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ICEM Chilean oil worker affiliate Fenatrapech is protesting against attempts to cut 530 workers, an effort to weaken the trade union ahead of moves to privatise the state-owned ENAP (National Petroleum Company). Workers at the Bio Bio refinery in Central Chile held a 24-hour strike on 19 November to protest the management plan to cut its workforce by 15%, 530 of the total 3,380 employees. The Bio Bio refinery workers&rsquo; strike was followed by industrial action in the southern Magallanes region, where most of ENAP&rsquo;s exploration and production activity is based. For workers in the Magallanes region, there are very few employment alternatives available. 
 
The company is offering unacceptably low compensation packages to departing workers. 
 
The national government of President Sebastian Pi&ntilde;era plans to privatise much of the country&rsquo;s major industries, including the oil and gas producer ENAP. The latest job cuts are seen as a further step towards that privatisation. Earlier in the year, energy minister Ricardo Raineri said that ENAP could potentially follow the same model as Brazil's federal energy company Petrobras and sell a stake to private investors. 
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Fenatrapech President Jorge Matute
ENAP employees are represented by ICEM affiliate Fenatrapech, the national federation of oil workers, headed by President Jorge Matute. Matute has lead attempts to negotiate the redundancy issue with management, while ENAP have refused to come to the table, instead pressing ahead with job cuts. The first 300 cuts of the 530 total are due to take place before the end of 2010. 
 
This is just an attempt to weaken the union at the company in order to advance with the privatization process in the short term,&quot; states Matute. 
 
The union reports that workers in the industry are currently enduring very hard times, for those workers to be informed that they are losing their jobs is difficult to accept, especially as it falls in the same week as ENAP executives signed renewed and improved contracts for oil exploration and production exploiting two oil fields in Ecuador. ENAP employees took pride in the new contracts of the company, and see them as direct achievement of the staff. 
 
The Bio Bio refinery processes 116,000 barrels of oil per day, while the Magdallanes around 10,000. ENAP was hard hit by an earthquake last February. 
 
View the ICEM solidarity letter to Fenatrapech in Spanish <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/22%20Fenatrapech%20ICEM%2029%20Nov.pdf">here</a>.

Chilean Oil Workers Fighting Job Cuts, Privatisation

Action Needed/ Votre intervention est souhaitée/ Se requiere acción urgente

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The ICEM continues to support the campaign for the rights of Burmese migrant workers in Thailand. The State Enterprise Workers&rsquo; Relations Confederation of Thailand (SERC) has teamed with LabourStart to call on the Royal Thai Government to end the illegal and unjust practice of blocking Burmese migrants from access to the Workers&rsquo; Compensation Fund (WCF). 
 
The social security fund provides compensation for workers who incur injuries or disease from their work. Burmese migrants are denied rehabilitation assistance and are denied the right to register as disabled if they suffer permanent disabilities from occupational accidents. 
 
Following three years of protest by the ITUC-affiliated SERC, the ILO&rsquo;s Committee of Experts in February 2010 ruled that this denial of access for Burmese migrants was a breach of ILO Convention 19, on equality of accident compensation, which Thailand has ratified. 
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The Thai government&rsquo;s response has been to outsource the compensation of migrant workers to private insurance firms. This cannot create equality of accident compensation with Thai nationals who remain covered by the WCF, and is in breach of international law and human rights standards. 
 
Over two million Burmese migrants currently work in Thailand, most in low-skilled, dangerous jobs. While the majority of these workers entered Thailand illegally, over one million have registered to work. 
 
Labour activists submitted a petition to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on 26 October, calling for action on this issue and on the general abuse of migrant workers in Thailand. The LabourStart campaign condemns the Thai government&rsquo;s inaction on the human trafficking of migrants. 
 
Visit the LabourStart Act NOW Campaign <a href="http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/solidarityforever/show_campaign.cgi?c=783">here</a>, to send a message to the Thai Government.

Burmese Migrant Workers in Thailand Warrants Support

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ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda and Asia-Pacific Regional Contact Person Phee Jungsun visited ICEM affiliates in India and Pakistan 18-22 October. The mission was to increase understanding of the challenges facing ICEM members in those countries, and to coordinate ICEM support. 
 
The activities in India included a joint meeting with the four ICEM Indian affiliates, in Nagpur, 19 October. Those unions are the Indian National Mineworkers&rsquo; Federation (INMF), The Indian National Cement Workers&rsquo; Federation (INCWF), the Indian National Diamond &amp; Ornaments Workers&rsquo; Federation (INDOWF), and the HMS Chemical Mazdoor Federation. 
 
