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PENGASSAN, ICEM&rsquo;s white-collar oil workers&rsquo; affiliate in Nigeria, insisted that the government agency charged with product pricing and regulation reverse current petroleum prices in line with the recent decreases to international oil prices. 
Meeting at its National Executive Council last week in Benin City in conjunction with a workshop on &ldquo;Labour and Challenges of Reforms in Oil and Gas Sectors,&rdquo; the President of the union, Uche Okoro, said it was time longstanding disputes over excessive use of expatriate and contract workers be met with firm action. 
PENGASSAN&rsquo;s President also expressed outrage at a campaign by the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria to alter the country&rsquo;s constitution to allow President Olusegun Obasanjo to stand for a third four-term term in 2007. &ldquo;PENGASSAN suffered untold hardships and persecution in the struggle to bring about this democracy,&rdquo; said Okoro. &ldquo;We will not watch people abort it because of selfish interest. The first step to protecting democracy is to respect the constitution. There is no such provision as a third term in the constitution.&rdquo;

PENGASSAN Says No Third Term for Nigeria’s President

The 20-million-member ICEM has declared its support for trade unionists in Thailand who protest tomorrow, 24 November, in front of the country&rsquo;s Labour Ministry on Mitmitree Road, Dindaeng, Bangkok, over the misdirected use of contract and agency labour. 
 
The protest comes at a time when Thai Prime Minister Dr Thaskin Sinawatra is visiting the ministry. ICEM, a Global Union Federation representing 389 affiliated trade unions in 122 countries, including six in Thailand, has written the Prime Minister urging his direct involvement on this workplace issue. 
<img height="182" alt="" src="" width="300" />
Discharged workers at Goodyear's Bangkok tire plant
ICEM affiliates in Thailand have been faced with serious affronts of late from multinational employers intent on replacing permanent, full-time workers with employees from agencies. 
 
One glaring example in Thailand is at a Goodyear tyre factory. Some 18 workers in the warehouse and rubber stock area of the plant&mdash;all who worked under individual year-long contracts for as many as ten years&mdash;were sacked after joining the Goodyear union that is affiliated to ICEM member Petroleum and Chemical Federation of Thailand (PCFT). 
 
As the ICEM raised attention and global pressure on Goodyear management to change the practice, local management reacted by disengaging itself from short-term contracts, and brought in a labour agency to do the work. The agency refused to hire any of the 18. The ICEM finds such labour policies reprehensible, and the global union federation has protested in the strongest terms possible. 
<img height="142" alt="" src="" width="100" />
&ldquo;The Goodyear case is just one example in Thailand in which the issue of contract and agency labour is detrimental to the livelihoods of workers,&rdquo; said ICEM General Secretary Fred Higgs. &ldquo;We witness Goodyear and other employers say over and over how they want a loyal and proud workforce with a stake in the company. How is this possible when workers are not employed by the company?&rdquo; 
 
In the ICEM letter to Prime Minister Thaskin Sinawatra, Higgs cites a number of current labour disputes in Thailand, the issue of contract and agency labour is central in nearly all of them. He urges the Thai leader to give the matter serious attention and &ldquo;to consider the harm such labour practices bring to the overall social development in Thailand.&rdquo; 
 
&ldquo;I write this prior to a group of trade unionists&mdash;many of whom are members of trade unions affiliated to the ICEM&mdash;bringing this issue forward in a rally outside the Ministry of Labour,&rdquo; writes Higgs, &ldquo;and I implore you to hear their voice as it calls forth the ill-effects brought to workers, their families, entire communities when permanent jobs are replaced by contractors and agencies.&rdquo; 
 
Brussels-based ICEM is leading a global campaign on the issue of contract and agency labour. The federation is calling for proper controls on such labour practices in order to avoid displacement of direct employees. The ICEM is also calling on employers, governments and inter-governmental agencies to adopt simple and precise language on the use of contract workers and agency labour, stating that trade union representatives be consulted and dialogue occurs prior to when contracts for such labour practices go into effect. 
<hr />
Read the ICEM letter to the Thai Prime minister <a href="/index.php?id=73&amp;doc=1521&amp;la=EN">here</a>.
<hr />

Contract, Agency Labour Becomes Focal Workplace Issue in Thailand

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The global paper industry and its many individual workplaces face a large number of risks and dangers in the area of health and safety for workers. In addition to that, the industry also knows many environmental challenges, some of which are well known, such as the impact on the environment from forestry. 
 
