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A 53-day strike by 1,500 leather workers in Iraq concluded successfully on 7 December 2009, after the state-run Enterprise of Leather Industries and Iraq&rsquo;s Ministry of Industry acceded to demands of workers on safety benefits. The leather workers, part of the Federation of Workers&rsquo; Councils and Unions of Iraq (FWCUI), won added payments totaling 25-30% of salaries for working in hazardous conditions. 
 
The workers&rsquo; committee, led by Sa&rsquo;ad Issa and Munadhil Atiya, displayed persistence and resolve throughout long negotiations with the state, and even after reaching a deal with state administrators in the early days of December, the strike continued for three days until all workers were paid the safety stipend in cash. 

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Munadhil Atiya (above) and Sa&rsquo;ad Issa (lower, centre) implore leather workers to continue the fight during 53-day strike 
The leather workers are employed in two factories in Baghdad and a third in Al Kūfah, some 160 kilometres south of the capital city. They produce shoes, bags, and clothing items such as leather coats. The strike began in mid-October and was brought on by workers having to deal with hazardous chemicals and operate dangerous equipment. 
The leather workers&rsquo; strike served as an inspiration for 4,000 textile workers. Following the early December end of the leather strike, Baghdad-area textile workers embarked on an 18-day strike of their own and won partial safety stipends from a separate state-run enterprise inside the Ministry of Industry. 
 
&ldquo;The strike organizers showed an ability to lead and maintain a determination among the ranks that lasted for more than seven weeks,&rdquo; said FWCUI President Falah Alwan. &ldquo;We learned a valuable lesson in this strike. That lesson is not to respond to hollow promises intended to slow or extinguish the movement of workers. 

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Falah Alwan
&ldquo;The victory of the workers in the leather industries is the beginning of a new drive for the workers&rsquo; movement in the public sector and in all sectors.&rdquo; 
 
The strike was marked by continual dialogue with state administrators, but talks that produced only false promises and nothing substantive. Anticipating this, strike leaders engaged fellow workers to conduct constant demonstrations, marches, and public gatherings demanding safer work conditions and safety benefits. 
 
Leather workers also participated in a peaceful 6 October Baghdad manifestation, in which protestors were met by Iraqi armed troops firing rubber bullets. (See InBrief No. 143 <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/3531-Iraqi-Trade-Unionist-Murdered">here</a>.)&nbsp;In that clash, FWCUI strike leader Munadhil Atiya was beaten and then arrested for his participation. 
 
Nearly 90% of all industry in Iraq is incorporated in state hands and the country still abides by the Saddam-era Decree 150 of 1987 that prohibits independent trade unions in the public sector. Thus the need for persistent and ongoing direct action by workers is in order to gain labour rights from the al-Maliki government. The ICEM commends the leather and textile workers of the FWCUI for their heroic and historic actions in late 2009.

Safety Benefits Won by Iraqi Leather Workers after 53-Day Strike

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Workers&rsquo; Memorial Day this year will use the moniker &ldquo;Unions Make Work Safer,&rdquo; as global labour moves 28 April &ndash; the Commemoration Day for Dead and Injured Workers &ndash; as the one day that every day must bring in the fight for safe, healthy, and risk-free workplaces. The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) has designated that theme for 2010 in order to emphasize the vital role trade unions play in constantly improving occupational health and safety. 
 
In the UK, the government became one of over 20 countries worldwide to officially designate 28 April as Workers&rsquo; Memorial Day when Work and Pensions Secretary Yvette Cooper announced formal recognition of the day on 28 January. After beginning consultations in July 2009, it became clear to the government that the growing number of observances and health/safety renewal commitments on 28 April each year merited official designation. 

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What UK recognition now means is that the government will encourage commemorations of the day throughout the country, with ministers committed to support and promote public commemorations. &ldquo;Workers&rsquo; Memorial Day has been an important date in the trade union calendar for many years and we look forward to working with ministers to increase its profile,&rdquo; stated Trades Unions Congress (TUC) General Secretary Brendan Barber. 
 
The ITUC expects 2010 to exceed the 10,000 activities that occurred in over 100 countries around 28 April 2009. The ITUC itself will produce and release background materials, campaign ideas, and additional tools as 28 April 2010 nears. 
 
&ldquo;Workers&rsquo; Memorial Day gains more local, national, and international recognition with each passing year,&rdquo; stated ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda. &ldquo;And it is only fitting this year to draw attention to workers who, through their unions, have done so much to improve everyday workplace safety and health.&rdquo; 
 
The facts bear this out. In Canada, a recent report by the Ontario Safety and Health Agency found that 79% of unionised worksites report high compliance with health and safety legislation, while between 54% and 61% of non-union workplaces report such compliance. 
 
