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The 20-million-member International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine, and General Workers&rsquo; Unions (ICEM) is demanding that the government of Bosnia-Herzegovina intervene on behalf of 1,250 workers in the northern city of Lukavac. The workers have had their pay slashed and are owed wage arrears by India-based Global Infrastructure Holdings Ltd., a subsidiary of the Ispat Group, owned by the Mittal steel-making family. 
 
The company is the minority owner but manages a coke-chemicals enterprise called Global Ispat Koksana Industtrija Lukavac (GIKIL), which sells to steel mills throughout Central Europe, Turkey, and in India. The local government of the Canton of Tuzla is majority stakeholder. 
 
In a 21 January letter to Bosnia-Herzegovina Prime Minister Mustafa Mujezinovic and to Canton of Tuzla Prime Minister Enes Mujić, ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda &ndash; together with International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF) General Secretary Jyrki Raina &ndash; called on both the federal government and regional government to ensure that restoration of previous pay levels dating to 2003 are restored, that wage arrears are paid, and that the governments be more vigilant on potentially serious health risks existing inside GIKIL. 
 
The ICEM, a Geneva-based global trade federation that numbers 467 affiliated trade unions in 132 countries, is pursuing justice for Lukavac workers on behalf of one of those affiliates, the Independent Trade Union of Chemistry and Non-Metal Workers of Bosnia-Herzegovina. 
 
&ldquo;The ICEM has probed Global Infrastructure Holdings, its parent, the steel-maker Ispat Group, and Pramod Mittal himself.&rdquo; said Warda. &ldquo;What we find is a history of depraved conduct placed on people in many countries and total disregard for global social standards, as well as statutes enshrined in European law.&rdquo; 
 
In Lukavac, workers have carried out lawful strikes twice in six months, laying claims to salaries owed them. Despite all workers taking membership in the union, GIKIL&rsquo;s Indian managing director, Guttupalli Jagannadham, has bypassed the union in slashing pay to 55% of previous earnings. That level is below the minimum wage standard contained in the national collective agreement for chemistry and non-metals, and amounts to just above &euro;200 per month (400 marka), putting it well under the minimum wage threshold for the sector in Bosnia-Herzegovina. 
 
Workers staged a strike from 6 January to 14 January after salaries had not been paid in October, November, and December 2009. During the strike, the October and November pay was made, but December salaries are still in remiss. A mediated agreement that ended a three-day strike in July 2009 called on GIKIL management to honour the collective agreement, and pay all wages due by 31 December 2009. 
 
The ICEM and IMF also stated concern for workers&rsquo; health at GIKIL in the letter to the Bosnia-Herzegovina government. The Independent Trade Union of Chemistry and Non-Metal Workers believes a number of workers have acute cases of cancer due to lack of safeguards around coke ovens. 
 
In the joint letter, the combined 45-million-member ICEM and IMF cautioned the government not to lose oversight over labour-management relations at GIKIL. &ldquo;We think this a mistake, considering the recent history of wage arrears, asset stripping, and general social depravation brought by Global Infrastructure Holdings.&rdquo; 
 
The ICEM cites a number of instances in the near past where Ispat and its Global Steel Holdings and Global Infrastructure Holdings subsidiaries have not met payrolls and displayed other social misconduct following privatizations and restructuring. Those cases have occurred in Nigeria, Libya, Bulgaria, as well as against Indian expatriate staff working abroad. 
 
&ldquo;We take the breach of contract, failure to engage the union in social talks, and wage issues very seriously,&rdquo; said Warda of the conflict in Lukavac. &ldquo;Either the government of Bosnia-Herzegovina corrects the wrongs imposed on workers, or we carry this dispute to different levels.&rdquo; 
 
For More Information, Contact: or Kata Iveljic, Tuzla Branch President, Independent Trade Union of Chemistry and Non-Metal Workers, <a href="mailto:sindikat.tz@bih.net.ba">sindikat.tz@bih.net.ba</a>, +387 35 279 081 (mobile: +387 61 894 385); or Dick Blin, ICEM Information and Campaigns Officer, <a href="mailto:dick.blin@icem.org">dick.blin@icem.org</a>, +41 22 304 1842 (mobile: +41 79 734 8994).

