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Global worker No1 2022

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In the 1990s, the ICEM led the global labour movement by innovative use of the early Internet for instant and effective solidarity. The Wall Street Journal, in a front page 1999 article, said the ICEM &ldquo;is changing the face of traditional labor protests by moving strikes, pickets and other union actions into cyberspace.&rdquo; A mining house spokesman admitted in the same article it was the advent of labour activists &ldquo;trying to globalize via the Internet.&rdquo; 
<img height="86" src="" width="100" alt="" />
The 20-million-member Global Union Federation launched a new and improved website this past weekend, effectively and seamlessly tying together countless struggles, issues, and worker-related facts on all things relevant in the ICEM&rsquo;s six major industrial sectors as well as the world of labour with a new website that replaces the global labour movement&rsquo;s initial, trend-setting static website. 
 
The new site maintains the same address as the old: http://www.icem.org, and visitors are welcome to explore the ICEM&rsquo;s topical website. 
 
The site provides information in ICEM&rsquo;s seven statutory languages&mdash;English, French, German, Japanese, Spanish, Swedish and Russian. 
 
&ldquo;We are proud to present our affiliates, firstly, with a practical and useful website as an aid to built strong trade union structures,&rdquo; said ICEM General Secretary Fred Higgs. &ldquo;The new website takes full advantage of the most modern communication technologies to support and advance our work with our affiliates.&rdquo; 
 
The ICEM website contains a wealth of materials and documents on current ICEM projects and campaigns such as Contract and Agency Labour, HIV/AIDS relief, Gender Issues, Health/Safety and Sustainable Development, Global Framework Agreements and Global Union Networks. In easily accessible archives are all ICEM News Releases, InBrief newsletters, Circulars (direct action calls), and other ICEM documents and information from past events. All materials are indexed by ICEM regions and major industrial sectors, and by individual country as well. 
 
ICEM sectors: Energy including Oil, Gas and Nuclear; Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals; Mining/Diamonds and Gems; Pulp and Paper; Rubber; and Materials, which includes Glass, Ceramics and Cement. 
 
ICEM&rsquo;s website design is compatible with the many and varied web browsers available. This means the site can also be read on small-screen and mobile information technology. Conversely, the website has been deliberately designed to allow easy access and easy download for the many workers of the world in regions where only slow internet service exists. 
 
The ICEM, based in Brussels, has 420 affiliated trade unions in 125 countries.

ICEM Introduces New, Advanced Website

Going against the flow of today&rsquo;s business mantra on ethical and sustainable behaviour, China and India continue to sign energy agreements with the military dictators in Burma. 
Only last Friday, Indian President Abdul Kalam sealed such a new deal, which will allow India to tap into a part of Burma&rsquo;s vast natural gas reserves. As part of that deal, yet another pipeline will be built. In Burma, more pipelines mean more slave labour, and more misery for the Burmese people.&nbsp;
<img height="200" alt="" src="" width="200" />
This latest Indian deal follows the announcement late last year that the Burmese junta decided to sell a portion of its gas from the large Shwe project to China. 
By granting this and other rights to PetroChina and CNOOC (China National Offshore Oil Corp.), the military dictators opened up Burma&rsquo;s new natural gas resources to both regional superpowers, continuing their old habit of creating rivalries between them. Some gas will now, in part, be produced by Indian companies, but sold to China. Both nations are hungry for resources to drive their energy needs. 
 
These deals concern recently discovered offshore gas reserves, including the massive Shwe Project, operated by consortiums of Asian companies, including South Korea&rsquo;s Daewoo and India&rsquo;s state owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp. (ONGC). 
This is in addition to the other &lsquo;older&rsquo; gas fields in the region, such as Yadana and Yetagun, which are mainly operated by a mixture of OECD-based and regional companies, including Total, Unocal (now Chevron), Nippon Oil and Petronas of Malaysia. 
 
