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&ldquo;The Chemical Industry in 2020 &ndash; a New Direction is Possible&rdquo; is the motto of the project initiated by ICEM&rsquo;s Brazilian affiliate, the ABC Chemical Workers&rsquo; Union, with business, trade unions, local governments, and civil society. The project was launched at a panel discussion held on 10 June in Santo Andr&eacute; that addressed economic dimensions of chemical industry. 
 
On 8 July and 12 August, respectively, further debates will ensue on social and environmental dimensions. The final international conference will then take place on 26-28 September. 
 
For composition of panel discussions and conferences, the ABC Chemical Workers&rsquo; Union contacted with individuals from labour, business, and local and federal government agencies, as well as with the ILO, Dieese, Inmetro, and others. The idea is also finish off with a conference to include former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. 
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&quot;In the International Year of Chemistry, we want workers to enter into debates in chemicals over economic, social, and environmental responsibilities with a view to contribute to discussions for reaching the Rio +20 goals (year 2020 goals),&rdquo; said ABC Chemical Workers&rsquo; Union President Paul Lage. &ldquo;Our initiative aims to discuss with all social actors the promotion of sustainable development in the Brazilian chemical industry on social dialogue and decent work.&quot; 
 
The project received support from industry. &quot;It's an opportunity to take stock of all actions that meet the goals for 2020,&rdquo; said Luis Paulo Bresciani of the Inter-municipal Consortium of the Greater ABC Region. He added that the initiative is attune to the present with a view toward the future through an objective discussion on sustainability. 
 
&ldquo;The future of the chemical industry is the future of our region,&rdquo; Bresciani said, referring to the ABC region of seven municipalities around S&atilde;o Paulo. The industry will benefit not only from the debates but also in terms of public policies that will come from them, he said. 
 
&ldquo;ICEM is proud of this important initiative led by our affiliate ABC Chemical Workers&rsquo; Union,&rdquo; said ICEM Director of Industry and Corporate Affairs Kemal &Ouml;zkan. &ldquo;This is a clear example on how our affiliates in chemicals mobilize for industrial policy and sustainable development.&rdquo;

Brazil’s ABC Chemical Workers’ Union Launches Social Dialogue Project

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Delegates to the 26th Congress of ICEM Turkish affiliate Lastik-İş, the Rubber, Chemical, Petroleum Workers&rsquo; Union belonging to DISK national labour centre, unanimously re-elected Abdullah Karacan as President for the upcoming four-year period. The Congress was held from 18-19 June in Istanbul, with 300 delegates and 150 guests attending, including ICEM Director of Industry and Corporate Affairs Kemal &Ouml;zkan and European Mine, Chemical, Energy Federation (EMCEF) Political Secretary Sylvain Lefebvre. 
 
The Congress also welcomed two prominent ex-officials of DISK, former President S&uuml;leyman &Ccedil;elebi and former General Secretary Musa &Ccedil;am, who were elected to the Turkey National Assembly as deputies during recent 12 June general elections. 
 
The Congress opened with a 40-minute documentary on 62-year-old Lastik-İş and then discussion occurred on activities of the union over the last four years with the challenges and successes. 
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Lastik-İş Executive Committee, from left, Muharrem &Ouml;zen, Alaaddin Sarı, Abdullah Karacan, İhsan Malko&ccedil;, Nejdet Ulusoy
&ldquo;The Turkish trade union movement has been facing very difficult changes in terms of trade union rights and freedoms and as a result, the number of workers covered by collective agreements has dropped below 700,000 across the entire country,&rdquo; said Karacan in his opening address. &ldquo;Turkey does not deserve this picture and we need to reverse the trend.&rdquo; 
 
Abdullah Karacan added, &ldquo;According to the international statistics, Turkey, together with Mexico and Chile, are the top countries globally where income equality is the worst.&rdquo; 
 
Turkey&rsquo;s poor record on health and safety was also underscored, with statistics revealing that three workers are killed on average each day in work-related accidents. Lastik-İş delegates also voiced their intense struggle to limit precarious employment which shows a rising trend. The Congress applauded the Executive Committee with its performance in recruiting new members in existing and new plants, some of which are multinational companies such as Henkel from Germany, KCC from South Korea, as well as financial management and the performance of the union with new projects establishing social facilities that serve union members. The delegates also announced strong support for creation of new industrial union federations at global and European levels. 
 
