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ICEM General Secretary, Manfred Warda, in a letter to the Iraqi Minister of Petroleum, condemned the recent decision of the government-owned Southern Oil Company to transfer four trade union leaders, in an attempt to silent the union. 
 
The key leaders of the Basra-based Refinery Workers&rsquo; Union find themselves out of their jobs, transferred to remote locations, as an apparent punishment for trade union activities. Those targeted are Ibrahim Radhi, President of the Refinery Workers Union and Vice President of the umbrella Iraqi Federaton of Oil Unions (IFOU, an ICEM affiliate); Ala&rsquo; Sabah Miri&rsquo;e, Refinery Workers Union Vice President and President of the Central Council of the IFOU; Faraj Rbat Mizba, Refinery Workers Union media officer and IFOU Central Council member; and Khez&rsquo;al Kadhim. 
 
This is a clear attempt by the company to block the union from continuing their campaign for reforms. Since March 2010, the trade union has been organising peaceful protests, calling for fair pay, payment of overtime owed since 2007, an end to the recruiting of CAL workers into permanent jobs, a transparent recruitment process, modernisation of production equipment, but most importantly the recognition of the union. 

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As Manfred Warda states in the letter to the Oil Minister, these actions by the company constitute a clear breach of the Freedom of Association, recognised in Iraq&rsquo;s Constitution, as well as in the core ILO Convention. 
 
This latest case is yet another example of the urgent need for new labour legislation in Iraq, legislation that is fair and ILO compliant. 
 
ICEM Director Jim Catterson was part the international delegation to hand deliver the ICEM letter to officials at the Iraqi Embassy in Washington D.C. last week. The letter was delivered with a similar letter from AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka. This followed a rally, last Wednesday, outside the Iraqi Consulate in the American capital, under the slogans &ldquo;Democracy for Iraqi Workers&rdquo; and &ldquo;Labour Rights are Human Rights&rdquo;. 

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Jim Catterson told the rally &ldquo;Workers are being sent into exile to places where their lives are in jeopardy, just because they are unionising for better conditions. It&rsquo;s time now that Iraq accepted freedom of association&rdquo;. 
 
Pressure was placed on the Iraqi Government last week by TUC (UK) General Secretary Brendan Barber, who protested against the latest union busting to the Iraqi Embassy in London. 
 
See the ICEM letter, sent to Dr. Hussain Al-Shahristani, Iraqi Minister of Petroleum, <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/31.ICEM.Letter.Iraq.Oil.12April.pdf">here</a>. 
 
Support the LabourStart campaign for new labour legislation in Iraq <a href="http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/solidarityforever/show_campaign.cgi?c=669">here</a>. Similar tactics, against Iraqi trade unionists have been reversed in the past, thanks to international solidarity and pressure.

ICEM Condemns Transfer of Iraqi Oil Trade Union Leaders

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RadioLabour, the online news radio service of international trade unionism, interviewed ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda, last week, on the ICEM Global Campaign on Contract and Agency Labour (CAL). 
 
As companies throughout the world, and in every sector, continue to outsource their workforce in the race to lower costs, the significance of the campaign grows. As directly employed jobs are lost to sub-contracting companies or agencies, workers find themselves with little or no job security, inferior benefits, and with substandard working conditions. This is leading to a two-tier workforce with fewer and fewer directly employed workers, and increasing numbers employed through contracts or agencies. 
 
As Warda stated in the interview with RadioLabour presenter, Marc B&eacute;langer, &ldquo;In some countries, we must unfortunately say that contract and agency labour has almost become the &lsquo;regular&rsquo; employment situation&rdquo;. 

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Marc B&eacute;langer
Use the audio player below to listen to part of Manfred Warda&rsquo;s interview with Marc B&eacute;langer, or click <a href="http://www.radiolabour.net/ICEM/cal-warda.mp3 ">here</a> to find the interview on the RadioLabour website. 
 
RadioLabour reports on events of interest to unionists via &quot;The Solidarity Report&quot;, a half hour audiocast of international union news every Sunday morning. Part of Manfred Warda&rsquo;s interview can be heard on yesterday&rsquo;s <a href="http://www.radiolabour.net/">Solidarity Report</a>. Marc B&eacute;langer also presents &quot;RadioLabour 5&quot;, a five minute global labour news update, every Friday morning. 
 
RadioLabour is an important instrument in the building of international solidarity amongst unionists, also serving as a model and source of expertise for unionists who want to start a service similar to RadioLabour in their country or for their organization. Contact us if you need advice or assistance in developing a labour-based audiocasting service. 
 
