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The ICEM received a report over this past weekend from the Federation of Workers&rsquo; Councils and Unions (FWCUI) that a workers&rsquo; demonstration in Baghdad was fired upon by armed forces. The demonstration and use of armed force occurred on 6 October near the Green Zone in central Baghdad. 
 
The report the ICEM received from the FWCUI said many of the 2,000 protestors were hit with rubber bullets. The ICEM condemns such military action against workers, and calls it one further example why Iraq must enact legitimate labour law and recognise free and independent trade unions. 

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Industrial workers had requested and received a permit from the Baghdad military to hold the demonstration, a protest over pay remunerations since 2008, safety benefits, and to settle cases of workers dismissed from jobs for political reasons under the Saddam regime. 
 
The march on 6 October started at Al Tahreer Square, and crossed Al Jumhoria Bridge towards the Green Zone, where armed forces indiscriminately fired upon and beat demonstrators. Four workers were severely beaten and arrested: Thamir Hameed and Muhammad Khangar from a battery manufacturing industry; Muhammad Khamees from an electrical facility; and Munadhil Attia from the leather manufacturing industry. 

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The FWCUI declared the attack &ldquo;an unprecedented act of terror that will not be forgiven,&rdquo; and called upon authorities to fire the soldiers responsible and to try them criminally. A representative of the Ministries&rsquo; Council admitted of an unprovoked armed confrontation and said the council stood ready to issue a formal statement of apology. 
 
The ICEM has two affiliated trade unions that are part of the FWCUI, and the Geneva-based Global Union Federation calls on workers&rsquo; organizations everywhere to support the FWCUI in their efforts to bring those responsible for this cowardly attack on workers to justice. 
 
The ICEM also supports FWCUI in its efforts for security and just economic entitlements for workers of its federation.

Iraqi Armed Troops Fire at Peaceful Demonstration in Baghdad

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Trade Unions in Iraq are faced with increasing interference and outright repression from government as they organize and increase their influence. Despite the right to organize being clearly guaranteed in the new constitution, Iraq&rsquo;s government falls back on blatantly anti&ndash;union legislation, some of it dating to the Saddam era, to hamper and restrict trade union activity. 
 
But trade unions are fighting back. On 24 October, hundreds of workers marched on the streets of Basra. Members of 12 unions gathered in front of the headquarters of the General Federation of Iraqi Workers (GFIW) there with banners demanding the central government stop interfering in internal workers&rsquo; issues, before marching towards the government administration building in Basra. 

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ICEM Executive Committee Member, Hashmeyia Saadawi
The GFIW is a Iraqi national centre of trade unions to which two ICEM-affiliated trade unions are members. Among the leaders of this demonstration was Hashmeyia Saadawi, President of the General Union of Electricity Workers and Technicians (GFIW), and a member of the ICEM Executive Committee. 
 
Slogans prominently displayed during the march demanded implementation of new ILO compliant labour law, as well as abolition of Saddam&rsquo;s Law 150 of 1987, and ministerial Order 8750 of August 2005. 
 
The immediate issue at stake in the 24 October action is the government&rsquo;s attempt to form a government committee to implement workers&rsquo; elections for unions &ndash; under the old laws and without involving GFIW's executive board. This would continue to prevent workers in the public-sector from unionising, since public-sector workers are not officially allowed to join trade unions under the old legislation. 

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Given that both the oil and gas industry, and the electric power industry remain publicly&ndash;owned, this makes elections in those unions, as well as many others, farcical. The problems are compounded by the continued use by authorities of a controversial decree, Order 8750 of 2005, which froze all trade union assets and financial accounts, making it impossible for unions to function effectively. 
 
On arrival at the local government offices, workers met with local officials who promised to support and pass along their demands to the central government. 
 
But this crucial struggle will continue. The Iraqi trade union movement is about to launch a national campaign calling on the government and Parliament to implement a fair and just labour code that gives all workers, in both public and private sectors, the right to join trade unions. Once such a law is in place, then elections must be held, elections that are free from government interference. 