ICEM, IMF Decry Mittal’s Pay Delinquencies in Bosnia-Herzegovina

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The Third Ordinary Congress of UILCEM took place in Iglesias, Sardegna Island, on 2-4 February under the motto, &quot;Our History, Our Future.&rdquo; The Congress was attended by the General Secretary of UIL Confederation Luigi Angeletti, General Secretary of FEMCA-CISL Sergio Gigli together with Dario Ilossi, National Secretaries of FILCEM-CGIL and FLAEI-CISL (Electricity Workers' Union), a number of representatives of employers&rsquo; federations and individual companies. 
 
Also in attendance were Kemal &Ouml;zkan, Chemicals and Rubber Industries Officer of the ICEM, and Jean-Fran&ccedil;ois Renucci, General Secretary-elect of the French union FCE-CFDT. 
 
As one of the three ICEM Italian affiliated trade unions, UILCEM (Chemical, Energy and Manufacturing Workers' Union) is part of the UIL (Italian Workers' Union) national centre. It brings together workers of the chemical, pharmaceutical, mining, energy, oil, engineering, manufacturing, rubber and plastics, glass, lamps, ceramics, tiles, electricity, water, and gas sectors. 

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Augusto Pascucci, General Secretary of UILCEM
Augusto Pascucci, General Secretary of UILCEM and a Vice President of the ICEM, reported on the effects of the global economic crisis in Italy. Pascucci explained the significance of the Congress being held in Iglesias, near a mine under threat of closure due to the financial downturn. The mine supports the livelihoods of 2,000 workers in the area. Pascucci called for a government reform package that would see Italy intervene in moments of crisis. 
 
The General Secretary of UIL underlined the current trade union agenda items in Italy and gave particular attention to job creation, the securing of industrial production, and an increase in the minimum wage. ICEM's &Ouml;zkan, in his speech, covered globalisation, the economic crisis, changes in the employment relationship toward more precarious work, sustainable development, and climate change. 
 
The final declaration of the Congress laid out the union&rsquo;s objectives for the upcoming period. That agenda includes: More trade union training; a new &quot;architecture&quot; of the financial system; elimination of discrimination against women, creation of an open society for everyone, and specific financing for women&rsquo;s activities; and an escalation of support and solidarity with international and European federations 
 
The Congress unanimously re-elected Augusto Pascucci as General Secretary of UILCEM. 
 
Another ICEM Italian affiliate, FILCEM, will merge with FILTEA, the Textile Workers&rsquo; Union. The name of the new union is FILCTEM, and will represent 250,000 members, with 27 national-level collective agreements in the relevant sectors. FILCTEM will hold its First Congress soon.

Third Ordinary Congress of Italy’s UILCEM Held

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ICEM Turkish affiliate &Ccedil;IMSE-İş, the Cement, Ceramics, Soil, Pottery, and Glass Workers&rsquo; Union, held its 18th Congress in Ankara on 6 and 7 February, with the 207 delegates present electing a new President and expanding the union&rsquo;s executive committee from four to five. Zekeriye Nazlim, the former &Ccedil;IMSE-İş regional president of the Ankara Branch, was elected President of the national union. 
 
Prior President Ramazan Safak stepped down from that position at this Congress. He was credited for enacting efficiencies within the union that doubled &Ccedil;IMSE-İş cash reserves in the midst of a financial crisis. The union represents 18,000 Turkish workers, down a full 25% due to effects of the global financial collapse. 

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Zekeriye Nazlim&nbsp;of &Ccedil;IMSE-İş
The hardest hit among &Ccedil;IMSE-İş industrial sectors were those in ceramics, tiles, and pottery. Safak was responsible for keeping the T&uuml;rk-İş affiliated union on solid financial footing through the retrenchment of workers and loss of membership, and also was credited with limiting the effects of the crisis through constructive social dialogue with employers. 
The Congress was chaired by T&uuml;rk-İş Confederation President and ICEM Executive Member Mustafa Kumlu. He outlined the recent industrial actions undertaken by 12,000 workers of the once state-owned tobacco and alcohol company Tekel, workers who have been denied their rights as victims of privatization. 