At the end of the Congress, the new Executive Committee was introduced following re-election of President Karacan. The Executive is composed of Alaaddin Sarı, General Secretary; Nejdet Ulusoy, Head of Education, Press, Publication and Legal Affairs; Muharrem &Ouml;zen, Head of Collective Bargaining and Organizing; and İhsan Malko&ccedil;, Head of Financial Affairs.

Turkish Lastik-İş Re-elects Abdullah Karacan President

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The ICEM Turkish affiliate &Ccedil;IMSE-İş, the Cement, Ceramics, Pottery and Glass Industry Workers&rsquo; Union, announced the successful conclusion of a sector-wide labour agreement in the cement industry for 5,800 workers at 45 cement plants. 
 
The new two-year collective agreement will run from 1 January 2011 to 31 December 2012 and averts a strike called by the union&rsquo;s presidential committee on 2 June. The agreement calls for a 7% increase in salaries plus an added YTL 25, as well as an increase in social benefits ranging from 7.6% to 27.81%. &Ccedil;IMSE-İş also managed to achieve a 100% extra payment for work performed on weekends. 
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The union negotiated the agreement with the Cement Industry Employers&rsquo; Federation (CEIS) for which it had been bargaining with since 7 January. 
 
&Ccedil;IMSE-İş also reported that it had concluded talks in the ceramics industry, which it had been negotiating with the Soil Industry Employers&rsquo; Association of Turkey. The employers grouping covers such Turkish companies as Eczacıbaşı Yapı Gere&ccedil;leri Sanayi ve Ticaret AŞ, Vitra Karo Sanayi AŞ, Matel Hammadde (Serel Seramik) Sanayi ve Ticaret AŞ, T&uuml;tk Ytong Sanayi AŞ, Ege Seramik Sanayi ve Ticaret AŞ, and Ege Vitrifiye Sağlık Gere&ccedil;leri Sanayi ve Ticaret AŞ. 
 
This agreement covers 3,200 workers and is union members and is also valid from 1 January 2011 to 31 December 2012. Wages will increase by 7% with an added YTL 30, while social benefit increases will average about 20%. 
 
&ldquo;The ICEM salutes the achievement of &Ccedil;IMSE-İş,&rdquo; said General Secretary Manfred Warda. &ldquo;After a severe period in the materials industries brought on by the financial crisis, these two sector-wide agreements bring important improvements to Turkish workers and serve as excellent examples of mature industrial relations and social dialogue.&rdquo;

Cement Agreement Reached in Turkey, Strike Averted

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Accord was reached in Belgium recently for 150,000 metalworkers of three unions, MWB-FGTB/ABVV-Metaal, ACV-CSC Metea, and CGSLB/ACLVB. The two-year collective agreements cover workers in metal manufacturing, including aeronautical, automotive, and metal construction, as well as in the iron and steel industry. 
 
The agreements did not come without discord, however. Contentious bargaining over early retirements, unemployment benefits, contract and temporary workers&rsquo; rights, and layoff notices led to issuance of a strike notice that was to take effect on 24 June. 
 
But wage terms were reached in late May between the unions and employers&rsquo; federation Agoria in metal manufacturing, and agreement came on 6 June between the unions and the iron and steel grouping GSU. The three union federations won extension of early retirement provisions, and also longer periods of notice before layoffs can take effect. 
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The issue of subcontracting and temp workers&rsquo; rights was put aside and will be addressed in a separate memorandum. Belgian unions are seeking equal pay for equal work for such workers. 
 
Effective on 1 January 2012, redundancy notices will be extended in iron and steel from seven to 28 days for workers with less than six months service, and from 35 to 42 days for workers with over six months but less than five years&rsquo; service. 
 
The indexation of wages from cross-industry negotiations early in 2011 with the Belgian government will take hold in metal sectors. Wage rises of 0.3% higher than inflation will go into effect on 1 July 2011 and 1 July 2012. In addition, an economic &ldquo;green&rdquo; bonus of &euro;250 will be awarded. This is intended for purchase of environmental friendly products or services. The contracts run until 30 June 2013.

