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I n the wake of a coal mine disaster on 13 May in Anhui Province in eastern China that left 63 miners dead and another 23 missing, the 20-million-member strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Union (ICEM) is calling on the world's mining industry to join with the global trade union federation in forming a &quot;rapid response&quot; team to investigate safety in China's mines. 
 
The ICEM today has written the Chinese government and the All China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU) offering assistance on the basis of a frank and open dialogue. 
 
&quot;Serious mining accidents are regrettably a regular feature of the Chinese mining industry,&quot; said ICEM General Secretary Fred Higgs. &quot;For this reason, the ICEM has written the ACFTU and the responsible minister in China to call on all parties to take immediate and serious measures to address the parlous state of health and safety in China's mines. 
 
&quot;We also call on the world mining industry to join with us in our attempts to improve the health and safety record of Chinese mining,&quot; added Higgs. Brussels-based ICEM is the preeminent trade union organization at the global level in the mining industry. 
 
The 13 May disaster at the state-run Luling mine in Huaibel city, Anhui, is being blamed on a natural gas explosion. The 86 miners were working 500 meters inside the mine. The Luling mine employs 7,000 to 8,000, and produces 2.4 million tons of coal annually. 
 
Figures from China's work safety bureau cite nearly 15,000 deaths occurred last year due to explosions, floods and cave-ins. In the first two months of 2003 alone, official figures cite 1,600 miners as having died in the country's mines. And a rash of accidents this spring has pushed this figure much higher. 
 
On 17 April, floods trapped and killed 14 at the Jiangshuping mine in the coal-rich northern province of Shanxi. A natural gas explosion on 30 March at the Mengjiagou mine in Liaoning Province killed 25 miners, and another gas blast on 22 March at the Mengnanzhuang mine in Shanxi killed 72. The Mengjiagou mine explosion was caused when managers failed to evacuate miners after shutting off power to adjust voltage. The outage shut off units used to ventilate natural gas from shafts as it seeped from the coal bed. 
 
&quot;The miners of the world are not prepared to sit back and allow this unacceptable loss of life in China,&quot; said Higgs. &quot;We're hopeful that with a joint labour-employer international team in place, coupled with the cooperation of the Chinese, comprehensive health and safety solutions can be found.&quot;

Action Needed on Chinese Mine Safety

A second round of industrial actions organised by the Federation of Austrian Trade Unions (&Ouml;GB) was held 13 May to protest the ruling conservative-far-right coalition government's regressive pension reform plan. The 13 May labour actions and strikes, joined by the ICEM affiliate Austrian Metal and Textile Workers' Union, come one week after initial actions by workers were held to protest the government's refusal to get consensus from social partners over pension changes. 
 
Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel introduced the draft law 29 April that would raise Austria's retirement age and decrease pay-outs. Representatives from the &Ouml;GB and employers group then met proposing a delay in any reform until late September in order to submit suggestions to the draft law by the social partners, as is customary in Austrian lawmaking. Schuessel has refused, and his aim is to bring the measure to Parliament in early June. 
 
Pension reform as proposed would prolong the period of contributions from 40 to 45 years, as well as change the way in which pay-outs are calculated by taking an average of contributions over 40 years rather than the 15 most recent or most advantageous years. The government's reform would phase out early retirement, abolishing it altogether by year 2008. It proposes retirement age be raised to 65 years, whereas most Austrian men now retire at age 59 and women at 57. 
 
Metal and Textile Workers' Union President Rudolf N&uuml;rnberger commented on the government's plan: &quot;For they know not what they do. A man who works one year longer, so pays longer into the system, still gets less pension. This reform punishes those who have worked over their whole lives.&quot; N&uuml;rnberger addressed over 5,000 workers, mostly employees of Siemens and Henkel, at a rally on 6 May in Vienna. 
 
The Metal and Textile Union conducted some 307 different actions across Austria on that day that included 57,500 workers. In all, Austria's labour unions informed some 120,000 workers of the planned degradations to then pensions in workshop meetings leading up to the 6 May and 13 May job actions.

