English

Español

Français

Aerospace

Automotive

Base metals

Chemical, pharmaceutical and bio-science

Energy

Glass, cement, ceramic and associated industries

ICT, electrical and electronics

Mechanical Engineering

Mining and DGOJP

Pulp and paper

Rubber

Shipbuilding and shipbreaking

Textile, garment, shoes, leather and textile services

Sectors

Action on textile and garment industry

Clean up shipbreaking

Ratify ILO C176

United for a just future - time to pay up!

Disinvest from Myanmar

Action Plan 2021-2025

Global Framework Agreements

Union building

Women

Youth

White-collar workers

Health & safety

Industry 4.0

Just Transition

Organizing with industriALL

What we do

Affiliates

Statutes

Elected Officials

Executive Committee

Geneva head office

South East Asia

Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Caucasus

Latin America and the Caribbean

Middle East and North Africa

South Asia

Regional offices

About us

Global worker No1 2022

Global worker No2 2022

Publications

Resources

Press

<img src="" width="100" height="39" alt="" />
On Sunday evening, 8 November, Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) President Lovemore Matombo and four other trade union leaders were arrested in the Victoria Falls region of their country, after they met with the regional ZCTU Executive there. 
 
After four nights in jail, they were released late on Thursday, 12 November. They were arrested for violating Zimbabwe&rsquo;s Public Order and Security Act (POSA), a Mugabe device meant to stifle freedom of association. Under the POSA, participants must get police permission before conducting a public meeting. 
 
Besides Matombo, the other four ZCTU leaders jailed were Michael Kandukutu, Percy Mncijo, Dumisani Ncube, and Nhawu Ndlovu. 
 
But despite police winning an initial court bid on 11 November to keep the five in a jail in Hwange, a Magistrate threw out the charges and ordered their release, stating that trade union activity is exempt under the POSA.
<img src="" width="200" height="92" alt="" />
Last week&rsquo;s illegal incarcerations brought prompt protest and severe condemnation from the International Congress of Trade Unions (ITUC), the European Union, and other labour bodies around the world. 
 
Following release of the five, the ZCTU called for the resignations of the co-ministers of Home Affairs, including Giles Mutsekwa, representing the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party, the partner in the failing power-sharing pact with Mugabe&rsquo;s ZANU-PF party. Mutsekwa had been silent on the trade union arrests, and on other repressive crackdowns of late. It was Mutsekwa and the MDC that was to take the lead in internal affairs following last year&rsquo;s formal power-sharing arrangement. 
 
It was the second time in less than a year that Lovemore Matombo had been arrested. In early December 2008, he was grabbed by Zimbabwean police after delivering a petition of protest to the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe Trade Union Leaders Jailed, then Released 12 November

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
In the US, the ICEM intervened on behalf of the affiliated Teamsters Union in a strike that started on 3 November and ended 14 November against specialty chemicals manufacturer Rhodia. General Secretary Manfred Warda contacted the Paris-based company directly in efforts to bring the two sides together. 
 
The plant is in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and it is part of Rhodia&rsquo;s Eco Services division, producing sulfuric acid and organic chemicals. The 135 members of Teamsters Local 5 went on strike following rejection of a company proposal given 1 November, but accepted a new three-year agreement with modifications on 13 November after managers and the bargaining committee reached agreement that day. 

<img alt="" src="" width="250" height="188" />
Teamsters Local 5 Members Last Week&nbsp;on Strike, a Strike that Ended on 13 November&nbsp;
The strike was primarily over rising health care costs and co-payments that Teamster members were asked to make. The negotiated settlement includes wage increases in each of the three years. It also includes positive modifications for workers to an on-call procedure, or provisions for calling staff to work during their off hours. That was a further cause in the ten-day strike.&nbsp; 
 
The ICEM has a constructive Global Framework Agreement with Rhodia. The difficult American issue of private and for-profit health care delivery systems is generally the leading cause of US labour-management disputes.

