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Just prior to US President Barack Obama&rsquo;s state visit late last week to Ghana, the country&rsquo;s Federation of Labour (GFL) teamed with the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) to hold a two-day conference on labour rights in America. 
 
The conclusion, as recited by the GFL&rsquo;s Executive Board, is that even though the US preaches democracy and human rights, and makes such principles conditional in the granting of aid to developing countries, workers in the US themselves lack fundamental human and labour rights to association, join a union, or to participate in collective bargaining. 

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A statement from the conference said, &ldquo;Violations of trade union rights occurring in Africa are influenced by the anti-union practices, especially in the USA, where workers are deprived their fundamental rights to organise and bargaining collectively. 
 
&ldquo;Strangely, the USA has not yet ratified ILO Conventions 87 and 98 concerning freedom of association and the right of workers to bargaining collectively. This is an indictment on the image of the USA as a founding member of the ILO.&rdquo; 
 
The 7-8 July conference specifically examined the hurdles US workers and trade unions are facing currently in trying to pass the Employee Free Choice Act. The EFCA is a proposed law that would give American workers the same opportunities to organise and bargain that workers in nearly all other developed countries have. Through decades of US labour law precedents, employers have coerced, intimidated, and threatened their staff from joining trade unions, and current US labour laws have allowed them to do so with impunity.

Ghana Labour Federation Lashes Out at Lack of US Work Rights

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The ICEM calls on its members to sign the petition against nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction. Go to <a href="http://www.ituc-csi.org/peace">www.ituc-csi.org/peace</a>, and pledge your support. The millions of signatures that will be collected will be presented to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon at the next Nuclear non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) review conference in May 2010. 
 
The ICEM believes that the enormous levels of funds spent on these weapons, must be redirected to the social sphere, especially during this period of global economic depression. 

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The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) provides a document for the collection of names of the petition on the link above. All paper signatures must be sent to the ITUC before February 2010. The campaign has a page on Facebook, which can be found by searching &ldquo;No to Nuclear Weapons.&rdquo; 
 
The ICEM's worldwide membership includes workers in the civilian nuclear industry, who consistently denounce nuclear weaponry.

ICEM Supports ITUC Campaign Against Nuclear Weapons

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Mexico City &ndash; Trade union and parliamentary leaders from 14 countries are visiting Mexico this week to support the National Union of Mine and Metal Workers, which has been under attack by the Mexican government and the Grupo Mexico mining company. 
 
Yesterday, 28 members of the U.S. Congress wrote to Calder&oacute;n asking him to meet with the delegation. &ldquo;Continued efforts by the Mexican government and Grupo Mexico to repress this democratic union in Mexico have raised serious questions about labor practices in your country,&rdquo; the letter stated.&nbsp; See the letter <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/LTR.US.Congress.Mexico.pdf">here</a>. 
 
The delegation, organized by the International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF), <a href="http://www.imfmetal.org">www.imfmetal.org</a>, the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers&rsquo; Unions (ICEM), <a href="http://www.icem.org">www.icem.org</a>, and the United Steelworkers (USW), <a href="http://www.usw.org">www.usw.org</a>, is seeking a meeting with President Felipe Calder&oacute;n to discuss his government&rsquo;s handling of the Mineworkers conflict, which has been criticized by the international trade union movement. 
 
&ldquo;Workers around the world are outraged at Mexico&rsquo;s attacks on the Mineworkers union,&rdquo; said USW President Leo W. Gerard. 
 
The Mineworkers are one of the few unions in Mexico that continues to strike for higher wages. The union has won a series of strikes this year with wage increases above 8 percent, well above the 4.5 percent limit imposed by the government. The union has also criticized the government&rsquo;s labor law reform proposals and the lack of health and safety protections for workers. 
 