The &lsquo;newer&rsquo; fields are still largely in their test-drilling phases. Estimates on their combined size vary, but range from twice the size of the combined Yadana and Yetagun fields, to ten times as much. 
Together with a few recently discovered oil fields, they are likely to become the latest and maybe largest pool of resources at the hands of Burma&rsquo;s military cartel, widely known as one of the most horrific dictatorial regimes in the world. Burmese generals spend roughly half of their nation&rsquo;s budget on the army, a tool used to terrorize Burma&rsquo;s population. Spending on education or health services is nearly non-existent.&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;<img height="67" alt="" src="" width="100" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <img height="66" alt="" src="" width="100" />
With the Chinese and Indian investments comes a startling fact: the projects will entail at least two new pipelines built inside Burma, one to India and one to China. 
While China is &ldquo;studying&rdquo; building a pipeline from the Arakan coast to the Chinese province of Yunnan, India reportedly agreed with Burma to build a pipeline that will now be much longer than originally anticipated, bypassing Bangladesh and going via Burma into northeast India. 
 
&ldquo;We all know about the consequences of building pipelines in Burma: countless Burmese civilians may be subjected to forced labour and suffer from it, ranging from having to work under slavery conditions at gunpoint, at best, to being murdered at worst&ldquo; said Fred Higgs, ICEM General Secretary. 
 
History is clear about what happens when pipelines are built in Burma. While the onshore part of the pipeline that links the Yetagun and Yadana gas fields with Thailand is only 65 kilometres in length, construction of it brought serious human rights concerns with it. 
Forced labour was used in connection to the building of the pipeline by the omnipresent army, officially there to protect operations. Land confiscation without compensation, something common throughout Burma, is another likely consequence of the investment. Estimates on the current number of people forcibly displaced already range from a few hundred thousand to a few million. 
 
All this will be no different this time. According to the ILO, the United Nations agency that deals with labour issues, forced labour is still widespread in Burma.
Multinational companies still have to enter into joint-venture deals with Burmese state-run companies, in this case MOGE, the Myanmar Oil &amp; Gas Enterprise, a company owned and controlled by the army, which continues to control virtually all aspects of life in Burma.&nbsp;

India and China to boost forced labour in Burma

Contents
1. Australia&nbsp;-&nbsp;Companies Benefit from Treating Women Workers Well 
2. Brazil &ndash; Women of Colour Receive Half Pay 
3. China &ndash; More Protection for Female Migrant Workers? 
4. European Union &ndash; Eurostat Publishes Statistics; Commission Issues Gender Equality Roadmap 
5. France &ndash; Parliament Adopts Law to Allow Equal Pay for Women 
6. ICFTU &ndash; International Women&rsquo;s Day &ndash; Organising Campaign II 
7. South Africa &ndash; National Union of Mineworkers Holds 3rd National Women&rsquo;s Conference 
8. Spain &ndash; Equality Law between Men and Women; Agreement to Promote Women in Traditional Men&rsquo;s Jobs 
9. UNICEF &ndash; 4th Annual International Day of Zero Tolerance of Female Genital Mutilation 
10. United Kingdom &ndash; Women and Work Commission Issues &ldquo;Shaping a Fairer Future&rdquo; Report 
11. Resources 
 

1. Australia &ndash; Companies Benefit from Treating Women Workers Well 
 
Forward-thinking businesses in South Australia are reaping the benefits of treating their female staff well. Paid maternity leave, part-time work and mentoring are features that draw bright female employees to companies with &ldquo;Employer of Choice for Women&rdquo; citations. The awards were presented on 21 February 2006 by the Women in the Workplace Agency to a total of 116 companies nationally. 
 
Employees are seen to be selective about where they want to work, and many women use the list as a guide. As a rule, the listed employers have higher numbers of women at senior levels, succession plans for women in management, development plans for high achievers, paid maternity leave, high maternity leave retention rates and the ability to work part-time at all levels. 

