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Two separate, yet distinct mill occupations by paperworkers in France and Spain in March drew attention and support for ICEM-affiliated trade unions determined to protect workers&rsquo; interests in cases of employer recalcitrance and joblessness brought on by a failed paper mill sale. 
 
In both situations, the sit-ins proved successful. In France, in the southwestern department of Dordogne, a nine-day strike by FILPAC-CGT and 700 workers of Papeteries de Condat ended only after the union&rsquo;s bargaining committee held management&rsquo;s team captive inside the shut mill on day six of the strike. 

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That tactic at the integrated pulp and coated printing papers mill gave a satisfactory result to 2010 contract negotiations. After five years of going without a raise, management&rsquo;s initial proposal of 1% was unsatisfactory. Workers of FILPAC were seeking at least a 3% increase. 
 
The indefinite strike began on 3 March and when managers still wouldn&rsquo;t budge by 8 March, the committee backed by throngs of strikers on the outside of the mill in Le Lardin St. Lazare, took matters into hand. The sequestering produced a compromise two days later, when Papeteries de Condat agreed to pay 1% retroactive to 1 January 2010, and another 1% on 1 July. Additionally, the union won full-time employment rights for ten of 24 temporary workers. 
 
&ldquo;Certainly, we did not win everything that we deserved,&rdquo; said FILPAC assistant regional secretary Tahar Messaoudi. &ldquo;But we are satisfied and we returned to work with our heads held high.&rdquo; 
 
Papeteries de Condat is owned by the Spanish-based Lecta Group, which itself is wholly owned by CVC Capital Partners of London. Besides the 540,000 metric tonnes per year Condat mill, Lecta runs paper operations in Spain, the Torraspapel mills, and in Italy, the Garda mills. 

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At the Papelera de Basaya mill in Torrelavega, Spain, 110 members of both CC.OO and UGT paper branches occupied their mill for four days from 6 March to 9 March. The issue was the Spanish chemicals company Snaice SA&rsquo;s decision to back out of a deal to buy the shuttered mill in Cantabria state in north-central Spain. 

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Snaice had agreed to purchase the mill on 19 January, but backed out a month later when it learned the debt-load of the operation was twice what it had anticipated. The mill&rsquo;s works council began the sit-in upon learning at a meeting that the previous owner was to declare insolvency. Works council members were immediately joined by 80 other workers. 
 
The sit-in braved extremely cold weather, and was met by heralded support by citizens of Torrelavega, local politicians, and even Snaice management, which operates an adjacent pulp mill in the city. Twice each day, for two-hour periods, family members of the workers joined them in tearful displays of solidarity. 
 
The occupation ended when the regional government of Cantabria pledged to find a buyer for the mill, with Snaice agreeing to operate it until that happens. The 80,000 metric tonnes per year mill producing uncoated printing papers had been idle since October 2009. 
 
Joaquina Rodr&iacute;guez Torrej&oacute;n of CC.OO told the ICEM that 16 paper mills have been closed in Spain between 2007 and 2009. She credited the heroic actions of workers at Papelera de Basaya this month with giving this mill an opportunity to re-start. 
 
Meanwhile in Spain, 275 paperworkers are to begin a 10-day strike today against Iberpapel at its Papelera Guip&uacute;zcoa de Zicu&ntilde;aga mill in Hernani, Guip&uacute;zcoa state. The strike is over shift-work bonuses, pension entitlements, sickness and accident benefits, and new work-time rules for the summer. The pulp and paper mill produces 342,000 metric tonnes of woodfree uncoated papers from three paper machines.

Plant Occupations at Spanish, French Paper Mills Produce Results

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ICEM workshops in Tanzania on 12-13 March reveal blatant abuses of freedom of association by subsidiary mining enterprises of AngloGold Ashanti and Barrick Gold. The workshops were done specifically for ICEM affiliate Tanzania Association of Mining and Construction Workers&rsquo; Union (TAMICO), under the auspices of ICEM&rsquo;s Sub-Saharan African Regional Organisation (SSARO), with ICEM President Senzeni Zokwana and ICEM/SSARO staff person Fabian Nkomo leading the important sessions. 
 
In attendance were the secretaries of TAMICO&rsquo;s four regions, plus district secretaries and key Tanzanian union activists. This ICEM project, called the Organizational Growth Project, is sponsored jointly by FNV Mondiaal of the Netherlands and LO-TCO of Sweden. 

