demanding safer working conditions. 
 
Deadly mine accidents continue to take the lives of some around 100 South African miners each year. The 4 October demonstrators also used the occasion to remember comrades killed at work. 
 
Several thousand mine, construction and energy sector employees downed their tools to mark the day of mourning and protest. The central business district of Johannesburg was brought to a standstill by the march to state-run electricity provider Eskom, the South African Federation of Civil Engineering Contractors, and the government departments of labour and mineral resources. 
<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1110.num rally Johannesburg.jpg" width="214" height="161" alt=""/>
The Marchers were addressed by the Leadership of the National Union of Mineworkers, The President of the NUM and the ICEM, The General Secretary of the ICEM and the Chairman of the ICEM Mining and DGJOP Sector. 
 
The Chamber of Mines, incidentally, joined the strike to improve national awareness over mine health and safety. 
 
The NUM showed its might in July with a widely celebrated victory, blocking Brazilian mining group Vale’s efforts to invest in the country and to operate in the region. Vale’s anti-union behaviour throughout the world, most notably against the United Steelworkers (USW) in Canada, led NUM General Secretary Frans Baleni to describe the company as “one of the world’s leading labour exploiters” and an employer not welcome in South Africa. 
 
Vale had long targeted base-metals mining company Metorex for its extensive copper and cobalt mining operations, and prospective growth projects, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and in Zambia. But strong NUM opposition forced Vale to withdraw their bid for Metorex on 12 July.

NUM Strikes for South African Mine Safety Improvements

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100" height="39"/>
Over 200 Global Mining and Maritime trade unions representing millions of workers around the world met in Durban, South Africa at the fourth International Mining and Maritime Conference. The conference has previously been held in Australia and the USA and was being held for the first time in Africa. The conference was hosted by the South African Trade Unions participating in the initiative. These Trade Unions are NUM, SATAWU, and CEPPWAWU. Most of the National Unions participating in the Mining and Maritime initiative are affiliates of the ICEM and participate in their individual capacities. The Mining and Maritime initiative is an independent loose alliance of national trade unions across the globe in the Mining and Maritime value chain, committed to global solidarity across the value chain of the Mining and Maritime industries. 
 
Intensive deliberations were held over three days of the conference on a wide range of issues across the mining and maritime value chain. A declaration was adopted at the end of the conference that commits the initiative to a plan of action in the next three years before the next conference. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1003.mining.maritime.logo.png" width="360" height="73"/>
Unlike previous conferences, the Durban conference reflected the influence and articulation of African Trade Union issues and agenda and this was extensively covered in the Declaration. Noteworthy in the declaration was the establishment of a truest fund to support the SATAWU initiative to recognize, albeit posthumously, Akhona Geveza, a victim of sexual assault and murder in the workplace, while on a Maritime scholarship in Australia 
 
The ICEM President, Senzeni Zokwana opened the conference and ICEM General Secretary, Manfred Warda, was one of the key note speakers at the conference. Both leaders gave the assurance of the ICEM’s support for the initiative’s solidarity campaigns and programmes. 
 
The ICEM’s Mining Officer, Glen Mpufane gave a presentation on the State of the Current Global Extractive Resources Industries, which was well received by the conference delegates. The Chairperson of the Initiative, Mick Doleman, recognized the presentation as an invaluable resource material for the Mining and Maritime. 
 
Conference delegates declared continued support for the global campaign for Los Mineros in Mexico, development of a global network of unions at mining multinational Vale, and to reenergise the Rio Tinto global network. The declaration prioritised the fight for women’s rights and participation. Specific support was pledged to the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Local 21 in their fight for good jobs at EGT Development’s grain terminal in the Port of Longview, Washington, USA. EGT Development is a joint venture of Japan-based Itochu Corp, South Korea’s STX Pan Ocean and Bunge North America. The ILWU President Robert McEllrath surrendered himself on 26 September to authorities, as police abuse their powers to harass the Longview strikers. McEllrath was arrested on the same day as another ICEM North American trade union leader, Dave Coles of the CEP in Canada was arrested on Parliament Hill, Ottawa during a protest against the Keystone XL pipeline.

Mining and Maritime: Durban, South Africa 5-7 October 2011

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With the United Steelworkers (USW) currently voting local-by-local on adoption of a US National Oil Bargaining Policy, one thing is certain when talks with oil refiners get underway early in 2012: union-initiated process safety improvements will lead the agenda. 
 
Some 300 local USW leaders convened in Dallas, Texas, in late September and adopted a bargaining policy. That policy is now up for ratification by USW branch unions representing oil workers and once 75% of local unions agree, the agenda will be tabled when bargaining begins early in 2012. A current three-year labour agreement between USW and a majority of US downstream oil and petrochemical employers expires 1 February 2012. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/0811GaryBeeversUSW.jpg" width="110" height="159"/>
Gary Beevers
USW Vice President Gary Beevers, who heads the sector, said achieving process safety will be the main issue in this round of talks. “We must have meaningful and enforceable safety provisions if we are going to save lives, and we are prepared to strike, if necessary, to get that,” said Beevers, an ICEM Executive Committee member. 
 
Process safety refers to a safe and functioning engineering and management controls system that prevents explosions, fires, and toxic releases caused by the highly hazardous chemicals used in refining. USW will strive to get a union-trained safety specialist in each of the 69 refineries where it represents workers as part of that process safety system. 
 
The USW reports that during the term of the current labour agreement, up through early September 2011, there were 131 reported fires in US refineries, about one per week. The USW lost seven union members, including some who were Local 12-591 leaders, in the deadly 2 April 2010 explosion at Tesoro Corp.’s Anacortes, Washington, refinery. 
 
