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ICEM Asia-Pacific Region affiliate, the Philippines Cement Workers&rsquo; Council (PCWC), conducted an action on 13 November in Quezon City to retain a 5% tariff on imported cement. Faced with a number of recent layoffs due to the global economic crisis, the PCWC is opposing a Philippines Cabinet recommendation to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to eliminate the 5% tariff. 
 
&ldquo;Our local cement manufacturing industry has already experienced the bad effects of zero tariffs on imported cements in the early 2000s,&rdquo; said PCWC National Coordinator Felix Deyta. This &ldquo;led to closure of some cement plants.&rdquo; 

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Currently, both Philippines Cement and Lafarge Philippines Cement have begun retrenchments because of the economic slowdown. Cemex Philippines also cut 3% of its 587 workers at the end of October due to a restructuring plan. 
PCWC Secretary General Samuel Eslava said further cuts are inevitable of the tariff is rolled back. Added PCWC President Ricardo Pascual, quoted in the Philippines press, &ldquo;If tariffs are lifted, layoffs are certain. We&rsquo;re calling on the President to study the matter again. The issue is not the loss of government revenue, but the loss of jobs.&rdquo; 

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The ICEM issued a letter in support of the PCWC d position and demanded that the government consult with its social partners, including the union, before removing the tariff. &ldquo;Acting in favour of foreign business at a time of a worsening global economy&rdquo; will have &ldquo;a deep impact on the job security of ordinary workers&rdquo; in the Philippines, said the ICEM. 
 
The 5% tariff applies to international trade of Portland cement into the Philippines. A 3% tariff is charged to producers in countries belonging to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)

Philippines Cement Workers’ Take Stand to Protect National Cement Industry Jobs

Boehringer Ingelheim/ICEM 
 
India Project 2008-2009 
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Based on the initiation work by ICEM and its affiliates in India and following an analysis of the prevailing problems and needs during the workshop in November 2006, the following project for the period July 2008 to December 2009 was agreed. 
Objectives 
&bull; To fill the existing gap of qualified peer educators/lay counsellors in the industrial sectors covered by ICEM affiliates in India; 
&bull; To up-scale awareness campaigns, education and advocacy for VCT and ART; 
&bull; To familiarise medical and para-medical staff in medical facilities of companies, Welfare Board members and staff at company schools with HIV/AIDS to ensure awareness, confidentiality, non-discrimination and non-victimisation; 
&bull; To publish brochures, leaflets and posters in five different languages (Hindi, Tamil, Gujarati, Marathi and English). 
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Activities 
&bull; Training of 500 peer educators/lay counsellors in 20 programmes of three days each; 
&bull; Orientation of 250 medical and para-medical staff in company health facilities in ten programmes of one day each; 
&bull; Orientation of welfare board and committee members; 
&bull; Orientation of 200 teachers and staff at company schools in eight programmes of one day each; 
&bull; Orientation of officials of local self-government; 
&bull; Publication of brochures, leaflets and posters in five languages; 
&bull; Observation of World AIDS Day &ndash; organising rallies, meetings and symposiums. 
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Target Groups 
The target groups are as per above activities. For the training of peer educators/lay counsellors 400 will be unionists from the coal mining sector and 100 from the diamond and cement sectors. 
 
For the other target groups they will be predominantly from the coal mining sector as few medical facilities or company schools exist outside that sector. 
 
Orientation of officials of local self-government is not envisaged in the first year of the project. 
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Expected Results 
It is expected that peer educators/lay counsellors drawn from the ranks of the union can actively promote VCT among workers, their family members and the wider community. They are non-medical staff whose main objective will be Know-your-Status-Campaigns. VCT will be carried out at company or public medical facilities. It is difficult to quantify expected results but it can be safely said that the baseline is close to zero; i.e. that very few people go for voluntary counselling and testing. 
 
It is assumed that the companies give such trained people some time off from their normal work duties.