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="117" />
ICEM President Senzeni Zokwana
The focus of the two-day meeting was on AngloGold&rsquo;s 100%-owned Geita Holdings Ltd. and African Barrick Gold Plc., 75% owned by Barrick Gold of Canada and an asset that this week will see an initial public offering of the remaining 25% on the London Stock Exchange.. Both companies, separately, have engaged in labour relations conduct that is counter-productive to adherence of ILO Conventions 87 and 98, the basic workers&rsquo; rights of freedom of association and right to organise and bargaining collectively. 
 
At Geita Gold, management illegally screens all TAMICO membership forms, and has refused union recognition to those workers that it does not want in the union. Despite the union recruiting 900 mill and mine workers into TAMICO, Geita management in the Mwanza Region of Tanzania only recognizes 400 workers as members of the union. The ICEM has long known that Geita human resources director Philemon Tano openly discriminates against union membership, and this issue has been brought before AngloGold, a company that is obligated to respect labour and other standards with the ICEM through a Global Framework Agreement. 
 
From the outcome of these workshops, SSARO will again lodge a compliant with AngloGold Ashanti in Johannesburg, South Africa, on this inappropriate conduct. 

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Fabian Nkomo
At Barrick&rsquo;s, Tanzania&rsquo;s largest gold producer with mines at Bulyanhulu, Buzwagi, North Mara, and Tulawaku, management has continued to issue dismissals as a method to discourage membership in the union. In 2007 at the Bulyanhulu mine, following a break-down in negotiations between TAMICO and management over salaries, working conditions, and medical care that caused a strike by some 1,000 miners, Barrick&rsquo;s summarily fired all strikers. Reports at the workshop stated that TAMICO members are sacked almost on a daily basis by African Barrick Gold Plc. 
 
(On 16 March, three miners were killed at the underground Bulyanhula mine when a cave-in brought giant rock down on the miners. The ICEM extends deep sympathies to the families of the miners &ndash; Dickson Kadelema, Vedasstus Wilfred Tandise, and Joel Nicholas &ndash; and calls on Barrick&rsquo;s to ensure proper safeguards are in place inside its mines in Tanzania and elsewhere.) 
 
The 12-13 March ICEM workshops in Dar es Salaam did produce an aggressive action plan. Participants vowed to strengthen organizationally TAMICO, particularly the union&rsquo;s regional structures and the development of mandates from the union&rsquo;s leadership. This plan was put forth to better monitor and record AngloGold and Barrick&rsquo;s employment and trade union abuses. TAMICO&rsquo;s four regional secretaries attending the workshops pledged to recruit a total of 12,000 new members in 2010. 
 
Participants also launched a campaign specifically at AngloGold&rsquo;s Geita subsidiary to win full union recognition by the end of June 2010. South Africa&rsquo;s National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), which already works closely with TAMICO, will ramp up efforts through SSARO to strengthen the Tanzanian union&rsquo;s structures in order to meet the workshop&rsquo;s goals.

Breaches of Freedom of Association Rife at AngloGold, Barrick Gold Mines in Tanzania

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A historic protocol agreement between ArcelorMittal and ICEM-affiliated Forestry, Logging, and Industrial Workers&rsquo; Union of Liberia (FLIWUL) will guarantee that a collective labour contract is in place when the world&rsquo;s largest steelmaker begins revenue-earning operations at an iron ore enterprise. The two parties agreed to an &ldquo;Interim Procedural Agreement&rdquo; on 6 March that assures 3,000 workers will have trade union protections once ArcelorMittal comes on line with a US$1.5 billion mining, rail, and export operation in the West African country. 
 
The deal also sets forth the process in which FLIWUL now begins to build a free and democratic trade union inside the country-wide branch union, called ArcelorMittal Workers&rsquo; Union FLIWUL No. 4. This week, from 24 to 28 March, FLIWUL will begin conducting on-site nominations and elections from among the existing 750 workers at mine sites in northern Nimba County to the port of Buchanan, some 250 kilometres south on the Atlantic Ocean. 

