English

Español

Français

Русский

Aerospace

Automotive

Base metals

Chemical, pharmaceutical and bio-science

Energy

Glass, cement, ceramic and associated industries

ICT, electrical and electronics

Mechanical Engineering

Mining and DGOJP

Pulp and paper

Rubber

Shipbuilding and shipbreaking

Textile, garment, shoes, leather and textile services

Sectors

Action on textile and garment industry

Clean up shipbreaking

Ratify ILO C176

United for a just future - time to pay up!

Disinvest from Myanmar

Action Plan 2021-2025

Global Framework Agreements

Union building

Women

Youth

White-collar workers

Health & safety

Industry 4.0

Just Transition

Organizing with industriALL

What we do

Affiliates

Statutes

Elected Officials

Executive Committee

Geneva head office

South East Asia

Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Caucasus

Latin America and the Caribbean

Middle East and North Africa

South Asia

Regional offices

About us

Global worker No1 2022

Global worker No2 2022

Publications

Resources

Press

<img height="40" alt="" src="" width="100" />
A peaceful protest by 1,000 members of ICEM&rsquo;s two Nigerian oil workers&rsquo; affiliates &ndash; PENGASSAN and NUPENG &ndash; was met by 150 riot police last week, 17 May. The protest occurred at the national headquarters of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. (NNPC) in Abuja, while privatisation bidding on two NNPC refineries was going on elsewhere in the Nigerian capital city. 
 
Trade unionists blocked traffic in and out of the NNPC building for the better part of the day. 
 
The unions were not objecting to the privatisation of refineries in Port Harcourt and Kaduna, but rather to NNPC ignoring a memorandum it signed with the two unions only last week allowing them to carry out independent audits of the refineries before the sales occur. 
<img height="114" alt="" src="" width="110" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; <img height="105" alt="" src="" width="100" />
The concerns of the two unions centre on the loss of 4,000 jobs, with no plan on how to meet the pension commitments of sacked workers. &ldquo;We are saying, yes you can privatise, but let us sit down and thrash out the labour issues,&rdquo; Williams Ibiba Inko, NNPC&rsquo;s union chair and leader of the protest, told This Day newspaper. 
 
&ldquo;This process is going to kill our pension. Most of the concerned staff has passed the employment age bracket,&rdquo; said Inko, adding the memorandum calling for due process by workers&rsquo; representatives was signed by the Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE). &ldquo;We believe (the process) is being hijacked by the BPE to suit its purposes.&rdquo; 
 
As part of last Thursday&rsquo;s protest, PENGASSAN and NUPENG also lodged stop-work actions at NNPC operations in Lagos, Port Harcourt, Mosimi, and Kaduna. All of the protests remained peaceful and no arrests were made. 
 
Bidding on the federal government&rsquo;s 51% stake in the Port Harcourt refinery, Nigeria&rsquo;s largest with a capacity of 210,000 barrels-per-day, was awarded to a Nigerian consortium called Bluestar Oil, for US$561 million. Bluestar is composed of the Dangote Group, Nigeria&rsquo;s biggest cement producer, Zenon Oil, Transcorp, and the Rivers State government. Sale of 51% of the Kaduna refinery, however, was not completed after the lone bidder, China National Petroleum Corp., failed to meet the reserve price. CNPC&rsquo;s bid was US$102 million. 
<img height="115" alt="" src="" width="250" />
The BPE last week conducted privatisation bids on 18 public entities, including electric power, cement, and palm oil companies, as well as liquid petroleum gas depots, and coal and other mining blocks. 
 
Meanwhile, PENGASSAN President Peter Esele is pleading with militants in the Niger Delta to stop committing violent acts in the region, since such acts hamper legitimate development. Esele spoke out after three oil pipelines of Italian company Eni were blown up during the week of 7 May in Bayelsa state. 
 
&ldquo;The effect of blowing up pipelines is grave,&rdquo; he said in an interview with This Day. &ldquo;It is very dangerous to the environment because it pollutes and it increases the costs&rdquo; for development. PENGASSAN and NUPENG call for a truce in the unstable Delta region, so that development and investment can serve as a means to reduce poverty.