<img src="" width="110" height="177" alt="" />
T&uuml;rk-İş President Mustafa Kumlu
ICEM Rubber and Chemicals Officer Kemal &Ouml;zkan reported on the overall global effects of the economic crisis, as well as on ICEM&rsquo;s campaign on Contract and Agency Labour (CAL) and ongoing efforts to create a new global trade union structure for industrial and manufacturing sectors. &Ouml;zkan also thanked &Ccedil;IMSE-İş for co-hosting last October&rsquo;s ICEM World Conference for the Materials Sector in Izmir, Turkey. 
 
The Congress passed resolutions on decent work; against precarious employment; for fair taxation; reform to Turkish labour statutes, particularly regarding unionization; a better health insurance system; better management of unemployment funds; and a halt to privatization efforts. 
 
Re-elected General Secretary of &Ccedil;IMSE-İş was Yusuf &Ccedil;irak; re-elected as treasurer, Cemil Kaya; and Erkan Atar was elected Secretary of Education, while Cengiz G&ouml;z&uuml;k&uuml;&ccedil;&uuml;k was elected Secretary of Organising.

ÇIMSE-İş Holds Congress in Ankara; Elects New President

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The pitched battle in Australia&rsquo;s coal fields between Xstrata and the Construction, Forestry, Mining, and Energy Union (CFMEU) continues as miners at Tahmoor in New South Wales overwhelmingly voted down a contract offer today. Xstrata has been aggressively attacking workplace conditions and union rights at several coal mines in Australia, but the Tahmoor mine dispute has become prominent due to the length of the conflict and the intensity of it. 
 
Some 300 miners there faced off against an Xstrata lockout from 8-15 February and then following that lockout, they imposed another three days of industrial actions. CFMEU members are frustrated because they&rsquo;ve been without a credible enterprise labour agreement now for nearly 11 months, but they&rsquo;re even more frustrated that Xstrata is trying to set the clock back to John Howard and his WorkChoices regime. 

<img src="" width="300" height="95" alt="" />
The balloting at Tahmoor that started last week was ordered by a government Fair Work tribunal, after the government ruled against CFMEU allegations that Xstrata had engaged in bad-faith bargaining in bypassing the union and going directly to workers on bargaining matters. 
 
Swiss-based Xstrata seeks an enterprise agreement that gives it broad flexibility on writing and re-writing workplace polices and procedures; one that is void of any independent arbitration mechanism; and one in which the union, or any common disputes procedure, is absent from health and safety issues. 

<img src="" width="251" height="189" alt="" />
Locked out Xstrata workers at Tahmoor
Although pay is not forefront to this dispute, the fact that Xstrata wants all future bonus schemes to not be a subject for bargaining is another and unpopular proposal. Even though Xstrata is utilizing its lockout right contained in the disputes process of the labour government&rsquo;s Fair Work statutes, its crass attitude toward terms and conditions of work represents a lingering culture of Howard&rsquo;s one-sided labour laws of the recent past. 
 
CFMEU miners at Xstrata&rsquo;s Bulga mine in New South Wales faced a 24-hour lockout by the company on 19 January after engaging in lawful industrial actions the previous two days. Some 250 miners at Bulga had a collective agreement expire in December 2009 and face many of the same company-positioned proposals that miners at Tahmoor have now rejected. Bargaining with the company also is about to commence at two other CFMEU-represented mines, Liddell and Glendell, both in Queensland, where 450 miners are now braced to resist Xstrata&rsquo;s draconian terms. 
 
Visit the CFMEU&rsquo;s Xstrata Facts website <a href="http://www.xstratafacts.com/">here</a>.

No Resolve to Coal Fight in Australia Between CFMEU and Xstrata

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An inquiry into the fatal helicopter crash that killed 17 workers and crew headed to Canadian offshore oil platforms on 12 March 2009 continued earlier this month. In the days following the early February continuation, former Labrador-Newfoundland Supreme Court Justice Robert Wells, who heads the inquiry undertaken by the nation&rsquo;s Transportation Safety Board, issued immediate procedural changes a full seven months before his commission&rsquo;s report. 
 
