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" />
The ICEM teamed with the International Transport Workers&acute; Federation (ITF) in applying pressure on President Joseph Kabila of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The ICEM also lodged strong protest to Kabila over the dispute by workers at the Soci&eacute;t&eacute; Mini&egrave;re de Bakwanga (MIBA), a diamond extraction company. 
 
The transport matter concerned the unfair and arbitrary arrest of trade unionist Leon Ngoy Bululu, vice-president of ITF-affiliated Solidarit&eacute; Syndicale des Travailleurs et Cadres du Congo (SOLIDARITE). 
He was arrested on 20 April 2007, following an appearance on a 14 March television programme on the Moli&egrave;re channel. In the broadcast, he reportedly spoke out against ongoing mismanagement of the national transport company, Office National des Transports (ONATRA). Mr. Bululu was arrested at his office by agents of the Brigade Criminelle du parquet de la Gombe and detained, following a complaint by the management of the transport company. 
<img height="93" alt="" src="" width="200" />
ONATRA employs 17,800 workers throughout DRC&rsquo;s five provinces: Kinshasa, Bas-Congo, Bandungu, Equateur and the Province Orientale. Among the issues raised by Comrade Bululu was the fact that the company keeps hiring new workers, over 1,200 recently, even though wages for current workers are delayed by four months. 
 
Bululu was first imprisoned at the &quot;Parquet de Grande Instance de la Gombe.&quot; Later, he was transferred to the notorious Makala prison, where he finds himself incarcerated without due and diligent legal processes. Efforts to find out more about his current condition have, so far, been without result. 
 
Both ICEM and ITF call for his immediate release, which they say is clear and calculated trade union repression. 
 
The diamond mining dispute at state-run Soci&eacute;t&eacute; Mini&egrave;re de Bakwanga (MIBA), a diamond extraction operation near Mbuji-Mayi, in south-central Kasai-Oriental Province, has forced a strike by workers also over non-payment of wages. The strike began 23 April. 
MIBA is some seven months behind in paying wages.
<img height="63" src="" width="100" alt="" />
A joint trade union delegation is furthermore demanding a return of social benefits that the government has taken away from diamond miners and others, and calls on the company to provide adequate equipment to guarantee health and safety. 
 
Participating unions in the strike are FENAMICO, SYTRAME, CTP, GST, SYGEMI, SLC, FGTK, FTF, all of which are ICEM affiliates, and FOSYCO, which is affiliated to the International Energy &amp; Mines Organisation (IEMO).

ICEM protests Congo’s Transport, Diamond Injustices

<img height="40" alt="" src="" width="100" />
Some three months after miners of AVVS de Moederbond trade union in Suriname staged a strike at a Canadian-based gold-mining enterprise, called IAM Gold, they know their rewards. A new collective agreement was formally signed 25 April 2007, giving 900 miners their first collective agreement. 
 
It was the second strike within a year at the two-year-old gold pits &ndash; both against Canadian mining houses. IAM Gold bought the central Suriname site from Ciambor Inc. late in 2006. AVVS de Moederbond hit already that Canadian company with a strike that lasted four days in May 2006. 
<img height="115" alt="" src="" width="250" />
This first labour accord serves as a strong precedent in the resource-rich South American country, since new mining development is occurring and IAM Gold is keenly interested in moving into eastern Suriname. 
 
In this initial three-year collective agreement, miners will receive a 24% increase, retroactive to 1 January 2007. They will also receive a 10% raise in 2008. In 2009, the union and management will negotiate a further raise.
In addition, the union won improved medical care and child benefits, while the vacation scheme was enhanced. In signing the agreement on 25 April, IAM Gold, a company with assets in Botswana, Ghana, Mali, Peru, and other South American countries, expressed public conviction to AVVS de Moederbond President Errol Snijders that it will build a trusting, cooperative relationship with the mining union. 
<img height="166" alt="" src="" width="200" />
President Errol Snijders
IAM Gold, founded in 1996, holds joint venture stakes with AngloGold Ashanti in Mali, Goldfields in Ghana, and owns the Mupane gold mine in Botswana. Mupane is a shared enterprise with the state, and the ten-year lease with civil society comes due in the year 2013. 
 
IAM Gold was a takeover target of Goldfields in the recent past, but the deal failed when shareholders of Goldfields rejected it. IAM Gold, in 2006, acquired Gallery Gold, and has several shared investments with Battle Mountain Gold. It also has mining interests in Senegal and Tanzania in Africa, and in Argentina, Brazil, and Ecuador in South America. 
 
