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A US-based company has provoked a strike in New Zealand because it has refused to join Multi-Employer Collective Agreement for the Metals Industry. Members of ICEM affiliate Engineering, Printing, and Manufacturing Union (EPMU) struck Ecolab in Hamilton, New Zealand, in March. 
 
Despite mediation efforts to resolve the dispute, 16 EPMU members continued to picket outside the plant last week. Workers voted to enter joint negotiations for the Metals Industry earlier this year, but local managers declined to abide by the decision.
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Ecolab, a chemicals company, is a manufacturer of cleaning and sanitizing products for institutional and industrial companies. The state of Minnesota-based company also makes infection-control products for health care customers. 
 
EPMU National Secretary Andrew Little stated the Metals Industry&rsquo;s bargaining platform provides a benchmark for wages and conditions, and that Ecolab workers have a right to expect a collective agreement that is not sub-standard. &ldquo;These workers have made a democratic decision to negotiate a deal which is consistent with industry standards, but their employer has a policy of refusing all industry negotiations,&rdquo; said Little. 
 
The publicly-traded, multi-national company, 29% owned by German chemicals producer Henkel, provides its Australian workers with higher pay and extra shift leave, the EPMU states. Besides achieving industry standards, Ecolab workers stand to gain an extra week&rsquo;s leave if they can bring Ecolab into the fold. The Multi-Employer Collective Agreements for Metals covers more than 100 general manufacturing companies in New Zealand.

New Zealand Chemical Workers On Strike Against US-based Ecolab

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Nuclear workers in the UK &ndash; members of three trade unions &ndash; are currently meeting to consider whether or not to conduct industrial action. If taken, job actions could affect 11,500 workers at several nuclear sites just as the British Nuclear Decommissioning Authority prepares to sell the last of the country&rsquo;s state-owned nuclear assets.
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Meetings this week by trade unions Unite, GMB, and Prospect will discuss a proposed 2% pay offer by employers, a proposal considered inferior and below inflation. Bosses did present an extra 2% bonus, but union negotiators say too many strings are attached to the bonus. 
 
A consultative ballot is expected at this week&rsquo;s meeting over the 2% pay proposal, and the unions will then move that an industrial ballot be taken if the pay offer is refused. The nuclear sites that are affected are Sellafield in Cumbria, its technical facility in Risley, and Capenhurst, a former uranium enrichment plant in Cheshire.

UK’s Nuclear Workers Consider Industrial Action

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An active exchange of solidarity occurred between Turkish and Bulgarian trade unions last year over a glass dispute in Targovishte, Bulgaria, at a company called Trakia Glass, which is a subsidiary of rapidly-growing, Turkey-based multinational Şişecam Group.
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Şişecam has production facilities in Turkey, Bulgaria, Russian, and Georgia, and employs over 17,000 workers. They produce flat glass, glassware, chemicals, and packaging. The company also has a joint venture with Belgian-based chemicals company Solvay in Bulgaria called Solvay-Sodi. 
 
Gaining full ICEM involvement, the dispute at Trakia served as a springboard for a recent day-long ICEM workshop between unions of the two countries in the chemicals and related industries, with support from the German-based Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Foundation.
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The workshop, held 1 April in Sofia, Bulgaria, was entitled &ldquo;Cooperation between ICEM Turkish and Bulgarian Affiliates on Industrial Relations and Social Dialogue in the Chemical and Related Industries.&rdquo; Participants from Turkey included Petrol-İş, the Oil, Chemical and Rubber Workers Union, and Kristal-İş, the Cement, Glass and Soil Workers Union, while Bulgarian participants included the National Labour Federation of Chemistry and Industry (KNSB Confederation) and the National Federation of Chemical Workers Union (CL-Podkrepa). 
 
Employers from both countries were also represented at the conference, with attendance by delegates from the Turkish Glass Employers Association (Cam İşveren) and Bulgarian Chemical Industry Chamber (BI). Those delegates included Lilyana Dombalova from Bulgaria, and Ali Nafiz Konuk and Hakan Yildirimoğlu from Turkey&rsquo;s glass employers. 
 
The workshop created a platform of exchange on knowledge and experience on both labour and industrial relations, and means for social dialogue in the two countries. It also served as a forum for national unions in both countries to gain experience at international and European levels. The workshop was facilitated by ICEM Chemicals and Rubber Industries Officer Kemal &Ouml;zkan.
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Participants at the 1 April Workshop in Sophia&nbsp;
It also featured a presentation called &ldquo;European Level Social Dialogue&rdquo; by Mira Kovacheva of the Bulgarian Foundation for Advanced Social Trust (FAST). Trade union presentations were made by Krasimir Krastev, President of Bulgaria&rsquo;s Chemicals Workers&rsquo; Union; Todor Birindjiev, President of Podkrepa Chemical Workers; and Mustafa &Ouml;ztaskin, President of Petrol-İş, and Aziz &Ccedil;elik, Education and International Director of Kristal-İş. 
 
