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ICEM&rsquo;s six Colombian affiliates &ndash; Sintraelecol, Sintracarbon, Sintravidricol, Uni&oacute;n Sindical Obrera (USO), Fenaltec, and Sintracarcol &ndash; escalated their coordinated struggle against Contract and Agency Labour (CAL) at a seminar held from 26-28 July in Bogot&aacute;. 
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<div>Attended by more than 200 representatives, the seminar welcomed delegates from Brazil, Uruguay, Peru, Ecuador, and Spain. The ICEM was represented by its Director of Industry and Corporate Affairs Kemal &Ouml;zkan, while regional leadership of other Global Union Federations &ndash; International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF), UNI, and Public Services International (PSI) &ndash; as well as the FNV national centre of the Netherlands attended. A number of local union and NGO representatives were also present. </div>
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Organized and coordinated by ICEM Colombian Coordinator Carlos Bustos, the meeting was opened by &Ouml;zkan, who highlighted ICEM&rsquo;s global campaign against Contract and Agency Labour. Attendees also listened to presentations from major Colombian national confederation leaders, including the presidents of CUT, CTC, and CGT. All underscored the need to pay close attention to the measures that the union movement as a whole must take to end all forms of precarious employment. 
 
They also spoke of the need to establish mechanisms by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and the ITUC&rsquo;s Americas regional arm, the CSA, to eliminate precarious employment and the scourge of poverty that it creates. 
 
International delegates as well as Colombian union representatives saluted the meeting with messages of their actions against irregular employment. 
 
The phenomenon of precarious employment is seen in transformation of technological advances, rapid globalisation, industrialisation, expansion of capital, and competitive measures and increasing capital accumulation by only a few. This makes impaired working conditions possible, most participants agreed.
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<div>In Colombia, unemployment reached to 12.8% in February in 2011. In 2010, the figure of underemployment was 32.6%, while the informal sector employs some 58% of all workers. Union density, however, remains at less than 4% over the last several years. 
 
High rates of unemployment are presented as an excuse for the increased irregular forms of employment. In such high unemployment, employers try to reduce working conditions, and use the refrain &ldquo;there will always be someone waiting for the job.&quot; 
 
As stated by Carlos Bustos, the seminar aimed at to characterize the phenomenon of precarious employment in Colombia, particularly in sectors where ICEM affiliates are active, and it achieved a full exchange of experiences from the legal, economic, political, and social points of view. The successful experiences achieved by USO, Sintravidricol, and Sintracarbon attracted much attention, since these unions have managed to recruit workers who are on non-regular employment contracts. 
 
Finally, a joint declaration (read the <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/FINAL%20DECLARATION%20-%20ES.pdf">Spanish language version</a> here) was developed and approved. It exhibits firmness and decisiveness by participating organizations to tackle Contract and Agency Labour issues.</div>