The Toronto-based company also holds mining interests in Canada and collects mining royalties on Canadian precious-metal mining.

Gold Miners in Suriname Win Two-year, 34% Wage Hikes

<img height="40" alt="" src="" width="100" />
A mass strike in Peru has proven successful, despite government efforts to downplay the effect the strike has had on a number of mining enterprises. The strike was called by ICEM affiliate National Federation of Mining, Metallurgy, and Steel Workers Union (FNTMMSP) on 30 April and, by all accounts, over 40 copper, nickel, zinc, iron, gold, and silver mining operations have lost high levels of production since last week. 
 
The strike can easily be said to be a success, with the government already guaranteeing higher social benefits for contract and agency workers at the outset of the strike. After the union&rsquo;s return to tri-partite bargaining on 4 May, and following cessation of the strike, FNTMMSP is now pushing for further regularisation of the contract labour status, which needs to include the right to unionisation for contract workers. 
<img height="100" alt="" src="" width="100" />
The strike by the 28,000-member FNTMMSP saw roughly half of Peru&rsquo;s 110,000 miners participating. This included a good number of the mining sector&rsquo;s 50,000 contract or agency workers. 
Peru&rsquo;s Labour Minister Susanna Pinilla, however, has taken to the airwaves and has been quoted in the business press playing down the success of the strike. Throughout last week&rsquo;s strike, she kept providing a regular narrative of mining operations in Peru that continued production. 
 
The mining union federation, FNTMMSP, covering some 75 individual site-level unions, has complained bitterly to the government for some time that the Labour Ministry and other monitors have failed to keep pace with the burgeoning number of agencies or contract labour providers doing business in Peru&rsquo;s booming mining industry. Many of these agencies and service providers operate in the black. 
<img height="240" alt="" src="" width="380" />
&ldquo;The over-exploitation of these workers has been going on for too long,&rdquo; said FNTMMSP Sec. Gen. Luis Castillo Carlos, who himself has participated in ICEM conferences on Contract and Agency Labour. &ldquo;The miners&rsquo; strike was called because the authorities lack the political will to enforce labour rights,&rdquo; he added. 
 
FNTMMSP and its affiliated mining unions are seeking strict regularisation of mining employment agencies; enhanced profit-sharing arrangements for its members and newly-established profit-sharing for contract and agency workers; shorter work days; and improved pension benefits.
The 30 April strike actually started two days earlier when miners from two sites of Grupo Mexico-connected Southern Peru Copper Co. blocked roads around Ilo, Peru. Southern Peru&rsquo;s mines in Toquepala and Cuajone suffered deep production losses during the strike. FNTMMSP held marches in several regions on 1 May, and also conducted rallies on 2 May and 4 May at the Labour Ministry in Lima. 
A sampling of mining operations in Peru affected by the strike includes: Southern Peru Copper Co.; US-operated Doe Run&rsquo;s La Oroya copper and lead smelting operations; several of Volcan Cia Minera SA&rsquo;s zinc smelters; BHP Billiton&rsquo;s Tintaya copper operations in Cusco; Chinese state-run Shougang Hierroperu&rsquo;s iron ore mines in the country&rsquo;s south; Glencore International AG&rsquo;s Los Quenuales zinc operation; Cia. De Minas Buenaventura; and zinc producers Cia. Minera Santa Luisa SA and Cia. Minera Raura SA. 
<img height="93" alt="" src="" width="200" />
At US-based Newmont Mining&rsquo;s Yanacocha SRL&rsquo;s gold mine and smelter, South America&rsquo;s largest gold operation, miners conducted a march and protest in support of FNTMMSP&rsquo;s strike. 
 
One already achieved result of the strike is that the government did commit to increase the number of labour inspectors in Peru from 100 to 250 by the end of the year. That should help in monitoring and in getting agency labour agencies to comply with Peruvian law. 
 
Despite Labour Minister Pinilla downplaying the effect of the strike, one cabinet minister did publicly confirm the significance of the strike. &ldquo;The demands voiced by these workers are fair,&rdquo; stated Energy and Mines Minister Juan Valdivia in a published report. 
 
