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<img height="40" alt="" src="" width="100" />
In New Zealand, 58 members of&nbsp;Engineering, Printing &amp; Manufacturing Union (EPMU) were suddenly locked out on 3 February by Top Energy, a community-owned electricity distributor. The linemen were seeking EPMU&rsquo;s standard 5% wage hike, but have been met by unrealistic expectations from managers such as a 45-hour work-week without overtime. 
&ldquo;We have been negotiating for nearly six months, and have agreed to look at modernising the collective agreement, but we will not accept cuts to pay and conditions in an industry that's already relatively poorly paid and facing a severe labour shortage,&rdquo; stated EPMU President Andrew Little to the New Zealand Press. 
The company supplies power to customers in New Zealand&rsquo;s North Island from Whangarei to the North Cape.

Lockout at Electrical Distributor in New Zealand

<img height="40" src="" width="100" alt="" />
ExxonMobil is being pressured to announce to either reopen its Mobil Oil Australia refinery at Port Stanvac, or face a costly environmental clean-up bill. Mobil Australia, wholly-owned by the US supermajor, has until July 2006 to announce plans for the refinery, which was closed in mid-2003 with the loss of 400 jobs. 
A South Australia state parliamentary inquiry recently heard from contractors of Mobil Australia who said burying asbestos waste and other toxic chemicals on both land and sea was commonplace at the refinery in the suburbs of South Adelaide from the 1970s to the 1990s. 
A former health representative at the refinery said 3,000 people had been exposed to asbestos, and added, &ldquo;I saw things which you know are not right&hellip;if you say anything, you are out of a job.&rdquo; 
Since ExxonMobil&rsquo;s decision to mothball the Port Stanvac refinery in 2003, Australia has become a net importer of refined petroleum products.

ExxonMobil Pushed for Decision on Closed Australian Refinery

Pay rises averaging between 2.01 and 3.13 per cent have been secured this year by Japanese unions affiliated to the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM). 
 
Despite the recent economic downturn in Japan, ICEM unions there demonstrated their strength by winning real pay increases for their members. This year's average wage hikes were only slightly down on the 1997 increases of between 2.29 and 3.19 per cent in plants organised by the ICEM's Japanese unions. But the 1998 annual bargaining round, the shunto, was certainly the toughest in recent years, and the negotiations took longer than usual.

Japanese Unions Win Pay Rises

Pekka Aro, a senior official of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and past deputy general secretary of the ICEF - forerunner of the ICEM - died on Saturday 5 April in a Beijing hospital of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), at the tragically young age of 52. 
 
 

<img height="344" alt="" src="" width="250" />
Pekka Aro 
photographed in 1988 as 
ICEF Deputy General Secretary
After working for the Finnish Glass and Porcelain Workers' Union and the Paper Workers' Union, he distinguished himself in the international trade union movement. He became Deputy General Secretary of the International Federation of Chemical, Energy and General Workers' Unions (ICEF) in 1984 and served in that position until 1989. During this time he was a major motivator in the establishment the joint Working Party on Occupational Health and Safety involving the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) and the International Trade Secretariats (ITS - now known as Global Union Federations; GUF). The Working Party has since gone from strength to strength and is now a well-established annual event that has broadened its membership to include health, safety and environmental activists from around the globe. 
 
An author of numerous articles and books, Pekka also played a crucial role in putting together and leading the ICFTU/ICEF investigative mission to Bhopal, India, in the immediate aftermath of the catastrophic chemical release from the Union Carbide plant in that city. The resulting ICFTU/ICEF 'Trade Union Report on Bhopal' subsequently came to be recognised as one of the most thorough reports on the disaster ever produced. The report and its findings were in large part responsible for the development of the ILO Convention on the Prevention of Major Industrial Accidents. Mike Wright, Director of Health, Safety and Environment at the United Steelworkers of America, principal author of the Bhopal Report and follow-on chair of the ICFTU/ITS Working Party, on hearing of Pekka's death said: &quot;Pekka combined vision with organisation and absolute integrity with a love for working people. He died on a mission to improve the lives of Asian workers. We will miss him terribly.&quot; 
 
During his tenure at the ICEF, Pekka was personally responsible for overseeing the effective introduction of new technology - long before its importance had been recognised by the rest of the international trade union movement, and long before the internet became a reality. 
 
