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Global worker No1 2022

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A dispute has been settled and a first collective agreement is in place in Malaysia&rsquo;s paper industry. ICEM assisted its affiliate Paper and Paper Products Manufacturing Employees&rsquo; Union (PPPMEU), as did Norwegian trade union Fellesforbundet in achieving recognition and a contract at a Malaysian Newsprint Industries mill in Pahang. 
 
Malaysian Newsprint is 34% owned by Norske Skog, with whom ICEM and Fellesforbundet have a Global Framework Agreement. The matter was brought before the Norwegian-based company by Fellesforbundet. 
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A union was formed at the nine-year-old mill in October 2004 and, in March 2005, a government ministry verified PPMEU certification. The union submitted proposals toward a first collective agreement in July 2005, but the company stalled in meeting its bargaining obligations. When the company finally did meet with the union, it informed the union that 70 of 220 workers were in &ldquo;executive&rdquo; capacities and exempt from the union, even though they perform manual tasks. 
 
The ICEM and Fellesforbundet attention to the dispute, and no doubt the formal intent-to-strike notice issued by PPPMEU on 15 May, brought pressure on management to settle. The initial three-year collective agreement will be backdated to 1 October 2005. Even though the scope of the bargaining unit wasn&rsquo;t resolved, it will now be submitted to a Malaysian Industrial Court. Other partners in the newsprint mill include the Hong Leong Group of Malaysia (34%), the New Straits Times newspaper (21%), and Rimbuan Hijau Group of Malaysia (11%).

Global Agreement, Strike Threat Brings First Accord to Malaysian Paper Mill

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On 24 May, tens of thousands of Ukrainian workers, led by their trade unions, took to the streets of Kiev. Led by Alexander Yurkin, former ICEM Vice President, who now leads the Ukrainian Trade Union Federation (FPU), workers gathered in six main city squares and marched to Maydan Square, site of the 2004 Orange Revolution in the country.
In front of one of those squares, Mariyinskyy Park, some 500 trade union leaders picketed the Cabinet of Ministers&rsquo; building over the rapid and unjustified hike to both prices and tariffs on consumers&rsquo; utility rates. 
 
 
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Yurkin, addressing an estimated 50,000 protesters at Maydan Square, said the government has violated the trust of Ukrainian citizens by &ldquo;arrogantly and irresponsibly&rdquo; making a unilateral decision to increase utility pricing, thus breaking a General Agreement with trade unions. Trade unions insist that any increase in prices or tariffs must be preceded with definitive social protection measures.
A day before the 24 May demonstration, the country&rsquo;s National Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) again raised tariffs on natural gas and electricity distribution, this time by 41%, effective 1 June.&nbsp; 
 
NERC and the Ukrainian government already had hiked&nbsp;tariffs on gas and electricity distribution by 25%, and yet another round of increases is&nbsp;scheduled for 1 July. The FPU is demanding a rollback in prices and tariffs, and is insistent that the government start immediate negotiations with trade unions in order to introduce social protections.

Ukrainian Labour Protests Hikes in Utility Tariffs

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Workers represented by ICEM Jordanian affiliate, General Trade Union of Petrol and Chemical Workers&rsquo; Union, began a legal strike at the state-owned Jordan Petroleum Refinery Co. on 8 March. Some 3,500 workers struck in order to get the company to implement a signed agreement that was agreed to by workers and management. 
 
The agreement calls for wage increases, housing loans and post-retirement health insurance, but the government has failed to put those and other work terms into effect. The union had put forward the demands in 2003 and they were subsequently agreed upon. The strike is at Jordan&rsquo;s only oil refinery, the 100,000 barrel-per-day Zarqa refinery. Jordan must import all crude oil supplies, and production at the refinery is crucial for domestic purposes.

Jordanian Oil Workers Strike

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The German trio of unions attempting to come under a single collective agreement with Energy producer Vattenfall got a lift when Swedish ICEM trade union affiliate SEKO pressed that country&rsquo;s Ministry of Economic Affairs for a fair and just resolution to the matter. Vattenfall AB is a Swedish state-run utility now in the process of buying out the minority stake of Vattenfall Europe AG. 
 
The German-based utility, the country&rsquo;s third largest, includes power utilities in Berlin and Hamburg, as well as power generation, distribution and lignite coal mines in eastern Germany. German unions IGBCE, Ver.di and IG Metall have been jointly negotiating with Vattenfall for a common accord in order to remove pay disparities and bring uniform working conditions to 20,000 German workers, but the company has refused. 
<img height="62" alt="" src="" width="100" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;<img height="63" alt="" src="" width="100" />
Vattenfall has indicated it may sell parts of the German company to other enterprises, effectively removing 5,000 from company employment rolls. The German unions seek a guarantee that sale of any operation to another company will include the common collective agreement. 
 
