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At an ICEM Latin American meeting, several South American unions involved in labour-energy strategies, met in Montevideo, Uruguay, on 29-30 August. 
 
The ICEM invited two other Global Union Federations (GUFs), Public Services International (PSI), and Union Network International (UNI), as well to participate. Unions from the oil, gas, and electricity sectors attended, as did Uruguay&rsquo;s paperworkers&rsquo; union. The major theme across the two days of discussions was discerning differences between a solely Latin-focused social plan and union network, and a more far-reaching, global network of energy and manufacturing unions. 
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From left to right: Fernando Berasain, coordinadora Mercosur unions, Achim Wachendorfer, FES Mercosur Office, and Manfred Warda, ICEM General Secretary
The ICEM stressed the number of multinationals operating in the region, including ones from Spain, Italy, Germany, France, and Russia. &ldquo;With the high number of progressive changes coming politically in many Latin countries,&rdquo; said ICEM Gen. Sec. Manfred Warda, &ldquo;we can expect multinationals to be more open about entering dialogue toward global agreements.&rdquo; The ICEM already is partner with companies in countries above in global framework agreements. 
 
Warda invited all Latin American trade unions to join the ICEM, or one or another of the GUFs, in order to support the current trend of cooperation among global trade unions and federations. &ldquo;The ICEM calls on all unions in the region to build a strong movement, not just in Latin America but in energy sectors across the world,&rdquo; said Warda. &ldquo;The ICEM asks Latin trade unions not to formally establish a separate organisation, but give support to the existing organisations and strong influence on the global issues that matter, especially energy.&rdquo; 
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Trade unions from Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela attended the meeting, including representatives from national centres from several countries. 
 
For the ICEM, the conference served to advance a recently started project in Brazil on social dialogue with several multinationals, a project similar to the ICEM project launched in Colombia in 2004. The ICEM also opened the debate on Contract and Agency Labour (CAL). Contributions on this topic came from nearly all participants, and many had positive examples that shed new light on the issue. The union delegates discussed the ICEM&rsquo;s CAL Project, and agreed that a priority must be on organising contract workers. They also pledged to write letters to respective energy ministers on the dangers of sub-contracting. 
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And also from the ICEM, Vice President Sergio Novais, Latin America/Caribbean Region chairman of the ICEM, presented a training and leadership programme, which would start with 30 trade union leaders doing a residential course. In between, the 30 would be engaged in an intense, 200-hour training in distance and e-learning, with the union leaders expected to each train 20 other union members. 
 
The formal meeting adopted two resolutions, one on the continuing threats and deaths of Colombian trade unionists. The other one extended support to workers in Peru, who experienced death and destruction from the recent earthquake in the country. The <a href="/en/26-Latin-America-Caribbean/2384-ICEM-resolution-on-Colombia-ICEM-Latin-America-energy-meeting-in-Montevideo-Uruguay ">Colombian resolution can be found here</a>. The <a href="/en/26-Latin-America-Caribbean/2383-ICEM-Resolution-on-Peruvian-earthquakes-ICEM-Latin-America-energy-meeting-in-Montevideo-Uruguay">Peruvian one is here</a>. 
 
The meeting was aided by help from the Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES).

Latin American Energy Conference in Uruguay Gets Sound Footings

Trade unions from ten Arabic-speaking Middle Eastern and North African countries gathered in Amman, Jordan, on 2-3 September, and the result was a loud cry for global union solidarity from the unions of the politically troubled region. The event was an ICEM regional conference, and the Global Union Federation has now received 11 requests for affiliation from unions that attended. 
 
Jordanian Labour Ministry official Majeed-el Hbachena opened the conference, and said it is important that states offer constitutional and legal rights to trade unions so that they may fulfil their obligations. He also said governments must engage trade unions in developing education and training strategies for workers. 
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Key items in discussions over the two days included efforts by Iraqi unions to defeat the proposed oil law in that country, and winning respect and fair treatment for Palestinian workers from Israel and the global community. The 35 trade union leaders that attended stood united behind the position that Iraq&rsquo;s natural resources belong to all Iraqi people! 
 
