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T he government of Argentina yesterday issued a second order to Bridgestone/Firestone management to reinstate some 90 employees who were sacked at a tyre factory last October, and to commence good-faith negotiations with the union. 
<img height="280" src="" width="354" alt="" />
Thousands of supporters of SUTNA rallied 
the Japanese Embassy in Buenos Aires 17 February 
The union, Sindicato Unico de Trabajadores del Neum&aacute;tico Argentina (SUTNA), has been lodged in a fierce dispute with the Japanese-based company, which has refused to negotiate a renewal agreement at its San Fernando factory near Buenos Aires with SUTNA. Thousands of demonstrators in support of SUTNA marched and rallied in front of the Japanese embassy in Buenos Aires on 17 February. 
 
The dispute centers on managers circumventing bargaining with the union last October in order to achieve rationalization with a new shift schedule. Bridgestone/Firestone unilaterally fired the 90 then even though a valid stability clause in the labour agreement prevented any workforce reduction without first negotiating with the union. 
 
The Labour Ministry for the state of Buenos Aires ordered the workers reinstated with backpay on 5 December, but Bridgestone/Firestone defied that order. 
 
After a hearing on 19 February, National Minister of Labour Carlos Tomado firmly condemned the company's actions and ordered Bridgestone/Firestone to abide by the labour agreement and to recognize the industrial relations policies of the country. 
 
&quot;The reputation of Bridgestone/Firestone worldwide would be seriously damaged if they again defy an order from the Argentine government, this time from the Minister of Labour himself,&quot; said ICEM General Secretary Fred Higgs. &quot;We call on all affiliates to aid SUTNA by registering protests with Bridgestone/Firestone management in their respective countries, and with the official Japanese missions near them.&quot;
&nbsp;In 2001, at the height of a currency crisis in Argentina, SUTNA signed a labour agreement conceding pay cuts of up to 25% and granting other entitlement reductions in order to keep Bridgestone's tyre operations in the South American country viable. The contract contained &quot;industrial peace&quot; language guaranteeing job security and full dialogue over issues with SUTNA. 
 
This initiative by SUTNA enabled the company to expend US$101 million in 2001-02 to expand production and shift to continuous operation. But management unilaterally voided that with last October's sackings, refusal to bargain with the union and prohibiting SUTNA representatives from even entering the tyre factory. 
 
&quot;We negotiated terms which were prejudicial to workers because we believed in the future of the company here in Argentina,&quot; stated SUTNA General Secretary Pedro Wasiejko. &quot;We trusted the company would respond when the economic situation got better. It has now improved but we're met by a company that refuses to comply with the terms of our agreement, or with the administration resolutions of the government.&quot; 
 
SUTNA is calling on Bridgestone/Firestone workers and their unions everywhere to direct letters of protest to local BF/FS managers, and to write to Japanese consulates and embassies in the countries in which they reside over the firm's intransigence in Argentina.

Bridgestone Again Stung by Ruling in Argentina

T he 20-million-member ICEM welcomed comments made last week by World Bank President James Wolfensohn that further dialogue is necessary to reach consensus over recommendations contained in the Extractive Industries Review (EIR). The EIR on 15 January issued its Bank-commissioned report entitled Striking a Better Balance intended to define the future role the World Bank should undertake in extractive industry sectors such as oil, gas and coal. 
 
&quot;Although there is much in the report that has had full input from the ICEM and which we embrace totally, we cannot endorse the EIR report's recommendation that the Bank phase out all involvement in oil and coal projects in the developing world over the next four years,&quot; stated ICEM General Secretary Fred Higgs. 
 
&quot;Such elimination is directly opposite the stated goals of both the Bank and EIR for sustainable development and eliminating poverty,&quot; added Higgs. &quot;The ICEM stands ready as a key stakeholder representing workers and communities to continue this dialogue with the World Bank. We're convinced labour's steadying voice within the process will help shape consensus.&quot; 
 
The World Bank president made his comments that further public consultation is necessary on the EIR at a meeting of community development and environmental groups 12 February in Melbourne, Australia. 
 