SEKO has begun a public campaign in Sweden on the company&rsquo;s hard-line stand in Germany, and has promised reciprocal industrial actions if the German unions strike. &ldquo;Vattenfall is an enterprise that must conduct its business activities outside Sweden the same as it does here,&rdquo; said SEKO Chairman Janne Rud&eacute;n. &ldquo;We have a tradition in Sweden in which the rights of workers are respected. This tradition must also occur in the countries of Europe.&rdquo; An ICEM News Release on the Vattenfall situation in Germany is at /?id=77&amp;doc=1672.

German Energy Dispute with Vattenfall Gets Swedish Attention

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French ICEM affiliate CFDT Chimie Energie is calling for a day of action on 23 March to protest the government&rsquo;s broken promise on Gaz de France. The union will call on members of Parliament, community officials across France, and consumers to tell them of the consequences if the government-brokered merger between Gaz de Franc and Suez, a French-Belgian water/power group, goes through. 
 
CFDT Chimie Energie declares that the social effects of the proposed merger have been completely disregarded. The French government pledged in June 2004 that no less than 70% of Gaz de France would remain in state hands following a debate on partial privatisation of the public utility. If the merger with Suez happens, only 34% of the combined enterprise would be under state control. The union will hold news conferences and conduct actions throughout France this Thursday.

23 March Day of Action to Save Gaz de France

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Glaverbel glass workers in Belgium waged a strike last week over the company&rsquo;s indiscriminate restructuring plans. Workers in the mirror and double-glass department, an area targeted for 42 job cuts, initiated the strike on 16 March at the Zeebrugge flat glass plant and a day later, all 300 workers walked out, shutting the plant. 
Led by Belgian trade union ABVV-FGTB, industrial action happened, in part, because of the manner in which sackings were carried out by Glaverbel, a subsidiary of Japanese Asahi Glass. An ABVV-FGTB representative said managers were targeting some workers who have workplace injuries or other medical problems for some of the 42 job cuts. 
 
The union has been concerned that the restructuring has taken too many jobs from the Seapane SV plant, and Glaverbel eventually will have to resort to contract labour to fill production needs. Management and the workers, represented by ABVV-FGTB, met today in attempts to resolve differences.

Strike by Glaverbel Glass Workers in Belgium

Going against the flow of today&rsquo;s business mantra on ethical and sustainable behaviour, China and India continue to sign energy agreements with the military dictators in Burma. 
Only last Friday, Indian President Abdul Kalam sealed such a new deal, which will allow India to tap into a part of Burma&rsquo;s vast natural gas reserves. As part of that deal, yet another pipeline will be built. In Burma, more pipelines mean more slave labour, and more misery for the Burmese people.&nbsp;
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This latest Indian deal follows the announcement late last year that the Burmese junta decided to sell a portion of its gas from the large Shwe project to China. 
By granting this and other rights to PetroChina and CNOOC (China National Offshore Oil Corp.), the military dictators opened up Burma&rsquo;s new natural gas resources to both regional superpowers, continuing their old habit of creating rivalries between them. Some gas will now, in part, be produced by Indian companies, but sold to China. Both nations are hungry for resources to drive their energy needs. 
 
These deals concern recently discovered offshore gas reserves, including the massive Shwe Project, operated by consortiums of Asian companies, including South Korea&rsquo;s Daewoo and India&rsquo;s state owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp. (ONGC). 
This is in addition to the other &lsquo;older&rsquo; gas fields in the region, such as Yadana and Yetagun, which are mainly operated by a mixture of OECD-based and regional companies, including Total, Unocal (now Chevron), Nippon Oil and Petronas of Malaysia. 
 
The &lsquo;newer&rsquo; fields are still largely in their test-drilling phases. Estimates on their combined size vary, but range from twice the size of the combined Yadana and Yetagun fields, to ten times as much. 
Together with a few recently discovered oil fields, they are likely to become the latest and maybe largest pool of resources at the hands of Burma&rsquo;s military cartel, widely known as one of the most horrific dictatorial regimes in the world. Burmese generals spend roughly half of their nation&rsquo;s budget on the army, a tool used to terrorize Burma&rsquo;s population. Spending on education or health services is nearly non-existent.&nbsp;
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With the Chinese and Indian investments comes a startling fact: the projects will entail at least two new pipelines built inside Burma, one to India and one to China. 
While China is &ldquo;studying&rdquo; building a pipeline from the Arakan coast to the Chinese province of Yunnan, India reportedly agreed with Burma to build a pipeline that will now be much longer than originally anticipated, bypassing Bangladesh and going via Burma into northeast India. 
 
