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The human rights group Amnesty International said last week at the time of the illegitimate inauguration of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that Iran has experienced an &ldquo;alarming spike&rdquo; in the number of executions since the disputed 12 June election. 
 
&ldquo;In just over 50 days, we recorded no less than 115 executions,&rdquo; said the London-based watchdog group in a statement. &ldquo;That is an average of more than two each day.&rdquo; 
 
In comparison, Amnesty said that between 1 January 2009 and the election day, Iran carried out 196 executions. &ldquo;This represents a significant increase, even compared to the appallingly high rate of executions that has been so long a feature of the human rights scene in Iran,&rdquo; Commented Amnesty Secretary-General Irene Kahn. 
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Amnesty International joined Education International (EI), the International Transport Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITF), the International Union of Food and Agricultural Workers (IUF), and the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) on 26 June in drawing a global focus on the plight of trade unionists who have been jailed and falsely charged and convicted for trade union activities. Mansour Osanloo and Ebrahim Madadi of the Syndicate of Workers&rsquo; of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company, Farzad Kamangar of the Irainian Teachers&rsquo; Trade Association, and a group of five activists of the Haft Tapeh Sugar Workers&rsquo; Union continue to be persecuted and imprisoned for exercising their basic human rights.

Amnesty International Cites Execution Spike in Iran to June Elections

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The Federation Chimie Energie CFDT (FCE-CFDT) has pledged full support for the national framework agreement, reached between the Union des Industries Chimiques (UIC) and the Ministry of Economy, Industry, and Employment. The agreement outlines the responsibilities of companies facing difficulties during the current economic and financial crisis. Companies are encouraged to expand training programs for employees, to avoid redundancies, and to develop skills. 
 
The French state has made a commitment of &euro;8.5 million for the implementation of the programmes outlined in the agreement, until December 2011. 
 
The FCE-CFDT will ensure, in particular, that this training development plan will benefit those workers that are most vulnerable, and those companies that are truly facing serious financial difficulties.

French Chemical Workers Respond to Financial Crisis

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A dispute over pay differentials that separate mineworkers of Ghana and expatriate staff employed by AngloGold Ashanti mushroomed last week into a short strike when 5,000 union miners at the gold mines Obuasi, Tarkwa, and Idruapem downed tools. 
 
The strike began on 5 August and was halted two days later upon intervention by the country&rsquo;s National Labour Commission. Tripartite talks are underway in hopes that a compromise can be reached. The Ghana Mine Workers&rsquo; Union (GMWU) warned that a further walkout would come in the next two weeks if differences are not resolved. 
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AngloGold&rsquo;s Vice President for Ghana, Keith Faulkner, in a published report last week, admitted the disparities have caused &ldquo;angst and grief &hellip; it is disparate, there is a gap and everyone in the industry knows that.&rdquo; 
 
The union claims, in some cases, expatriate workers are paid 30 times the rate of a Ghanaian for performing the same job. Another point of contention is AngloGold&rsquo;s decision to stop using the US dollar as the basis for salaries. The mining house had been quoting salaries in dollars and then converting that amount to cedis (GHC). 
 
AngloGold seeks now to pay salaries in cedis from the outset, a policy miners oppose. 
 
AngloGold has reaped huge profits in second quarter 2009, mostly on continued high gold pricing and the productivity of Ghana&rsquo;s Birimian field, which holds the rich deposits of Obuasi and Tarkwa.

Last Week’s Strike of AngloGold by Ghana Mineworkers’ Gets Airing

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The ICEM was informed last week of Albanian President Sali Berisha&rsquo;s announcement to the national media, that the government will pass a bill in parliament to sequester all properties of Albanian trade unions. 
 
The announcement was made on 19 August, with the promise to push the Bill through within three months. 

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Trade unions in Albania have suffered continued discrimination from the national government in recent years. On 1 August 2007, both of the country&rsquo;s Trade Union Confederations, the Union of Independent Trade Unions of Albania (BSPSH) and the Confederation of Trade Unions of Albania (KSSH), were expelled from their headquarters and prohibited from exercising their normal activity. All property and documents inside the offices were destroyed by police. 
 