In response, the government has twice removed the leader of the union, Napole&oacute;n G&oacute;mez Urrutia, from office. The Committee on Freedom of Association of the International Labor Organization (ILO), ruling in a complaint brought by the IMF, found that &ldquo;the labour authorities engaged in conduct that is incompatible with Article 3 of Convention No. 87, which establishes the right of workers to elect their representatives in full freedom.&rdquo; 
 
The government has repeatedly filed criminal charges against the union leadership, although these have been thrown out by the courts. The government has also tried repeatedly to declare illegal a strike at three Grupo Mexico mines which has run for nearly two years, but the courts have rebuffed these efforts. The government has also supported Grupo Mexico in establishing company-dominated unions at eight other facilities. 
 
Four union members have been killed in the conflict. The government has not investigated or prosecuted these cases. 
 
&ldquo;We are concerned that the Calder&oacute;n government, which claims to be fighting for rule of law, practices impunity when it comes to the rights of the mineworkers&rdquo; said IMF General Secretary Jyrki Raina. 
 
In Mexico City, the delegation will meet with Congressional and union leaders and will visit Mineworkers&rsquo; official Juan Linares Montufar who has been jailed by the government. 
 
The delegation will attend the Mineworkers&rsquo; 75th anniversary in L&aacute;zaro C&aacute;rdenas, Michoac&aacute;n and will visit the Pasta de Conchos mine where 65 workers were killed in an explosion in 2006. An ILO report this year concluded that &ldquo; the Government of Mexico did not do all that was reasonably expected of it to avoid or minimize the effects of the accident which had such devastating effects with the loss of life of as many as 65 miners.&rdquo; 
 
The delegation is headed by Jack Layton, leader of Canada&rsquo;s New Democratic Party (NDP) and includes parliamentarians from Australia and Peru. The delegation includes trade union leaders from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Peru, Poland, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, and the United States. 
 
&ldquo;We intend to let our governments and employers know what is going on in Mexico, and to discourage them from further investments until it is clear that workers&rsquo; rights are being respected&rdquo; said Manfred Warda, General Secretary of the ICEM.

PARLIAMENTARY, UNION LEADERS VISIT MEXICO TO SUPPORT MINEWORKERS UNION

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In this issue of the ICEM HIV/AIDS newsletter, we report on the Boehringer Ingelheim project in India; how HIV/AIDS affects the mining sector in Guinea; on the Swedish Workplace Programme and on the policy speech by the new UNAIDS Executive Director. 
 
The ICEM Calls on its Affiliates to Contribute to this e-bulletin 
 
ICEM affiliates are already engaged in a wide range of HIV/AIDS activities. To spread the information on new agreements, awareness, and prevention campaigns, and educational activities, affiliates and project coordinators are invited to send news and information to <a href="mailto:hiv.aids@icem.org">hiv.aids@icem.org</a>. Any feedback on the format and contents of the e-bulletin is also welcome. 
 
Editor: Hans J Schwass, ICEM HIV/AIDS Consultant 
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Progress in India 
 
The HIV/AIDS workplace project in India, which is sponsored by the German pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim, is making good progress. After the planning workshop in July 2008, master trainers were trained in August with technical assistance and expert input from the ILO/AIDS office in Delhi. 
 
Up to the end of 2008, six peer educators&rsquo; programmes were conducted by the master trainers in different parts of India, covering coal mining as well as the chemical and cement sectors. With 151 peer educators trained, the project is on target to train 500 peer educators in 20 programmes. The fact that management takes an increasing interest in the project is a positive sign and bodes well for a continuation of HIV/AIDS interventions at the workplace after 2009. 
 
A second master trainers&rsquo; course will be organised in Kolkata in early April 2009. In the meantime, peer educators have organised education and campaign activities in their places of work. 
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Extension of the ICEM HIV/AIDS Project to Guinea 
 
Discussions are under way to extend the ICEM HIV/AIDS project to Guinea (Conakry). With an HIV infection rate of 5.2 per cent, the mining sector in Guinea is particularly at risk from the epidemic. Some mining companies have begun setting up their own programmes in view of the lack of HIV/AIDS services from the public health sector. 
 