Two-Year Metalworking Contracts Set in Place in Belgium

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ICEM&rsquo;s Colombian oil worker affiliate, USO last week condemned oil giant Ecopetrol, and also the Colombian government, for the exploitation of contract workers at the company&rsquo;s subsidiary Propilco S.A. 
 
USO were particularly angered to see reports of the Colombian government speaking about the importance of decent work at the International Labour Conference of the ILO, while in fact the opposite is true back in Colombia. The government of President Juan Manuel Santos is complicit in the criminalisation of trade unions in Colombia. 
 
On 7 June, outsourced workers operating at the Propilco installations joined a USO union meeting to brief regular workers of their challenging working conditions. In retaliation, immediately following the meeting, the contractor companies blocked their return to the worksite. 
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The contractor companies include ASECO-ASAP, Invertrans, and Gomez Mantilla. Propilco S.A. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ecopetrol, and therefore the Ecopetrol is fully responsible for the employees of the above-mentioned contractor firms operating at Propilco. 
 
Common violations of CAL worker rights at Propilco include the following: 
 
ASECO and ASAP retain the worker contracts, meaning workers have no proof of employment, or of their benefits and salary; 
CAL workers are not supplied with transportation to work, meaning it is often necessary to cycle to work, through dangerous industrial cargo routes; 
Loading workers are paid in relation to the weight of cargo they load, with extremely low wages; 
CAL workers do not have access to a canteen; 
Employers disregard their legal responsibility for employee breaks, training, maximum shift length, and holiday leave; 
Some workers have worked 20 years for the contractor, but still do not have adequate housing; 
Invertrans sacked five employees on 8 June, without legal process, causing fear throughout Propilco that involvement in union activities will result in dismissal. 
 
The ICEM joins USO in condemning these conditions for CAL workers.

Colombian Oil Workers Decry Conditions for CAL Workers

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&quot;Solidarity and Equal Opportunities: Principles of Trade Union Networks&rdquo; was the motto of the second meeting of this kind conducted by ICEM&rsquo;s Brazilian affiliate CNQ-CUT, the National Confederation of Chemical Workers which took place on 15-16 June, through the support of Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES), at the facilities of Sao Paulo Glass Workers&rsquo; Union in Praia Grande, with participation of more than 60 union representatives from 24 companies. 
 
The meeting was supported and attended by ICEM, CUT, Solidarity Center AFL-CIO, FETQUIM, Social Observatory Institute (ISO) and DIEESE. 
 
The opening session of the event was marked with a broad debate on the role of union networks in national and international solidarity in the chemical industries. ICEM&rsquo;s Regional President Sergio Novais highlighted the importance of the meeting and the need for unification of the sectors. Participants dynamically discussed their expectations of the meeting. 
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Later in the meeting a delegates discussed various topics such as solidarity, participation of youth and women, network running, communication mechanisms, network models and statutes, decent work, and training policies. The presentation of research on the situation of trade union networks in the chemical sector with a detailed analysis on multinational participation and trade union activity conducted by ISO gave an overview to the participants. 
 
The participants were then divided into working groups to account for future referrals and deepen the discussions presented. Gender, collective bargaining, network funding, social dialogue, internal and external challenges, and strengthening the networks were among the topics that came up with important resolutions that should strengthen the fight in the upcoming period. 
 
At the end of the meeting participants evaluated discussions by saying &quot;we have to act differently if we want a different life, what we did here was simply to think differently&quot;. Over the next couple of months, a report with the outcomes of the meeting will be publicised. 
 
&ldquo;Networking is one of the major priorities of ICEM sector work. The work performed by our Brazilian comrades in the chemical industry is an excellent model for the rest of the world&rdquo; said ICEM&rsquo;s Director of Industry and Corporate Affairs Kemal &Ouml;zkan. &ldquo;Our objective now is to widen this drive to the whole Americas region&rdquo;.

Brazilian Chemical Workers Discuss Solidarity Through Union Networking

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The Australian Workers&rsquo; Union (AWU) won a definitive judgment from Fair Work Australia on 24 June that grants the union right of entry to lunch rooms at Rio Tinto&rsquo;s Alcan aluminum smelter in Bell Bay, Tasmania. The ruling ends months of legal wrangling and should serve as a precedent against employers from blocking legitimate union access to workers on job sites. 
 