Joint ICEM - Boehringer Ingelheim Project on HIV/AIDS in India

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A memorial event in Brisbane, Australia, and a minute of silence at all mining operations in Queensland State marked the first Miners&rsquo; Memorial Day on Friday, 19 September. The state-wide tribute to fallen miners was the brain-child of the Energy and Mining Division of the Construction, Forestry, Mining, and Energy Union (CFMEU) of Queensland. 
 
The day was chosen because it was on 19 September 1921 that the worst mining disaster in Queensland history occurred: 75 miners perished in a coal-dust explosion at Mount Mulligan in the northern reaches of the state. The day was officially recognised by the state government, with Acting Premier Paul Lucas, speaking at the memorial in Brisbane, saying that many miners had paid the ultimate price for an industry which had helped form Queensland&rsquo;s strong economy.
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&ldquo;While we enjoy the benefits of the resources boom, we should reflect on how we got here today and at what price,&rdquo; Lucas said. 
 
CFMEU Queensland put the count at 1,450 miners who have died at collieries since the early 1800s. CFMEU state Secretary Jim Valery said residents of the eastern Australian state often forget the sacrifices that have been made by miners and their families in bringing prosperity to Queensland. 
 
Besides the 1921 Mount Mulligan mine explosion, other tragic examples of coal-mining catastrophes in modern times occurred at Box Flat on 31 July 1972, when 17 miners died, and on 13 October 1954 at Collinsville, where seven miners died in a gas explosion. In addition, 36 miners lost their lives in recent history at mines in the area around Moura. On 7 August 1994, 11 died at a colliery near the east-central Queensland town; on 18 July 1986, 12 perished at the Moura No. 4 mine; and on 20 September 1975, 13 died inside the Kianga mine. 
 
Last year in Brisbane, an excellent video documentary entitled &ldquo;Make Safety Their Monument&rdquo; was produced, with funds commissioned by the Queensland Resources Council.

Queensland State CFMEU Holds Inaugural Miners’ Memorial Day on 19 September

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A month after Brazilian and Canadian miners met in the province of Manitoba to develop further bonds of solidarity, 1,300 members of the United Steelworkers (USW) in Thompson, Canada, ratified their first labour agreement with Vale, the Brazilian mining giant which bought the nickel-mining and smelting operations of Inco in northern Manitoba two years ago. 
 
The USW announced on 16 September that union members of Local 6166 ratified the new three-year labour agreement with a 65.5% vote in favour.
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The labour agreement contains a first-year three percent wage increase, effective 15 September 2008, followed by wage increases of 2.5% in 2009 and 2% in 2010. The new contract also contains cost-of-living adjustments, plus a C$5,000 ratification bonus for each worker. The union said the average increase for workers over the three-year period totals 13.7% 
 
The new collective agreement includes a process to limit the amount of sub-contract work Vale can do, and the union won improvements to pensions, insurance, medical emergency benefits, and maternity leave. Local branch president Les Ellsworth called the negotiations &ldquo;a good first step in our relationship with&rdquo; Companhia do Rio Doce, or Vale, which purchased Canadian-based Inco in 2006. 
 
&ldquo;We hope that the way these negotiations have been conducted will help set the stage for bargaining at Vale-Inco&rsquo;s Ontario operations,&rdquo; said Ellsworth, referring to contracts coming due next year for 4,000 USW miners and mill workers at Vale&rsquo;s copper and nickel facilities in Sudbury, Ontario. 
 
On 12-14 August, leaders of five Brazilian unions, including Sindicato dos Ferroviviarios do Maranhoa-MA (CNTT) and Sindimina-RJ (CNTSM), visited Thompson along with USW members from the eastern regions of Canada &ndash; also employed by Vale-Inco &ndash; in ongoing efforts to build solidarity.

Western Canadian Steelworkers Reach Accord with Mining Company Vale

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A call by ICEM affiliate Toimihenkil&ouml;unioni TU, the Salaried Workers&rsquo; Union in Finland, to bring European pressure actions against chemicals company Kemira has been delayed until later this week because of progress in redundancy talks. TU was to begin actions through the Kemira European Forum (KEF) on 17-18 September, but those actions were cancelled on 12 September. 

