English

Español

Français

Aerospace

Automotive

Base metals

Chemical, pharmaceutical and bio-science

Energy

Glass, cement, ceramic and associated industries

ICT, electrical and electronics

Mechanical Engineering

Mining and DGOJP

Pulp and paper

Rubber

Shipbuilding and shipbreaking

Textile, garment, shoes, leather and textile services

Sectors

Action Plan 2025-2029

Action on textile and garment industry

Clean up shipbreaking

Ratify ILO C176

United for a just future - time to pay up!

Disinvest from Myanmar

Campaigns

Global Framework Agreements

Union building

White-collar workers

Health & safety

Industry 4.0

Women

Youth

LGBTQI+

Gender, equality, diversity and inclusion (GEDI)

Just Transition

Organizing with industriALL

What we do

Affiliates

Statutes

Elected Officials

Executive Committee

Geneva head office

South East Asia

Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Caucasus

Latin America and the Caribbean

Middle East and North Africa

South Asia

Sub-Saharan Africa

Regional offices

About us

Global worker No1 2022

Global worker No2 2022

Publications

Resources

Press

<img height="40" src="" width="100" alt="" />
Global intervention by the ICEM and German affiliate IGBCE resolved a restructuring dispute at Dystar Colours in Indonesia, a manufacturer of disperse dyes used in the textile industry. The dispute started in September 2007, when local managers of Dystar unilaterally implemented job losses on 91 workers out of 500 at the chemicals plant in Gabus, Banten Province. 
 
Worse, managers called a meeting of elected shop-floor leaders of ICEM affiliate FSP-KEP, the Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and Gas Workers&rsquo; Unions, on 11 September to inform them of the restructuring, but told them to be silent on the sackings. 
<img height="115" src="" width="250" alt="" />
The 91 job cuts were announced to affected workers on 13 September. 
 
FSP-KEP vehemently objected to the lack of consultation with the labour union over the restructuring, as mandated by Indonesian law. Management responded on 13 September by escorting the 91 sacked workers off company grounds on a bus operated by security guards armed electric stun guns and tear gas. Local police were on standby, as well. 
 
&ldquo;They were treating workers as enemies, or terrorists, rather than partners in production,&rdquo; stated FSP-KEP President Sjaiful Patombong, adding managers warned that no severance would be paid unless the union and affected workers adhered to the company&rsquo;s unilateral plan. 
 
Dystar Colours is German-based and had been 35% owned by Aventis, and 30% each by Bayer and BASF. In 2004, the big American private equity firm, Platinum Equity, purchased the company from the three partners.
<img height="83" src="" width="66" alt="" />
FSP-KEP alerted the ICEM over the breach of Indonesian labour law, and the Global Union Federation, in turn, contacted IGBCE. In the meantime, Indonesia&rsquo;s Ministry of Manpower began conducting meetings between the parties, urging management to comply with the letter and to negotiate with the union. 
 
The result came in mid-January. Although the 91 workers remained off their jobs, they now will receive twice the allowable severance compensation as stipulated by law. They also will receive two times the rate of yearly compensation, an additional four months of pay, and a lump sum Indonesian Rupiah (IDR) totalling 5,000,000. 
 
Through the global intervention, Dystar also agreed to engage FSP-KEP six months in advance in the event of any further restructuring, and agreed to halt the unnecessary intimidation of workers and their union representatives.

Global Intervention Increases Severance Packages for 91 Dystar Colours Workers in Indonesia

<img height="40" src="" width="100" alt="" />
A five-day strike by 400 chemical workers, members of ICEM-affiliated Oilfields Workers&rsquo; Trade Union (OWTU) in Trinidad and Tobago, ended last week with workers gaining equal voice in managing their production bonuses.
The strike, which began on 18 January against Yara Trinidad Ltd., wholly-owned by Norway&rsquo;s Yara International, also achieved wage gains that workers had fought for during several months of futile bargaining. For the collective bargaining term 2007-2010, OWTU members at the ammonia-producing company&rsquo;s will see a 16.5% salary increase, plus an additional lump-sum payout of 0.5% this year. 
 