ICEM’s Colombian Affiliates Band Together to Fight Contract, Agency Labour

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Members of United Steelworkers (USW) Local 7-669 in Metropolis, Illinois, ratified a three-year labour agreement with Honeywell, Inc., on 2 August, officially ending a lockout that began on 28 June 2010. The ratification vote came a full 13 days following conclusion of a negotiated settlement (see <a href="/en/3-Energy-Oil-and-Gas/4564-USW-Union-at-Honeywell-Reaches-Tentative-Labour-Agreement">ICEM report</a> of 22 July). 
<div>The extraordinary long time between the tentative settlement and the ratification came because Honeywell managers at the uranium converting facility neglected to give explicit job assignments to locked-out workers in a separate back-to-work agreement. </div>
Terms of the agreement take effect today with the majority of USW members attending re-certification sessions at an area college.
The 228 steelworkers at Honeywell convert milled uranium, known as yellow-cake uranium, into uranium hexafluoride (UF6) which is used in nuclear fuel enrichment. The lock-out was marked by Honeywell&rsquo;s decision to resume full production nine weeks into the company&rsquo; s work stoppage and then re-start operations with inexperienced scab replacement workers. Twice in the months that followed, the plant saw near-miss tragedies due to mishandling of dangerous chemicals.
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<div>The period between the 20 July 2011 tentative agreement and the 2 August ratification, which occurred with a 113-75 vote, was as contentious as the entire lockout was. Honeywell managers told Local 7-699 that it wanted experienced workers to return to the jobs they knew best, but then submitted a back-to-work roster which saw job postings many of the locked-out workers had never worked before. </div>
It took Local 7-669 leaders enormous time and effort in the 13-day interval to sort out the return-to-work roster. Meanwhile, Honeywell managers publicly denounced the union for not conducting the ratification vote. &ldquo;They were trying to force a vote before our people knew exactly which job they would return to,&rdquo; said local union spokesman John Smith.
Local 7-669 members begin the return-to-work ritual today with training and re-certification as mandated by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Forty workers will return two weeks later for the same, and the remainder two weeks after that. The unionised workforce will number about 220 workers when the experienced and qualified USW members are fully back to work. 
The negotiated settlement preserves most of the key union-protection provisions that Honeywell was trying to strip at the start of the lockout, including seniority, job bidding, overtime, and retention of a defined benefit pension plan for existing workers, as well as retiree medical benefits that go along with that plan. 
On wages, the new three-year collective agreement calls for no increase in the first year, 1% effective 15 August 2012, and 2% on 15 August 2013. Local 7-669 proposed in bargaining over a year ago a freeze on wages and continuation of all terms and conditions of a prior three-year contract. But Honeywell seemed intent on taking away pension benefits, the accompanying health care benefits, as well as union-protection provisions. 
Honeywell abandoned most of those contract concessions, perhaps realising that it needed experienced steelworkers to effectively operate the plant safety and productively. Production had plummeted to a reported 35% of pre-lockout levels and Honeywell was not meeting its order demand for UF6. 
USW Local 7-669 waged an extraordinary campaign in preserving most of their work standards. The workers traveled to Madison, Wisconsin, to stand with public employees protesting the gutting of their collective bargaining rights by Governor Scott Walker; they journeyed to Europe and won support from major trade union federations, as well as Honeywell&rsquo;s European Works Council (see that <a href="/en/3-Energy-Oil-and-Gas/4429-EMCEF-EMF-EPSU-Condemn-Honeywell-Lockout-in-US">ICEM update</a> here); and they connected with immigrant groups in Los Angeles, California, to block Honeywell from gaining a water-services contract there.

USW Local 7-669, Honeywell Accord Takes Effect Today, Ending US Lockout

On 18-20 June 2012, a new Global Union Federation will see daylight at a Founding Congress in Copenhagen, Denmark. 
 
But what shall the new International be called? Now you have the chance to make a proposal. 
 
The organization will unite 50 million workers in more than 140 countries in mining, energy, metal, chemicals, paper, rubber, materials, textiles, garments, shoe, and leather industries. 
 
It aims to connect workers, fight for labour rights and build global solidarity across entire supply chains. It will be a strong counterweight to multinational companies and promote social justice, democracy and a sustainable future in the whole world. 
 
Such a powerful organization needs a fresh and identifiable name. Your contribution is welcome. Please send your proposal by e-mail to <a href="mailto:imf.icem.itglwf@gmail.com">imf.icem.itglwf@gmail.com</a> at the latest on 31 October 2011. 
 
A joint Executive Committee meeting of the IMF, ICEM, and ITGLWF will decide upon the name at the end of February 2012.

What Name for New Global Trade Union International?

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The 26th Congress of ICEM Turkish affiliate Oil, Chemical, and Rubber Workers&rsquo; Union (Petrol-İş), was held 17-18 September in Istanbul and provided an open platform on discussing labour&rsquo;s current shape in Turkey with expectations for the future. Attended by a large number of guests from political parties, trade unions, professional groupings, employers, and civic society organizations, the Congress also welcomed ICEM representatives Manfred Warda and Kemal &Ouml;zkan, as well as EMCEF General Secretary Michael Wolters. 
 
Members of the Presidium of South Eastern European Energy Unions&rsquo; Network (RETUNSEE) were also present. 
 
Participants on 17 September viewed two documentaries prepared by Petrol-İş, namely &ldquo;Trade union is Your Future&rdquo; and &ldquo;What Did They Say for Petrol-İş at its 60th anniversary?&rdquo; In his opening address, President Mustafa &Ouml;ztaşkın said that the economic crisis first occurring in developed countries and then impacting the whole world caused political, economic, social, and cultural crunches. 
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&ldquo;The crisis brought inequality and injustice to humankind,&rdquo; said &Ouml;ztaşkın. &ldquo;We witnessed continuous rising unemployment and poverty, causing human death through starvation, and we saw a polluting environment caused by for profit.&rdquo; 
 
He also cautioned that human health is being threatened by genetically modified products. 
 