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The campaign has already attracted international attention and support. In the UK, Trades Union Congress (TUC) General Secretary Brendan Barber has written to Foreign Secretary David Miliband asking him to press Iraq to drop its interference, and instead put in place the ILO-compliant labour code that has been drafted, allowing all workers the right to form, join, and have a say in the running of trade unions. That letter is <a href="http://www.tuc.org.uk/international/tuc-17128-f0.cfm ">here</a>. 
 
And LabourStart has begun an electronic campaign, in which workers can show their support. Join this campaign by hitting the link <a href="http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/solidarityforever/show_campaign.cgi?c=588 ">here</a>. 
 
A statement issued by the GFIW can be found <a href="/index.php?id=24&amp;la=EN&amp;doc=3467">here</a>.

Iraq: Confronting Government Repression, Interference of Unions

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ICEM affiliate Oilfields Workers&rsquo; Trade Union (OWTU) of Trinidad and Tobago issued a dire warning last week to the government to stop trampling union rights and threats to full-time employment at state-owned energy concerns. 
 
At a mass meeting at OWTU headquarters in San Fernando on 1 October, President-General Ancel Roget said a week-long national strike, led by the country&rsquo;s most powerful trade union, is imminent by the end of the year if the government and its enterprises do not stop the abuse. 
 
The island-nation has been gripped of late by government enterprises, the Telecommunications Service (TSTT) and the Public Transport Service Corp. (PTSC), taking legal action to decertify trade unions in those sectors because of labour incidents this summer. 

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OWTU members last week 
Photo: Trevor Hackett/Trinidad and Tobago Express
Late last week, just prior to a mass gathering outside the industrial court to protest the union decertifications, the Trade and Industry Minister, upon exiting from a cabinet meeting, said ministers would instruct the state enterprises to drop court actions aimed at decertifying the Communication Workers&rsquo; Trade Union and the Transport and Industrial Workers&rsquo; Trade Union. 
 
That was seen as a tangible retreat by the government to growing discontent by citizens angered by suppression of trade union rights in the public sector. 
 
But despite this, OWTU is waiting for the government and administrators of state-controlled oil and gas companies Petrotrin and Trinmar (Petrotrin&rsquo;s offshore subsidiary) to back away from rhetoric that discredits its full-time workforce. The government has made claims that the energy companies are overstaffed by 2,000 workers, and that retrenchments might be inevitable. 

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OWTU President-General Ancel Roget
OWTU also takes offense to statements made by Petrotrin Chairman Malcolm Jones before a parliamentary committee meeting early last week. At a Public Accounts Committee meeting, Jones said Petrotrin&rsquo;s permanent workforce at its Point-&agrave;-Pierre refinery was not performing well enough during a gasoline optimization project, thus forcing the company to hire temporary and contract workers at the refinery. 
 
At last Thursday&rsquo;s emergency OWTU meeting, Roget called for an audit of the gasoline optimization programme, and said workers face &ldquo;a runaway government&rdquo; intent on imposing &ldquo;all kinds of penalties and hardships for the citizens of Trinidad and Tobago.&rdquo; 
 
The government&rsquo;s union decertification retreat in telecommunications and transport appears aimed at defusing possible mass unrest and mobilizations during the 27-29 November biennial Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Port of Spain. 
 
But the government of Prime Minister Patrick Manning may face those protests anyway if Petrotrin and its bosses do not stand down from its demoralizing anti-worker rhetoric that has clearly irritated Trinidad and Tobago&rsquo;s paramount trade union.

OWTU Will Use Direct Action to Defend Jobs, Unions in Trinidad and Tobago

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World Day for Decent Work (WDDW) actions by the ICEM kicked off last week with two days of activities in Turkey, focusing on the dangers to civil society when full-time employment is eroded and use of contract and agency labour increases. 
 
The ICEM is highlighting actions on curbing the anti-social nemesis of temporary and agency work in Turkey and Thailand as its part in WDDW for 2009, the second year that global labour has marked an October date to herald decent work and decent living standards. 7 October has become fixed as WDDW, and trade unions worldwide are encouraged to use the weeks of early October to publicly rally for sustainable jobs. 