The National Chemical and Petroleum Federation joined the meeting as an observer. The meeting was chaired by Warda and Brother BK Das, INMF General Secretary, who also serves as the India Representative of the Council of ICEM Indian affiliates, formed in 2009. 
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The common focus of the four unions is on issues of Contract and Agency Labour (CAL), and organizing. The INMF reported on progress in mines in the state of Orissa, where a collective bargaining agreement was obtained to provide equal benefits of social security for CAL workers. In the cement sector, around 60% of all workforces are CAL workers. Several unions were set up by CAL cement workers, who then either joined INCWF or applied for membership directly to ICEM. Cement employers sack CAL workers whenever they try to form union or to join. 
 
The proposal was agreed by affiliates to hold a joint rally and symposium in New Delhi, the capital of India, on the issue of national legislation and social security benefits for CAL workers. It will be a joint action with the International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF) and the International Textiles, Garment, Leather Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITGLWF). 
 
In the chemicals sector, due to common characteristics of small numbers of employees in a company, trade unions are not powerful, except for in the large state-owned fertilizer or petro-chemical companies. 
 
Pharmaceutical unions in MNCs were active until ten years ago, but have been destroyed by aggressive relocation strategies of employers, seeking unorganized workforces. Contrary to the high economic growth rate every year, trade unions in the manufacturing sector are in decline, especially in private companies. The unification of trade unions in Indian manufacturing seems more and more necessary. 
 
The mission continued to Karachi, Pakistan, on 21-22 October, where meetings were held with the three ICEM affiliates: the Pakistan Central Mines Labour Federation (PCMLF), the Pakistan Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Union (PCEM), and the Pakistan National Federation of Chemical, Energy, and Pharmaceutical Workers&rsquo; Union. 
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ICEM Mission to Pakistan
The Secretary General of the PCMLF, Sultan Muhammad Khan, and Pir Muhammad, Education Secretary, presented the challenges of the major industry federation, based in Quetta, Balochistan Province. It is the largest mining union in Pakistan, with a total membership of 130,000. Members suffer from occupational diseases, including TB, and Hepatitis A and C, with high numbers of fatal accidents at work. The numbers of death at work cases are 136 per year, with little help from the government since many labour inspectors are corrupt. 
 
The PCEM, led by General Secretary Muhammad Suhail, has 2,000 members, and is based in Karachi, Sindh Province. 
 
The Pakistan National Federation of Chemical, Energy, and Pharmaceutical Workers&rsquo; Union, led by General Secretary Khalil Ur Rehman, has 1,500 members, and is also based in Karachi. The union has national affiliation to the APFOL-PWF, an ITUC affiliate.

ICEM Supports Pakistan, India Affiliates in Tough Challenges

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The ICEM expressed deep condolences to the families of 29 miners declared dead yesterday at the Pike River coal mine disaster in New Zealand, as well as to their trade union &ndash; affiliate Engineering, Printing, and Manufacturing Union (EPMU). 
 
In a letter to EPMU National Secretary Andrew Little, ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda said, &ldquo;It is with great sadness that the ICEM has learned of the deaths of 29 miners. Please accept my heartfelt condolences. 
 
&ldquo;We will now support your call for a full and thorough investigation into the causes of this terrible accident, and for all of the bodies to be returned as soon as possible to their families. The explosion illustrates the importance of our shared work in improving safety standards in mines, and moving the New Zealand Government toward ratification and proper implementation of ILO Convention 176, on safety and health in mines.&rdquo; (Full letter <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/145.ICEM.EPMU.New%20Zealand.24Nov.pdf">here</a>.) 
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Inside Pike River mine, before accident, Photo: NZPA
The miners, trapped since 19 November by a horrid methane gas explosion at Pike River Coal Ltd.&rsquo;s coking coal mine inside the Paparoa Range on the South Island, were declared dead yesterday by police charged with rescue. (See ICEM&rsquo;s initial report <a href="/en/5-Mining-DGOJP/4115-Hope-Still-Alive-for-29-Trapped-Inside-Pike-River’s-New-Zealand-Coal-Mine">here</a>.) The police announcement came minutes after a second massive explosion that lasted 30 seconds occurred inside the company&rsquo;s mine of the Brunner coal seam at 14h37, local time, Wednesday. The Pike River mine is located 50 kilometres from Greymouth. 
 
