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<img height="39" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100"/>
Opposition coalition parliamentarians last week threatened to derail the elimination of Australian Work Agreements (AWAs), a cornerstone to former Prime Minister John Howard’s draconian WorkChoices laws, adopted in 2005. Members of Parliament from the Liberal and National Parties caucused on 7 February and decided on a strategy to separate individual work contracts signed with employers from repeal of WorkChoices. 
 
The Labour Party government of Kevin Rudd is expected to present a sweeping industrial relations rollback bill to the House of Representatives on Wednesday, 13 February. That bill would repeal WorkChoices and also replace AWAs with interim arrangements for new individual employment contracts until a fairer industrial relations system is operational in 2010.
<img height="92" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Australia.png" width="180"/>
The transition bill to be introduced this week would outlaw creation of new AWAs, and replace the fairness test of individual agreements contained in WorkChoices with a more suitable no-disadvantage test. 
The effort to preserve AWAs is led by Julie Bishop, the Liberal Party’s deputy leader and industrial relations spokesperson. Bishop comes from Western Australia, a state in which major mining houses have used AWAs to circumvent collective bargaining agreements. 
 
The separation of AWAs from Labour’s rollback bill could delay progressive reform of the country’s industrial relations statutes. Australia’s Senate is still controlled by opposition parliamentarians until 30 June 2008. Delays to the Labour Party agenda could mean thousands more workers will be subjected to AWAs in 2008. 
 
Australian trade unions have demanded that all Members of Parliament adhere to voters wishes made in November 2007, when the Howard government was crushed in national elections. Howard’s enactment of WorkChoices was the number one issue by voters in forcing his ouster. 
<img height="51" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/AustraliaACTUsmall.jpg" width="137" alt=""/>
“The Liberal Party’s decision to support AWAs is an insult to the Australian people who voted overwhelmingly to reject WorkChoices at last year’s election,” said Sharon Burrow, President of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU). “AWAs were the centrepiece and cruel heart of the Howard government’s unfair WorkChoices laws. 
 
“With the Liberals planning to oppose the Labour government’s clear mandate to scrap WorkChoices,” she added, “many more Australian families risk being hurt by AWA individual contracts.” 
 
Research presented recently in Australia reveals that employers with fewer workers tend to use AWAs to cut labour costs, while larger employers use them to reduce the influence of trade unions. The research paper, commissioned by Industrial Relations Victoria and presented at an early February conference hosted by LaTrobe University, found that the average wage of a worker on an AWA is 7.3% less than a worker covered by a collective agreement.

Australia’s Opposition Plots to Preserve Individual Work Agreements

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The ICEM affiliate Mineworkers’ Union of Namibia (MUN) and management of Skorpion Zinc, owned by AngloAmerican, are expected to conclude negotiations today, ending a paralyzing 11-day strike that has affected global zinc markets. 
 
According to MUN President Andries Eiseb, the two sides exchanged proposals over the weekend, and spent the entire day on Sunday, 18 May, analysing the proposals. Further review is expected today, and the agreement is expected to be submitted to striking miners either late today or tomorrow.
<img height="66" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/NamibiaFlag.gif" width="100"/>
“There is the intent by both parties now to amicably settle the dispute and we expect conclusion today,” said Eiseb, who helped present the union’s proposal to management at the mine and smelting operation near Rosh Pinah in southwestern Namibia. 
 
Salary agreement came late last week, when the union and management agreed on a 12% wage increase for all 680 miners. The major stumbling block in weekend negotiations was related to the company’s desire for continuous operations, and the needed Labour Ministry exemption for that to occur. The issue of continuous operations also included the matter of adequate compensation. 
 
MUN agreed to support application for the exemption, and Skorpion must now compensate workers at time-and-a-half for all overtime, pending outcome of a court case. In a 2004 labour agreement, MUN won double-time for Sunday and public holiday work and that will remain intact. The overtime issue became complicated in negotiations due to the pending court case. 
 
Other issues that were resolved to the benefit of workers include housing allowances and company transport. The housing allowance was increased to N$1,700 per month, while MUN won a guarantee that the company will provide transport to the capital city of Windhoek, some 650 kilometres from the mine. Previously, transport was only granted to Keetmanshoop, a distance of 200 kilometres. 
 