In 1992 Pekka joined the International Labour Orgnisation (ILO) as a Brussels-based specialist on workers' activities. A year later he was in Budapest busy developing the ILO's work in Central and Eastern Europe in order to assist unions in that region with the enormous challenges of political, economic and social transition. In 1998 he joined the ILO's Employment Department, where he was responsible for its skills, knowledge and employability programme until his untimely death. 
 
In paying tribute to Pekka's memory, ICEM general secretary, Fred Higgs, said that: &quot;Pekka will be remembered by many people for many things. From the perspective of the ICEM, he will be particularly remembered as someone with a vision of a modern, effective organisation and the tenacity to make it happen. Pekka had a strong sense of international solidarity and great respect for different cultures. At this time all our thoughts are with his family&quot;. 
 
In a letter of condolences to his family, ICFTU General Secretary Guy Ryder recalled Pekka's &quot;Outstanding contribution to improving the lives of working people. Pekka Aro worked tirelessly for those most in need of his special talents. He always remembered his roots in the trade union movement, and his energy, good humour and commitment to building a better world will be sadly missed by all those who had the privilege of knowing and working with him&quot;. 
 
Pekka's many friends around the world are united in their sorrow for a life cut short in tragic circumstances. He is survived by his wife Ritva and three children, Eemili, Pilvi and Oskari.

Tribute to Pekka Aro

The oil sector's first-ever globally applicable agreement on industrial relations was signed in Copenhagen on 7 July between energy multinational Statoil and the trade unions. 
 
A major player in oil, gas and related industries, Statoil has operations in 27 countries and employs more than 18,000 people. 
 
The agreement covers basic trade union rights, health, safety and the environment, information and training. 
 

<img height="145" src="" width="200" alt="" />
IN GLOBAL ACCORD: (l. to r.) Statoil's Jostein Gaasemyr, ICEM's and NOPEF's Lars Myhre and ICEM's Vic Thorpe. 
(photo: ICEM) 

Signing for the unions were Lars Myhre and Vic Thorpe.
Myhre is President of the Norwegian oil and petrochemical workers' union NOPEF and chairman of the oil industry section of the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM). 
 
Thorpe is the ICEM's General Secretary. 
 
For Statoil, the agreement was signed by Jostein Gaasemyr, Vice-President of Labour Relations. 
 
The declared aim of the agreement is to &quot;create an open channel of information between NOPEF/ICEM and Statoil Management about industrial relations issues in order to continuously improve and develop good work practices in Statoil's worldwide operations.&quot; It applies to &quot;all Statoil operations over which the company has direct control, i.e. Statoil is the operator.&quot; 
 
Statoil, NOPEF and the ICEM &quot;affirm their support for fundamental human rights in the community and in the place of work.&quot; They also &quot;recognise the importance of protecting health, safety and well-being at work&quot; and share concerns about the impact that &quot;production and distribution may have upon the natural and human environment.&quot; 
 
Many of the agreement's specific provisions are linked to the relevant standards (Conventions) set by the UN's International Labour Organisation (ILO). 
 
In particular, the unions' new global agreement with Statoil includes the following commitments [quote]: 
<ul>
 <li>
 <div>the right of every employee to be represented by a union of his or her own choice and the basic trade union rights as defined by ILO Conventions 87 and 98. Statoil therefore agrees not to oppose efforts to unionise its employees. 
 </div>
 </li>
 <li>
 <div>to employ no forced or bonded labour as proscribed in the ILO Conventions 29 and 105 
 </div>
 </li>
 <li>
 <div>to employ no child labour as proscribed by ILO Convention 138 
 </div>
 </li>
 <li>
 <div>to exercise equality of opportunity and treatment in employment as required by ILO Conventions 100 and 111 
 to pay fair wages and benefits according to good industry standards in the country concerned 
 </div>
 </li>
 <li>
 <div>to provide a safe work environment, deploying common &quot;best practice&quot; standards. 
 [end of quote] </div>
 </li>
</ul>
 
NOPEF/ICEM and Statoil will meet annually to review progress in implementing the agreement. In addition to general industrial issues and matters concerning health, safety and the environment, the annual meeting may address the following topics [quote]: 
<ul>
 <li>the economic and financial position of the company and the development of its business, major industrial and technological projects 
 </li>
 <li>general corporate policy on employment/occupational health, safety and environmental issues affecting the company 
 </li>
 <li>training matters 
 </li>
 <li>issues affecting the exercise of trade union rights 
 </li>
 <li>any other issues mutually agreed upon. 
 [end of quote] </li>
</ul>
The agreement gives full protection to union officers and to employees who provide information on its observance and implementation. Statoil itself undertakes to make available &quot;relevant information and other agreed facilities&quot; to union delegates, in return for a commitment by the unions to respect the commercial confidentiality of the information provided. 
 
