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The ground breaking joint ITF/ICEM offshore industries conference in Aberdeen (September 23-25) - which brought together people working in the dangerous offshore oil and gas sector from 17 countries around the world - ended today. A press conference was held at the Ramada Jarvis Hotel in Aberdeen, Scotland, to explain the decisions taken at the conference, the first of its kind ever held. 
 
At the press conference, it was announced a global campaign by the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF), the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM) and their affiliated unions to secure trade union and human rights and acceptable standards with regard to health and safety, skills, competence and standards of wages and conditions of employment for all offshore workers. 
 
Among the resolutions passed during the event are: 
 
The conference supported the call by British trade unions for an independent inquiry in the recent deaths on the Shell Brent Bravo rig, especially after the UK's Health and Safety Executive (HSE) failed to listen to union warnings in March this year and even said that there was &quot;no imminent cause for concern and no immediate risk.&quot; In the light of this gross failure, the ITF and ICEM will ask Health and Safety Minister Des Brown to appoint independent experts to conduct the investigation into the recent fatalities. 
 
ICEM General Secretary Fred Higgs endorsed such an investigation. Higgs, himself involved in the investigation as National Secretary of UK's Transport &amp; General Workers' Union following the fatal gas blast on the Piper Alpha rig in 1988 that killed 167 workers, said, &quot;Such a public inquiry is the only way in which remedial actions can be taken to prevent such disasters.&quot; 
 
Delegates also said they were appalled at the numbers of workers who will die from asbestos related diseases. The HSE has predicted 10,000 deaths per year in the UK alone by 2010, while in the Australian state of New South Wales 300 new cases of mesothelioma are detected each year. The conference voted to approach the ITF's Fair Practices Committee, an influential group made up of representatives of seafarers' and dockers' unions, and request it to introduce a register of vessels known to contain or have contained asbestos. 
 
ITF General Secretary David Cockroft describes the conference as &quot;a first of its kind, that has laid the foundation stone for decency and common rights in the world's offshore industries.&quot; 
 
Higgs credited efforts by the two global union federations and their affiliates to come together to embark on the joint mission. &quot;It is essential that we work together to defend the rights of seafarers and those workers involved in offshore oil exploration and to ensure their health and safety.&quot;

Joint ITF/ICEM Offshore Conference Addresses Safety

In a historic first for the global mining industry, the world's leading gold producer, AngloGold and the 20-million strong international trade union federation, ICEM signed an agreement on the promotion and implementation of good human and industrial relations. The agreement, applicable to all Anglogold mines worldwide, was signed at the company's Johannesburg headquarters today. 

<img height="203" src="" width="380" alt="" />
At the signature of the Global Agreement, from left to right: 
AngloGold's CEO Bobby Godsell, ICEM's General Secretary Fred Higgs 
and NUM's General Secretary Gwede Mantashe. 

The key theme underlining the agreement is the &quot;development and sustainability of the gold mining industry worldwide&quot; and in upholding and implementing &quot;good human resources and industrial relations practices&quot;. The promotion and respect for human and trade union rights, health and safety, environmental protection and the promotion of good relationships with local mine communities are pivotal to the agreement. 
&nbsp;&nbsp; <img height="86" src="" width="87" alt="" />&nbsp;&nbsp; <img height="66" src="" width="120" alt="" />&nbsp;&nbsp; <img height="80" src="" width="92" alt="" />
 
The agreement was signed by AngloGold CEO, Bobby Godsell, Fred Higgs, General Secretary of the ICEM) and Senzeni Zokwana, President of the ICEM's South African-based affiliate, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), which facilitated the negotiations leading to agreement. 
 
Human and trade union rights, safety and training provisions of the new global agreement are specifically linked to the international standards set by the Conventions of the UN's International Labour Organisation (ILO, commonly referred to as the ILO core labour standards. The linkage to ILO standards is an important yardstick. It also ensures that the agreement is fully compatible with the UN's Global Compact initiative and will help to give further substance to the agreement. 
 
&quot;This is a major breakthrough for Africa and a giant step forward for the global mining industry. It acknowledges the importance of social dimensions of sustainable development, hot on the heels of the UN World Summit held only a few days ago in Johannesburg&quot;, said ICEM General Secretary Fred Higgs. 
 
AngloGold has mining operations in Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Mali, Namibia, Tanzania, USA, Zimbabwe and of course South Africa. &quot;It ensures that ICEM-affiliated unions are fully recognised in the company's operations worldwide, and gives them a proper say implementing industrial relations best practice. 
 