At the ICEM World Conference for the Pulp and Paper Industry, in Brussels, on 15-16 November 2005, a comprehensive overview of these risks and challenges was presented by Reg Green, ICEM officer for Health, Safety &amp; Environment. 
 
His presentation, entitled &lsquo;Sustainability in the Pulp and Paper Sector&rsquo;, deals with the many hazards and dangers in this sector. Amongst other things, it discusses some of the key health and safety issues, such as the different problems related to the paper making equipment. Other issues include acute and chronic respiratory disorders and cancer. 
 
The presentation also discusses the main causes of injury in the pulp and paper sector. Towards the end, it suggests to&nbsp;increase the&nbsp;use of global framework agreements as&nbsp;a partial solution to the problem. 
 
Click <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/0511REGpaperppt.ppt">here</a> for the complete presentation. 
<hr />

For more information on this conference, including background documents and presentations, click <a href="/index.php?id=147">here</a>.
<hr />

ICEM presentation on the Health and Safety risks in the Pulp and Paper Industry

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A lot of health and safety dangers exist at the many different locations and workplaces in the global materials industries, which includes the glass, cement and ceramics sectors. In addition, these industries also face a huge number of environmental challenges. 
 
At the ICEM World Conference for the Materials Industries, in Brussels, on 17-18 November 2005, a comprehensive overview of these risks and challenges was presented by Reg Green, ICEM officer for Health, Safety &amp; Environment. 
 
The presentation, entitled &lsquo;Towards a Safe and Sustainable Materials Sector&rsquo;, provides an in depth overview of the hazards and health dangers for each of the industrial sectors in the materials industries. It discusses a wide range of issues, going from the use of irritant coloring agents over toxic substances, heat problems or noise pollution to the many products used, such as asbestos, that are know to cause cancer. 
 
The document also suggests a hierarchy of preventive controls to avoid problems to happen in the first place, as prevention is, or - at least - should be, one of the key priorities in this area. 
Click <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/0511REGmaterialsppt.ppt">here</a> for the complete presentation.
For more information on this conference, including background documents and presentations, click <a href="/index.php?id=148">here</a>.

ICEM presentation on the Health and Safety risks in the Materials Industries

The ICEM&rsquo;s two-day World Conference for the Materials Sector, covering the cement, glass and ceramics industries, discussed several labour disputes plaguing these industries, and took definitive action to build global trade union unity around these disputes. 
 
&ldquo;We call on all our affiliates to take note of the companies that have brought adverse labour relations to these workplaces,&rdquo; said ICEM General Secretary Fred Higgs, &ldquo;and we also call on trade unions worldwide within these companies to bring these disputes to the attention of their own managements.&rdquo;&nbsp;
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From left to right: ICEM Materials officer Phee Jungsun, ICEM General Secretary Fred Higgs, vice-chairperson of the Materials conference Michel Decayeux and the newly elected chairperson Jim Hickenbotham.
Three of the ongoing disputes are in the US and involve two French-based companies, in addition to a Spanish concern. The fourth dispute happened in Belgium earlier this year, and was instigated by a glass company from Japan. 
 
In the US, Imerys, a French building materials company, continues to victimize members of the United Steelworkers (USW) at a calcium carbonate operation in Sylacauga, Alabama. Despite a vote by the 500 workers at the mine and processing plant to retain the union in a US government-conducted election, local managers discriminate against union members and violate terms of the collective agreement. 
 
At another workplace in the American South, a strike at Giant Cement in Harleyville, South Carolina, in August and September by the USW was met by local managers permanently replacing the strikers. This action was done by the company - a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cementos Portland Valderrivas of Madrid, Spain - on the eve of strikers abandoning the strike on 23 September 2005. 
 
