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The sacking of 300 union glass workers in the Turkish town of Eskisehir has caused the 20-million-member International Chemical, Energy, Mine &amp; General Workers' Union (ICEM) to lodge an official protest with the offending company and the government of Turkey. 
<img height="191" src="" width="350" alt="" />
Union members of Kristal-İş in Eskisehir protest firings. 

On 27 September 2003, the 300 members of ICEM affiliate Kristal-İş, the Glass, Cement and Soil Industries Workers' Trade Union, were fired, launching a mass sit-down strike at a factory of world glass exporter Pasabahce Co. Earlier in September, 700 workers including contractors at the plant in the Anatolia region of northwestern Turkey voted for union representation. The company (part of the holding firm Şişe-Cam Group) countered by attempting to force the resignation of the union leaders, but the unionists resisted this illegal pressure. Some two weeks later the company then sacked the 300 and hired other workers in an effort to block a union majority at the plant. 
 
The terminations caused a sit-down by those discharged and their families outside the plant, and the remaining 400 workers inside the plant also commenced with a sit-down strike. In addition, some 5,000 unionised Turkish glass workers in other parts of the country condemned Pasabahce's unfair act with sit-down strikes and demonstrations at their factories. 
 
In a 2 October letter to Pasabahce chairperson Gulsum Azeri, ICEM General Secretary Fred Higgs wrote, &quot;&hellip; your company's actions violate core Conventions of the International labour Organisation of the United Nations, namely Conventions 87 and 98 on the Freedom of Association and the Right to Organise, and Convention 158 prohibiting employment termination on the grounds of union membership. These ILO Conventions have been ratified by the Republic of Turkey. 
 
&quot;Further, such infringement of workers' legitimate rights runs counter to the labour standards of the European Union and does not bode well for wither you or the Republic of Turkey as your country makes preparations for entry into the EU.&quot; Higgs called on the company to immediate reinstate the discharged workers, and to come to agreeable collective bargaining terms. The protest letter was also sent to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayip Erdogan and Labour and Social Security Minister Murat Basesgioglu. 
 
Since last year, the Glass, Cement and Clay Products Industry Employers' Association of Turkey has been particularly harsh on Kristal-İş, terminating the industry-wide collective bargaining agreement and tying the matter up in litigation. The glass industry has hindered collective bargaining by relying on the antiquated 10% threshold rule of the Collective Agreement Code in which 10% of workers in an entire industry must be union workers before a trade union is recognized for collective bargaining. Nearly all glass workers in Turkey are union members of Kristal-İş, as evidenced by the mass strikes and demonstrations in support of the 300 workers fired at Eskisehir on 27 September. 

Letter from Fred Higgs, ICEM General Secretary:
2 October 2003 
 
 
Mrs. Gulsum Azeri 
Chairperson of Pasabahce Group 
Is Kuleleri, Kule 3 80620 
4 LEVENT-ISTANBUL 
TURKEY 
 
 
Mrs. Azeri: 
 
On behalf of the 20-million-member International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers&rsquo; Unions (ICEM), I am writing in serious protest over the conduct of your company regarding the dismissal of 300 members of ICEM affiliate Glass, Cement, and Soil Industries Workers&rsquo; Trade Union on 27 September 2003 due to their legal trade union activity. 
 
According to information we have received, Pasabahce Co. fired the union workers in Eskisehir, Turkey, after they and others lawfully chose union representation early in September. After management tried to force their resignation and the workers resisted this illegal action, the 300 union members were terminated. 
 
I would remind you that your company&rsquo;s actions violate core Conventions of the International Labour Organisation of the United Nations, namely Conventions 87 and 98 on Freedom of Association and the Right to Organise, and Convention 158 prohibiting employment termination on the grounds of union membership. These ILO Conventions have been ratified by the Republic of Turkey. 
 
Further, such infringement of workers&rsquo; legitimate rights runs counter to the labour standards of the European Union and does not bode well for either you or the Republic of Turkey as your country makes preparations for entry into the EU. 
 