2. Brazil &ndash; Women of Colour Receive Half Pay 
 
Women of colour in Brazil receive, on average, half the wages paid to white female workers. This was one of the findings of a survey conducted by the Special Secretariat for Women&rsquo;s Policies, based on data gathered between July and September 2005 in six Brazilian state capitals. 
According to the study, the biggest difference exists in the city of Salvador, Bahia, where women of colour receive on average US$247 per month, compared with white women&rsquo;s US$598 per month. In Rio de Janeiro, white female workers received US$468 per month, while their black counterparts earned half this amount. 
 
The data indicate that the government should make a greater effort to address the issue of race and gender, invest in schooling and job training for women, and raise awareness about workers&rsquo; rights. 
The study, which was completed in December 2005, covered the cities of Salvador, Rio de Janeiro, S&atilde;o Paulo, Belo Horizonte, Recife and Porto Alegre. The research was based on data from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics&rsquo; (IBGE) Monthly Employment Survey. (Source: Public Services International) 
 
 
3. China &ndash; More Protection for Female Migrant Workers? 
 
The All China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU) is stepping up its efforts to protect more migrant workers, especially women, according to a senior official. The ACFTU will work out rules to prevent female migrant workers from doing overtime and protect them from suffering from occupational diseases and sexual harassment. Surveys in different cities show that employers did not abide by the rules when hiring rural women. 
 
Trade unions in Northeast China&rsquo;s Heilongjiang Province found that 60 percent of female migrants who were questioned in the provincial capital Harbin did not sign labour contracts with their employers, and 62 percent of them suffered wage defaults. About 653,000 migrants were working in the city last year, and 35 percent of them were women. 
 
 
4. European Union &ndash; Eurostat Publishes Statistics; Commission Issues Gender Equality Roadmap 
 
In conjunction with the International Women&rsquo;s Day on 8 March 2006, Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Community, publishes statistics to provide information on women and men in the European Union (EU). For example, women in the EU live, on average, 6 years longer than men. More women than men aged 20 to 24 had completed at least upper secondary education in 2005 (80% of women compared to 75% of men). Almost a third of managers in the EU are women. 
 
The employment rate, that is the percentage of the working age population that has an employment, was lower for women than for men in all member states, 56% for women and 71% for men. The female employment rate varied between 34% in Malta and 71% in Denmark and Sweden. On average about a third of working women were in part-time jobs, compared to 7% of men. Women work longer hours than men, however, including domestic work. Only in the United Kingdom and Sweden are the number of hours worked by women and men almost equal. 
 
Eurostat also produces a study entitled How is the time of women and men distributed in Europe? For more information on both publications, see <a href="http://www.eu.int/comm/eurostat">http://www.eu.int/comm/eurostat</a>. 
 
The European Commission adopted a &ldquo;Roadmap for equality between men and women 2006-2010&rdquo; in view of International Women&rsquo;s Day. The roadmap sets out six priority areas for action in the 2006 to 2010 period: 
<ul>
 <li>
 <div>Achieving equal economic independence for women and men; </div>
 </li>
 <li>
 <div>Enhancing reconciliation of work, private and family life; </div>
 </li>
 <li>
 <div>Promoting equal participation of men and women in decision-making; </div>
 </li>
 <li>
 <div>Eradicating gender-based violence and trafficking; </div>
 </li>
 <li>
 <div>Eliminating gender stereotypes in society, and; </div>
 </li>
 <li>
 <div>Promoting gender equality outside the EU. </div>
 </li>
</ul>
The Committee on Women&rsquo;s Rights and Equality of the European Parliament has also adopted a number of texts, including on the future of the Lisbon strategy from a gender perspective and on the call for the Gender Equality Institute. 
 