Nigerian Oil Unions Protest Lack of Transparency in Refinery Sales

<img height="40" alt="" src="" width="100" />
Meeting in Brussels on 10-11 May, the ICEM&rsquo;s Executive Committee passed two separate resolutions, one calling on multinational companies not to interfere with new labour regulations being proposed in China, and one declaring continued support and solidarity for strikers at German-based Fresenius Medical Care&rsquo;s Novamed factory in Turkey. 
 
The ICEM Executive also tabled several resolutions that will be considered at its Fourth World Congress this November in Bangkok, Thailand, including continuation of projects on HIV/AIDS and Contract and Agency Labour. 
<img height="113" alt="" src="" width="100" />
GLOBAL UNITY, GLOBAL EQUALITY
ICEM 2007 World Congress logo
The resolution on the draft Chinese labour law condemns those companies which attempt to water down the draft labour law of China&rsquo;s government. The motion notes that even though the proposed law falls far short of common international standards regarding workers&rsquo; rights, some companies operating inside China oppose implementation of new labour regulations. 
 
The ICEM also calls on multinational companies not to oppose the movement of workers in China to form &ldquo;free, strong and independent trade unions.&rdquo; The resolution, in its entirety, can be found <a href="/index.php?id=7&amp;doc=2259&amp;la=EN">here</a>. 
 
Regarding the ongoing dispute that ICEM Turkish affiliate Petrol-Iş is waging on behalf of 84 strikers, 82 of whom are women, the ICEM resolution deplores the conduct of Novamed. The company operates in the Antalya Free Trade Zone and makes bloodline and kidney dialysis equipment. 
<img height="285" alt="" src="" width="200" />
Novamed strikers in Antalya Free Trade Zone, Turkey
Managers of the company caused the strike, in September 2006, by severely restricting workers&rsquo; rights, particularly those of women. Such inhumane practices as making women apply for permission to become pregnant, forbidding employees from talking on the job, and threatening to move the plant from Turkey unless workers reject Petrol-Iş were severely criticised by ICEM Executive members. 
 
The ICEM resolution states: &ldquo;The practice of restricting women&rsquo;s maternity rights is against ILO Conventions and EU directives and does not suit a country applying for membership in the European Union.&rdquo; Workers at Novamed GmbH organised with Petrol-Iş in March 2005, but the company has refused good-faith bargaining for an initial collective agreement. 
 
The ICEM resolution on Novamed&rsquo;s horrid labour relations can be found <a href="/index.php?id=71&amp;doc=2258&amp;la=EN">here</a>.

ICEM Executive Passes Motions on China’s Draft Labour Law, Dispute in Turkey

<img height="40" src="" width="100" alt="" />
US Affiliate United Steelworkers (USW) won an important court victory in its pursuit of justice for workers at shuttered Continental tyre and rubber plants in America. On 31 July, a federal judge for the U.S. District Court in the state of Ohio ruled that the German company must fulfill union contractual obligations to retired workers regarding health care.
<img height="100" src="" width="100" alt="" />
In December 2006, some 2,000 retirees from closed Continental plants in Charlotte, North Carolina; Mayfield, Kentucky; and Byron, Ohio, filed a class action lawsuit with the support of the union. Along with the cost-savings plant closings, the company shifted a large part of health care costs onto retirees. 
In the lawsuit, USW retirees, many of whom had been sacked at the time of the plant closures, sought restoration of the previous health insurance programme, and they argued for refunds on premium payments and other compensation. 
Judge Jack Zouhary of US. District Court in Toledo, Ohio, ruled in a summary judgment that the company had improperly reduced the benefit levels for retirees and their spouses. The judge&rsquo;s decision stated that since the company was unable to force its terms with the USW during contract talks, it unilaterally and illegally began implementing the cuts. 
Continental North America argued it had the right to lower retiree benefits, because the labour contracts had expired. Zouhary ruled that retiree benefits must remain separate from wages and benefits of active workers since there is &quot;inference&quot; in labour agreements that &quot;those benefits ... continue as long as the beneficiary remains a retiree.&quot;
<img height="158" alt="" src="" width="120" />
&nbsp;USW's Ron Hoover 

USW President Leo Gerard praised the judge&rsquo;s decision. &ldquo;The fact that the court issued summary judgment shows just how disgraceful Continental was in abandoning its contractual obligations to American tire builders who gave the company a lifetime of work.&rdquo; 

Continental has stated it will appeal the judge&rsquo;s decision, but the USW is calling on the company to make the payments even if it does appeal. &ldquo;This is an international corporation that has made massive profits throughout this sorry affair,&rdquo; said USW Executive Vice President Ron Hoover. &ldquo;It is time for them to finally stand up and fulfill the promises&rdquo; made to workers.