The ICEM and its global energy and mining affiliates have been key components to the two-year-long EIR process starting from a planning workshop, through region-by-region consultations, participation on the EIR's Advisory Board, and to the global stakeholder forum held in Lisbon late last year. 
 
The ICEM has embraced many of the recommendations in the EIR report including the adherence of core labour and human rights principles as a mandatory lending requirement by the Bank on all development projects, full transparency in all revenue flows, and a priority that sustainable development be a major emphasis in all World Bank programmes. 
 
The ICEM also has endorsed EIR recommendations that transition monies for community development, retraining and social safety nets be built into World Bank funding because of continual trends to privatise a nation's resources. Further, the ICEM supports an EIR recommendation that the Bank promote small-scale mining initiatives that will enhance the livelihoods of some 100 million people worldwide. 
 
In a 5 February letter to the World Bank's James Wolfensohn, Higgs said of the EIR report: &quot;We find (the recommended phase-out of oil and coal projects) inconsistent with existing intergovernmental conventions regarding global warming, and we also believe it would undermine efforts to eradicate poverty and pose a clear threat to developing economies.&quot;

ICEM Welcomes Continued Extractive Industries Dialogue

T he US National Labor Relations Board issued a labor law violation against E.I. DuPont this week that cited the giant chemical firm with interfering, restraining and coercing union activities and union members at its Louisville (Kentucky) Works plant. To settle the complaint, DuPont has agreed in writing to halt its interference of shop-floor union activity that is protected by US law. 
 
ICEM affiliate Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical, Energy (PACE) Union in the US brought the charge forward after local managers in Louisville unlawfully prohibited PACE Local 5-2002 members from wearing union t-shirts and buttons, and removed the local union's bulletin board inside the plant. 
 
PACE recently affiliated the local union in Louisville after it stood as a stand-alone union for several decades, having been first established by DuPont in the 1930s to avoid militant union drives. PACE has been resisting DuPont's decision to move jobs from the neoprene facility in Louisville-a decision announced after the affiliation vote-to a non-union plant in the state of Louisiana. 
 
This week's labour law violation against the US-based chemical firm comes two weeks after PACE brought the issue of DuPont's sour labour relations behaviour to the attention of UN General Secretary Kofi Annan. DuPont is signatory to the UN's Global Compact, a voluntary accord by multinational companies pledging to adhere to a set of nine principles, including a guarantee to uphold fundamental labour and human rights and sound stewardship of the environment in all countries in which a company operates. 
 
Part of the labour law violation stemmed from Louisville manager Mike Sanchez's &quot;state of the business&quot; address to workers in which he made derogatory comments about the local union and PACE national union, specifically comments uttered disparagingly over PACE President Boyd Young's letter to Kofi Annan. 
 
&quot;DuPont has obviously not come to terms with the fact that workers in a number of their US worksites have chosen PACE for representation,&quot; stated ICEM General Secretary Fred Higgs, referring to seven stand-alone and unaffiliated DuPont unions voting to become part of PACE in recent years. &quot;The ICEM will continue to monitor DuPont's labour relations not only in the US but elsewhere in the world.&quot;

DuPont Guilty of Labour Law Infraction in US

S ome 5,000 workers and supporters demonstrated 30 January in Bangkok against the imminent privatisation of Thailand's electric industry. The demonstration signifies the growing disgust over the government's obstruction to workers of ICEM affiliate EGAT-Lu having a say in the privatisation process. 
 
 

<img height="263" alt="" src="" width="350" />
Members of EGAT-LU march 30 January in Bangkok 
protesting government's privatisation 
of electric energy 
The rally occurred five days after a hearing was held purportedly to give workers employed by the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) an opportunity to air their views and concerns. But the politicians and policy-makers failed to attend and government bureaucrats staffed the hearing. When many of the 1,000 EGAT-LU members in attendance were denied the opportunity to speak, visible demonstrations inside the meeting hall ensued until authorities squashed them. 
 