ICEM General Secretary Warda, in his address, praised the determination of Petrol-İş in defending the rights and interests of its members. He cited struggles undertaken by the union at multinational companies such as Novamed, Bericap, and Polyplex. 
 
&ldquo;It is shameful that multinational companies, particularly Western European MNCs, do not recognize internationally accepted trade union rights in Turkey, while they do it in their home countries,&rdquo; said Warda. 
 
The delegates discussed and approved a series of political resolutions under different chapters which included World, Turkey, Society, Economy, Industrial Relations, the Trade Union Movement, as well as Action Principles and Programme. A special resolution was unanimously voted on that gives full support to the coming creation of a new Global Union Federation for industry. 
 
&ldquo;Petrol-İş believes international solidarity of the working class has great importance over attacks by capitalism against the union movement,&rdquo; states the resolution, adding &ldquo;unification under the roof of single Global Union Federation in manufacturing with three existing organizations, including the ICEM, will create a promising initiative, and the Congress pledges fully supports it.&rdquo; 
 
The Congress also amended the union&rsquo;s statutes by bringing new mechanisms into the current structure, particularly for special groups of workers. One union objective has been &ldquo;to struggle against child labour and to strive protecting and promoting the rights of young workers.&rdquo; Another now enshrined in Petrol-İş statutory objectives is gender equality, with the union pledging &ldquo;to take all necessary measures in practices at home, in workplaces, and within the trade union to build equality and struggle against all forms of gender violence.&rdquo; 
 
Mustafa &Ouml;ztaşkın was unanimously re-elected President of Petrol-İş, while Ali Ufuk Yaşar won election as General Secretary, İbrahim Doğang&uuml;l as Finance Secretary, Nimetullah S&ouml;zen as Organizing and Education Secretary, and Ahmet Kabaca as Administrative Secretary. The five trade unionists were named as members of the union&rsquo;s Executive Committee.

Turkey: Petrol-İş Congress Endorses Creation of New Trade Union International

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

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Following the first joint mission in October 2007, ICEM and Rhodia again visited the company&rsquo;s Chinese operations from 19-21. This second visit came within the context of the Global Framework Agreement (GFA) that was signed in 2005 and renewed twice since. The objective of such missions is to monitor implementation of the principles and indicators set out in the GFA. Such joint missions by ICEM and Rhodia have also been made to Brazil in 2008, the US in 2009, and to South Korea in 2010. 
 
The ICEM was represented by its General Secretary Manfred Warda and Director of Industry and Corporate Affairs Kemal &Ouml;zkan. Rhodia had Jacques Kheliff, Group Vice-President for Sustainable Development, and Jean-Christophe Sciberras, Group Vice-President for Industrial Relations, on the mission. Rhodia&rsquo;s Asia &amp; Pacific Zone Chairman, Michel Ybert, Chinese General Manager Michael Zhu, and Asia &amp; Pacific Research and Development Director Pascal Metivier accompanied the joint mission. 
 
The trip coincided with 95% of Rhodia shares being tendered by Belgian-based chemicals company Solvay. Rhodia and Solvay together will create a chemicals company that will have &euro;12 billion in sales, with 40% of that generated in emerging markets. Rhodia will become the third sector of Solvay, in addition to its Chemicals and Plastics segments. This situation also made possible Olivier du Roy de Blicquy, President of Greater China of Solvay Group, being present during the first day of last week&rsquo;s joint mission. 
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The mission first received a briefing at Rhodia&rsquo;s zone headquarters in Shanghai. Employing over 2,800 workers in the zone and producing 23% total sales, Rhodia has sites in China, South Korea, India, Japan, Indonesia, Thailand, New Zealand, and Vietnam. The zone&rsquo;s sales in 2010 increased 36% over that of 2009. Rhodia also has shown rapid development in China where the chemical industry has grown on average by 24% from 2005 to 2010. The recent takeover of Feixiang Specialty Chemicals gives Rhodia a leading position in the amines and surfactants markets in China. 
 
ICEM&rsquo;s Warda and &Ouml;zkan met with the chairperson and board members of the local trade union organizing employees of Rhodia at the Shanghai campus. Chairperson Jie Dong, who also serves as union representative for the Asia-Pacific region of the ICEM-Rhodia Global Safety Panel, gave a review of union activities at all plants of Rhodia, preparations for collective agreements, and social dialogue initiatives. 
 