Miners at Skorpion work seven-day on, seven-day off rotations.
<img height="95" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/ICEMminingsector4.jpg" width="100"/>
The ICEM affiliate Mineworkers’ Union of Namibia (MUN) and management of Skorpion Zinc, owned by AngloAmerican, are expected to conclude negotiations today, ending a paralyzing 11-day strike that has affected global zinc markets. 
 
According to MUN President Andries Eiseb, the two sides exchanged proposals over the weekend, and spent the entire day on Sunday, 18 May, analysing the proposals. Further review is expected today, and the agreement is expected to be submitted to striking miners either late today or tomorrow. 
 
“There is the intent by both parties now to amicably settle the dispute and we expect conclusion today,” said Eiseb, who helped present the union’s proposal to management at the mine and smelting operation near Rosh Pinah in southwestern Namibia. 
 
Salary agreement came late last week, when the union and management agreed on a 12% wage increase for all 680 miners. The major stumbling block in weekend negotiations was related to the company’s desire for continuous operations, and the needed Labour Ministry exemption for that to occur. The issue of continuous operations also included the matter of adequate compensation. 
 
MUN agreed to support application for the exemption, and Skorpion must now compensate workers at time-and-a-half for all overtime, pending outcome of a court case. In a 2004 labour agreement, MUN won double-time for Sunday and public holiday work and that will remain intact. The overtime issue became complicated in negotiations due to the pending court case. 
 
Other issues that were resolved to the benefit of workers include housing allowances and company transport. The housing allowance was increased to N$1,700 per month, while MUN won a guarantee that the company will provide transport to the capital city of Windhoek, some 650 kilometres from the mine. Previously, transport was only granted to Keetmanshoop, a distance of 200 kilometres. 
 
Miners at Skorpion work seven-day on, seven-day off rotations. 
 
The strike started on 9 May, and immediately drove zinc prices up on the London Metals Exchange. Skorpion, one of the world’s leading zinc mining and processing firms, produces 150,000 tonnes of special high-grade zinc annually. Management attempted to leverage its bargaining position last week by bringing in contract workers in efforts to continue production. 
<img height="115" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Maps/Namibia.png" width="250"/>
The Skorpion mining and smelting operation, wholly owned by Irish-based Anglo Base Metals, a subsidiary of AngloAmerican, began operations in Namibia in 2003. It became fully operational in mid-2005, and it produced 56,300 tonnes for the first six months of that year when the price of zinc was at US$660-per-tonne. The MUN strike pushed zinc prices up a full 5%, with it trading at US$2,285-per-tonne late last week. 
The strike started on 9 May, and immediately drove zinc prices up on the London Metals Exchange. Skorpion, one of the world’s leading zinc mining and processing firms, produces 150,000 tonnes of special high-grade zinc annually. Management attempted to leverage its bargaining position last week by bringing in contract workers in efforts to continue production. 
 
The Skorpion mining and smelting operation, wholly owned by Irish-based Anglo Base Metals, a subsidiary of AngloAmerican, began operations in Namibia in 2003. It became fully operational in mid-2005, and it produced 56,300 tonnes for the first six months of that year when the price of zinc was at US$660-per-tonne. The MUN strike pushed zinc prices up a full 5%, with it trading at US$2,285-per-tonne late last week.

Skorpion Zinc Strike in Namibia Expected to Conclude Today

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The Labour Government of Prime Minister Gordon Brown appears to have brokered a deal that will give agency workers new and better rights in the UK. Late last week, negotiators for both the Trades Union Congress (TUC) and the Confederation of British Industry struck a deal that would bring the UK more in line with the European Union nations that seek a Temporary Workers Directive. 
 
Although some details of the proposed UK law concerning agency workers still need to be worked out, staff of agencies would get job protection rights after 12 weeks of work. Employer groups had sought up to a year’s working time before a doctrine of unfair dismissal could take effect. Equal pay and similar work conditions for 1.4 million agency workers also is included in the UK dialogue, although details on those issues are still in discussions. 
 
Last week’s news was a clear victory for the TUC and UK’s trade unions, which mounted an effective campaign early in 2008 for work rights for agency workers. 
 