Referring to the vast proliferation of service-providing entities inside Peru&rsquo;s mining sector, he added, &ldquo;There are companies that comply and others that don&rsquo;t. The ones that do not respect labour rights should be punished,&rdquo; said Valdiva.

Mining Strike in Peru Produces Gains for Contract Workers

<img height="35" alt="" src="" width="25" />
ICEM Gives Priority to Global Union G8 Campaign
A special issue of ICEM InBrief, published prior to 28 April &ndash; International Commemoration Day for Dead and Injured Workers &ndash; deals with global union efforts to press the United Nations to recognise 28 April as an Official Day. It also reports on national trade union centres&rsquo; events, as well as on plans of ICEM affiliates for 28 April. 
 
InBrief gives priority to the global trade union campaign to create a permanent high-level G8 Working Group on HIV/AIDS as a major part of the G8 programme to combat the pandemic. The ICEM has urged its affiliates to send letters to the German embassy or consulate in their countries, requesting the creation of such a Working Group. Germany is to host the G8 Summit this year. 
 
The ICEM strongly believes that such a Working Group is needed to guarantee that there is progress on prior G8 commitments, including achieving universal access to HIV/AIDS treatment and care by 2010 and developing a vaccine to prevent HIV infection. The ICEM further believes that a more sustained political commitment and commitment of resources by the world&rsquo;s richest nations must occur to reverse the pandemic, which hits workers and their families in the developing world hardest. 
&nbsp;<img height="35" alt="" src="" width="25" />
Leadership: The World AIDS Day Theme for 2007 and 2008 
The theme for World AIDS Day 2007 and 2008 is &ldquo;leadership&rdquo; This theme will be promoted with the campaign slogan &ldquo;Stop AIDS. Keep the Promise&rdquo;. 
 
Since the beginning of the epidemic, experience has clearly demonstrated that significant advances in the response to HIV/AIDS have been made when there is strong and committed leadership. Leadership must be demonstrated at every level to get ahead of the disease &ndash; in families, in communities, in trade unions, in countries and internationally. 
 
We have to start early. The ICEM Global HIV/AIDS Coordinator will keep affiliates informed on materials available and will give guidance on campaigning on World AIDS Day, 1 December 2007. 
 
We should also bear in mind that the leadership of ICEM affiliates will meet for the World Congress in Bangkok, 22 &ndash; 24 November, just one week before World AIDS Day. 
 
(Source: World AIDS Campaign website <a href="http://www.worldaidscampaign.org">www.worldaidscampaign.org</a>) 
&nbsp;<img height="35" alt="" src="" width="25" />
Mining Sector the Focus at Ghana Health Conference 
 
The Ghana Health Conference brought together a wide range of private and public sector participants. The ICEM Global HIV/AIDS Coordinator was invited to speak at the roundtable on &ldquo;Mobilizing the Mining Industry in Ghana and West Africa&rdquo;. 
 
At the roundtable and in plenary sessions, he had several opportunities to intervene and emphasise the role of organised labour in workplace programmes and co-investments projects. 
 
He urged the Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria, a co-sponsor of the Conference, to set targets for the conclusion of workplace agreements with union participation in all mining companies in Ghana and West Africa by the end of 2007; to start massive VCT &ndash; Know Your Status Campaigns; to provide anti-retroviral treatment and to form public/private partnerships to bring HIV/AIDS services, including ART, to the wider community around mining sites. 
 
A major development in Ghana is the inclusion of a private sector representative in the Country Coordinating Mechanism. This development is an outcome of the joint ICEM/Global Fund mission to Ghana in May 2006. The Manager of the AngloGold Ashanti Malaria Control Programme is a member of the CCM. A proposal for a public/private sector co-investment project for malaria is being prepared for Round 7 of the Global Fund. 
&nbsp;<img height="35" alt="" src="" width="25" />
ICEM Feasibility Study on HIV/AIDS Services in Mining Areas in Ghana 
While in Accra, the ICEM Global HIV/AIDS Coordinator also had an opportunity to discuss the recommendations and follow-up action to be taken of the recently completed feasibility study of HIV/AIDS services in Obuasi and Tarkwa, two major mining areas in Ghana where HIV prevalence rates are higher than the country&rsquo;s average. 
 
The study was prepared by the Credible Technical Forum, Accra, in cooperation with the Ghana Mineworkers&rsquo; Union (GMWU) and some major mining companies in order to identify gaps in HIV/AIDS services in these areas. Work will continue with the GMWU, companies and local health authorities to close these gaps. 
 