Trade unions from Kuwait, Yemen, Algeria, Egypt, and Iraq seek affiliation with the ICEM. &ldquo;We have an important role to play in the region,&rdquo; said ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda. &ldquo;It is oil and gas, but electrical power, mining, and chemicals are also of major importance. Faced with increased levels of privatisation and contract and agency labour, unions in MENA face the same attacks as unions everywhere,&rdquo; said Warda. 
 
The region also elected its nominees for ICEM statutory positions, posts that will be endorsed at ICEM&rsquo;s November Congress. Some positions were designated on a yearly rotation system in order to bring more Middle East and North African (MENA) unions to the global front. Selected as the ICEM Vice President and Presidium member, in a rotating role, was Mohamed el-Sayed Morsi of Egypt&rsquo;s Public Syndicate of Public Utilities. Current Executive Committee member Abdeslam Mansour of UMT, Morocco, was confirmed to retain that seat, and the substitute post will rotate between a delegate from Jordan&rsquo;s General Union of Petrol and Chemicals Workers&rsquo; Union, and the General Union of Petroleum, Mining, and Chemicals Workers in Palestine (GUPMCWP). 
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Hashmeya Muhsin Hussein, president of Iraq&rsquo;s General Union of Electricity Workers and Technicians (GUEWT), a member union of the General Federation of Iraqi Workers (GFIW) and ICEM&rsquo;s first affiliate from the occupied country, was nominated as the future Women&rsquo;s representative on the Executive Committee. 
 
ICEM&rsquo;s work in the region was strongly supported in Amman by the presence and voices of ICEM President Senzeni Zokwana, the president of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) in South Africa, and Welile Nolingo, the general secretary of South Africa&rsquo;s Chemical, Energy, Paper, Printing, Wood and Allied Workers&rsquo; Union (CEPPWAWU), who also is an ICEM Presidium Member. 
 
The conference had the support and expertise of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES). FES&rsquo;s Britta K&auml;hler, from the Jordan office, played a major role in developing and carrying out the conference. It also benefited through involvement from the US Solidarity Center.

ICEM’s Middle East-North Africa Region Surges with New Growth

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ICEM&rsquo;s Chemical Workers&rsquo; Union affiliate in Finland, Kemianliitto, has taken exception to the recent sale by the Finnish government of its stake in Kemira GrowHow to a Norwegian concern. 
 
In a statement issued immediately following Finland&rsquo;s 24 May sale of its 30.05% stake in the phosphates and fertiliser company to Oslo-based Yara International ASA, Kemianliitto President Timo Vallittu said the sale sends the wrong kind of investment message concerning Finnish industry.
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&nbsp; 
&ldquo;With this decision to sell, it is very reasonable to ask why anybody would go on investing in Finnish industry when even the State abandons a holding of its own,&rdquo; said Valliuto. 
 
The union was not critical of the sale price, or of the buyer, and vowed to hold both the State and Yara to commitments made in the 24 May announcement that jobs in Finland would be retained and production enhanced. 
 
Yara paid &euro;12.12-per-share for the government&rsquo;s stake in Kemira GrowHow, or &euro;672 million. A Kemira stock market filing said Yara, which was spun off from Norsk Hydro in 2004, will continue business operations in Finland as usual and there would be no effects on personnel. The company would continue phosphate rock mining, phosphoric acid, and other production at Siilinjarvi and Uusikaupunki in Finland, and Yara would seriously consider opening phosphate production at the Sokli mine in Finnish Lapland. 
 