Delegates to the ICEM&rsquo;s Materials Sector conference also discussed the reprehensible actions by American managers of French-based Saint Gobain at an abrasives factory in Worcester, Massachusetts. A majority of 770 workers voted for representation by the United Auto Workers (UAW) in August 2001 and despite nearly four years and some 140 collective bargaining sessions, Saint Gobain managers refused to enter into an agreement. In January of this year, in a decertification vote against the union, the US government found management had used illegal means to influence the vote. 
 
The fourth dispute also was a strike, and involved a unilateral decision by Japanese management of Asahi Glass to shift production and make redundant over a quarter of 840 workers at Glaverbel&rsquo;s AGC Automotive glass plant in Fleurus, Belgium. The company initially refused social dialogue with ICEM affiliates CG-FGTB and SETCa-FGTB. 
 
The Materials Conference&nbsp;elected a new chairperson for the coming four-year period. Jim Hickenbotham, an officer for the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers (IBB) from the US, was elected by acclamation, while Michel Decayeux, general secretary of CGT-FO F&eacute;d&eacute;chimie in France was elected vice chairperson. 
<hr />
To read the Declaration that&nbsp;was adopted at the conference, click <a href="/?id=77&amp;doc=1511">here</a>.
<hr />
For more information on this conference, including background documents and presentations, click <a href="?id=148">here</a>.
<hr />

Materials Conference Takes Global Approach in Countering Local Disputes

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Meeting in Brussels, Belgium, on 17-18 November 2005, trade union delegates at the ICEM&rsquo;s World Conference for the Materials Sector, encompassing the Cement, Glass, and Ceramics Industries, adopted the following statement: 
 
The state of the business scenario in the Cement, Glass, and Ceramics Industries has been one of mergers, acquisitions and re-location of production. The ICEM&rsquo;s World Conference for the Materials Sector recognized the disruption such business conditions cause to workers and their families. The Conference adopted measures to safeguard the trade union members and their families from the uncertainty caused by the consolidation of companies and the economic consequences brought to workers and their families. The Conference resolved to take all necessary steps to protect the interests of workers in the Materials Sector. 
 
The Conference adopted the following proposals: 
<ul>
 <li>During the next four-year period until the next ICEM World Conference for the Materials Sector, affiliates will seek to initiate dialogue and achieve further Global Framework Agreements with companies associated with the Materials Sector; 
 </li>
 <li>Affiliated Trade Unions will adopt new and innovative networking methods between themselves to further enhance Global Trade Union Solidarity; 
 </li>
 <li>Affiliated Trade Unions fully joined the ICEM&rsquo;s campaign on the abusive use of Contract and Agency Labour in all facets of work; 
 </li>
 <li>Affiliated Trade Unions moved to become more vigilant in monitoring and ensuring responsible behaviour by global companies in cement, glass and ceramics industries regarding health, safety and the environment. Specifically, unions will fully monitor and engage with employers, as well as campaign against the menace of asbestos and silicosis caused by hazardous materials used in these industries; 
 </li>
 <li>ICEM membership within this sector will engage effective workplace measures to educate and raise awareness of the risk of HIV/AIDS infection, and to ensure that meaningful programmes for anti-discrimination of those living with HIV/AIDS be put in place. 
 </li>
 <li>Affiliated Trade Unions will undertake to increase their efforts regarding the all-important Gender Issue of Equal Pay for Work of Equal Value, and to ensure that any and all gender-based discrimination is eliminated from workplaces. </li>
</ul>
It is the determination and commitment of the ICEM-affiliated Trade Unions in the Materials Sector to take sufficient and meaningful action to meet this agenda and produce a full report on the progress of these initiatives at the next World Conference for the Materials Sector. 
 
Adopted 18 November 2005 
Brussels, Belgium 
 
For more information on this conference, including background documents and presentations, click <a href="?id=148">here</a>.

ICEM Declaration on the Materials Sector

Trade Union delegates to the ICEM&rsquo;s quadrennial World Conference for the Pulp and Paper Industries vowed to continue building links of solidarity between unions in this sector. 
 