In a speech early last week, Brown tipped his hand to the impending agreement, promising legislation that “will, for the first time, ensure new rules for the fair treatment of agency workers here in Britain.”
<img height="107" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/0709Brendan Barber.jpg" width="75" alt=""/>
TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber 
On Wednesday, 14 May, TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said of Brown’s draft legislative plan: “I welcome the Prime Minister’s clear recognition that agency workers get a raw deal. Unions will now step up their campaign to secure proper protection and a fair deal for agency workers.” 
 
That campaign produced a record 136 MPs supporting a Private Member’s Bill on the issue of rights for temp agency workers. That bill, by Labour MP Andrew Miller, which garnered a full third of the House of Commons in February, left little doubt that the Brown Government must act on a draft law. 
 
Winning work rights for agency workers in Britain will also have enormous significance inside the EU, where a directive has been blocked by only a handful of countries, including the UK. The proposed EU directive has a six-week period for temp workers to gain employment rights.

UK Moves Closer to Granting Agency Workers Better Rights

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Today in Helsinki, Toimihenkilöunioni TU, the Union of Salaried Employees of Finland, issued a 14-day strike notice against companies aligned with the Finnish Forest Industries Federation. The union’s Paper Industry Bargaining Council, and then the ICEM affiliated trade union’s Executive Committee, voted in back to back sessions for industrial action across the country’s pulp and paper sector. 
 
The strike notice, filed under the country’s Employment Contracts Act, could mean 6,500 salaried, technical, and professional workers begin taking rolling strike actions against 100 employers on 16 June. It is expected that Stora Enso salaried staff will begin the actions at all but two mills on 16 June, with staff at other companies to then strike in the following weeks if an agreement is not reached.
<img height="57" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/FinlandFlag.gif" width="100" border="1" alt=""/>
The union and employers’ association have bargained since 11 April over a contract that expired Saturday, 31 May. The association entered talks again on 29 May by announcing they would not budge on unresolved issues. 
 
Those issues include offering no pay increases, agreeing to no job security, retraining, or other financial cushioning in the event of redundancies, and refusal to meet pay equity differences with Paperiliitto, the pulp and paperworkers’ union which reached accord with the Forest Industries Federation in April. 
 
“The ICEM has been monitoring TU’s talks with the industry for the past six weeks,” said General Secretary Manfred Warda, “and we are disturbed by the lack of employer movement. We now will alert our trade union affiliates globally, within these relevant companies, of this dispute but we urge the Finnish employers to return to talks and to make meaningful progress toward a renewal contract.”
<img height="123" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/ICEMpaper2.jpg" width="120" alt=""/>
In Finland, TU represents 1,000 salaried staff at Stora Enso, 1,000 staff at UPM, as well as less numbers of workers at major pulp and paper producers M-Real, Myllykoski, and Metsä-Botnia. The negotiations also cover salaried staff at a number of other global paper producers, and staff inside power generating facilities, pulp and paper maintenance companies, and paper converting firms. 
 
The industry has turned a deaf ear to a TU proposal for six months of pay and re-training for staff made redundant; to a 12-month special job security and training measure to protect shop stewards and health and safety personnel that might face redundancy; a bonus for staff who train other salaried personnel; and travel time for staff moving from one site to another. 
 
Since 2000, the pay gap between TU members and Paperiliitto members has widened because of smaller pay raises on the national level, and greater job development incentives for blue-collar workers at mill level. Since 2000, Finnish pulp and paper companies have shed some 1,500 jobs among TU’s ranks.

Salaried Staff in Finland’s Pulp and Paper Industry Brace for Strike Actions

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Prior to IF Metall’s First Ordinary Congress in mid-May, ICEM’s Swedish affiliate held a charged and enthusiastic two-day conference entitled “Decent Working Conditions for All – Fair and Just Globalization.” The conference, held 11-12 May in Stockholm, brought together hundreds of local Swedish trade union representatives with international union leaders. 
 
In opening the conference, IF Metall National President Stefan Löfven stressed that the 400,000-member union favours global free trade, but only if free trade ensures good and favourable work conditions for all. The conference heard from Jan Eliasson, chairman of Sweden’s Social Democratic Party’s Foreign Affairs Advisory Committee, and Kari Tapiola, Assistant Director-General of the ILO.
<img height="136" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/0706Lofven1.jpg" width="120"/>
IF Metall President Stefan Löfven 
It also featured a number of workshops on day two, including “Trade Union Solidarity in a State of Change,” “Global Cooperation in Practice between Companies and Trade Unions,” “The Political Platform of the EU – Today and in the Future,” and “The State of the International Trade Union Movement – a Challenge and Need for Change.” 
 