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FLIWUL General-Secretary David Sackoh said the union will then begin electing shop stewards at mines near Yekepa, two company hospitals, transport workers along the rail link, and port workers at Buchanan. The final step, starting about mid-year, according to Sackoh, will be an extensive survey inside the various work units that will &ldquo;transform our compilations into collective bargaining proposals.&rdquo; 
ArcelorMittal has not been always this cooperative to work with FLIWUL in Liberia. A short 11 months ago, the company attempted to subvert a lawful union recognition vote with strong-arm tactics. (See prior ICEM news dispatch <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/3153-Despite-Interference-FLIWUL-Wins-Union-Rights-for-ArcelorMittal-Workers-in-Liberia">here</a>.)&nbsp;But a Labor Ministry ruling declaring the union certification fair and legal, as well as intervention by the US-based United Steelworkers (USW) directly with the company&rsquo;s CEO and founder, Lakshmi Mittal, convinced Liberian management that recognizing and working with FLIWUL was in the best interests of the company. 
 
Sackoh said the company is now moving in mining equipment and completing work on the rail link. By mid-year, employment should reach 2,000, and then climb to over 3,000 by the time ore is ready for export in first quarter 2011. ArcelorMittal has a 25-year concession with the Liberian government to mine some one billion cubic metres of iron ore reserves in Nimba County, at the point where the Liberian, Guinean, and C&ocirc;te d&rsquo;Ivoire borders meet. 

<img alt="" src="" width="149" height="112" />
FLIWUL activists in Harbel
The mining assets were once owned by the Liberian American Swedish Chemicals Company (LAMCO), but production ceased and the assets started to deteriorate when civil war started in 1989. 
 
The &ldquo;Interim Procedural Agreement&rdquo; contains basic framework standards covering health and safety conditions, protection of the environment, current working conditions, and protection of communities. It also contains a grievance process for workers. FLIWUL&rsquo;s union-building efforts now will assure worker input in a collective agreement due to take effect next year, a workers&rsquo; contract that most certainly will stand as a model in Liberia. 
 
&ldquo;FLIWUL has much to be proud of in achieving this milestone,&rdquo; said ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda. &ldquo;The assistance they received from the USW &ndash; both on-the-ground in Liberia and intervention at the corporate level &ndash; is also exemplary and will guarantee that miners, transport workers, and other staff have an excellent collective agreement.&rdquo;

FLIWUL, ArcelorMittal in Liberia Reach Accord at Iron Ore Operation

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The Global Unions AIDS Programme (GUAP) and the African Regional Organisation of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC-Africa) launched a month of action between 21 March and 28 April. The effort leads up to a meeting of the G8 Development Ministers in Halifax, Canada, on 26-28 April, and the G8 and G20 Summits in June. 
 
The action calls for universal access to HIV and AIDS prevention, treatment, care, and support. 
 
The Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) is central in initiating the action to convince the upcoming G8/G20 Summits, together with its affiliate unions, for universal access. The month of action also targets Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who will preside over both summits. The G8 will take place near Huntsville, Ontario, 25-25 June, and the G20 will be in Toronto, 26-27 June. 

<img src="" width="250" height="115" alt="" />
Alan Leather, Chair of the GUAP, has called on trade unions around the world to come together and deliver a united message calling for universal access to core treatment for HIV/AIDS. 
 
Sub-Saharan Africa continues to bear the brunt of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, accounting for 67% of all people living with HIV globally and 72% of deaths due to AIDS. While African countries remain the focus of the international HIV/AIDS agenda, burgeoning epidemics in the Caribbean, Asia, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia need also to be addressed. Access to treatment, especially for working people, is not 100% anywhere. 
 
GUAP will combine its call for universal access on HIV/AIDS with a demand that governments support the ILO Decent Work Agenda and its Global Jobs Pact, saying this is the only means through which the cycle of HIV/AIDS and poverty can be broken. 
 
See the ICEM letter to the Canadian embassy on the issue <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/28.ICEM.Canadian.Amb.HIV.AIDS.2April.pdf">here</a>. 
 
Sign an electronic petition targeting Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper <a href="http://cupe.ca/action/hiv-aids ">here</a>. 
 
Find a model letter to send to the Canadian Embassy in your country and to your Head of State <a href="http://documents.clc-ctc.ca/international/HIV-G8-ModelLetters-EN.pdf ">here</a>.

HIV/AIDS Prevention Takes Aim at Canada and G8/G20

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The Belgian-Flemish ICEM affiliate, LBC-NVK, held its Congress from 24-26 March 2010 in Mol, Limburg Province, bringing together 600 trade unionists for three days of workshops, discussions, and decision-making. 
 
Ferre Wyckmans, General Secretary of the LBC-NVK, was re-elected, and he is assisted by incumbent Deputy General Secretary, Marijke Persoone. The union&rsquo;s President remains Robert Schuermans. 
 