Guinea has large deposits of bauxite, iron, gold diamonds and other minerals which make it potentially one of the richest countries in West Africa. Yet it is one of the poorest countries of the world; over 53 per cent of its nine million inhabitants live on less than one dollar a day. 
 
Mine workers are generally better paid than those working in other sectors. Internal migration and separation from families leads to a lot of risky behaviour in remote mining areas. 
 
Mining companies and the Guinea Chamber of Mines (CMG) have realised how much HIV is costing the companies and have been working with international partners to set up public-private partnerships which can offer HIV/AIDS services not only to the workers but also to their families and to the wider community. An active involvement of the ICEM affiliated FSPMCICA (national union of mine, quarry and chemical workers) would ideally supplement these activities. 
 
(Source: UN Integrated Regional Information Networks (INRI) as reported in Africa News, 28 November 2008) 
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Namibia: AIDS Funding under Threat 
 
Namibia could run out of money for AIDS programmes funded by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria after the country was once again refused funding of its projects for the next five years. So far, Namibia only had one grant approved in 2002. Two subsequent applications were not found to be of the required quality by the independent Technical Review Panel of the Global Fund. 
 
Namibia ranks among the top five worst affected countries in the world. Government agencies and NGOs were hoping to address HIV prevalence among commercial sex workers and youth between the ages of 20 to 24. Part of the money was also to be used for strengthening the health system by training more nurses, pharmacists and other medical staff as well as providing more support to orphans and vulnerable children. 
 
(Source: The Namibian, Windhoek, as reported in Africa News, 4 December 2008) 
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Swedish Workplace Programme 
 
Funding has been secured for a further four-year period for the Swedish Workplace HIV and AIDS Programme (SWHAP). The latest SWHAP Newsletter reports on the World AIDS Day event &ldquo;Business Combating HIV and AIDS&rdquo; in Stockholm which brought together over 110 business leaders and trade union representatives as well as NGOs and government agencies. Keynote speaker was the former President of Botswana and Chairperson of the National AIDS Council, Festus Mogae. 
 
SWHAP is a joint venture of the ICEM-affiliated Swedish Industrial and Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IF Metall) and the International Council of Swedish Industry (NIR). Its aim is to support and contribute to the establishment of HIV and AIDS programmes at Swedish-related workplaces in sub-Saharan Africa. If you want to know more about SWHAP and the countries and companies covered go to <a href="http://www.swhap.org">www.swhap.org</a>. 
 
(Source: SWHAP Newsletter December 2008) 

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Optimistic UNAIDS Director Sets Ambitious Goals 
 
The new Executive Director of UNAIDS, Michele Sidibe, outlined his vision for the UN agency at the Ubuntu Clinic in Kayelitsha township in Cape Town. He promised to make universal access a priority. His goal is to avert 2.6 million new infections and save 1.3 million lives by the end of 2010. 
 
He put special emphasis on the testing of women and the support for orphans. &ldquo;We cannot transform this epidemic if we don&rsquo;t make sure that women and children are the centres of our preoccupation&rdquo;, he said. In calling for an investment of USD 25 billion over the next few years, he acknowledged the difficulty of raising funds in the current economic crisis but added that the crisis should not paralyse efforts in fighting the pandemic. 
 
In choosing Kayelitsha for his policy speech, Sidibe recognized the pioneer role the township played as early as 2001 when M&eacute;decins sans Fronti&egrave;res started antiretroviral treatment in the township at a time when the provision of ARVs in the public sector in the South Africa was still banned. 
 
(Source: UNAIDS website and IRIN PlusNews, 10 February) 
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This ICEM HIV-AIDS Newsletter &ndash; How to Subscribe or Translate? 
 
To subscribe to the e-bulletin, send an email to <a href="mailto:press@icem.org">press@icem.org</a>. Please put &ldquo;subscribe ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin&rdquo; in the subject line. 
 