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In Thailand, ICEM-affiliated trade unions, together with the Confederation of State Enterprise Unions, will gather at 10h00 on 7 October in front of the UN Building on Rachadamnoen Road. From there, a march will proceed to the Government House, where a petition will be submitted to the Prime Minister&rsquo;s office calling on Thailand to ratify ILO Conventions 87 and 98, the Freedom of Association and Right to Organise and Right to Collective Bargaining Conventions. 
 
The assembly is being buoyed by the Thai Solidarity Committee, and federated trade unions representing workers chemicals and petroleum, pulp and paper, automotive, electronics, textile and garments, and food workers. Thousands are expected to march. 
 
In Istanbul, Turkey, on 1 October, a delegation of leading global union leaders first met with Turkish trade union officers to let them know that global labour stands with them in preventing re-submission of &ldquo;Private Labour Offices&rdquo; legislation in Turkey. In late June, the country&rsquo;s Parliament moved such a bill to President Abdullah G&uuml;l without hearings or input from civil society. 
 
On 9 July, President G&uuml;l vetoed the measure. The bill would have allotted fees to labour brokers in their jobs&rsquo; dispatch of temporary, and allowed any individual or business to certify as a private-hire labour agency with a minimal investment of TL 20,000 (&euro;9,250). 
Last Thursday, ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda, International Textile, Garment, Leather Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITGLWU) General Secretary Neil Kearney, International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF) General Secretary Jyrki Raina, and ICEM Chemicals and Rubber Officer Kemal &Ouml;zkan met with Turkish trade unions, as well as with Confederation of Turkish Trade Unions (T&uuml;rk-İş) General Secretary Mustafa Kumlu to pledge continued resistance to the bill. 

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Trade Union Leaders with Turkish Minister of Labour and Social Security &Ouml;mer Din&ccedil;er
Later in the day, Kumlu, an ICEM Executive Committee member, joined global union leaders in a meeting with Turkish Minister of Labour and Social Security &Ouml;mer Din&ccedil;er. The minister confirmed that the draft bill, at present, is not on the agenda of the Parliament. 
 
Discussion also ensued on trade union rights and freedoms inside Turkey. Din&ccedil;er said his ministry is ready to cooperate with the global trade union movement to modify Turkey&rsquo;s draconian labour code to become more in line with ILO Conventions and European Union norms. The union leaders also met separately on 1 October with Salim Uslu, president of Hak-İş, the Real Trade Unions Confederation of Turkey, and with S&uuml;leyman &Ccedil;elebi, President of DİSK, the Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions.&nbsp;
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2 October Press Conference in Istanbul
On 2 October, International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) General Secretary Guy Ryder joined Warda, Kearney, Raina, and the four presidents of Turkish national labour centers at an 11h00 press conference. The conference was attended by 60 trade union leaders from inside Turkey, and press representing 18 Turkish media outlets. 
 
Again, the message zeroed in on the growing threat to the living standards of workers under the present trend of discarding regular and full-time employees in favour of temporary and agency work. In two days, on 7 October, DİSK will distribute, in all workplaces in which it has membership, an ITUC manifesto on WDDW. 
 
Meanwhile, the T&uuml;rk-İş Confederation will sponsor an international symposium on decent work on that day at Gazi University in Ankara. The Global Union Council will be present for that symposium. 
 
Also in Thailand this week, trade unions are doing vast media outreach around WDDW and are disseminating the IMF&rsquo;s precarious work brochure and poster.

ICEM’s WDDW Activities Start in Istanbul; March Set in Bangkok on 7 October

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A steep three-month wage, bonus, and vacation scheme cut to 35,000 miners and metalworkers in Kazakhstan was lifted, effective 1 October. JSC ArcelorMittal Temirtau, owner of a network of coal mines and a massive steel mill in the Karaganda region of Kazakhstan, negotiated the cuts with Steel and Coal Divisions Trade Unions within the company last spring in hard bargaining. 
 
ArcelorMittal Temirtau cited the global economic crisis for proposing the cuts, saying the Kazakhstan unit had taken a US$100 million operating loss in first quarter 2009. 