Working on a number of themes, including &ldquo;decent work,&rdquo; &ldquo;how to take action,&rdquo; a &ldquo;fair economy,&rdquo; and an &ldquo;active government,&rdquo; delegates adopted, on the final Congress day, a wide range of principles dedicated to future work. Among them included priorities on decent salaries (as well as excessive bonuses), good fiscal regulations, the need for high-quality training and education, &ldquo;how to deal with flexibility,&rdquo; and the need for a &ldquo;green economy.&rdquo; 

<img src="" width="195" height="192" alt="" />
LBC-NVK Gen. Sec. Ferre Wyckmanns
On the flexibility issue, LBC-NVK calls for action against the omnipresent &ldquo;increasing flexibility demands.&rdquo; The union, while also calling for temporary and agency labour contracts to be made permanent and direct with a primary employer after six months, seeks to ensure that the already existing Belgian laws on agency and temporary work are better applied, monitored, and sanctioned. Open-ended and direct permanent contracts are &ndash; and need to remain &ndash; the benchmark. 
 
At the international level, the union stated it seeks to increase involvement in global and European activities, including through a more active participation in the Global Union Federations. Specifically highlighted was the need to make the international trade union movement stronger as a countervailing power to match that of multinational enterprises. Framework agreements with multinationals are seen as one of the possible ways forward in this respect. 
 
The LBC-NVK (Landelijke Bedienden Centrale - Nationaal Verbond voor Kaderpersoneel) is a trade union for white collar, professional, and managerial employees in Flanders, Belgium, that is affiliated to the Belgian national labour centre ACV-CSC. It had 315,000 members at the end of 2009, an increase of 6,000 members since 2008. Of all members, 188,000 are women and 127,000 are men.

Belgian-Flemish Affiliate LBC-NVK Conducts Congress in Limburg

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&ldquo;Expanding borders from Brazil to other Mercosur countries&rdquo; was the central decision taken at the Fifth Meeting of the Solvay Trade Union Network in Curitiba, Paran&aacute;, Brazil, from 29-31 March. 
 
During the first day of the network meetings, the Chemical Workers&rsquo; Union of Bah&iacute;a Blanca of Argentina formally joined the multi-union network, which is now to be called the Solvay Mercosur Trade Union Network. 
 
Solvay is a Belgian-based chemicals company, and the network already had participation from workers at a number of Brazilian locations of the company. 
 
&quot;The principles guiding the network are the same principles guiding our own union work,&rdquo; said Oscar Strutenberg from the Chemical Workers&rsquo; Union of Bah&iacute;a Blanca. &ldquo;We are committed to be together, so we will officially work within the group to boost the network.&rdquo; 

<img alt="" src="" width="235" height="197" />
In fact, representatives from the Argentine union already had participated in two meetings of the network, but now membership is official, a move viewed very positively by the other unions present. 
 
&ldquo;I believe this formal new entry shows the growth and maturity of our network,&rdquo; stated Network Coordinator Juvenil Nunes da Costa from Sindicato dos Quimicos do ABC, a CUT-affiliated regional chemical workers&rsquo; union of S&atilde;o Paulo state. &ldquo;It is an important step in our process, because unions organising workers at the same company in different countries enhances our global alliance.&rdquo; 
 
With the arrival of the Argentine union, the Network is composed of Sindicato dos Quimicos do ABC, Sindicato dos Trabalhadores da Ind&uacute;stria Qu&iacute;mica, Petroqu&iacute;mica (the Chemicals and Plastics Union of S&atilde;o Paulo), the Oil and Chemical Workers&rsquo; Union of Osasco, and the Paran&aacute; Chemical Workers&rsquo; Union. 
 
The next steps for the network will be to create a logo, exchange further information, and schedule common actions of the workers&rsquo; representatives, including a possible trip to ICEM headquarters in Geneva later this year to discuss issues related to effective social dialogue.

Solvay Brazil Union Network Expands to Include Other Mercosur Countries

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The ICEM has issued stern rebuke to the cowardly perpetrators of an assassination attempt on two union officers of the National Oil Workers&rsquo; Union (USO) of Colombia, and calls on the government of President &Aacute;lvaro Uribe to apprehend and prosecute those responsible. On 27 March, in the city of Villavicencio, in Meta Department south of Bogot&aacute;, hired killers on a motorcycle fired automatic weapons at Fernando Navarro and Yesid Prieto, two USO subcommittee officers of Bogot&aacute;. 
 