 
5. France &ndash; Parliament Adopts Law to Allow Equal Pay for Women 
 
The French government adopted, on 23 February 2006, a law aimed at guaranteeing equal pay rights for women, who currently earn - on average - one-fifth less than their male counterparts. The text sets a five-year target for wiping out pay inequalities, calling for more negotiations between companies and unions, but does not provide for any sanctions. 
A national review, to be carried out in three years&rsquo; time, will decide whether to introduce financial penalties for employers who are in breach of the regulations. The law requires French companies to carry out their own audits every year, including a comparison of salaries by gender. 
 
 
6. ICFTU &ndash; International Women&rsquo;s Day &ndash; Organising Campaign II 
 
The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, ICFTU, is launching phase two of the Global Unions&rsquo; Organising Campaign &ldquo;Unions for Women, Women for Unions&rdquo; on 8 March. The ICFTU Women&rsquo;s Committee decided that phase two will aim at a significant increase in female membership rates in trade unions, particularly amongst women workers in the export processing zones, in the informal economy, among migrant women workers and young women, as well as a net increase in women&rsquo;s representation in decision-making levels of trade unions. 
 
Through the campaign unions will continue to advocate for women workers&rsquo; rights. More focus will also go to transforming the cultural and structural barriers that prevent women from becoming active members and leaders. For more information see: <a href="http://www.icftu.org">www.icftu.org</a>. 
 
 
7. South Africa &ndash; National Union of Mineworkers Holds 3rd National Women&rsquo;s Conference 
 
The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) held its 3rd National Women&rsquo;s Conference from 16 to 18 February 2006 in Johannesburg. The conference was held against the background of the 50th Commemoration of the Women&rsquo;s March to the Union Buildings in Pretoria, in 1956. It also was a prelude to the NUM Congress in May 2006. 
 
The theme of the conference was &ldquo;Mobilise, organise and lead against chains of domination, exploitation and oppression of women.&rdquo; 285 delegates attended the conference, including some 30 men. NUM&rsquo;s emphasis is on women&rsquo;s development in order to generate cadres. NUM&rsquo;s structures must also be an engine to generate women activists. There are now women in the regional structures in 5 of the 11 national regions. 
 
In 2004, when the Mining Charter was adopted, women made up 1.5% of the workforce in South African mines. Now it is 6%. Growing numbers of women are also engine drivers. In addition, there are currently much more women in the mining engineering school than before. 
 
 
8. Spain &ndash; Equality Law between Men and Women; Agreement to Promote Women in Traditional Men&rsquo;s Jobs 
 
Draft legislation was approved in Spain on equality between women and men. The aim is first to transpose the European directive into Spanish law and to define direct and indirect discrimination, sexual harassment and bullying. The sanctions to punish these violations are already set. 
 
Parental rights are defined and broadly extended. Measures to improve work-life balance are also provided for. Furthermore, gender-related social security rights are improved. The path is open for positive action measures to eliminate inequality. 
 
So far, equality plans are voluntary, but companies with more than 250 workers ought to try to set up such plans. 
 
An agreement was signed between the Education and Science Council, the Spanish Chemical Employers&rsquo; Federation, the CCOO Chemical and Textile Workers&rsquo; Federation (FITEQA-CCOO) and the UGT Industrial Federation (FIA-UGT) to increase the number of girls taking vocational training courses in sectors that are not traditionally feminine. The point is to develop programmes and activities in secondary schools to help avoid discrimination in the chemical industry. 
 
 
9. UNICEF &ndash; 4th Annual International Day of Zero Tolerance of Female Genital Mutilation 
 
6 February was UNICEF&rsquo;s 4th Annual International Day of Zero Tolerance of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). UNICEF operates programmes in 18 of the 28 countries where this traditional practice exists. Of these 28 countries, 14 countries have passed anti-FGM laws. However, according to the London-based Foundation for Women&rsquo;s Health, Research and Development, only Burkina Faso, Ghana and Kenya actively uphold those laws. 
 
Countries have been under international pressure to ratify the African Union&rsquo;s Maputo Protocol banning FGM. However, they simultaneously face opposition to cultural change from many traditional ruling classes within their own societies. The African Union needs to set up a monitoring mechanism to follow compliance with the protocol. In addition, rights groups are needed to do field work to follow up at local level. 
 