The hearing was abruptly halted when workers walked out. 
 
 

<img height="263" alt="" src="" width="350" />
&quot;The walkout occurred because participants were treated unfairly by the chair,&quot; said EGAT-LU General Secretary Sirichai Maingam. &quot;Many were not allowed to express their opinions, and the government bureaucrats did not answer questions from the floor.&quot;&nbsp;&nbsp;
That prompted the 30 January demonstration in which EGAT-LU members and workers affiliated with two other unions at EGAT marched outside the Thai Parliament. This demonstration was joined by hundreds of people from Thailand's Assembly of the Poor, a grass-roots organisation representing those adversely affected by mega-development projects. 
 
ICEM General Secretary Fred Higgs said access to secure, safe and affordable energy in meeting the needs of a country's citizens &quot;is a fundamental right which fulfills basic social needs. 
 
&quot;Evidence exists worldwide that privatisation of essential services inevitably leads to price hikes as electricity or a nation's water supply is treated as a commodity that is traded for maximum profit,&quot; stated Higgs. 
 
The ICEM issued a global call to all affiliates in the energy and electric industries 19 January to protest the freezing out of workers' views over electric privatisation in Thailand. Some 20 affiliates responded with letters to Prime Minister Dr. Thaskin Sinawatra and Energy Minister Sathaporn Maneerat. 
 
EGAT is scheduled to be registered as a holding firm 1 March on Bangkok's stock exchange. &quot;We will continue to monitor the process, to bargain for EGAT workers' rights, benefits and job security,&quot; pledged EGAT-LU General Secretary Sirichai. &quot;We will observe closely the impact of privatisation as well as the impact on the general public regarding prices. And we will vigilantly keep our eyes on the buying and selling of EGAT shares to know who are the buyers and investors.&quot;

Demonstrations Occur Over Thailand&#039;s Electric Privatisation

U nion members at Imerys in Sylacauga, Alabama, reaffirmed their commitment to ICEM affiliate Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical and Energy (PACE) Workers Union 21 January by voting to retain the union. Workers voted 233-108 for union representation in a decertification ballot under US labour law. 
 
Imerys is a French-based producer of building and construction materials. PACE and ICEM took Imerys on in 1999-2000 when the firm purchased a non-union plant adjacent to its PACE-represented one in Sylacauga. The company claimed the combined workforce no longer wanted union representation and orchestrated a petition that allows the US government to conduct a &quot;yes&quot; or &quot;no&quot; vote. For the second time, workers have now voted for the union. 
 
&quot;It is unfortunate that Imerys has not changed its anti-union position,&quot; said PACE Vice President Don Langham, a member of ICEM's Presidium. &quot;We are prepared to restart the global campaign unless the company's behavior changes.&quot; 
 
PACE and ICEM successfully took on Imerys in 1999-2000 over local management's combined workforce scheme. The two labour unions brought the Alabama dispute before Imerys workers in France, Belgium, Australia and UK. The dispute became the focal point at the company's AGM in Paris. And prior to the June 2000 vote by workers, ICEM General Secretary Fred Higgs visited Sylacauga and pledged to make &quot;it so hot&quot; for Imerys that it would want a &quot;solution.&quot; The global pressure softened management's resolve, and workers became less burdened and more in tune with making a free and open-minded choice. 
 
Workers then overwhelmingly voted for PACE and a three-year labour agreement was negotiated. 
 
As the contract expired, local Imerys managers used US labour law to revert to their old form. With the three-year contract expiring in early 2004, they bombarded workers with blatant anti-union materials and rhetoric at home and at work. 
 
&quot;Since we have been through the first election and contract negotiations, we have attempted time and time again to build a strong work relationship with Imerys,&quot; said PACE Local 3/516 President Keith Fulbright. &quot;Unfortunately, local management is still intent on destroying any relationship with their employees.&quot; 
 
ICEM and its affiliates throughout the company's global operations will be closely following future developments in Sylacauga.