&quot;I congratulate both our South African affiliate, the NUM and AngloGold management for their far-sightedness and providing leadership by example for the rest of the industry,&quot; Higgs added. &quot;We already have global agreements with the energy multinationals Statoil, Endesa, paper giant Norske Skog and the materials multinational Freudenberg. Others are currently under discussion. Globally mining is dominated by a few powerful multinationals. In their own interests, as well as those of their workers, we urge them to follow the example set by the South Africans.&quot;

AngloGold signs Global Agreement: First in Mining Sector, Africa

&quot;We challenge Rio Tinto to enter constructive dialogue with its critics. We issued that challenge publicly inside Rio Tinto's Annual General Meeting today and we will continue to do so. Given the arrogance of Rio Tinto's responses today, and the breadth of the opposition to the company's present behaviour, we do not feel that discussions behind closed doors would resolve the issues at this stage. The dialogue will have to be in the open.&quot; 
 
That was the reaction from angry trade union and community leaders following acrimonious exchanges inside Rio Tinto's Annual General Meeting in London today. 
 
Rio Tinto is the world's biggest private mining company. It has come in for massive criticism from a coalition of trade unions, environmentalists, human rights organisations, indigenous people&rsquo;s representatives and other campaigners worldwide. They cite the company&rsquo;s breaches of UN resolutions, its environmental pollution and its abuse of human rights - notably trade union rights and the rights of indigenous peoples. 
 
In campaigning for major reform of Rio Tinto's business ethics and practices, the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM) and the whole of the world trade union movement are allying themselves with organisations such as Oxfam, Greenpeace and the World Development Movement. 
 
Earlier, the ICEM and others had distributed a detailed, balanced but critical Stakeholders' Report to shareholders attending the meeting. 
 
 
 
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING: CHAIRMAN'S ARROGANCE 
 
ICEM Australian Vice-President John Maitland was one of the international union leaders who acquired Rio Tinto shares in order to take part in AGM today. Maitland is National Secretary of the ICEM-affiliated Australian mining and allied workers' union CFMEU, which is involved in bitter disputes over Rio Tinto's attempts to deunionise its Australian mines and to end collective bargaining. 
 
In fact, Rio Tinto Chairman Robert Wilson invited Maitland to speak towards the beginning of the AGM. 
 
&quot;I made what I and others considered to be a moderate and responsible statement,&quot; Maitland commented afterwards. &quot;I emphasised that our stakeholders' report is part of our attempt to engage in proper, constructive negotiations with the company. I also pointed out that Rio Tinto's new statement of business principles, The Way We Work, will be relevant only if it is actually put into practice. 
 
&quot;Frankly,&quot; Maitland said, &quot;I was amazed by Wilson's reponse. Instead of answering my points, he launched into a series of arrogant character assassinations against officers of the ICEM and the CFMEU. He also accused us of engaging in misinformation. But in fact, his own comments were full of half-truths and distortions. For example, he said that Rio Tinto has no direct involvement and no personnel in the troubled Norwegian smelter Norzink. That is incorrect. He also told the meeting that a miners' strike in Indonesia ended within three days. That is correct - but he omitted to mention that the strike ended because it was broken up at gunpoint by the army. 
 
&quot;Then Wilson told the meeting that The Way We Work had been 'widely discussed' before being launched. But it was never discussed with unions at Rio Tinto or with environmental and civic campaigners. In fact, Rio Tinto did send a copy for comment to the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, whose General Secretary Bill Jordan sent back a closely argued eight-page critique. Not one of Jordan's comments was ever mentioned by Rio Tinto, and not a single change was made to the document on the basis of Jordan's letter.&quot; 
 
From the AGM chair today, Wilson also launched into an attack on an ICEM conference in Johannesburg this February, where unions organising in Rio Tinto worldwide agreed to set up a network. In particular, Wilson strongly criticised former Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke for taking part in the Johannesburg conference. 
 
&quot;Wilson's performance today showed him to be a very insecure man, obviously under a lot of pressure,&quot; Maitland commented. &quot;It seems he thought his only way out of a corner was to come out snarling.&quot; 
 
ICEM British Vice-President Fred Higgs agrees. &quot;Although Rio Tinto has very little in the way of operations inside the UK, it is a British-based company, &quot; said Higgs, who is National Officer at ICEM British affiliate the TGWU. &quot;Having been at the meeting and seen the disgusting way the chair distorted the views not just of the trade unionists, but of anyone who dared to criticise the company from the floor, I have to say I'm a little ashamed to be British today. This reinforces my view that international solidarity is vital in dealing with companies of this kind.&quot; 
 
Today's AGM was &quot;a classic case of the corporate PR machine versus real people,&quot; commented ICEM General Secretary Vic Thorpe, who also spoke during the AGM. &quot;Wilson, obviously, was arrogant and ill-mannered. But some of the shareholders weren't much better. It's a long way from British middle-class drawing rooms to the killing fields of Kalimantan.&quot; 
 
Thorpe saw one positive point in the meeting: &quot;Rio Tinto implicitly agreed that industrial relations are a matter of global corporate policy. Previously, they had always hidden behind local management's alleged right to manage. If Rio Tinto are now treating industrial relations globally, they should take the next logical step and start talking to the ICEM.&quot; 
 
John Maitland was impressed by another item on the AGM agenda. Rio Tinto's Board, already high up the world chart of corporate &quot;fat cats&quot;, decided to pay themselves an extra 33 per cent in bonuses if the company gets up to the midway point in the international industrial league tables. The bonus rise would go up to 100 per cent if the company makes it into the top four. 
 
