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The ICEM North American affiliate International Longshore &amp; Warehouse Union (ILWU) won a new collective agreement with Bayer AG after several months of struggle. ILWU Local 6 in Berkeley, California, mounted an aggressive campaign for its 420 pharmaceutical workers at a Bayer HealthCare plant in blocking the company from imposing from higher employee health care costs, and winning job security in a new collective agreement. 
 
The new four-year contract is expected to be ratified by union members on Wednesday, 12 October. 
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The ILWU used intervention by IGBCE of Germany, and established a Bayer Workers&rsquo; Council in America involving other unions that represent workers at the German company&rsquo;s US operations. On 24 August, the day a prior labour agreement expired, workers at the other US plants wore stickers and conducted informational picketing on behalf of Berkeley workers. 
 
Those unions include the United Steelworkers (USW), the International Association of Machinists (IAM), and the International Chemical Workers Union (ICWU), part of the United Food &amp; Commercial Workers (UFCW). 
 
The agreement freezes workers&rsquo; share of health care premiums at 18% and it contains new provisions against outsourcing, in essence giving workers enhanced job security. In 2009, Bayer threatened to move jobs away from the Berkeley plant, but reversed that decision when the ILWU marshaled political support in gaining tax subsidies for the company. The union used that same political support to remind Bayer of its duty to keep family-sustaining jobs in the plant. 
 
The new agreement, if ratified this week, will give workers a 3.1% wage increase in each of the first three years, and a 3.2% increase in year four, or 2014. The Berkeley plant manufactures Bayer&rsquo;s profitable drug Kogenate, a hemophilia or blood-clotting medicine.

Pressure Campaign Wins ILWU New Bayer Pact in US State of California

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The day prior to the opening of ICEM&rsquo;s Fifth Statutory Congress on 24 November in Buenos Aires, Argentina, a day-long conference on the lessons, best practices, and future strategies of the Global Union Federation&rsquo;s Contract and Agency Labour (CAL) campaign will take place at the Congress&rsquo;s venue. 
 
Sponsored by the German Freidrich Ebert Stiftung (FES), the conference will cover legal and national legislative efforts around CAL, company level initiatives, and strategies undertaken at the trade union level. ICEM project coordinators will present their findings on this, and J&oslash;rgen Juul Rasmussen of Dansk El F&ouml;rbund of Denmark will give an overview on the temporary and fixed-term employment situation in Europe, as well as progress on implementing the European Union directive on temporary work. 
<img border="0" alt="" src="" width="140" height="204" />
An afternoon session will review specific initiatives on combating the rampant growth of temporary and short-term employment in four countries, while the concluding session will be a panel discussion on future strategies under a new integrated International. General Secretaries from the ICEM (Manfred Warda), the International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (Jyrki Raina), and the International Textile, Garment, and Leather Workers&rsquo; Federation (Klaus Priegnitz) will comprise that panel. 
 
ICEM Latin America and Caribbean Regional Chairman Sergio Novais will chair the day-long session.

CAL Conference Takes Shape at ICEM’s 5th Congress

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Loyal to the organisation&rsquo;s motto &ldquo;an injury to one is an injury to all,&rdquo; 10,000 members of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) marched to the Chamber of Mines in Johannesburg in early October demanding safer working conditions. 
 
Deadly mine accidents continue to take the lives of some around 100 South African miners each year. The 4 October demonstrators also used the occasion to remember comrades killed at work. 
 
Several thousand mine, construction and energy sector employees downed their tools to mark the day of mourning and protest. The central business district of Johannesburg was brought to a standstill by the march to state-run electricity provider Eskom, the South African Federation of Civil Engineering Contractors, and the government departments of labour and mineral resources. 
<img src="" width="214" height="161" alt="" />
The Marchers were addressed by the Leadership of the National Union of Mineworkers, The President of the NUM and the ICEM, The General Secretary of the ICEM and the Chairman of the ICEM Mining and DGJOP Sector. 
 
The Chamber of Mines, incidentally, joined the strike to improve national awareness over mine health and safety. 
 
The NUM showed its might in July with a widely celebrated victory, blocking Brazilian mining group Vale&rsquo;s efforts to invest in the country and to operate in the region. Vale&rsquo;s anti-union behaviour throughout the world, most notably against the United Steelworkers (USW) in Canada, led NUM General Secretary Frans Baleni to describe the company as &ldquo;one of the world&rsquo;s leading labour exploiters&rdquo; and an employer not welcome in South Africa. 
 
Vale had long targeted base-metals mining company Metorex for its extensive copper and cobalt mining operations, and prospective growth projects, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and in Zambia. But strong NUM opposition forced Vale to withdraw their bid for Metorex on 12 July.