On 1 July, marking the second anniversary of the Fair Work Act of 2009, which makes such access legitimate, AWU National Secretary Paul Howes and three AWU organizers triumphantly met with AWU members in lunch rooms at Alcan&rsquo;s Bell Bay smelter, breaking Rio Tinto&rsquo;s claim that such meetings had to in administrative areas, generally parts of worksites where surveillance and management intimidation is greater. 
 
The 550-worker Alcan smelter has been a test case in Australia over right of entry under a balanced Fair Work Act, a law that reversed many of the management rights provisions in the former Conservative government&rsquo;s WorkChoices Act. (See prior <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4314-">ICEM Bell Bay article</a> here.) It also stands as a major crossing of a threshold that will lead to full enterprise bargaining between AWU and Alcan. 
 
The AWU, which counts a majority of Alcan workers at Bell Bay as members, also used this Fair Work Australia decision to re-boot an advertising campaign aimed at recruitment of non-union Rio workers to the union fold. The ad campaign, which first ran in March, states that process operators at other, unionized Australian aluminum plants, namely Alcoa&rsquo;s, are paid up to A$20,000 per year more than operators at Bell Bay. 
 
The AWU said it would use the decision to meet union members in similar surroundings at Alcan worksites in Gladstone (Boyne Island) and Yarwun, Queensland. 
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Paul Howes
&ldquo;Make no mistake, the bullies at Rio Tinto are losing the stranglehold they once had over their workforce,&rdquo; said Howes in an Australian newspaper report. &ldquo;The decision is highly symbolic of that, and I know it will be a crushing embarrassment for the company.&rdquo; 
 
That decision, FWA Case 3878, found Alcan&rsquo;s insistence on a conference room inside an administration building was not reasonable. It stated such meetings there meant workers had to travel 8-15 minutes longer from work stations, and this was insufficient time to meet with AWU representatives during average break times. 
 
Fair Work Australia&rsquo;s ruling also rejected Alcan&rsquo;s claim that the meal rooms closer to work areas were too small for such lawful meetings under the Fair Work Act and that worker-union discussions would disrupt other workers in the break areas. 
 
Rio Tinto Alcan said it disagrees with the decision, but this time will not appeal the Bell Bay right of entry ruling. The company said the AWU had made some 20 visits to meet with union members in conference rooms, and it made note of the fact that the 24 June ruling had found that the company did not intimidate or hinder workers from meeting with the AWU in the conference rooms. 
 
Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) Secretary Jeff Lawrence said the Bell Bay decision &ldquo;sends a positive message to other employers that they must respect fundamental workers&rsquo; rights to collective bargaining and union membership.&rdquo;

Australia: AWU Wins Correct Access to Rio Tinto’s Alcan Smelter

On April 20, 2010 there was an explosion on the drilling rig &quot;Deepwater Horizon&quot;. 
 
Eleven oil workers were killed. Two days later the rig sank in an ocean of fire. Oil is flowing completely uncontrolled and is still doing so after almost two months. 
 
We do not know what caused the blow out. The ICEM-IMF-ITGLWF Sustainability conference will however declare that: 
 
1) an independent and open inquiry must be held, and trade unions should be granted full insight in the process; 
 
2) at all times the responsibility rest solely on the operator; 
 
3) blow out prevention (BOP) systems should have remote control capabilities, for instance acoustic signal actuators, in addition to traditional BOP controls; 
 
4) when working in new areas, deep water, and other special conditions, it must be demanded that more than one rig be present in the area to ensure safer evacuation in case of an emergency and to be able to start drilling a relief well in case of a blowout. Two months after the blowout in the Gulf of Mexico, it is a catastrophic disaster that the drilling of a relief well had not been started; 
 
5) sufficient and effective oil booms and/or other means to collect oil spillage must be available or in place in all areas where offshore drilling takes place; 
 
6) the demands of deregulation must be reversed. More regulations are needed and the &quot;best available technology&quot; must be demanded, at least in all new and challenging areas.