Unfortunately, the e-bulletin can only be published in English. 
For a free automated (non-ICEM) translation of this HIV-AIDS bulletin into other languages, you may want to try <a href="http://www.google.com/language_tools">http://www.google.com/language_tools</a> and insert the following URL into the window &ldquo;Translate a Web page&ldquo;: 
<a href="/en/72-HIV-AIDS/3036-ICEM-HIV-AIDS-e-bulletin-No.-41-February-2009">/en/72-HIV-AIDS/3036-ICEM-HIV-AIDS-e-bulletin-No.-41-February-2009</a>
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Cette traduction est faite automatiquement par un logiciel internet gratuit. L&rsquo;ICEM n&rsquo;assume aucune responsabilit&eacute; &agrave; cet &eacute;gard. Elle est approximative, mais peut n&eacute;anmoins vous donner une id&eacute;e g&eacute;n&eacute;rale du contenu de l&rsquo;article. 
 
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日本語への翻訳について、無料オンライン翻訳サービス利用されたい方<a href="http://translate.google.co.uk/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.icem.org%2Fen%2F72-HIV-AIDS%2F3036-ICEM-HIV-AIDS-e-bulletin-No.-41-February-2009&amp;sl=en&amp;tl=ja&amp;hl=en&amp;ie=UTF-8">はここをクリ</a>ックしてください。ただし、当該サービスを利用した翻訳の質等について、ICEMは一切責任を負いませんので、ご了承ください。 
 
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Esta traducci&oacute;n se hace autom&aacute;ticamente con tecnolog&iacute;a libre del Internet. La ICEM no se responsabiliza de ella. La traducci&oacute;n es aproximada, pero puede proveer una idea general del contenido del art&iacute;culo. 
 
<a href="http://translate.google.co.uk/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.icem.org%2Fen%2F72-HIV-AIDS%2F3036-ICEM-HIV-AIDS-e-bulletin-No.-41-February-2009&amp;sl=en&amp;tl=sv&amp;hl=en&amp;ie=UTF-8">Klicka h&auml;r f&ouml;r en maskin&ouml;vers&auml;ttning till svenska.</a> 
Denna &ouml;vers&auml;ttning utf&ouml;rs automatiskt med kostnadsfri internetteknik. ICEM tar inget ansvar f&ouml;r den. Den &auml;r inte helt korrekt men ger dig &auml;nd&aring; en allm&auml;n uppfattning om vad artikeln handlar om.

ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin No. 41 February 2009

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A wage arrears dispute at a&nbsp;Argentina pulp and paper mill was resolved, though only by earnest intervention by Buenos Aires Minister of Work Oscar Cuartango 11 days ago. Some 430 workers now will get back wages in a guaranteed payment plan. 
 
Their salaries have been owed them since December and January when family-run Massuh SA halted its payroll at the Quilmes pulp and paper mill near Buenos Aires. 
<img height="69" alt="" src="" width="150" />
The ICEM cited the dispute last month, and sent a protest letter to the company, with copies to both the federal and state Work ministers. ICEM Argentina affiliate Federation of Workers&rsquo; of Paper, Carton, and Chemical (FOEIPCyQ) Unions championed this grievous breach of fair treatment and received scores of support letters from ICEM affiliates worldwide. Massuh SA is owned by the interconnected Massuh and Petrocchi families of Argentina, which also has major holdings in another Argentina paper enterprise, Fibra Papelera. 
 
Massuh SA, in April 2008, sold a paper converting plant in San Luis to Ledesma, a Blaquier family operation, and earlier had spun a brown paper plant in San Justo off to Fibra Papelera. Because of the recession in finished paper production, Massuh acquired a US$40 million loan in mid-2008, a loan in which the lending institution granted an 18-month grace period before payments are due. 
 
FOEIPCyQ said in a statement to the ICEM: &ldquo;We extend our deep gratefulness to the many unions who heard the ICEM&rsquo;s call for assistance and support for our working companions of the Massuh company. This is now a triumph of the workers because it was their iron will which would not allow their rights to be taken from them.&rdquo;

Argentina Paperworkers at Massuh SA Receive Assurances of Pay

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The ICEM supports the International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF) who last week lodged a complaint against the Mexican Government to the ILO in Geneva. 
 
