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It was two years ago when bitter mining fights broke out between ICEM affiliate Botswana Mine Workers&rsquo; Union (BMWU) and the managements of two companies. The prolonged fights spilled into courtrooms, led to splits in the BMWU, and were stained by overt interference by mining companies Debswana and Bamangwato Concession Ltd. (BCL) in branch and national union affairs. 
 
Perhaps worst of all, Debswana, a rich diamond operation shared between DeBeers and the government of Botswana, displayed despicable social behaviour by ruthlessly retaliating against some 450 strikers and their families. History will tell how a set of labour disputes led to internal trade union discord. However, it will also tell how profiteering by one of the companies &ndash; Debswana &ndash; created a climate during which the company took savage and unconscionable actions. 
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Debswana sacked the professional staff for striking, and then inflicted harsh retaliatory measures on them throughout lengthy court battles. Debswana forcefully evicted workers from company housing and closed educational opportunities to children of the workers. Both Debswana and BCL, a copper, nickel and cobalt mining concern based in Botswana, interceded into internal BMWU affairs by pitting branch leaders against the national leadership. The interference was obvious and flagrant. 
 
At BCL in August 2004, BMWU Selebi-Phikwe branch leaders were negotiating salaries with the company. After a 7% increase was offered and BCL miners were about to approve it, the company suddenly rescinded the increase and fired the branch leaders. BCL charged the union leaders with being in possession of internal financial data, information commonly shared in most collective bargaining relationships. 
 
That dispute, like the one at Debswana, still lingers. In early August 2006, some workers at BCL downed tools because aspects of the 2004 pay increase still has not been realised. In Botswana, mining investment continues at an unabated pace, making the country an African leader in resource output and production. 
 
A commemoration of both struggles was held over the weekend of 26-27 August in the mining areas of Orapa, Letlhakane, and Jwaneng. Sponsored by the BMWU, the programmes included demonstrations, speeches, and general reconciliation, as well as recognition that trade union unity brings strength to the working masses. Standing together with BMWU were the Botswana Federation of Trade Unions (BFTU), ICEM-affiliated Power Corporation Workers&rsquo; Union (BPCWU), the Manual Workers&rsquo; Union, and several white-collar workers&rsquo; unions. 
 
Speakers included ICEM President Senzeni Zokwana, President of South Africa&rsquo;s National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), BPCWU Organising Secretary Boitlhetswe Lentswe, BMWU General Secretary Jack Tlhagale, and BMWU National Chairman Chimidzani Chimidza. 
 
Zokwana delivered a message that building strong unions is not easy, but essential in order to gain equal footing with global companies. In encouraging all of Botswana&rsquo;s unions to stand together, Zokwana said, &ldquo;The challenge is to link class struggles together, then you become bigger and the voice gets stronger.&rdquo; 
<img height="148" src="" width="120" alt="" /> 
ICEM President Senzeni Zokwana
Lentse brought a message of reconciliation and resilience. &ldquo;Make peace and know that these are the deeds of employers and the government to dive us so they can rule,&rdquo; he said, according to published newspaper reports in Botswana. &ldquo;The fight against capital needs very strong unions with informed and militant membership,&rdquo; said Lentse. He echoed the main theme of the commemoration &ndash; justice, dignity, and reinstatement for the 450 Debswana workers, as well as for the branch officers who were also fired by BCL. 
 
Lentse cautioned Botswana&rsquo;s labour leaders not to align themselves inside the country&rsquo;s political parties, but rather to join global labour organisations for solidarity and skills development. 
 
Tlhagale reminded all in Botswana, including Debswana&rsquo;s 7,000 miners, that the 450 health care and other professional staff fired by the company had merely been protesting for a share of the lucrative bonuses given to Debswana&rsquo;s top managers only months before the August 2004 strike. 
 
He said that the sacked workers are victims of the bad-faith bargaining in wage negotiations by Debswana toward BMWU. &ldquo;It is unfortunate that government continues to take great interest in investors under the pretext that there is a stable labour market guaranteed by impoverishing docility,&rdquo; Tlhagale said, reported the Mmegi Reporter.