&ldquo;We all know about the consequences of building pipelines in Burma: countless Burmese civilians may be subjected to forced labour and suffer from it, ranging from having to work under slavery conditions at gunpoint, at best, to being murdered at worst&ldquo; said Fred Higgs, ICEM General Secretary. 
 
History is clear about what happens when pipelines are built in Burma. While the onshore part of the pipeline that links the Yetagun and Yadana gas fields with Thailand is only 65 kilometres in length, construction of it brought serious human rights concerns with it. 
Forced labour was used in connection to the building of the pipeline by the omnipresent army, officially there to protect operations. Land confiscation without compensation, something common throughout Burma, is another likely consequence of the investment. Estimates on the current number of people forcibly displaced already range from a few hundred thousand to a few million. 
 
All this will be no different this time. According to the ILO, the United Nations agency that deals with labour issues, forced labour is still widespread in Burma.
Multinational companies still have to enter into joint-venture deals with Burmese state-run companies, in this case MOGE, the Myanmar Oil &amp; Gas Enterprise, a company owned and controlled by the army, which continues to control virtually all aspects of life in Burma.&nbsp;

India and China to boost forced labour in Burma

Contents
1. Australia&nbsp;-&nbsp;Companies Benefit from Treating Women Workers Well 
2. Brazil &ndash; Women of Colour Receive Half Pay 
3. China &ndash; More Protection for Female Migrant Workers? 
4. European Union &ndash; Eurostat Publishes Statistics; Commission Issues Gender Equality Roadmap 
5. France &ndash; Parliament Adopts Law to Allow Equal Pay for Women 
6. ICFTU &ndash; International Women&rsquo;s Day &ndash; Organising Campaign II 
7. South Africa &ndash; National Union of Mineworkers Holds 3rd National Women&rsquo;s Conference 
8. Spain &ndash; Equality Law between Men and Women; Agreement to Promote Women in Traditional Men&rsquo;s Jobs 
9. UNICEF &ndash; 4th Annual International Day of Zero Tolerance of Female Genital Mutilation 
10. United Kingdom &ndash; Women and Work Commission Issues &ldquo;Shaping a Fairer Future&rdquo; Report 
11. Resources 
 

1. Australia &ndash; Companies Benefit from Treating Women Workers Well 
 
Forward-thinking businesses in South Australia are reaping the benefits of treating their female staff well. Paid maternity leave, part-time work and mentoring are features that draw bright female employees to companies with &ldquo;Employer of Choice for Women&rdquo; citations. The awards were presented on 21 February 2006 by the Women in the Workplace Agency to a total of 116 companies nationally. 
 
Employees are seen to be selective about where they want to work, and many women use the list as a guide. As a rule, the listed employers have higher numbers of women at senior levels, succession plans for women in management, development plans for high achievers, paid maternity leave, high maternity leave retention rates and the ability to work part-time at all levels. 

2. Brazil &ndash; Women of Colour Receive Half Pay 
 
Women of colour in Brazil receive, on average, half the wages paid to white female workers. This was one of the findings of a survey conducted by the Special Secretariat for Women&rsquo;s Policies, based on data gathered between July and September 2005 in six Brazilian state capitals. 
According to the study, the biggest difference exists in the city of Salvador, Bahia, where women of colour receive on average US$247 per month, compared with white women&rsquo;s US$598 per month. In Rio de Janeiro, white female workers received US$468 per month, while their black counterparts earned half this amount. 
 
The data indicate that the government should make a greater effort to address the issue of race and gender, invest in schooling and job training for women, and raise awareness about workers&rsquo; rights. 
The study, which was completed in December 2005, covered the cities of Salvador, Rio de Janeiro, S&atilde;o Paulo, Belo Horizonte, Recife and Porto Alegre. The research was based on data from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics&rsquo; (IBGE) Monthly Employment Survey. (Source: Public Services International) 
 
 
3. China &ndash; More Protection for Female Migrant Workers? 
 
The All China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU) is stepping up its efforts to protect more migrant workers, especially women, according to a senior official. The ACFTU will work out rules to prevent female migrant workers from doing overtime and protect them from suffering from occupational diseases and sexual harassment. Surveys in different cities show that employers did not abide by the rules when hiring rural women. 
 