She gave a specific attention to the joint training sessions between union and management representatives, which were launched through the GFA. Jie Dong&rsquo;s report stated that the local union committee got authorization from employees for collective consultation in early June. A questionnaire for getting views and demands of employees was answered with a high percentage. Salary and income (62.5%), insurance and welfare (62%), and rest and vacation (58.7%) were priority topics. 
 
She also reported that workers elected 35 representatives from each workplace section to prepare and negotiate a collective agreement. The collective agreement is expected to be signed at the end of 2011. 
 
ICEM and Rhodia representatives later met with the representatives of Association of International Chemical Manufacturers (AICM), which regroups multinational companies in China. Discussion focused on the Responsible Care initiative. The meeting then welcomed representatives of the All China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU) from the Minhang area and Xinzhuang Industry Park. The parties exchanged information about union activities at multinational companies. 
 
The second day of the mission saw ICEM and Rhodia representatives travel to the city of Feixiang, where Rhodia recently acquired a plant that has been placed in its Novacare business. Warda and &Ouml;zkan met with union leaders and union members of the plant in a separate meeting where current topics were reviewed. 
 
During the mission&rsquo;s final day, representatives drove to a Rhodia plant located in Zhenjiang, where union delegates explained work conditions, union activities, and labour-management relations. This was followed by presentations on the site, business activities, employment-related matters, and how the GFA has been implemented at this site. 
 
Warda noted that there has been improvement and progression in union activities in the Chinese operations of Rhodia since the 2007 visit. &ldquo;The situation in China demonstrates how a GFA can prove instrumental in improving labour relations, even in China. Our clear hope and expectation is this good model of global industrial relations extends to the Solvay Group in the future.&rdquo;

ICEM, Rhodia Review Chinese Workplaces as Part of GFA

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BHP Billiton-Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA) in Queensland, Australia, is a major global coal exporter to the metallurgical industry. In enterprise bargaining in the coal-rich Bowen Basin of Queensland, it has painted itself as a big bully. 
 
BMA and three Australian trade unions, the latter in unison in trying to preserve miners&rsquo; basic quality-of-life, have been locked in a ten-month dispute that has now become the bellwether on trade union rights under the nation&rsquo;s two-year-old Fair Work law. On issues of rosters, subcontracting, and other job conditions, BMA has tried to dictate, much like it could under the draconian WorkChoices Act of ousted Prime Minister John Howard a handful of years ago. 
 
The three unions, negotiating as the Single Bargaining Unit (SBU), are the Construction, Forestry, Mine and Energy Union (CFMEU), the Australian Manufacturing Workers&rsquo; Union (AMWU), and the Communications, Electrical, Plumbing Union (CEPU). They are making a stand for fair rights and equitable job protections on behalf of workers so those workers can determine their own terms and conditions of work. 
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SBU Picket at Goonyella Riverside Mine, July
That is a tenet to Fair Work Australia. Over the weekend of 17-18 September, BMA used FWA to suspend bargaining, circumvent the SBU, and take its rotten work proposals directly to 4,000 miners. A ballot will be held between 29 September and 5 October. Knowingly or not, but characteristic in itself, BMA scheduled the ballot during Australian school holidays &ndash; many workers will be away with family. 
 
Nonetheless, the ballot will receive near 100% rejection. Ever since a strike vote passed by 92% on 2 June, miners at six collieries have gained ever more strength and unity, and have developed the ironclad fortitude that extended work rosters and Howard-era management rights are not good for family life and destructive to job security. 
 
The ICEM will continue to champion the workers under the SBU banner of our three affiliated unions. Their fight is one that must be won so that the bad choices made in WorkChoices finally make their way to the dustbin. The ICEM has chronicled this struggle and the lawful industrial actions taken by the SBU, and a sampling of past developments can be found <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4611-CFMEU-Still-Seeking-Australian-Coal-Agreement-with-BHP-Billiton-Mitsubishi ">here</a> and <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4506-Stop-Work-Meetings-Raise-Stakes-in-Queensland-Coal-Talks ">here</a>. 
 
In sync with BMA&rsquo;s recent ballot initiative, shift-long work stoppages occurred early last week at four of the six mines &ndash; Norwich Park, Saraji, Gregory, and Crinum. The SBU has effectively called for quality-of-life balances in print and media advertisements and industrial actions have continued at all mines in recent weeks.