Kemira announced in early August a decision to pare costs totaling &euro;50 million, and to cut 1,000 jobs worldwide. Some 40% of the cost cuts were to come from Finnish operations. Kemira announced it would exit its paints and coatings business, called Tikkurila, and concentrate on water and fibre-management chemicals businesses. 

Salaried staff and research and development workers in Finland, members of TU, are to bear much of the cost-cutting and suffer redundancies.
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But following the call by the KEF Works Council for industrial action at workplaces in Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Poland, the attitude of management changed in mandatory social talks. &ldquo;The will to reach an agreement is now strong on both sides,&rdquo; said Tomi Juntunen, TU Chief Shop Steward at a Kemira plant in Oulu, Finland. 

Four key questions remain open in talks, however, including levels of severance pay for workers who will be made redundant and issues surrounding retirement benefits. The new dates for European protests, if progress was not made last week in negotiations, will be 24-25 September. 

Meanwhile, Kemira this month expanded its water-treatment chemicals business by buying Zibo Huaqing Water Purifying Products of Shandong Province, China. It was the second Chinese water filtration business the Finnish company has purchased since 2007. Kemira, which the Finnish government holds a 16.52% stake, also bought two water treatment companies in Brazil over the past two years, as well as similar businesses once held by chemical companies in Denmark, France, and the US.

European Actions Against Kemira Chemical Plants Delayed

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In a three-year-long case that had involvement by the ICEM and the Flint Glass Industry Council of US-based United Steelworkers (USW), a Peruvian labour court ordered job reinstatements for six union leaders of Sindicato de Trabajadores de Owens Illinois Per&uacute;. 

The six, along with five others, were sacked on 18 October 2005 for protesting the unilateral takeover of a factory canteen by Peldar, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the American company Owens-Illinois. 
The union has a clause in its collective bargaining agreement giving it the right to hire the concessionaire, with a portion of the food-service proceeds used for trade union activities. 

The company&rsquo;s unilateral abrogation of that clause was done after the sacked leaders had built union membership up at the glass plant. Five of the 11 were recalled days after 18 October. The ICEM launched an initial inquiry into the matter with the company in early November 2005, and USW&rsquo;s Flint Glass Industry Chairman Tim Tuttle took the matter up personally with Owens-Illinois Chairman Steve McCracken at the company&rsquo;s headquarters in Toledo, Ohio.
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Despite this, the fate of the six union leaders lingered before Peruvian judicial bodies since early 2006. 

Finally, in early September, a judgement was issued stating that the company discriminated against the trade union leaders. It read that Owens-Illinois &ldquo;does not have just cause and the real motivation was to affect the structure of the organised union&rdquo; and the &ldquo;exercise of their union activities.&rdquo; 

Owens-Illinois has, to date, not reinstated the six, apparently choosing instead to appeal the decision for further judicial review. 
 
Behind a Peruvian national centre, the Confederaci&oacute;n General de Trabajadores del Per&uacute; (CGTP), and a pro-worker Peruvian NGO, Programa Laboral De Desarrolla (PLADES), a complaint had been filed at the ILO&rsquo;s Committee on Freedom of Association this past June. This month&rsquo;s judiciary ruling in Peru fully noted the ILO complaint on violation of Conventions 87 and 98. 

The ICEM calls on Owens-Illinois to drop its appeal, and to immediately reinstate the six union leaders of Sindicato de Trabajadores de Owens Illinois Per&uacute;, per this month&rsquo;s judicial ruling.

Owens-Illinois Ordered to Reinstate Fired Peruvian Glassworkers’ Union Leaders

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The Employment Relations Amendment Bill, introduced 9 September in New Zealand&rsquo;s National Assembly, will strengthen the rights of temporary and casual workers, according to ICEM affiliate Engineering, Printing, and Manufacturing Union (EPMU) and the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions (NZCTU). 
 