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After a series of difficult negotiations through a bi-lateral Conciliation Commission, representatives of the unions and management agreed on a compromise that saw coal mining wages cut by 14% and metal-working remuneration cut by 9%. In addition, vacation schedules contained in collective agreements were reduced and production bonus schemes halted. The company had initially sought 30% salary cuts 
 
Extension of the so-called &ldquo;anti-crisis agreement&rdquo; beyond 30 September remained an option, but on that day management said it would not extend it and the prior wage base and benefit levels would be restored, according to the chair of a miners&rsquo; trade union at a processing plant. 
 
In 2008, ArcelorMittal Temirtau announced it would construct a new four-million-tonne steel mill in the region, but in August plans for that new steel mill were shelved. 
 
ArcelorMittal is the world&rsquo;s largest steelmaker, with some 67 steel mills in 27 countries. About 8% of its steel-making capacity comes from its Temirtau operations. It operates eight coal mines in the Karaganda region, employing about 24,000 miners.

Wages Restored to Miners, Metalworkers at ArcelorMittal Temirtau in Kazakhstan

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The Third General Assembly of the South-East European Regional Energy Trade Unions Network took 
place in Belgrade, Serbia, on 19 September 19, under the chairmanship of Milan Kovacevic of EPS Trade Union, the host union. 
 
The gathering brought together delegations from both electric power and oil and gas trade unions from throughout the former Yugoslavia. Also present were the unions from Greece, Albania, Turkey, Cyprus, and Romania. 
 
Jim Catterson represented ICEM and EMCEF, with Public Services International (PSI) and the European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU) being represented by Josef Krejbych, PSI&rsquo;s Secretary for Central Europe. 

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The meeting gained considerable press attention with the opening covered by Serbian TV. 
 
Held under a banner proclaiming that &ldquo;Energy is a Public Good in All Countries of the World,&rdquo; the conference focused on building a countervailing force to the neo-liberal politics that had created an &ldquo;economy of chaos&rdquo; in the region. Delegates all gave a report on their situation and developments in the energy sectors of their respective countries. 
 
Many interventions called for closer cooperation between their international and European organisations, with the unions being a mixture of affiliates to ICEM and PSI, together with a number of unions unaffiliated internationally. The network is formally independent of the international union structures although ICEM traditionally has always participated, when invited, to the South-East European Energy Trade Union Network. 

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Delegates agreed to a number of statutory changes and increased the size of the Executive Committee to include the Presidents of each member union. A discussion also focused on expanding membership, with hopes expressed that the grouping would be able to bring in presently uninvolved unions from all the Vizegrad countries, as well as more unions from Bosnia, Cyprus, and Greece 
 
The conference closed with the unanimous endorsement of a series of resolutions, including a political declaration from the network, a strategy document towards the Social Forum and Energy Community&rsquo;s Ministerial Council for South East Europe, and a warning to the Serbian Government against privatization. 
 
An appeal was made to all South-East European trade unions to join the network and a further appeal was made to the international and European organisations to increase joint work and create unity. The network finally decided to hold its next General Assembly in Romania.

South-East Europe’s Energy Unions Meet in Serbia in September

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The ICEM has strengthened its connections with mining unions in Albania after attending the 5th National Congress of the Union of Independent Trade Unions of Albania (BSPSH). Two ICEM affiliates, the Independent Trade Union of Mines and the Trade Union Federation of Chemical and Metal Workers are key members of the BSPSH. 
 
The BSPSH and the Confederation of Trade Unions of Albania (KSSH), a second trade union confederation, have been under attack by the government of Albania after they were forcibly and illegally removed from their offices and had computers and records destroyed or confiscated. The ICEM pledged to support efforts to have the property of the trade unions returned. 

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BSPSH Congress
Joe Drexler, ICEM Director of Industry and Corporate Affairs, represented the ICEM at the Congress and saluted the work of the BSPSH in developing democratic trade unions. He particularly noted the historical contributions of miners and their president, Kezim Kalaja, who in 1991 led a general strike that ushered in an era of political change and democracy that allowed trade unions to develop. Kalaja also became president of the BSPSH and was re-elected at the 5th Congress by acclamation in recognition of his decades of leadership. 
 