I specifically request that Pasabahce Co. of the Sisecam Group immediately reinstate the discharged workers, and commence dialogue with ICEM affiliate Glass, Cement, and Soil Industries Workers&rsquo; Trade Union of Turkey to achieve agreeable employment terms and working conditions at this plant in Eskisehir. 
 
I look forward to your response on this matter. 
 
Sincerely, 
 
Fred Higgs 
General Secretary 
 
CC: Mr. Recep Tayip Erdogan, Prime Minister of Turkey 
Mr. Murat Basesgioglu, Labour Minister of Turkey 
Mr. Dogan Arikan, Siscam Group General Manager 
Mr. Refik Baydur, Chairman, Turkish Employers&rsquo;Confederation 
Mr. Mustafa Bagceci, President, Glass, Cement and Soil Industries Workers&rsquo; Trade Union 
Mr. Reinhard Reibsch, General Secretary, European Mine, Chemical, Energy Federation

ICEM Speaks Out on Union-Busting in Turkish Glass Sector

G oodyear Tire &amp; Rubber Co.'s further downsizing at a major UK tyre factory is a big concern to two ICEM affiliates, the Transport &amp; General Workers' Union (T&amp;G) and AMICUS. In the wake of signing a three-year labour accord with the United Steelworkers of America that the firm admits will save US$1.5 billion, US-based Goodyear announced 23 September that it will cut 420 jobs from its Wolverhampton plant in West Midlands effective 23 December. 
 
The announcement means that a plant once producing 30,000 car, truck and tractor tyres annually with 3,000 workers will be reduced to making only some farm tyres as well as compounding stock and calendaring with fewer than 500 workers. Last week's announcement will pare a current workforce of 900 to about half that two days before Christmas. 
 
&quot;It's sad. They've just cut it, cut it, and cut it some more,&quot; said AMICUS regional official Bill Holmes, a member of the ICEM's Goodyear Global Union Network Steering Committee. &quot;It's what they've said they were going to do all along, move production to lower cost plants.&quot; 
 
AMICUS represents engineering staff and area managers at the Wolverhampton plant, while T&amp;G represents tyre production workers. Each union will lose roughly half of the 420 jobs that are going. Production of radial tyres for cars and light trucks likely will be shifted to Goodyear plants in Eastern Europe. 
 
T&amp;G Wolverhampton Union Convenor Cyril Barrett was outraged that UK's Department of Trade and Industry and local development agencies haven't done more to protect jobs. &quot;Since 1997, around 2,000 manufacturing jobs have been lost,&quot; he said. &quot;The slow bleeding of jobs and skills has drained the lifeblood out of the Goodyear facility.&quot; 
 
Barrett stated in the Birmingham Evening Mail: &quot;The most frustrating thing is that the Department of Trade and Industry was asked by my national officers to get involved in (job retention this past) June. My members are now aware that Advantage West Midlands gave a 1.9-million-pound grant to Goodyear Dunlop to (shift jobs). My question is if they can give (such) a grant, why have they not engaged in discussions regarding Goodyear Wolverhampton?&quot; 
 
Although Goodyear intends to retain a retread plant on site, Holmes wonders what the future holds for a plant that produces compound mixing and calendaring without full-scale tyre production. He's working on options to secure stability to the jobs remaining at Wolverhampton. 
 
The plant downsizing comes at a time when financially-troubled Goodyear states that operating income from Europe has improved and that its non-US operations have been a bright spot on its financial ledger. A day after Goodyear made the Wolverhampton announcement, the firm said it would invest US$30 million in two existing plants in India.

Goodyear&#039;s UK Job Losses Mount

T he following was issued by the ICEM Global Network of Rio Tinto Workers at its conference in Salt Lake City, Utah: 
 
Sixty delegates to the ICEM's Global Union Network of Rio Tinto Workers reiterated its call to the giant mining and energy company to enact an enforceable Global Framework Agreement with the ICEM and its affiliates. Meeting 23-24 September in the US city of Salt Lake City, Utah, delegates from 16 trade unions also condemned the company's actions at nearby Kennecott Copper that saw Rio Tinto sack 120 United Steelworkers of America (USWA) members and other trade unionists following an eight-month contract dispute. 
 