Prior to the strike, in some 33 rounds of talks dating to last summer, Yara Trinidad had refused to offer anything close to 16% for that term. This set of talks also saw mediation intervention from the country&rsquo;s Ministry of Labour. Workers sought a profit-sharing plan at Yara&rsquo;s three-plant, 300,000 metric tonne-a-year operations at Point Lisas, Trinidad, an enterprise profitable due to high pricing and strong demand for ammonia. 
<img height="115" src="" width="250" alt="" />
OWTU won guarantees that its workers&rsquo; representatives will be involved in establishing bonus plans in budget preparations and guaranteeing that realistic targets are set. In addition, OWTU won an 80% increase in housing allowance, 50% on travel allowance, and improvements to the medical plan. 
 
OWTU issued official strike notice on 16 January, and workers downed tools on the afternoon of 18 January. The strike caused non-stop bargaining over the weekend of 18-20 January, and agreement came on 21 January. 
 
The Point Lisas operation of Yara was acquired by the Oslo-based company in 2004 when Norske Hydro sold its chemical fertiliser business, Hydro-Agri. Yara is now the world&rsquo;s largest producer of chemical plant nutrients following last year&rsquo;s buy-out of Kemira&rsquo;s GrowHow business from the Finnish state. 
 
Yara also owns a 49% stake in Trinidad Nitrogen Co. Ltd. (Tringen), a joint venture it operates for state-held National Enterprises Ltd. of Trinidad and Tobago.

OWTU Wins Chemicals Strike at Yara Trinidad Ltd.

<img height="35" alt="" src="" width="25" />
Global Fund Launches Round 8 
The special issue of the ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin, issued on 17 March, gives details of the Round 8 announcement by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Please contact <a href="mailto:hiv.aids@icem.org">hiv.aids@icem.org</a> or <a href="mailto:schwass@bluewin.ch">schwass@bluewin.ch</a> to receive a copy of that e-bulletin. 
 
The application form and support documentation are available in six languages at <a href="http://www.theglobalfund.org">www.theglobalfund.org</a>. Proposals have to reach the Global Fund by 1 July 2008. Access the website <a href="http://www.aidspan.org/guides">www.aidspan.org/guides</a>, on which a guide to Round 8 applications is available. 
&nbsp;<img height="35" alt="" src="" width="25" />
Colombia: Affiliates and Companies Renew Commitment to Fight HIV/AIDS
Representatives of affiliates and companies met with ICEM President Senzeni Zokwana and General Secretary Manfred Warda in Bogot&aacute;, Colombia, on 11 March for the National Conference on the Social Dialogue. 
 
HIV/AIDS is one of the topics in the Social Dialogue Project in Colombia. Delegates expressed the view that concrete action should be developed on HIV/AIDS, and that progress should be reported back to the next meeting. 
 
The ICEM Global HIV/AIDS Coordinator, who took part in the meeting, also visited the coal mining region in the north of the country. Carbones del Cerrej&oacute;n, which is owned in equal parts by Anglo American, BHP Billiton, and Xstrata, runs one of the world&rsquo;s largest set of open-pit coal mines in the world with some 5,000 direct employees and an almost equal number of contract workers. 
 
The company has co-financed a number of hospitals in the communities surrounding Cerrej&oacute;n and local management works with a foundation which runs awareness and prevention campaigns. A new healthy lifestyle programme for employees and their families includes HIV/AIDS. The programme is administered by COPASO, the joint committee for occupational health, on which ICEM&rsquo;s affiliate Sintracarb&oacute;n is represented. 
 
With a national prevalence rate of 0.6% and 160,000 adults aged 15 to 49 living with HIV (of a total population of 45 million), treatment is not a major problem. The challenge is to keep the infection rate low and the solution is prevention. 
&nbsp;<img height="35" alt="" src="" width="25" />
AIDS is Top Killer of 15-to-44 year-olds in Asia 
AIDS is the most likely cause of death for Asians aged 15-44, and could kill almost 500,000 people per year across the continent by 2020. The UN-backed Independent Commission on AIDS in Asia warned that in addition to the nearly five million people across Asia who are currently living with the HIV virus, another eight million could become infected if governments do not take drastic action to curb the epidemic. 
 