 
10. United Kingdom &ndash; Women and Work Commission Issues &ldquo;Shaping a Fairer Future&rdquo; Report 
 
On 27 February 2006 the UK Government issued a report by the Women and Work Commission, entitled &ldquo;Shaping a Fairer Future&rdquo;. The commission was chaired by former Deputy General Secretary of the Transport and General Workers&rsquo; Union (and also former Chair of ICEM Women&rsquo;s Committee) Baroness Prosser. 
 
According to the report, women work in the lowest paid jobs, the so-called &ldquo;five c&rsquo;s&rdquo;: catering, cleaning, cashiering, clerical work and caring. The report claims that the equal pay gap is bad for the British economy and recommends 40 measures to boost women&rsquo;s careers and earnings. 
 
British trade unions, however, had mixed reviews about the report. The Transport and General Workers&rsquo; Union (T&amp;G) welcomed the report but also said the commission should have gone further and recommend a mandatory pay audit. &ldquo;Being a woman still means being paid less &ndash; a quarter less than men, which is the highest gap in Europe,&rdquo; said Diana Holland, T&amp;G&rsquo;s National Organiser for Women, Race and Equalities. 
&ldquo;Audits simply ensure an employer is complying with the law. Without an audit, employers will be vulnerable to thousands of individual, costly equal pay cases.&rdquo; 
For more information, see: 
<a href="http://www.womenandequalityunit.gov.uk/women_work_commission/index.htm">http://www.womenandequalityunit.gov.uk/ 
women_work_commission/index.htm</a> 
 
 
11. Resources
<ul>
 <li>WEDO's (Women&rsquo;s Environment and Development Organisation) Latest Global Monitoring Report: Beijing Betrayed. 
 
 In this appraisal of the status of women worldwide, which comes 10 years after governments adopted the groundbreaking &ldquo;Beijing Platform for Action&rdquo;, women in 150 countries assess the progress in the implementation the commitments. For the report, available in five languages, see <a href="http://www.wedo.org">www.wedo.org</a>. 
 
 </li>
 <li>UNESCO launched its initiative &ldquo;Women Make the News&rdquo; to ensure that the issue of gender equality must remain at the forefront of each society&rsquo;s agenda. See <a href="http://www.unesco.org/march8">www.unesco.org/march8</a>. 
 
 For news and information on the global action on gender and the media see <a href="http://www.whomakesthenews.org">http://www.whomakesthenews.org</a>. 
 
 </li>
 <li>The view the minimum wage and equality campaign in New Zealand, see <a href="http://www.supersizemypay.com">www.supersizemypay.com</a>. 
 
 </li>
 <li>Play an interactive game on working time at <a href="http://www.worksmart.org.uk">http://www.worksmart.org.uk</a>. 
 
 </li>
 <li>For a resource on good quality, affordable childcare, see the British TUC: <a href="http://www.tuc.org.uk/equality/tuc-11300-f0.cfm">www.tuc.org.uk/equality/tuc-11300-f0.cfm</a>. 
 
 </li>
 <li>To learn about women&rsquo;s vital contributions to peace and security, see <a href="http://www.womenwagingpeace.net">www.womenwagingpeace.net</a>. 
 
 </li>
 <li>Mama Cash works for social transformation and the advancement of women&rsquo;s rights worldwide. She strives for a peaceful and just world where women are free to make their own choices and secure their human rights: <a href="http://www.mamacash.nl">http://www.mamacash.nl</a>. 
 
 </li>
 <li>The International Transport Federation ITF has a campaign site that includes news on activities around the negotiation of equal rights for women airline employees in Jordan, the demonstrations outside train stations in France and India, and on surveys of women members in New Zealand. For information on strengthening women&rsquo;s participation in transport unions, see <a href="http://www.itfglobal.org/women/NetworkNews.cfm">www.itfglobal.org/women/NetworkNews.cfm</a>. 
 