The global agreement explicitly does not replace local-level industrial relations, and it embodies &quot;the principle that industrial relations issues are best resolved as close as possible to the place of work.&quot; 
 
&quot;NOPEF/ICEM and Statoil will both contribute to specific training programmes,&quot; the agreement states. This will include health and environment &quot;best practice&quot; training for union delegates from countries where Statoil is the operator and management training programmes within Statoil. &quot;In case of NOPEF/ICEM contributions to Statoil training programmes, costs may be covered by Statoil subject to agreement.&quot; 
 
Commented Statoil's Jostein Gaasemyr : &quot;This is an important step for Statoil, because we see the implementation of human rights as a crucial challenge in some of the environments in which we do business. This is an extension to the global level of the constructive, problem-solving relationship that Statoil has maintained with NOPEF for the past twenty years. We have long worked together with NOPEF,and NOPEF has now provided the link forward to our new global cooperation with the ICEM&quot;. 
 
The new agreement is &quot;a major step forward for global industrial relations in the oil industry,&quot; Lars Myhre commented. &quot;It will benefit the workers and the company. Not for the first time, Statoil has shown itself to be a far-sighted employer with a good understanding of its own longer-term interests.&quot; 
 
&quot;This is an important day for the ICEM and for the world trade union movement,&quot; said Vic Thorpe. &quot;Statoil has recognised that it makes sense for a global company to relate to trade unions globally, as well as nationally and locally. We are confident that more such agreements will follow soon in the oil industry and in other sectors where the ICEM represents the world's workers.&quot;

Oil Company and Unions Sign First Worldwide Agreement

&quot;Global unionism&quot; is a must for the world's rubber manufacturing workers' unions. To achieve it, they launched a new action plan in Kuala Lumpur today. 
 
Worldwide employment in the rubber manufacturing sectors has been heavily impacted over the past five years by the twin pressures of technology and industry concentration. 
 
 

<img height="317" alt="" src="" width="240" />
ICEM's George Becker: 
 
&quot;We will add a new global - global unionism.&quot; 
 
(Photo: USWA) 

Unions representing rubber manufacturing workers of all continents met in the Malaysian capital today and yesterday to assess the effects of these trends and to draw up a strategic plan of action. The union leaders were taking part in the World Rubber Industry Conference of the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM). 
 
&quot;The largest tyre manufacturers all have global strategies,&quot; George Becker pointed out. Becker is President of the ICEM-affiliated United Steel Workers of America (USWA), which organises rubber workers. &quot;With the help of the ICEM,&quot; he said, &quot;the major unions in the tyre industry are putting together a team to develop our own strategic plan.&quot; 
 
Becker chaired the discussions in Kuala Lumpur and was unanimously re-elected as chairman of the ICEM Rubber Industry Section. 
 
Elements of the rubber unions' new worldwide action plan include: 
 
Regular detailed information exchange between unions on company strategies and terms and conditions of employment. This will assist unions' preparations for collective bargaining. 
 
An integrated global support system between unions in the industry. This will uphold and extend the organisation of workers in independent and strong unions. 
 
Where necessary, recourse to the international standards and monitoring mechanisms of the UN's International Labour Organisation (ILO) on the protection of basic trade union rights. Special attention will be paid to the concerns of women, who often form the majority of the workforce in the rubber industry's important non-tyre sector. 
 
Strategic planning through a newly established Steering Group which will identify targets and coordinate support and solidarity activities on an ongoing basis. 
 
Intensified work on building trade union networks within key rubber multinationals. These Company Networks involve trade union representatives and officials who negotiate with the company in question. 
 
A higher profile for health, safety and environment issues within the industry. Action will include a campaign to &quot;responsibilise&quot; the various company &quot;Responsible Care&quot; programmes and to ensure trade union involvement in all such initiatives. 
 
Global companies need to be confronted by global unions, the Kuala Lumpur delegates insisted. A key trade union demand must, they said, be the establishment of international agreements guaranteeing basic trade union rights and accepting the principle of universal &quot;best practice&quot; health and safety standards throughout each company's worldwide operations. 
 