The conference, held in Brussels, Belgium, from 15 to16 November, was attended by 65 trade union leaders from pulp and paper unions in 17 countries, and produced a five-point action plan to be implemented over the next four years. 
 
&ldquo;This conference came at the right time in an industry facing difficult business conditions,&rdquo; said ICEM General Secretary Fred Higgs. &ldquo;Unions in the paper industry this year have responded with resounding solidarity to each other when faced with employer attacks. We intend to build and strengthen these efforts.&rdquo; 
 
The conference opened with reports on the unprecedented solidarity actions across the industry this year. First and foremost were product blockades and sympathy strikes in Nordic countries as well as across Europe in defence of Finnish paperworkers, some 25,000 of whom were locked out by Finland&rsquo;s paper companies for six weeks in May and June. Another dispute&mdash;entwined with the lockout in Finland&mdash;occurred in the Canadian province of New Brunswick where 700 members of Communications, Energy, Paperworkers Union there struck the global Finnish company UPM Kymmene in order to achieve the paper industry pattern agreement for eastern Canada. 
 
Both disputes were won, in part due to the quick and efficient networking between trade unions within the same multinational companies in different countries. This networking was coordinated by ICEM and its sister federation, the European Mine, Chemical and Energy Federation (EMCEF). 
 
The Brussels Declaration on the Pulp and Paper Sector states: &ldquo;We recognise the current business difficulties in the global paper sector and the inevitable restructuring, affecting workers and their families.&rdquo; But, the declaration added, pulp and paper companies must be advised &ldquo;that continued International Trade Union Solidarity will be utilised to protect the interests of workers and their families in this difficult time in the global paper sector.&rdquo; 
 
This year&rsquo;s Solidarity actions &ldquo;lay the ground for further international networking in the Pulp and Paper Industry. Such actions clearly demonstrate the will of ICEM global trade union affiliates &hellip; to use International Solidarity to resist harsh and inhumane attacks on workers and their collective bargaining agreements to achieve business goals.&rdquo; 
 
The five-point action plan for the next four years includes affiliates initiating dialogue and attempting to sign new Global Framework Agreements with companies in the sector, and adopting new and innovative networking methods to enhance Solidarity efforts. Affiliated trade unions in the sector will also fully join ICEM&rsquo;s campaign against the abusive use on contract and agency labour, use vigilance to ensure responsible behaviour by companies on health, safety and the environment, and ensure that Equal Pay for Work of Equal Value is achieved, in addition to ending all gender-based discrimination in workplaces. 
<img height="265" alt="" src="" width="350" />
Jouko Ahonen (left) congratulated by Walter Zwierschutz, international secretary of&nbsp;Austria's Chemiegewerkschaft 
 
Jouko Ahonen, president of Finland&rsquo;s paperworkers&rsquo; union Paperiliitto, was elected on 16 November as chairman of ICEM&rsquo;s Pulp and Paper Sector to a four-year term. 
<hr />
For the text of the adopted declaration, <a href="/?id=19&amp;doc=1509&amp;la=EN">click here</a>
<hr />
For more information on this conference, including background documents and presentations, click <a href="/index.php?id=147 ">here</a>.
<hr />

ICEM’s World Pulp and Paper Conference Builds Bonds of Solidarity

<img width="100" height="99" src="" alt="" />
Meeting in Brussels, Belgium, on 15-16 November 2005, 65 global trade union delegates from 17 countries at the ICEM World Conference for Pulp and Paper Industries, adopted the following statement: 
 
We recognise the current business difficulties in the global paper industry and inevitable restructuring, affecting workers and their families. However, the conference adopted a Resolution, making it clear to the Pulp/Paper Industry that continued International Trade Union Solidarity will be utilised to protect the interests of workers and their families at this difficult time in the global paper sector. 
 
The Conference also took note of the recent unprecedented international solidarity actions. This lays the ground for further international networking in the Pulp and Paper Industry. 
 
