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ICEM Turkish affiliate Petrol-Īş&rsquo;s efforts to block, through several lawsuits, the 51% sale of state-owned oil refiner Turkiye Petro Rafinerisi AS (T&Uuml;PRAS) produced another court victory on 23 May. 
The Ankara Administrative Court cancelled sale of the 14.76% minority stake to Israeli investor Sami Ofer on the grounds that the sale did not benefit the &ldquo;public good.&rdquo; Ofer&rsquo;s bid of US$446 million last year for a minority stake in T&Uuml;PRAS had ballooned into a potential US$1.2 billion investment due to the revaluation of the state company. 
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On 2 February 2006, a preliminary ruling by the Council of State judiciary panel blocked the controlling stake in a privatised T&Uuml;PRAS when it ruled against the purchase by a consortium made up of Turkey&rsquo;s Koc Holdings and Royal Dutch Shell. That ruling was issued on the basis that privatisation laws had not been adhered to. 
The ruling, however, was vacated when no further court action occurred by a 29 March deadline. Petrol- Īş will now challenge this privatisation matter before the General Council of Administrative Courts. 
 
The union will also continue its public campaign against the sale of T&Uuml;PRAS, and likely will engage in further industrial actions at the company&rsquo;s four refineries and petrochemical plant. Petrol- Īş has also made application on the matter before the European Court of Human Rights.

Petrol-Īş Wins Yet Another Court Round Involving TÜPRAS Privatisation

Krasimir Krastev 
President 
National Labour Federation of Chemistry and Industry 
1, Macedonia Square 
Sofia 1000 
BULGARIA 
 
Brussels, 24 May 2006 
 
 
Dear Brother Krasimir, 
 
The 20-million-member ICEM has learned of your Trade Union&rsquo;s participation in a national demonstration in Bulgaria on 30 May 2006. 
 
We understand this protest to be over lack of responsible dialogue on the part of the government of Bulgaria and employers to address the real income needs of Bulgarians. We also understand the protest to be over prohibitions that still prevent workers to engage in strikes, a constitutional right in Bulgaria, and also limitations to all citizens of Bulgaria of health care, energy and transport services, and telecommunications. 
 
On behalf of our 389 Trade Union affiliates in 122 countries, the ICEM fully endorses and supports this protest and national demonstration on 30 May. We also encourage workers across all of Bulgaria to stand with the Trade Unions of your country on this day of meaningful assembly to ensure real increases in wage levels are met, as well as workers&rsquo; rights and heightened living standards are realized. 
 
As always, the ICEM stands ready to assist your Trade Union in any way possible to meet its important agenda on behalf of Bulgarian workers. 
 
Fraternally, 
 
Fred Higgs 
General Secretary

ICEM support letter National Labour Federation of Chemistry and Industry

The 20-million-member ICEM, the Global Union Federation (GUF) representing workers in the chemical, energy, mining and other industrial sectors, gives full support to the general strike in South Africa tomorrow, 18 May, called by the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) and some 21 trade unions there. 
 
The one-day strike, part of COSATU&rsquo;s &ldquo;Jobs and Poverty&rdquo; Campaign, is in protest at employers&rsquo; continuous retrenchment of workers and failure to create jobs, as well as a demand for government intervention in scaling back a national jobless rate that is now at 40%. 
 
&ldquo;Trade unions in South Africa are justifiably angry over high unemployment, stagnant wages, and increasing use by employers of casual and agency labour,&rdquo; said ICEM General Secretary Fred Higgs. &ldquo;We fully support the decision by workers to use this day to make a strong statement.&rdquo; 
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At the forefront of the general strike will be trade union members of the ICEM-affiliated National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA), and the Chemical, Energy, Paper, Printing, Wood &amp; Allied Workers Union (CEPPWAWU). 
 
Striking workers will protest in several towns and cities in South Africa tomorrow, with marches scheduled to converge on selective industrial sites, offices of chambers of business organisations, and on governmental buildings.