Continental Tyre Owes USW’s Retirees Medical Pay, Judge Rules

<img height="40" src="" width="100" alt="" />
Double-digit pay gains were won for miners by South Africa&rsquo;s largest union, the National Union Mineworkers (NUM). With two-year negotiations now nearly complete, only the world&rsquo;s largest gold-mining companies remain tight-fisted in pay talks. Global-leading platinum producers, AngloAmerican&rsquo;s Kumba Resources, and several coal producers came to terms with the NUM in the past week. 
 
DeBeers averted a diamond-mining strike on 31 July when it increased its pay offer. 
 
On 7 August, the world&rsquo;s second largest platinum miner &ndash; Impala Platinum &ndash; reached accord with the NUM. A day later, AngloPlatinum, the world&rsquo;s largest producer came to agreement. The contracts won by the NUM cover 39,000 miners at AngloPlatinum, and 26,000 at Impala Platinum. NUM also won a 10% for miners at the smaller Northam Platinum operations.
<img height="96" alt="" src="" width="100" />
AngloPlatinum, 75% held by AngloAmerican, will this year award lower-classified miners a 10% increase, while the higher classifications get 8.5%. Next year, miners will receive between 8% and 9%. The Impala calls for 10% and 8% this year and between 7.25% and 8.5% in 2008. 
 
Also last week, workers at Kumba, a major iron ore producer, agreed to pay hikes this year of 10%, 9.5%, and 8.5%, depending on the job classification. 
 
And 13 days ago, NUM recommended wage increases of 10% and a bit lower for the higher classifications to coal miners. In the second year of the agreement, coal miners will receive 1% on top of the consumer price index, or no less than 8%. NUM&rsquo;s coal-mining members are employed by such companies as AngloCoal, Xstrata, Optimum Collieries, Exxaro, Eyesizwe, and Kanga. 
 
At DeBeers, where a strike by 6,000 workers was to occur on 31 July, the world&rsquo;s leading diamond miner met the NUM&rsquo;s terms on that day. Diamond miners will receive 10% in the lower grade; 9.5% in the middle grade; and 8.5% in the higher-paid grade. &ldquo;We put a demand of 10% and we got it, so there is nothing to complain about,&rdquo; said Peter Bailer, NUM&rsquo;s lead negotiator in diamond mining.
<img height="270" alt="" src="" width="180" />
&nbsp;NUM General Secretary Frans Baleni
But talks with gold producers remain stalled. In the last days of July and early August, the Chamber of Mines &ndash; on behalf of AngloGold Ashanti, Goldfields, and Harmony Gold &ndash; had refused to budge from its top offer of 7.75%. As the two sides continue in talks, the NUM is mobilizing for strike action. &ldquo;We believe that the Chamber of Mines has tested our patience long enough and our workers will haunt the profit they make out of the workers sweat,&rdquo; stated NUM General Secretary Frans Baleni. 
 
Nearly all the negotiations between the NUM and mining companies are occurring through the Chamber of Mines. Since disputes were called in most, South Africa&rsquo;s Commission for Conciliation, Mediation, and Arbitration (CCMA) has been involved. 
 
Meanwhile, another mining death has occurred at an AngoGold facility in South Africa, the third such death at an AngloGold mining operation in the country in just a few weeks. A worker fell into a pit at the company&rsquo;s Moab Khutsong mine on 9 August. The pit had no barricades around it. AngloAshanti now has recorded 12 deaths overall in its South African mines this year.

Platinum, Coal, Diamond, Iron Ore Talks Complete for NUM in South Africa; Gold Talks Continue

<img height="40" src="" width="100" alt="" />
A crippling strike at South African refineries has ended, but other strikes by ICEM affiliate Chemical, Energy, Paper, Printing, Wood, and Allied Workers' Union (CEPPWAWU) continue in glass, paper tissue, packaging, and wood products. 
 