 </li>
 <li>For information on the long-term earnings gap in the United States, Still a Man&rsquo;s Labor Market: The Long-term Earnings Gap, see the web site of the Institute for Women&rsquo;s Policy Research: <a href="http://www.iwpr.org">www.iwpr.org</a>. </li>
</ul>

ICEM WOMEN’S BULLETIN N° 9

Inside Thailand&rsquo;s current political turmoil and Prime Minister&rsquo;s Thaksin Sinawatra&rsquo;s rush to elections next month to solidify his authority rests the issue of privatisation and whether or not a country&rsquo;s resources belong in public control or sold off to capital markets. 
 
There is little question of where Thaksin stands, judging from his own business dealings and his government&rsquo;s actions to break up the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT), as well as Metropolitan and Provincial electric utilities. 

<img height="67" alt="" src="" width="100" />
A central demand by the political opposition, which seeks Thaksin&rsquo;s resignation, is immediate debate and introduction of new constitutional amendments. Thaksin is seeking a quick victory, allowing him to continue setting constitutional precedents, including the ones he has used as the means to sell public-vested enterprises to investors. Initial listing of EGAT on the stock markets was scheduled for November 2005, but has been suspended pending a court review. 
 
New debate also has surfaced over privatising the regional electric power authorities, scheduled for later this year. Last month, the Thai Finance Ministry raised uncertainties on privatising these utilities by stating electricity rates are set by government policy, raising questions on profitability and revenue forecasts. Even more to the point, a ministry official said new investment decisions cannot necessarily be made just on commercial reasoning, but also must be made on social needs. 
&ldquo;The plan to shift transmission wires underground will in no way help boost profits, but rather is aimed at improving service quality and the community,&rdquo; the official told the Bangkok Post. The outcome in Thailand over the next several weeks promises to be the watershed that will shape political decision-making well into the future.

Electric Privatisation Cloaked in Thailand’s Political Tempest

French unions will begin mass protests and strikes today across the country over the government&rsquo;s broken promise, made a short 18 months ago, that Gaz de France (GDF) would remain at last 70% state held. The actions are due to a proposal made public a week ago to merge GDF with the French-Belgian publicly-traded water/power group, Suez. 
<img height="99" alt="" src="" width="100" />
The French government stands in the middle of the deal, which would effectively privatise GDF, with France&rsquo;s stake only 34%. The government currently holds 80% of GDF. 
 
The merger would have a detrimental effect on Electricit&eacute; de France, costing mass job losses since Suez and its subsidiaries would supply power to GDF. CFDT Chimie Energie said the proposed merger lacks transparency in that no analysis of the combined industrial plan was presented, and the social aspects of such a Suez-GDF merger had not been studied adequately. 
The deal is an attempt to block Italian energy company Enel&rsquo;s hostile takeover bid of Suez.

French Unions Strike over Gaz de France Merger Plan

<img height="41" alt="" src="" width="100" />
Even as German affiliate IGBCE came to acceptable terms with Continental Tyre over a plant downsizing in Hannover, two other ICEM-affiliated trade unions face difficulties with the company. In the US, United Steelworkers (USW) is fully engaged in achieving job protection measures in negotiations at a tyre plant in Charlotte, North Carolina. 
 
Continental North America announced last year that it would make redundant 510 of the plant&rsquo;s 1,083 jobs this year, and then dropped a concession-ridden proposal on the union seeking US$32 million in costs savings that includes across-the-board 15% pay cuts. 
USW has criticized the &ldquo;slash and burn proposal.&rdquo; Union Executive Vice President Ron Hoover said, &ldquo;There are absolutely zero job security provisions to maintain future productivity&rdquo; in Continental&rsquo;s proposal, a deviation from the master rubber contracts that Goodyear, Bridgestone-Firestone and BF Goodrich/Michelin operate under in the US. A labour agreement in place since 1999 at the Charlotte plant expires on 30 April 2006. 
 