Ten-Day Strike by US Union against Rhodia Ends on 14 November

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
The ICEM French trade union affiliate, the Federation of Chemical and Energy Workers (FCE-CFDT) Union, will conduct a day of action this week, 19 November, against the country&rsquo;s plastics manufacturers over a long simmering wage dispute. Some 150,000 workers in plastics, employed by 3,700 big and small plastics companies, have not seen any wage increase since 2006. 
 
Early in 2008, the employers&rsquo; federation abrogated a 2004 labour agreement which automatically gave liveable wage increases that at least matched French inflation. In the more than three years since the last pay hike, three pay grids in French plastics have fallen below the nation&rsquo;s minimum wage levels. 
 
Despite ongoing negotiations since May 2008, the employers&rsquo; grouping and French unions have been unable to reach acceptable wage standards, or a threshold on maximum seniority pay.
<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="98" />
The manifestation will occur at 10h30 on Thursday, 19 November, in front of the F&eacute;d&eacute;ration de la Plasturgie, at 65 rue de Prony in Paris. A joint union-management commission charged with resolving the longstanding impasse will again meet that day. 
 
FCE-CFDT said in a statement that many companies in the sector have profited handsomely from the three-year wage freeze, adding that thousands of workers are expected to take advantage of sick leave provisions on 19 November in plant-level protests. The union will hold a press conference on the foot-dragging by employers on Wednesday, 18 November. 
 
Since spring 2008, several manifestations have occurred across France over the lack of a current wage accord in this sector. 

&nbsp;

French Plastics Workers to Do Another Manifestation This Week

Unions representing Vale workers in Brazil, Canada, and Indonesia met in Soroako, South Sulawesi November 10-12, 2009. 
 
We are concerned with the actions and policies of Vale toward workers in our countries. We see corporate policies from head office in Brazil that attack workers and do not respect the national situations in each country. 
 
We strongly reject the Vale policy of increasing the number of contractor workers and reducing the permanent workforce. All Vale workers deserve fair compensation and job security. Contract employment should not be a way for companies to avoid paying good wages and benefits and avoid legal obligations to employees. 
 
We are opposed to Vale&rsquo;s demand to reduce worker rights and benefits in each of our countries. 
 
Under international labour conventions, as well as national laws, union leaders must be free to work in the best interests of their members without the possibility of reprisals and discipline by management. We call on Vale to respect the rights of union leaders and ensure protections are implemented. 
 
We want to especially mention the USW strike in Canada. The CUT unions in Brazil, and the SP-KEP strongly support the USW in this strike as a part of union solidarity in fighting for sustainable welfare for workers. When Vale brings unnecessary and unjust demands to the bargaining table in any one country, there will be a reaction in all divisions in the company. We call on Vale to return to the bargaining table and negotiate a fair collective agreement. 
 
As unions we will continue to work together and to build a union network of actions and communication so that we can ensure worker and communities benefit from mining development. 
 
Sjaiful D.P. 
President 
FSP-KEP 
 
Andi Karman 
President 
SP-KEP Soroako 
 
Sergio Guerra 
Sindimetal-ES, CNM-CUT Brasil 
 
Tim Kiley, Nick Larochelle, Doug Olthuis United Steelworkers, Canada 
 
Joseph Drexler 
ICEM

Joint Statement of Vale Unions from Soroako

<img src="" width="100" height="39" alt="" />
After earlier releases in a number of other languages (for more, please consult the ICEM&rsquo;s Contract and Agency Labour site <a href="http://cal.icem.org/index.php/en/icem-guide-on-cal">here</a>), the ICEM is now releasing the Croatian versions of the &ldquo;ICEM Guide on Contract and Agency Labour&rdquo; (CAL) as well as of the shorter and more practical &ldquo;Negotiators&rsquo; Guide on CAL&rdquo;. The Croatian translations have been made possible through the joint ICEM-IUF South-East European Project on Trade Union Modernisation. 

<img src="" width="140" height="70" alt="" />
This CAL guide describes numerous contract, agency and other precarious work situations from around the world - both in developing and developed countries. It contains a number of best practice examples, as well numerous worrying stories, including some of the terrible working conditions that many workers in precarious employment find themselves in. The guide also provides an overview of some of the more recent changes in national and international labour laws and standards, and further deals with combating this phenomenon at company level. 
 