Some 40,000 members of CEPPWAWU have been in dispute with employers&rsquo; groupings cutting across all sectors since late June. On 26 July, the union issued 48-hour strike notices in ten different industries. Some employers&rsquo; associations settled, while others took the strike action. 
 
The petrol strike started on 30 July and ended on 7 August. An immediate fuel shortage just days into the strike brought panic buying at the gas pumps. South Africa&rsquo;s largest refinery, a joint Shell-BP Sapref complex in Durban, was shut, as was PetrolSA&rsquo;s refinery in Mossel Bay and Chevron&rsquo;s Caltex plants in Cape Town. Sasol, which supplies 40% of South Africa&rsquo;s fuel and petrochemicals, found its operations undermanned and was effectively down.
<img height="60" src="" width="100" alt="" />
CEPPWAWU negotiators were called into talks late on 6 August by the nation&rsquo;s conciliatory agency and the National Petroleum Employers&rsquo; Association. The strike ended the next day. Bosses had moved a half-percent increase proposed for January 2008 to 1 July of this year, and an 8.5% wage increase was agreed to. CEPPWAWU made other gains, as well, including maternity leave improvements and added payment for public holidays as a provision to the 40-hour work week. 
 
The effects of some of the other strikes cut across industry divides. From the drug industry to building materials, delays and shortages of products or packaging for those products was growing daily. 
 
On 30 July, some 3,000 pharmaceutical workers went on strike at major drug and generic drug producers, including Pfizer, Aspen, and Adcock Ingram. That strike ended on 2 August when the employers association revised its terms. Also on 30 July, CEPPWAWU members in the Tissue and Allied Products section took strike action, shutting the operations of Nampak and Kimberly-Clark. 
 
Kimberly-Clark issued an ultimatum to its two CEPPWAWU-represented workforces in Cape Town and Johannesburg that its miserly pay offer of 6.5% was its final offer. 
 
Over the weekend prior to the Monday, 30 July, strike deadline, the Pulp and Paper Employers Association came to an 8.5% wage agreement with CEPPWAWU. That prevented thousands of workers at Sappi and Mondi from striking. And talks in the Industrial Chemicals section are continuing. 
 
On 3 August, thousands of red-shirted protesters turned out for a CEPPWAWU manifestation in Johannesburg to lend support to workers and their fair wage goals. The union and striking workers also received formal support that day from COSATU and the South African Communist Party. 
 
CEPPWAWU&rsquo;s ten different bargaining tables in 2007: Industrial Chemicals, Fast Moving Consumer Goods, Glass, Petroleum, Pharmaceuticals, Pulp and Paper, Sawmilling, Tissue and Allied, Particle Board, and Sasol Mines.

CEPPWAWU Resolves Petrol, Pharma Strikes; Tissue, Glass, Wood, Packaging Strikes Persist

<img height="40" alt="" src="" width="100" />
The 9 August, International Day of Action to free Iranian trade unionists Mansoor Osanloo and Mahmoud Salehi produced protests in 34 nations, with hundreds of protest letters posted demanding their release. 
 
In Iran on 9 August, supporters of free trade unions who attempted to assemble in protest at the Tehran home of Mansoor Osanloo, leader of the Sherkate Vahed bus drivers&rsquo; union, were met by armed state security agents, positioned to prevent any demonstration or dissent concerning his 10 July arrest. Iranian secret police also arrested five executive board members in the hours before worldwide protests began. 
 
The International Day of Action was called by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and the International Transport Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITF). Osanloo was arrested following a European labour tour and an appearance at the ILO&rsquo;s June International Labour Conference. Salehi, a co-founder of the Saqez Bakery Workers&rsquo; Association, was arrested last April for trade union activities.
<img height="300" src="" width="200" alt="" />
9 August: In front of Iran Embassy, Brussels
Demonstrations, delivery of protest letters and petitions occurred in many world capitals, including London, Brussels, Paris, and Canberra, Australia. In Geneva, a delegation of trade union leaders from the ITUC, Public Services International (PSI), Union Network International (UNI), International Food, Agricultural Workers&rsquo; Association (IUF), and the coordinator of the Global Unions Council did meet with the Iran&rsquo;s ambassador at the country&rsquo;s mission. 
 