The legislation will guarantee that unionised temporary workers hired through a third party or a labour agency firm will have the same pay and conditions that permanent workers have from collective agreements. It also gives increased powers to labour inspectors to determine whether a worker is employed on a fixed-term contract, or is a permanent worker.
<img height="200" src="" width="132" alt="" />
&nbsp;EPMU National Secretary Andrew Little
&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve seen dozens of cases where employers have used temporary workers from labour hire companies to undermine collective agreements and the rights, wages, and health and safety of permanent workers,&rdquo; stated EPMU National Secretary Andrew Little. 
 
&ldquo;The use of third party labour hire arrangements to sidestep basic employment laws have been left unchecked until now and we hope that the current bill makes its way into legislation as soon as possible.&rdquo; 
 
Both the EPMU and the NZCTU will attempt to move the proposed bill to a Select Committee before it then goes before full legislative review. 
 
NZCTU Economist Peter Conway said that trade unions will &ldquo;welcome provisions in the bill that cover what is known as &lsquo;triangular&rsquo; employment.&rdquo;
<img height="63" src="" width="140" alt="" />
He added, &ldquo;The bill will ensure that workers who perform work for a controlling third party can join that party to any personal grievance claim.&rdquo; He also reiterated that staff for a labour agency must be employed on terms and conditions no less favourable than any collective agreement which covers direct employees. 
 
The EPMU has issued a &ldquo;Work Rights Checklist&rdquo; which calls for &ldquo;the right for workers employed through a labour agency who work alongside workers under a collective agreement to be paid the same rates for the same pay.&rdquo; The checklist is used as a measure for workplace policies for all of New Zealand&rsquo;s political parties during the country&rsquo;s election cycle.

Bill to Strengthen the Rights of Temporary, Casual Workers Introduced in New Zealand

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On 17 September, ICEM affiliate la Centrale G&eacute;n&eacute;rale (FGTB/ABBV) of Belgium organised its Fourth Annual National Action Day to highlight the lack of workplace rights by staff employed by labour agencies. 
 
Union activists distributed the FGTB/ABVV&rsquo;s annual &ldquo;Interim Times&rdquo; in public areas across the country. The publication gives news and facts on agency work, and the inherent social and workplace problems that stem from agency work.
&ldquo;Interim Times can be found in French <a href="http://www.abvv.be/CODE/fr/Actions/2008/c18_08e18.htm">here</a> and in Dutch <a href="http://www.abvv.be/CODE/nl/Acties/2008/c18_08e18.htm">here</a>.
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FGTB/ABVV organised a national press conference on the day last week, and staged good-humoured activities at different venues across Belgium. At one such event, a cycling track was erected in a Brussels square and pedestrians were invited to ride contorted bicycles with square wheels, symbolising the chaotic nature of labour agency work. 
 
The Belgian trade union seeks functioning equipment and permanent jobs to be the absolute standard model on bicycles and in employment. The union does recognise that contract and agency labour may provide workers some jobs, and might be useful in limited, well-described circumstances. 
 
Examples might be a sudden and unexpected rise in a company&rsquo;s workload, or a temporary replacement of an absent permanent worker. 
 
Conversely, however, FGTB/ABVV notes the often poor quality of jobs undertaken by such workers, and the fact that temporary or agency labour leads to far more insecurity for workers. One statistic from &ldquo;Interim Times&rdquo; is that agency workers in Belgium are twice as likely to have an accident when compared to permanent workers. 
<img height="354" src="" width="250" alt="" />
&quot;Join the Chaotic Employment Circuit&quot;
FGTB/ABVV warns against further broadening of current Belgian rules on agency labour, citing risks involved when agency workers are hired on a &ldquo;try them out&rdquo; basis. Labour agencies often use one worker after another in such cases, thus terminating one just prior to the point when a worker must be made permanent under the social rules.
The FGTB wants more information to be given to shop stewards in Belgian workplaces on the use of agency work in their company. It also calls for enhanced inspection mechanisms to curb abuses. The Centrale G&eacute;n&eacute;rale FGTB furthermore firmly rejects the system where agencies themselves directly offer workers a contract of unlimited duration. According to the union, this will lead to situations where there no longer is any link between the salary of a worker and the salary of a comparable worker at the user-enterprise, opening the door for further misuse. 
 
