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The 4th Congress of ICEM French affiliate Chemical and Energy Workers Union, FCE-CFDT, was held in Clermont-Ferrand last week, with participation by over 600 delegates. The theme was, &ldquo;Local to International: Anticipate and Act Everywhere.&rdquo; 
 
The venue of the Congress had another feature, as well. İt is &ldquo;the capital&rdquo; of tyre industry giant Michelin, the world&rsquo;s second biggest poducer.
The Congress stressed the international dimension to trade unionism, through transnational sectoral/intersectoral dialogue. According to the FCE, &ldquo;The congress is complementary to those of our international and European organizations. We have just experienced ICEM&rsquo;s Congress in Bangkok, which has entered into strengthened cooperation with the Global Union Federations.&rdquo; 
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The FCE noted in its report to Congress, &ldquo;Globalization facilitates development in new technologies, trade, commerce &hellip; but, in parallel to this, there is always a fact that developing countries are still being exploited &hellip; and trade unionists being imprisoned or killed.&rdquo;

FCE praised ICEM&rsquo;s activity on Contract and Agency Labour, and highlighted efforts by itself to start discussions and actions with other unions inside the CFDT on the issue of subcontracting. The FCE also intends to take an active role on sustainable development. 
 
ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda addressed the Congress in an introductory speech. &ldquo;Support, assistance, and solidarity by the FCE-CFDT to the ICEM and its affiliates throughout the world is well known,&rdquo; Warda said. &ldquo;Your organisation takes its international responsibilities seriously, and I would like to thank you for that.&rdquo; 
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French Michelin Trade Union Leaders
Warda also credited the French chemicals and energy union for its efforts on union networking, global framework agreements, and globally around French-based companies such as Rhodia, Saint-Gobain, Lafarge, and Electricit&eacute; de France (EDF). 
 
The ICEM also used the Congress to discuss in depth with delegates from Michelin on the creation of a Global Union Network for trade unions at the tyre-maker. In concert with prior discussions with FCE and other unions organising Michelin workers, the need to establish solidarity between Michelin workers the world over through the ICEM would match networks for the other big rubber networks, namely Bridgestone and Goodyear. 
 
Patrick Pierron was re-elected as general secretary for a new four-year term, and with a 70% vote, delegates approved a general framework resolution which included the Congress report.

FCE-CFDT Holds 4th Congress, Accenting Strong Global Trade Union Stands

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Social partners in Slovenia averted a series of strikes scheduled for this week and next week by reaching agreement on a private-sector wage increase in Ljubljana. The accord was reached on Friday, 25 January. 
 
Pushed by a centre-right government headed by Prime Minister Janez Jansa, trade union federations and business groups agreed on a February pay increase of 5.6%. That offsets current inflation, as well as sparing Slovenia vast production losses at the exact time it presides over the EU. 
 
Slovenia&rsquo;s December consumer price index was 5.7% higher than in December 2006. Last Friday&rsquo;s negotiated increase came two months after a manifestation by 70,000 Slovenian workers. One of their demands was to move a traditional August pay raise to February in order to offset climbing inflation. 
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On 11 January, the country&rsquo;s largest labour federation, 300,000-member Zveza Svoodnih Sindikatov Slovenije (ZSSS), announced a general strike for 6 February. Several other labour federations were expected to follow. Other Slovenia workers, including civil servants, also announced intent to strike plans in the days leading up to 6 February. 
 
The government headed off the public sector strike by granting wage increases to civil servants. That brought forth the private sector settlement. 
 
On 17 November 2007, union members and civil society marched 70,000-strong in the largest manifestation in Slovenia&rsquo;s 16-year history. They demanded that salaries keep pace with spiraling inflation. The manifestation also marked the historical unification of Slovenia&rsquo;s six trade union centres coming behind a joint initiative. 
 
Slovenia, which became a member of the EU in 2005 and adopted the Euro as currency in January 2007, has been beset by rising commodity prices.