The &ldquo;Short Guide for Negotiators on How to Deal with Contracting Out, Outsourcing and/or Agency Labour&rdquo; is an instrument to assist trade unionists at the plant level. It provides practical suggestions on what to do when (or before) the issue comes up.

ICEM releases Croatian versions of its Contract and Agency Labour Guides

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
A five-week strike at a BHP-owned manganese mine and smelter by members of the Kimberley branch of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) in South Africa ended 5 October with a satisfactory one-year contract. 
 
The resolve came after global pressure was applied by ICEM mining affiliates, as well as attention given BHP&rsquo;s bargaining indifference at the recent statutory meeting of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), and at ICEM&rsquo;s Sub-Sahara Africa Region Meeting in Lagos, Nigeria, on 15 September. 
 
&ldquo;We were very fortunate to have international pressure and a COSATU focus on this strike,&rdquo; said NUM Kimberley Regional Coordinator Lucas Phiri. &ldquo;The arrogance of this company from the mine level to the Johannesburg office was something I have not seen in 12 years inside the NUM.&rdquo; 

<img alt="" src="" width="102" height="111" />
The 920 miners and smelting-plant workers at BHP&rsquo;s Hozatel Manganese operation in the Northern Cape downed tools on 28 August. Their dispute was not just about wages &ndash; South African managers, in fact, were cancelling meetings both at the local level and with NUM national officers &ndash; but about parity between black and white miners, and for improved conditions for women in this remote mining region of the Northern Cape. 
 
With 90% of the 920 workers black, the NUM discovered that white workers at Hozatel got better medical assistance benefits, and received a transportation allowance of 2,000 rands per month, while blacks received 440 rands. Many miners live in hostels, but others travel from the village of Kuruman to the Hozatel operation. 
 
Due to outside pressure on BHP, local management finally got serious on addressing issues that caused the strike and called for talks on 5 October. Both sides agreed to an 8% pay increase effective 1 September, with a one-off 4,000 rand payment per worker for the period July-September 2009. A prior agreement expired 1 July, and the agreement reached on 5 October will last until 1 September 2010. 

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="103" />
Another key issue resolved related to NUM&rsquo;s ability to recruit into membership workers in higher-level classifications. BHP originally demanded a 66% vote, but the resolve reached in early October made that the standard 50% plus one, or a simple majority. 
 
Related to the parity issues, the two sides agreed to establish a separate bilateral forum to address and even out the disproportionate medical and transportation benefits between white and black workers. A deadline of 30 December 2009 has been put on resolving that. 
 
The same deadline holds for dealing with the employment equity between women and men, as well as the company&rsquo;s draconian policy of not granting maternity leave to women who have less than three years of employment service. 
 
The agreement &ldquo;was not all that we had hoped for,&rdquo; stated Phiri, &ldquo;but we are forever thankful for the outside pressure that moved a management that had before been so stubborn to address workers concerns.&rdquo; 
 
BHP operates Hozatel under its Middelplaats Manganese subsidiary, an asset it acquired with its partial buy-up of Semancor in the 1980s. The mine and ferrochrome smelting facility had originally been part of AngloAmerican.

Union Pressure Helps End BHP Manganese Strike in South Africa for NUM

<img src="" width="100" height="39" alt="" />
The Workers Activities Branch of the International Labour Office (ILO ACTRAV) organised a major International Symposium on the Right to Organize and Collective Bargaining, from 12 -15 October 2009 in Geneva. 

<img src="" width="326" height="190" alt="" />
The symposium brought together over 60 participants from trade union national centres, national unions, Global Union Federations and the ITUC, as well as labour academics and ILO officials. ICEM was represented by Jim Catterson and Phee Jungsun of the secretariat. Discussions centred on the fact that the right to organize and to bargain collectively has faced recent challenges stemming from falling trade union membership, increasing individualization of labour relations and the difficult quest for greater competitiveness and flexibility in the context of globalization. Trade unions need to be strengthened in order to face these challenges and enhance the right to organize and collective bargaining and other fundamental rights and principles such as the global platform rules governing the increasing globalization of the economy and the promotion of decent work for all. 