But in most capitals, Iranian embassy officials refused to meet with trade union leaders. Demonstrators chanted and, in some cases, forced letters and petitions through fences at barricaded embassies. In London, scores of unionists rallied at Iran&rsquo;s embassy in Knightsbridge and presented a petition with 3,000 names demanding the release of Osanloo and Salehi. 
 
Speaking at the rally upon hearing the news of the other union arrests in Iran, ITF General Secretary David Cockroft said, &ldquo;If the Iranian government wants to know why workers worldwide are putting them under pressure, they&rsquo;ve just supplied the answer. Our demand is a reasonable one &hellip; the basic right to join a union. The government&rsquo;s clumsy, brutal attempts to stifle it are just making it heard more widely and strongly.&rdquo; 
 
In Brussels, 60 unionists that included staff from the ICEM turned out in a pouring rain to protest. In Paris, trade unions CFDT, CGT, FO turned out members to protest at Iran&rsquo;s embassy. In Canberra, the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) was joined by Iranian exiles in seeking the release of the two being held in Iran.
<img height="200" src="" width="300" alt="" />
9 August: ICEM staff protests it Iranian Embassy
A mass demonstration occurred at Queens Park at Canada&rsquo;s parliament in Ottawa; in Vienna, Austria, a bus was used by VIDA and the Transport and Services Union tom deliver protest letters to Iran&rsquo;s embassy; in Spain, UGT and CC.OO teamed up to deliver the petition to Iran&rsquo;s embassy in Madrid; in Bucharest, Romania, the union Federatia Sindicala Transloc picketed the embassy there; and other actions on 9 August happened in Norway, Sweden, and Finland. 
 
In Trinidad and Tobago, the Seamen and Waterfront Workers&rsquo; Union held a press conference; in India, trade unions NUSI and TDWU held protests; and in Indonesia, 300 transport workers gathered at the Iranian embassy in Jakarta to demonstrate. 
 
Other actions occurred in Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, and Tunisia. In Egypt, the General Union of Land Transport Workers and the General Union of Air Transport Unions delivered a letter to Iran&rsquo;s embassy. A letter was also delivered by Jordanian unions to Iran&rsquo;s embassy in Amman, while in both Morocco and Tunisia, demonstrations were held at Iranian diplomatic missions. 
 
The date of 9 August was chosen because it is the one-year anniversary of Osanloo&rsquo;s release from jail in 2006, which came about through mass global trade union protests. Osanloo has now been incarcerated three times for his trade union activities in Iran.

9 August: Global Dissent Pours Forth Over Illegal Jailing of Iranian Trade Unionists

<img height="40" src="" width="100" alt="" />
The ICEM is intent that justice will come for workers at several Turkish worksites currently in labour-management disputes. The ICEM is doing this in efforts behind the scenes, and leadership of the global union federation recently visited picket lines at two of those disputes: Sanovel pharmaceutical in Istanbul and Fresenius Medical Care&rsquo;s Novamed plant in the free trade zone of Antalya. 
 
ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda and Chemicals and Rubber Industry Officer Kemal &Ouml;zkan visited those sites recently, and the visits generated numerous press articles inside Turkey.
<img height="254" alt="" src="" width="390" />
&nbsp;Manfred Warda (center) with Sanovel workers 

At the Sanovel İla&ccedil;ları pharmaceutical company, located in Silivri, Istanbul, 190 members of ICEM affiliate Petrol-İş were sacked after joining the union. 
Sanovel, a leading pharmaceutical company in Turkey, dismissed five union leaders on 4 April 2007, after all production workers joined the union. And then on 6 June, the company announced that it had terminated the employment of 190 union members. Management was blunt; it said union status disqualified workers from being able to perform their jobs. 

Workers have been assembled in protest at the plant now for 69 days. On 31 July, Warda and &Ouml;zkan visited the fired union members at their plant. Warda told them and their family members: &ldquo;Your struggle is for decent working conditions. Your struggle is for your rights as guaranteed by the constitution and your national laws. Your struggle is for universal human and trade union rights. 
 