In Australia, unionised workplaces are three times more likely to have a safety committee and twice as likely to have performed a safety audit as non-union-sites. 
 
The ICEM encourages affiliates to begin preparing now for 28 April. The day became officially recognized by the ILO in 2001 as the &ldquo;International Day of Action for Safety and Health at Work,&rdquo; but had its origins before then. The ITUC marks the day to 1996 when the UN lit Commemorative Candles for the 188 victims of the Kader toy factory in Thailand in 1993. 
 
But the commemoration day has its true roots in the Canadian trade union movement, where unionists worked for several days before the Canadian Parliament in 1989 passed Bill C-223, designating 28 April as the official &ldquo;Day of Mourning&rdquo; for the North American country.

‘Unions Make Work Safer’ Theme for 28 April, Now Official Day in UK

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On 21&ndash;22 January in Kiev, Ukraine, ICEM together with the Freidrich Ebert Foundation (FES) organized an international conference on &ldquo;Restructuring of Mining and Energy Companies in the Countries of Central and Eastern Europe.&rdquo; Present were trade union representatives from Bulgaria, Belarus, Hungary, Serbia, Poland, Russia, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan, as well as specialists and experts from the ILO, and the Independent Institute on Coal Markets. 
 
Industry-wide restructuring and privatisation is occurring throughout the region, with the process at different stages in different countries. There are major concerns over jobs. Experiences differ, from negative ones in Ukraine, to some of the best experiences reported in Uzbekistan. In Belarus, restructuring has not occurred to the same extent as in other CIS states. 

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ICEM Vice-President Ivan Makohnachuk chairs the meeting
The presentation by Valery Zadenvarg, of the Independent Institute of Coal Markets, addressed the three stages of restructuring in Russia that have resulted in the closing of unprofitable mines and a decrease in coal mining jobs from 800,000 to 180,000. Currently there are 23 more mines in Russia that are slated for closing due to an inability to compete in the marketplace. The presentation by Nikolay Rogovsky of the ILO addressed socially-sensitive restructuring. 
 
The meeting heard that although Poland has ratified ILO 176, the Safety and Health in Mines Convention, it is not being implemented in the country, which is evident by continued coal mine disasters. 
 
The seminar concluded with a request by the affiliates to hold another such seminar in 2011 to gain more knowledge on the experience of restructuring in Western Europe, and on lessons to be learned from ICEM affiliates in those countries.

ICEM, FES Hold Conference on Mining, Energy Restructuring in Central, Eastern Europe

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An ICEM affiliate in Sri Lanka, the Free Trade Zone &amp; General Services Employees&rsquo; Union, is celebrating a successful outcome in its campaign for higher wages in the country&rsquo;s private sector. Until now, wages in the private sector have been governed by the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka (BOI), but with no dialogue or input from workers&rsquo; representatives. The pay gap between private sector and public sector workers has grown considerably in recent years. 
 
An unskilled public-sector employee can expect a monthly salary of Rs.11,630 (&euro;78), whereas an unskilled private sector employee&rsquo;s minimum wage is Rs. 6,700 (&euro;43). The trade union pressure placed on national government by the campaign moved the Ministry of Labour to raise private-sector minimum wages up by Rs. 2,500. 

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Workers turn out in white to protest low wages
The announcement by Labour Secretary Mahinda Madihahewa signals the government&rsquo;s intent to raise minimum wage across all of the country&rsquo;s trading zones, thus angering business leaders which have grown accustomed to nominal raises each year, or outright restrictions on increases in certain regions. 
 
There was no adjustment to salaries in 2009 as employers rejected BOI recommendations, citing the financial crisis. The BOI withdrew its recommendation in 2009 in the face of an adamant employer response against any increase. In 2009, there was no involvement from workers&rsquo; representatives in the process. 

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The handing over of a 20,000-strong petition
The BOI&rsquo;s recommendation for salary adjustments in 2010 was for a raise of Rs. 500, limited to factories in a small geographical region. The campaign put forth by the Free Trade Zone &amp; General Services Employees&rsquo; Union distributed this information widely and mobilised workers against the low and limited salary. Twenty-thousand signatures were collected protesting the salary revision. These signatures were presented to the office of the Minister of Labour. 
 