<img src="" width="328" height="194" alt="" />
Aims of the symposium: 
- To examine recent trends and developments in collective bargaining and the protection of the right to organize. 
- To discuss the relationship between collective bargaining and the social and economic objectives of Decent Work. 
- To identify policies and strategies that would strengthen the capacity of trade unions to organize and to bargain collectively. 
- To identify ways and means of achieving the universal application of the right to organize and to bargain collectively. 
 
One session of the meeting was devoted to Global Framework Agreements. Here after a general introduction by Dr. Michael Fichter of the Otto-Suhr-Institut of the Free University of Berlin, presentations were made of the ICEM GFA with Rhodia by Jacques Kh&eacute;liff of Rhodia and Jim Catterson of ICEM. The presentations generated a detailed and wide-ranging debate on the issue. 
 
See further information on the symposium <a href="http://www.ilo.org/actrav/what/events/lang--en/docName--WCMS_112409/index.htm">here</a>.&nbsp;

Celebrating the 60th Anniversary of ILO Convention No. 98

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
During an evaluation mission to Colombian cities Bogota and Medellin, representatives of the ICEM and of 2 Swedish ICEM affiliates (IFMetall and Pappers) were able to see first hand that the Swedish-funded ICEM project on Social Dialogue in Colombia is delivering excellent results. Throughout the two days of meetings and visits, all ICEM affiliates in Colombia unanimously praised the many different efforts and activities of the project. Participating ICEM affiliates are Sintracarbon (mining), Sintraquim (chemical, pharmaceutical), Sintracarcol (paper), Sintraelecol and Fenaltec (electricity) and Sintravidricol (glass, materials). New ICEM affiliate USO is to join the project&rsquo;s activities shortly. 
 
Efficiently run by project coordinator Carlos Bustos, in close cooperation with the members of the ICEM Colombia Committee (i.e. the ICEM affiliates), the project&rsquo;s main aim is to encourage more and better social dialogue between ICEM affiliated trade unions and (mainly multinational) companies in Colombia. And it seems to be succeeding quite well in this, looking at the year-long progress in the joint employer-union social dialogue efforts. 

<img alt="" src="" width="180" height="146" />
Carlos Bustos, ICEM Colombia Project Coordinator
A more recent indication of progress made is the fresh interest shown by a number of additional companies to participate in the project, including Drummond, Repsol, Votorantim, Cerromatoso, SCA, Smurfit Kappa, Ross International and Petrobras. The project&rsquo;s social dialogue activities include joint social dialogue conferences and joint training sessions on specific social dialogue topics. Companies that have been participating in the process for some time include Carbones de Cerrejon (Xstrata, AngloAmerican and BHP Billiton), Linde, Gas Natural, Owens Illinois and Endesa. 
 
Other areas where a great deal of impressive work has been done include the leadership training programmes (which are bringing rank-and-file, as well as both young and female trade unionists into leadership positions) and the discussions on creating a larger industrial union for most, if not all, ICEM sectors in Colombia. Yet another area of work has been around the issue of contract and agency labour (CAL). As in many other places around the globe, CAL is also an enormous problem in Colombia. A number of multinational companies, including from the energy sector, have become almost &ldquo;shell companies&rdquo;, outsourcing virtually everything. Working under difficult circumstances in Colombia, unions nevertheless spoke of a number of successes in organising CAL workers. 

<img alt="" src="" width="156" height="210" />
A worker / trade unionist at Ross International telling the story
Commended was also the communication between the project and the ICEM and other ICEM affiliates (including, for example, the USW in the United States), with virtually all Colombian ICEM unions noting positive after an international intervention. The affiliates emphasised the importance, and success, of this international support. One more positive aspect highlighted by almost all was the work done by the project on HIV/AIDS. 
 
Pointed out by several was also the fact that, since the project began to assist them, the collective membership of the participating unions rose from 1,500 to over 20,000.

ICEM Colombia Social Dialogue Project Doing Well

<img src="" width="100" height="39" alt="" />
ILO'ya bağlı İş&ccedil;i &Ccedil;alışmaları B&uuml;rosu (ILO ACTRAV) 12-15 Ekim 2009 g&uuml;nlerinde Cenevre'de &ouml;rg&uuml;tlenme ve toplu pazarlık hakkı konulu uluslararası bir sempozyum d&uuml;zenledi. 