(Source: <a href="http://www.earthtimes.org">www.earthtimes.org</a>, posted on 26 March) 
&nbsp;<img height="35" alt="" src="" width="25" />
COSATU General Secretary Zwelinzima Vavi Speaks to Treatment Action Campaign in South Africa 
In his address to the 4th National Congress of the South African Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), COSATU General Secretary Zwelinzima Vavi deplored the many years wasted in courts and on the streets fighting denial and inaction by the government. 
 
Vavi acknowledged the role of the TAC in transforming the national response to HIV/AIDS, from denial and foot-dragging, to a united national strategic programme to drive back the pandemic. Thanks to the TAC, thousands of people now get the treatment they need to stay alive, and thousands of babies are born free of the virus. 
 
He pledged COSATU&rsquo;s support for the national strategic programme by setting up support systems at workplaces, and strengthening education and treatment components of the campaign. The aim is to train 20,000 peer educators a year. In his words, peer education remains central to any successful struggle to support people with HIV and AIDS and to reduce infection rates. 
 
(Source: COSATU website) 
&nbsp;<img height="35" alt="" src="" width="25" />
Annie Lennox and Amnesty International Highlight Fate of Rural Women 
Rural women living with HIV in circumstances of poverty in South Africa face discrimination in relationships and in communities because of their gender, HIV status, and economic marginalisation. 
 
This is the main conclusion of a report released on 18 March by Amnesty International. Many women interviewed by Amnesty said that they were often unable to protect themselves against HIV infection because they felt at risk of violence when they suggested condom use. Male partners refused to be tested for HIV. 
 
Effective treatment for HIV and AIDS requires regular visits to accredited clinics and adequate nutrition. Even if medication is free, rural women living in abject poverty can often not afford transportation. 
 
Singer Annie Lennox is highlighting the issue with her new charity song &ldquo;Sing&rdquo;. 
 
The report can be downloaded from the Amnesty International website, <a href="http://www.amnesty.org">www.amnesty.org</a>. 
&nbsp;<img height="35" alt="" src="" width="25" />
Product Red: Contributions to the Global Fund 
Product Red was created by rock singer Bono and Bobby Shriver in 2006 to engage the private sector in the fight against AIDS and to deliver a sustainable flow of funds to the Global Fund. 
 
Recently Dell and Microsoft joined Product Red, Bono&rsquo;s enterprise, by supplying Dell computers powered by Windows Vista. Companies, which are partners of Product Red, are committed to channel a percentage of profits to the Global Fund. 
 
On Valentine&rsquo;s Day 2008, an auction of donated and specially created art works at Sotheby&rsquo;s in New York raised US$42.6 million. The auction brought the total amount raised by Product Red to more than US$100 million since its launch. 
 
Lesotho became the fourth country to receive funds from Product Red through the Global Fund, joining Rwanda, Swaziland, and Ghana. 
 
(Source: Global Fund website) 
&nbsp;<img height="35" alt="" src="" width="25" />
News from the Global Union Programme and Global Unions 
In its most recent HIV/AIDS Update (No. 38, 1 March) the International Transport Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITF) (<a href="http://www.itfglobal.org">www.itfglobal.org</a>) reports, among other items, on the HIV/AIDS awareness and support programme implemented by the Forward Seamen Union of India, and the increasing risk of infection of Indonesian fishermen.

ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin

<img height="39" src="" width="100" alt="" />
Some 30,000 trade unionists took to the streets of Ljubljana, Slovenia, Saturday, 5 April, as European Union finance ministers met in the Balkan country. The unionists, marching behind a call by the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), were protesting record-high inflation and declining purchasing power at a time when EU officials were calling for wage restraint. 
 
The EU ministers were meeting in nearby Brdo in talks to reform social welfare programmes. 
 