Rescue attempts proved prohibitive for six days because of high levels of methane gas and carbon monoxide that were registered inside. News of the secondary explosion&nbsp;yesterday and improbability that the 29 could have survived was brought to grief-stricken family members at 16h00 in Greymouth by Pike River CEO Peter Whittal. &ldquo;Exactly what we said would happen happened,&rdquo; he told reporters in explaining why rescuers had not been sent into the mine. Some 90 skilled mine rescuers, many flown in from Australia, were on standby for those five days. 
<img alt="" src="" width="182" height="173" />
EPMU National Secretary Andrew Little
EPMU National Secretary Little said: &ldquo;News of this second devastating explosion means there is now no prospect of a successful rescue and the lives of the 29 men trapped inside have been lost. It is time to let the families and the community grieve. 
 
&ldquo;Most of the miners killed were our comrades in the union, including Blair Sims who was an EPMU delegate at the Pike River mine,&rdquo; Little said. &ldquo;The EPMU will now make the practical arrangements to establish a fund to assist the families of the men whose lives have been lost.&rdquo; 
Little added the EPMU now calls on the government &ldquo;to establish an independent inquiry to investigate the circumstances of the explosion, including a public hearing in front of a senior judge and leading technical experts,&rdquo; adding the union will do everything possible to assist the investigation. 
<img alt="" src="" width="175" height="175" />
EPMU Delegate Blair Sims 
Sims was a 28-year-old loving husband and father of two small children. He was an exceptional rugby player who for the past two seasons was New Zealand West Coast player of the year. Eleven of the 29 miners were EPMU members. Those perishing included 16 full-time workers of Pike River Coal Ltd., owned 31% owned by New Zealand Oil &amp; Gas Ltd., and 13 contract employees. 
 
Little, who received the news 90 minutes after the blast yesterday, told New Zealand media that &ldquo;miners are special people. They are the foundation rock that much of New Zealand was built on. When you lose special people like that, 29 all in one go, it is a hard thing. I don&rsquo;t think any of us can imagine what the families will be going through tonight.&rdquo; 
The EPMU is assisting by setting up the &ldquo;EPMU Pike River Miners Family Support Trust&rdquo; to collect donations to support the 29 families.&nbsp;See more information on how to give financial support to the families of the dead miners <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/1011.EPMU%20Pike%20River%20Miners%20Family%20Support%20Trust%20-%20flyer.pdf">here</a>.
&quot;Miners around the world are grieving their fallen comrades,&quot; said ICEM and South Africa's NUM President Senzeni Zokwana, &quot;our struggle continues to enure our members&nbsp;safety at work.&quot; 
 
New Zealand Prime Minister John Key said at a press conference a special commission will be established and that the country&rsquo;s Cabinet, to meet on 29 November, will establish the perimeters of that inquiry.
See photos of all the lost Pike River miners <a href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/pike-river-miners/news/headlines.cfm?c_id=1503001">here</a>.&nbsp;

Together with EPMU, ICEM Mourns Deaths of 29 Miners in New Zealand

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Three Global Union Federations, representing a total of 52 million workers worldwide, signed a Global Framework Agreement this week with GDF SUEZ, the world&rsquo;s second largest gas, water services, and electric utility. The International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine, General Workers&rsquo; Unions (ICEM), the Building and Woodworkers International (BWI), and Public Services International (PSI) reached a &ldquo;Global Agreement on Fundamental Rights, Social Dialogue, and Sustainable Development&rdquo; following productive negotiations with Paris-based GDF SUEZ. 
 
The agreement contains best practice language regarding trade union rights, including full respect for International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention 87 (Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise), Convention 98 (Right to Organise and Bargaining Collectively), and Convention 135 (the Workers&rsquo; Representatives Convention), and a number of other international instruments. GDF SUEZ pledges to facilitate access to employees by trade unions or workers&rsquo; representatives in a spirit of cooperation and transparency. 
 