<img alt="" src="" width="326" height="190" />
Sempozyum ulusal sendikal merkezlerden, ulusal işkolu sendikalarından, k&uuml;resel federasyonlardan ve ITUC'tan, akademik &ccedil;evrelerden ve ILO'dan 60'ın &uuml;zerinde katılımcıyı bir araya getirdi. ICEM'i Jim Catterson ve Phee Jungsun temsil ediyordu. Tartışmalarda, &ouml;rg&uuml;tlenme ve toplu pazarlık haklarının sendikalarda &uuml;ye sayısının d&uuml;şmesinden, &ccedil;alışma ilişkilerinin giderek bireyselleşmesinden ve k&uuml;reselleşme bağlamındaki dizginsiz rekabet ve esneklik arayışından kaynaklanan sorunlarla karşı karşıya bulunduğu olgusu &uuml;zerinde duruldu. Bu sorunlarla başa &ccedil;ıkabilmek, &ouml;rg&uuml;tlenme ve toplu pazarlık haklarını ve diğer temel hak ve ilkeleri yaşama ge&ccedil;irebilmek i&ccedil;in sendikaların g&uuml;&ccedil;lendirilmesi gerekiyor. 

<img alt="" src="" width="328" height="194" />
Sempozyum şunları ama&ccedil;lıyordu: 
- Toplu s&ouml;zleşme ve &ouml;rg&uuml;tlenme haklarının uygulanmasındaki son gelişmeleri ve trendleri incelemek. 
- İnsana yakışır &ccedil;alışmanın sosyal ve ekonomik ama&ccedil;ları ile toplu pazarlık arasındaki ilişkiyi tartışmak. 
- Sendikaların &ouml;rg&uuml;tlenme ve toplu pazarlık kapasitesini g&uuml;&ccedil;lendirecek politika ve stratejileri saptamak. 
- &Ouml;rg&uuml;tlenme ve toplu pazarlık hakkının genel ve yaygın bir bi&ccedil;imde uygulanmasını sağlamanın y&ouml;ntem ve ara&ccedil;larını saptamak. 
 
Toplantının oturumlarından biri k&uuml;resel &ccedil;er&ccedil;eve s&ouml;zleşmeler konusuna ayrıldı. &Ouml;zg&uuml;r Berlin &Uuml;niversitesi'nden Dr. Michael Fichter'in yaptığı genel girişten sonra, Rhodia ile ICEM arasında bağıtlanmış olan k&uuml;resel s&ouml;zleşme &uuml;zerinde duruldu. Bu konuda ICEM adına sunumu Jim Catterson yaptı.

ILO&#039;nun 98 nolu Sözleşmesinin 60. Yıldönümü

<img src="" width="100" height="39" alt="" />
Eyl&uuml;l sonlarında, ICEM, Ortadoğu/Kuzey Afrika B&ouml;lgesi'ndeki (MENA) faaliyetlerini canlandırma &ccedil;alışmaları &ccedil;er&ccedil;evesinde, b&ouml;lgedeki kimya ve petrokimya sendikalarına y&ouml;nelik bir &ccedil;alışma toplantısı d&uuml;zenledi. Friedrich-Ebert Vakfı'nın (FES) katkılarıyla 28-29 Eyl&uuml;l g&uuml;nlerinde L&uuml;bnan'ın Beyrut kentinde ger&ccedil;ekleştirilen toplantıda iki g&uuml;n boyunca at&ouml;lye &ccedil;alışmaları yapıldı. 
 
Enerji ve &ouml;zellikle petrol, b&ouml;lge ekonomilerinin başlıca itici g&uuml;&ccedil;lerinden biri ve ICEM'in b&ouml;lgedeki &ccedil;alışmalarının konusu olmuştur. Ama ayrıca, b&ouml;lgede petrokimya, &ouml;zellikle etilen ve onun polietilen ve etilen glikol gibi t&uuml;revleri alanında genel &uuml;retim kapasitesi artmıştır. 
 