The complaint calls on the ILO to condemn Mexican labour laws, which prevent real freedom of association and contravene ILO Convention 87, the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention. 
 
Under Mexican law, the vast majority of collective agreements are so-called &ldquo;contratos de protecci&oacute;n&rdquo; or protection contracts, which force workers to join unions created by company management rather than ones of workers&rsquo; own choosing. In practice, the law means only unions that have the support of companies and government can operate. 

<img height="83" alt="" src="" width="125" />
IMF General Secretary, Marcello Malentacchi
Mexican law also does not require any democratic structures such as secret ballots related to contract ratifications, which more often than not are created without workers&rsquo; knowledge. Protection contracts are used in many countries to prevent legitimate unions and workers from mobilizing to secure better rights and conditions. 
 
Labour lawyers estimate that some 90-95% of all collective contracts in Mexico are &ldquo;contratos de protecci&oacute;n.&rdquo; Three of the biggest and best known unions, the CTM, CROM and CROC, have been accused of operating almost exclusively with protection contracts. Only in the UNT and FAT labour confederations do member unions have democratic structures and meet recognised standards required of democratically structured labour organizations. 
 
Mexico ratified Convention 87 in 1950, two years after this core labour standard came into existence. However, its present labour law stands in the way in implementing the intent of Convention 87. Although the ILO has no means to sanction governments that do not properly implement ratified conventions, the IMF is hopeful public pressure can be generated by condemnation of Mexico over its regressive labour laws. 
 
&ldquo;The pressure generated from official action by the ILO would send an important message to governments and companies globally that protection contracts must not be used to take away workers&rsquo; rights to freely organise,&rdquo; said IMF General Secretary Marcello Malentacchi.

Metalworkers’ Federation Serves ILO Complaint on Labour Practices in Mexico

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Two Finnish trade unions began membership voting last week on a merger of six industrial unions. Kemianliitto, the ICEM-affiliated chemicals, rubber, glass, and textile union, and the Finnish Metalworkers&rsquo; Union (Metalli) began separate voting on 5 February, with balloting by both unions to close on 19 February. 

The proposed new name for the merged union is to be TEAM. If all six unions ratify the merger, TEAM will have 360,000 members in Finland. Other unions that have been in the longstanding merger discussions, including the Wood and Allied Workers&rsquo; Union, Finnish Media Union, Finnish Railwaymen&rsquo;s Union, and ICEM-affiliated Finnish Electrical Workers&rsquo; Union, will conduct other ratification processes in the coming months. The date for the merger to take effect is 1 January 2010. 
 
Kemianliitto&rsquo;s membership balloting this month is binding, while the vote by metalworkers is a consultative ballot. The Chemical Workers&rsquo; Union numbers some 48,000 members and Metalli has 167,000 members. 
 
TEAM&rsquo;s bargaining structure would consist of 51 collective agreements, and the merged union would be divided into seven sectors, each operating relatively independent. The cumulative number of local branch unions will remain the same at 1,120, with each retaining its autonomy. A proportional delegate Congress will be seated every five years, with the Congress electing a General Council and Executive Committee. The General Council, in turn, would elect Sectoral Executive Committees and Sectoral Directors. 
 
In Kemianliitto&rsquo;s endorsement of the merger, the union said TEAM would constitute an adequate counterforce to current employer power. &ldquo;A big union would be stronger and more efficient in safeguarding membership interest both locally, nationally, and internationally. The smaller sectors would benefit from the strength of a big union. Regional activities would gain more efficiency, and the expertise available within the union would benefit all.&rdquo;

Voting Begins on 6-Way Union Merger in Finland

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A strike deadline in Nigeria has been extended through this week in order that talks can continue between ICEM&rsquo;s two oil and gas union affiliates &ndash; NUPENG and PENGASSAN &ndash; and the Ministers of Labour and Petroleum on the urgent need to guarantee security and safety for workers and their families in the Niger Delta. 
 