Trade unions in Northeast China&rsquo;s Heilongjiang Province found that 60 percent of female migrants who were questioned in the provincial capital Harbin did not sign labour contracts with their employers, and 62 percent of them suffered wage defaults. About 653,000 migrants were working in the city last year, and 35 percent of them were women. 
 
 
4. European Union &ndash; Eurostat Publishes Statistics; Commission Issues Gender Equality Roadmap 
 
In conjunction with the International Women&rsquo;s Day on 8 March 2006, Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Community, publishes statistics to provide information on women and men in the European Union (EU). For example, women in the EU live, on average, 6 years longer than men. More women than men aged 20 to 24 had completed at least upper secondary education in 2005 (80% of women compared to 75% of men). Almost a third of managers in the EU are women. 
 
The employment rate, that is the percentage of the working age population that has an employment, was lower for women than for men in all member states, 56% for women and 71% for men. The female employment rate varied between 34% in Malta and 71% in Denmark and Sweden. On average about a third of working women were in part-time jobs, compared to 7% of men. Women work longer hours than men, however, including domestic work. Only in the United Kingdom and Sweden are the number of hours worked by women and men almost equal. 
 
Eurostat also produces a study entitled How is the time of women and men distributed in Europe? For more information on both publications, see <a href="http://www.eu.int/comm/eurostat">http://www.eu.int/comm/eurostat</a>. 
 
The European Commission adopted a &ldquo;Roadmap for equality between men and women 2006-2010&rdquo; in view of International Women&rsquo;s Day. The roadmap sets out six priority areas for action in the 2006 to 2010 period: 
<ul>
 <li>
 <div>Achieving equal economic independence for women and men; </div>
 </li>
 <li>
 <div>Enhancing reconciliation of work, private and family life; </div>
 </li>
 <li>
 <div>Promoting equal participation of men and women in decision-making; </div>
 </li>
 <li>
 <div>Eradicating gender-based violence and trafficking; </div>
 </li>
 <li>
 <div>Eliminating gender stereotypes in society, and; </div>
 </li>
 <li>
 <div>Promoting gender equality outside the EU. </div>
 </li>
</ul>
The Committee on Women&rsquo;s Rights and Equality of the European Parliament has also adopted a number of texts, including on the future of the Lisbon strategy from a gender perspective and on the call for the Gender Equality Institute. 
 
 
5. France &ndash; Parliament Adopts Law to Allow Equal Pay for Women 
 
The French government adopted, on 23 February 2006, a law aimed at guaranteeing equal pay rights for women, who currently earn - on average - one-fifth less than their male counterparts. The text sets a five-year target for wiping out pay inequalities, calling for more negotiations between companies and unions, but does not provide for any sanctions. 
A national review, to be carried out in three years&rsquo; time, will decide whether to introduce financial penalties for employers who are in breach of the regulations. The law requires French companies to carry out their own audits every year, including a comparison of salaries by gender. 
 
 
6. ICFTU &ndash; International Women&rsquo;s Day &ndash; Organising Campaign II 
 
The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, ICFTU, is launching phase two of the Global Unions&rsquo; Organising Campaign &ldquo;Unions for Women, Women for Unions&rdquo; on 8 March. The ICFTU Women&rsquo;s Committee decided that phase two will aim at a significant increase in female membership rates in trade unions, particularly amongst women workers in the export processing zones, in the informal economy, among migrant women workers and young women, as well as a net increase in women&rsquo;s representation in decision-making levels of trade unions. 
 
Through the campaign unions will continue to advocate for women workers&rsquo; rights. More focus will also go to transforming the cultural and structural barriers that prevent women from becoming active members and leaders. For more information see: <a href="http://www.icftu.org">www.icftu.org</a>. 
 
 
7. South Africa &ndash; National Union of Mineworkers Holds 3rd National Women&rsquo;s Conference 
 
The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) held its 3rd National Women&rsquo;s Conference from 16 to 18 February 2006 in Johannesburg. The conference was held against the background of the 50th Commemoration of the Women&rsquo;s March to the Union Buildings in Pretoria, in 1956. It also was a prelude to the NUM Congress in May 2006. 
 
The theme of the conference was &ldquo;Mobilise, organise and lead against chains of domination, exploitation and oppression of women.&rdquo; 285 delegates attended the conference, including some 30 men. NUM&rsquo;s emphasis is on women&rsquo;s development in order to generate cadres. NUM&rsquo;s structures must also be an engine to generate women activists. There are now women in the regional structures in 5 of the 11 national regions. 
 