Companies Apply Divide-and-Conquer Tactics on Botswana’s Mining Union

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Nigerian oil workers&rsquo; unions, steadfastly acting as NUPENGASSAN, met in a Joint National Executive Council (NEC) on 30 August and issued a mandate to both government and energy companies that violence must stop and that the unions&rsquo; longstanding demands must be seriously implemented. ICEM affiliates NUPENG and PENGASSAN plans a three-day warning strike, starting 13 September across all oil and gas installations of the region if immediate action is not undertaken. 
 
If the government fails to provide a peaceful and safe working environment for oil and gas workers in the region following the warning strike, the unions would call an indefinite strike. 
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Following the day-long meeting in Benin City, a communiqu&eacute; was issued containing harsh words for both the Nigerian national government&rsquo;s &ldquo;poor response&rdquo; to the rash of kidnappings along the Niger Delta as well as to state governments, which have displayed a &ldquo;hypocritical and non-chalant attitude &hellip; in the deteriorating state of insecurity and criminality which now pervades the entire region.&rdquo; 
 
The statement says that the recent federal policy by President Olusegun Obasanjo to meet force-with-force has only created &ldquo;deepening insecurity&rdquo; in the region. NUPENGASSAN&rsquo;s complete NEC communiqu&eacute; can be read <a href="/index.php?id=25&amp;doc=1943&amp;la=EN">here</a>.
The two unions also condemned governmental handling in the release of a kidnapped PENGASSAN member last month. Comrade Nelson Ujeye was killed on 20 August when joint military and police troops ambushed a militant youth group on Niger Delta waters as he was about to be released. The communiqu&eacute; called it &ldquo;a grievous fratricidal sacrifice that arose from applying a negative approach.&rdquo; The story of Comrade Nelson Ujeye&rsquo;s abduction and subsequent death, including the ICEM&rsquo;s statement on the incident, can be found in a recent InBrief Alert <a href="/?id=77&amp;doc=1927&amp;la=EN">here</a>. 
 
The NEC also took note of the increasing number of cases of expatriate quota abuse inside the employment ranks of energy companies doing business in Nigeria. 
 
NUPENGASSAN, also at the meeting, reiterated its incriminations against the government&rsquo;s privatisation authority in the sale of state-owned Eleme Petro Chemical Ltd. Due diligence was not done in investigating the buyer of the Port Harcourt olefins refinery, the three-year-old Thai company Indorama. The enterprise is vastly under-valued, according to the two unions. 
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The NEC also condemned pipeline vandalism, as well as the fact that the government allowed the nation&rsquo;s five refineries to become mere transport &ldquo;conduits&rdquo; of imported petroleum products, rather than emphasizing local refining of such products to meet Nigeria&rsquo;s domestic needs. 
 
And finally, the unions&rsquo; grievances include strong objection to merging the Petroleum Training Institute, established by law to provide mid-level Nigerian staff to the oil and gas industries, into the University of Benin, and calls on the government to grant full autonomy to the Department of Petroleum Resources, so that it can effectively serve as the oil and gas regulator. 
 
The ICEM strongly supports the unions&rsquo; warning strike next week, as well as their other demands. The ICEM also calls on oil and gas companies operating in Nigeria to apply the same efforts and resources in securing a safe work and living environment for Nigerian oil workers, and their families, as they do for foreign national employees.

Violence-Plagued Niger Delta Must Heed Oil Workers’ Unions Call

The ICEM has expressed disgust and dismay over the circumstances in which a Nigerian trade unionist was killed earlier this week in the Niger Delta. Nelson Ujeya, a member of white-collar oil workers&rsquo; union PENGASSAN, was apparently murdered as he was about to be released by a militant youth group in Bayelsa State. 
 