One particular suggestion by the union is to start creating &ldquo;precarious worker union reps&rdquo;. i.e. giving one or more union representatives at the company the task of taking care of agency workers. There certainly appears to be a need for this, given that official Belgian figures show a growth of 27% - from 2004 to 2007 - in the number of hours worked by agency workers.&nbsp;

Belgian FGTB/ABVV Holds Action Day, Highlighting Rights for Agency Workers

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The global labour community&rsquo;s upcoming World Day for Decent Work, Decent Life, 7 October, is already marked by activities scheduled in 70 countries, activities ranging from marches and mobilisations to workshops and seminars to media events. The day is intended to draw attention to the urgent need for a new globalisation in the world of work, including stable and quality jobs that broaden social protections, and ensuring that every worker has the right to form and join a trade union and to bargain collectively with their employer. 
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Originating with the late 2006 founding congress of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), the merged national labour centres&rsquo; organisations of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions and the World Confederation of Labour, the day has been in planning stages for well over a year in order to draw public attention to the many shortcomings in the world of work.
Consider these facts: half of all of the world&rsquo;s workers earn less than the equivalent of US$2 per day; 200 million children under the age of 15 work rather than attend school; 2.2 million people each year die because of work-related accidents or illnesses; and 12.3 million people work in slavery. 
 
The ICEM has designated the day as a launching point for its 467 trade union affiliates in 132 countries to start earnest efforts to organise into their trade unions contract workers and those employed by labour agencies.
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Elsewhere, national labour centres, trade union federations, and union groupings are embarking on unique and novel &ndash; and traditional &ndash; means to mark the day. In Canada, for instance, the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) is sponsoring an event in 13 communities and on university campuses called &ldquo;Gapzilla,&rdquo; where youth groups will sell cakes. The cakes will be sold to men for C$1 and to women for C$.68 to highlight the wage disparity in performing equal work.
In Germany, the national centre Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund (DGB) will conduct mobilisations, seminars, and draw press attention in several cities to the German federation&rsquo;s campaign to raise the minimum wage. The Trades Union Congress (TUC) in the UK will transform its London headquarters to a massive town hall meeting, in which UK trade unions, community groups, and other constituencies will conduct over 50 workshops, films, and exhibits on fair and ethical trade, discrimination and the gender dimension to employment, and on income generation issues. 
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In Ireland, Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) General Secretary David Begg will hold a press conference and the federation will submit articles to Irish newspapers. The ICTU will also engage Ministers of the European Parliament from Ireland over work topics as political issues inside the EU. In Brussels, the ITUC will deliver a &ldquo;Decent Work/Decent Life&rdquo; petition to the European Commission on 7 October, while the Belgian labour federation, la Centrale G&eacute;n&eacute;rale (FGTB/ABVV) will team with CSC/ACV and ACLUB to start a two-year campaign on Decent Work. That will include unique street theatre in cities in Belgium, occurring on the 11th day of each month, on the theme &ldquo;Workers&rsquo; Are No Tools,&rdquo; in which a replica worker emerges from a giant tool box.
<img height="70" alt="" src="" width="325" />
In Norway, ICEM affiliate Fellesforbundet, in concert with national centre LO, will conduct a seminar on 30 September in Oslo on the increased use of temporary workers and fixed-term contracts by employers. In Sweden, as well, LO-TCO has planned events for 7 October. 
 
In Spain, national labour federations CC.OO, UGT, and USO will conduct 7 October activities in 13 cities, including manifestations, seminars, and cultural events. In Paris, the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), in coordination with French federations, CFDT, CGT, FO, and CFTC, as well as ETUC affiliate UNSA, will hold a rally at 17h00 followed by a concert performed by noteworthy musicians. The event is scheduled for La place des Droits l&rsquo;homme, behind the Palais de Chaillot near the Trocad&eacute;ro Metro station. 
 