The conference was the fourth for the Rio Tinto Network, and it produced a statement of Solidarity as well as a letter of protest to Rio Tinto Chief Executive Leigh Clifford over the retaliatory layoffs of USWA members and local union officers two days after a USWA local and other unions ratified a contract this past June. 
 
The Solidarity statement pledged the Network to unite in efforts to achieve a workable Global Agreement with the company to ensure human and labour rights are upheld wherever Rio Tinto has operations. The statement also called attention to the firm's illegal and immoral actions in Zimbabwe where workers were sacked for exercising their basic labour rights. 
 
The conference also saw a torch passing as ICEM President John Maitland, CFMEU of Australia, stepped down as chairman of the Network and Terry Bonds, USWA District 12 director, representing USWA members in southwestern US states, was elected. Bonds called the two-day meeting successful and said the Solidarity statement &quot;will send a strong message to Rio Tinto's executives that the Labor Organizations of the Network will be relentless in our pursuit of justice and dignity for workers wherever Rio Tinto operates. 
 
&quot;Until basic human rights, labor rights and environmental and community issues are addressed in an honorable and meaningful fashion, we will continue to confront Rio Tinto and show up wherever they go,&quot; added Bonds. 
 
Delegates attending this biennial meeting of the Network represent or are Rio Tinto workers from eight countries, including: Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, South Africa, Sweden, US and Zimbabwe.

ICEM&#039;s Rio Tinto Network Voices Firm&#039;s Labour Shortcomings

The ground breaking joint ITF/ICEM offshore industries conference in Aberdeen (September 23-25) - which brought together people working in the dangerous offshore oil and gas sector from 17 countries around the world - ended today. A press conference was held at the Ramada Jarvis Hotel in Aberdeen, Scotland, to explain the decisions taken at the conference, the first of its kind ever held. 
 
At the press conference, it was announced a global campaign by the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF), the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM) and their affiliated unions to secure trade union and human rights and acceptable standards with regard to health and safety, skills, competence and standards of wages and conditions of employment for all offshore workers. 
 
Among the resolutions passed during the event are: 
 
The conference supported the call by British trade unions for an independent inquiry in the recent deaths on the Shell Brent Bravo rig, especially after the UK's Health and Safety Executive (HSE) failed to listen to union warnings in March this year and even said that there was &quot;no imminent cause for concern and no immediate risk.&quot; In the light of this gross failure, the ITF and ICEM will ask Health and Safety Minister Des Brown to appoint independent experts to conduct the investigation into the recent fatalities. 
 
ICEM General Secretary Fred Higgs endorsed such an investigation. Higgs, himself involved in the investigation as National Secretary of UK's Transport &amp; General Workers' Union following the fatal gas blast on the Piper Alpha rig in 1988 that killed 167 workers, said, &quot;Such a public inquiry is the only way in which remedial actions can be taken to prevent such disasters.&quot; 
 
Delegates also said they were appalled at the numbers of workers who will die from asbestos related diseases. The HSE has predicted 10,000 deaths per year in the UK alone by 2010, while in the Australian state of New South Wales 300 new cases of mesothelioma are detected each year. The conference voted to approach the ITF's Fair Practices Committee, an influential group made up of representatives of seafarers' and dockers' unions, and request it to introduce a register of vessels known to contain or have contained asbestos. 
 