The Global Framework Agreement also commits the parties to &ldquo;positive and constructive industrial relations inside all GDF SUEZ companies,&rdquo; as well as promoting such practices with business partners. It sets forth a framework regarding employee training, health and safety, and stable and sustainable employment, including priority on direct employment and adherence of company subcontractors to pay social security and pension contributions for their workers. Because of the nature of their work, another important commitment of the company that was agreed is to respect the principles contained in ILO Convention 94 related to labour clauses in public procurement. 
<img alt="" src="" width="260" height="176" />
Left to right: BWI Assistant General Secretary Marion Hellmann, ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda, GDF SUEZ CEO G&eacute;rard Mestrallet
It also pledges environmental stewardship that enjoins labour and management to combat climate change, protect workers&rsquo; rights and interests in accord with the principles of Just Transition, and supports efforts to control the impact on the environment of the company&rsquo;s resources and activities. 
 
It commits GDF SUEZ, the three Global Union Federations, and trade unions to cooperative social dialogue to achieve additional agreements, including on training, occupational heath and safety, restructuring, and sustainable development and climate change. (See the agreement <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/1011GDFgobagreeEN.pdf">here</a>.) 
 
ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda said: &ldquo;This agreement embodies social principles that truly stand out in terms of corporate conduct. ICEM intends to hold these principles to be the new measuring bar for Global Framework Agreements.&rdquo; 
 
Added BWI General Secretary Ambet Yuson, &ldquo;Employers such as GDF SUEZ have a significant influence in shaping labour policy and practices and we believe this agreement will improve the working and living conditions of tens of thousands of building workers.&rdquo; 
<img alt="" src="" width="260" height="177" />
Peter Waldorff, PSI General Secretary, said, &ldquo;We want to make clear our position as a global union: PSI opposes privatisation of public services and will always defend publicly-owned and operated public services. However, this agreement affirms our commitment to work together with our affiliates, Global Union Federations, and GDF SUEZ to develop and strengthen social dialogue and to ensure that the agreement is understood by managers and trade union leaders and applied in all regions and countries.&rdquo; 
 
GDF SUEZ Chairman and CEO G&eacute;rard Mestrallet said: &ldquo;The signature of this worldwide agreement puts a seal on the Group&rsquo;s commitment to social and environmental responsibility. It illustrates the vitality of the social dialogue at GDF SUEZ that has always been an engine of our industrial development.&rdquo; 
ICEM, representing GDF SUEZ workers in the gas and electric energy sectors, covers 20 million union members of 467 national trade unions in 132 countries. BWI, covering GDF SUEZ workers in building, construction, and energy services, represents 12 million workers through 328 trade union affiliates in 130 countries. PSI, representing water and waste treatment workers of GDF SUEZ, has membership of 20 million and affiliation of 650 trade unions in 150 countries. 
 
GDF SUEZ has a total global workforce of 200,650 workers and operates in 40 countries. 
 
For further information, contact: Dick Blin (ICEM Information Officer), <a href="mailto:dick.blin@icem.org">dick.blin@icem.org</a>, +41 22 304 1842; Genevi&egrave;ve Kalina (BWI Information Officer), <a href="mailto:genevieve.kalina@bwint.org">genevieve.kalina@bwint.org</a>, +41 22 827 3786; Teresa Marshall (PSI Communications Coordinator), <a href="mailto:teresa.marshall@world-psi.org">teresa.marshall@world-psi.org</a>, +33 450 40 1152.

Global Union Federations ICEM, BWI, PSI Sign Global Framework Agreement with GDF SUEZ

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ICEM Chemical Industries Sector Chair Tomas Nieber opened the Chemicals Sector Conference in Istanbul last week by calling for more regulatory standards as a result of the global financial crisis. Nieber, the head of German affiliate IGBCE&rsquo;s Economic Department who was re-elected chair of the sector that covers both chemicals and pharmaceutical, said with the sector showing a modest recovery in 2010, politicians and governments must not revert to past policies that caused the crisis. 
 
A record 250 delegates from 40 countries attended the ICEM&rsquo;s quadrennial chemicals conference in Istanbul on 27-28 October, a conference splendidly organised by Petrol-İş, the petroleum, chemicals, and rubber union of Turkey. 
<img alt="" src="" width="218" height="163" />
Petrol-İş President Mustafa &Ouml;ztaşkin
Nieber said 34 million jobs were lost worldwide due to the financial crisis, and he cited a number of challenges facing the sector, including the rising price of fuels and the need to maintain sustainable policies for the two industries. He also said since the sector has been marked by &ldquo;internationalization&rdquo; with increased cross-border investments and mergers, there must be more coordination regarding currency exchange rates. 
 
&ldquo;As trade unions, we must demand more regulations,&rdquo; Nieber said. 
 