Private-Sector Wage Increases Halt General Strikes Set for Slovenia

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On 15-16 January, some 40 global trade union leaders met in Brussels for the 2nd meeting of the Council of Global Unions (CGU), the structure established last year by the Global Unions Federations (GUFs), the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), and the Trade Union Advisory Committee (TUAC) to the OECD. 
On the agenda of the meeting, which was held at ICEM headquarters, was a series of wide-ranging national and international labour issues, ranging from the need to increase global support for organising and bargaining, scrutiny over non-transparent private and public investment funds, and attention to precarious employment practices. 
 
Focal points at the start were the lessons from the creative and successful &ldquo;Organising and Recognition Conference,&rdquo; organised by the CGU in Washington, D.C., in December 2007, and how to continue that work. 
The Washington Conference, which primarily dealt with how international work can assist national unions in their union organising efforts, generated a fair amount of enthusiasm and optimism. At the same time, however, it also highlighted a number of difficulties or barriers. The example of Australia, where a massive trade union campaign lead to a change in government, was particularly inspiring for many.
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ICEM President Senzeni Zokwana and 
ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda signing the CGU's founding document last year
One obvious conclusion from this earlier Conference is the strong link between collective bargaining coverage, on the one hand, and the fairness of income distribution, on the other. The situation in the U.S. is a clear &ndash; and negative &ndash; example of this. 
 
Building on the work done in Washington, the Brussels meeting looked for a number of concrete items that the international union movement could work on jointly. One such priority is the need to take action at the international level to support workers and their unions in the U.S., and to improve the U.S. labour situation in general. 
ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda explicitly supported this notion. He said that &ldquo;in countries such as China, the U.S. labour model is the one that is being looked at for copying.&rdquo; It was agreed that discussions would take place with U.S. unions in order to examine how the global trade union movement can be most helpful in supporting their efforts to change U.S. labour law so that freedom of association is respected. 
 
Other priorities taken under consideration include an international strategy to support unions in selected countries, in which international union pressure might improve the national labour situation; the continued sharing of much needed global economic data that support trade union claims; to undertake action on the 60th anniversary of ILO Conventions 87 and 98, on freedom of association and collective bargaining; and Global Unions&rsquo; work on Export Processing Zones.
Joint CGU action is also planned in the area of communication, where more - and possibly other and different - work needs to be done. This was also a conclusion from the Washington conference, citing the fact that the international union message is not always reaching workers at national level. 
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Different options were looked at to improve communications, including making increased use of IT tools. At the same time, it was acknowledged that this can only be helpful for certain parts of the world. In Africa, for example, emphasis needs to go to other means of communication, such as radio or mobile phones. Yet other methods are needed to reach out to, for instance, migrant communities. 
 
The international unions also decided to continue to expand their joint work on precarious work, which includes the ICEM priority of Contract and Agency Labour. ICEM will continue to take the lead on this, including through a multi-GUF working group on the subject. Temporary agencies, an area where UNI is already doing considerable work, might become a focus on work relationships, and may offer opportunities for productive co-operation among the GUFs. 
 
Equally highlighted at the 15-16 January meetings was the work &ndash; and successes &ndash; by several GUFs, the ITUC and TUAC, on private equity. Linked to that is the effort by the international union movement&rsquo;s Committee on Workers&rsquo; Capital, which works on such areas as pension trustee education, corporate and financial market governance, shareholder activism and economically targeted investments. 
 
Other items discussed in Brussels were the call for a strong public sector; the upcoming World Day of Action on Decent Work (7 October 2008); the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises; and ongoing action towards the World Bank and its private investment arm, the International Finance Corporation (IFC). Also discussed were labour-related issues inside a number of countries, such as Burma, Bangladesh, and the Philippines. Guy Ryder, ITUC General Secretary, reported on the organisation&rsquo;s intense debate on China at its last General Council meeting in December, also in Washington. 
 