PACE Again Wins Imerys Election

A week before the Thai government holds a public hearing on privatisation of the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT), the 20-million-member ICEM has again questioned the logic of privatizing an essential service and is asking for specific criteria if the government's plan moves forward. 
 
In a call to all 400 ICEM affiliates in 120 nations to protest the spin-off of the public power industry into shares of a holding company-and in a second letter to Prime Minister Dr. Thaskin Sinawatra-the ICEM has again reinforced the position of Thai affiliate EGAT-LU that it be heard on the matter. The ICEM's Asia-Pacific Region has already urged affiliates comprising the ICEM's Asia-Pacific Electric Power Network to voice opposition. 
 
&quot;It is a matter of public record that our affiliate strongly desires that EGAT remain a state-owned utility with a public mandate to provide a reliable, affordable and accessible service,&quot; wrote ICEM General Secretary Fred Higgs to Dr. Sinawatra. 
 
Thailand's government is acting to privatise electric power under its 1999 Corporatisation Act, a measure designed to satisfy an economic reform programme designed by the International Monetary Fund following the Asian economic fallout of the mid-1990s. But the government had refused to meet with leaders of EGAT-LU over the issue until late last year when it set up a tripartite committee. The Finance Ministry's representative to this committee had no real decision-making power, the union quickly learned. 
 
The public hearing set for 25 January is seen as a final effort to appease the union representing the interests of 17,600 workers employed by the utility. The government has set a target date of first quarter 2004 when the holding company will be officially registered and shares of it are listed on Thailand's stock exchange. 
 
Higgs, in reaffirming EGAT-LU's position on the inevitable, said a set of principles must be adhered to in the structural transfer of the power industry: the process must be transparent and democratic; Thailand retain a majority equity of EGAT; domestic investment be encouraged and made a priority; price regulation be stable and affordable to workers and the poor; job security be guaranteed; EGAT-LU be fully involved in the transition; Union leadership be given the facilities to consult freely with workers and to report to workers on negotiations over the transition; and full agreement be reached before the new policy is implemented. 
 
Higgs added: &quot;&hellip; our members and the public at large oppose your current policies and are extremely concerned. The ICEM fully shares these concerns and together with our brothers and sisters in the Asia-Pacific Electric Power Network, we are keenly awaiting the outcome of your consultations and negotiations with EGAT-LU. We believe if your government follows the above recommended approach of dialogue, your policies stand a better chance of achieving credibility &hellip;&quot; 
 
EGAT-LU is planning to have over 1,000 workers attend the public hearing. The union and other unions representing public sector employees will conduct a mass rally on 30 January seeking government revision of some 11 economic reform bills in which privatisation aspects are part of. 
 
Higgs is asking all ICEM affiliates to register opposition to Thai privatisation initiatives and voice support for EGAT-LU's position. The global union federation is specifically calling on energy and power affiliates in some 65 countries-representing 9 million workers-to make a stand against privatisation with EGAT-LU.

ICEM Again Protests Thai Electric Privatisation

A global call for support and attention directed at one the world's leading glass producers halted a Colombian labour dispute, giving ICEM affiliate Sintravidricol a new two-year collective agreement with that country's number one glass maker. 
 
Peldar, a wholly-owned subsidiary of leading US glass manufacturer Owens Illinois agreed to the labour contract at its four plants on the eve of a strike and after ICEM and affiliates lodged official protests to the company over negligent labour practices in Colombia. 
 
Sindravidricol had a collective agreement in place with Peldar since 1999 but following Owens Illinois purchases of other glass operations, Peldar refused to negotiate a current contract. The Colombian glass union had continuously requested dialogue on social issues, but the efforts were rebuffed. 
 
Last week, ICEM General Secretary Fred Higgs contacted Peldar's management urging resolution, and that came after a pointed letter arrived at the firm's Colombian headquarters from ICEM's Latin America/Caribbean regional office. 
 