Yara is the world&rsquo;s largest producer of nitrogen-based fertilisers, while Kemira GrowHow is a leader in feed phosphates with production facilities in eight countries. Under Finland&rsquo;s Securities Market Act, Yara is now obligated to place tender offers for the remainder of Kemira GrowHow&rsquo;s shares at &euro;12.12-per-share, a 30% premium over the Finnish&rsquo;s firm&rsquo;s 23 May trading price. The merged company will control about 7% of the world&rsquo;s fertiliser market.

Finnish Union Kemianliitto Displeased with State’s Sale of Kemira GrowHow

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The ICEM, together with its Norwegian paperworkers&rsquo; union affiliate, Fellesforbundet, conducted its annual Norske Skog Global Framework Agreement review in Oslo on 21 May. The parties have been signatory to a Global Framework Agreement since June 2002, and the agreement was extended on 21 May for another two-year period. 
 
Chief among items discussed were proposals by the ICEM and Fellesforbundet for the agreement to incorporate the ILO&rsquo;s Code of Practice on HIV/AIDS, and to initiate a consultation process between the company and its trade unions prior to management at particular worksites engaging contract labourers or agency labour providers.
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&nbsp; 
Another request put before senior managers of Norske Skog by the unions was to drop a lawsuit brought by managers at the Tasman paper mill in New Zealand against ICEM affiliate Manufacturing and Construction Workers&rsquo; Union. Members of the union did stop-work actions after managers failed to fully consult with the union over cost-cutting measures concerning the elimination of back-up shifts. Such elimination presents serious safety concerns for workers. 
 
Norske Skog is reviewing that situation. The company has pledged to fulfil a section of the Global Agreement which states that employment in the company &ldquo;shall, as a main rule, be based on permanent employment. Temporary and part-time employees should as a main rule receive the same relative terms and conditions as full-time permanent employees.&rdquo;

ICEM Conducts Global Agreement Review Meeting with Norske Skog

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Arrests and injuries from police gun-fire haunt Democratic of Congo&rsquo;s (DRC) trade unions, as activists struggle to exert their rights in the war-torn but resource-rich African country. 
 
On 22 May, General Secretary Jean-Benoit Ntando of the ICEM affiliated mining and energy trade union, Organisation des Travailleurs Unis du Congo (OTUC), was arrested near Kinshasa. He was leading a demonstration of Foire Internationale de Kinshasa (FIKIN) workers and along with two other union leaders, was detained at a police detention centre in Limete, Kinshasa. 
 
The three were released two days later.
<img height="130" src="" width="280" alt="" />
&nbsp; 
 
The main reason for industrial action by the FIKIN workers&rsquo; was non-payment of salaries and other benefits, a persistent problem in the DRC. In spite of the many promises by the company, workers, as well as middle managers, suffer from non-payment of wages for up to 17 months. Trade unionists also were protesting against the abusive dismissal of co-workers, and the employer&rsquo;s failure to consult with the union on important decisions, as required by the company&rsquo;s statutes. 
 
In a memorandum addressed to the DRC&rsquo;s Minister of Portfolio, Jeannine Mabunda, on 22 May, the FIKIN trade union delegation called for the removal of the company&rsquo;s top-level management. 
 
The situation for the workers at the state-run diamond mine called Soci&eacute;t&eacute; Mini&egrave;re de Bakwanga (MIBA) near Mbuji-Mayi, in south-central Kasai-Oriental Province, also remains precarious. 
 
A strike there by some eight ICEM-affiliated mining unions over non-payment of wages began on 23 April, but was suspended four weeks later after a new interim management team was installed. Although the company did pay one month&rsquo;s back wages, the dispute regressed when MIBA used police force against workers. 
 
Ngandu Ntumba, a union leader of the ICEM-affiliated SYTRAME-CDT, disappeared for 48 hours into the hands of DRC&rsquo;s security forces, while another SYTRAME trade unionist named Tshimpaka was shot in the leg by police, and then was trampled by police forces as they rushed other protesters. This occurred in mid-May. 
 