Strike Warranted: South Africa’s 40% Jobless Rate Unacceptable

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Following results of German Works Council elections this spring, ICEM affiliate IGBCE has raised its representation voice inside companies to 85%. That is 5% better than results reflected in the last overall elections in 2002. 
 
IGBCE Governing Board Member Michael Vassiliadis termed the new number &ldquo;an outstanding result&rdquo; and a &ldquo;clear signal&rdquo; of worker confidence in Germany&rsquo;s most diverse industrial union. 
 
&ldquo;Under difficult conditions, we continue to add,&rdquo; said Vassiliadis. IGBCE has over one million members in Germany, and the union, through its worker representatives, has strong voice on some 3,700 Works Councils.

IGBCE Gains Strength on German Works Councils

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The United Steelworkers (USW) kicked off a tour of South African trade union leaders of Sappi&rsquo;s US paper mills by conducting a loud and demonstrative protest outside the company&rsquo;s US offices in Boston, Massachusetts. Leaders from the Chemical, Energy, Paper, Printing, Wood &amp; Allied Workers Union (CEPPWAWU) of South Africa joined workers from Sappi mills in the states of Maine, Michigan and Minnesota at the 8 May demonstration. 
 
USW and Sappi are without current labour contracts at three of the company&rsquo;s four US mills, and a contract at the fourth mill &mdash; Cloquet, Minnesota &mdash; expires today. Late last week, CEPPWAWU trade union leaders employed at Sappi mills in South Africa met with their US counterparts at mills in Skowhegan and Westbrook, Maine; Muskegon, Michigan; and in Cloquet.

Sappi’s South African Unionists Visit US Worksites

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A strike planned for today at two DuPont chemical plants in Spain was averted late last week when the American company significantly increased plant closing benefits. 
 
DuPont announced in March it would close both its Catalonia plants in Rub&iacute; and Poliny&aacute;, but union members affiliated with CCOO, UGT and USOC (Workers&rsquo; Trade Union of Catalonia) voted on 8 May to take strike action due to proposed insufficient severance payments. DuPont&rsquo;s European restructuring plan calls for production from the two plants to be shifted to France and Germany, and offers of jobs to Rub&iacute; and Poliny&aacute; workers there. The plan also calls for the closure of a plant in Breda, The Netherlands, and the Hellac Lab in Germany.
DuPont opened talks with the Spanish unions in April by offering to pay buy-outs of only 25 days per year of work. The strike threat found the company returning to the bargaining table and offering 59 paid days per year, six less than the unions&rsquo; original demand. Some 246 workers are affected at the two chemical plants near Barcelona.

DuPont Increases Pay-outs to Avert Strike

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A rare first-contract lockout in the US ended successfully for workers on 2 May when members of ICEM affiliate United Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers of America (UE) came to terms with Stepan Chemical in Fieldsboro, New Jersey. Workers ratified an initial contract with the specialty chemicals company with a 33-2 acceptance vote that backed Stepan away from continuing a wage freeze, and making health care cuts. 
 
The lockout began on 26 January 2006 after workers chose UE for representation last year. Typically in the US, a company that loses a union certification vote will merely stall the bargaining process, sometimes for years. But Stepan responded to a spontaneous plant-site protest by the 40 workers by locking out the workforce, and attempting to run the plant with managers and scabs. 
 
Direct action by UE at Stepan&rsquo;s shareholders&rsquo; meeting on 27 April triggered a 180-degree shift by management, and a first contract. UE produced documents that proved the company had spent US$1.8 million on expenses relayed to the lockout, including sums to clean up chemical spills. CEO F. Quinn Stepan, Jr., was shocked at the documentation, believing the figure to be only US$500,000. 
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Within two days, Stepan called offering a return to bargaining. The company and the UE workers&rsquo; representatives, led by Field Organiser Jim Ermi, then hammered together the initial labour agreement. 
 