A deadline by the unions to pull their workers out of Niger Delta oil and gas installations was due to expire today. But on Friday, 6 February, after a meeting with Rivers States Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, the unions agreed to more talks this week. Leaders of the two unions will meet in Abuja beginning today with Minister of Work and Productivity Adetokunbo Olyukayode and Minister of Petroleum H. Odein Ajumogobia on viable solutions to the security situation. 
 
Port Harcourt, other parts of Rivers State, as well as neighbouring Niger Delta states have been hit by a rash of kidnappings against family members of PENGASSAN and NUPENG members in the past few weeks. Armed groups are calling for ransoms of up to US$100,000 after grabbing at gunpoint innocent family members of oil and gas workers. 
 
Another incident occurred Friday, 6 February. An ambush at a Shell Petroleum Development Corp. (SPDC) gas plant in Utorogun, Delta State, resulted in three militants being killed. First reports cite that no workers were harmed, although that has not always been the case in such attacks. 
<img height="105" alt="" src="" width="100" />
Earlier in the week, a Nigerian worker of Agip, a subsidiary of Italian ENI, was kidnapped. He was released without the company acknowledging whether or not a ransom was paid. On 29 January, the 11-year-old daughter of a PENGASSAN member, SPDC employee Samuel Awolesun, was murdered when she and her nine-year-old brother were kidnapped on their way to school. The young girl was shot while resisting the kidnap. 
 
In a PENGASSAN communiqu&eacute; of 6 February, the union announced the boy had been released last week. 
 
PENGASSAN and NUPENG count 12 kidnappings of oil and gas staff, their spouses, or family members since 24 January in Port Harcourt alone. Reports say that there have been at least ten attacks on vessels in waters off the Niger Delta since the first of the year. 
 
&ldquo;The insecurity in the delta has taken a new dimension,&rdquo; NUPENG National President Peter Akpatason told the ICEM. &ldquo;The government is not doing enough to protect staff and their families and this now has become a very serious industrial relations matter.&rdquo; 
 
PENGASSAN General Secretary Bayo Olowoshile said it is up to the government and state-run petroleum companies to prove why &ldquo;our services should not be withdrawn from all upstream facilities until security is improved in the region.&rdquo; 
 
In the joint announcement Friday to all NUPENG and PENGASSAN zonal chairmen and branches, in which a new strike deadline was set for 13 February, the unions said, &ldquo;We wish to inform (all workers) to await further directives as we engage the Federal and Rivers State Governments at this trying moment.&rdquo; 
 
Separately, the unions are also pressing the government and oil companies to address gaps in pay, working conditions, and social welfare benefits for casual workers and workers on fixed-term contracts. They are also building a case for better empowerment and employment opportunities for Nigerian nationals in the oil and gas industry, as well as support for liberalisation in the downstream sector if the existing private-sector employers commit to investments.

PENGASSAN, NUPENG Give Government Week to Rectify Recent Rash of Niger Delta Kidnappings

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Fair Work now will replace former Prime Minister John Howard&rsquo;s draconian WorkChoices as the industrial relations law of the land in Australia. That was assured this past Friday, 20 March, when Parliament&rsquo;s Senate passed the Labour Government initiative.
But it didn&rsquo;t come without a political struggle. A compromise was struck between Labour and its allies and the Liberal Party, most notably over the definition of a small business and the inter-connected protection against unfair dismissals. 
The compromise sets the small business definition at 15 full-time workers, part-time workers not included for the first 18 months, or until 1 January 2011. But thereafter, workers with one year of service &ndash; no matter; full-time, part-time, or casual &ndash; will have protection. Under Howard&rsquo;s WorkChoices, businesses with fewer than 100 workers were exempt from the unfair labour dismissal statute. 
<img height="75" alt="" src="" width="150" />
The Labour Party also compromised on some restrictions to union access to worksites and union access to certain types of information. In all, 231 Senate amendments were submitted to a Fair Work House version, which passed in December 2008. But the new law is fairer and gives workers far better protections in an economic downturn than what was on the books under Howard. 
It creates ten national job standards, charters collective bargaining as the main tenet in labour-management relations, and creates a national industrial umpire with enforcement powers, the Fair Work Commission, thus replacing six Howard-era agencies that essentially were charged with removing workplace regulations. 
It also spells out workers&rsquo; rights to representation; access to arbitration; establishes a 38-hour workweek; grants four weeks annual leave; and allows the practice of flexible work schedules and conditions to take hold. Additionally, it sets out a standard process for regularly raising the minimum wage. 
The unfair dismissal statute, plus implementation of good-faith enterprise bargaining takes effect 1 July 2009, while the remainder of the provisions take effect 1 January 2010. 
<img height="113" alt="" src="" width="85" />
Sharon Burrow
Sharon Burrow, President of the Australian Council of Trades Unions (ACTU), called the Senate passage a &ldquo;major step forward for working Australians,&rdquo; marking &ldquo;a historic moment in restoring workers&rsquo; rights. After a decade of attacks on working people by the Liberal and National Parties the tide has turned,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;We can take pride in what we have achieved.&rdquo;