Priorities will be the conclusion of workplace policies where they do not yet exist, hiring of full-time HIV/AIDS coordinators, training of VCT counsellors and the extension of VCT and ART to those members of the community who are not able to secure this for themselves. 
&nbsp;<img height="35" alt="" src="" width="25" />
Thailand: Strategic Plan to Reduce HIV Prevalence among Youth 
Thailand&rsquo;s National AIDS Prevention and Control Committee recently approved a three-year plan to reduce the alarmingly increasing HIV cases among young people in the country. The plan will focus on educating youth about HIV prevention and promoting social values with the involvement of local civil society organisations. 
 
About 17,000 new HIV cases occur annually in Thailand, about half of them among young people aged between 18 and 19. 
 
(Source: Medical News Today, 23 April 2007, <a href="http://www.medicalnewstoday.com">www.medicalnewstoday.com</a>) 
&nbsp;<img height="35" alt="" src="" width="25" />
Bangladesh: Awareness for HIV/AIDS Prevention 
 
According to UNAIDS estimates, only 7,500 people are infected with the virus in Bangladesh. At a recent workshop, however, a warning was sounded that the number is on the rise. If hard measures are not taken now, HIV/AIDS could reach epidemic proportions in the country soon. 
 
The closeness to India and Thailand, two major HIV/AIDS afflicted countries, widespread poverty, illiteracy, high practice of pre and extra marital sex are reasons to spread awareness about prevention methods. Of great concern are also the large number of private blood banks without facilities for screening blood and the multiple use of syringes and needles. 
 
(Source: New Nation, Dhaka, online edition 29 April 2007, <a href="http://www.nation.ittefaq.com/">www.nation.ittefaq.com</a>) 
&nbsp;<img height="35" alt="" src="" width="25" />
Global Fund Board Meeting Makes Progress on Many Fronts 
At its meeting in Geneva at the end of April, the Board of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria reached agreement on a number of issues. 
 
Board members agreed on a new Chair from the private sector (Rajah Gupta, formerly CEO of McKinsey &amp; Co); a new Vice-Chair from an African NGO (Elizabeth Mataka from Zambia); an ambitious new target for fundraising; a new concept that each grant should normally have one Principal Recipient from government and one from outside government; a new method whereby countries can obtain financial support for well-developed national strategies for tackling HIV/AIDS, TB or malaria; a new approach to appointing Local Fund Agents; and more. 
 
The Board recommended (but did not require) that, starting with Round 8, each proposal submitted to the Global Fund should specify both a government Principal Recipient (PR) and a non-government PR. The Fund refers to this concept as &quot;dual-track financing&quot;. If a proposal does not include both types of PR, it should contain an explanation for this. 
The Board noted that the possible benefits achieved through dual-track financing include increased absorption capacity (from taking full advantage of the implementation capacity of all domestic sectors, both governmental and non-governmental), accelerated implementation and performance of grants, and the strengthening of weaker sectors. 
 
The Board meeting took place just two days after Dr. Michel Kazatchkine, the Fund's new Executive Director, took office. 
 
(Source: Global Fund Observer Issue 75, 30 April 2007. GFO is a free service of Aidspan www.aidspan.org. To receive GFO, send an email to <a href="mailto:receive-gfo-newsletter@aidspan.org">receive-gfo-newsletter@aidspan.org</a>)
<img height="35" alt="" src="" width="25" />
News from the Global Union Programme and Global Union Federations 
The Steering and Advisory Committees of the Global Union AIDS Programme met in Geneva, 2 &ndash; 4 April to assess progress in the programme and discuss a work plan for 2007 and 2008. The meeting was addressed by Peter Piot, UNAIDS Executive Director and Sophia Kisting, Director of ILOAIDS. 
 
A delegation of the Steering Committee met the Director of External Affairs of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, Christoph Benn, and its Civil Society Officer, Mick Mathews, to discuss the way forward for a greater involvement of workers organisations in Global Fund structures, such as the Board and national Country Coordinating Mechanisms (CCM). The delegation also met the focal point of the Global Business Coalition (GBC) at the Global Fund, Barbara Bulc. 
 
In its most recent HIV/AIDS updates (no. 18 and 19 of 1 and 15 April) the International Transport Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITF) reports, among others, on efforts to develop an HIV vaccine, on increases in HIV infections in Korea and on producing more affordable antiretroviral drugs in Zimbabwe <a href="http://www.itfglobal.org">www.itfglobal.org</a>. 
 