Participating on panels across those workshops were ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda; General Secretary Neil Kearney of the Textile, Garment, and Leather Workers’ Federation (ITGLWF); Horst Mund, Head of International Department, IG Metall, Germany; Göran Färm, Swedish Member of the European Parliament, representing the Social Democratic Party; and Ingrid Schullström, Head of Corporate Social Responsibility for H&M, the Swedish department store chain. 
 
Earlier, on day one, International Metalworkers’ Federation (IMF) General Secretary Marcello Malentacchi delivered an address on “Activities of the Global Union Federations,” emphasizing that today, international trade union work is a part of everyday life on the local level. He shared a session with AB Electrolux President and CEO Hans Stråberg, called “The Role and Task of Multinational Companies in a More Global World, Their Contribution Towards a Fairer Globalization.” 
 
During IF Metall’s Congress proceedings, Malentacchi and the union’s International Secretary, Mats Svensson, denounced Swedish multinational Ericsson AB’s contract labour practices in Bangladesh. Recently in Bangladesh, a contract worker fell into an unprotected zinc and acid tank. Ericsson manufactures components for telephones in Bangladesh.
<img height="78" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/0806MatsSvenssonIFMetal.jpg" width="66"/>
 IF Metall International Secretary Mats Svensson

IF Metall and IMF used a press conference to insist that Ericsson go beyond its own code of conduct by engaging in discussions toward a Global Framework Agreement with the IMF. “It’s clear in this case that (Ericsson’s) unilaterally adopted rules for the environment and security of employees is not working,” stated Svensson. 
 
He added that if decent work conditions are to become real, there must be cooperation between multinationals and employees’ global union representatives. “An agreement signed between a multinational and an international trade union organisation is a tool for social justice,” said Svensson. “The company puts itself at the negotiating table, and creates a tool that ensures” proper and decent work conditions are observed. 
 
At the Congress itself, IF Metall’s 300 delegates ratified initiatives supporting Global Framework Agreements and for Sweden to adopt ILO Convention 94, the Labour Clauses (Public Contracts) Convention. Fifty-nine countries have ratified the 1949 Convention, which calls for social and labour clauses to be inserted into public procurement clauses, but Sweden has not.
<img height="160" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/0806IFmetallConFlag2.jpg" width="240"/>
 Raising of the Flag: Solidarity, Socialism, Equality 

In other Congress business, IF Metall delegates called for a change of government in Sweden’s next elections, and criticised the centre-right coalition that currently rules the government for its sharp reductions in unemployment insurance. 
 
The Congress reaffirmed its approach on sustainable development, that an integrated approach must take hold that includes research, innovation, new technology, and lifelong learning and skills development. The Congress also called for a halt to the decommissioning of nuclear power facilities. 
 
President Stefan Löfven was re-elected President, and Veli-Pekka Säikkälä won election as the new National Bargaining Secretary. The Congress featured an address by the President of Colombian ICEM affiliate Sintracarbón. Jaime Deluquez Diaz thanked the Swedish union for providing strength and knowledge to his 4,000-member coal miners’ union in Colombia.

‘Fair and Just Globalization’ Workshops Organised by IF Metall in Sweden

June 9, 2008 
 
 
Viktor Turmanov 
President 
Coal Mining Workers’ Union of Ukraine (PRUPU) 
117 Posysheva Street 
83000 Donestsk 
UKRAINE 
 
Dear Brother Turmanov, 
 
It was with great sadness that the ICEM learned this morning of the major explosion at the state-owned mine near Yenakiyevo in the central Donbass region of the Ukraine yesterday. We understand that the miners endangered are members of your proud Trade Union, and I write to offer the ICEM’s condolences for those who have died, and our greatest hope that rescue efforts will succeed for those who still might be alive inside the mine. 
 