NUM Strikes for South African Mine Safety Improvements

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A tripartite regional workshop on improving safety and health in mining was held in Lima, Peru on 26-27 September, with participation from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Peru and Mexico. The well-attended meeting studied ILO Convention 176 in detail, with near consensus on the importance of ratification and proper implementation. ICEM Mining Officer Glen Mpufane and Health, Safety and Sustainability Officer Brian Kohler, were speakers. 
 
Peru is rich in natural resources, and is one of 25 countries to have ratified the important convention. Peruvians have the right, outlined in the country&rsquo;s Constitution, to protect their health, including at work. Addressing the meeting, Peru's Deputy Minister of Labour Pablo Checa reiterated the importance of ILO Convention 176. However Peru is a strong example of the importance of effective implementation of Convention 176 and Recommendation 183 subsequent to ratification. The latest studies show a continuing lack of health and safety in mines, and there is much work needed to build a culture of prevention in Peru. 
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The meeting clearly illustrated problems facing precarious workers and workers in informal mining who are exposed to many health and safety risks; concerns about diseases, not just accidents. Precarious workers were shown to strongly need clear governmental authority and regular inspections, to be safe at work. 
 
Martin Hahn of the ILO, chairing the meeting, and others, attempted to bring the meeting to a conclusion with consensus on a text of recommendations from the participants. The adoption of a meeting resolution calling for ratification of ILO Convention 176 was blocked by a handful of participants, led by employer representatives. ICEM's Glen Mpufane and Brian Kohler objected strongly to the lack of a strong outcome. Employer representatives would not agree to a statement calling for ratification of ILO 176. 
 
As any tangible result from the meeting was blocked by the group of employer representatives, the mining unions drafted a declaration and presented it to the ILO Regional Director. The unions declared the following: 
<ul>
 <li>
 <div align="justify">In the context of strengthening the global trade unions, our organizations will be working hard to build trade union unity of the mining unions in our region</div>
 </li>
 <li>Promoting the signing and ratification in all the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, of ILO Convention 176 on safety and health in mines.</li>
 <li>Ending outsourcing in our industry, and declare that it is a mechanism of job insecurity.</li>
 <li>Reducing working hours in mining occupations.</li>
 <li>Supporting the development of regulated small-scale mining.</li>
 <li>Actively participating in the bills in each of our countries.</li>
 <li>Promoting sustainable production methods, allowing sustainable development friendly to environment and communities.</li>
 <li>Finally, declaring freedom of association as a fundamental right.</li>
</ul>

ILO Convention 176 Meeting in Peru, Importance of Implementation Underlined

General Prosecutor of the Republic of Kazakhstan 
 
Dear Sirs Manfred Warda and Jyrki Raina, 
 
General Prosecutor of the Republic of Kazakhstan considered your appeal regarding strikes of oil and gas companies in Mangistau region. 
 
We draw your attention to the fact that from the very beginning and to the end of the strikes to all participating parties guaranteed rights to freedom of expression, realization of peaceful assemblies, protection of their rights and freedoms, including the courts, have been granted by the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan 
 
The strikers' demands for better working conditions and increased wages with raising coefficients, which, in their opinion, were not taken into account, were the subject of proceedings in court and have been carefully, thoroughly, objectively and impartially investigated by a court with the participation of all stakeholders in the review of claim requirements of the employers to recognize strikes illegal. 
 
Court ensured full competition and equality of parties, right of the strikers (respondent) to be protected, independent election and protection of their position, qualified legal counsel, right to present evidence and participate in their study, to apply with requests and to give verbal and written explanations to the court. 
 
Upon review of the case the strikes at JSC &laquo;Ersay Caspian Contractor&raquo; (court decision of 05.18.2011), a joint-stock company &laquo;Karazhanbasmunay&raquo; (court decision of 20.05.2011), a joint-stock company &laquo;Ozenmunaygas&raquo; (court decision of 05.27.2011) and LLP &quot;Zhondeu &raquo; (court decision of 06.01.2011) have been recognized by the court illegal. 
 
Despite this, the government together with the TU representatives of the companies repeatedly, practically every day, before and after the recognition of the strikes illegal by the court, conducted outreach with the strikers on the unreasonableness of their demands. Their attention was drawn to the fact that in 2009, 2010 and 2011 the salary of the workers in these enterprises increased three times. During this period, their average salary has increased by 100 thousand tenge (or 690 U.S. dollars) and became 340 000 tenge (or 2300 U.S. dollars), which is today one of the highest in Kazakhstan. 
 
As a result of the above outreach large number of strikers returned to their jobs. 
 