&ldquo;After we return to Brussels, your struggle will be known to all fellow workers and you will receive even more international solidarity,&rdquo; said Warda. &ldquo;This struggle will ring out until companies like Sanovel recognise trade union rights and it will be our duty to expand this struggle at the global level. Your struggle is ours!&rdquo;
The 31 July action was organised by Petrol-İş, and the union has done much to receive support from the public. Doctors&rsquo; and pharmacists&rsquo; associations have declared their support for the workers, and many in the medical professions are refraining from recommending Sanovel products to their patients. 
 
The other dispute that ICEM leaders paid a call to also involves Petrol-Iş, and is the first-ever strike called by a Turkish union in a free-trade zone. Since September 2006, 84 workers &ndash; 82 of whom are women &ndash; have been on strike against German-headquartered Fresenius Medical Care and its Turkish subsidiary Novamed. Strikers have been picketing that plant now for 322 consecutive days.
<img height="292" alt="" src="" width="390" />
Petrol-İş President Mustafa &Ouml;ztaskin speaks to workers
On 3 August, the ICEM&rsquo;s Warda and &Ouml;zkan visited the strikers in Antalya. At its meeting in May, the ICEM Executive Committee produced a special resolution on this strike after the ICEM&rsquo;s Women&rsquo;s Committee took it up. 
 
Speaking to the strikers, Warda said, &ldquo;The whole world knows of your struggle and you must know trade unionists in many, many countries are behind you. Your struggle is not only for fair and just wages, but also human dignity. 
 
&ldquo;Last March 8, on International Women&rsquo;s Day, your voice was carried by the ICEM throughout the world, and we will continue to do just that,&rdquo; said Warda, who praised the strikers for their decisiveness and promised to continue to press to change the company&rsquo;s anti-worker prejudices everywhere in the world.&rdquo; 
 
Warda and &Ouml;zkan were accompanied by the President of Petrol-İş, Mustafa &Ouml;ztaşkın, and the union&rsquo;s General Secretary Mustafa &Ccedil;avdar.

Turkish Labour Struggles Given ICEM Spotlight

Contract and Agency Labour Newsletter

Motion on ICEM Project work 
ICEM Executive Committee, June 2008 
 
Whereas it is acknowledged that there is a need for a clear, transparent and open ICEM policy in regard to ICEM projects and ICEM project related activities; 
 
Whereas, due to the global structure of the ICEM, the number of affiliates in need exceeds the number of affiliates that are able to offer structural assistance. 
 
Whereas it is commonly known that the expectations and demands of affiliates for international support action exceed the services that the ICEM can provide to its affiliates as a global union organisation, working only through income from affiliation fees; 
 
Whereas it is recognised that there is a wide array of possible external funding organisations, ranging from traditional donor organisations, usually trade union organisations themselves, or organisations set up by unions, over union-friendly and/or union-related organisations and governmental, or government-related, organisations, to companies and/or corporate or employer organisations; 
 
Whereas project related activities can consist of ICEM-organised activities and programs through extra-budgetary funding, as well as through in-kind contributions by external organisations; 
 
Whereas there is a need, given the envisaged closer cooperation of ICEM with other Global Union Federations, in particular IMF, ITGLWF and BWI, to also recognise their work, specific experience, and objectives in the area of project work; 
 
Whereas projects are expected to contribute to the general development aid objectives of creating world-wide justice and equality, concentrating especially on decent work, trade union building, the strengthening of unions at national level, as well as on the strengthening of international mutual support at the regional and global level, 
 
Whereas the ICEM, as part of these discussions, decided at its Executive Committee meeting in Bangkok, in November 2007, on a list of activities that should be given priority in 2008/2009; 
 
 
There is need for a regular evaluation of ongoing projects in regard to targets set, as well as for a timely discussion on future activities; 
 
Linked to the above, good and regular follow-up and input from ICEM affiliates is required, including at ICEM-meetings at regional and international level; 
 
It is recommended that the internal debate in the ICEM should be based on the principles, views and objectives listed here below. 
 