The victim remains in a hospital in Bonzola in eastern DRC, after doctors removed a bullet from his left leg. But he is still without proper medical necessities. The ICEM is cooperating with the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) in order to get the necessary care and medicines to him.
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&nbsp;L&eacute;on Ngoy Bululu 

Also in the DRC, Vice President L&eacute;on Ngoy Bululu of the Solidarit&eacute; Syndicale des Travailleurs et Cadres du Congo, an affiliate of the International Transport Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITF) was released from Makala prison in Kinshasa on 15 May. Bululu was arrested on 20 April following an appearance on local television, where he criticised the state-owned transport agency ONATRA. 
 
A hearing on 11 May had already acquitted him of all charges. Both ITF and ICEM had demanded his release.

Dangerous Times for Mining Union Activists in Congo

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The Amicus section of newly-formed UK union, Unite, has accused ExxonMobil of an attack on North Sea oil drilling jobs. In a letter to the UK Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, Alistair Darling, the union says ExxonMobil&rsquo;s decision to suspend drilling in the Beryl field for a period of three years will cost 70 jobs. 
 
Unite, the merged unification of Amicus and Transport and General Workers&rsquo; Union, is requesting that Britain&rsquo;s Trade and Industry agency investigate the US supermajor&rsquo;s decision, and to suspend the company&rsquo;s license to operate in the field if necessary.
<img height="60" src="" width="120" alt="" />
The loss of jobs would affect Aberdeen, Scotland, based KCA Deutag, ExxonMobil&rsquo;s main drilling contractor at the 40-year-old Beryl field production site. Workers at KCA Deutag, long represented by Amicus, say that over the past year, ExxonMobil has spent more that ₤20 million in preparing rigs for a renewed five-year drilling project. 
 
Unite&rsquo;s Aberdeen-based regional officer, Graham Tran, said that Deutag detailed the project&rsquo;s work to staff, guaranteeing they had a long-term future on Beryl field platforms. He said the drilling contractor had instituted a two-weeks-on, three-weeks-off rotation schedule for staff.
<img height="139" src="" width="140" alt="" />
&ldquo;ExxonMobil has now put the drilling programme on hold for three years, which has put around 70 drilling jobs at risk,&rdquo; said Tran. &ldquo;The behaviour is disgraceful and deceitful. (ExxonMobil is) being dishonest to the employees, and also to the UK government and the UK taxpayer,&rdquo; he added, alluding that ExxonMobil just might be attempting to get out of North Sea oil production. 
 
&ldquo;I am therefore calling on the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry to investigate this matter and if ExxonMobil refuses to reverse this decision, then government should take the necessary steps to remove its operating license and make this productive field available to operators who believe in the future of the North Sea.&rdquo;

ExxonMobil Accused of Job Destruction in North Sea

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A 14-month-long freedom of association fight on behalf of workers of Lafarge subcontractors in Korea ended on 28 May when the company and ICEM affiliate Korean Chemical and Textile Workers&rsquo; Federation (KCTF) signed an accord granting the workers employment rights and union rights. 
 
The agreement ends a bitter dispute that started when workers of Woojin Industry, a Lafarge subcontractor at its Okgye, South Province, cement plant, joined the KCFT in March 2006. Thirteen of the workers were sacked, and Lafarge cancelled its contract with Woojin, moving the jobs and the company&rsquo;s equipment to two other subcontractors.
<img height="83" src="" width="180" alt="" />
Under terms of last week&rsquo;s agreement, covering six workers who still sought their rightful return to work, Lafarge Halla management in Korea will make &ldquo;best efforts&rdquo; for the former Woojin workers to be employed by three subcontractors now on site. The agreement also pledges to ensure that none of the subcontractors, Sehwa Sanup, Daewon Sanup, and Soogwang Maintenance, will discriminate against the workers because of their union membership. 
 