ICEM'in FES ile birlikte d&uuml;zenlediği &ccedil;alışma toplantısının konusu şuydu: &ldquo;Ortadoğu/Kuzey Afrika B&ouml;lgesi'nde (MENA) Petrokimya Sekt&ouml;r&uuml;nde Sendikal Temsilin, &Ccedil;alışma İlişkilerinin ve Sosyal Diyalogun G&uuml;&ccedil;lendirilmesi&rdquo; Semineri L&uuml;bnan Kimya Sendikası Başkanı S&uuml;leyman Hamdan y&ouml;netiyordu. 

<img alt="" src="" width="332" height="89" />
&Ccedil;alışmalara L&uuml;bnan, Mısır, &Uuml;rd&uuml;n, Yemen, Bahreyn, Irak, Fas, Tunus, Libya, Filistin, T&uuml;rkiye ve Fransa'dan 30 temsilci katıldı. ICEM Kimya Sorumlusu Kemal &Ouml;zkan'ın sekt&ouml;rdeki k&uuml;resel trendler konusundaki sunumundan sonra, &uuml;lke raporları sunuldu. 
 
At&ouml;lye &ccedil;alışmalarından birinin konusu şuydu: &ldquo;&Ccedil;alışma İlişkilerinin K&uuml;resel Boyutu: Uluslararası Mekanizmalar, Sosyal Diyalog, K&uuml;resel &Ccedil;er&ccedil;eve S&ouml;zleşmeler ve K&uuml;resel/B&ouml;lgesel Ağlar&rdquo;. &Ouml;b&uuml;r oturumun konusu ise ICEM'in taşeron iş&ccedil;iliği kampanyası bağlamında ş&ouml;yle belirlenmişti: &ldquo;&Ccedil;alışma Koşullarına Y&ouml;nelen Yeni Bir Tehdit: G&uuml;vencesiz İstihdam&rdquo;. 

<img alt="" src="" width="146" height="66" />
Toplantının bitiminde, katılımcılar, bir &quot;ICEM MENA B&ouml;lgesel Kimya/Petrokimya Sekt&ouml;r Ağı&rdquo; kurma kararı aldılar. B&ouml;lge ağı &ccedil;alışmalarını şu alanlarda s&uuml;rd&uuml;recek: sosyal diyalog ve &ccedil;alışma ilişkileri; &ccedil;alışma mevzuatı ve uluslararası ara&ccedil;lar; sekt&ouml;rdeki &ccedil;okuluslu şirketler; taşeron iş&ccedil;iliği ve g&uuml;vencesiz istihdam; iş sağlığı ve g&uuml;venliği. 
 
&ldquo;Bu girişim b&ouml;lgede ICEM i&ccedil;in yeni bir &ccedil;alışma alanıdır&rdquo; diyen &Ouml;zkan ş&ouml;yle devam etti: &ldquo;Seminerdeki katılımcıların tutumu, b&ouml;lgede kurulacak petrokimya ağının b&uuml;y&uuml;k bir potansiyele sahip olduğunu g&ouml;steriyor. ICEM b&ouml;lgede sekt&ouml;rdeki faaliyetlerini g&uuml;&ccedil;lendirmeyi ama&ccedil;lıyor.&rdquo;

Ortadoğu ve Kuzey Afrika Kimya Sendikaları Ağ Kuruyor

Archive

Zimbabwe Trade Union Leaders Jailed, then Released 12 November

Ten-Day Strike by US Union against Rhodia Ends on 14 November

French Plastics Workers to Do Another Manifestation This Week

Joint Statement of Vale Unions from Soroako

ICEM releases Croatian versions of its Contract and Agency Labour Guides

Union Pressure Helps End BHP Manganese Strike in South Africa for NUM

Celebrating the 60th Anniversary of ILO Convention No. 98

ICEM Colombia Social Dialogue Project Doing Well

ILO'nun 98 nolu Sözleşmesinin 60. Yıldönümü

Ortadoğu ve Kuzey Afrika Kimya Sendikaları Ağ Kuruyor

About IndustriALL

Follow us

Contact us