Coal Boss Conceit: BMA Tries to Bully Aussie Labour Law Back to Howard Era

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French trade unionists employed at Lafarge last week began a hunger strike at the headquarters of the company in the Paris suburb of Saint-Cloud. Some 12 unionists from the company&rsquo;s Frangey cement plant near L&eacute;zinnes, L&rsquo;Yonne province, are protesting the company&rsquo;s decision to close that facility. (See <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4466-French-Unions-Conduct-4-Hour-Strike-at-Lafarge-Today">prior ICEM report</a> here).&nbsp; 
 
Meanwhile, CFDT and CGT &ndash; the unions representing the 74 workers at Frangey &ndash; have continued today their stop-work actions at 14 French cement plants of Lafarge. The strikes started last week and were expected to escalate today. 
 
Lafarge announced on 25 May at an extraordinary Works Council meeting that it would close the Frangey plant in three stages between August 2011 and the end of 2012. The company said over-capacity, the small market the Frangey plant serves, and environmental considerations. 
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6 June Strike at Frangey
On Saturday, 24 September, the hunger strikers were on day five of their protest outside the Lafarge offices. They include the mayor of one of the small towns in the Burgundy region of France. The strikers are grouped in five small tents and were visited Friday and Saturday by a number of French politicians, including parliamentarian Nicolas Dupont-Aignan from l&rsquo;Essone department. 
 
&ldquo;I cannot stand to see businesses close and workers thrown out like dogs,&rdquo; he said, refuting Lafarge&rsquo;s reasons for closure. 
 
The CFDT delegate taking part in the hunger strike, Florent Gaden, said strikers will remain in front of the company&rsquo;s offices until the world&rsquo;s largest cement producer rescinds the closure. 
 
The Frangey cement plant does operate with proper environmental certification. It produces 300,000 tons of cement annually and has a system of cogeneration that serves 50% of the plant&rsquo;s energy needs.

Hunger Strikers Protest Lafarge’s French Cement Plant Closing

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Fraught by failed efforts in August to give contract workers their legitimate rights in the oilfields of south-central Colombia, Canada-based Pacific Rubiales Energy Corp. and the government of Juan Manuel Santos will get a second chance to rectify the low pay, horrid work conditions, and sub-standard working terms of contract workers. 
 
That came because ICEM affiliate Uni&oacute;n Sindical Obrera (USO) led 4,000 contract workers in Meta Department, Colombia, on a strike and blockade early last week that cut output of South America&rsquo;s third largest oil producer by 25%. The road blockades started on 18 September and continued until 21 September in rural areas near wells in the Rubiales and Quifa oilfields and in the city of Puerto Gaitan. 
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The strikes were violently broken up by 300 Colombia national riot police wielding batons and pitching tear gas. Police ordered a curfew for Puerto Gaitan. The strike, however, forced a tripartite agreement on 21 September between USO, the government&rsquo;s Interior minister, and Pacific Rubiales after six hours of talks. 
 
The protocol agreement calls for a permanent arbitration board to be set up in Bogot&aacute; to address the issues of irregular workers labouring in the oilfields. Those issues include regularisation of employment, better pay and working conditions, and the right to join a union and bargaining collectively. USO, once the representative of only workers at state-run Ecopetrol, has championed the rights of contract workers in Colombia&rsquo;s burgeoning oil sector. USO also is championing the re-hire of 800 contract workers who have been sacked in the recent past for trade union activity. 
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Last week&rsquo;s accord is not the first time that a tri-partite forum was set up to address and solve these issues. In August, Colombian Vice President Angelino Garz&oacute;n chaired a meeting in which nine tripartite working groups made recommendations for fairness and justice. None of the submitted recommendations by the working groups were accepted by contractors or by Ecopetrol, prompting last week&rsquo;s strike and blockades. 
 
USO is intent that poverty wages, exhausting work hours, and unlimited days of consecutive work disappear from the Colombian energy landscape. Several contractors along with Pacific Rubiales exploit irregular workers in the Llanos basin and other oil-rich basins of central and eastern Colombia. Pacific Rubiales, which owns Colombian oil company Meta Petroleum, operates oilfields in eastern Meta Department jointly with Ecopetrol and has been a magnet for labour unrest over the past several months. 
 
Two weeks ago, contract workers led by USO conducted similar strikes and blockades in Casanare department at the Corcel and Guatiquia upstream operations. Those facilities are run by another Canadian company, Petrominerales Ltd., which holds extensive Colombian production facilities both by itself and with Ecopetrol.

Colombia Oilfields: Government Must Now Address Contract Workers’ Issues

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