Canadian national, Marc B&eacute;langer, producer and host of RadioLabour, is a labour union educator. He worked for the Workers' Activities Programme of the training centre of the ILO in Turin, Italy, from 2000-2008. He was head of the Programme from 2007-2008. The Programme operates the largest international union education school in the world.

RadioLabour Interviews Manfred Warda on CAL

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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. 

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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>.) 

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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. 

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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. 

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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. 

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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

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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. 

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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. 

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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

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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. 

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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. 

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&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. 

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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

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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

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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. 

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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. 

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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

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A UK Trades Union Congress (TUC) study released 12 May on workers now forced to take involuntary part-time work reveals a sharp increase. On the eve of the UK releasing its first quarter unemployment numbers, the TUC said the number of workers forced into involuntary part-time work had increased to 829,000, the highest figure in 15 years. 
 
One in nine people work only part-time because they cannot find a full-time job, states the TUC. Most of the part-time workers are women, 451,000 compared with 378,000 men. Women who work part-time earn, on average, 36% less than men who work full-time, while men working part-time earn 27% less. 
 
&ldquo;As unemployment rises, people are doing whatever they can to stay in work,&rdquo; said TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber. &ldquo;But while part-time work is better than no work at all, people will be shocked by the pitiful pay rates on offer &ndash; a disgrace that millions of women have suffered for many years.&rdquo; 
 
Workers in part-time employment are subjected to a double jeopardy, because their rates of pay are low and they are unable to work enough hours to make financial ends meet. UK government statistics cite that in job placement centres across the country, more than one in four work vacancies are filled for fewer than 16 hours per week. 
 
On 13 May, the government released figures showing that the number of jobless had risen by 244,000 for the first three months of 2009. That is the biggest quarterly jump in unemployment statistics since 1981. The 2009 increase in those without jobs raised UK&rsquo;s official unemployment rate from 6.3% to 7.1%. 
 
Also in the UK, hundreds of construction workers converged on the site of the 2012 Olympics in the east London community of Stratford on 6 May. Workers were protesting the wide use of agency labour by contractors on the &pound;9 billion site, undercutting a promise that contractors would pay union-negotiated pay rates and full-time construction workers.

Involuntary Part-time Work on Steep Rise, TUC Study Shows

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Late last month, the Ontario Legislature passed an Employment Standards Amendment Act (Temporary Help Agencies), which grants substantially more rights to workers of labour-hire companies. It will become effective in six months time. 
 
The new law, Bill 139, prohibits temporary employment agencies from charging fees for CVs or interview preparation. It also prevents agencies from charging workers &ldquo;temporary to permanent&rdquo; fees. 
 
And together with that, and more importantly, it allows agency workers fair treatment and better opportunities for advancement into permanent and sustainable work. Bill 139 ensures that such workers get paid for public holidays, and that they have the same rights as regular workers to notice of termination and severance pay. That will occur by removing exemptions under the Employment Standards Act&rsquo;s &ldquo;elect to work&rdquo; provision. Specifically regarding temporary workers, that means when they accept work through agencies, they forfeit such rights. That will no longer be the case. 
 
Although the new law does not guarantee equal pay for equal work, it does establish a system for payment of wage arrears by agencies when clients are late in payment. 
 
The legislation was advanced though Ontario&rsquo;s Poverty Reduction Strategy, a programme designed to build a stronger economy by creating more opportunities for low-income families and children. Passage of Bill 139, said Ontario Labour Minister Peter Fonseca, &ldquo;removes barriers to permanent employment&rdquo; and we feel &ldquo;we are helping people achieve their potential and opening doors to opportunity.&rdquo; 
 
In Ontario, Canada&rsquo;s largest and most populous province, the number of temporary agencies has grown from 1,300 in 1993 to nearly 4,400 today, with total revenues increasing from C$1.5 billion to C$8 billion in that 15-year time span. 
 
Most labour law in Canada is regulated under separate codes enacted and administered separately by the country&rsquo;s ten provinces.

Ontario Province in Canada Passes Law Giving Better Protections to Temporary Workers

The Global Unions, consisting of the 13 global union federations, the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), and TUAC of the OECD, knows of the importance in America in passing the Employee Free Choice Act. 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. 
 
This, we believe, is the basic underpinning of the Employee Free Choice Act. Our trade union stands firmly behind the American trade unions in your efforts to get the United States Congress to pass this legislation into law, with the support of President Barack Obama. 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. 
 
(Signed &hellip; Name of Trade Union Official) 
(Name of Trade Union) 
(Country)

Urgent Request: EFCA Letter

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