The threat of expropriation and police occupation of trade union premises has been continuous for many years. Since July 2006, the Building and Wood Workers International (BWI) has called on the prime minister to start a dialogue with the Albanian trade union movement, in order to find a solution safeguarding the continuity of the social dialogue in Albania. 
 
The ICEM condemns this attack on the democratic trade unions of Albania. There will be a joint ILO-International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) delegation to Albania starting today, 24 August.

Expropriation of Albanian Trade Unions’ Property Condemned

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The Solvay workers of Brazil met for the fourth time under the auspices of the Solvay Network. The conference met 11-13 August, in Salvador de Bahia, on the northeast coast of Brazil. A new website was launched by the conference, as well as a new Action Plan for 2009-2010. See the new website <a href="http://redesolvaybrasil.ning.com">here</a>. 
 
The new website is designed to assist communication and coordination, and also participation of workers at the 14 Brazilian locations of the Belgian-based company. 
 
The new Action Plan lays out the Network&rsquo;s intentions to consolidate a new database of the different conditions and working relationships currently affecting members, a study into the inclusion of workers in the profits made by the company, and analysis of the commitment made by Solvay to the Charter on Sustainable Development and Corporate Social Responsibility. 

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That was signed in November 2008 between the company and the European Works Council (EWC). 
 
The meeting included visits to Solvay plants at Sim&otilde;es Filho, and brought together workers and trade unionists from organisations such as the Sindicato dos Quimicos do ABC, and Confederac&atilde;o Nacional dos Ramos Quimicos (CNQ/CUT), as well as from CUTMulti Project, Sindicato dos Trabalhadores da Ind&uacute;stria Qu&iacute;mica, Petroqu&iacute;mica, the Chemicals and Plastics Union of S&atilde;o Paulo, the BASF Cama&ccedil;ari, and the Petrochemical and Allied Workers of Bahia Blanca (Argentina). 

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Network Coordinator, Juvenil Nunes da Costa
ICEM Vice-President for the Latin America/Caribbean Region, Sergio Novais, informed the Network that there will be a meeting next month with company management in Brussels, and called for meetings of the Network on training and exchange of experiences, in the month of November, in S&atilde;o Paulo. 
 
There is a strong prospect of a new process of social dialogue with the company. One priority of the Network is to make the Solvay management formally recognise the Solvay Network. 
 
The coordinator of the Network, Juvenil Nunes da Costa, described the meeting as a great success.

Solvay Workers’ Network Meets for Fourth Time in Brazil

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Slovakia declared 11-12 August a period of national mourning, after 20 miners died in an underground explosion in the town of Handlova, central Slovakia. It was the worst mining disaster in the country&rsquo;s history. 
 
All state institutions flew the nation&rsquo;s flag at half mast, starting at 08h00 on 11 August until 08h00 12 August following the 10 August mine blast at the Hornonitrianske Banke Mining Company&rsquo;s lignite coal mine. A public memorial for the departed miners was held on 20 August in Handlova. 
 
Hornonitrianske Banke Prievidza is Slovakia's top brown coal producer, supplying fuel to the nearby Novaky heating plant. 

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Recovery teams continued last week to search for the bodies of the fallen mineworkers, however finding survivors was impossible not a possibility. The mine&rsquo;s Director, Peter Cicmanec, stated that heat caused by the blast, and the high concentration of poisonous gases, put it beyond doubt that any of the missing miners would still be alive. 
 
Cicmanec has been criticised inside Slovakia for not making public condolences on the mine tragedy until the memorial service last week. 
 
The disaster was caused by a methane gas explosion, 330 metres underground, at around 09h30 on 10 August. Several of the deceased were fire fighters, who were in the shaft to put out small fires of self-igniting coal. The gases had been left in the shaft by previous &ldquo;imperfect combustion.&rdquo; 
 
Economy Minister Lubomir Jahnatek stated that nine workers were recovered from the mine and treated in a local hospital on Monday. 
 
Slovakian Prime Minister, Robert Fico, has promised financial aid to the families of the victims in the amount of &euro;33,000. He has also ordered an independent investigation into the cause of the accident. 
 
The mine produces 2.2 million tonnes of lignite per year and Hornonitrianske Banke Prievidza has plans to open new mines in the region after the discovery of deposits of some 7.2 million tonnes. 
 