Additionally, all legal complaints, petitions, and requests for remedies &ndash; from both sides &ndash; were to be withdrawn. 
 
The ICEM, together with the Building and Woodworkers&rsquo; International (BWI), the two global union federations signatory to a Global Framework Agreement with Lafarge, had ardently pressed the issue of freedom of association for the contract workers before senior managers of the company in Paris on several occasions.
<img height="165" src="" width="120" alt="" />
ICEM Gen. Sec. Manfred Warda
&ldquo;We commend our affiliate, the Korean Chemical and Textile Workers&rsquo; Federation, for its diligence in seeing that justice was delivered for these contract workers,&rdquo; said ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda. &ldquo;This serves as a strong example that trade unions have an important role to play in protecting labour standards that contract workers and agency workers are entitled to.&rdquo;

Lafarge Agrees to Give Employment, Union Rights to Korean Contract Workers’

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Leaders of ICEM&rsquo;s Colombian mining affiliate, Sintracarb&oacute;n, marshalled an occupation of La Guajira&rsquo;s state Social Security building from 23-25 May in the city of Riohacha. The occupation, by some 40 trade unionists and activists in Colombia&rsquo;s northeast region, occurred because of failed health care practices by both the state and the area&rsquo;s single biggest employer, Carbones del Cerrej&oacute;n. 
 
The two-day sit-in produced redress of all demands made by the protestors, some of whom included employees of the state&rsquo;s health department. Day-long negotiations occurred on 24 May between 11 Sintracarb&oacute;n leaders, representatives of the state and federal health agencies, &Aacute;lvaro L&oacute;pez, Cerrej&oacute;n&rsquo;s Labour Relations director, and Dr. Rodrigo Daza, Cerrej&oacute;n&rsquo;s chief medical practitioner.&nbsp;
<img height="173" src="" width="260" alt="" />
&nbsp;Sintracarb&oacute;n&rsquo;s leaders, who led the occupation: Jos&eacute; Nicol&aacute;s Brito Mendoza, union director; Jaime Deluquez Dias, president; and Jes&uacute;s Brochero, Maicao Mine president 
 

&ldquo;Normally, we engage the company in social dialogue over issues,&rdquo; stated the union&rsquo;s Maicao Mine President Jes&uacute;s Brochero. &ldquo;But there are times when direct action is necessary. With the number of health cases both from the mine and from communities not being addressed, this was one of those times.&rdquo; 
 
Specifically, the occupation was to draw attention to over 40 miners who have had various work disabilities lingering for as long as a year. Also, it sought to focus attention on some 700 patients in surrounding communities who have been stricken with diseases, and who have not had adequate health treatments from either the mine &ndash; owned equally by AngloAmerican, BHP Billiton, and Xstrata &ndash; or state and federal agencies. 
 
Carbones del Cerrej&oacute;n employs 4,700 full-time miners, while another 3,500 contractors work at a complex of eight coal pits and a 150- kilometre rail link to the Caribbean Sea port of Puerto Bol&iacute;var.
<img height="115" alt="" src="" width="250" />
The negotiated end to the building occupation granted assurances that all medical payments due disabled miners would be made immediately. Among some other 20 points of agreement stemming from the occupation, accord was made that all pending health care cases will be examined individually and diagnoses of diseases or injuries both on the job and in communities will occur promptly.

Building Occupation in Colombia Yields Health Care Assurances

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The quadrennial National Convention of the Mining and Energy Division of the Construction, Forestry, Mining &amp; Energy Union (CFMEU) of Australia was held last week in Queensland, and delegates took up two critical issues: ending the 11-year reign of Prime Minister John Howard later this year and adoption of clean coal technologies. 
 