In 2004, when the Mining Charter was adopted, women made up 1.5% of the workforce in South African mines. Now it is 6%. Growing numbers of women are also engine drivers. In addition, there are currently much more women in the mining engineering school than before. 
 
 
8. Spain &ndash; Equality Law between Men and Women; Agreement to Promote Women in Traditional Men&rsquo;s Jobs 
 
Draft legislation was approved in Spain on equality between women and men. The aim is first to transpose the European directive into Spanish law and to define direct and indirect discrimination, sexual harassment and bullying. The sanctions to punish these violations are already set. 
 
Parental rights are defined and broadly extended. Measures to improve work-life balance are also provided for. Furthermore, gender-related social security rights are improved. The path is open for positive action measures to eliminate inequality. 
 
So far, equality plans are voluntary, but companies with more than 250 workers ought to try to set up such plans. 
 
An agreement was signed between the Education and Science Council, the Spanish Chemical Employers&rsquo; Federation, the CCOO Chemical and Textile Workers&rsquo; Federation (FITEQA-CCOO) and the UGT Industrial Federation (FIA-UGT) to increase the number of girls taking vocational training courses in sectors that are not traditionally feminine. The point is to develop programmes and activities in secondary schools to help avoid discrimination in the chemical industry. 
 
 
9. UNICEF &ndash; 4th Annual International Day of Zero Tolerance of Female Genital Mutilation 
 
6 February was UNICEF&rsquo;s 4th Annual International Day of Zero Tolerance of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). UNICEF operates programmes in 18 of the 28 countries where this traditional practice exists. Of these 28 countries, 14 countries have passed anti-FGM laws. However, according to the London-based Foundation for Women&rsquo;s Health, Research and Development, only Burkina Faso, Ghana and Kenya actively uphold those laws. 
 
Countries have been under international pressure to ratify the African Union&rsquo;s Maputo Protocol banning FGM. However, they simultaneously face opposition to cultural change from many traditional ruling classes within their own societies. The African Union needs to set up a monitoring mechanism to follow compliance with the protocol. In addition, rights groups are needed to do field work to follow up at local level. 
 
 
10. United Kingdom &ndash; Women and Work Commission Issues &ldquo;Shaping a Fairer Future&rdquo; Report 
 
On 27 February 2006 the UK Government issued a report by the Women and Work Commission, entitled &ldquo;Shaping a Fairer Future&rdquo;. The commission was chaired by former Deputy General Secretary of the Transport and General Workers&rsquo; Union (and also former Chair of ICEM Women&rsquo;s Committee) Baroness Prosser. 
 
According to the report, women work in the lowest paid jobs, the so-called &ldquo;five c&rsquo;s&rdquo;: catering, cleaning, cashiering, clerical work and caring. The report claims that the equal pay gap is bad for the British economy and recommends 40 measures to boost women&rsquo;s careers and earnings. 
 
British trade unions, however, had mixed reviews about the report. The Transport and General Workers&rsquo; Union (T&amp;G) welcomed the report but also said the commission should have gone further and recommend a mandatory pay audit. &ldquo;Being a woman still means being paid less &ndash; a quarter less than men, which is the highest gap in Europe,&rdquo; said Diana Holland, T&amp;G&rsquo;s National Organiser for Women, Race and Equalities. 
&ldquo;Audits simply ensure an employer is complying with the law. Without an audit, employers will be vulnerable to thousands of individual, costly equal pay cases.&rdquo; 
For more information, see: 
<a href="http://www.womenandequalityunit.gov.uk/women_work_commission/index.htm">http://www.womenandequalityunit.gov.uk/ 
women_work_commission/index.htm</a> 
 
 
11. Resources
<ul>
 <li>WEDO's (Women&rsquo;s Environment and Development Organisation) Latest Global Monitoring Report: Beijing Betrayed. 
 
 In this appraisal of the status of women worldwide, which comes 10 years after governments adopted the groundbreaking &ldquo;Beijing Platform for Action&rdquo;, women in 150 countries assess the progress in the implementation the commitments. For the report, available in five languages, see <a href="http://www.wedo.org">www.wedo.org</a>. 
 
 </li>
 <li>UNESCO launched its initiative &ldquo;Women Make the News&rdquo; to ensure that the issue of gender equality must remain at the forefront of each society&rsquo;s agenda. See <a href="http://www.unesco.org/march8">www.unesco.org/march8</a>. 
 