&quot;On behalf of Rio Tinto's organised workforce in Australia, I would be happy to accept the same bet for the people who actually produce Rio Tinto's wealth,&quot; Maitland said. 
 
 
 
FACTUAL GENERAL MEETING: TALES OF TERROR 
 
Naturally enough, Rio Tinto's critics got a rather better hearing at their own counter-event this afternoon - the Factual General Meeting. It was held in London's Central Methodist Hall, which is very near the AGM venue. 
 
The Central Methodist Hall also, back in 1945, hosted the founding session of the United Nations. Three years later, the UN adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, whose fiftieth anniversary is being celebrated this year. In &quot;The Way We Work&quot;, Rio Tinto pays considerable lip-service to the Universal Declaration. 
 
In addition to trade unionists and environmentalists, speakers at the Factual General Meeting included representatives of indigenous peoples in Indonesia, Colombia and Nevada, USA. They told tales of exploitation and in some cases of outright terror as Rio Tinto connived with local authorities to take over their ancestral lands. 
 
A speaker from Colombia's Guajira people said Rio Tinto had &quot;despoiled&quot; their land. In particular, he pointed the finger at activities in the area of El Cerrejon. &quot;The name of El Cerrejon is a familiar one to us,&quot; commented ICEM General Secretary Vic Thorpe. &quot;It has been the scene of many a miners' strike - in some cases put down by military force. This is a good example of the community of interest between Rio Tinto's workers and the other people who suffer from Rio Tinto's operations.&quot; 
 
Also addressing the Factual General Meeting was British parliamentarian Michael Clapham. He and other legislators tabled a highly critical motion about Rio Tinto in the House of Commons last month. To applause, Clapham announced that he is preparing another Commons motion. This one, to which some fifty Members of Parliament have already signed up, will praise the responsible action of the ICEM and its allies in publishing the stakeholders' report and will call for continuing pressure on Rio Tinto to mend its ways. 
 
Despite Rio Tinto's provocations today, the unions and others are determined to maintain a calm, responsible approach. 
 
&quot;The idea is not to break the company but to turn it into a good corporate citizen, conscious of its responsibilities to its stakeholders,&quot; emphasised the ICEM's Vic Thorpe. &quot;We will continue to seek dialogue, but at the same time Rio Tinto must realise that its attitude has further cemented the broad alliance of those who insist on real change in the company's practices. More than ever, the company will be under scrutiny everywhere. 
 
&quot;Truly,&quot; Thorpe said, &quot;Rio Tinto has No Place To Hide.&quot;

Nowhere To Hide For Rio Tinto

Rio Tinto is the world's biggest mining company. But is it the best? 
 
That is the stark question confronting Rio Tinto shareholders as they go into the company's Annual General Meeting in London this morning. 
 
Things have been going anything but smoothly for Rio Tinto, which faces one of the most sophisticated campaigns ever mounted to call a global company to order. 
 
Rio Tinto has come in for massive criticism from a coalition of trade unions, environmentalists, human rights organisations, indigenous people&rsquo;s representatives and other campaigners worldwide. They cite the company&rsquo;s breaches of UN resolutions, its environmental pollution and its abuse of human rights - notably trade union rights and the rights of indigenous peoples. 
 
In campaigning for major reform of Rio Tinto's business ethics and practices, the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM) and the whole of the world trade union movement are allying themselves with organisations such as Oxfam, Greenpeace and the World Development Movement. 
 
Rio Tinto has also recently been the subject of highly critical motions and questions in the British and Australian parliaments. Similar parliamentary moves are likely in a number of other countries where the mining multinational operates. 
 
 
 
STAKEHOLDERS' REPORT 
 
Shareholders arriving for the AGM in London this morning were handed a glossy 56-page book which bears a more than passing resemblance to the company's own annual report. 
 
But this is the Stakeholders' Report: RIO TINTO - TAINTED TITAN - now also available online. 
 
And stakeholders are not only those who put money into the company. At least as important are the people who contribute their labour and the people whose lives and environment are deeply affected by Rio Tinto's worldwide operations. 
 
None of these groups is at all happy with Rio Tinto's behaviour. Nor, the stakeholders argue, should shareholders be particularly delighted about the company's prospects. 
 
Among those handing out the stakeholders' report was British Member of Parliament Michael Clapham. Last month, backed by fellow-parliamentarians Eric Clarke, Tony Benn, Ken Purchase, Ernie Ross and Ann Clwyd, Clapham tabled a highly critical House of Commons motion about Rio Tinto. More than 20 other British legislators have signed up to the motion, which describes Rio Tinto as &quot;probably the most uncaring and ruthless company in the world&quot; and urges shareholders to drum some ethics into the multinational. 
 