ETUC General Secretary John Monks told the assembled in the capital city&rsquo;s Congress Square that &ldquo;we cannot accept lectures that workers should be modest&rdquo; in pay deals. &ldquo;Getting a fairer deal for workers across Europe is a top ETUC priority.&rdquo; The trade union federation has produced evidence that wage moderation does not create more jobs, as some claim, but leads instead to stagnating domestic demand and weakened employment rates.
Since 1995, while wages have dropped as a share of Gross Domestic Product across the EU, corporate profits have risen. Top managers earn up to 300 times more than workers, leaving over 30 million people earning poverty-level wages. 
 
EU unionists that converged in Slovenia over the weekend demanded a rise in real salaries and purchasing power; efforts to create more and better jobs; creation of decent minimum wages to combat poverty; equal pay for men and women; stronger collective bargaining systems, and an end to social dumping; decent work and fair wages for public sector, temporary, and mobile workers; better opportunities for lifelong learning; and a limit to the income of top earners.

ETUC Call Brings 30,000 to Slovenia to Protest Wage Restraint

<img height="39" src="" width="100" alt="" />
A strike by energy workers against Shell-Gabon that stopped nearly one-half of all oil production and exports in the west African nation ended last week, 1 April, after direct mediation by Gabonese President Omar Bongo. The strike by 800 workers, which began in the early hours of 20 March by the National Organisation of Petroleum Workers (ONEP), ended a day after the union threatened a broader national strike. 
 
ONEP reported its demands had been met. The strike occurred due to non-compliance by Shell-Gabon&rsquo;s managing director over new work-time regulations, rules that had been set in place by an earlier government decree. The union was demanding the ouster of the managing director. Workers had been denied holiday leave.
<img height="115" src="" width="250" alt="" />
Shell-Gabon is 75% owned by Royal Dutch Shell and 25% by the government. The 11-day strike halted 60,000 barrels-per-day of crude production in the Gamba-Ivinga-Totous oil fields, as well as production from the Toucan and Rabi fields. Shipments of crude were also halted at an oil terminal in Gamba, stoppages which cost Shell US$11 million per day. 
 
The terminal was also shut to crude exports of Total-Gabon and Perenco, the latter a privately-held French oil and gas exploration and production company. The companies share the terminal with Shell-Gabon. Those amounts were estimated at 30,000 barrels-per-day. Gabon is the fifth largest oil producer in sub-Saharan Africa.

Oil Strike Against Shell in Gabon Ends

<img height="39" src="" width="100" alt="" />
In Russia&rsquo;s Sverdlovsk Region, a ten-day sit-in strike by 96 bauxite miners 800 metres below ground ended on Friday, 4 April, as the world&rsquo;s largest aluminium producer &ndash; United Company RusAl &ndash; agreed to dialogue and serious attention to strikers&rsquo; demands. Those strikers, members of one of four mining unions at RusAl&rsquo;s Sevuralboksitruda subsidiary, the Independent Miners&rsquo; Union of Russia, began the strike at the Krasnaya Shapochka (Little Red Riding Hood) Mine on 26 March. Their resolve was furthered on 1 April when they undertook a hunger strike on 1 April.
<img height="205" src="" width="280" alt="" />
The company, privately-owned by Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, shut five other bauxite mines in the North Ural Mountains on 28 March, curtailing wages for 5,000 other miners in an effort to divide miners and pressure the striking union. That failed, with members of the other unions signing pledges of support for the strikers, as well as sending food and other supplies to them, until they started the hunger strike. 
 
An annual pay increase put in place late last year for all the unionised miners of the region by RusAl paled next to the company&rsquo;s vast profits and the 15% inflation rate of the region. The strikers of the Independent Miners&rsquo; Union sent a list of ten demands to the surface on 27 March. Those demands included a 50% pay increase on top of the average salary of US$760 per month, an end to weekend work, resumption of a company halted social welfare programme that took effect 1 January, and investment in other mines of the region.
<img height="120" src="" width="120" alt="" />
On 3 April, RusAl went to court to get the strike declared illegal. However, a pledge to meet their demands, and a promise of amnesty to the strikers, brought an end to the strike on Friday morning. The mine, located near the central Russian town of Severuralsk, is a former operation of Russian aluminium producer SUAL International, which together with Glencore of Switzerland&rsquo;s alumina assets merged with RusAl a year ago.