&quot;We are constantly reminded of the global economy and global trade,&quot; Becker concluded. &quot;Well, we will add a new 'global' - global unionism.&quot;

Rubber Unions Go Global

T he New Zealand's Engineering, Printing &amp; Manufacturing Union Inc. (EPMU) is fighting for a new collective agreement at Carter Holt Harvey (CHH) - as the last one expired nearly two years ago. 
 
At the global level, the Engineering, Printing &amp; Manufacturing Union Inc. is affiliated to the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM) 
 
On 8 March 2003 an indefinite strike by Production workers began. They have had no wage increase since two years, even though down-sizing means workers are expected to do more. 
 
CHH wants to: 
 
 
 
&sect; Reduce safety standards on site by replacing the on-site professional fire brigade and requiring production workers to train for fire-fighting and emergency rescue duties. 
 
&sect; Reduce workers' incomes. The salary offer means a loss of $10,000 pa for most, with longer hours. The choice? Keep existing pay structure, but lose conditions such as safety and the certainty of an agreed training and promotion process. 
 
Carter Holt Harvey is New Zealand's second-largest company, employing 8000 workers in this country. It is controlled by the giant American company International Paper. 
 
On 25 March 2003 CHH tried to make Kinleith product at its Whakatane Mill. CHH's lawyer argued that this was not a breach of s97 of the Employment Relations Act (substituting for striking workers) because the work was not being done on the same premises. CHH contended workers would be refusing a lawful instruction if they did not do the work. CHH later abandoned the attempt to do Kinleith work at Whakatane, but the incident again signals the extent to which CHH will go to test out the boundaries of the law and gain an advantage in the bargaining. 
 
 
 
Local MP urges resolution to Kinleith dispute 
 
 
&quot;We are in a new era, and the clear intent of legislative change was to promote a more co-operative industrial environment,&quot; Mark Burton said. 
 
&quot;I urge Carter Holt Harvey to move on from the outmoded attitudes of the 1990s and get around the table with union representatives to negotiate a fair settlement. 
 
&quot;This is an issue of import to our local community and to all of New Zealand. The situation requires nothing less than genuine good faith negotiations.&quot;

Strike of IP-controlled Carter Holt Harvey Kinleith in New Zealand

M ARLBORO, Mass., March 24-- At a news conference held here this morning, trade unionists and political leaders from France joined U.S. Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.), U.S. Representative James McGovern (D-Mass.) and the mayors from Worcester and Marlboro, Mass. in calling on the management of Saint Gobain, a multinational company based in Paris, to bargain a fair contract with the UAW-represented workforce at Saint Gobain's abrasives factory in Worcester. 
 
&quot;We believe the company should show the union here the same respect they show us in France,&quot; commented Michel Decayeux, General Secretary of the Fedechimie CGT-FO union and Chairman of the Materials Section of the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM). 
 
In addition to Decayeux, the delegation from France included: Bernard Soulage, National Secretary for Economic Affairs of the French Socialist Party; Thierry Soret, Coordinator of International Programs of the French Socialist Party; and Patrick Mazeau, National Officer for European and International Affairs of Federation Chimie Energie CFDT. Both French unions represent workers in the chemicals, oil and glass industries, including workers employed by Saint-Gobain in France. 
 
U.S. Senator John F. Kerry said the company's stalling needs to come to an end. 
 
&quot;Saint Gobain management should identify where the decision makers are for these talks. Whether it is in Paris, at Saint Gobain North American headquarters in Pennsylvania or here in Massachusetts, they should come to the table prepare to negotiate in good faith until an agreement is reached,&quot; said Kerry. &quot;This company resisted the effort of their workers to unionize, but they lost. They should quit resisting now by stalling in these negotiations. These workers are not against this company and their proposals are not unreasonable.&quot; 
 
Asked whether they would meet with company officials, Patrick Mazeau, National Officer for European and International Affairs of Federation Chimie Energie CFDT, said that the company had offered to meet, but with the condition that UAW representatives would be excluded. 
 
&quot;That is unacceptable,&quot; said Mazeau, who pledged the French union officials' ongoing support for the UAW when they return to France. 
 
Philip Wheeler, who directs UAW Region 9-A, which includes Massachusetts, said the support of international and national political and labor leaders, and local religious and community activists showed a strong sense of solidarity as contract negotiations move ahead. 
 