Reports say that Brother Ujeya was killed when troops of Nigeria&rsquo;s Joint Military Task Force ambushed the militants at a time when he was about to be released. In all, 11 people were killed in the ambush that took place on 20 August. 
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On 8 August, Nelson Ujeya, the Community Liaison Officer for Shell Petroleum Development Company Ltd., was abducted on an official visit to Letugbene community while he was accompanied by senior Bayelsa State government officials to inspect community projects. 
The ICEM denounces the Bayelsa State government and the federal government of Nigeria for failing to provide timely and relevant information on the abduction and subsequent killing of Nelson Ujeya to his family and to the leadership of PENGASSAN. 
Further, in a <a href="/index.php?id=25&amp;doc=1926&amp;la=EN">letter to PENGASSAN President Peter Esele</a> that was also sent to Nigerian government entities and other organisations, the Brussels-based trade union federation said: 
 
&ldquo;The 20-million-member ICEM, the Global Union Federation for oil and gas workers, finds it reprehensible that such indiscriminate use of force by Nigerian government militia be used in such a situation. The ICEM stands firmly behind PENGASSAN in holding both the government of Bayelsa State initially responsible for the abduction of Brother Ujeya while in the presence of state officials, and the federal government for its new policy of &lsquo;force by force&rsquo; in dealing with kidnappings that occur in the Niger Delta.
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&ldquo;The ICEM calls on all energy companies operating in Nigeria to apply the same effort and resources in securing the release of kidnapped Nigerian workers as they do for their foreign national employees.&rdquo; 
 
PENGASSAN and the blue-collar Nigerian oil workers&rsquo; union, NUPENG, will hold a joint National Executive Council meeting in Benin City, Nigeria, on 30 August to take up the matter of security for oil workers&rsquo; employed in the Niger Delta. The ICEM notes that the combined voice of the two unions, operating under the aegis of NUPENGASSAN, has been one of reason and soundness in efforts to curb the kidnappings and violence of the area. 
 
That voice has called for both the government of Nigeria and the oil companies operating in the region to provide greater and better employment opportunities to the youth and indigenous of the region through skills training and other social development initiatives.&nbsp;

Abhorrent Circumstances Surround the Killing of PENGASSAN Member in Nigeria

25 August 2006 
 
Comrade Peter Esele 
President 
PENGASSAN 
NIGERIA 
 
 
Dear Comrade Peter, 
 
The ICEM has learned of the tragic and senseless death of one of PENGASSAN&rsquo;s members, Nelson Ujeya, earlier this week in the vicinity of Brass Creek or Biobou Creek, Bayelsa State. We understand that Brother Ujeya had been kidnapped on 8 August 2006 in Letugbene while performing his employment duties for Shell Petroleum Development Corporation. 
 
We also have unconfirmed reports that he died in a violent gun fight between Nigeria&rsquo;s Joint Military Task Force and militant youth groups on 20 August 2006 as he was about to be released after negotiations. 
 
The 20-million-member ICEM, the Global Union Federation for oil and gas workers, finds it reprehensible that such indiscriminate use of force by Nigerian government militia be used in such a situation. The ICEM stands firmly behind PENGASSAN in holding both the government of Bayelsa State initially responsible for the abduction of Brother Ujeya while in the presence of state officials, and the federal government for its new policy of &ldquo;force by force&rdquo; in dealing with kidnappings that occur in the Niger Delta. 
 
The ICEM calls on all energy companies operating in Nigeria to apply the same effort and resources in securing the release of kidnapped Nigerian workers as they do for their foreign national employees. 
 
Next week, on 30 August 2006, PENGASSAN and NUPENG will conduct a joint National Executive Council (NEC) in Benin City to discuss this and other security matters in the Niger Delta. The ICEM recognises that the combined voice of NUPENGASSAN in Nigeria has been one of reason and soundness in stemming the social instability occurring along the Niger Delta. We know that this combined voice has stood for education, skills training and other social development initiatives that will increase employment opportunities in the oil and gas sectors for Nigerians. We commend and fully endorse that stand. 
 
We would look forward to having a report from the NEC&rsquo;s deliberations as soon after 30 August as possible in order to publicise your sensible positions on the global level. 
 