 
The ICEM considers project work, where well chosen and effectively managed, to be a strategically important addition to the regular day-to-day activities of the ICEM; 
 
ICEM project work should concentrate on assisting those in need and those that need our international assistance the most. This issue does not only need to be looked at from a geographical angle. To some extent, sectoral issues also come in to play. The mining sector is an example of an area with, on the one hand, a great deal of activity in developing countries, and, on the other, a decreasing membership base in the majority of the OECD countries. 
 
The ICEM continues to believe that project work should be an integral part of the normal national and international daily trade union activities. Project work will be planned with links to, and in support of, other ICEM day-to-day work, or otherwise contribute directly to the main ICEM goals. In addition, and in return, the aim should be that where a donor funds a particular project, it gets the assistance of the whole international organisation; 
 
Projects will therefore be selected, chosen and agreed upon, on the basis of their capacity to advance the realisation of key ICEM priorities, especially those set at ICEM Congresses; 
 
Project work can be used, as long as it is linked to the ICEM&rsquo;s key priorities, to realise both the organisation&rsquo;s overall general global main objectives, as well as certain specific, at times, detailed goals; 
 
The ICEM believes that its work can not only greatly profit from cooperation with the traditional, trade-union-friendly solidarity support organisations (SSOs), but also from cooperation with other donors, including private/public partnerships, provided the integrity and independence of the ICEM as an international trade union organisation is not compromised; 
 
The ICEM does recognise, nevertheless, that there is a need to continue to monitor, at all times, the risk to become too dependent on external funding. Internal assessments shall therefore be made, including through appraisals on a continuous basis; 
 
Wherever possible, project work will make an effort to simultaneously advance different ICEM priorities. Particular emphasis in social dialogue, or framework agreement discussions, for example, could go to such ICEM key issues as contract and agency labour, HIV/AIDS, or health and safety. Reinforcing unions through improving negotiations skills on these issues, as a union-strengthening effort, is a similar example; 
 
It is agreed that the following are among the most important priorities for ICEM project work: 
 
&bull; The strengthening/modernisation of trade unions continues to be a high priority for the ICEM. Many of our affiliates still are in need of external and international assistance. Indeed, many affiliates identified this kind of solidarity as an important contribution to become equal partners to the world&rsquo;s (multinational) companies, as well as to their governments. Related to this is the continued need, within numerous affiliates, to improve internal structures, and to train union leadership, shop stewards and trade union members on a range of subjects, from basic trade union issues, over international economy and international trade union rights, to globalisation issues and ways to deal with multinational companies. Examples of specific subject matters include International Financial Institutions, Global Framework Agreements, ILO standards and the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises; 
 
&bull; Of specific importance for project work in this area is the need to build strong branch or industrial unions, at national and/or regional level. Many affiliates use this project support to move away from company unionism; 
 
&bull; Linked to the above is the need for union consolidation at national level. In too many cases, unions are in competition with each other at national level, and, as a result, not strong enough to bargain effectively with their employers; 
 
&bull; Defending basic trade union rights, and fighting violations thereof, also continues to be an essential part of project work, albeit to various extents, depending on national situations and practices; 
 
&bull; The work on multinational companies is one of the major focal points of the ICEM&rsquo;s project work. The many priorities here include work and discussions on global framework agreements and, most certainly, international company networks, which already centre prominently in the ICEM&rsquo;s current project work. The setting up of such international networks for ICEM affiliates and their members, working with and for the same multinational company, or within the same industry, has proven to be a valuable tool for workers and is widely seen, for various reasons, as one of the main achievements within the ICEM&rsquo;s project work; 
 
&bull; A key priority in the work with MNEs, but also with other companies, is the issue of social dialogue. The ICEM will give priority to projects that deal with this issue. Not only as they are in high demand, but also as this is an area where the ICEM has a good and longstanding expertise, and because it is an area where the organisation can make a difference. Closely related to social dialogue, collective bargaining, and improvements thereof, also remains a highly important priority within the ICEM&rsquo;s project work; 
 
&bull; Another key aspect, and obvious necessity in relation to multinational companies, but also beyond, is the organising of new members. Almost all ICEM projects already support organising efforts; 
 