The international trade union leaders decided to continue their strong support for a number of joint offices, including, for example, the highly acclaimed ITUC/Global Unions Washington office. They also agreed on a budget for the work of the CGU. Fred van Leeuwen, General Secretary of Education International (EI), remains the CGU&rsquo;s chair for another year. Anita Normark, General Secretary of the Building and Woodworkers International (BWI), continues as the Vice-Chair, and Guy Ryder as the CGU&rsquo;s Secretary. 
 
In addition to Manfred Warda, the ICEM was represented at the meeting by its President, Senzeni Zokwana, and by its Vice-President, Liv Undheim.

Council of Global Unions Meets at ICEM in Brussels

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Leaders of Japanese labour and business opened the first round of spring wage negotiations, called shunto, on 23 January at Keidanren Kaikan Hall in Otemachi, Tokyo. The talks, led by the Japanese Trade Union Confederation, Rengo, commence in the automotive and appliance industries, with other Japanese sectors scheduled to follow. Shunto talks usually run until the end of March. 
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Expectations are high, and for the first time in the recent past, unions in several industries have announced fixed wage goals for this year&rsquo;s talks. For example, the Japanese Automobile Workers&rsquo; Union is demanding at least &yen;1,000-a-month as a salary adjustment, while other unions are demanding even more.
This spring&rsquo;s wage offensive also includes achievable goals to raise salaries and levels of benefits for part-time and agency workers. Rengo is demanding that companies sign a minimum wage agreement for contract workers, ensuring them of a salary that is higher than the official minimum wage. It will also push for revision of Japan's Worker Dispatch Law. That proposed change will guarantee more rights for contract workers and temporary workers. 
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Both Japanese trade union confederations, Rengo and UI Zensen, are championing the cause of temporary and agency workers. Japanese unions made substantial gains last year in recruiting part-time and non-regular workers into the union ranks, judging by a 12% increase in 2007. Japanese unions have prioritised gains for part-time and non-regular workers, knowing how dangerous a wide wage disparity between full-time and part-time workers can be.

Japanese Wage Talks Start with Set Expectations, Gains for Non-regular Workers

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A French court on 22 January ruled that before an amended merger plan between Gaz de France and Suez can go to shareholders, trade unions and the Works Council must be given more information in order to shape their views on the merger. 
 
The decision by the Tribunal de Grande Instance in Paris comes in a case filed by Gaz de France in December on the Works Council for its inability to come to a definitive opinion, prior to Works Council members&rsquo; terms ending on 31 December. 
 
The company was seeking a court order mandating an opinion from the workers&rsquo; body, but what was delivered was another costly delay to an ill-advised merger. 
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Under French law, the Works Council had to submit a non-binding opinion on an amended merger plan that was submitted in September 2007. But workers&rsquo; representatives did not have needed information on a plan to spin-off the water and environmental businesses of Suez. 
 
The merger of the state-run French utility with Franco-Belgian Suez Group was initially proposed early in 2006. It has been held up in the courts at several points. 
 
French unions and workers&rsquo; representatives have resisted the merger because it essentially privatises Gaz de France. The company is 80% state held, and a merger would reduce France&rsquo;s stake in the combined company, to be called GDF Suez, to 35%. French trade unions CGT, CFDT, FO, CGF-CGC, and CFTC have united to resist further consolidation of Europe&rsquo;s energy markets. 
 
A new consultation committee of the Works Council is expected to be in place by mid-February to examine further information by the companies regarding the merger.

Unions Win French Ruling Citing More Information Needed on Gaz de France, Suez Merger

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Global intervention by the ICEM and German affiliate IGBCE resolved a restructuring dispute at Dystar Colours in Indonesia, a manufacturer of disperse dyes used in the textile industry. The dispute started in September 2007, when local managers of Dystar unilaterally implemented job losses on 91 workers out of 500 at the chemicals plant in Gabus, Banten Province. 
 
Worse, managers called a meeting of elected shop-floor leaders of ICEM affiliate FSP-KEP, the Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and Gas Workers&rsquo; Unions, on 11 September to inform them of the restructuring, but told them to be silent on the sackings. 
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The 91 job cuts were announced to affected workers on 13 September. 
 