ITF General Secretary David Cockroft describes the conference as &quot;a first of its kind, that has laid the foundation stone for decency and common rights in the world's offshore industries.&quot; 
 
Higgs credited efforts by the two global union federations and their affiliates to come together to embark on the joint mission. &quot;It is essential that we work together to defend the rights of seafarers and those workers involved in offshore oil exploration and to ensure their health and safety.&quot;

Joint ITF/ICEM Offshore Conference Addresses Safety

U nion members of three ICEM affiliates in Australia successfully backed Bridgestone from not only a planned lockout, but also blocked the Japanese-headquartered tyre-maker from its no pay raise/cuts to entitlement stand. It was a combination of worker resolve, outreach in the local Salisbury community in South Australia and a flood of international protests led by the ICEM that broke the company's resolve. 
 
Bridgestone was on the brink of locking out 580 members of the Australian Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Workers' Union (LHMU), the Communication, Electrical and Plumbing Union (CEPU) and the Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union (AMWU) in mid-August when the protests began. The world's largest tyre manufacturer retreated from a planned two-week lockout, and returned to bargaining under the authority of the Australian Industrial Relations Commission. 
 
By 5 September, union negotiators had hammered together a minimum 9% pay raise over the next three years and maintained all current conditions of employment. That was a long ways from the company's pre-lockout threat of wage hikes tied only to productivity targets, an increase in work hours and severe reductions to long-practiced entitlement programs. Workers will vote on the enterprise agreement late next week, and indications are that it will pass. 
 
At mass worker meetings on 20 August, LHMU Shop Steward Boyd MacRae told union members, &quot;The reason that Bridgestone is moving its position is that the support of trade unionists from around the globe is unprecedented. You are being assisted by international workers standing along side of you and supporting you.&quot; 
 
MacRae read letters of support to the trade unionists and letters of protest to Bridgestone President and CEO Shigeo Watanabe from ICEM affiliates in Romania, the Slovak Republic, Pakistan, South Korea, the UK, US, France, Spain, Turkey and Denmark. FUTINAL, the Latin American rubber unions network, weighed in, and the ICEM's Japanese Affiliates' Federation (JAF) also sent an important letter of support. In part, it read, &quot;We are deeply concerned about the current attitude and behaviour of BFS Australia &hellip; We sincerely hope that this dispute will be solved, as early as possible, in a peaceful manner as well as in favour of the Australian workers.&quot; 
 
Chris Field, LHMU's Assistant Secretary for South Australia, reported an ICEM Pakistan affiliate vowed to demonstrate in front of the Japanese embassy in that country. &quot;This act of solidarity by our Pakistani sisters and brothers was done knowing full well they risked police repression on the orders of a government hostile to organized trade unionism,&quot; he said. 
 
The mayor of Salisbury supported worker resistance of the three unions and local restaurants and pubs made it clear they would provide free meals to workers if Bridgestone proceeded with the lockout. In addition, the unions received valuable local help and aid from CFMEU, the Maritime Union of Australia, the South Australia Police Association, the Transport Workers Union and the Labour Council of South Australia. 
 
The victory, said Field, was the &quot;combination of disciplined unity of tyre workers and strong support from many allies that forced the biggest rubber products company in the world to back off and recognize the collective will and rights of tyre workers.&quot; 
 
ICEM General Secretary Fred Higgs, who called the lockout threat &quot;clearly unacceptable behaviour&quot; in an 11 August letter to Watanabe and told delegates on 28 August at ICEM's Congress in Norway of the growing support, praised the fortitude of workers and commended the solidarity. &quot;An established Bridgestone/Firestone Global Network of Workers together with the strength and will of committed trade unionists paid off in reversing a company's demands, pure and simple. There is no better validation of global solidarity than what occurred over the past month at this particular tyre plant in Australia, and it personifies the work we strive to do.&quot;

Victory Near at Bridgestone Plant in Australia

As oil prices drop, merger mania has hit the global oil industry. 
 
One of the latest developments is the merger announced between French-based TOTAL and Belgian-based PETROFINA, aimed at forming the world's sixth-biggest oil and petrochemicals company. 
 
The social implications of this move were analysed today by some 60 representatives of French and Belgian unions in the two companies. Meeting at the Brussels headquarters of the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM) were oil industry reps from the French labour federations CFDT, FO and CGT and the Belgian federations FGTB/ABVV and CSC/ACV. The session was chaired by Paul Lootens, National Secretary of ICEM Belgian affiliate the Centrale g&eacute;n&eacute;rale/Algemene Centrale. 
 