Although both escaped unharmed, their bodyguard, Antonio Pedro Carre&ntilde;o, was shot and killed. 
 
The attack comes days after USO marked the eight-year anniversary of the assassination of the union&rsquo;s Director, Rafael Jaimes Torra, by paramilitaries. Rafael Jaimes&rsquo; nephew, the only witness to the attack, was also murdered shortly after. 

<img alt="" src="" width="250" height="115" />
ICEM-affiliated USO reported the attack to the Attorney General&rsquo;s office, as well as to national and regional government officials and to the government&rsquo;s ombudsman. USO and the ICEM call on Colombian authorities to investigate this attack as a matter or urgency and to bring those responsible to justice. The union wants assurances from the government, as well as from the state oil company Ecopetrol, that their right to life and right to conduct trade union activities are protected. 
 
Paramilitary groups, such as Cuchillo (Knife) and El Loco Barrera (the Crazy Barrera), intimidate workers and trade unionists in the oil fields without reprimand. Recent public statements by paramilitaries that they receive regular payment from oil companies, has added weight to USO&rsquo;s claim that complicity at many levels is involved in the trade union murder-for-hire racket. 
 
One recently example was the 13 March killing of the teachers&rsquo; union ADIDA activist, Duvian Dario Rojo Cadavid, who was gunned down together with his wife a day after speaking to media about armed groups who extort money from teachers. 

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="138" />
Manfred Warda
&ldquo;The ongoing deaths, assassination attempts, and common forms of threats and intimidation by telephone and other means against trade unionists have got to stop,&rdquo; said ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda. &ldquo;If the Colombian government continues not to take action, then it is up to the world community to take sharp measures against the government of Colombia and its denial that violence impedes free, democratic trade unionism.&rdquo;

Assassination Attempt on USO Leaders in Colombia Kills Bodyguard

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
from International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation website 
The ILO is urging the Mexican government to resolve its dispute with the National Miners' and Metalworkers' Union of Mexico (SNTMMSRM) and considers the government has acted in a way that is incompatible with ILO Convention No. 87 on Freedom of Association. 
 
The ILO released on 26 March the interim recommendations of its Committee of Freedom of Association to the Mexican government in response to a complaint on interference in union autonomy lodged by the SNTMMSRM and the International Metalworkers' Federation (IMF) in March 2006, ILO Case No. 2478. 

<img alt="" src="" width="120" height="145" />
The complaint documents how Napole&oacute;n G&oacute;mez Urrutia, the democratically elected general secretary of SNTMMSRM, was forcefully removed from his position after speaking out against the Mexican government and mining company in response to a tragic mine accident in Pasta de Conchos that left 65 miners dead, many of them members of the union. The complaint also documents how the government illegally intervened in independent union activities, forced the dismissal of union leadership, seized union assets, and made government appointments to union elected positions. 
 
In subsequent submissions on Case No. 2478, the union and IMF has also documented ongoing interference and acts of violence by Grupo M&eacute;xico and the Mexican government, including using the national army and federal police to break strikes, kill workers, and arrest union leaders fighting for safer working conditions in Grupo M&eacute;xico-owned mines. 
 
In its recommendations to the ILO Governing Body, the Committee on Freedom of Association states that it &ldquo;considers that the labour authorities engaged in conduct that is incompatible with Article 3 of Convention No. 87, which established the right of workers to elect their representatives in full freedom.&rdquo; 
&ldquo;The Committee deplores the excessive length of the judicial procedures relating to various aspects of the case and the grave prejudice that this has caused to the complainant union&rdquo; and &ldquo;urges for a rapid conclusion of the judicial procedures.&rdquo; 

<img alt="" src="" width="98" height="91" />
The committee requests addition information from the government on several points and in particular on the question of the death of worker Reynaldo Hern&aacute;ndez Gonz&aacute;lez, the use of force by public security forces at the Cananea mine, continuing arrest warrants, freezing of union accounts, threats and acts of violence, including the death and injury of trade unionists. 
 
The Committee calls on all the parties concerned to continue to make efforts within the existing round of negotiations to resolve the collective dispute to which this case results. 
 
A copy of the report is published on the ILO website under Mexico, Freedom of Association Cases, and can be found <a href="http://www.ilo.org/ilolex/english/newcountryframeE.htm ">here</a>.