&bull; The issue of contract and agency labour &ndash; unquestionably one of the key threats currently for not only the ICEM, but also many other global union federations, as well as countless unions around the world &ndash; is not only an important factor in our strengthening-of-unions exercises, it also plays a vital role in the ICEM&rsquo;s work vis-&agrave;-vis multinational enterprises; 
 
&bull; The work on HIV/AIDS will also continue to be a key project priority, given the success of the current HIV/AIDS project. This can not only be measured by the goals it has already achieved, but also because of the positive effects it has in attracting lesser-traditional funding in this area; 
 
&bull; The gender dimension is a central part of all ICEM project work. This work includes efforts to look at how to better involve women in union work, and improve their participation in leadership structures; 
 
&bull; Health and safety also remains a priority for the ICEM&rsquo;s project work, including as a topic for international social dialogue. Health and safety in the mining sector is a concrete example of an issue where the ICEM could be highly instrumental in making further progress at the international level. Project activities should, where possible, support the ICEM&rsquo;s campaign to sign on to the principles of the ILO Convention 176 on health and safety in mining; 
 
&bull; Linked to the work on health and safety is the subject of sustainable development, an subject matter that is increasingly gaining in importance, not only in project-related work. On a slightly different level, but also related to the sustainability effort is the work on corporate social responsibility; 
 
&bull; As, of course, not all multinational companies are equally looking forward to working with the international trade union movement, failed efforts to establish a meaningful and positive social dialogue can, and in many cases, should be offset by corporate campaigns, which can also be a substantial part of project work; 
 
&bull; Finally, particular emphasis will go to the problems of trade unions in those regions and countries that were given priority in the most recent set of ICEM Congress resolutions, such as the Middle East, Iraq, Burma, Colombia, Palestine and Zimbabwe.

ICEM Executive Committe Motion on Project Work

The leading trade union federation covering the social interests of Pulp and Paper Workers world-wide will convene a global conference outside Montevideo, Uruguay, from 8-10 December. The conference will have 120 trade-union leaders participating from some 35 major pulp and paper-producing countries. 
 
The conference of Geneva-based International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine, and General Workers&rsquo; Unions (ICEM) is entitled: &ldquo;North Meets South, Global Unity/Global Strength.&rdquo; The sector-based conference will include participants from Finland, Sweden, Norway, United Kingdom, Austria, Germany, Netherlands, France, Romania, Turkey, Spain, Canada, United States, Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand, as well as paper industry union leaders from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Uruguay, and elsewhere in Latin America. 
 
The venue is the Argentino Hotel in Peri&aacute;polis, Uruguay. The host union is ICEM Uruguay affiliate CUOPYC. 
 
&ldquo;We think we will have a good conference, with good discussion,&rdquo; said ICEM Pulp and Paper Chairman Jouko Ahonen, also President of Paperiliitto Union of Finland. &ldquo;With the financial collapse, if there is any industry that has seen the storms and the economic swings, it is this one. It is this industry that must have new and fresh ideas for the future.&rdquo; 
 
Uruguay Cabinet Ministers from Finance and Labour and Social Security will open the conference, and then the programme will feature two paper industry executives, Mets&auml;-Botnia Oy President/CEO Ilkka H&auml;m&auml;l&auml; and Bracelpa S&atilde;o Paulo State Director Jeronimo Ruiz. They will speak, field questions, and hear discussion from workers of the industry on Monday, December 8. Day two will include a trade union panel, discussing network potential and collective bargaining issues. That discussion will develop a work plan, which includes a major project to enhance north-south trade union networking. Uruguay President Tabar&eacute; V&aacute;zquez is expected to speak to the trade unionists on day two, December 9. 
 
Third day activities will be taken up with festivities commemorating the 60th Anniversary of the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, December 10, 1948. 
The ICEM is a global union federation that represents 20 million workers in the Oil, Gas, Energy, Chemicals, Rubber, Pulp/Papermaking, Mining, Cement, and other manufacturing sectors. It has 467 national trade-union affiliates in 132 countries. 
 
For more: Dick Blin, ICEM Pulp and Paper Officer, +41 22 304 1840, or +41 79 734 8994 (mobile), or <a href="mailto:dick.blin@icem.org">dick.blin@icem.org</a>.

Global Pulp, Paper Trade Unionists Convene in Uruguay

Archive