&quot;International solidarity isn't just a slogan. This delegation from France represents real cooperation in the struggle to win justice for our members at Saint Gobain here in Massachusetts. The tension at this time between the governments of our two countries over matters of foreign policy makes the expression of global trade union solidarity represented by your trip here all the more significant, said Wheeler. &quot;We also greatly appreciate the support of Senator Kerry, Representative McGovern and the other Massachusetts officials including Senator Kennedy who have signed a letter a letter to the company.&quot; 
 
Rep. McGovern released to the press today a letter to Saint-Gobain from the entire Massachusetts Congressional delegation, urging management &quot;to ensure that a fair and just agreement can be negotiated with the union as soon as possible.&quot; Rep. McGovern also released a letter from U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) to Saint-Gobain, stating, &quot;The right of workers to form or join a union is an essential part of respect for democracy and basic human rights. The employees at the Worcester facility have made their will clear.&quot; Kennedy urged the company to &quot;reach a prompt and amicable resolution&quot; of the contract negotiations with the UAW. 
 
 
On Sunday, the French delegation met with Saint Gobain UAW members, spoke at a community rally and joined a march of several hundred to the Saint Gobain factory in Worcester. More than 350 union members, community activists, and religious and labor leaders attended the community rally and march.

UAW fight for First Contract at Saint Gobain

Rio Tinto, the world's biggest private mining company, was today accused of &quot;racist practices&quot; in Namibia. 
 
The damaging charge is made in a two-page statement issued by the Mineworkers' Union of Namibia (MUN) after the company suddenly halted collective bargaining. 
 
Recalling that Rio Tinto was &quot;in cahoots&quot; with the South African apartheid regime during its illegal occupation of Namibia, the MUN says the company's withdrawal from bargaining is in fact a &quot;calculated effort&quot; to maintain &quot;discriminatory practices&quot; dating from that era. 
 
The union cites: 
 
Continued racial segregation in company-provided housing, with the best estates being de facto reserved for whites. 
Wage discrimination. All Rio Tinto's black employees are, the MUN says, &quot;paid rock-bottom at the common scale while their white counterparts are paid way above the maximum of the common scale in what is termed an inducement band.&quot; 
Disciplinary discrimination. A union/management subcommittee had, the MUN points out, confirmed the union's claim that white and black workers are treated differently when involved in safety incidents. &quot;The former are just counselled while the latter receive harsh punitive actions ranging from final warnings to dismissals.&quot; 
The union says it had proposed a moratorium on disciplinary action until measures to end discrimination had been agreed. On receiving this proposal, management unilaterally halted collective bargaining. The ending of race discrimination has been a major negotiating issue at Rio Tinto in Namibia over the eight years since the country gained its independence. But there is &quot;no solution in sight to date,&quot; the union says. The company's unilateral halt to collective bargaining therefore amounts to a continuing entrenchment of racism. 
 
The union is now seeking legal advice. 
 
Namibia is by no means the only country where Rio Tinto is in trouble. The company is facing a broad-based worldwide campaign against its environmental damage and its violations of human rights. In particular, its attacks on trade union rights in many parts of the world have made it a priority target for networking by the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM). The MUN is an ICEM affiliate.

Rio Tinto Is &#039;Racist,&#039; Namibian Union Says

Nigerian oilworkers' leader Frank Kokori arrived back in Lagos yesterday to a noisy welcome from crowds of supporters and the media. He immediately called for an overhaul of Nigerian politics - and of the Nigerian unions. 
 
Kokori, who is the General Secretary of the Nigerian oil and gas workers' union NUPENG, had been detained without trial by the regime of General Abacha since 1994. In that year, a strike by Nigerian oil workers and others was put down by the military regime and a wave of repression against the oil unions and their leaders was unleashed. 
 
Milton Dabibi, General Secretary of Nigerian oil and gas workers' union PENGASSAN, was released from prison on Monday night. He had been held without trial since January 1996. He is now resting with his family at an undisclosed location and is expected in Port Harcourt tomorrow. Sources close to Dabibi said that he would be needing medical care. His conditions of detention are understood to have been particularly harsh. 
 
Both unions are affiliated to the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions, which led a sustained worldwide campaign for Dabibi's and Kokori's release. When Abacha died last week, the ICEM, its affiliates and other union internationals immediately asked his successor as Head of State, Major-General Abdulsalam Abubakar, to order Dabibi's and Kokori's release. They are among the first nine detainees to be freed. About a hundred political prisoners are still being held in Nigerian jails. 
 