In-depth analysis of a different kind was provided this morning by a JCB mechanical excavator cruising in front of the AGM venue. &quot;Rio Tinto Dumps On Human Rights,&quot; a banner on the JCB proclaimed. Hardly a scoop - but it was hanging from the scoop. 
 
 
 
FINANCIAL PROSPECTS 
 
Rio Tinto's profit for 1997 - an increase of 11 percent over 1996 - is a &quot;creditable financial performance,&quot; the stakeholders' report says. But future profits could be at risk because &quot;there are relatively few commodities and regions in which the company is performing well in terms of profitability.&quot; 
 
More significantly, the report cites a number of growing risks for Rio Tinto, including: 
 
a focus on cost-cutting rather than value-adding 
costly technical problems associated with very large-scale project 
exposure to Asian markets which are expected to either contract or fail to grow over the coming years 
increasing financial exposure at head office to environmental and occupational health and safety problems in subsidiary operations 
politically and financially costly conflicts with indigenous peoples 
numerous and lengthy industrial disputes caused by a reluctance to recognise the legitimate role of trade unions and collective bargaining in its operations (disputes in the Australian coal industry alone have cost Rio Tinto up to 70 million US dollars so far). 
The financial section of the report also questions the level of Rio Tinto's financial commitments to the communities in which it operates: &quot;The [company's] 1997 Annual Report states that US$31.9 million were 'invested in the community', a significant increase on its 1996 contribution (US$22.7 million) but still only 0.4 percent of turnover and 2.6 percent of net profits. In sharp contrast, the band of 15 men who are Rio Tinto's directors received total remuneration in 1997 of 15.1 million Australian dollars (US$11.2 million at average 1997 exchange rates) ... The level of remuneration of directors has led to Rio Tinto being considered to be amongst the worst corporate offenders in the 'fat cat' league table.&quot; 
 
In a detailed analysis of Rio Tinto's assets and prospects, the stakeholders' report warns shareholders: &quot;With limited prospects for either new investment or greater profits from existing operations in 1998, the easiest way for the company to increase share prices is through its proposed share buy-back. Fewer shares for the same amount of assets leads (other things being equal) to an increase in share price.&quot; But this strategy &quot;is also contingent on debt financing costs remaining low... Increasing debt levels purely for the purpose of massaging the balance sheet is a highly artificial manoeuvre unrelated to operational performance and has caused concern amongst some analysts.&quot; 
 
The report goes on to examine some of the problems confronting Rio Tinto: 
 
 
 
HUMAN RIGHTS 
 
&quot;The most serious indictment against Rio Tinto is that the company has allowed, or even actively collaborated in, the denial of basic human rights enshrined in international conventions. Rio Tinto has passively accepted the intervention of the military or police using brutal and repressive actions to quell legitimate protest against some of its mining operations.&quot; 
 
Indigenous peoples' land rights are a particular concern here, and the report includes detailed case studies from Indonesia, the Philippines and Australia. In addition to land grabs, Rio Tinto is accused of destroying indigenous peoples' sacred sites. &quot;How would you consider it if Rio Tinto were to suggest a diamond mine under Cologne Cathedral?&quot; asks the stakeholders' report. &quot;What if gold was found under Westminster Abbey? These are not facetious questions, but important issues for shareholders to confront.&quot; 
 
Trade union rights are another big issue. 
 
In Australia, its largest area of overseas operations, Rio Tinto is well-known as the biggest anti-union company in the country. It has been repeatedly found by independent bodies to have actively de-unionised its workplaces, to have discriminated against workers who bargain collectively, and to favour workers who surrender their right to be represented by a union. 
 
A senior Rio Tinto executive, Mike Angwin, was seconded to the Australian federal government to draft anti-union legislation which was subsequently adopted. That legislation was seriously discredited by the recent court rulings in favour of unfairly dismissed Australian dockers. It has also been condemned by a panel of international legal experts within the UN&rsquo;s International Labour Organisation. 
 
Other countries where Rio Tinto has had industrial disputes in the last two years are Norway, Portugal, Chile and Indonesia. South African, Zimbabwean and Namibian unions also have a series of grievances against the company. 
 
 
 
ENVIRONMENT AND HEALTH &amp; SAFETY 
 
In the past year, Rio Tinto has expanded or embarked on mining projects in a number of environmentally sensitive regions. The report includes critical case studies of the company's environmental impact in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, the United Kingdom and Madagascar. 
 
Rio Tinto's record on occupational health and safety is also scrutinised. In particular, the stakeholder's report cites the case of Edward Connelly, a Scots engineer who is currenly suing Rio Tinto in the British courts. He alleges that lax safety procedures at the company's R&ouml;ssing uranium mine in Namibia caused him to contract cancer. 
 
The stakeholders' report is already drawing considerable attention from shareholders and the media. 
 
 
 
QUESTIONING CONTINUES 
 
The questioning of Rio Tinto's activities will continue today. Campaigners, including international trade union leaders, have acquired company shares that should permit them to raise questions inside the AGM. 
 