Global Governance Includes Better Governance of Oil Companies

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Canada-based mining house Gammon Gold &lsquo;suspended indefinitely&rsquo; operations at the El Cubo mine, in Guanajuato State in southern central Mexico, in a bid to end union demands on profit sharing and shift length. It is predicted that management aim to re-open the mine via a contractor, and therefore block union organising and collective bargaining. 
 
The mine closure sees 397 workers sacked, while the company has filed criminal charges against 7 union leaders. Workers are represented by Section 142 of the Mining Union of the Mexican Republic (El Sindicato Minero de la Republica Mexicana). The dispute was addressed by Napole&oacute;n Gomez, General Secretary of Los Mineros, at the recent ICEM / IMF &ldquo;Triple Crisis of Sustainability Conference&rdquo; in Toronto. 
 
The miners&rsquo; only demand is that they receive their legally entitled share of the company&rsquo;s profits, a condition agreed to by Nova Scotia-based Gammon when management lengthened miners&rsquo; working day from 8 to 10 hour shifts. In the absence of a profit-sharing arrangement, union leaders are demanding a bonus of 50,000 pesos (US$3,968) per worker. 

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As is often the case in Mexico, the government has been criticised for siding with the company, against workers. Another familiar problem was seen earlier in the dispute, as workers were physically attacked by the company&rsquo;s private security firm on 18 June. 
 
Gammon Gold recorded US$207 million in revenue from gold and silver mining operations in 2009. The company operates exclusively in Mexico, with a large gold-silver complex in the northern state of Chihuahua, known as Ocampo, exploration work is on-going at the neighbouring Guadalupe y Calvo gold-silver mine, and Gammon recently acquired the El Mezquite and Venus projects in the states of Zacatecas and Chihuahua, respectively. 
 
The union is studying the legal options for keeping El Cubo open, and have strongly stated that they will block operations re-starting with contracted scabs. The potential at the mine corresponds to 14% of the overall company net assets as well as 24% of overall gold production for 2010, and is therefore too valuable for the company to close completely.

El Cubo Mexican Mine Shut in Attempt to Crush Union

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The second world congress of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), meeting in Vancouver, British Colombia, Canada, 21-25 June, elected Sharon Burrow to become the first woman to head the global trade union body. Burrow succeeds Guy Ryder as the second General Secretary of the ITUC, which was created in Vienna in 2006, and leaves her position as president of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), a post that she has held since 2000. She has been President of the ITUC and its predecessor the ICFTU, since 2004. 
 
In her acceptance speech, Burrow described herself as a &quot;warrior&quot; for women and committed the ITUC to continuing to champion women's rights. 
 
Hosted by the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC), over 1,400 delegates assembled in Vancouver under the theme, &lsquo;Now the People, from the crisis to global justice&rsquo;, as the main focus was around issues related to labour&rsquo;s demands for restructuring and reform of the global economy. Delegates criticised the recent trend of governments, especially in Europe, introducing deficit control and austerity measures, under pressure the same banks that caused the economic crisis to begin, instead of keeping jobs at the centre of the recovery. This, according to Burrow, is turning the possibility of a double-dip recession into a probability. 

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ITUC General Secretary, Sharon Burrow
Among the 13 resolutions passed by the congress, were strong declarations on democracy, peace, gender equality, fighting HIV/AIDS, and on sustainable development and a just transition. See those resolutions in full at the link below. 
 
The congress called on G20 governments to increase economic stimulus to create more jobs. On Thursday, 24 June, over 1,000 Congress delegates conducted a rally outside the Vancouver Convention Centre, calling on world leaders to move towards global justice. 
 
Michael Sommer, DGB (Confederation of German Trade Unions), Germany, was elected ITUC President. Jaap Wienen was elected Deputy General Secretary. Luc Cortebeeck, CSC (Confederation of Christian Trade Unions) Belgium, was elected ITUC Deputy President. Nair Goulart, For&ccedil;a Sindical (Brazil), was elected ITUC Deputy President. 
 
View the ITUC second world congress web page <a href="http://www.ituc-csi.org/+-congress-+.html">here</a>.

ITUC Congress Elects Sharon Burrow General Secretary

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