The workshop established a framework of lasting cross-national dialogue between trade unions and employer organisations. This will prove vital, considering the two strikes that occurred at Trakia Glass in Targovishte, as well as the fact that Şişecam and the Bulgarian union continue to negotiate for a new term agreement, hopefully to be accomplished in constructive social dialogue.

Social Dialogue Workshop Brings Turkish and Bulgarian Unions Together

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Some 13,000 contract workers of several Indian trade unions ended an eight-day strike Saturday, 5 April, against state-run Neyveli Lignite Corporation, a mining and electric generating company in southern Tamil Nadu state that supplies power to four neighbouring states. 
 
The contract workers, employed for as long as 12 years at the company&rsquo;s three mines and three power stations, are seeking permanent work status and payment of bonuses. Reportedly, the company had filed a petition with India&rsquo;s Supreme Court to vacate a recent Madras Hugh Court ruling calling on Neyveli to make all contract workers full-time employees.
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Contract workers were also seeking housing provisions, and medical and transport allowances. The strike, which began on 29 March, was highlighted by mass demonstrations in front of two of the power plants. At one, Thermal Power Station No. 2, all 2,000 demonstrators were arrested by police. 
 
The end of the strike indicates that contract workers obtained their demand for regularisation. A spokesperson for Neyveli Lignite, founded in 1956, which went public in 1986, said during the strike that 4,000 contract workers had been absorbed into the company, and that an 8.33% had been awarded. The company mined 22 million tonnes of lignite in 2007, and saw a 10.57% increase in power generation.

13,000 Contract Workers End Strike Against India’s Neyveli Lignite Corporation

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A pending strike by ICEM Nigerian Affiliate PENGASSAN was called off on 26 March after Mobil Oil Nigeria Plc. made promises in a high-level meeting before the Nigerian Labour Minister in Abuja. The nationwide strike by the white-collar oil workers union was called a week earlier, after Mobil Oil &ndash; 100% owned by US-based ExxonMobil &ndash; took advantage of a restructuring to sack over 100 PENGASSAN union leaders. 
 
Union General Secretary Bayo Olowoshile told the ICEM at the weekend that a number of understandings were made by the two sides before the Labour Minister, including reinstatement of the unionists. Although those PENGASSAN members are not yet back on their jobs, their salaries continue to be paid.
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PENGASSAN General-Secretary Bayo Olowshile&nbsp;
The dispute in the downstream sector surfaced in early March when local managers failed to show up for an industry-wide mediation session over work practices and severance procedures. That meeting was attended by other refiners in the downstream sector. In the following days, Mobil Nigeria began discharging the unionists. 
 
The ICEM intervened on behalf of its Nigerian affiliate with a letter to ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson demanding that the PENGASSAN union leaders, including the National Treasurer, a zonal Financial Secretary, and all shop stewards and bargaining committee members at Mobil Nigeria, be reinstated. 
 
In part, the 11 March letter charged the company with &ldquo;using the restructuring to deliberately target PENGASSAN members and representatives for job redundancy. Management has more than doubled the number of redundancies from the original numbers in order to eliminate the trade union and its members, which is illegal and an affront to the security and prosperity of Nigeria.
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Tillerson later visited Nigeria and President Umaru Musa Yar&rsquo;Adua on 28 March on proposed construction of a 100,000 barrel-per-day natural gas to petrol plant. A day earlier, Mobil Oil Human Resources Manager Udom Inoyo responded to the ICEM intervention. He stated the company is committed &ldquo;to working closely with PENGASSAN within normal internal channels of communication to resolve the (severance) issue.&rdquo; 
 
Olowoshile said that the union was now in a wait-and-see stance, pending deliverance on pledges made during the 28 March meeting in Abuja.

Mobil Oil Nigeria Must Now Deliver on Pledges Made to PENGASSAN

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An expected conclusion to the 11-day strike in Namibia at Skorpion Zinc yesterday did not occur, due to company insistence that wages be tied to ICEM affiliate Mineworkers&rsquo; Union of Namibia (MUN) withdrawing a pending court case. During negotiations yesterday &ndash; talks that were expected to finalise a new labour agreement and end the strike &ndash; management &ldquo;took a full u-turn&rdquo; on many issues resolved over the weekend, according to MUN President Andries Eiseb. 
 