Coming under a unified banner entitled &ldquo;For a Clean, Safe, and Secure Future,&rdquo; CFMEU delegates from mines, power stations, oil refineries, and coal ports came together on 14-18 May during a pivotal time in Australia. The entire labour movement in Australia has been besieged by radical workplace reforms, passed in 2005 by the Howard government. 
<img height="93" alt="" src="" width="90" />
As well, the union has embarked on a critical climate change position, intended to preserve Australia&rsquo;s ranking as the world&rsquo;s biggest coal exporter, while working diligently to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. 
 
Delegates heard from Australian Labour Party leaders on the ALP&rsquo;s agenda to unseat Howard in November with Kevin Rudd. And more importantly, they heard from Australian Council of Trade Unions Secretary Greg Combet on how labour unions will mobilise to get that job done. 
 
The enactment of Howard&rsquo;s WorkChoices law has opened the way for employers to scuttle collective agreements in favour of individual work contracts, also known as Australian Workplace Agreements (AWAs). CFMEU delegates were critical of the country&rsquo;s mining and metals employers&rsquo; association, as well as of mining houses Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton. Both companies call for the preservation of individual contracts in order not to suffer decreased productivity they claim will total A$6.6 billion. 
<img height="127" alt="" src="" width="250" />
That claim, made in February in the face of a growing public groundswell against Howard&rsquo;s industrial reforms, is far from the truth. A good majority of coal miners in Australia are covered by collective agreements, while virtually no AWAs exist in the sector. And productivity growth of the coal sector has averaged nearly 3% for each year dating back a decade. 
 
CFMEU&rsquo;s Mining and Energy Division has adopted policies related to massive investments for clean coal technologies, increased use of renewable energy sources, and carbon emissions trading. The union also supports ratification of the Kyoto Protocol. 
 
The convention included a session on global solidarity, which featured ICEM President Senzeni Zokwana, ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda, South Africa&rsquo;s National Union of Mineworkers General Secretary Frans Baleni, as well as Maritime Union of Australia National Secretary Paddy Crumlin. Tony Maher serves as General President of the CFMEU&rsquo;s Mining and Energy Division.

CFMEU’s Mining, Energy Convention Occurs at Critical Juncture in Australia

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Labour Unions in the US, including ICEM affiliates United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE), the United Steelworkers (USW), and the United Auto Workers (UAW), begin bargaining this week with General Electric (GE) over a new collective agreement. 
 
Some 23,000 US workers belonging to 13 unions negotiate jointly as the Coordinating Bargaining Committee of GE Unions (CBC). They have a four-year labour agreement with US-based manufacturing and financial services company General Electric expiring on 17 June 2007. 
 
Central among issues are expected to be job security, health care, and pensions. GE, which posted US$20.7 billion in net profit last year, is expected to seek greater cost-sharing of health care expenses from workers, curtailments on early retirement eligibility for staff, and reduced benefit levels, including pensions, for newly-hired workers. The unions will resist such proposals. 
<img height="70" src="" width="120" alt="" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <img height="70" src="" width="128" alt="" />&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; <img height="70" src="" width="74" alt="" />
GE, which increased its dividend to shareholders for the 31st consecutive year in 2007 and spent US$8 billion last year on a share buy-back plan, is a major world manufacturer of plastics and chemicals, airplane and rail engines, power turbines, energy and gas equipment, as well as medical equipment. GE also owns major US broadcasting and television company NBC. 
 
Besides the UE, USW, and UAW, other US-based trade unions involved in the CBC include: the IUE-CWA, Machinists Union, NABET-CWA, Teamsters, Electrical Workers (IBEW), Federation of Professional &amp; Technical Engineers, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA), Sheet Metal Workers Union, the United Association of Plumbing and Pipefitters Union, and SEIU&rsquo;s Firemen &amp; Oilers Division. 
 
The UE, the coalition&rsquo;s second largest union of GE workers, will host a CBC-wide contract rally on 2 June in Erie, state of Pennsylvania, home of two of the UE&rsquo;s branch unions that represent GE workers.

US Unions Begin Bargaining at General Electric This Week

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