FSP-KEP vehemently objected to the lack of consultation with the labour union over the restructuring, as mandated by Indonesian law. Management responded on 13 September by escorting the 91 sacked workers off company grounds on a bus operated by security guards armed electric stun guns and tear gas. Local police were on standby, as well. 
 
&ldquo;They were treating workers as enemies, or terrorists, rather than partners in production,&rdquo; stated FSP-KEP President Sjaiful Patombong, adding managers warned that no severance would be paid unless the union and affected workers adhered to the company&rsquo;s unilateral plan. 
 
Dystar Colours is German-based and had been 35% owned by Aventis, and 30% each by Bayer and BASF. In 2004, the big American private equity firm, Platinum Equity, purchased the company from the three partners.
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FSP-KEP alerted the ICEM over the breach of Indonesian labour law, and the Global Union Federation, in turn, contacted IGBCE. In the meantime, Indonesia&rsquo;s Ministry of Manpower began conducting meetings between the parties, urging management to comply with the letter and to negotiate with the union. 
 
The result came in mid-January. Although the 91 workers remained off their jobs, they now will receive twice the allowable severance compensation as stipulated by law. They also will receive two times the rate of yearly compensation, an additional four months of pay, and a lump sum Indonesian Rupiah (IDR) totalling 5,000,000. 
 
Through the global intervention, Dystar also agreed to engage FSP-KEP six months in advance in the event of any further restructuring, and agreed to halt the unnecessary intimidation of workers and their union representatives.

Global Intervention Increases Severance Packages for 91 Dystar Colours Workers in Indonesia

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A five-day strike by 400 chemical workers, members of ICEM-affiliated Oilfields Workers&rsquo; Trade Union (OWTU) in Trinidad and Tobago, ended last week with workers gaining equal voice in managing their production bonuses.
The strike, which began on 18 January against Yara Trinidad Ltd., wholly-owned by Norway&rsquo;s Yara International, also achieved wage gains that workers had fought for during several months of futile bargaining. For the collective bargaining term 2007-2010, OWTU members at the ammonia-producing company&rsquo;s will see a 16.5% salary increase, plus an additional lump-sum payout of 0.5% this year. 
 
Prior to the strike, in some 33 rounds of talks dating to last summer, Yara Trinidad had refused to offer anything close to 16% for that term. This set of talks also saw mediation intervention from the country&rsquo;s Ministry of Labour. Workers sought a profit-sharing plan at Yara&rsquo;s three-plant, 300,000 metric tonne-a-year operations at Point Lisas, Trinidad, an enterprise profitable due to high pricing and strong demand for ammonia. 
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OWTU won guarantees that its workers&rsquo; representatives will be involved in establishing bonus plans in budget preparations and guaranteeing that realistic targets are set. In addition, OWTU won an 80% increase in housing allowance, 50% on travel allowance, and improvements to the medical plan. 
 
OWTU issued official strike notice on 16 January, and workers downed tools on the afternoon of 18 January. The strike caused non-stop bargaining over the weekend of 18-20 January, and agreement came on 21 January. 
 
The Point Lisas operation of Yara was acquired by the Oslo-based company in 2004 when Norske Hydro sold its chemical fertiliser business, Hydro-Agri. Yara is now the world&rsquo;s largest producer of chemical plant nutrients following last year&rsquo;s buy-out of Kemira&rsquo;s GrowHow business from the Finnish state. 
 
Yara also owns a 49% stake in Trinidad Nitrogen Co. Ltd. (Tringen), a joint venture it operates for state-held National Enterprises Ltd. of Trinidad and Tobago.

OWTU Wins Chemicals Strike at Yara Trinidad Ltd.

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Global Fund Launches Round 8 
The special issue of the ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin, issued on 17 March, gives details of the Round 8 announcement by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Please contact <a href="mailto:hiv.aids@icem.org">hiv.aids@icem.org</a> or <a href="mailto:schwass@bluewin.ch">schwass@bluewin.ch</a> to receive a copy of that e-bulletin. 
 