The Free Trade Zone &amp; General Services Employees&rsquo; Union campaign focused on educating workers throughout Sri Lanka on the issue, and it included a &ldquo;white dress&rdquo; protest in which workers came to work dressed in white. Media attention to the protest highlighted the workers&rsquo; message and increased pressure on government. The campaign has succeeded with the significant salary hikes, across all private sectors and all regions, and the ICEM congratulates the Sri Lankan union on the campaign.

Campaign for Higher Private Sector Salaries in Sri Lanka Succeeds

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The workers&rsquo; trade union of Cosmos Petroleum Services, Peru, has begun an indefinite strike action following two years of unsuccessful attempts to halt abuses of labour rights in the country. Cosmos is an outsource contractor to Brazilian oil and gas multinational Petrobras. Petrobras Peru&rsquo;s centre of operations is located at Lote X in the El Alto Province, where the conflict is now occurring with workers calling on Petrobras to take responsibility for the conduct of its contractor. 
 
The minimum monthly wage for a Peruvian Petrobras employee is 950 soles, or US$330, and workers of Cosmos are demanding an increase to receive at least that minimum. 
 
Union General Secretary Julio Rigoberto Alarc&oacute;n Fiestas points to the contract agreed between Petrobras and Cosmos on 28 February 2008, that sets forth the extremely low for contract workers. He said that service contract did not account for overtime or bonuses, and in fact was in breach of Peruvian national legislation. 

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He added that even the minimal contractual responsibilities of Cosmos to its staff have not been respected and the union cites numerous abuses, including wage and social benefits below the contractual minimum and information not being made available to workers. 
 
The workers&rsquo; union of Cosmos Petroleum Services asks for support in getting their employer to meet its contractual obligations on wages, and on where and how withheld money is used. 
 
The strike is a brave step for the union, as Cosmos management previously had illustrated its contempt toward union activists in the third quarter of 2008 by suspending workers. The company said financial concerns as the reason, despite that period being a boom in the industry. The suspensions were followed by the cancelling of the workers&rsquo; reemployment, along with cancellation of all redundancy payments. 
 
These actions were then endorsed by Petrobras but were later met by rulings from Peruvian labour authorities that opposed the unilateral actions. These rulings were ignored by Cosmos management. 
 
Union officials at Cosmos also criticize management for refusing to seek a solution during collective bargaining when the previous agreement ended last year. 
 
The ICEM calls on Petrobras to take responsibility for its outsourced workers at Cosmos Peru, and encourages the Brazilian company to step in and settle this conflict. 
 
Petrobras is the largest company in Latin America and the largest company headquartered in the Southern Hemisphere, with output of more than two million barrels of oil equivalent per day. It is also a major distributor of oil products.

Workers of Petrobras Contractor in Peru Take Strike Action

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For third time since management shut the copper, lead, and zinc mining and smelting operations of Doe Run Per&uacute; at La Oroya in June 2009, members of a branch of ICEM affiliate National Miners&rsquo; and Metalworkers&rsquo; Union (FNTMMSP), along with two other unions, agreed to extend the shutdown until 29 April, only this time the 3,200 mines and metalworkers will receive 70% of their salaries and labour benefits. 
 
That agreement was reached late last week and extends an enforced vacation agreement that first went into effect in August 2009. The shutdown then lasted three months with workers receiving 63% of pay, and an extended 90-day negotiated vacation shutdown took effect in November 2009, which saw workers receive 65% of their standard pay. That expired at the end of January. 

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FNTMMSP Gen. Sec. Luis Castillo Carlos
FNTMMSP General Secretary Luis Castillo Carlos said the union&rsquo;s number one priority is to reopen the La Oroyo complex in Yauli Province, 175 kilometres east of Lima, with all workers receiving full pay and full benefits. Castillo said the company also agreed to meet weekly with unions to apprise them of financial developments in regard to re-opening. 
 
Doe Run Per&uacute; has been hard hit by debt, including money owed ore suppliers and financiers. The Peruvian Congress has given the company until 27 July 2010 to restart, a deadline that also saw the government give a 30-month extension to the American company for environmental clean-up that will cost US$156 million. 

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The company&rsquo;s troubles were also compounded early this month when it was expelled from Peru&rsquo;s National Society of Mining, Oil, and Energy (SNMPE) for violations of three codes of conduct: negligent health and safety conditions for workers, disregard for the environment, and mining exploration that fails to comply with Peruvian legislation. The smelter is known to have caused serious lead poisoning along the River Mantaro. 
 