Please also be advised that having sufficient legal grounds for dismissal, employment remained even for the organizers and active participants in the strike. The dismissal of some of them took place only after all measures on their return to work have been taken. 
 
Currently, the strike at these companies ceased. 
 
As part of the prosecution of A. Sokolova (Article 164, part 3, art. 334, part 2 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan), K. Sisenbaev and A. Aminov (Art. 334, part 2 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan), which were the main organizers of illegal strikes, we state that such persons are granted by the court with all procedural rights provided by law for the protection of the criminal process. 
 
The sentences in respect of such persons entered into force. K. Sisenbaev and A. Aminov fully acknowledged their guilt, and they didn&rsquo;t appeal against sentence in superior court. 
 
In addition, I draw your attention to the fact that the arguments about the frequent beatings and threats against the oil workers and their families were not confirmed. No appeals on such cases to the police of Mangistau region have been reported. 
 
The police of Mangistau region filed a suit on the facts of the murder of J. Turbaev and J. Karabalaeva under Art. 96 of the Criminal Code, under which appointed the judicial examination, interviewed relatives of the victims, residents and employees of nearby objects to the scene. Some other investigative actions aimed at the disclosure are carried out. 
 
The investigation of criminal cases is taken under control of the Prosecutor General&rsquo;s Office. 
 
Deputy Director-General 
Prosecutor of the Republic of Kazakhstan A. Kravchenko

Response to ICEM-IMF letter to Kazakhstan Government on Oilworker Strike

The ArcelorMittal Health and Safety Committee, created in June 2008 in a common effort by the company and unions to improve safety in ArcelorMittal, issued its first report of activities on 15 August called &ldquo;Together for Safety.&rdquo; The number of fatalities has declined since 2008, but remains unacceptably high in the company. 
 
In 2008, ArcelorMittal management and unions signed an agreement to create a Joint Health and Safety Committee to address the high number of fatalities in the company&rsquo;s units. The Committee is composed of representatives of the IMF, the European Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation, the United Steelworkers (USW), CNM-CUT, a mining area representative, and company Health and Safety representatives. 
 
On 15 August, the Joint Global Health and Safety Committee launched its first report, concluding it has had a positive impact on the number of fatalities, which it ascribes to good workplace cooperation between trade unions and management. 
 
Since its inception, the Committee has created local health and safety committees and made site visits in priority company sites in Kazakhstan, Brazil, Mexico, Czech Republic, Romania, South Africa, USA, Argentina, and Ukraine. During these visits, local union members and management met with committee members to review the local safety situation and develop a health and safety action plan. The committee has then arranged follow-up visits. 
 
The committee concludes that it has had a positive impact on the number of accidents in the workplace, especially fatalities, and helped reduce risk faced by workers. It has also helped to improve communication and cooperation between unions and management, locally and globally. 
 
The committee, however, also notes an increase in the number of fatalities in the last year &ndash; from 36 in 2009 to 41 in 2010, which is considered to be unacceptably high by both unions and management. 
 
There remain issues of dispute between unions and management. The company has publicised a set of &ldquo;Golden Rules&rdquo; for safety and associated actions, including penalties for violations, while unions fear that this violations policy will impede safety by dissuading workers to report about minor accidents and near misses, thereby creating a lazy safety management culture. 
 
There is also joint criticism of inconsistent responses to requests for health and safety training, and a deficient dialogue on the subject at some business units and work sites. 
 
The parties remain committed to the committee&rsquo;s work, and see the joint report and accompanying union and management statements as evidence for a working dialogue and commitment to building a positive workplace culture. 
 
The report, &ldquo;Together for Safety,&rdquo; has been issued in English, and will be published also in French, Spanish, German, and Portuguese. 
 
For further details, contact Joint Committee co-chair Rob Johnston at <a href="void(0);/*1316099350265*/">rjohnston@imfmetal.org</a>.

Common Efforts Input to Workers’ Safety at ArcelorMittal

Multi-stakeholder negotiations in Indonesia, bringing together major sportswear brands, key manufacturers and five unions &ndash; including ITGLWF affiliates SPN and Garteks &ndash; have cumulated in the signing of a protocol to protect trade union rights. 
 
The negotiations began in November 2009 following a major Play Fair campaign and a commitment by major sportswear brands to engage country-by-country with trade unions in order to agree concrete steps to bring about improvements to working conditions in the industry. 
 