And from 13.00 UK time today, the campaigners will hold a Factual General Meeting of their own nearby - in London's Methodist Hall. The Factual General Meeting will be open to the public. Various guests have been invited to attend and give their views. One invitation went to Rio Tinto CEO Leon Davis, who is unfortunately otherwise engaged. Speakers will include indigenous people&rsquo;s representatives and trade union leaders from various countries in which Rio Tinto operates. A documentary on Rio Tinto, called Naked Into The Jungle, will be screened continuously in the FGA entrance hall. 
 
ICEM UPDATES on the AGM questions and the Factual General Assembly will be issued as details become available.

Rio Tinto - Tainted Titan

Unions representing more than 5,000 American and Canadian workers employed at Dow Chemical Co. and Dow Corning Corp. have formed a North American inter-union network for their &quot;mutual defence and advancement.&quot; 
 
The decision was announced by leaders of seven unions meeting in Midland, Michigan, yesterday. Midland is the site of Dow's global corporate headquarters. 
 
Together, these unions represent workers employed at 17 manufacturing facilities of Dow Chemical, Dow Corning, and DuPont Dow Elastomers LLC in the US and Canada. The conference was organised by the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers&rsquo; Unions (ICEM), the 20-million-strong global union federation that represents chemical workers around the world. 
 
Union leaders at the meeting raised concerns that Dow is systematically attempting to undermine trade union organisation in its US operations. In response, ICEM General Secretary Fred Higgs will be urgently seeking a meeting with Dow's CEO in order to establish a dialogue on these issues.

US, Canadian Unions Form Dow, Dow Corning Network

American union rights and the environment took centre stage at a shareholder assembly in Taiwan yesterday. There were brief scuffles inside the meeting when security guards tried to stop protesters from criticising the labour and environmental practices of the Continental Carbon Company. 
 
Continental Carbon is a subsidiary of Taiwan-headquartered multinational the China Synthetic Rubber Company (CSRC). Lobbying CSRC's shareholders and board members at its annual general meeting in Taipei yesterday were Taiwanese, American and international trade union representatives, together with environmental campaigners. 
 
Continental Carbon is majority-owned by CSRC and the Taiwan Cement Company, both of which are controlled by Taiwan's powerful family-run Koo Group. Three Continental Carbon plants in the US are currently the subject of environmental agency enforcement actions and/or pollution lawsuits. And at Continental Carbon's Ponca City plant in Oklahoma, union members have been locked out of their jobs since May 2001. 
 
The Ponca City workers are members of the American union PACE, which is affiliated to the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM). PACE is leading a global campaign to end the lock-outs, with strong support from the ICEM, the ICEM-affiliated Taiwan Petroleum Workers' Union (TPWU) and the Taiwan Confederation of Trade Unions. 
 
 
&quot;My intentions today are to make the stockholders aware that the CSRC board of directors has more interest in continuing this assault against union workers than providing maximum financial returns for its shareholders,&quot; said locked-out PACE member Todd Carlson. He displayed thousands of petition signatures from Ponca citizens asking the Koo family to use its influence to end the labour dispute and address the company's environmental problems. 
 
Leslie Koo, chairman of China Synthetic Rubber, refused to allow Carlson and members of the Taiwan Confederation of Trade Unions to voice their concerns to stockholders. Union and environmental representatives were forcibly removed from the meeting by CSRC guards when they displayed a large banner in support of the locked-out workers and Taiwanese environmentalists. 
 
&quot;CSRC actions against workers and the environment are bad for all Taiwanese,&quot; Huang Ching-hsien told a large group of demonstrators gathered outside the shareholders' meeting. Huang, who is President of both the TPWU and the Taiwan Confederation of Trade Unions, added that that CSRC was &quot;undermining the relationship between citizens of the US and Taiwan.&quot; 
 
Phee Jungsun, the ICEM's Asia-Pacific Regional Secretary, told the demonstrators that the international will expand the global campaign against China Synthetic Rubber Company because of its anti-labour and environmental practices. 
 
Press packets were distributed, including letters to Taiwan's President Chen Shui-bian from ICEM General Secretary Fred Higgs and John Sweeney, President of the American national labour federation AFL-CIO. Also handed out was a community report written by the mayor of Ponca City, a local state senator and a clergyman who blamed Continental Carbon for the lock-out of local citizens and for damaging the environment.

US Labour Activists Protest At Taiwanese Shareholder Assembly

Danish employers should now &quot;broach the subject of a sixth week's annual holiday&quot; as a way of relaunching the country's stalled bargaining process. The proposal came from a union leader as Denmark's massive industrial dispute entered its third day. 
 
Some 400,000 Danish workers are on indefinite strike after union members voted to reject a mediated bargaining proposal covering a wide range of industries. Prominent among the unions involved are affiliates of the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM). 
 