Those changes are based on testimony from local union officers and staff of Communications, Energy, Paperworkers (CEP) Union, which represents 700 workers at two of three offshore platforms some 300 kilometres off Newfoundland. 
 
One mandate calls on the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board, the agency regulating the offshore oil industry, to ensure that a fully equipped search-and-rescue helicopter is on standby at St. John&rsquo;s, Newfoundland, and ready to respond within 15 to 20 minutes of any mayday call. It took the charter service contractor, Cougar Helicopters Ltd., between 45 minutes to an hour to equip and launch a rescue helicopter last year on 12 March. 

<img src="" width="150" height="75" alt="" />
The other instruction by Wells restricts night flights to only emergencies until a dedicated helicopter is available that is equipped with an auto-hover and forward-looking infrared device in the event a rescue mission is necessary at night. Both recommended changes were accepted by the Offshore Petroleum Board and the agency was informing lead oil companies at the platforms of the directives last week, including ExxonMobil, Suncor, Husky, Chevron Canada, and ConocoPhillips. 
 
The immediate precautionary changes stem from testimony that CEP leaders gave on 9 February, and also last October and November when the inquiry began. Officers of CEP Local 2121, representing workers at the Hibernia and Terra Nova platforms, expressed concerns that response time, non-fitting survival suits, and lack of underwater breathing devices typify a corporate culture that is lax on transport safety. They testified that in the North Sea oilfields, a separate agency singly monitors air transport to the platforms and a 15-minute response time in the event of an emergency is mandated. 
 
The union also pointed out that Cougar&rsquo;s operations in the Gulf of Mexico provides search-and-rescue emergency service in 20 minutes time. 
 
The CEP also brought to question why no 24-hour military search-and-rescue helicopters are stationed at St. John&rsquo;s, the closest point and major port serving the offshore rigs. Such military craft, called Cormorants, are located in Gander, in central Newfoundland, a travelling time of up to two hours air time to the flight paths used by Cougar. Canadian military officials have neglected to address this issue, or to join the inquiry. 

<img src="" width="120" height="119" alt="" />
Also of concern to oil workers, according to Local 2121 President Sheldon Peddle and Vice President Brian Murphy and the lone survivor of the March 2009 ditching, Robert Decker, is the fact that Cougar&rsquo;s Sikorsky S-92A helicopters are equipped with a large fuel tank inside the cabin that complicates emergency exiting. Decker testified at the Wells inquiry on 6 November 2009. 
 
Peddle said that simulators used for worker safety exercises do not have such cabin impediments. 
 
On 12 March 2009, a Cougar Sikorsky S-92A helicopter carrying two crew members and 16 oil workers ditched into North Atlantic waters, eight minutes after oil pressure readings dropped from instruments that monitor the helicopter&rsquo;s engine gearbox. Two of the 18 on board managed to get out of the cabin after the crash, with only Decker managing to survive in the frigid waters. 
 
The issue of helicopter safety is of utmost importance to the ICEM-International Transport Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITF) Joint Onshore-Offshore Task Force, particularly in view of recent tragedies. On 1 April 2009, 16 workers died tragically in the North Sea when a Eurocopter Super Puma AS 332L2, operated by Bond Offshore Helicopters, ditched on its way to BP&rsquo;s Miller platform in the ETAP oilfields. 
 
On 26 February 2008, the same make craft crashed in southern Atlantic waters, killing five of 17 workers and crew heading to a Petrobras rig. That caused members of ICEM-affiliated FUB, the Oil Workers&rsquo; Federation of Brazil, to boycott the Super Pumas for the next six months. Two other Super Pumas also crashed in the South China Sea in January 2007 and November 2006. And two other ditchings occurred in North Sea waters in the first half of 2009 where, miraculously, nobody was killed.

CEP Testimony in Canadian Offshore Helicopter Crash Leads to Changes

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The ICEM South African affiliate, Chemical, Energy, Pulp, Paper, Wood, and Allied Workers Union (CEPPWAWU), has condemned management&rsquo;s on-going reluctance to take into account union demands at the Azochem Laboratory in Roodeport, near Johannesburg. 
 