Australia’s Senate Hammers Final Nail into WorkChoices Coffin

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ICEM'e bağlı T&uuml;mka-İş &uuml;yesi 190 k&acirc;ğıt iş&ccedil;isinin'a karşı 16 g&uuml;nd&uuml;r s&uuml;rd&uuml;rd&uuml;ğ&uuml; grevle ilgili olarak yapılan m&uuml;zakerelerde &ccedil;ok az ilerleme kaydedildi. Greve yol a&ccedil;an &uuml;cret uyuşmazlığı Procter&amp;Gamble'ın Gebze'deki fabrikasında 21 Şubat'ta başladı. Amerikan şirketi fabrikada k&acirc;ıt havlu, k&acirc;ğıt mendil ve &ccedil;ocuk bezi gibi hijyenik &uuml;r&uuml;nler &uuml;retiyor. 
 
Grevcilerin ve onları destekleyenlerin 26 Şubat g&uuml;n&uuml; fabrikanın &ouml;n&uuml;nde yaptığı mitingde, d&uuml;nyanın d&ouml;rt bir yanındaki sendikalardan gelen dayanışma mesajları okundu. Dayanışmayı &ouml;rg&uuml;tleyen ICEM şirketin T&uuml;rkiye'deki y&ouml;netimine bir protesto mektubu g&ouml;nderdi. 
 
Mitingin yapıldığı g&uuml;n, şirket y&ouml;neticileri &uuml;cret tekliflerini yenilediler, ama bu &ouml;nemli bir artış i&ccedil;ermiyordu. 

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Gebze Mitingi, 26 FŞubat
&Ouml;nceki iki yıl s&uuml;reli toplu s&ouml;zleşme 31 Ağustos 2008'de son erdi. 
 
Şirketin &uuml;cret artışı teklifi ilk altı ay i&ccedil;in y&uuml;zde sıfır ile 2 arasında oynuyor. Diğer altı aylık d&ouml;nemler i&ccedil;in &ouml;nerilenler de dahil, toplam artışlar, T&uuml;rkiye'deki enflasyon oranının &uuml;&ccedil;te ikisini ancak karşılıyor. Sendika ise ilk altı ay i&ccedil;in y&uuml;zde 8'lik bir artışın yanı sıra diğer altışar aylık d&ouml;nemler i&ccedil;in &uuml;lkedeki enflasyon oranını karşılayacak artışlar talep ediyor. 
 
T&uuml;mka-İş Genel Başkanı Kemal Yılmaz ve Y&ouml;netim Kurulu &uuml;yesi Erg&uuml;n Tavşanoğlu grevi başından beri destekleyen ICEM'e ve ICEM &uuml;yesi kardeş sendikalara teşekk&uuml;r etti.

Türkiye&#039;de Procter&amp;Gamble&#039;daki Grev İkinci Haftasını Doldurdu

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Australia’s Senate Hammers Final Nail into WorkChoices Coffin

Türkiye'de Procter&Gamble'daki Grev İkinci Haftasını Doldurdu

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