The protocol, signed on 7 June, addresses the fact that unions in Indonesia&rsquo;s garment and footwear sectors are frequently denied the time and space they need to carry out their duties. The protocol outlaws all forms of anti-union discrimination and requires that a CBA, where none exist, be negotiated within six months. The agreement provides for the release of union officials from work duties in order to carry out their union activities; requires provision of adequate office, meeting and notice board space; gives unions the freedom to distribute information without interference; and commits signatory factories to facilitate a check-off system for collecting union dues. 
 
Initial signatories comprised multinational brands adidas, Nike and Puma, their key suppliers, and five Indonesian unions including SPN and Garteks. Playfair 2012 launched an action, exactly one year before the London 2012 Olympics, to encourage additional brands to commit to the protocol. The action was well supported and since then Pentland &ndash; owners of the Speedo brand, Asics, and New Balance have agreed to sign the protocol. 
 
Although implementation is in the embryonic stages, some steps have been taken to socialise the protocol. adidas have held workshops for their 58 Indonesian suppliers to inform them about the protocol and encourage them to agree to its provisions, and Nike have promised that all of their suppliers will know about the protocol by the end of October. ITGLWF affiliate Garteks report that the protocol has opened the door for them to negotiate a CBA and they have also seen their membership increase in that factory. 
The ITGLWF is urging all garment and footwear brands sourcing from Indonesia to sign the protocol.

Multi-Stakeholder Negotiations Lead to Garment Framework Agreement

Oil industry multinationals employ over 12,500 workers in the Meta Region of Colombia, mostly by outsourcing work to contractors. These precariously employed workers are subject to poverty wages, exhausting working hours including working 49 days consecutively, and other sub-standard working conditions, all in clear violation of Colombian law and international minimum standards. 
 
Colombian Senator Robledo has described the workstations of the Puerto Gait&aacute;n oil fields as more like concentration camps, with overcrowded tents, water shortages, malnutrition, unhygienic sanitation, and degrading treatment. Oil contractor Pacific Rubiales conducts a public disinformation campaign in which it describes trade union USO as &ldquo;armed criminals, forcing work stoppages&rdquo;. 
 
The fight back against this untenable situation began on 19 July with mass demonstrations and work stoppages in the Puerto Gait&aacute;n and Campo Rubiales installations. Protestors were met with violent police brutality. Key support and action has been supplied by ICEM affiliate Uni&oacute;n Sindical Obrera (USO), which traditionally has organised employees of Ecopetrol, Colombia&rsquo;s listed state-owned oil company. Along with Ecopetrol, the contractors employing the Meta region oil workers are providing services for Canadian-based Pacific Rubiales, and CEPCOLSA, a subsidiary of Spanish-based CEPSA. 
 
The explosion of mass protests moved the Colombian government, notoriously compliant in the repression of trade unions, to hold a tri-partite forum on 3 August, chaired by Vice-President Angelino Garz&oacute;n. The forum created nine working groups to assess the various issues over 15 days and reach conclusions leading to a settlement of the conflict. Unfortunately and predictably not one recommendation of the 15-day working groups has been enacted. Instead unions have been hit with fierce persecution. Contractors MR, Intricon, and Medell&iacute;n Electricians ended the employment of 70 workers who had been involved in the 19 July mobilisation. Another contractor Duflo SA instructed employees to cancel their union membership, under threat of dismissal. 
 
The failure to implement any of the roundtable recommendations was met with protest from the local Puerto Gait&aacute;n community, who blocked all major roads leading into the municipality on 19 August. The local community&rsquo;s discontent was then compounded when the oil companies began hiring new staff, without employing anybody locally. 
 
The Ministry of Social Protection claims to have made 162 visits to the region, but has never met with USO or with the outsourced workers, and has only met with high level company officials on a handful of occasions. In a clear indication of the government&rsquo;s allegiance, from September the administration of President Santos will deploy a military battalion to be stationed in the community, which will in fact have its military vehicles fuelled by the local multinationals. 
 
Pacific Rubiales posted annual profits of US$218 million in 2010. 
 
During this labour conflict, 4,000 workers joined USO en masse in the Meta region. In the past year, over 16,000 contract workers have joined USO throughout Colombia.

Colombian Oil Workers Fight Back Against Mass Persecution

The initial findings from a global survey of ITGLWF affiliates show that there has been a sharp increase in the use of Contract and Agency Labour in the textile, garment and leather sectors. 
 
In Cambodia, ITGLWF affiliates the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers Democratic Union (C.CAWDU) and the National Independent Federation Textile Union of Cambodia (NIFTUC) believe that contract and agency workers now account for 41-45% of the garment workforce. They also report that workers on short term contracts are more likely to be forced to work overtime whilst also receiving remuneration and benefits of a standard lower than their permanent colleagues.&nbsp; The length of contracts has also changed dramatically in the last 12 months. Previously six-month contracts where the most common contract length for CAL workers however this has now decreased to three months, while some are as short as one month. 
 