Workers at the laboratory have been on strike since 27 November 2009, and their central demand is an end to contract work and placement of temporary workers in direct employment. At a minimum the union demands that, if short-term contract work remains in place, those workers must receive a 13th salary payment, with bonus, and that salaries be paid by the hour with a 10% across-the-board raise. 

<img alt="" src="" width="367" height="65" />
CEPPWAWU Deputy General Secretary Thabane Mdlalose announced that the union will &ldquo;use all mechanisms at our disposal, including mobilizing our members in other sectors to support our members in the Azochem Laboratory.&rdquo; 
 
Azochem management abandoned negotiations when the union brought the dispute before South Africa&rsquo;s Commission for Conciliation, Mediation, and Arbitration (CCMA). The CCMA is an independent dispute resolution body, established under the terms of the Labour Relations Act of 1995. 
 
Azochem is a contract manufacturer of cosmetics and neutraceuticals, with a broad and growing client base in South Africa. 
 
The ICEM is encouraging affiliates and activists to write to Azochem management to call on them to re-enter into negotiations with CEPPWAWU. The chief company contacts are J.C. Fellingham, Jr., Azochem Managing Director, at <a href="mailto:craig@azochem.co.za">craig@azochem.co.za</a> and W.A. Roos, Technical Director, at <a href="mailto:andre@azochem.co.za">andre@azochem.co.za</a>. 

<img alt="" src="" width="120" height="118" />
CEPPWAWU is also fighting another pharmaceutical company, Winthrop, over their continued refusal to reinstate dismissed workers following a July 2009 strike. The CEO of the Pretoria-based multinational has threatened legal proceedings if the union does not cease calls for reinstatement. 
 
The company dismissed 20 union members for their role in the legal strike of July 2009. Eight workers have been reinstated, but 12 are still without jobs. 
 
CEPPWAWU is frustrated with the continued refusal of management to enter into discussions with the union over the issue. Winthrop is part of the large Sanofi Aventis Group, a French-based chemicals and pharmaceutical giant that has remained silent on the dispute. In 2009, Winthrop won a government contract to produce medicine on the condition that they would &ldquo;contribute in saving and creating jobs.&rdquo; CEPPWAWU accuses them of doing just the opposite. 
 
The ICEM joins calls to management of these companies to sit down with CEPPWAWU and resolve the matters amicably. Protest letters may be sent to: CEO John Fagan, 3rd Floor Aventis House, 2nd Bond Street, Midrand, South Africa 1685. The fax is +27 11 256 3700.

CEPPWAWU Defends Temp Workers in Pharmaceutical Strike in South Africa

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With a 1 March deadline looming, bargaining has temporarily stalled between the ICEM-affiliated general union, Central Organization of Industrial Employees in Denmark (CO-industri) and the Confederation of Danish Industry (DI). Negotiations are aimed at renewing collective agreements across the country&rsquo;s industrial sector. CO-industri represents 276,000 employees in the trade and service industries, while DI is the leading business lobbying organisation. 
 
The collective bargaining round directly affects 240,000 workers in the manufacturing industry and indirectly affects an additional 350,000 workers in the private sector. Historically, the manufacturing agreement is used as a blueprint for other negotiations. 
 
Business leaders set the tone for negotiations even before it began. DI CEO Hans Skov Christensen outlined his priority for the talks as an opportunity to &ldquo;restore the competitiveness of Danish companies,&rdquo; adding that wages are not the only element in competitiveness, but still a &ldquo;highly central part.&rdquo; These remarks were made by Christensen at the 6 January press conference, immediately prior to the start of discussions with CO-industri. 

<img alt="" src="" width="150" height="114" />
The chief negotiator and President of CO-industri, Thorkild Jensen&rsquo;s, said the union&rsquo;s clear primary demand in talks is the continued positive development of real wages. The secondary demands include improvements in social clauses, including improved pay during sick leave, improved maternity allowances, and improved conditions for shift workers and apprentices. 
 
Equal pay across the gender divide is also high on the agenda for this negotiation, as is the review of a special rule in prior agreements affecting clerical workers. Currently, clerical workers are only covered by the collective agreement if over 50% of workers in a specific company are members of HK, the union for commercial and clerical employees. 
 