Affected by the conflict are more than 200,000 workers in manufacturing and process industries, and a similar number in the transport and building sectors. The unions involved include the general workers' SiD and the women workers' KAD, both of which are affiliated at the global level to the ICEM. 
 
Danish employers must now put something new on the bargaining table, SiD President Poul Erik Skov Christensen insists. &quot;It would be illusory to think that the dispute can be resolved within the limits of the mediation proposal that was rejected by the membership.&quot; He suggests the employers should reopen the question of increasing annual leave entitlements from five weeks to six. This was one of the key labour demands that were not met in the mediation proposal. 
 
At the request of the Danish national trade union federation LO, the SiD had put out new feelers to employers in its sector, but without any positive results. Talks should now be started at the level of the LO and the national employers' confederation DA, the SiD believes. 
 
As the strike bites, the unions have made it clear that truly essential services will be maintained. Without compromising the effectiveness of their action, they are prepared to make case-by-case exemptions in a number of areas, including fuel supplies to emergency and social services, distribution of essential medicines and the provision of hospital cleaning and laundry services where these are clearly vital to the maintenance of hygiene. 
 
At the same time, unions have warned that they will be maintaining their vigilance against strikebreaking. ISS, the cleaning and environmental services multinational, has been cited by the KAD union as one example of an (unsuccessful) attempt to bring in strikebreakers.

&#039;Make New Offer&#039; the Call to Bosses as Danish Strike Bites

Worker rights in its operations worldwide are guaranteed by leading paper multinational Norske Skog under a global agreement signed with trade unions today. This marks a further important step forward in the globalisation of industrial relations. 
<img height="41" alt="" src="" width="150" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;<img height="66" alt="" src="" width="78" />&nbsp; 
Employment conditions and union rights are covered by the new package, which the company signed in Oslo with the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers&rsquo; Unions (ICEM). 
 
The ICEM-affiliated Norwegian union Fellesforbundet facilitated the agreement and is a co-signatory. Fellesforbundet organises Norske Skog workers in the company&rsquo;s home country, Norway, and is the largest trade union in the private sector in Norway. 
<img height="241" alt="" src="" width="341" />
(photo: Knut Vadseth for Norske Skog)
Norske Skog is a leading producer of wood-containing publication paper, particularly newsprint. It employs some 11,000 people worldwide. 5,820 of these are in Europe, including 2,950 in Norway. 
 
Under today&rsquo;s agreement, Norske Skog and the unions will work together &ldquo;locally, nationally and internationally&rdquo; on the basis of the company&rsquo;s core values &ndash; openness, honesty and cooperation. &ldquo;This ensures the possibility for the employees to influence decisions through consultations with the management,&rdquo; the agreement says. 

<img height="213" alt="" src="" width="315" />
(photo: Norske Skog/Creative Partners Tasmania; 
Norske Skog Gilbey)

The main points: 
 
Union rights: All Norske Skog workers &ldquo;shall have the right to be members of trade unions&rdquo; and the employer &ldquo;shall take a positive attitude to trade union activities, including organising.&rdquo; Unions will be recognised for collective bargaining purposes. There will be no discrimination against workers&rsquo; representatives, who will have all necessary access rights to the company&rsquo;s premises. 
 
Equality of opportunity and treatment &ldquo;regardless of race, colour, gender, religion, political conviction, nationality, cultural origin or other irrelevant factors.&rdquo; 
 
Health and safety: Norske Skog will &ldquo;work with the employees, their representatives and trade unions, to continually improve the company&rsquo;s health and safety performance.&rdquo; 
 
The company will not use child labour or forced labour. 
 
&ldquo;Wages and benefits paid for a standard working week shall at least be sufficient to cover the basic needs of the worker and his or her family.&rdquo; 
 
Employment &ldquo;shall, as a main rule, be based on permanent employment.&rdquo; Temporary and part-time employees &ldquo;should as a main rule receive the same relative terms and conditions as full-time permanent employees.&rdquo; All employees &ldquo;shall have the opportunity to take part in relevant educational and training programmes.&rdquo; 
 
<img height="244" alt="" src="" width="359" />
Signing up in Oslo (left to right): 
Fellesforbundet President Kjell Bj&oslash;rndalen, Norske Skog's President and CEO Jan Rein&aring;s and ICEM General Secretary Fred Higgs. 
(photo: Hege Vatnan/Fellesforbundet)

These are described as &ldquo;minimum rules&rdquo;. On the company&rsquo;s side, responsibility for ensuring compliance will rest with &ldquo;the top manager for each business unit&rdquo;. The agreement applies to all operations directly controlled by Norske Skog. However, the company also undertakes to encourage full compliance within operations where it does not have a controlling interest, as well as by its subcontractors and suppliers. 
These are described as &ldquo;minimum rules&rdquo;. On the company&rsquo;s side, responsibility for ensuring compliance will rest with &ldquo;the top manager for each business unit&rdquo;. The agreement applies to all operations directly controlled by Norske Skog. However, the company also undertakes to encourage full compliance within operations where it does not have a controlling interest, as well as by its subcontractors and suppliers.
As with all the ICEM&rsquo;s global agreements, the touchstones for compliance are the detailed worldwide standards adopted by the UN&rsquo;s International Labour Organisation (ILO). The relevant ILO Conventions are cited by number in the new agreement with Norske Skog, which is also designed to meet the requirements of the Global Compact initiative launched by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. 
 