Petrol-İş President Mustafa &Ouml;ztaşkin welcomed delegates to Turkey, but told global chemical and pharmaceutical trade union leaders that his country has implemented policies neutralizing unions. &ldquo;International conventions related to trade union rights and freedoms are routinely violated,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;and the national legislation which regulates trade union activity retains its repressive and prohibitive essence.&rdquo; 
<img alt="" src="" width="220" height="135" />
27 delegates from Japan attended the conference
&Ouml;ztaşkin said recent constitutional modifications that have been accepted by referendum actually are regressive in many ways toward trade union rights. He said Turkey ranks among the top ten worldwide in chemicals production, but he said privatization has decreased employment by 60-70% over the years, with non-union and precarious labour the norm. He also said it has become common for trade unions in Turkey to be the chief advocates for developing social responsibility standards, waste management, health and safety standards, and clean technologies. 
 
The conference included no less than six panel discussions over the two days, including one on Industrial Relations, Social Dialogue, and Social Responsibility. That panel saw Lutz Mugl, General Secretary of the International Chemical Employers&rsquo; Labour Relations Committee, Rhodia Chemistry President Bernard Chambon, and Umicore Human Resources and Development Director Mark Dolfyn participate and review practices, as well as ICEM Chemicals Industry Kemal &Ouml;zkan and Hubertus Schmoldt, former President of IGBCE and President of EMCEF. 
<img alt="" src="" width="215" height="161" />
The delegation from the Russian Chemical &amp; Allied Workers&rsquo; Union was led by President Alexander Sitnov, right
(For a listing of the panels, click <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4051-ICEM’s-Quadrennial-Chemicals-Conference-in-Istanbul-Next-Week ">here</a> to view a previous ICEM article on the conference.) 
 
The conference concluded with development of an 11-point action plan for the next four-year period. Highlights include support and coordination for organising workers of multinational companies; development of decent work practices in collective agreements, as well as equal pay and same terms and conditions of work; use of social dialogue with employers&rsquo; organizations; health, safety, and sustainability practices through union participation; a emphasis on women and young workers in the chemicals and pharmaceutical industries; and support for a new global trade union structure with two other Global Union Federations. 
<img alt="" src="" width="219" height="164" />
Hassan Juma Awad Sdawe of the Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions (GFIW) was a panelist on Global Union Power Through Solidarity
The complete work plan can be accessed <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/ChemsActionPlan%20_3_.pdf ">here</a>. 
 
The Chemicals Conference also endorsed a resolution supporting French, Romanian, and other European trade union federations engaged in strikes against austerity measures. That resolution was first adopted by the ICEM Presidium, which met on 26 October at the same venue in Istanbul. That resolution can be seen <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/FrenchResolutionChemConf.pdf ">here</a>.

ICEM Chemicals Conference Concludes with Record Turnout

Meeting in Stavanger, Norway September 6-8, 2010, delegates to the ICEM World Energy Conference were appalled to hear of the latest attacks on trade unions by the present &ldquo;caretaker&rdquo; government in Iraq. 
 
Delegates listened to presentations by ICEM Executive Committee member, Hashmeya Muhsin Alsadawe, President General Union of Electricity Workers and Abdulah Muhsin International Representative of the General Federation of Iraqi Workers (GFIW) 
 
There is clearly an extended and concerted attack on trade union organisation. The latest attacks have seen on July 21, police storming the offices of the Iraqi Electrical Utility Workers Union in Basra on the orders of Electricity Minister Hussain al-Shahristani to shut the union down. As more police arrived, they took the membership records, the files documenting often-atrocious working conditions, the leaflets for demonstrations protesting Basra's agonizing power outages, the computers and the phones. Finally, Muhsin and her coworkers were pushed out and the doors locked. 
 
Shahristani's order prohibits all trade union activity in the plants operated by the ministry, closes union offices, and seizes control of union assets from bank accounts to furniture. The order says the ministry will determine what rights have been given to union officers, and take them all away. Anyone who protests, it says, will be arrested under Iraq's Anti-Terrorism Act of 2005. 
 
Delegates unanimously confirmed the importance of the ICEM EC resolution of May 26-27, 2010 and resolved to intensity their support and solidarity work with our affiliated trade unions in Iraq in their struggle for fundamental trade union and human rights and a peaceful, prosperous and democratic society.