Co-industri is following the guidance of the recently established European Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (EMF) policy resolution that calls &ldquo;for more secure employment, against precarious work.&rdquo; This will be included in union demands in terms of increased investment in training and education of workers, and protections for temporary agency workers. 
 
The parties will continue to work towards an agreement without the conciliation of the Ministry of Labour. According to CO-industri&rsquo;s rulebook, every agreement must be put to a ballot, with a simple majority needed for ratification.

Danish Contract Negotiations Deadlocked on National Level

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The renegade Indian steel company run by Pramod Mittal was made to pay back wages to 1,250 members of ICEM affiliate Independent Trade Union of Chemistry and Non-Metals of Bosnia-Herzegovina (SSHN-FBIH) this month. A deadline of 15 February was met by Mittal&rsquo;s company, Global Ispat Koksana Industtrija Lukavac (GIKIL), which manages and half-owns the sodium carbonate plant, and wages were paid through December 2009. 
 
Workers at GIKIL, also half-owned by the Canton of Tuzla, and SSHN-FBIH&rsquo;s President Kata Ivelijc assured that back wages were paid by the delinquent Mittal through their vigilant strikes and determination. They received assistance outside of Bosnia-Herzegovina from the ICEM, the International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF), and the European Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (EMF). 
<img alt="" src="" width="338" height="189" />
Manfred Warda (centre) with Central European Project Coordinator Mato Lalic (next to Warda), and Kata Ivelijc, 5th from left
After receiving no pay for work performed over the final quarter of 2009, SSHN-FBIH took a week-long strike action on 6 January. That strike gained them back-pay for October and November, and then the outside intervention and workers&rsquo; actions at the plant and inside Tuzla got them December&rsquo;s pay by the deadline, 15 February, a date in which workers were braced to take another strike action. 
 
The empowerment by workers in highly industrialized northern Bosnia was widely noted across Europe. But it stands as a reminder that such victories can be fleeting against wayward companies like Mittal&rsquo;s. Both the ICEM and SSHN-FBIH pledge unified vigilance on future salaries to be paid on time, justified increases to those salaries, and improved health and safety conditions at GIKIL. (Read the background to this dispute and information on Pramod Mittal&rsquo;s companies <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/3588-ICEM-IMF-Decry-Mittal’s-Pay-Delinquencies-in-Bosnia-Herzegovina">here</a>.)&nbsp; 
<img alt="" src="" width="272" height="161" />
GIKIL Factory in Lukavac
On 9 February, ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda visited the area and together with workers&rsquo; leaders, met with Tuzla Canton Prime Minister Enes Mujić and three of his ministers. The meeting produced a promise to seriously question Mittal, in a scheduled and upcoming meeting with government authorities, over his management neglect. The trade union delegation also impressed on the Tuzla government that health and safety concerns around the plant&rsquo;s coking ovens must also be addressed. 
 
The government took up the matter at its regular 11 February session and determined that workers&rsquo; strike actions were justified and legitimate. Those and other conclusions favouring the union were then forwarded to the Assembly of the canton on 16 February. 
 
Further, a commission was established to make corrections to salaries in accord with a previous collective agreement. The commission also will be charged with investigating the health hazards inside the plant. The ICEM is confident that the union and GIKIL workers are now well placed to monitor and participate in the commission&rsquo;s full work. 
 
Kata Ivelijc thanked the ICEM, IMF, and EMF for &ldquo;the cooperation and support&rdquo; and said the intervention &ldquo;left a strong impression on the institutions and media&rdquo; in the region.

GIKIL Pays Back Wages to Bosnian Workers; Monitoring Begins

Two global union federations are urging the Mexican government and Mexican armed forces to use restraint in any attempt to secure Grupo M&eacute;xico&rsquo;s Cananea copper mine in Sonora State. The International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine, and General Workers&rsquo; Unions (ICEM) and the International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF) are deeply concerned that a court ruling last week will precipitate violence between armed Mexican troops and miners represented by an affiliate of the two Geneva-based labour federations, Mexico&rsquo;s National Miners&rsquo; and Metalworkers&rsquo; Union (SNTMMSRM). 
 