Importantly, compliance with the agreement is subject to annual review at a joint meeting of the signatories. There is also a step-by-step complaints procedure, leading up to the global level where necessary. This is the crucial difference between the ICEM&rsquo;s global agreements and the internal codes of conduct adopted by many multinational companies. 
 
The company undertakes to provide all the information, access rights and training needed to ensure proper monitoring of the agreement. 
 
Signing up for the ICEM in Oslo today was General Secretary Fred Higgs. &ldquo;We are proud to have achieved this agreement with a leading paper manufacturer like Norske Skog,&rdquo; Higgs said. &ldquo;I am confident that we will maintain our excellent relationship with this company, and that we will soon go on to sign further global agreements with other enlightened multinationals. 
 
&ldquo;Such agreements are vital to the interests of workers worldwide,&rdquo; Higgs added. &ldquo;But they are also of great benefit to the companies and their other stakeholders. Global agreements give substance and credibility to corporate ethics. Local presence, global strength is Norske Skog&rsquo;s slogan. We are sure this agreement will provide exactly that, to the benefit of all concerned.&rdquo; 
 
 

<img height="109" alt="" src="" width="350" />
(photo: Norske Skog/Creative Partners Tasmania) 

Kjell Bj&oslash;rndalen, President of Fellesforbundet stated, &ldquo;For us living in Norway, it is an obvious thing that the workers&rsquo; rights are protected through legislation and collective agreements. But in many parts of the world, this isn&rsquo;t the case. The agreement now concluded, will ensure all employees of Norske Skog worldwide, basic human and trade union rights. This means for instance the right to be members of trade unions recognised for the purpose of collective bargaining, the right to information and minimum standards for health and safety.&rdquo; 
 
&ldquo;The agreement with Fellesforbundet/ICEM is an expression of our will and ability to think innovatively in our efforts to be a good employer and a company aware of its social responsibility,&rdquo; said Norske Skog&rsquo;s CEO and President Jan Rein&aring;s. &ldquo;We take it for granted that all Norske Skog's activities should respect basic human rights and fundamental ILO Conventions on the protection of employee rights. The agreement harmonises well with our core values of Openness, Honesty and Cooperation,&rdquo; he added, pointing out that this agreement commits the company to observe basic human rights and to guarantee good working and cooperation conditions. &ldquo;This is what we do at Norske Skog, and it is an absolute requirement for our entire global organisation,&rdquo; said Jan Rein&aring;s.

Norske Skog Signs Global Labour Agreement

Some 400,000 Danish workers launched an indefinite strike yesterday (27 April). 
 
The action comes after union members voted to reject a mediated bargaining settlement covering a wide range of Danish industries. Prominent among the unions involved are affiliates of the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM). 
 
The dispute concerns unions within CO-industri. This is an umbrella grouping which covers most of Denmark's industrial workers. Every other year, CO-industri bargains at the national level with the federation representing Denmark's private industry employers. 
 
Affected by the conflict are more than 200,000 workers in manufacturing and process industries, and a similar number in the transport and building sectors. The strike follows rejection of the official mediators' proposal by a majority of union members in a postal ballot. The proposal had included a new collective agreement. 
 
Overall, 56 percent of those voting rejected the proposal. Within the ICEM-affiliated general workers' union SiD, the &quot;no&quot; votes reached 62.3 percent. Workers involved also include 52,000 members of the ICEM-affiliated women workers' union KAD. 
 
Two main points are at issue in the strike. 
 
First of all, the collective bargaining process this spring has been particularly difficult. At one point, the employers brought the negotiations almost to a standstill with their demand that a new agreement should not increase company costs in any way. But the Danish economy is booming and companies are posting excellent results. So the employers' stance obviously caused particular resentment among union members. 
 
Secondly, union members' clear wish for more time off was not adequately met by the agreement proposed. 
 
The Danish unions have declared their willingness to re-enter negotiations with the employers, but up to now this offer has been rejected. 
 
The dispute comes at a sensitive moment for the European Union. Denmark, an EU member, is due to vote next month in a referendum on the Amsterdam treaty, which governs the next phase of European integration. Prolonged industrial action and lock-outs would disrupt preparations for the treaty vote and could limit the availability of print media in the run-up to the referendum. 
 
The strike is expected to continue for at least two weeks. Employers are also likely to extend the disruption through a lockout involving the distributive and commercial sectors as well. 
 