Doe Run is owned by privately-held Renco Group, a New York-based holding company controlled by industrialist Ira Rennart. Renco also owns AM General, a maker of armored vehicles for military use, and US Magnesium. Its Doe Run affiliate also has lead recycling and processing operations in the US states of Arizona, Missouri, and Washington. 
 
In Peru in 2008, Doe Run&rsquo;s La Oroya smelter produced 114,259 tonnes of lead, 53,831 tonnes of cooper, and 43,440 tonnes of zinc. The polymetallic smelter also produced a host of minor metals as well.

Peruvian Miners Give Doe Run Management until 29 April to Reopen

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Difficult talks in the Netherlands between Akzo Nobel and trade unions climaxed in late January when the Dutch chemicals company came to social terms with 5,000 workers. Negotiations had dragged on since last autumn, but talks on 26 January quickly produced results following 24-hour strike actions a day earlier. 
 
Those results are favourable to workers thanks to the four unions: FNV Bondgenoten, CNV Vakmensen, De Unie, and VHP AkzoNobel. The new labour accord will now extend through the end of 2011. 

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The highlights include the existing social plan stays in force, incentives are realized for workers between ages 57 and 60 are in place, and there&rsquo;s an improved sickness benefit. In addition, workers will receive a 1.25% wage increase over 15 months, and the unions negotiated added severance benefits and more financial assistance in job help for workers made redundant. Some 150 Dutch jobs have been cut by the company. 
 
A commitment to examine and improve the pension scheme in separate, upcoming talks was also a result of the 26 January settlement. The wage increases include a retroactive 0.5% hike to April 2009, 0.75 in January 2010, and a one-off raise of 0.5% in January 2011. 
 
On 25 January, union members conducted a highly successful strike at 12 Akzo Nobel worksites in the Netherlands, actions that proved pivotal in the company acceding to workers&rsquo; demands.

Strike Action Brings Akzo Nobel to Terms with Dutch Unions

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Workers of ICEM affiliated union GMB in the UK will likely see issuance of a ballot for industrial action this week British Gas, the largest gas supplier in the country that is a part of Centrica Plc. The intended job actions are in response to an opaque but and aggressive flexibility and management performance agenda that could cost up to 5,000 jobs. 
 
In a survey of its members, GMB reported that out of 3,000 responses, by a margin of eight to one, workers say there is a &ldquo;bullying management culture&rdquo; within British Gas. The survey directly contradicts the company&rsquo;s own Employee Engagement programme, and affirms that workers are facing unnecessary pressure and feel alienated from the company due to poor planning and bad management. 
 
The situation has been exacerbated by the fact that workers have been forced to work long hours during the coldest winter in decades, all the while hearing mixed messages and getting competing demands from management. Contained in British Gas internal documents, the company is proposing that 5,000 jobs be cut, which could mean job loss for many skilled engineers who work on domestic appliances. 

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Gary Smith
&ldquo;Our members are starting to understand that there is a threat to the terms and conditions of employment that we have fought for over many years,&rdquo; said GMB National Secretary Gary Smith. &ldquo;Employees are sick to the back teeth of the pressure they face day to day from senior management.&rdquo; 
 
Much of the staff anger is pointed at Managing Director Phil Bentley, who has not given the union a straight answer on the job cuts and stands accused by GMB of creating a &ldquo;new macho management&rdquo; culture, with its only purpose to cut costs. This cost cutting is across the board and affects such things as the purchase of parts for boilers. Bentley&rsquo;s new work culture, for example, means creation of an arbitrary performance management process that could lead to easy discipline of employees. 
 
In an e-mail, Bentley stated that at One British Gas, the retail arm of the utility, &ldquo;the big, hairy, audacious goal I&rsquo;ve thrown down on One British Gas is to reduce our non-customer-facing full-time employment equivalent by 25%.&rdquo; The 5,000 job cuts, if they materialize, could prove devastating for British Gas and Scottish Gas workers in Manchester, Birmingham, Cardiff, Leicester, Southampton, Uddingston near Glasgow, and Edinburgh. 
 
If the industrial ballot is issued this week, it will be counted and assessed in late February. 
 
Centrica serves 15.6 million residential electricity and gas customers in the UK, largely under the British Gas name. Through its Direct Energy subsidiary, Centrica also supplies residential gas and power service in the US, Canada, Europe, Egypt, Nigeria, and Trinidad and Tobago.

GMB to Take Strike Ballot at British Gas This Week

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

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

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

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

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

Belgian-Flemish Affiliate LBC-NVK Conducts Congress in Limburg

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