The caution to Mexican authorities comes following an 11 February decision by a labour appellate court upholding a Federal Conciliation and Arbitration Board declaration to end a 31-month strike by the union, and terminating the collective agreement between SNTMMSRM and Grupo M&eacute;xico. 
 
The ICEM and IMF are aware that federal troops have been dispatched to northern Sonora State. The ICEM and IMF are also in direct contact with the Mexican trade union and believe miners at Cananea are resolved to continue occupying the mine until a fair and equitable labour agreement is reached. 
 
&ldquo;This week is a very critical time at Cananea and we urge the Mexican government to order its forces to use prudence and abeyance in dealing with workers,&rdquo; said ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda. &ldquo;If the mine is to reopen, we insist that Grupo M&eacute;xico, the government, and the union engage in honest dialogue to address the issues that are unresolved, and to recognise the union in a productive spirit.&rdquo; 
 
&ldquo;The use of violence of any kind will serve only to further isolate the parties,&rdquo; said IMF General Secretary Jyrki Raina. &ldquo;We understand that the legal process has now been exhausted, so we urge respect and balance and hopefully a negotiated resolve can occur that will put the miners back to work in a region of Mexico that desperately needs income-generating jobs.&rdquo; 
 
Together, the ICEM and IMF represent 45 million workers globally. The ICEM serves as the umbrella global union federation for 467 trade unions in 132 countries, while the IMF represents the interests of 200 trade unions in 100 countries.

ICEM, IMF Urge Restraint by Mexico at Cananea Copper Mine

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Nigerian workers are being victimized, while Mobil Producing Nigeria (MPN) continues to rely on expatriate workers in the Niger Delta, according to ICEM&rsquo;s two oil and gas union affiliates, PENGASSAN and NUPENG. MPN is subsidiary to the world&rsquo;s largest energy company, ExxonMobil. 
 
The two unions combined last week, 3 and 4 February, to shut down the company&rsquo;s worksites and operating facilities in a show of protest over the sacking of casual workers by Mobil&rsquo;s contractors and the company&rsquo;s failure to address those sackings with the unions. 
 
Strikes shut down MPN operations at Onne, Port Harcourt, as well at the Eket jetty and other installations in Akwa Ibom state, and protests were seen at the company&rsquo;s main export terminal, Qua Iboe, also in Akwo Ibom state. A manifestation was also made at MPN headquarters in Lagos. 

<img alt="" src="" width="300" height="151" />
Since September 2009, up to 100 Nigerian nationals have been discharged by contractors serving under MPN, which is the operating manager of oil and gas facilities along the delta in a joint venture with Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. (NNPC). The casuals were sacked because they responded to a workers&rsquo; collective voice of protest to gain fair and equitable remuneration. 
 
At PENGASSAN and NUPENG&rsquo;s joint National Executive Council meetings in mid-December, union leaders decided to take direct industrial action as reaction to unfair labour practices, illegal separation, and persistent victimization of casual workers employed in the energy sector. 
 
PENGASSAN General Secretary Bayo Olowoshile called last week&rsquo;s actions the first phase of industrial strikes against the US-based company, and promised further actions to intensify this dispute will occur if management does not stop exploitation of casual workers, as mandated under national statute and past conventions with the unions. 

<img alt="" src="" width="150" height="225" />
Bayo Olowoshile
&ldquo;PENGASSAN restates that management of Mobil Producing Nigeria engages in medium and long-term casualisation of highly skilled, professional, and experienced nationals in core technical, engineering, administrative, and commercial operations,&rdquo; said Olowoshile, &ldquo;and this amounts to the flagrant contravention of the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.&rdquo; 
 
Olowoshile added, &ldquo;The picketing of Mobil Nigeria last week will continue as long as the management is recalcitrant and until they yield to the demand of the union.&rdquo; 
 
Due to MNP&rsquo;s reluctance to address the issues of its contractors in negotiations with the unions, Nigeria&rsquo;s Ministry of Labour has intervened and the case is heading for arbitration. The ICEM supports the Nigerian unions in their direct action initiatives.

Nigerian Energy Unions Strike ExxonMobil over Sackings of Casuals

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