A total of 445 people have lost their lives in the mines surrounding Handlova since 1915. But over the past 17 years, only 12 have died.

Slovakia Holds National Days of Mourning Following Mine Tragedy

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Seventy-seven Russian electric utility workers are dead following a massive explosion at a hydroelectric plant 17 August in the Khakassia Region of south Siberia. Workers at the site, Sayano-Shushenskaya, owned by the 60% state-run company RusHydro, are organised by ICEM affiliate Electroprofsoyuz. 
 
Russia&rsquo;s Emergency Situations Ministry warned in 1998 that the country&rsquo;s largest hydroelectric plant was desperately in need of major repairs, but little work had been done. The explosion occurred in the turbine hall of the dam, reportedly when a faulty turbine combined with a rise in pressure inside pipes caused the horrific explosion. 
 
On Saturday, 22 August, rescuers recovered 19 more bodies, bringing the death count to 66. Another 11 workers are thought to have perished, perhaps swept down the Yenisei River. 

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A day earlier, on 21 August, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin visited the scene and announced families of the dead will each receive one million rubles (US$31,450) in compensation from RusHydro. Putin said the Russian government will match that amount. 
 
Workers were killed by drowning and crushed by crumbling debris. Some 40 tonnes of transformer oil spilled into the Yenisei. Five of ten turbines were destroyed as the explosion blew out walls and flooded the turbine hall. It is expected that reconstruction will take up to four years, at a cost of US$1.2 billion. 
 
The accident is expected to hike energy prices in the region by as much as 30%. The facility generates one-fourth of RusHydro&rsquo;s total power output and the plant supplies power to two aluminium smelters of RusAl. The company&rsquo;s director of corporate strategy said that 500,000 tons of annual aluminium production capacity is under threat, bringing expected production this year down from 4.4 million tonnes to 3.9 million. 
 
Last Wednesday, 19 August, was designated as an official day of mourning in the Khakassia region, some 3,000 km east of Moscow.

Blast at Russian Electric-Power Dam Kills 77

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<a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/0801KEMAL-OZKAN-SUNUM.ppt ">Altişveren ve D&uuml;zensiz Istihdam</a> 
Kemal &Ouml;zkan, ICEM
&nbsp;<img height="43" alt="" src="" width="30" />
<a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/0801CAN-SAFAK-KRISTAL-IS-SUNUM.ppt ">T&uuml;rkiye'de Cam Fabrikalarinda Altişveren Uygulamalari 
</a>Can Şafak, Kristal-Iş Sendikasi, Turkiye
<img height="43" alt="" src="" width="30" />
<a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/0801FIKRET-SAZAK-TURKIYE-MADEN-IS-SUNUM.ppt ">Madencilik Sekt&ouml;r&uuml;nde &Ouml;zelleştirmenin Etkileri ve Altişveren Uygulamaları</a> 
Fikret Sazak, Maden-Iş, Turkiye
<img height="43" alt="" src="" width="30" />
&nbsp;<a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/0801CELIL-COBAN-FNV-BONDGENOTEN-SUNUM.ppt">Altişveren ve D&uuml;zensiz Istihdam</a> 
Celil &Ccedil;OBAN, FNV Bondgenoten, Netherlands
<img height="43" alt="" src="" width="30" />&nbsp;
<a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/0801OSMAN-ELMACI-FNV-BONDGENOTEN.ppt ">Altişveren ve D&uuml;zensiz Istihdam 
</a>Osman Elmaci, FNV Bondgenoten, Netherlands 
<img height="43" alt="" src="" width="30" />
<a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/0801EMCEF-TR.ppt ">D&uuml;zensiz İstihdam</a> 
&nbsp;Reinhard Reibsch, EMCEF 
(Turkish version)
<a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/0801EMCEF-EN.ppt ">Contract and Agency Work</a> 
Reinhard Reibsch, EMCEF 
(English version)
<img height="43" alt="" src="" width="30" />
<a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/0801HANS-PALMQVIST-IFMETALL-TR.ppt ">D&uuml;zensiz İstihdam &ndash; İsve&ccedil; Modeli </a> 
Hans Palmqvist, IFMetall, İsve&ccedil; 
(Turkish version)
<a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/0801HANS-PALMQVIST-IFMETALL-EN.ppt ">Contract and Agency Labour &ndash; The Swedish Model 
</a>Hans Palmqvist, IFMetall, Sweden 
(English version)
<img height="43" alt="" src="" width="30" />
<a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/0801ILO-TR.ppt ">D&uuml;zensiz Istihdam: ILO&rsquo;nun Faaliyetleri</a> 
Vladislav Egorov, ILO 
(Turkish version) 