 
 
&quot;WHAT HAS BECOME OF ORGANISED LABOUR?&quot; - KOKORI 
 
Observers say Kokori looked and sounded &quot;frail&quot; on his arrival at Lagos airport yesterday. He subsequently told union officers that he is &quot;OK&quot;, but they note that the conditions in which he was detained have &quot;taken a toll on him.&quot; 
 
But there was certainly nothing frail about Kokori's speech to the crowds at the airport. 
 
Thanking all those who supported him during his detention, Kokori roundly condemned the Abacha regime and said that he had never really expected to be freed while Abacha remained in power. In fact, &quot;I never wanted to be released under General Abacha, despite the pains I went through in prison.&quot; 
 
Turning to the military's annulment of the 1993 presidential elections in Nigeria, Kokori called on Major-General Abubakar to &quot;redress the injustice that was done.&quot; The presumed winner of the elections, Moshood Abiola, is among those still being detained without trial. 
 
But some of Kokori's strongest remarks yesterday were directed at the Nigerian trade unions - and more particularly the national union federation, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC). 
 
&quot;What has become of the organised labour movement that we left behind?&quot; Kokori asked his cheering supporters. The NLC had betrayed the 1994 strike, he insisted. &quot;At the peak&quot; of the 1994 crisis, Kokori recalled, he had spoken to the NLC's leader at that time, Pascal Bafyau: &quot;I said, 'Let us be on the right side of history.' Bafyau replied, 'I don't care what side of history I'm on.' &quot; Not long afterwards, Kokori was arrested by the State Security. 
 
 
 
&quot;LIFT RESTRICTIONS&quot; - ICEM 
 
ICEM General Secretary Vic Thorpe has congratulated Major-General Abubakar on his prompt action in releasing Dabibi and Kokori, and has thanked him for the particular attention given to these cases. At the same time, Thorpe asked the Head of State to lift the remaining restrictions on PENGASSAN and NUPENG. 
 
In particular, Thorpe said, legal recognition of Dabibi and Kokori as the unions' elected General Secretaries should be restored and the &quot;sole administrators&quot; imposed by the Abacha regime should now be withdrawn from the unions' offices. The ban on the check-off of union dues should be lifted. The unions' bank accounts should be unfrozen. Any oil workers sacked for their part in the 1994 strike should be reinstated. And all decrees that restrict Nigerian unions' right to affiliate freely at the international level should be rescinded. 
 
 
 
&quot;RESTORE DEMOCRACY&quot; - WASHINGTON DEMO 
 
In Washington yesterday, hundreds of demonstrators outside the Nigerian embassy called for a return to full democracy in Nigeria and the release of all political detainees there. The demonstrators applauded the release of Dabibi, Kokori and seven other detainees. 
 
The demonstration was co-sponsored by the ICEM, the US national labour federation AFL-CIO, Amnesty International, Sierra Club, Friends of the Earth, Public Services International, Coalition of Black Trade Unionists, TransAfrica, International Human Rights Law Group, Free Nigeria Movement, Nadeco (USA), Nigerian Democratic Movement, and United Democratic Front of Nigeria. 
 
&quot;America's unions stand united with the people of Nigeria,&quot; said AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka. &quot;We urge the release of all labour and political prisoners and call for democratic elections in Nigeria. We will continue to lend our support to our Nigerian brothers and sisters until democracy is restored.&quot; 
 
Trumka was joined in addressing the demonstration by Cordelia Kokori, Frank's daughter; Calvin Moore, Vice President of the Oil, Chemical &amp; Atomic Workers International Union (OCAW); Cecil Roberts, President of the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA); Steve Rickard, Director of the Washington Office of Amnesty International; and Steve Mills, Director of the Human Rights and Environment Campaign at the Sierra Club. The OCAW and the UMWA are ICEM affiliates. 
 
Today, a government spokesman in Nigeria promised that more detainees will be released &quot;in batches&quot; over the coming weeks. He did not, however, say how many, when and whether Abiola will be among them.

Nigerian Union Leaders Home

Archive

Lockout at Electrical Distributor in New Zealand

ExxonMobil Pushed for Decision on Closed Australian Refinery

Japanese Unions Win Pay Rises

Tribute to Pekka Aro

Oil Company and Unions Sign First Worldwide Agreement

Rubber Unions Go Global

Strike of IP-controlled Carter Holt Harvey Kinleith in New Zealand

UAW fight for First Contract at Saint Gobain

Rio Tinto Is 'Racist,' Namibian Union Says

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