Russian Bauxite Strike Ends With Pledge of Higher Pay, Better Work Conditions

<img height="39" alt="" src="" width="100" />
In the strongest terms possible, the 20-million-member ICEM has condemned the vile and ruthless murder of trade union leader Adolfo Gonz&aacute;lez Montes of mining affiliate Sindicato Nacional de los Trabajores de la Industria del Carbon (Sintracarb&oacute;n) in Colombia. Comrade Montes was tortured and killed early in the morning of 22 March at his home in Riohacha, La Guajira state, northern Colombia. 
 
&ldquo;We denounce this vile and atrocious murder before the international community and the people and government of Colombia,&rdquo; stated ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda. &ldquo;We demand that the government of Colombia capture, charge, and convict the cowardly persons responsible for this crime against humanity and affront to democratic trade unionism.
&ldquo;We also call on the multinationals AngloAmerican, BHP Billiton, and Xstrata, the shareholders of Carbones del Cerrej&oacute;n, to heighten security for workers and trade unionists in the wake of this heinous act.&rdquo; Carbones del Cerrej&oacute;n is one of world&rsquo;s largest coal producers. Managers of the enterprise and 4,000-member Sintracarb&oacute;n are engaged in a model Social Dialogue exchange for Colombia, a programme fostered by the ICEM.
<img height="319" src="" width="380" alt="" />
Miners of Sintracarb&oacute;n mourned the killing of fellow worker Adolfo Gonz&aacute;lez Montes 
Comrade Adolfo Gonz&aacute;lez Montes was a committeeman of the Barrancas Section. At 6h00 on 22 March, while he was finishing his rest prior to a work turn, the assailants entered his home. He was tortured and then murder in front of his four young children. Following the murder, other leaders of Sintracarb&oacute;n received telephone threats. 
 
He becomes the 13th trade unionist in Colombia reported to be assassinated so far this year. In March alone, when the eyes of the world had been focused on trade union killings in the South American nation over the stalled free trade agreement with the US, six unionists were murdered. Besides Montes, Hospital Workers&rsquo; Union leader Carlos Burbano was killed on 11 March; ADIDA unionist Gildario Antonio Gomez Alzate on 7 March; Rafael Boada of Union Nacional de Empleados Bancarios on 7 March; Leonidas Gomez Rozo of CUT on 5 March; and Carmen Cecilia Carvajal Ramirez of ASINORT on 4 March.

ICEM Condemns the Assassination of Colombian Sintracarbón Leader, Adolfo González Montes

<img height="39" alt="" src="" width="100" />
The ICEM Global Framework Agreement with French specialty chemicals producer Rhodia took a major forward step with inclusion of specific neutrality language. The two parties formally signed the renewal agreement in Paris on 25 March. 
 
The Global Agreement, originally signed on 31 January 2005, also includes stronger language regarding responsible behaviour by the company&rsquo;s suppliers and subcontractors, as well as integration of the agreement with the &ldquo;Rhodia Way,&rdquo; a set of principles aimed at continuous progress on social and environmental responsibility.
<img height="186" alt="" src="" width="280" />
ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda and Rhodia CEO Jean-Pierre Clamadieu at the 25 March signing&nbsp; 
 

The renewal agreement is supported by ICEM French affiliates Fedechemie CGT-FO and Federation Chimie Energie CFDT. It follows a favourable assessment of the terms of the agreement carried out over that past two years that included a joint trip to China last fall to observe work conditions at Rhodia&rsquo;s operations there. 
 