Industrial Actions in Austria

&quot;We need democracy in Nigeria, and the pro-democracy movement is gathering strength every day. But even once we achieve political democracy, we will need to maintain the pressure so that we can have a cleaner society.&quot; 
 
Nigerian oilworkers' leader Milton Dabibi emphasised this in a phone interview with ICEM UPDATE this evening. Dabibi had just arrived in Port Harcourt after his release from prison earlier this week. He had been detained without charge or trial for more than two years. 
 
Dabibi is General Secretary of Nigerian oil and gas workers' union PENGASSAN, which is affiliated to the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM). 
 
The ICEM led a worldwide trade union campaign for his release and for that of Frank Kokori, General Secretary of ICEM-affiliated Nigerian oil and gas workers' union NUPENG. Dabibi and Kokori were among the first nine Nigerian detainees to be released this week. About a hundred political prisoners are still being held in Nigerian jails. 
 
&quot;Without the ICEM and the world trade union movement, I wouldn't be alive today,&quot; commented Dabibi, who said he now felt &quot;fine&quot; after a few days' rest. &quot;I wasn't allowed to see anyone while I was in prison, not even my wife. But brief notes smuggled in to me occasionally let me know you were all out there pushing for my release. It was the feeling that people somewhere cared about me that enabled me to endure. I don't have the words to express my thanks to trade unionists everywhere.&quot; 
 
He paid tribute to his wife for her tireless campaigning on his behalf, and to the work of Amnesty International, which adopted him as a prisoner of conscience. 
 
Dabibi said that, before commenting in detail on the current trade union and political situation, he wanted &quot;time to size up the civilised world again first.&quot; 
 
However, he had already had the opportunity to talk to PENGASSAN officers and members. &quot;What is clear is that they want a real union again. The union has been castrated. The presence of a government-imposed administrator means that the membership can't decide freely on the future of the union and of its leadership. So first of all, we have to convince the government to withdraw the administrator.&quot; 
 
This would be achieved, he thought, although &quot;not within one or two days.&quot; 
 
&quot;We are working side by side with the democracy movement people here,&quot; Dabibi said. &quot;And that means that trade union rights are on the democracy movement's agenda. If they prevail, we will prevail. We need freedom of association. We need freedom of the press. We need free and fair elections. We need a police force that is used only to protect civil society. And if there really still has to be a national security service, then it should concern itself with national security - not with chasing trade unionists and democrats.&quot;

Nigerian Oilworkers &quot;Want A Real Union Again&quot; - Milton Dabibi

Brazil's legislators yesterday voted unanimously to grant an amnesty to oil unions facing massive fines. The amnesty still has to be approved by the Brazilian President, Fernando Henrique Cardoso. 
 
Fines imposed on the oil unions for holding a legal strike three years ago now total more than 60 million US dollars. At the time, Brazil's Higher Labour Court ruled that the unions bore legal responsibility for a fuel shortage resulting from the strike. This decision led to the sequestration of oil union assets and the freezing of union bank accounts. 
 
 
<img height="245" src="" width="372" alt="" />
Brazil's oilworkers: 
Fined 60 million dollars for a legal strike. 
(Photo: ICEM) 

The local unions involved are members of the Brazilian oil workers' federation FUP, which in turn is part of the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM). The ICEM has been pressing the Brazilian government to overturn the &quot;scandalous&quot; verdict, and the UN's International Labour Organisation (ILO) has repeatedly ruled that the fines violate international standards on collective bargaining and the right to strike 
 
In fact, this is not the first time the Brazilian parliament has voted to waive the fines and unfreeze the oil unions' accounts. But to general consternation, the parliament's previous attempts to bring in an amnesty were vetoed by the President. 
 
Now, though, the prospects are brighter, according to the FUP's Carlos Spis. He says the amnesty legislation has been more tightly drawn this time, so that it would apply purely to the oil sector, and he is optimistic that President Henrique Cardoso will sign it into law. The measure is due to go to the President next week, after which he has fifteen days to consider it.

Brazil: Fines Amnesty For Oil Unions?

&quot;We want this country to have full democracy. And we're going to democratise the Nigerian labour movement. I can assure you that Nigeria's trade unions will soon be back on their feet and ready to defend the workers and the masses of Nigeria.&quot; 
 
That was the message from Nigerian oilworkers' leader Frank Kokori this afternoon when ICEM UPDATE reached him by phone at his home in Lagos. Kokori, who is General Secretary of the Nigerian oil and gas workers' union NUPENG, has just been released from jail after almost four years of detention without trial. 
 