The MUN has suspended the strike, but has given no guarantee that a further walk-out by its 450 union members at the zinc mining and smelting operation near Rosh Pinah in southwestern Namibia will not occur. 
 
In talks yesterday, management linked a 12% pay offer to Skorpion, owned by major mining house AngloAmerican, gaining an exemption from Namibia&rsquo;s Labour Ministry to move to continuous operations. MUN gave the company a promise that it would support such an application to the government, but that pledge hinged on workers immediately gaining the pay hike 
 
Also, Skorpion management changed the effective date of any new agreement, from 1 May 2008 to the effective date of signing.
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The court matter, dating to 2004, involves compensation &ndash; specifically, overtime pay &ndash; on the operation&rsquo;s shift to continuous operations. MUN has argued that overtime pay be tied to the basic requirements contained in Namibia&rsquo;s labour code. 
 
&ldquo;The company&rsquo;s demand that the wage issue can only be settled once the court action has been withdrawn has crippled the whole negotiation process,&rdquo; said Eiseb. &ldquo;We feel we are being kept at ransom to a pending court case, said Eiseb, adding that the company&rsquo;s negotiation posture has been one of &ldquo;bad faith, intimidation, harassment, and arrogance.&rdquo; 
 
The strike by 680 miners at one of the world&rsquo;s richest zinc operations began on 9 May. The ICEM believes that the MUN and its membership has been a steadfast partner in an operation which has provided the London-based company with its largest profit contribution of late. Since Skorpion came fully on line in 2005, zinc prices on global markets have risen more than 300%.

Skorpion Reneges; Deal to Settle Zinc Dispute in Namibia is Scuttled

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The Council of Global Unions, the coordinating body for most of the 11 Global Union Federations, as well as the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and the Trade Union Advisory Committee of OECD, has launched a new website, <a href="http://www.global-unions.org">www.global-unions.org</a>. 
 
The site will rely on RSS feeds from the representative global bodies and will provide relevant data and timely calls for action on issues concerning global trade unions. The site was launched on 1 May, and in the coming weeks will be further updated to include features. 
 
The website was a creation of a global union communicators&rsquo; task force, and had the technical expertise of the ITUC&rsquo;s Alex Gomes in design and innovation. Aidan White, General Secretary of the International Federation of Journalists, chaired the task force.
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&nbsp;Education International GS Fred Van Leeuwen
&ldquo;The website is just the latest way to improve how we talk to the world,&quot; stated Fred Van Leeuwen, General Secretary of Education International, who is also chairman of the Council of Global Unions. &ldquo;Global-unions.org is the new starting point for anyone, anywhere, who works and is looking to someone in fight in their corner.&rdquo;

Global Unions Raises New Website to Heighten Profile

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The ICEM filed strong protest with the government of South Korea last week over the detention and deportation of two leaders of the Migrants&rsquo; Trade Union (MTU). President Tornu Limbu and Vice President Abudus Sabur were arrested outside the union&rsquo;s offices in Seoul on 2 May, and held in the Cheongju Detention Centre. 
 
The two were deported by South Korea&rsquo;s Justice Ministry on 15 May, according to a release issued by Amnesty International. Due process was denied them, as they were not given legal rights to challenge the deportation order.
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&ldquo;It is very clear to the ICEM, and its 475 affiliates in 173 countries, that the two have been incarcerated because of their trade union activities, a clear violation of accepted international norms and standards,&rdquo; stated ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda in a letter to the Korean head of Mission at the UN in Geneva last week. &ldquo;Migrant workers, like all other workers, deserve the respect and treatment afforded them under freedom of association, as enshrined in ILO Convention 87.&rdquo; Click <a href="/en/7-Asia-Pacific/2652-ICEM-Letter-to-Korea-Over-Detention-Expulsion-of-Migrant-Workers'-Leaders">here</a> to find the ICEM&nbsp;letter. 
 
Reportedly, both Tornu Limbu, a citizen of Nepal, and Abudus Sabur, from Bangladesh, were beaten while in detention. The crack-down occurred just following newly-elected South Korean President Lee Myung-bak&rsquo;s public vow that foreign workers in the country, who are without the necessary papers, will be flushed out of Korea even through use of force. 
 
Limbu, 42, and Sabur, 39, had been effectively organising migrant workers in the country for 16 and nine years, respectively. Limbu has been a vocal critic of the difficulties and unfairness inherent in the work permit process in Korea for foreign workers.
The MTU and the fight for rights for migrant workers have the backing of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions. On 18 March, the plight of migrant workers in Korea was the central focus of a seminar in Geneva, which called on the United Nations to take strong action to ensure that migrant workers work with dignity as part of their basic human rights.