<a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/0801ILO-EN.ppt">Contract and Agency Labour - ILO Action</a> 
Vladislav Egorov, ILO 
(English version)
<img height="43" alt="" src="" width="30" />
<a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/0801MICHAEL-WOLTERS-IGBCE-TR.ppt ">ICEM D&uuml;zensiz İstihdam Konferansı</a> 
Michael Wolters, IG BCE, Almanya 
(Turkish version)
<a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/0801MICHAEL-WOLTERS-IGBCE-EN.ppt ">ICEM Workshop on Contract &amp; Agency Labour</a> 
Michael Wolters, IG BCE, Germany 
(English version)

Contract and agency labour presentations, Turkey, February 2008

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The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and the International Transport Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITF) are calling for another &ldquo;Day of Action&rdquo; on 6 March 2008, demanding the release of two trade unionists locked inside Iran&rsquo;s prisons. The two global federations are calling on trade unions worldwide to lobby their relevant governments, as well as public officials, regarding visits to Iran in order to win the release of the two trade unionists. 
 
The ICEM joins the ITUC and ITF in demanding the release of Mansour Osanloo, the leader of the Tehran and Suburbs Bus Workers&rsquo; Union, and the release of Mahmoud Salehi, the founding member of the Saqez Bakery Workers&rsquo; Association. 
<img height="212" src="" width="188" alt="" />
ITUC and ITF chose the date of 6 March because it is just prior to Iran parliamentary elections, as well as the Iranian New Year. 
Osanloo was arrested for the third time on 10 July 2007, following a tour of European labour institutions and labour unions, in which he spoke of the labour abuses and restrictions on freedom of association by Iran&rsquo;s Islamic regime. He was taken from Evin Prison on 24 January to a hospital where he underwent a second surgery for an eye disorder, an injury caused by beatings from government agents. 
Despite doctors recommending that he remain in the hospital for a month, he was returned to the harsh conditions of Evin Prison on 2 February. The ITF&rsquo;s website page on Osanloo can be found here <a href="http://www.freeosanloo.org">www.freeosanloo.org</a>. 
<img height="102" alt="" src="" width="102" />
Mahmoud Salehi, an Iranian Kurd, is also in ill-health, suffering from kidney disease. He also had to be hospitalized in December 2007. He was arrested for union activities in April 2007. 
 
Already last week, the Indonesian Seafarers Union, an ITF affiliate, has written to Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, urging him to cancel a planned trip to Iran in protest to the incarcerations, or face harsh political reprisals both at home and abroad. 
 
The ICEM strongly encourages affiliated trade unions to take meaningful action on 6 March.

Action Day in Support of Iranian Trade Unionists Set for 6 March

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Turkish has been added as the eighth language on the ICEM website. By clicking <a href="/tr">/tr</a>, Turkish-speaking and Turkish-reading trade unionists around the world can now follow the topical developments from the world of work, as reported on the ICEM site. 
 
This came about because of the work and assistance of ICEM&rsquo;s Turkish affiliates, particularly Petrol-İş. Many existing web-pages were translated into Turkish over the past several months, as well as the interface, including basic information on the ICEM, pages with information on ICEM activities, such as Contract and Agency Labour, Global Framework Agreements, HIV/AIDS, as well as many recent ICEM industry reports. 
<img height="66" alt="" src="" width="100" />
Through its Turkish homepage, the ICEM aims to continue updating the world&rsquo;s Turkish-speaking audience &ndash; in Turkey and beyond &ndash; on ICEM developments, as well as on relevant and useful news from ICEM&rsquo;s sectors. This new communication channel will also be used for updates on specific issues that are important to ICEM Turkish affiliates. Welcome, Turkish brothers and sisters!

ICEM Introduces Turkish Language News, Content to Its Website

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