The application form and support documentation are available in six languages at <a href="http://www.theglobalfund.org">www.theglobalfund.org</a>. Proposals have to reach the Global Fund by 1 July 2008. Access the website <a href="http://www.aidspan.org/guides">www.aidspan.org/guides</a>, on which a guide to Round 8 applications is available. 
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Colombia: Affiliates and Companies Renew Commitment to Fight HIV/AIDS
Representatives of affiliates and companies met with ICEM President Senzeni Zokwana and General Secretary Manfred Warda in Bogot&aacute;, Colombia, on 11 March for the National Conference on the Social Dialogue. 
 
HIV/AIDS is one of the topics in the Social Dialogue Project in Colombia. Delegates expressed the view that concrete action should be developed on HIV/AIDS, and that progress should be reported back to the next meeting. 
 
The ICEM Global HIV/AIDS Coordinator, who took part in the meeting, also visited the coal mining region in the north of the country. Carbones del Cerrej&oacute;n, which is owned in equal parts by Anglo American, BHP Billiton, and Xstrata, runs one of the world&rsquo;s largest set of open-pit coal mines in the world with some 5,000 direct employees and an almost equal number of contract workers. 
 
The company has co-financed a number of hospitals in the communities surrounding Cerrej&oacute;n and local management works with a foundation which runs awareness and prevention campaigns. A new healthy lifestyle programme for employees and their families includes HIV/AIDS. The programme is administered by COPASO, the joint committee for occupational health, on which ICEM&rsquo;s affiliate Sintracarb&oacute;n is represented. 
 
With a national prevalence rate of 0.6% and 160,000 adults aged 15 to 49 living with HIV (of a total population of 45 million), treatment is not a major problem. The challenge is to keep the infection rate low and the solution is prevention. 
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AIDS is Top Killer of 15-to-44 year-olds in Asia 
AIDS is the most likely cause of death for Asians aged 15-44, and could kill almost 500,000 people per year across the continent by 2020. The UN-backed Independent Commission on AIDS in Asia warned that in addition to the nearly five million people across Asia who are currently living with the HIV virus, another eight million could become infected if governments do not take drastic action to curb the epidemic. 
 
(Source: <a href="http://www.earthtimes.org">www.earthtimes.org</a>, posted on 26 March) 
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COSATU General Secretary Zwelinzima Vavi Speaks to Treatment Action Campaign in South Africa 
In his address to the 4th National Congress of the South African Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), COSATU General Secretary Zwelinzima Vavi deplored the many years wasted in courts and on the streets fighting denial and inaction by the government. 
 
Vavi acknowledged the role of the TAC in transforming the national response to HIV/AIDS, from denial and foot-dragging, to a united national strategic programme to drive back the pandemic. Thanks to the TAC, thousands of people now get the treatment they need to stay alive, and thousands of babies are born free of the virus. 
 
He pledged COSATU&rsquo;s support for the national strategic programme by setting up support systems at workplaces, and strengthening education and treatment components of the campaign. The aim is to train 20,000 peer educators a year. In his words, peer education remains central to any successful struggle to support people with HIV and AIDS and to reduce infection rates. 
 
(Source: COSATU website) 
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Annie Lennox and Amnesty International Highlight Fate of Rural Women 
Rural women living with HIV in circumstances of poverty in South Africa face discrimination in relationships and in communities because of their gender, HIV status, and economic marginalisation. 
 
This is the main conclusion of a report released on 18 March by Amnesty International. Many women interviewed by Amnesty said that they were often unable to protect themselves against HIV infection because they felt at risk of violence when they suggested condom use. Male partners refused to be tested for HIV. 
 
Effective treatment for HIV and AIDS requires regular visits to accredited clinics and adequate nutrition. Even if medication is free, rural women living in abject poverty can often not afford transportation. 
 
Singer Annie Lennox is highlighting the issue with her new charity song &ldquo;Sing&rdquo;. 
 