In Assisi, Italy, the CGIL, CISL, and UILCEM will hold an event. Two events will be held in Russia, a seminar by the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Russia (FNPR) on youth and the direction of work for young persons, and trade unions in Krasnoyarsk will hold a mass meeting on 7 October. A number of labour centres in Central Europe, as well as in Turkey and North Africa will also conduct events. 
 
In Africa, the Malawi Congress of Trade Unions will focus on gender at work and HIV/AIDS in the workplace, while &ldquo;wage indicator&rdquo; themes will be featured at media and rally events in other African nations, including South Africa and Zimbabwe. In Latin America, several events are planned in Brazil, as well as in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, and Peru. Activities will also occur in Guatemala, Costa Rico, Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico as well.
<img height="51" alt="" src="" width="206" />
In Japan, Rengo will use the period 4 to 19 October to focus on a score of international initiatives in the quest for a fairer globalisation. At home, the Japanese federation will press its government to Ratify ILO Convention 111, the Discrimination in Respect to Employment and Occupation Convention, and ILO Convention 105, the Abolition of Forced Labour Convention. In South Korea, the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) will conduct a mass rally on 7 October over abolishing precarious work. 
 
Already in Kathmandu, Nepal, the General Federation of Nepalese Trade Unions (GEFONT) is underway with a women&rsquo;s symposium entitled &ldquo;For Decent Work and a Better South Asia&rdquo; that has brought together 500 participants from some 14 Asian nations. Conference coordinator and GEFONT Deputy General Secretary Binda Pandey identified common issues relating to Decent Work for women, and the forum pledged to bring the conference&rsquo;s work plan before the ILO&rsquo;s 2009 focus on gender equality. The GEFONT conference started on Saturday, 20 September, and concludes today.
<img height="113" alt="" src="" width="120" />
The ICEM encourages its affiliates, as well as all trade unionists to find an event in their home countries and to participate. A map of country-by-country and city-by-city events can be found&nbsp;<a href="http://www.wddw.org/">here</a>.

Global Activities Mount as World Day for Decent Work, 7 October, Approaches

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ICEM Sub-Saharan Africa trade union affiliate, the Mine Workers&rsquo; Union of Namibia (MUN), has reached out to the Geneva-based Secretariat, congratulating ICEM on the decision to designate the Contract and Agency Labour (CAL) issue as the central focus for the 7 October Global Day for Decent Work, Decent Life. 
 
&ldquo;This is quite meaningful to us,&rdquo; said ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda, &ldquo;because it was MUN who was forefront last year, in their own country, to bring about enactment of a law that bans agency labour and places safeguards so that companies cannot outsource work typically done by full-time workers.&rdquo; 
 
Although the new law has yet to be implemented, practical application is expected to happen soon of Namibia&rsquo;s Labour Bill 2007. Although Article 128 of the new law does grant employment agencies the right to &ldquo;match&rdquo; job seekers with potential employers, it stipulates that &ldquo;no person may, for reward, employ any person with a view to making a person available to a third party to perform for the third party.&rdquo;
<img height="80" src="" width="120" alt="" />
The 2007 Namibian experience is included in the forthcoming &ldquo;ICEM Guide on Contract and Agency Labour.&rdquo; The MUN and the National Union of Namibian Workers (NUNW) teamed to win passage of the law before the National Assembly. It was signed into law late in 2007 by President Hifikepunye Pohamba. 
 
In the congratulatory note to the ICEM, MUN General Secretary Joseph Hengari called it a &ldquo;logical step to adopt the issue of Contract and Agency Labour as the ICEM&rsquo;s main theme for the international trade union movement&rsquo;s World Day for Decent Work, on 7 October 2008. In addition, although this has been part of our organising strategy, we will once again broaden our focus on the issue of precarious workers. 
 
&ldquo;Subsequently, we will use 7 October 2008 as the global campaign Day of Action for Decent Work &hellip; (and) we appreciate (that) new ICEM research/campaigning tools will provide encouraging examples and also offer background information on CAL, as well as strategy suggestions.&rdquo;

Mine Workers’ Union of Namibia Salutes ICEM for Decent Work/Decent Life Decision

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