&ldquo;You shouldn&rsquo;t have to endure a 14-week lockout to get a union,&rdquo; stated UE Director of Organisation Bob Kingsley. &ldquo;A courageous group of workers triumphed at Stepan based on protest and perseverance, but their struggle points out the deepening workers&rsquo; rights crisis facing all of us.&rdquo; 
 
Stepan manufactures intermediates for use in consumer products, and has operations in the US, UK, France, Germany, Indonesia and Brazil.

UE Wins First Contract with Chemical Firm Despite Lockout

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Protests occurred both outside and inside DuPont&rsquo;s annual general meeting in the US state of Delaware on 26 April, as labour unions led by the United Steelworkers (USW) and environmental allies pressed the world&rsquo;s second largest chemicals company to phase out production of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA). The chemical is used to produce coatings for cookware and stain-repellent coatings for carpets, textiles and fast-food wrappers. 
 
USW is part of a coalition entitled &ldquo;Dupont Shareholders for Fair Value&rdquo; that pressed for adoption of a resolution calling on management to produce a report on options to accelerate the phase-out of PFOA. The proxy question put before shareholders garnered a 27.3% vote, considered extremely high on matters of social and ethical responsibility for US-based companies. Further information on the union&rsquo;s shareholder actions can be found through the USW site&nbsp;<a href="http://www.uswa.org/uswa/program/content/2916.php">here</a>.

Protest of PFOA at DuPont’s Annual Meeting

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Strikes in the Turkish cement sector, scheduled to begin Monday, were averted when ICEM affiliate &Ccedil;imse-Iş and the Cement Producers&rsquo; Association (&Ccedil;MIS) arrived at a new collective bargaining agreement covering 5,000 workers at 43 cement plants. 
 
The two-year agreement, retroactive to 1 January 2006, calls for an increase of 12% this year, and an amount equal to Turkey&rsquo;s consumer price index in 2007. Increases were also realised in social benefits in each of the two years. &Ccedil;imse-Iş had planned strikes at 23 cement plants on 1 May, with walkouts occurring at the other 20 plants on 8 May.

Turkish Cement Industry Calm as Settlement Reached

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Nigerian ICEM affiliate PENGASSAN, the white-collar oil workers&rsquo; union, is bracing for a major dispute with ExxonMobil&rsquo;s subsidiary, Mobil Oil, in Lagos over a breach of a collective bargaining agreement. 
 
Mobil Oil in Nigeria has refused to honour a procedural agreement with PENGASSAN. The agreement sets out housing allowances for 300 headquarters staffers in the capital city, as well as pension requirements. The company told the union it would pay one, but not the other. The company is refusing to honour pension entitlements allotted prior to Nigeria&rsquo;s 2004 Pension Act. 
 

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The union gave Mobil Oil a 21-day ultimatum to make good on the entire procedural agreement, but that expired on 14 April with no movement from the company. PENGASSAN succeeded in getting the matter placed before Nigeria&rsquo;s minister of Labour and a meeting of the parties is set for 3 May. If no solution is reached, industrial action is sure to come. 
 
&ldquo;Management has not shown the sincerity to have the matter resolved amicably,&rdquo; stated PENGASSAN Acting President Peter Esele. &ldquo;If industrial unrest is what they want, they better be prepared to face it.&rdquo; 
 
Another matter which finds the US-based supermajor at odds with PENGASSAN, is a planned relocation of company headquarters out of Nigeria. The union discovered that ExxonMobil is planning to close the Nigerian home office and shift downstream operations to Egypt, while upstream office work would go to Houston, Texas. 
 
&ldquo;We have a responsibility not just to our members, but also to the country,&rdquo; said Esele. &ldquo;You cannot have companies making so much money from the resources of our country, and then simply relocating. This is unacceptable to us as Nigerians.&rdquo;

PENGASSAN Ready for Battle with ExxonMobil

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