The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA), meanwhile, has condemned Continental for failing to abide by a labour court ruling to reinstate workers at its Port Elizabeth plant. The workers were sacked after the company unilaterally changed working hours without consultations with NUMSA. The union has taken legal action, and is threatening a strike and a boycott of Conti products through its affiliation with COSATU, a South African national labour centre.

Continental Tyre Creating Problems in US, South Africa

<img height="41" alt="" src="" width="100" />
An acceptable agreement was achieved in northern Brazil between workers represented by ICEM affiliate SINAP-CUT and Group Jo&atilde;o Santos. The Brazil-based company shut two of its subsidiaries near the town of Coelho Neto, the paper producer Itapag&eacute; SA and agricultural entity Agrimex SA. The company&rsquo;s intention is to use contractors in these enterprises, and sacked 227 workers in the process. 
<img height="213" src="" width="283" alt="" />
 
Workers and their families, who were camped in front of the company&rsquo;s Maranha&otilde; State regional headquarters, received a favourable agreement after dialogue between SINAP-CUT, the company, and the Court of Works of Caxias. 
It calls for full wage payments, according to social protocols; extensive company-paid re-training and re-certifications for dismissed employees; maintaining the Coelho Neto schools by Group Jo&atilde;o Santos; and written rights of local workers for jobs within contractors assuming company work. SINAP-CUT credited &ldquo;the strength and persistence of workers and leaders of Coelho Neto who with their force of fight had obtained these important advances.&rdquo;

Accord Reached in Brazil’s Paper Sector Stand-off

<img height="41" src="" width="100" alt="" />
An 18-day lockout of 58 members of Engineering, Printing &amp; Manufacturing Union in New Zealand ended on 21 February after workers ratified a mediated settlement with a North Island regional electrical provider, Top Energy. 
The two-year accord gives the linemen a 5% wage increase, backdated to 1 July 2005, and a 4% wage increase in July of this year. The agreement also retains for workers key work-rule conditions, items that the community-owned electric distributor tried to take from workers in initiating the lockout.

Lockout Ends at Top Energy in New Zealand

<img height="41" alt="" src="" width="100" />
Two jewellery workers from China and two gem polishers from India will travel to Basel, Switzerland, late this month to raise awareness of the deadly side effects of their jobs, particularly silicosis. 
The workers will attend a jewellery fair from 30 March to 4 April, and hope to have talks with a large number of organisations, including the ILO, in order to bring more preventative measures to their line of work. Silicosis kills workers slowly, often over long and painful illnesses. In the case of Asian workers, compensation is unheard of and most do not have the means to pay for medical bills. 
 
According to official Chinese figures, 440,000 workers&mdash;many of them migrant workers&mdash;have silicosis. Other estimates put that figure as ten times higher. The ICEM released a statement on the occasion of the Basel visit, which can be found at <a href="/index.php?id=5&amp;la=EN&amp;doc=1671">/index.php?id=5&amp;la=EN&amp;doc=1671</a>.

Asian Jewellery Workers Visit Europe over Silicosis

<img height="40" src="" width="100" alt="" />
This Wednesday, 8 March, marks the 97th Anniversary of International Women&rsquo;s Day, a day of action in the continuing fight for equality and justice for all women. The ICFTU is in a fourth year of a &ldquo;Unions for Women, Women for Unions&rdquo; campaign in which the aim is to significantly increase unionisation rates of women workers in the informal economy, among migrant women workers, young women, and women in export processing zones. 
 
The ICEM on 8 March calls attention to the appalling conditions of women workers in the developing world, the global pandemic of HIV/AIDS that finds women making up over half of those infected, and the rise of militarisation throughout the world that adversely affects women is so many ways. The ICEM urges all trade union affiliates to put in practice policies and initiatives for equality, opportunity and fairness not only for working women, but for women in all walks of life.

International Women’s Day Action Urged for 8 March

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