We understand that this particular mine is a low-yielding producer of coal, thus we question why the government even had the mine in operation. Certainly any mining operation that produces coal in Ukraine should and must have the proper methane detection devices and other modern safety equipment in place, and we wonder if this was the case of the mine near Yenakiyevo. 
 
The 20-million-member ICEM, the Global Union Federation for the Mining and Energy sectors, stands behind PRUPA in calling on the new Minister of Coal and other Ukrainian authorities to conduct a full investigation into this tragedy. 
 
Please pass our sincerest condolences to the families of the miners who perished, and know that the ICEM stands with our affiliated Trade Union PRUPU in demanding safe and secure workplaces inside the Ukrainian mining industry. 
 
Fraternally, 
 
Manfred Warda 
General Secretary

ICEM Letter To Ukrainian PRUPU Union on 8 June Mine Tragedy

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ICEM Turkish affiliate Kristal-İş and the country’s Glass, Cement, and Soil Industry Employers’ Association came to terms on a 2008-2009 sector-wide collective agreement, covering 6,000 glass workers. The settlement occurred on 2 June, a day prior to the strike date set by the union’s Executive Committee. 
 
The new contract gives workers a 13% pay increase in 2008, with a 2009 wage hike to equal the Turkish rate of inflation in 2008. Additionally, all social benefits will be adjusted upward, ranging from 15% to 66%.
<img height="97" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/ICEMglass.jpg" width="100" alt=""/>
The new wage adjustment means the base average salaries for glass workers in Turkey rises to YTL 1,678-per-month, or €890 or US$1,364. Kristal-İş also won a new wage system in which the minimum salary for new hires was dramatically improved. 
 
The new two-year labour agreement covers workers at 11 plant sites operated by glassware companies Paşabahçe, Trakya Cam, Anadolu Cam, and Cam Elyaf. All are entities of the Siscam Group, the fast-growing glasswares multinational that has factories in Turkey, Bulgaria, Russia, and Georgia. 
 
The Kristal-İş Executive Committee decided on 9 May to take strike action and later in May, set a 3 June date for a sector-wide glass strike.

Turkish Glass Workers Reach Two-year Accord on Eve of Strike

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The European Union’s Council of Ministers, on 5 December, backed away from passing an EU Directive on Agency Workers. The Directive, if passed, would have entitled agency workers to the same pay, benefits, and conditions of work as full-time staff after a six-week period. 
 
The proposed Directive, which was first drafted in 2002, has been blocked now for three years, primarily by UK’s Labour Party government. In the 5 December meeting of the EU Employment Council, the Portuguese presidency was ready to ballot member countries under the EU’s qualified-majority voting system, but the vote did not occur due to consideration of other UK positions. Besides the UK, Germany, Ireland, and Malta were member nations opposed. France and Poland had made compromises to accept the Directive. 
<img height="203" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/UK.png" width="200"/>
The Agency Workers’ Directive is sure to be brought up again in early 2008, when Slovenia takes the presidency of the EU. The UK government’s position has been bolstered by British business groups, who insist on flexible, disposable workforces in the name of competitiveness. 
 
Generally across Europe, temporary or agency workers are paid less, receive less training, and are prone to a higher rate of workplace accidents. 
 
Labour unions were incensed by the Brown government’s continuation of Tony Blair policies. In leading up to the vote, European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) Secretary General John Monks, a British citizen, spoke before the UK’s House of Commons on the issue. “Agency workers are getting a second-class deal. And you – our government – are defending that, the indefensible.” 
 
Following the 5 December non-action by the EU, UK Trades Union Congress General Secretary Brendan Barber stated, “This is a bad day for rights at work across Europe, but especially in the UK. Contrary to business scare-mongering, this directive would not stop agencies providing temporary staff to employers. It would make it more difficult to undercut wages and conditions, and help slow the growth of a two-tier workforce.”