Education International (EI) has published an interview with Clementine Dehwe, the Global Union HIV/AIDS Coordinator, <a href="http://www.ei-ie.org/en/news/show.php?id=455&amp;theme=hivaids&amp;country=global">http://www.ei-ie.org/en/news/show.php?id=455&amp;theme=hivaids&amp;country=global</a>. EI launched its new website of the EFAIDS programme in April <a href="http://www.ei-ie.org/efaids">www.ei-ie.org/efaids</a>.

ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin - No. 20

<img height="40" src="" width="100" alt="" />
The Confederation of Trade Unions of the Slovak Republic (KOZ) will observe Workers&rsquo; Memorial Day on 27 April this year with an official tripartite conference, involving also the government and employers' groups, to discuss safety issues. 
 
The conference will be held in the small Slovak town of Novaky, where last month&rsquo;s tragedy struck inside a factory for de-activation of old military munitions. Eight civilian workers were killed, including three women. KOZ has arranged the tripartite meeting along with the Federation of Metallurgical Trade Unions. 
<img height="47" src="" width="380" alt="" />
The labour confederation's Safety and Health Department has prepared leaflets for this year's World Day for Safety and Health at Work. The Slovak Republic has an official workplace fatality rate of 11 per 100,000 workers. The government has ratified all ILO Conventions core labour standards, and has also adopted ILO Conventions 139 (Occupational Cancer), 155 (Occupational Safety and Health), 161 (Occupational Health Services), and the Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants.

Slovakia: Tripartite Memorial Day Conference Set at Site of Deadly, March 2007, Munitions Blast

<img height="40" src="" width="100" alt="" />
On 17 April, a special commission, formed by the government of Peru, adopted a prohibition of asbestos and recommended a total ban on the product, which would take effect on 1 January 2009. 
 
This means that 46 countries have now banned or will ban asbestos across the world. While making the decision, the Peruvian government's commission took into account debate and arguments from the Asbestos Ban Network, Peru's industry representatives, and the lobby of the International Asbestos Industry. 
<img height="93" src="" width="200" alt="" />
Peru currently imports 492 tons of asbestos per year. The government has not yet ratified ILO Convention 162 (Use of Asbestos at Work), or Convention 155 (Occupational Safety and Health). 
 
Trade union federations in Peru were among the 16 labour groups in five Andean nations which helped to compile a recent document titled &quot;Ban Asbestos in the Andean Sub-region.&quot; The document, written with the support of Dr. Eva Delgado and published by the Andean Labour Institute, was also aided by labour federations in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela.

Peru: Government to Place Total Ban on Asbestos, Effective in 2009

<img height="40" src="" width="100" alt="" />
In Vilnius, Lithuania, national trade union organisations have organised a round table discussion to take place in the country&rsquo;s Parliament on 28 April. The theme of the discussion will be, &ldquo;Health and Safety at Workplaces: How to Guarantee Efficient Implementation Measures.&rdquo; 
 
The conference is being hosted by the government&rsquo;s Committee of Social Affairs and Labour, and is being sponsored by three labour groups: LTU Confederation, LTU Solidarumas, and the Lithuania Workers&rsquo; Federation. 
<img height="203" src="" width="200" alt="" />
 
 
Union leaders will discuss the health and safety in the country, as well as recently passed workplace legislation, with representatives from the State Labour Inspection agency, a delegation from the European Community, as well as with MPs and Social Affairs and Labour officials. 
 
In Lithuania, according to the State Labour Inspectorate, one-third of all workplace fatalities occur in the building construction, and the fatality rate in this area is three times higher than the average in other EU countries. The agency says that one-half of all fatal accidents are caused by work that is badly organised and poorly managed.

Lithuania: Worker Safety Topic of Parliamentary Discussion on 28 April

<img height="40" alt="" src="" width="100" />
ICEM affiliate National Union of Petroleum Workers in C&ocirc;te-d&rsquo;Ivoire (SYNTEPCI-UGTCI) is using the days around 28 April&rsquo;s International Commemoration Day for Dead and Injured Workers to mark a milestone: refinery workers have now worked 2,000 consecutive days at the Soci&eacute;t&eacute; Ivoirienne de Raffinage in Abidjan without a work accident. 
 