 For news and information on the global action on gender and the media see <a href="http://www.whomakesthenews.org">http://www.whomakesthenews.org</a>. 
 
 </li>
 <li>The view the minimum wage and equality campaign in New Zealand, see <a href="http://www.supersizemypay.com">www.supersizemypay.com</a>. 
 
 </li>
 <li>Play an interactive game on working time at <a href="http://www.worksmart.org.uk">http://www.worksmart.org.uk</a>. 
 
 </li>
 <li>For a resource on good quality, affordable childcare, see the British TUC: <a href="http://www.tuc.org.uk/equality/tuc-11300-f0.cfm">www.tuc.org.uk/equality/tuc-11300-f0.cfm</a>. 
 
 </li>
 <li>To learn about women&rsquo;s vital contributions to peace and security, see <a href="http://www.womenwagingpeace.net">www.womenwagingpeace.net</a>. 
 
 </li>
 <li>Mama Cash works for social transformation and the advancement of women&rsquo;s rights worldwide. She strives for a peaceful and just world where women are free to make their own choices and secure their human rights: <a href="http://www.mamacash.nl">http://www.mamacash.nl</a>. 
 
 </li>
 <li>The International Transport Federation ITF has a campaign site that includes news on activities around the negotiation of equal rights for women airline employees in Jordan, the demonstrations outside train stations in France and India, and on surveys of women members in New Zealand. For information on strengthening women&rsquo;s participation in transport unions, see <a href="http://www.itfglobal.org/women/NetworkNews.cfm">www.itfglobal.org/women/NetworkNews.cfm</a>. 
 
 </li>
 <li>For information on the long-term earnings gap in the United States, Still a Man&rsquo;s Labor Market: The Long-term Earnings Gap, see the web site of the Institute for Women&rsquo;s Policy Research: <a href="http://www.iwpr.org">www.iwpr.org</a>. </li>
</ul>

ICEM WOMEN’S BULLETIN N° 9

Inside Thailand&rsquo;s current political turmoil and Prime Minister&rsquo;s Thaksin Sinawatra&rsquo;s rush to elections next month to solidify his authority rests the issue of privatisation and whether or not a country&rsquo;s resources belong in public control or sold off to capital markets. 
 
There is little question of where Thaksin stands, judging from his own business dealings and his government&rsquo;s actions to break up the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT), as well as Metropolitan and Provincial electric utilities. 

<img height="67" alt="" src="" width="100" />
A central demand by the political opposition, which seeks Thaksin&rsquo;s resignation, is immediate debate and introduction of new constitutional amendments. Thaksin is seeking a quick victory, allowing him to continue setting constitutional precedents, including the ones he has used as the means to sell public-vested enterprises to investors. Initial listing of EGAT on the stock markets was scheduled for November 2005, but has been suspended pending a court review. 
 
New debate also has surfaced over privatising the regional electric power authorities, scheduled for later this year. Last month, the Thai Finance Ministry raised uncertainties on privatising these utilities by stating electricity rates are set by government policy, raising questions on profitability and revenue forecasts. Even more to the point, a ministry official said new investment decisions cannot necessarily be made just on commercial reasoning, but also must be made on social needs. 
&ldquo;The plan to shift transmission wires underground will in no way help boost profits, but rather is aimed at improving service quality and the community,&rdquo; the official told the Bangkok Post. The outcome in Thailand over the next several weeks promises to be the watershed that will shape political decision-making well into the future.

Electric Privatisation Cloaked in Thailand’s Political Tempest

French unions will begin mass protests and strikes today across the country over the government&rsquo;s broken promise, made a short 18 months ago, that Gaz de France (GDF) would remain at last 70% state held. The actions are due to a proposal made public a week ago to merge GDF with the French-Belgian publicly-traded water/power group, Suez. 
<img height="99" alt="" src="" width="100" />
The French government stands in the middle of the deal, which would effectively privatise GDF, with France&rsquo;s stake only 34%. The government currently holds 80% of GDF. 
 
The merger would have a detrimental effect on Electricit&eacute; de France, costing mass job losses since Suez and its subsidiaries would supply power to GDF. CFDT Chimie Energie said the proposed merger lacks transparency in that no analysis of the combined industrial plan was presented, and the social aspects of such a Suez-GDF merger had not been studied adequately. 
The deal is an attempt to block Italian energy company Enel&rsquo;s hostile takeover bid of Suez.

French Unions Strike over Gaz de France Merger Plan

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