&quot;I can tell you, this house is full to bursting,&quot; Kokori said. &quot;There's jubilation. Workers, human rights activists, church people, market women - they're all here and we're all very happy. The Nigerian people are now ready for full democracy. Never again will dictators take us for a ride.&quot; 
 
Kokori's union is affiliated to the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM), which led a worldwide trade union campaign for his release and for that of Milton Dabibi, General Secretary of ICEM-affiliated Nigerian oil and gas workers' union PENGASSAN. Kokori and Dabibi were among the first nine Nigerian detainees to be released this week. About a hundred political prisoners are still being held in Nigerian jails. 
 
&quot;I am very much aware of the action taken by the ICEM and your affiliated unions worldwide,&quot; Kokori said. &quot;This is an outstanding example of trade union solidarity and of struggle by workers all over the world. I send my sincere thanks to you all. Without you, I wouldn't be here today.&quot; 
 
He also thanked Amnesty International for their &quot;wonderful job&quot; in the campaign for his release. 
 
Asked about his health, Kokori said, &quot;I'm going to need medical check-ups. The situation was very bad during my incarceration and I'm very happy to be out of there.&quot; 
 
But he was more interested in the future: &quot;This country isn't out of the woods yet. There are still struggles ahead.&quot;

Frank Speaking: Nigeria&#039;s Unions Will Democratise, Kokori Says

Detained Nigerian oilworkers' leaders Milton Dabibi and Frank Kokori have now been released from prison, a Nigerian union officer told the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM) this morning. Their unions are making arrangements to bring Dabibi and Kokori home from their places of detention. 
 
Nigerian Head of State Major-General Abdulsalam Abubakar announced the decision to free Kokori, Dabibi and a number of other detainees last night. Frank Kokori, General Secretary of oil and gas workers' union NUPENG, has been detained without charge or trial since 1994, and Milton Dabibi, General Secretary of oil and gas workers' union PENGASSAN, since January 1996. 
 
Both unions are affiliated to the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM), which has been leading an international trade union campaign for Dabibi's and Kokori's release. Other organisations campaigning on their behalf include Amnesty International. 
 
When Major-General Abubakar was sworn in as Nigeria's new Head of State last week, the ICEM, its affiliated unions worldwide and other union internationals immediately asked him to order Kokori's and Dabibi's release. 
 
&quot;We are delighted that these two courageous trade union leaders have been freed from their long and unjust imprisonment,&quot; said ICEM General Secretary Vic Thorpe this morning. &quot;This is a great step towards the restoration of trade union freedom in Nigeria. Our sincere thanks go to all the ICEM affiliates and all the union internationals and national union federations who have campaigned on Milton Dabibi's and Frank Kokori's behalf, to Amnesty International and other human rights organisations and to the governments and oil companies who helped to lobby for the two Nigerian union leaders' release. 
 
&quot;The ICEM congratulates Major-General Abubakar for moving swiftly to undo the gross injustice done by his predecessor,&quot; Thorpe stated. &quot;We ask him now to take the next logical step by ending all government intervention in the affairs of PENGASSAN and NUPENG, withdrawing the government-imposed 'sole administrators' from the unions' offices, handing back to the elected officers of NUPENG and PENGASSAN the responsibility for running their unions, lifting the ban on the check-off of union dues, unfreezing the unions' bank accounts, ordering the reinstatement of any oil workers dismissed for their part in the Nigerian oil strike of 1994 and rescinding all decrees that restrict Nigerian unions' right to affiliate freely at the international level. 
 
&quot;This is a great triumph for international labour solidarity,&quot; Thorpe said. &quot;We must now move forward and help our Nigerian brothers and sisters to regain what is theirs of right - independent, effective trade unions that can defend their interests within a democratic Nigeria.&quot;

Nigerian Oilworkers&#039; Leaders Released

Detained Nigerian oilworkers' leaders Milton Dabibi and Frank Kokori are to be released immediately, news reports say. 
 
Nigerian Head of State Major-General Abdusalam Abubakar reportedly announced the decision to free them and a number of other detainees within the past hour. 
 
It is not known if the two union leaders have already left prison, or whether any conditions are attached to their release. 
 