The report can be downloaded from the Amnesty International website, <a href="http://www.amnesty.org">www.amnesty.org</a>. 
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Product Red: Contributions to the Global Fund 
Product Red was created by rock singer Bono and Bobby Shriver in 2006 to engage the private sector in the fight against AIDS and to deliver a sustainable flow of funds to the Global Fund. 
 
Recently Dell and Microsoft joined Product Red, Bono&rsquo;s enterprise, by supplying Dell computers powered by Windows Vista. Companies, which are partners of Product Red, are committed to channel a percentage of profits to the Global Fund. 
 
On Valentine&rsquo;s Day 2008, an auction of donated and specially created art works at Sotheby&rsquo;s in New York raised US$42.6 million. The auction brought the total amount raised by Product Red to more than US$100 million since its launch. 
 
Lesotho became the fourth country to receive funds from Product Red through the Global Fund, joining Rwanda, Swaziland, and Ghana. 
 
(Source: Global Fund website) 
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News from the Global Union Programme and Global Unions 
In its most recent HIV/AIDS Update (No. 38, 1 March) the International Transport Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITF) (<a href="http://www.itfglobal.org">www.itfglobal.org</a>) reports, among other items, on the HIV/AIDS awareness and support programme implemented by the Forward Seamen Union of India, and the increasing risk of infection of Indonesian fishermen.

ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin

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Some 30,000 trade unionists took to the streets of Ljubljana, Slovenia, Saturday, 5 April, as European Union finance ministers met in the Balkan country. The unionists, marching behind a call by the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), were protesting record-high inflation and declining purchasing power at a time when EU officials were calling for wage restraint. 
 
The EU ministers were meeting in nearby Brdo in talks to reform social welfare programmes. 
 
ETUC General Secretary John Monks told the assembled in the capital city&rsquo;s Congress Square that &ldquo;we cannot accept lectures that workers should be modest&rdquo; in pay deals. &ldquo;Getting a fairer deal for workers across Europe is a top ETUC priority.&rdquo; The trade union federation has produced evidence that wage moderation does not create more jobs, as some claim, but leads instead to stagnating domestic demand and weakened employment rates.
Since 1995, while wages have dropped as a share of Gross Domestic Product across the EU, corporate profits have risen. Top managers earn up to 300 times more than workers, leaving over 30 million people earning poverty-level wages. 
 
EU unionists that converged in Slovenia over the weekend demanded a rise in real salaries and purchasing power; efforts to create more and better jobs; creation of decent minimum wages to combat poverty; equal pay for men and women; stronger collective bargaining systems, and an end to social dumping; decent work and fair wages for public sector, temporary, and mobile workers; better opportunities for lifelong learning; and a limit to the income of top earners.

ETUC Call Brings 30,000 to Slovenia to Protest Wage Restraint

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A strike by energy workers against Shell-Gabon that stopped nearly one-half of all oil production and exports in the west African nation ended last week, 1 April, after direct mediation by Gabonese President Omar Bongo. The strike by 800 workers, which began in the early hours of 20 March by the National Organisation of Petroleum Workers (ONEP), ended a day after the union threatened a broader national strike. 
 
ONEP reported its demands had been met. The strike occurred due to non-compliance by Shell-Gabon&rsquo;s managing director over new work-time regulations, rules that had been set in place by an earlier government decree. The union was demanding the ouster of the managing director. Workers had been denied holiday leave.
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Shell-Gabon is 75% owned by Royal Dutch Shell and 25% by the government. The 11-day strike halted 60,000 barrels-per-day of crude production in the Gamba-Ivinga-Totous oil fields, as well as production from the Toucan and Rabi fields. Shipments of crude were also halted at an oil terminal in Gamba, stoppages which cost Shell US$11 million per day. 
 
The terminal was also shut to crude exports of Total-Gabon and Perenco, the latter a privately-held French oil and gas exploration and production company. The companies share the terminal with Shell-Gabon. Those amounts were estimated at 30,000 barrels-per-day. Gabon is the fifth largest oil producer in sub-Saharan Africa.

Oil Strike Against Shell in Gabon Ends

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