&quot;The members have spoken, and have spoken clearly,&quot; commented SiD President Poul Erik Skov Christensen. The &quot;no&quot; vote on the mediators' proposal was, he said, &quot;caused mainly by the employers' tactical games. The employers centralised the collective negotiations to an unprecedented degree, and our members reacted against that.&quot; 
 
&quot;Now that we are going into a dispute,&quot; he pointed out, &quot;it's good that such a big proportion of the membership took part in the vote and that the outcome was so clear. So we are now going to make sure that the dispute is conducted as effectively as possible. We are well prepared, both financially and organisationally.&quot; 
 
Any resolution of the conflict would depend on &quot;the employers' seizing the opportunity,&quot; Skov Christensen said. &quot;At the same time, I strongly warn the politicians against meddling in the dispute, which is a matter between the labour market partners [unions and employers].&quot;

Mass Strike in Denmark

Already seriously damaged by the collapse of its bid to deunionise the country's ports, the Australian federal government now faces searching questions over its very close relationship with the world's biggest mining company, union-hostile Rio Tinto. 
 
A crushing victory has been won in the courts by the port workers' Maritime Union of Australia (MUA). The judges ruled that the mass sacking of dockers by Patrick Stevedores, the country's second-biggest stevedoring firm, was illegal. The court ordered the workers' reinstatement. 
 
The Howard government - and particularly Peter Reith, the Federal Minister for Workplace Relations and Small Business - had strongly backed Patrick Stevedores' attempt to deunionise the ports by sacking its workforce and bringing in non-union strikebreakers. The courts are now moving on to examine charges of an illegal conspiracy between Patrick and the government, and the judges have already indicated that there is a strong case to be answered on that. 
 
All of which leaves the Australian government's union-busting laws in tatters. Rio Tinto played a decisive part in the drafting of that legislation, which was recently condemned by an international panel of lawyers within the UN's International Labour Organisation. The ILO lawyers ruled that the legislation breaches international labour rights conventions ratified by Australia. 
 
Minister Peter Reith, whose future hangs in the balance, will now have to deal with some awkward parliamentary questions about the government's relations with Rio Tinto. 
 
Among the questions put to the minister by Australian Member of Parliament Bob Brown [direct quotes]: 
 
Has his attention been drawn to claims that Rio Tinto (a) has earned a reputation for conflict with local communities, trade unions, human rights and environmental groups in places where it is engaged in mining and (b) is being sued in the UK for compensation for cancer allegedly resulting from working conditions at its uranium operations in Namibia? 
Has his attention also been drawn to criticism of Rio Tinto by Amnesty International and the Australian arm of Oxfam for its treatment of indigenous people in Indonesia? 
Is it a fact that Rio Tinto (a) is attempting to de-unionise its operations in Australia and (b) has made awards to workers at an Australian coal mine for producing coal without union involvement? 
Did Rio Tinto provide specialist staff to assist the Government to draft industrial legislation; if so, was the legislation subsequently found by the International Labour Organisation Committee of Experts to breach international labour law regarding the right of workers to organise and bargain collectively? 
What measures will the Government implement to ensure that Rio Tinto operates in Australia (a) with full respect for human rights and labour rights and (b) to high standards for occupational health and safety and environmental protection? 
[end of quotes] 
 
 
 
Parliamentary questions in countries where Rio Tinto operates are part of a global campaign to drum some ethics into the multinational's operations worldwide. 29 British parliamentarians recently signed up to a highly critical motion about Rio Tinto (see ICEM UPDATE 24/1998). The company's global corporate headquarters is in London. 
 
The multinational's anti-union stance in many parts of the world has made it a priority target for a global trade union campaign coordinated by the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM). 
 
The ICEM and its worldwide affiliates, including Australian mining and allied workers' union the CFMEU, are allying themselves with a wide range of campaigning organisations on environmental issues and human rights, notably worker rights and indigenous people's rights. Rio Tinto is currently under heavy fire on all these counts. 
 
In Australia, the company is attempting to de-unionise its mines and end collective bargaining there. This has been made easier by the Howard government's industrial legislation. Rio Tinto executive Mike Angwin was loaned to the government to help draft this law. 
 
This week, meanwhile, Rio Tinto faced the latest in a long string of worldwide industrial problems when workers at its part-owned Lihir goldmine in Papua New Guinea walked off the job in a dispute over risk allowances and unhealthy working conditions.

Australian Government Crisis: Rio Tinto Allegations Add to Pressure

Archive

Joint ITF/ICEM Offshore Conference Addresses Safety

AngloGold signs Global Agreement: First in Mining Sector, Africa

Nowhere To Hide For Rio Tinto

Rio Tinto - Tainted Titan

US, Canadian Unions Form Dow, Dow Corning Network

US Labour Activists Protest At Taiwanese Shareholder Assembly

'Make New Offer' the Call to Bosses as Danish Strike Bites

Norske Skog Signs Global Labour Agreement

Mass Strike in Denmark

Australian Government Crisis: Rio Tinto Allegations Add to Pressure

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