The unions set themselves three objectives: 
 
Rejection of any dismissals and any downgrading of working and employment conditions for the employees of the new company. 
 
Continuance of an investment policy that facilitates the development of industrial plant in the group's various sectors of activity. 
 
Development of an industrial relations structure that facilitates consultation with and information of the group's employees. 
 
The Belgian and French unions said further international solidarity measures would be announced shortly.

French And Belgian Unions Act On Total/Petrofina Merger

Labour activist Tian Chua was released from police custody in Malaysia on 5 December. He is understood to be in reasonably good health. 
 
The news was welcomed by the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM), which had been pressing for Tian's release (see ICEM News release 95/1998). 
 
It is not clear whether he will still face charges concerning demonstrations, publications or similar issues.

Labour Activist Tian Chua Released In Malaysia

Labour activist Tian Chua was reportedly arrested in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, last night. According to some accounts, he was taken away in an unmarked car. The arrest reportedly occurred when police broke up a protest against the continuing detention of former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim. 
 
This is not the first time that Tian Chua has been arrested. When briefly held in police custody this September, he was beaten by his interrogators. 
 
&quot;We are surprised and concerned by the arrest of Tien Chua last night,&quot; commented Vic Thorpe, General Secretary of the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM). &quot;He is a dedicated and effective campaigner for labour rights in Asia and is widely respected by his colleagues in the region and beyond. Certainly, he is not an advocate of violence. As on previous occasions, his arrest is presumably an error by the lower echelons of the Malaysian authorities. We call for immediate action by the authorities to correct that mistake and to ensure that Tian Chua is released unharmed. 
 
&quot;Tian Chua is due to take part in an important ICEM seminar in Jakarta, Indonesia, on 2-3 December,&quot; Thorpe added. &quot;That meeting will be analysing the impact of globalisation in the region. Participants will include Daisaku Kouchiyama - who is President of the ICEM Asia-Pacific region and the Japanese Vice-President of our international, our Australian Vice-President John Maitland and myself. Globalisation is a matter of great concern in the region, not least to Malaysia and its government. We wish to discuss this important subject fully with Tian Chua, and we expect him to be free and in good health, so that he can travel to Jakarta.&quot;

Malaysia Arrests Labour Activist Tian Chua

The ICEM has lodged a strong protest with senior management of Norwegian petrochemical firm Jotun A/S for sacking 50 trade unionists in Turkey, members of ICEM affiliate Petrol-Is. Jotun A/S produces powder coatings at a plant called Jotun Toz Boya Fabrikasi in Cerkezkoy, Turkey, near Istanbul. 
The sackings occurred 21 December 2004 and were in retaliation to a short and successful strike by trade unionists that began in January 2004. The strike produced an acceptable collective bargaining agreement, but Turkish managers of Jotun A/S immediately began reneging on terms and conditions. 
 
The 50 workers, together with Petrol-Is officers, have maintained a presence outside the factory&rsquo;s entrances in protest to the firings. The plant&rsquo;s general manager has individually contacted each of the dismissed workers and offered a return to work if the individual resigns from the union. 
 
&ldquo;Given this clear violation of inherent Trade Union rights to organize and bargain collectively, the ICEM fully supports industrial action undertaken by our affiliate, Petrol-Is,&rdquo; stated General Secretary Fred Higgs in the protest letter to Jotun President and CEO Knut Almestrand. 
Higgs called on the Norwegian parent firm to reinstate the sacked workers and live up to the words of the company&rsquo;s own code of ethics: &ldquo;The international standards issued by the United Nations and International Labour Organisation are minimum requirements for the way we treat our employees and other stakeholders.&rdquo; 
 
Turkish management of Jotun A/S is in clear violation of ILO Core Conventions 87 and 98, the legal right of workers to organize and bargain collectively. 
 