The Tesoro explosion was caused by a heat exchanger in a naphtha unit that blew apart due to cracks in a welded area, an obvious flaw in process safety. The Washington State Department of Labour and Industry determined that the Texas-based company failed to test equipment for cracks and fined Tesoro US$2.39 million, a fine the company appealed. 
 
The USW represents 30,000 workers at a total of 168 production, refining, marketing, transportation, and pipeline installations, and its membership in the US’s 69 oil and petrochemical refineries gives it representation covering 64% of all workers in the US downstream sector. 
 
Oil bargaining in the US is termed pattern bargaining in which USW selects a lead company to negotiate with and then those terms are presented and expected to be accepted by other companies. Traditionally, the USW and its predecessor unions have selected Royal Dutch Shell as the lead company.

Safety Central Issue in Upcoming US Downstream Oil Talks

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Following the disaster at the BP-operated Deepwater Horizon oil well in the Gulf of Mexico the ICEM-affiliated trade union in Norway, Industri Energi (IE), appointed a reference task force to: 
<ul>
 <li>
 <div align="justify">Review reports and data on the accident </div>
 </li>
 <li>
 <div align="justify">Draw lessons and how to implement these lessons in their Health and Safety work both nationally and internationally </div>
 </li>
 <li>
 <div align="justify">Evaluate the consequences of the accident for the offshore business in Norway and elsewhere around the world </div>
 </li>
 <li>
 <div align="justify">Advise the trade union’s decision-making body concerning the accident and the consequences of it. </div>
 </li>
</ul>
<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/NorwayIE.jpg" width="90" height="121" alt=""/>
The taskforce had its first meeting on 16 February 2011 to discuss the mandate and working methods as well to review the material at hand. Since then they have conducted 6 meetings and submitted their report at the beginning of September 2011. 
 
The <a href="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1110.IE%20deepwater%20Eng_Rapport_Deepwater_s.pdf" type="internal">report</a>, dedicated to the “11 offshore workers who lost their lives on the altar of greed” is now available in English here.  
 
It has been produced by a team from the union who have examined in detail the relevant official reports available on the disaster and made comparisons with the legislative and industrial situation on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. As can be seen from the report the authors have a depth of knowledge and experience of the offshore oil industry which makes their conclusions particularly important. The report also highlights the lack of trade union membership and representation as a significant factor in the series of events which led to the disaster. 
 
If you have any questions on the report please contact <a href="mailto:lars.a.myhre@industrienergi.no">Lars Myhre</a>, ICEM Energy Industries Section Chairperson.

Industri Energi Publishes Report into Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Disaster

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Broad strike activity accelerated a positive wage agreement in the Austrian metal sector. In the early morning hours today, 18 October, Austrian trade unions PRO-GE and GPA djp, the Salaried Employees, Print, Journalism, Paper Union, emerged from bargaining on behalf on 170,000 metal and industrial workers with positive results. 
The 2011 pay awards will range from 4.2% to 4.4%, with the minimum wage in the sector increasing by €80-per-month, or a sizeable 5.3%. The ICEM commends these wage gains as a sterling European example in creating consumer power to offset the dire financial climate of the Eurozone. PRO-GE and GPA djp are to be congratulated for negotiating €300 million into the Austrian economy in this single set of talks. 
<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1110.austria pro ge.jpg" width="180" height="120" alt=""/>
This was made possible by strategic and early strikes last week that moved third-round bargaining up to yesterday, and forced the employers’ hand in raising their wage offers to above 4%. (See <a href="/en/5-Mining-DGOJP/4719-Wage-Shame-Drives-Austrian-Metalworkers-into-Warning-Strikes" type="internal">ICEM report</a> on Austrian coordinated strikes last week here.) 
“We have met our main demands of sustainable wage and salary increases, particularly for the lowest paid workers,” said Rainer Wimmer, PRO-GE’s chief negotiator. “I thank the stewards, members, and supporters who made this deal possible. Without the 800 workplace actions and the pressure generated by the strikes, this would not have been possible.” 
Those strikes happened last Thursday and Friday, and were about to carry into Monday, 17 October, except that employers recognised the growing momentum among workers for fair wage gains and they reached settlement on union terms. That recognition came in hastily called exploratory talks held on Sunday, 16 October, that included ÖGB national labour centre President Erich Foglar and the leader of the chief employers’ association, the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber (WKÖ). 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1110.pro%20ge%20reiner.jpg" width="105" height="160"/>
Rainer Wimmer
Third-round bargaining was moved up from 20 October to yesterday to avoid further work stoppages, and the two sides reached accord early today after a 14-hour bargaining session. 
The agreement grants a 1 November pay rise of 4.4% to bottom rung workers, 4.3 to mid-level, 4.2% to senior staff, and 4% to top level people. In addition, pay for apprentices increases by 4.3% and all benefit indemnifications increase by the same amount. 
Perhaps the crowning achievement was hiking the minimum wage by 5.3%, or up to €1,584-per-month. The wage agreement positively affects the buying power for 25,000 autoworkers, 16,000 who work in basic steel and iron, 5,000 in non-ferrous metals, 5,000 in utility work, and tens of thousands more in machinery, metal goods, and other industrial production. 
Austria’s metal sector agreement now sets a template for 450,000 retail sector workers. Unions representing those workers and retail employers begin talks on 19 October.

Austria Metalworkers Negotiate Exemplary 2011 Wage Terms

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