Simultaneously, the Flint/Glass Industry Conference of the United Steelworkers of America and other US glass unions, meeting in Pennsylvania, protested directly to Owens Illinois co-CEOs Terry Wilkinson and Thomas Young. 
 
&quot;In spite of the company's positive financial results, Peldar refuses to discuss the union's ideas and initiatives to improve working conditions,&quot; wrote Flint/Glass Conference Chairman Timothy Tuttle. &quot;Our respective organizations in North America have always enjoyed a productive and progressive working relationship that has been mutually beneficial. It is beyond my comprehension why you would not embrace the same relationship with Glass Workers in Colombia.&quot; 
 
The attention-plus Sintravidricol members commencing plans for strike actions-convinced Peldar to negotiate. The union lauded the agreement reached 9 January that gives workers a first-year 8.8% wage increase (retroactive to 21 November 2003) and a second-year hike equal to the Colombian consumer cost index plus 1%. In addition, Sintravidricol won bonuses for education and for health. 
 
&quot;We're thankful for the support of the workers, their conviction and their strength to defend their rights in the face of extreme circumstances,&quot; said Sintravidricol's Peldar Unit President Luis Fernando Pel&aacute;ez Montoya. &quot;In the same way, we recognize and thank most sincerely the international and national organizations who brought support. There is not doubt that this agreement is a triumph for workers and for the union.&quot; 
 
Peldar is the leading glassmaker in Brazil, Peru and Colombia, as well the second biggest in Venezuela, Ecuador and Puerto Rico, and its brands comprise the largest supply chain of glassware and tableware in Latin America and the Caribbean. 

<a href="/index.php?id=77&amp;la=PT&amp;doc=1114">Click here for the Portuguese version of this ICEM News release</a>

Glass Affiliate in Colombia Wins Major Victory

T he sacking of 24 jewelry workers in Thailand for union activities has brought the ire of ICEM to the doorstep a German firm. MKS Jewelry International Co. Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of German-based J.E. Hammer &amp; Sohne GmbH, fired the 24 after they registered for union status with the Thai Ministry of Labour. 
 

<img height="241" src="" width="350" alt="" />
ICEM staffers Phee Jung-sun and Yamina Zebchine-DeLaet help organize jewelry workers in Thailand 
The workers, part of a 450-person labor force at a Bangkok casting and polishing factory in which 90% are women, were organizing with an ICEM affiliate over management's undignified body searches on suspicion of theft. Last spring, after 36 workplace leaders filed for union registry with the ministry while the remainder waited outside the plant, MKS Jewelry faxed a letter to a ministry officer in Pravate District stating employees were welcome to return to work without fear of punishment. 
 
But weeks later and following official approval by the ministry as a union, the 24 were not only sacked but MKS distributed their names to the many other firms operating in jewelry-producing Gemopolis Industrial Estate of Pravate. 
 
ICEM General Secretary Fred Higgs filed a strong protest against MKS's actions with J.E. Hammer &amp; Sohne, a 140-year-old luxury jewelry maker based in Pforzheim, Germany. 
 
&quot;One of the reasons for workers at MKS creating a union &hellip; was the obscene way in which body searches were done,&quot; wrote Higgs. &quot;These workers were stripped of their clothes and subjected to body touching. When workers lodged complaints, management replied they will continue this practice and simple suspicion will be enough to continue this undignified practice. It must be noted that no company property or materials were found on the workers, and nothing was reported even to be lost.&quot; 
 
Higgs said MKS's firings violate core ILO Conventions 87 and 98 on Freedom of Association and the Right to Organize, and Convention 158, terminating employment on the grounds on union membership. 
 