Also attending the Congress were national federations from Italy, Azerbaijan, Kosovo, Serbia, and Poland. 

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Joe Drexler &amp; Kezim Kalaja, centre
Drexler visited an underground copper mine and enrichment plant, owned and operated by a Turkish-based company, in the Northeast of the Albania. President Kalaja and Gjon Zeka, the trade union&rsquo;s regional secretary, joined the tour. 
 
Albania is only one of only 23 countries which have ratified International Labor Organization Convention 176 on Health and Safety in Mines.

ICEM Strengthens Connection with Trade Unions in Albania

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The Solidarity Support Organisation of the Central Labour Organisation of Finland (SASK) is an important partner of many Global Union Federations (GUFs) in joint work in Africa, Latin America and the Asia Pacific Regions. But until now, it has not undertaken support work with a GUF in the Middle East. 
 
This may be about to change. In a first such effort, SASK organised a three-day set of workshops in Amman, Jordan. The sessions ran from 29 September to 1 October, and were aimed at sharing information and experiences with the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and the GUFs. 
 
The ICEM&rsquo;s Jim Catterson represented the Geneva-based GUF during the discussions, which brought together representatives from SASK, the ITUC, and six GUFs. SASK has seen the main reason for its absence in the region as a lack of good project proposals being tabled before them. 

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Conference participants, outside the office of the General Union of Textile and Garment Workers in Jordan. 
After a brief formal opening session, ITUC representatives gave an up-to-date report on the trade union movement throughout the Arab World. This was followed by an overview from SASK on its global activities, methods of work and priorities regarding both work and information sharing with other Solidarity Support Organisations and the global union movement. 
 
Each GUF was then given time to describe its own activities in the region, developments in respective sectors, and GUF priorities for future work in the region. Here, Catterson emphasized that ICEM is still in a building stage in the Middle East/North Africa (MENA) Region, and a major overall priority is to integrate the union work. As well, a main priority is to integrate MENA affiliates into the global work and activities of the ICEM. 
 
Clearly, privatisation of industrial enterprises, as well as gaining greater access to MNC investment has led to new challenges for the trade unions throughout the region, Catterson said. Unions also need assistance to organise workers in the new enterprises. Trade unions delegates attending from the region expressed their wish to have more information, as well as advice on how to benefit from the range of &quot;international instruments,&quot; including ILO Conventions, OECD Guidelines, the Global Compact, and Global Framework Agreements. 

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Delegates receive a briefing in the local ITLGWU-affiliated union office inside a QIZ 
Catterson described in detail the joint work the ICEM is doing with the International Transport Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITF) in bringing together oil and gas workers&rsquo; unions with port and transport unions that are involved in energy transportation in Iraq. 
 
Further sessions included a detailed focus on the issue of Migrant Labour in the region and in Jordan in particular, which saw extensive presentations from International Textile, Garment, Leather Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITGLWF) and the ILO Better Work programme. This latter project focuses on the garment industry and after an initial program in Cambodia, has expanded to a number of other countries including Jordan. 
 
Jordan has a significant garment manufacturing industry with production geared on exports almost totally to the US. The industry is principally located in special export processing zones known as Qualified Industrial Zones (QIZs). Here, working and living conditions are truly appalling, with the overwhelmingly the number of workers foreign migrant workers. The ITGLWF Jordanian affiliate described the difficulties they face in organising workers in such conditions. Often, such workers distrust trade unions from experiences in their own countries and few speak Arabic. As well, access to either workplaces or living accommodations is tightly controlled by employers who often prevented union organisers from gaining access. However, ITGLWF had, in many instances, overcome such obstacles and continue to organise migrant workers in the industry. 
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Participants were able to see an example of these successes with a visit to a factory making jeans for the US market. The factory was in one such QIZ in an area north of Amman. The union has an office, staffed by multi-lingual organisers, with the office displaying the flags of nations in which migrant workers hail from. The organizers speak such diverse languages as Chinese, Urdu, Tamal, and Arabic. 
 