ILO Backs Los Mineros, Cites Mexican Government with Convention 87 Interference

<img src="" width="100" height="39" alt="" />
The ICEM North American affiliate, Utility Workers Union of America (UWUA), continues to win legal victories for 140 Massachusetts workers of Covanta, a private sector waste-to-energy company specializing in public solid-waste contracts that burns the waste for creation of electric energy. 
 
On 26 March, an administrative law judge of the US National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruled that the company owes the 140 workers nearly US$1 million for withholding wage increases and bonuses in retaliation for staff exercising their lawful right to join the UWUA in May 2008. 
 
The 49-page ruling requires Covanta to repay to workers the money illegally withheld, plus interest, and to bargain with UWUA Local 369 a first collective agreement at a Rochester, Massachusetts, incinerator before it makes any unilateral workplace changes. 
 
The company&rsquo;s illegal conduct caused workers to lose between 8% and 11% of their annual income in 2009. 

<img alt="" src="" width="216" height="160" />
The judge&rsquo;s ruling involves the administrative phase of numerous workplace charges brought by the union against Covanta&rsquo;s unfair labour practices following the NLRB-conducted union authorization vote nearly two years ago. Late in 2009, the labour agency invoked its powers under US labour law to petition a federal court for injunctive relief against Covanta for labour law violations. 
 
The NLRB invokes Section 10(j) of the labour code only rarely, and only when it deems cases are egregious enough to warrant federal court intervention. The injunction petition is currently pending before a federal court in Boston. 
 
Covanta is likely to appeal the administrative law judge&rsquo;s ruling to the five-member NLRB, but the recent ruling should lend credence before the federal court. 
 
We&rsquo;ve &ldquo;long known that Covanta viciously punished these workers because they organized and demanded dignity and a voice in the workplace,&rdquo; said Local 369 President Gary Sullivan. &ldquo;This ruling lets the rest of the world know that, without question, Covanta broke the law and will have to put things right.&rdquo; 
 
The company operates some 40 solid waste facilities in the US. As Covanta has tried to expand its waste-to-energy business into the UK, Ireland, the Netherlands, and Canada, the ICEM has assisted the UWUA to illuminate the American company&rsquo;s work rights violations, as well as health/safety infractions and certain environmental practices before communities and trade unions in those countries. 
 
For more information on the UWUA&rsquo;s Campaign for Justice at Covanta, visit the campaign website <a href="http://www.cjcw.org/ ">here</a>.

UWUA Wins US$1 Million Judgment for Covanta Workers

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On the basis of a March 2008 provision mutually agreed to between ICEM and French-based specialty chemicals company Rhodia in a Global Framework Agreement (GFA), a joint Global Safety Forum was created in order to bring higher health and safety standards into the company for its 15,000 worldwide employees. 
 
Having agreed to an addendum to clarify terms and conditions of the global forum, ICEM and Rhodia recently signed and officially established the body. 
 
It will consist of nine members, three appointed from Rhodia Group&rsquo;s general management, two from the ICEM Secretariat, and one Rhodia employee each from the company&rsquo;s four operational zones (Asia, Europe, Latin America, and North America), to be selected by the ICEM. 
<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="130" />&nbsp;&nbsp; <img alt="" src="" width="99" height="149" />
Kemal &Ouml;zkan, Brian Kohler
The ICEM representatives will be Kemal &Ouml;zkan, Rubber and Chemicals Officer, and Brian Kohler, Health, Safety, and Sustainability Officer. Following consultation with ICEM affiliates in the four regions, the regional representatives include Maurice Tritsch from France, Scott Harrington from the US, Thiago dos Reis Martins from Brazil, and Jie Dong from China. 
 
The addendum defines the role of the Global Safety Forum as a monitor for &ldquo;the safety situation within the Group.&rdquo; The forum is to meet at least once yearly, with each annual meeting to be held at a Rhodia plant chosen by the nine-member committee. With a commitment to a continuous progress approach to health and safety, the forum shall &ldquo;issue observations and recommendations for improvement.&rdquo; 
 
Having realised a first-ever joint activity on health and safety at Rhodia&rsquo;s subsidiary in Freiburg, Germany, on 19 June 2009, the Global Safety Forum will have its first official meeting in the second half of 2010. 
 
View this addendum to the ICEM-Rhodia GFA <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/1004.Rhodia.Agreement.pdf">here</a>.

Formal Safety Forum Adopted Inside Rhodia Global Agreement

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