SYNTEPCI has already marked the event with a 19 April &ldquo;Open Door&rdquo; at the refinery to highlight the achievements at the enterprise, as well as a 21 April National Day on Health and Safety. 
<img height="115" alt="" src="" width="250" />
On 26-27 April, the refinery&rsquo;s Health and Safety Committee will take part in a training seminar, which will specifically address establishing national coordination of all workplace safety and health committees. 
 
On 28 April, the union will pay tribute to comrades working at the refinery in a ceremony attended by the president of the country. Later that day, the Ministries of Work and Public Affairs will air a message on safety at work across C&ocirc;te-d&rsquo;Ivoire radio and television. 
 
The ICEM congratulates the workers at this oil enterprise for their exemplary safety record, as well as SYNTEPCI and its General Secretary Adolpe Gyayoro for organising the work-safety events in C&ocirc;te-d&rsquo;Ivoire.

Ivory Coast: Petrol Affiliate Celebrates 2,000 Days Without a Work Accident

<img height="40" src="" width="100" alt="" />
One of Colombia&rsquo;s national labour centres, United Workers&rsquo; Confederation (CUT) will cooperate with the National Trade Union School (Escuela Nacional Sindical) and the Inter Trade Union Organisation for the Health of Workers of Antioqu&iacute;a (INSISTA, or Intersindical De Salud Y Trabajo de Antioqu&iacute;a) to host a major seminar entitled &ldquo;Work Related Accidents and Decent Work.&rdquo; 
 
The conference will be held on 30 April at the Antioqu&iacute;a University. An expected 200 union representatives and workplace safety experts will attend. In addition, a special publication called &ldquo;Karoshi: To Die Working&rdquo; will be available that provides analysis of Colombia&rsquo;s workplace deaths in 2006. 
The country&rsquo;s Social Protection Ministry estimates that 870 workers &ndash; three per day &ndash; die each year due to workplace accidents, and that some 590,000 workplace health or safety incidents occur annually.
<img height="74" src="" width="83" alt="" />
Colombia has ratified ILO Convention 174, the Prevention of Major Industrial Accidents Convention, but has not ratified ILO Convention 176, the Safety and Health in Mines Conventions, and ILO Convention 155, the Occupational Safety and Health Convention. 
 
ICEM drew attention to the Colombian government&rsquo;s non-ratification of these two conventions, following a pair of devastating coal mining accidents in early February. In one, in G&aacute;meza, Boyac&aacute; state, where eight people died at an illegal mine, one of the fatalities was a 13-year-old boy. This disaster occurred on 6 February. Three days earlier, 32 miners perished when two inter-connected mines collapsed due to an underground explosion. That happened near Sardinata, Norte de Santander state. 
 
The ICEM, together with the ITUC, expressed deep concern at not only the circumstances of the G&aacute;meza disaster, but also the inadequate safety measures in place at the San Roque and La Preciosa mines in Norte de Santander state. The two global labour organisations called, on the deadly occasions of these twin catastrophes, on the government of Colombia to ratify ILO Conventions 176 and 155.

Colombia: Major Seminar to Address Work Deaths, Accidents on 30 April

<img height="40" alt="" src="" width="100" />
Canada, as one of the biggest suppliers of asbestos, will be the target of protests on 28 April at the country's embassy in Washington, D.C., and at the Canadian High Commission in London. Organised by the London-based International Ban Asbestos Secretariat, the protest calls on the Canadian government to live up to its progressive global reputation by banning the mining and export of asbestos. 
 
Canadian labour groups and activists are also using 28 April as a day to call on the government to halt asbestos production and export. They will issue a separate document on the issue. 
 
Estimates are that one national asbestos-related death occurs for each 170 tonnes produced. In 126 years of asbestos mining, dating back to 1880, Canada has produced in excess of 65 million tonnes of asbestos. 
<img height="83" src="" width="363" alt="" />
The theme for this year's 28 April National Day of Mourning, as proclaimed by the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC), is &quot;Safe and Healthy Workplaces for All Workers.&quot; The CLC calls on trade union bodies to demand that governments enforce existing laws by providing the necessary tools and resources. &quot;Lives are not saved by governments simply adopting legislation,&quot; states the CLC. &quot;Lives are saved by governments enforcing legislation.&quot;

Canada: Demonstrations Set to Get Government to Halt Asbestos Mining and Exports

Archive