Frank Kokori, General Secretary of oil and gas workers' union NUPENG, has been detained without charge or trial since 1994, and Milton Dabibi, General Secretary of oil and gas workers' union PENGASSAN, since January 1996. 
 
Both unions are affiliated to the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM), which has been leading an international trade union campaign for Dabibi's and Kokori's release. Other organisations campaigning on their behalf include Amnesty International, which has recognised both men as prisoners of conscience. 
 
&quot;On the face of it, this is excellent news,&quot; commented ICEM General Secretary Vic Thorpe this evening. &quot;We are now waiting impatiently to hear that Milton Dabibi and Frank Kokori really have been released, that they are in reasonable health and that they are free to resume their work as the elected leaders of Nigeria's oil and gas workers.&quot; 
 
The ICEM will give further news and comment as soon as more details are known.

Nigerian Oilworkers&#039; Leaders Freed?

U nion leaders representing employees of Goodyear Tire &amp; Rubber Co. in 27 countries joined the negotiating team of the United Steelworkers of America (USWA) here today for the opening of master contract negotiations with the company. 
 
The talks will address contracts covering 20,000 active workers and 22,000 retirees across the United States. The current three-year agreement is set to expire on April 19, 2003 at the Goodyear and Dunlop plants and on July 6, 2003 at the Kelly-Springfield facilities. 
 
The international delegation included rubber workers union officials from Brazil, the United Kingdom, Turkey and Germany. Together with the USWA, they comprise the steering committee of the Goodyear Global Union Network of the 20-million-member International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers&rsquo; Unions (ICEM), a global union federation. The network includes Goodyear unions on six continents and is chaired by USWA International Vice President Andrew V. Palm. 
 
Palm will lead the USWA Goodyear/Kelly-Springfield/Dunlop bargaining team. &ldquo;The security of our members&rsquo; jobs, wages, benefits and retirement earnings are our paramount concern,&rdquo; he stated. &ldquo;We are convinced that Goodyear can return to profitability while also ensuring these basic protections.&rdquo; 
 
&ldquo;We are proud and grateful that the Goodyear unions from around the world are standing by our side,&rdquo; Palm continued. &ldquo;Their presence here at the opening of our contract negotiations demonstrates our unity and resolve to work together across borders for the common benefit of Goodyear workers everywhere in the world.&rdquo; 
 
The USWA local unions involved in the contract negotiations include those from Akron/Green, Ohio; Gadsden, Ala.; Buffalo, N.Y.; St. Mary&rsquo;s, Ohio; Lincoln, Neb.; Topeka, Kan.; Freeport, Ill.; Tyler, Texas; Danville, Va.; Marysville, Ohio; Union City, Tenn.; Sun Prairie, Wis.; Huntsville, Ala.; Fayetteville, N.C. 
 
&ldquo;The trade union movement is developing the capacity to have the same global reach as the multinational corporations for which our members work,&rdquo; said Carlos Antonio da Silva of the Latin American rubber workers union federation FUTINAL from Brazil. &ldquo;What you&rsquo;re seeing here in Cincinnati is global unionism in action.&rdquo; 
 
The other union leaders who were present were Joao Batista Gon&ccedil;alves of FUTINAL from Brazil; Bill Holmes of the U.K. union AMICUS; Karl-Heinz Sch&auml;del, chairman of the Goodyear Dunlop Central Works Council of Germany and member of the Goodyear European Works Council steering committee from the German union IG Bergbau Chemie Energie; Abdullah Karacan, president of the Turkish union Lastik-Is; Kemal &Ouml;zkan of Lastik-Is; and Marc Welters and Kenneth Zinn of the ICEM. 
 
In addition to providing support to the USWA, the international union leaders had an opportunity to discuss matters affecting Goodyear workers around the world with senior company management. 
 
&ldquo;We are pleased to have this opportunity to have a dialogue with Goodyear senior management,&rdquo; said the U.K.&rsquo;s Bill Holmes, &ldquo;and hope to continue the discussion and reach an understanding with the company so that Goodyear workers the world over are treated with the same dignity and respect.&rdquo;

Global Union Network Backs Steelworkers at Goodyear

Support to miners and other workers in Russia campaigning for payment of wage arrears was today reaffirmed by the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM). In particular, the ICEM Executive Committee called upon all ICEM affiliates worldwide to block any attempts to export additional coal to Russia. 
 