Resolution on Iraq

&quot;Global Governance Includes Better Governance of Oil Companies&quot; 
 
On April 20, 2010 there was an explosion on the drilling rig &quot;Deepwater Horizon&quot;. 
 
Eleven oil workers were killed. Two days later the rig sank in an ocean of fire. Oil is flowing completely uncontrolled and is still doing so after almost two months. 
 
We do not know what caused the blow out. The ICEM World Energy Conference will however declare that: 
 
1) an independent and open inquiry must be held, and trade unions should be granted full insight in the process; 
 
2) at all times the responsibility rest solely on the operator; 
 
3) blow out prevention (BOP) systems should have remote control capabilities, for instance acoustic signal actuators, in addition to traditional BOP controls; 
 
4) when working in new areas, deep water, and other special conditions, it must be demanded that more than one rig be present in the area to ensure safer evacuation in case of an emergency and to be able to start drilling a relief well in case of a blowout. Two months after the blowout in the Gulf of Mexico, it is a catastrophic disaster that the drilling of a relief well had not been started; 
 
5) sufficient and effective oil booms and/or other means to collect oil spillage must be available or in place in all areas where offshore drilling takes place; 
 
6) the demands of deregulation must be reversed. More regulations are needed and the &quot;best available technology&quot; must be demanded, at least in all new and challenging areas.

Energy Conference Resolution on Gulf of Mexico Oil Well Blowout (BP - Deepwater Horizon)

The ICEM World Energy Conference, meeting in Stavanger, Norway on 6-7 September 2010, is deeply disturbed by the extraordinarily high number of workplace deaths and injuries in recent months, in both upstream and downstream oil and gas industries. It must be remembered that these are workers who died producing profits for corporations that failed to provide safe working conditions. 
 
Specifically, the ICEM notes a rash of explosions and fires in US oil refineries, including the tragic refinery explosion of the Tesoro company at the Anacortes, Washington, refinery that killed seven dedicated union members in April 2010. The ICEM grieves the death of a Petrobras worker at an onshore oils filed in the state of Bahia in May. Much has rightly been made of the environmental destruction along the United States Gulf coast brought about by the BP-operated oil rig explosion and blow-out in the gulf of Mexico earlier this year. After the initial news, however, the fact that 11 offshore workers died and 15 others were severely injured has been largely ignored. These are examples only. ICEM also recognizes that there have been many further workplace deaths in the oil and gas and other sectors. 
 
This deterioration in safety and health conditions is attributable, the Conference believes, to the rush by corporations to maximize profits by corporations in the wake of the financial crisis, and a general disregard for best practises in safety and health. Indeed, many oil and gas companies, rather than create or re-create decent jobs as the economy recovers, have instead made a hazardous industry more hazardous by expanding the utilization of contract workers, combining existing jobs, and decreasing direct employment. Thiss situation is made worse by the non-regulation, deregulationn and non-enforcement of safety and environmental regulations by many governments. 
 
The ICEM calls on the industry to engage the legitimate workers' representatives in implementing proper procedures and best practises such as Process Safety Management and Joint Union-Management Health and Safety Committees to remedy the inherent risks in these industries. 
 
ICEM insists that trade unions be fully involved in all design, safety methodology and implementation of safety equipment, as well as fully involved in investigative work following accidents or malfunctions. 
 
The ICEM pledges to alert affiliates whenever it becomes aware of mass deaths inside any work facility caused by negligence or faulty safety systems. It is the expectation that trade union affiliates will bring attention to these horrific acts to their own governments and inside their own enterprises in order that a new safety consciousness is raised and a new culture of health and safety is built. 
 
The ICEM also calls for ratification and strict adherence to all of the important ILO instruments on occupational health and safety, including: ILO Convention 155, the Occupational Safety and Health Convention; Convention 174, the Prevention of Major Industrial Accidents Convention; Convention 162, the Asbestos Convention; Convention 148, the Working Environment (Air Pollution, Noise, Ventilation); Convention 136, the Benzene Convention; Convention 170, the Chemicals Convention; Convention 115, the Radiation Protection Convention; Convention 139, the Occupational Cancer Convention; Convention 183, the Maternity Protection Convention; and Convention 176, on Safety and Health in Mines, as well as attention to the ILO Guidelines on health and Safety management Systems. 
 
Finally, the ICEM calls on other Global Union Federations to join its campaign for better safety and health conditions throughout all industries.

Energy Conference Resolution on Safety in the Oil and Gas Sector ICEM World Energy Conference, 2010

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