&ldquo;We feel we have taken the agreement with Rhodia to a new level,&rdquo; said ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda. &ldquo;The commitment for trust and earnest dialogue is genuine.&rdquo; 
 
The agreement did contain, and still does, adherence to ILO Core Labour Conventions 87 and 98 regarding freedom of association, and the right of representation and collective bargaining, but it now goes further. Under a section entitled Labour-Management Dialogue, a clause now states: &ldquo;Rhodia respects the right of employees to be collectively organised and shall remain strictly neutral concerning their choices in this matter.&rdquo; 
 
Further to that section, &ldquo;Rhodia pledges to not practice any discrimination due to unionisation either when hiring or when managing employees&rsquo; careers.&rdquo; 
 
Rhodia also pledges to take a hands-on approach in assuring that suppliers and subcontractors adhere to the framework of the Global Agreement, as well as all laws and human rights standards. 
 
In addition, the renewal agreement sets formal ICEM involvement in tracking &ldquo;Rhodia Way&rdquo; performance; it creates a joint safety issues discussion group; allows the agreement&rsquo;s application to be audited by an outside expert jointly chosen by the two parties; and, following the successful Chinese mission, sets up an annual mission to a country to assess terms of the accord. The next such visit will be to Brazil.
The English and French versions of the agreement can be found <a href="/en/?id=98&amp;la=EN">here</a>.
Rhodia, which generated sales of &euro;5.1 billion in 2007, supplies chemicals for the automotive, tyre, electronics, perfume, and health, beauty, and home care markets. It employs 15,500 workers worldwide.

Renewal Rhodia Global Pact Has Specific Neutrality Language

<img height="39" src="" width="100" alt="" />
The ICEM mourns the death of German trade unionist Egon Sch&auml;fer, a former auditor of the ICEM who served with distinction on behalf of his trade union, IGBCE. He died on 14 February 2008 after a long illness. He was 69. 
 
He began his trade union service in 1962 for IGBCE&rsquo;s predecessor, IG Chemie, Papier, Keramik, in the union&rsquo;s Kassel office. He worked as head of collective bargaining and social issues for IG Chemie&rsquo;s white-collar membership, and was elected a regional chairman in 1973.
<img height="204" src="" width="140" alt="" />
&nbsp;Egon Sch&auml;fer 

He was elected to the union&rsquo;s central executive committee in1978 and rose to Deputy Chairman of the union, after which he took the major role on social policy matters. He also served on the supervisory board of German chemicals company Hoechst AG. He retired from union service in 1997. ICEM General Secretary said he had &ldquo;long and dedicated service&rdquo; in his voluntary role as ICEF and ICEM auditor. 
 
IGBCE President Hubertus Schmoldt called Egon Sch&auml;fer an &ldquo;outstanding social representative and a good friend,&rdquo; and said he was an ideological thinker who stood strongly behind his beliefs.

ICEM Mourns Death of Former Auditor, IGBCE Leader Egon Schäfer

<img height="39" alt="" src="" width="100" />
A near labour dispute by 2,100 Dutch workers at two of Europe&rsquo;s biggest oil refineries was averted last week when ICEM affiliates FNV Bondgenoten and CNV Bedrijvenbond came to terms with Royal Dutch Shell. The accord, reached on 4 March, will now be brought before the workforces for approval. 
 
The two-year agreement, which would become retroactive to 1 March at Shell&rsquo;s Pernis oil refinery, as well as at the company&rsquo;s Moerdijk refinery and chemicals operations, would give workers a 3.5% wage increase this year, and another 3.5% hike on 1 March 2009. It also grants one-half percent bonuses to workers each year of the agreement.
<img height="67" src="" width="100" border="1" alt="" />
The major stumbling block in negotiations throughout February was Shell&rsquo;s demand to buy back four ADV days. Those days were compensation for a cut in the work-week from 40 to 36 hours several years ago. Shell wanted the leave days back due to a shortage of personnel at the two refineries. 
 
The unions had sought to allow workers to keep the leave days, or, seek a higher compensation for these days. A compromise on this difficult matter was mutually accepted. 
 
The two unions engaged in joint membership consultations throughout in order to forge the agreement.

Settlement Expected for 2,100 Oil, Chemical Workers of Royal Dutch Shell in NL

Archive