 

<img height="294" alt="" src="" width="200" />
&nbsp;Unpaid Russian miners blocking a railway line. 
&quot;We can no longer bear to look into our children's hungry eyes,&quot; their placard says. &quot;We have nothing to lose.&quot; 
(Photo: Vyacheslav Voyakin, Vladivostok News) 

Full text of the resolution unanimously adopted by the ICEM Executive in Blankenberge, Belgium, today: 
 
We, participants of the 3rd Executive Committee meeting of the ICEM, observe with great concern the developments in Russia. 
 
Our colleagues, the Russian miners, were brought to the edge of despair by systematic delays in wage payments and severe erosion of social benefits, which pushed them to launch nationwide protest campaigns involving strikes, blocking of coal supplies and paralysing railroad traffic in several regions of Russia. 
 
 

<img height="207" alt="" src="" width="319" />
 
The coal industry in Russia is in a very difficult situation: it is planned to close 120 mines in 1998, leaving 300,000 miners unemployed. Miners appear to be hostages of the unwise economic policy of the Russian government and that is the background against which miners are not paid their salaries on time. 
 
In the course of the campaign, there were several cases when union leaders were harassed and threatened with prosecution by local authorities and employers. The Russian government threatened to undermine the effectiveness of collective actions by importing additional coal into Russia. We raise our voice against any persecution of union activists in Russia, and also appeal to ICEM affiliates to block any attempts to export additional coal to Russia. 
 
For the time being, coal miners have forced the government into extraordinary measures, which resulted in the paying out of wage debts in several regions, and we congratulate our colleagues on this victory. 
 
However, our Brothers and Sisters in other industries continue to suffer from the immoral policy of wage arrears. The ICEM, at the request of Russian affiliates, has several times expressed solidarity in support of their struggle and sent letters of protest to the Russian authorities with reference to wage arrears. The ICEM has launched a worldwide cybercampaign on the Internet supporting Russian workers and their struggle. 
 
Today, we, the representatives of workers of 115 countries united in the ICEM, declare that in future, the ICEM will use all its possibilities to support the just struggle of Russian workers for their rights. 
 
We urge the Russian authorities and employers not to bring workers and their families to the edge of rage and despair, but to solve all problems in a civilised way, on the basis of respect for human rights, justice and law.

Block Extra Coal Exports To Russia, Union International Says

The Indian and Pakistani governments should &quot;renounce nuclear weaponry,&quot; the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM) urged today. The ICEM's worldwide membership includes workers in the civil nuclear industry. 
 
Full text of the resolution unanimously adopted by the ICEM Executive in Blankenberge, Belgium, today: 
 
Emphasising the position of the world's nuclear industry workers, as expressed at the last World Conference of Nuclear Industry Workers in Washington, USA, in March 1995, that this powerful technology should be directed towards the peaceful service of humanity; 
Understanding that the causes of fear and conflict in the world spring from social and economic injustice and are heightened by the impacts of globalisation; 
the ICEM Executive Committee, meeting in Blankenberge, Belgium, on 28-29 May 1998 
 
Expresses its alarm at the recent testing of nuclear devices by the governments of India and Pakistan; 
Calls upon the Indian and Pakistani governments to renounce nuclear weaponry in the pursuit of national interests and to cease any deployment of nuclear weapons as a threat to their neighbours; 
Pledges its support for the people and especially the workers of India and Pakistan in their just struggle to obtain a fair share of world production and resources to feed and to develop their nations.

Renounce Nuclear Weapons, Unions Urge India And Pakistan

Archive

Action Needed on Chinese Mine Safety

Industrial Actions in Austria

Nigerian Oilworkers "Want A Real Union Again" - Milton Dabibi

Brazil: Fines Amnesty For Oil Unions?

Frank Speaking: Nigeria's Unions Will Democratise, Kokori Says

Nigerian Oilworkers' Leaders Released

Nigerian Oilworkers' Leaders Freed?

Global Union Network Backs Steelworkers at Goodyear

Block Extra Coal Exports To Russia, Union International Says

Renounce Nuclear Weapons, Unions Urge India And Pakistan

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