ICEM Protests Expulsions by Korea of Migrant Workers’ Union Leaders

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The Labour Government of Prime Minister Gordon Brown appears to have brokered a deal that will give agency workers new and better rights in the UK. Late last week, negotiators for both the Trades Union Congress (TUC) and the Confederation of British Industry struck a deal that would bring the UK more in line with the European Union nations that seek a Temporary Workers Directive. 
 
Although some details of the proposed UK law concerning agency workers still need to be worked out, staff of agencies would get job protection rights after 12 weeks of work. Employer groups had sought up to a year&rsquo;s working time before a doctrine of unfair dismissal could take effect. Equal pay and similar work conditions for 1.4 million agency workers also is included in the UK dialogue, although details on those issues are still in discussions. 
 
Last week&rsquo;s news was a clear victory for the TUC and UK&rsquo;s trade unions, which mounted an effective campaign early in 2008 for work rights for agency workers. 
 
In a speech early last week, Brown tipped his hand to the impending agreement, promising legislation that &ldquo;will, for the first time, ensure new rules for the fair treatment of agency workers here in Britain.&rdquo;
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TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber&nbsp;
On Wednesday, 14 May, TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said of Brown&rsquo;s draft legislative plan: &ldquo;I welcome the Prime Minister&rsquo;s clear recognition that agency workers get a raw deal. Unions will now step up their campaign to secure proper protection and a fair deal for agency workers.&rdquo; 
 
That campaign produced a record 136 MPs supporting a Private Member&rsquo;s Bill on the issue of rights for temp agency workers. That bill, by Labour MP Andrew Miller, which garnered a full third of the House of Commons in February, left little doubt that the Brown Government must act on a draft law. 
 
Winning work rights for agency workers in Britain will also have enormous significance inside the EU, where a directive has been blocked by only a handful of countries, including the UK. The proposed EU directive has a six-week period for temp workers to gain employment rights.

UK Moves Closer to Granting Agency Workers Better Rights

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African trade union leader&nbsp;&nbsp;Fran&ccedil;ois Yao announced that a 34-month dispute between ICEM affiliate National Union of Workers in Electricity, Gas, and Water (SYNASEG) in C&ocirc;te d&rsquo;Ivoire and Compagnie Ivoirienne d&rsquo;Electricit&eacute; (CIE), a subsidiary of French-based Bouygues Group, ended recently with a framework labour agreement calling for continual social dialogue and respect for trade union rights. 
 
The framework accord was signed on 30 April 2008, after five months of intense negotiations between SYNASEG leaders and CIE. Yao, the SYNASEG General Secretary,&nbsp;announced the agreement at a 1 May, Workers&rsquo; Day, news conference. 
 
&ldquo;We have now opened a new spirit of tolerance and dialogue that will ensure harmony and cohesion within (our country&rsquo;s) electrical sector,&rdquo; he said. He termed the negotiations &ldquo;difficult, but frank and sincere,&rdquo; and credited Bouygues&rsquo; chief manager in C&ocirc;te d&rsquo;Ivoire, Marcel Zadi Kessy, with providing an atmosphere that made the draft agreement possible.
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The union will now begin informational meetings with electricity workers across the West African nation in order to inform them of the accord. 
 
The agreement calls for regular, quarterly meetings between the new social partners. It also pledges both parties to a common goal of profitability and lifting the living conditions of CIE&rsquo;s workforce. And specifically, SYNASEG won full participation in the affairs of the Mutual Investment Fund, a fund established years ago for training, placement, and workers&rsquo; needs. It was the company taking unilateral control of that fund in 2006-2007 that brought the dispute to a near strike in March 2007. Workers make contributions to the fund.
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&nbsp; 
The dispute itself began in 2005 when CIE began systematic attacks on SYNASEG. That was seen as retaliation against the union for its backing of a then government plan to renationalise the utility and end Bouygues&rsquo; 15-year contract. The ICEM had brought the dispute to both global attention, and to the attention of French social partners. 
 
The ICEM commends both its C&ocirc;te d&rsquo;Ivoire affiliate and the Bouygues affiliate for reaching a framework agreement that will ensure social harmony. &ldquo;We are sure that this recently achieved milestone of mutual respect and joint confidence will carry the SYNASEG-CIE partnership to greater rewards for both workers and the company,&rdquo; said ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda.

Three-year Dispute Between Côte d’Ivoire’s SYNASEG and Bouygues Subsidiary Ends

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