Workshop participants received an initial briefing by union officials and organizers in the union office, as well as a tour of a small but well-equipped medical clinic that serves workers and their families. The clinic provides free medical treatment, dental care, and diagnostics. 
 
It was established with support of the Asia and Pacific Regional Organisation (TWARO) of ITGLWF, along with the GUF&rsquo;s Japanese affiliates. It stands as a facility that any union would be proud to have. 
 
Management at one of the textile factories, employing around 1,500 workers, mainly from the Indian sub-continent, then joined the discussions for a question and answer session. Most of the workforce was organised by the union and a reasonable relationship had been built between union and management. 
 
ICEM will be in discussions with SASK in the future with a view toward developing joint programmes and providing solidarity and assistance to affiliated unions throughout the MENA Region.

ICEM Joins SASK of Finland, Others in Union-Building Workshops in Middle East

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A strike in South Africa&rsquo;s gold fields intensified last week as 4,000 miners and their family members, backed by the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), marched on 29 September to DRDGold Ltd&rsquo;s offices in Carletonville. The strike at two company mines, Blyvoor and Consolidated Crown Gold Recoveries, started on 16 and 17 September. 
 
At the same time that last week&rsquo;s manifestation was occurring, the NUM filed a petition with the Department of Minerals to revoke the mining license of DRDGold. The union labels the company with a socially irresponsible record in South Africa, one marked by the closing of mines and payment of paltry salaries. 

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That anti-social attitude was evidenced at the outset of the strike. DRDGold sought a labour court order declaring the strike illegal, and when the agency did not rule on behalf of the company, DRDGold issued an ultimatum that job cuts would occur if the strike was not called off. 
 
The NUM is seeking a living wage increase of 13% in high-inflation South Africa, while the company is offering a sub-inflation raise of only 7% for lower classified workers and 6.5% for higher category workers. Gold has been one commodity that has retained and exceeded its pricing expectations during the economic crisis, having risen over the past year from US$750 per once to US$1,000. 
 
DRDGold argues that since gold markets worldwide are fixed to the US dollar and because the dollar has lost ground to the rand, the company deserves pay awards that fall below South Africa&rsquo;s inflation rate. 
 
&ldquo;We cannot afford to have a company that pleads poverty all the time,&rdquo; said NUM Carletonvile Regional Chair Deon Boqwana. &ldquo;This is the same company that was once crowned worst employer of the year by COSATU some years back.&rdquo;

Mining Strike at DRDGold in South Africa Heats Up

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ICEM Italian affiliate FEMCA-CISL has drawn a line in the stand against any break-up of Eni, the oil and gas major that is 30% owned by the Italian government. As investors study a restructuring of the energy company, the union sounded a warning last week that splitting Eni into separate companies would bring more harm than good. 
 
FEMCA-CISL General Secretary Sergio Gigli said both workers and consumers would be negatively affected, and that skills, knowledge, and strategic synergies &ndash; long vital in the running of the company &ndash; would be destroyed. 

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Sergio Gigli
The union&rsquo;s comments came at the same time that a financial conference was being held in Milan to address restructuring the company. At that conference, American asset management company and minority shareholder, Knight Vinke, known for provoking shareholder activism to break apart enterprises, recommended that Eni&rsquo;s oil and gas units be split apart in separate upstream and downstream businesses. 
 
FEMCA-CISL called such a possible separation a loss of integration that would jeopardize the company as a national model, and as an entity that plays a valuable social role inside Italy. The union also said that any weakening of Eni would erode the company&rsquo;s ability to provide guaranteed strategic energy source supplies to Italy. 
 
Meanwhile, three Italian unions &ndash; FILCEM-CGIL, UILCEM-UIL, and FEMCA-CISL &ndash; welcomed the news last week that talks have fallen through between Eni and a UK private equity group, the Klesch Group, over sale of a refinery in Livorno, Tuscany. The discussions caused a nine-day strike by unions at the 1,000-worker refinery in early September. Eni had insisted in preliminary talks with Klesch that job guarantees be given to all workers.

Italian Union, FEMCA-CISL, Opposes Splitting of Energy Company Eni

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