In Kenya, there has been an even sharper increase in the use of contract and agency workers. In the last 12 months the Kenyan Shoe and Leather Workers Union (KSLWU) has recorded a 50% increase in the use of CAL.&nbsp; Joseph Bolo, General Secretary of the KSLWU outlines the union&rsquo;s reaction to these increases &ldquo;The footwear sector is now using outsourced firms to provide the bulk of their employees. We are already organising with such employers and have signed recognition agreements with two firms employing about 600 employees.&rdquo; 
 
In Faisalabad, Pakistan, two ITGLWF affiliates have reported a 37% increase in the use of contract labour in the last 12 months whilst in Malawi the Textile Garment Leather and Security Services Workers Union has recorded a 20% increase in the last year, nearly all of whom have been women. 
 
In fact, all respondents to date have indicated that it is women workers who make up the majority of contract workers. They also agree that contract workers are facing even greater levels of exploitation than permanent employees such as forced overtime, non-payment of the minimum wage, and no social security provision amongst other issues. 
 
Unions have also indicated that their ability to organise workers is fundamentally undermined by employers dismissing organised contract workers or failing to renew only the contracts of union members. Added to this the industry standard of intimidation and other forms of repressing freedom of association, unions report they are finding it extremely difficult to organise contract workers. 
 
The ITGLWF is continuing to collect data from affiliates in the Americas, Asia, and Africa on the use of Contract and Agency Labour and will publish the full findings in early 2012.

Sharp Spike in Use of Contract, Agency Labour in Textile, Garment, Leather Sectors

<img alt="" src="" width="110" height="54" />
International pressure &ndash; both inside and out of Georgia &ndash; caused a change of course last week by police and political authorities in the aftermath of belligerent 15 September strike-breaking at Euroasian Steels in Kutaisi. Not only were over 30 sacked workers offered their jobs back, but police questioned the Indian managing director and two aides at Euroasian, also known as Hercules Steel, on 29 September.
The next day the top boss was sacked. 
 
Meanwhile, three strike leaders &ndash; Emilo Gumberidze, Irakli Iobidze, and Malkhaz Gogiava &ndash; who were jailed by police on bogus charges were released after serving ten-day sentences in the Kutaisi jail. (See <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4673-Georgian-Trade-Union-Leaders-Jailed-for-Passing-Drug-Test">ICEM report here</a>.) 
 
They immediately called Metallurgical, Mining, and Chemical Workers&rsquo; Union President Tamazi Dolaberidze and pledged their continued support to the union. On 30 September, the new acting managing director of Hercules personally called each of the three to offer them their jobs back. The reversal gave Hercules metalworkers renewed momentum following the strike&rsquo;s crushing and that registered both with Georgian workers and about 130 Indian workers employed at the rolling mill.
<img alt="" src="" width="275" height="160" />
Georgia's Police Break Strike in Kutaisi, 15 September&nbsp;
Several points of global and internal civil pressure caused deep embarrassment to Georgia. There also was high-level diplomatic pressure involved, especially after an international delegation that included the ICEM and top leaders from Poland&rsquo;s Solidarnoş&ccedil; exposed the fact that the Indian workers at Hercules may be treated worse than anyone else. 
 
They live eight to a room in a dormitory adjacent to the mill, their passports were being head by the senior boss, and their salaries are sent back to India. It is believed that the top boss, Raji Kumar Sureika, was sacked because he was holding the passports. 
 
The strike last month by 200 Hercules metalworkers was sparked after the Metallurgical, Mining, Chemical Union gained written support from a majority of the Georgian workers and then requested labour-management dialogue. After several weeks, the request was ignored and the strike started, including hunger strikes by four workers in front of the mill. 
 
Two days into the strike, police violently broke it up and literally <a href="/en/4-Chemicals-Pharmaceuticals/4667-ICEM-Scorns-Blatant-Police-Repression-in-Putting-Down-Georgian-Metal-Strike">forced workers</a> back to their jobs. Workers are angry that the two-year-old start-up mill has no salary schedule, no health and safety plan, and pays no overtime. Following last week&rsquo;s good news, the ICEM-affiliated Metallurgical, Mining, Chemical Union again called on Hercules to enter peaceful, construction negotiations. 
 
The ICEM commends the leadership of the Georgia Trade Union Confederation (GTUC), and Tamazi Dolaberidze, for mobilising to organise, and the Global Union Federation pledges to remain active on the global front over the ever-reocurring abuse of trade union rights in Georgia.

Calm Restored as Georgian Metalworkers Rehired

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