EU Ignores Equal Treatment for Agency Workers in Failure to Pass Directive

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The ICEM North American affiliate, Communications, Energy, Paperworkers (CEP) Union of Canada, announced its intention to re-open sector-wide Eastern Canadian pulp and paper bargaining in efforts to stop the closure of mills and the loss of jobs. Meeting in Montreal on 5-6 December, local union leaders at Canada's largest paper company, AbitibiBowater, adopted the measure as part of an action plan to halt mill closures. 
The announcement by leaders of 35 local unions came in the wake of AbitibiBowater’s plan to sack 1,000 paperworkers with the closure of four mills – in Dalhousie, New Brunswick, McKenzie, British Columbia, and Shawinigan and Donnacona, both in Quebec. The closures mean Canada has now lost 20,000 forest sector jobs in the past two to three years. 
<img height="115" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Canada.png" width="250"/>
The proposal to enter talks early will be put to a conference of all pulp and paper local unions from Eastern Canada early in 2008. CEP then will be entering year four of a five-year contract covering 25,000 paperworkers in the eastern half of the country. 
 
“We’re taking the bull by the horns,” stated CEP President Dave Coles. “As a union, there are ways we can help cut costs that don’t involve concessions, and we want to put them forward.” The CEP president stressed that the union will not re-open contracts with the intent to cut wages or benefits. 
 
In 2004, Abitibi was the lead company for the CEP in pattern bargaining in Eastern Canada. The company's latest round of announced cuts occurs shortly after the Canadian company finalised its merger with US-based Bowater. 
<img height="114" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/0705CEPDaveColes.jpg" width="100" alt=""/>
CEP President Dave Coles
“We want to sit down face-to-face with AbitibiBowater to explore their closure announcements in detail," said Coles, adding that talks would centre on all possible alternative plans for the mills. He said early retirements and transition plans for the affected workers would be on the table. 
 
The CEP is also calling on AbitibiBowater and all major pulp and paper companies to join the union in convening a national forest industry summit to agree on urgent matters to support the industry. The union believes the federal government, led by Premier Stephen Harper, has turned a deaf ear to the crisis in the country's forest products industry, a crisis that has severely impacted tens of thousands of Canadians residing in rural areas.

CEP Proposes to Re-open Eastern Canada's Paper Talks to Halt Rampant Mill Shutdowns

<img height="39" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100" alt=""/>
The above-mentioned title was one of the main mottos of the Workers Group, which was coordinated by the ICEM, at the recent Experts’ Meeting of the International Labour Office (ILO) on Hazardous Chemical Substances. This meeting took place from 10 to 13 December in Geneva. 
 
The main purpose of the meeting was to discuss how ILO instruments, as well as other tools concerning occupational safety and health, and hazardous substances, could be best incorporated into a new policy framework and action plan. 
<img height="91" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/ILO.jpg" width="98" alt=""/>
The meeting examined the best practices and appropriate national legal frameworks to promote safe and healthy working environments. It also reviewed the roles of governments, and of employers’ and workers’ organisations, as well as ways of establishing tripartite consultation mechanisms on occupational safety and health, and of ensuring that workers and their organisations participate in the consultation mechanisms. 
 
The meeting further considered the impact of new and ongoing initiatives related to hazardous substances, including the UN-wide Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM) and the Globally Harmonized System of Chemical Classification and Labeling (GHS). 
<img height="99" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/ICEMchemical.jpg" width="100" alt=""/>
On the basis of the background paper prepared by the ILO (which <a href="http://www.ilo.org/public/english/dialogue/sector/techmeet/mepfhs07/mepfhs-r.pdf">can be found here</a>) and the subsequent actions of the Office, the meeting adopted recommendations, including on the need to increase, speed up and integrate the processes for the assessment and management of existing and new hazardous substances in the development and marketing of chemicals. This needs to take into account the special requirements for the protection of all workers, in particular for precarious and vulnerable workers, as well as facilitate access to information on preventive and protective measures. 
 
Other recommendations were on promoting the ratification and implementation of the up-to-date ILO’s general OSH (Occupational Health and Safety) and chemical safety instruments, including ILO Conventions 155, 170, 174 and 187, as a comprehensive and coherent basis for the sound management of chemicals and the establishment; and on the need to increase and strengthen the dialogue and joint actions of employers and workers throughout all levels, including at the global scale, on OSH and chemical safety issues. 
 
“It is an obvious success to see the main parameters of the Action Plan adopted by the ICEM World Conference for the Chemical Industries, which took place in 2006 in Trinidad & Tobago, reflected in the final document of this ILO Meeting. ICEM and its affiliates should increase their efforts in protecting our members’ health and safety by using all the instruments at international level” said ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda.

Decent Work Must be Safe Work

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