ICEM requested that J.E. Hammer &amp; Sohne intervene in Thailand to reinstate the workers, and to commence good-faith dialogue with the Thai union to reach accord on employment terms and working conditions. ICEM also informed the German parent that the global union federation was compiling a list of clients and retailers of the company in order to alert them to the harsh actions by managers in Thailand.&nbsp; 

&nbsp;

ICEM Stands Firm with Thai Jewelry Workers

T he 20-million-member ICEM, the leading global union federation of the chemicals industry, applauded language adopted in a report at a UN International Labour Office (ILO) conference in Geneva 27-31 October. The ICEM was fully involved in deliberations and drafting of the report with representation from 16 affiliates from separate nations taking major leadership on the document. 
 
The ILO's Tripartite Meeting on Best Practices in Work-Flexibility Schemes and Their Impact on the Quality of Working Life in the Chemical Industries produced balanced language that ensures labour rights in temporary and contract work, workload balances, outsourcing and women's participation and work schemes in today's chemical world. Conference participants included 20 representatives of labour organisations, 20 from employers groups and 28 government officials. 
 
&quot;We are well satisfied with the results of this conference,&quot; stated Michael Mersmann, global chairman of ICEM's Chemical and Bio-Science Section. &quot;Now it is important that we implement this policy and much will depend on future work with the employers through ILO guidance.&quot; Mersmann, from IGBCE in Germany, served as chair and spokesperson of the workers' group. 
 
Specifically, the proposals adopted include securing fundamental rights including the right of temporary and contract workers to organize into unions; defining accurately various work-load balances; respect for collective bargaining agreements when outsourcing; a realization of the benefits to both workers and employers for allowing flexible work schemes for women; and the positive effect general work flexibility can have on employment stability and job satisfaction. 
 
Regarding workload balances, the report puts a premium of conditions of work, how work in the chemicals industries is organized, strict assurances of health and safety, equality and training and development opportunities, as well as adequate remuneration and striving to maximize worker potential in the industry. Labour, employer and governments are called on to recognise the positive effects work flexibility has on lifestyles especially when combined with multi-skilling and life-long training. 
 
The ILO conducts such conferences in some 20 separate industries, with each industry sector meeting once every four years.

ILO Chemical Conference Produces Positive Roadmap

A n ICEM affiliate, US-based Paper, Allied-Industrial, Energy, Chemical (PACE) Workers Union, successfully affiliated another union not part of the formal American labour movement. On 21 October, workers at DuPont Soy Polymers in Louisville, Kentucky, voted for collective bargaining representation by the preeminent oil, chemicals and paper union in the US. 
 
The workers previously had been represented by the Independent Factory Workers Union (IFWU). In the US, with very few exceptions, Dupont workers either have representation by such stand-alone unions or have no union at all. The decision to join 300,000-member PACE marks the seventh such union at DuPont to throw in with the Nashville, Tennessee-based union. 
 
&quot;The committee decided it would be in the union's best interest to bring in some outside help,&quot; stated IFWU President Ronnie Sanders, adding that unions such as his &quot;are finding it increasingly difficult to deal with multinational firms in terms of bargaining and basic representation rights of workers.&quot; 
 
The plant with 50 union members produces specialty food ingredients from soy products. DuPont acquired the plant as part of its 1997 purchase of Protein Technologies from Ralston Purina. 
 
Previously, workers at DuPont stand-alone unions in Buffalo, New York, Edgemoor, Delaware, Louisville, Kentucky (DuPontDow Elastomers), and three separate units in Deepwater, New Jersey, have voted to affiliate with PACE.

ICEM Affiliate PACE Organises DuPont Workers

Archive

Bridgestone Again Stung by Ruling in Argentina

ICEM Welcomes Continued Extractive Industries Dialogue

DuPont Guilty of Labour Law Infraction in US

Demonstrations Occur Over Thailand's Electric Privatisation

PACE Again Wins Imerys Election

ICEM Again Protests Thai Electric Privatisation

Glass Affiliate in Colombia Wins Major Victory

ICEM Stands Firm with Thai Jewelry Workers

ILO Chemical Conference Produces Positive Roadmap

ICEM Affiliate PACE Organises DuPont Workers

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