&ldquo;We tried many times to negotiate the differences with management, but nothing resulted from the talks,&rdquo; said Petrol-Is General Secretary Mustafa Cavdar. &ldquo;Local management has systematically violated the collective agreement, tried to neutralize the union and now has attempted to de-unionize the workers.&rdquo; 
 
In 2003, Jotun&rsquo;s Turkish management at another plant&mdash;a nearby paint factory called Jotun Boya Sanayi ve Ticaret A/S&mdash;provoked similar workplace unrest by also engaging in anti-worker, anti-union conduct.

ICEM Protests Union-Busting by Norwegian Jotun A/S in Turkey

On World AIDS Day 2004&mdash;tomorrow 1 December&mdash;the 20-million-member ICEM reiterates its call for nations, global institutions and civil society groups to establish a dedicated entity in which to channel the vast outpouring of resources aimed at the fight against HIV/AIDS. 
 
&quot;There are many genuine efforts to control and reverse the HIV/AIDS pandemic,&rdquo; stated ICEM General Secretary Fred Higgs. &ldquo;What is lacking is an effective organization or body that can take the responsibility of coordinating these efforts. Until such a mechanism is in place, responses from the international community&mdash;however welcome&mdash;will fall short of achieving maximum effect.&rdquo; 
 
The ICEM, the leading Global Union Federation (GUF) of the energy, mining and mineral extraction industries, covers work sectors of the developing world hardest hit by the virus. The Brussels-based trade union federation recognizes the devastating impact HIV/AIDS has on the world of work, and is moving forward with its own plan of attack. 
 
In March 2004, ICEM issued a call to the major multinationals in the mining and energy sectors to join with the GUF to build fully-equipped medical clinics in remote areas of sub-Saharan Africa to provide HIV/AIDS relief. The clinics will provide drug treatments from trained medical staff and will be open to workers and family members suffering from HIV/AIDS, as well as others within the local communities inflicted by the virus. 
 
With assistance from ICEM trade union affiliates in Africa, national trade union coordinators in 17 sub-Saharan African countries are in place and have begun identifying employers, specific areas and the necessary infrastructure needed for the project. The ICEM has received funding to employ an African Regional HIV/AIDS Project Coordinator, and a person in Brussels who will internationalize the GUF&rsquo;s efforts on the HIV/AIDS fight. 
 
&ldquo;ICEM affiliates in Africa and elsewhere do have formal agreements with global mining companies for pro-active education and awareness programmes on HIV/AIDS that have proven effective,&rdquo; said Higgs. &ldquo;But there is a tremendous medical infrastructure deficit in Africa that is inhibiting the ability to provide effective treatments. These clinics will help alleviate that and are the next logical progression to the valuable education and awareness programmes now in place.&rdquo; 
 
The ICEM is strategically positioned for such a direct role in the HIV/AIDS fight because it represents not only workers of extractive industries disproportionately stricken with the virus, but also chemical workers of the pharmaceutical industry at the major drug-producing companies of the world. The ICEM continues to be engaged in complex dialogue with these pharmaceutical companies on a new initiative to provide affordable drugs to those living with the HIV/AIDS virus in the UN&rsquo;s list of least developed countries.

World AIDS Day: ICEM Focused for Grass Roots Work in Sub-Saharan Africa

Archive

ICEM Speaks Out on Union-Busting in Turkish Glass Sector

Goodyear's UK Job Losses Mount

ICEM's Rio Tinto Network Voices Firm's Labour Shortcomings

Joint ITF/ICEM Offshore Conference Addresses Safety

Victory Near at Bridgestone Plant in Australia

French And Belgian Unions Act On Total/Petrofina Merger

Labour Activist Tian Chua Released In Malaysia

Malaysia Arrests Labour Activist Tian Chua

ICEM Protests Union-Busting by Norwegian Jotun A/S in Turkey

World AIDS Day: ICEM Focused for Grass Roots Work in Sub-Saharan Africa

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