In conclusion, please convey sincere condolences from the ICEM and its family of global trade unions to the family of Wilson Ujeya. We are very distraught on the circumstances of his horrific death. Also, please express our deep concern to all trade union members of PENGASSAN and NUPENG, who are forced to work in such a difficult and terrifying environment. 
 
Fraternally, 
 
 
Fred Higgs 
General Secretary

ICEM letter to Pengassan

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.
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&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.
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&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

&nbsp; English: <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/0606ICEMHIVAIDSManualEN.pdf">/files/PDF/Key_issues_pdfs/ AIDS/0606ICEMHIVAIDSManualEN.pdf</a>French: <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/0606ICEMHIVAIDSManualFR.pdf">/files/PDF/Key_issues_pdfs/ AIDS/0606ICEMHIVAIDSManualFR.pdf</a>Spanish: <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/0606ICEMHIVAIDSManualSP.pdf">/files/PDF/Key_issues_pdfs/ AIDS/0606ICEMHIVAIDSManualSP.pdf</a>

Training Manual on HIV/AIDS Bargaining

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The 2008 Olympics are still a full two years away, but ICEM Finnish chemicals union affiliate Kemianliitto-Kemifacket has already made an event out of a resolution it proposed &ndash; and passed &ndash; at the recent Congress of SASK, the Trade Union Solidarity Centre of Finland. 
<img height="233" alt="" src="" width="350" /> 
 
SAK's Lauri Ihalainen takes aim, while Kemianliitto President Timo Valliitu points the way
The resolution is coupled with an example of what &ldquo;Fair Play&rdquo; means when it comes to clothing, shoes and sporting equipment for the Beijing Games. Kemianliitto-Kemifacket showcased such ethically made apparel by sponsoring a Youth-10 girls football team whose players are outfitted with clothing made in Finland, and play only with balls certified by the Fair Trade Association. 
 
The 50,000-member trade union calls its campaign a public awareness effort to draw Nordic attention to the lack of bargaining rights and worker protections in many of the countries where big-name sporting companies produce their goods.

Finnish Chemical Workers’ Union Begins “Fair Play” Drive Toward Olympics

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Some 200 workers at a paper mill and converter owned by Smurfit Kappa Packaging in Argentina are on strike over the company&rsquo;s failure to pay a scheduled wage increase. The strike is at the company&rsquo;s mill and converting operations in Bernal and Espora. 
 
The workers, represented by a union affiliated to ICEM affiliate Federaci&oacute;n de Obreros y Empleados de la Industria del Papel, Cart&oacute;n y Qu&iacute;micos, struck because a 12% pay increase that was won in a long struggle after numerous social dialogue sessions with Smurfit has never been paid. 
<img height="99" src="" width="100" alt="" />
The company now is hiding behind the national work agreement in Argentina for the paper sector, and refuses to honour past commitments. Blas Juan Alari, Secretary General for Federaci&oacute;n del Papel, told the ICEM that the early promises made to workers are an acquired right, and that workers are refusing to bend to the pressure by the company.

Argentine Paperworkers Strike Smurfit Kappa over Non-Payment of Salary Agreement

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The steering committee of ICEM&rsquo;s Bridgestone Network met in Johannesburg, South Africa, from 26-27 June, and resolved to prepare a comprehensive health and safety declaration at local plants, with support and cooperation from managers, for presentation at next year&rsquo;s conference. 
 
ICEM trade union affiliates from Brazil, Japan, South Africa and the US are represented on the steering committee, and Gomurengo, the Japanese Rubber Workers&rsquo; Union Confederation, chairs the network. 
This sixth meeting of the steering committee heard about the economic situations in each country, received reports on tyre sector activity, and reviewed industrial policies of the Japanese company within the different plants. 
<img height="144" alt="" src="" width="100" />. 
ICEM's Michael Wolters
ICEM Chemicals and Rubber Sector Officer Michael Wolters presented the main report on current developments inside the rubber industry, as well as on major technical innovations in tyre manufacture. Wolters also presented, and the steering committee, discussed a recent UN report stemming from an investigation on working and living conditions at a Firestone rubber plantation in Liberia.

ICEM’s Bridgestone Network Meets

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