Such actions clearly demonstrate the will of ICEM global trade union affiliates in the Pulp and Paper Sector to use International Solidarity to resist harsh and inhumane attacks on workers and their collective bargaining agreements to achieve business goals. 
 
The conference adopted the following proposals: 
<ul>
 <li>During the next four-year period until the next ICEM World Conference for the Pulp and Paper Industries, affiliates will seek to initiate dialogue and achieve further ICEM Global Framework Agreements with pulp and paper companies; 
 </li>
 <li>Affiliated Trade Unions will adopt new and innovative international networking methods to further enhance Global Trade Union Solidarity; 
 </li>
 <li>Trade Unions in the industry will be fully joined to the ICEM&rsquo;s campaign against the abusive use of Contract and Agency Labour in all facets of work; 
 </li>
 <li>Affiliates will exercise greater vigilance in monitoring and ensuring responsible behaviour by global pulp and paper companies with regard to health, safety and the environment; 
 </li>
 <li>Affiliated Trade Unions will undertake to increase their efforts regarding the all-important gender issue, and seek to ensure Equal Pay for Work of Equal Value, and the elimination of all gender-based discrimination at workplaces. </li>
</ul>
It is the determination of all Affiliates and the ICEM to ensure that they are able to report real achievements on the above agenda at the next World Conference for the Pulp and Paper Industries. 
 
Adopted on 16 November 2005 
Brussels, Belgium 

For more information on this conference, including background documents and presentations, click <a href="/index.php?id=147">here</a>.

ICEM Declaration on the Pulp and Paper Sector

<img height="55" src="" width="138" alt="" />
A deadly past several weeks has brought more deaths from China&rsquo;s mines. 
On 11 November, 19 perished due to a gas explosion at Bayinsai Coal Tar Co. in Wuhai city, Inner Mongolia. That was preceded by two separate gas blasts on 6 November, claiming a total of 52 miners. At the one in Xingtai County, Hebei province, three gypsum mines collapsed killing 36 and seriously injuring another 30. The other happened at the Taiping Coal Mine, Shanxi province, where 16 died in a gas blast. 
On 8 November in Qitai County in the autonomous region of Xinjiang Uygur, 14 died in a workers dormitory where an employee of Beitahsan Coal Mine was handling explosives. Sixteen coal miners died on 27 October due to an explosion inside the Zhongxing Coal Mine near Aksu city in northwest Xinjiang region. 
Drilling through a water-eroded cave brought death by drowning to 28 miners on 4 October at Guang&rsquo;an Energy Group&rsquo;s Longtan Coal Mine in Sichuan province. A day earlier in Henan province, 34 miners died from a gas explosion at the Henan Hebei Coal Co., a joint venture between the state and Thai-based Banpu plc. And on the evening of 2 October, ten people died when they were overcome by gas after sneaking into a molybdenum mine in Liaoning province to work illegally. 
China&rsquo;s State Administration of Coal Mine Safety will have closed 7,000 mines due to safety concerns by the end of the year, and another Chinese agency posted on its website that in order to qualify for financial incentives available for safe mining practices, managers must accompany workers into mines on each shift.

More Deaths Hit China’s Mines

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ICEM affiliate National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) won a labour court ruling late last month against Continental Tyre. The court ruled the company must reinstate 40 workers who were retrenched at a Port Elizabeth factory in July. 
The unilateral decision by the company to curtail weekend shift operations and manpower in some areas of the plant last summer brought ICEM intervention with the German Works Council of Continental. 
In a separate decision also issued in late October, a South African Labour Department inspector determined that Continental violated the Employment Equity Act that seeks to correct racial imbalances left over from the apartheid era. The inspector found that Continental&rsquo;s policies have failed to assimilate blacks and whites into common work practices. The Port Elizabeth tyre factory employs 1,200. 
Meanwhile in Germany, IGBCE has won a year&rsquo;s reprieve for 500 Continental Tyre workers at the St&uuml;cken plant in Hannover. The plant was scheduled to close at the end of 2006, but ICEM&rsquo;s German affiliate convinced the company to keep the plant operating until December 2007.

NUMSA Wins Court Ruling in Continental Tyre Dispute

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