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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. 

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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. 

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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. 

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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. 

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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. 

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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. 

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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>. 

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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. 

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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). 
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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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The Geneva, Switzerland-based International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine, and General Workers&rsquo; Unions (ICEM) announces that it gives its unequivocal support to the 560 miners of US affiliated union, International Longshore &amp; Warehouse Union (ILWU), who were locked off their jobs by the Rio Tinto subsidiary, US Borax and Chemical Corp., on Sunday, 31 January. 
 
The workers were refused entry to the mine and processing plant in Boron, California, when they showed for their work shift at 06h00 on Sunday. 
 
&ldquo;We note that all 500 members of ILWU Local 30 voted against the company&rsquo;s contract proposal on Saturday night,&rdquo; said ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda. &ldquo;This should have served as a message to Rio Tinto Minerals to continue negotiating, continue seeking the necessary compromises in order to achieve a mutually acceptable collective agreement.&rdquo; 
 
A prior contract expired on 4 November 2009. Management is seeking unprecedented changes to workers&rsquo; seniority, shift and overtime assignments, and the way in which promotions are made, as well as seeking unilaterally to impose flexibility changes that favour the company to the detriment of workers. 
 
The ICEM condemns the company for its announcement that it will continue production with replacement workers during the company-initiated lockout. The ICEM will use its role, as the leading Global Union Federation in the mining industry, to alert trade unions around the globe, particularly those representing Rio Tinto workers, of the lockout and urge them to take action on behalf of ILWU Local 30 in California. 
 
Borax, or sodium borate, is a mineral used in detergents, glass, building materials, and other uses such as an ingredient in chemicals. The ICEM represents 20 million workers worldwide that are part of 467 affiliated trade unions in 132 countries. 
The ICEM urges all affiliates and supporters to send their own letter to Rio Tinto, condemning the lockout.&nbsp; Click <a href="/index.php?id=5&amp;la=EN&amp;doc=3600">here</a> for a model, paste the text onto your letterhead, and send to Rio Tinto CEO Albanese at <a href="mailto:tom.albanese@riotinto.org">tom.albanese@riotinto.org</a>, copied to <a href="mailto:joe.drexler@icem.org">joe.drexler@icem.org</a> and <a href="mailto:info@ilwu.org">info@ilwu.org</a>.

ICEM Pledges Support to Locked-Out Rio Tinto Workers in US State of California

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The Pakistan Central Mines Labour Federation (PCMLF) and the All-Pakistan Central Mines Labour Federation (APLF) jointly held a manifestation on 13 January at the Quetta Press Club to protest safety inaction by Balochistan provincial authorities in coal mining. In the first half of January, at least 21 miners perished in roof cave-ins and methane gas explosions. 
 
The federated mining unions expressed outrage that neither Balochistan authorities nor the Chief Inspectorate of Mines removed the bodies of five dead miners in the days following the tragedies. On 2 January, a gas explosion at the Al-Rahman mine near Marwar killed ten miners, including three Afghan workers. 

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The blast, which caused a cave-in, occurred 2,000 metres underground. And then on 11 January, two separate mine accidents occurred at the Habibullah Coal Mines Co. near Spin Karez. Three miners died when a roof collapsed, while eight others were trapped and killed following a blast at the mine in the Marwar coal fields. 
 
Speakers at the unions&rsquo; 13 January protest said governmental authorities demonstrated &ldquo;criminal silence&rdquo; over the loss of lives, as well as denouncing Balochistan officials for not extending financial assistance to the families of the deceased. 

<img src="" width="160" height="238" alt="" />
Sultan Muhammad Khan
PCMLF Secretary General Sultan Muhammad Khan called it a travesty that miners are denied social benefits, and he said the fact that five miners from the first incident are still entombed at Al-Rahman &ldquo;speaks volumes about the performance of the Mines Inspectorate.&rdquo; 
 
Other mine union officials that condemned the inaction, as well as the lack of preventative safety measures in the province&rsquo;s mines included Bakht Maweb Yousatzai, Abdul Sattar, Syed Altaf Ilussain Shah, Muhammad Jamil, And Rehmatullah Baloch. The mine union leaders said the average death rate in Balochistan coal mining, in southwestern Pakistan, had been 86 known deaths, but that this rate has increased of late because of lack of safety measures in mines.

Pakistan Mine Unions Protest Killings in Balochistan Coal Pits

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Hashmeya Muhssin Saadawi, ICEM Executive Committee member and President of the Basra Electricity Workers&rsquo; Union, has long been fighting for the rights and welfare of women, as well as for men, in Basra, Iraq, for many years. She has now launched a campaign inside the worn-torn country for social security, a campaign funded in large part by money awarded to her upon winning the Dutch Human Rights Award, the FNV&rsquo;s prestigious Febe Elisabeth Velasquez Trade Union Award. 

<img src="" width="175" height="118" alt="" />
Hashmeya Muhssin Saadawi
She was awarded that on 12 May 2009, after being nominated by the ICEM, for her courageous work under challenging circumstances and great personal risks, in the furthering of the trade union struggle in Iraq. (See report of that award <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/3218-Dutch-FNV-Trade-Union-Award-to-Goes-to-Iraq’s-Hashmeyia-Muhsin-Saadawi ">here</a>.) 
 
The elements of the social security campaign are equality and social equality, as well as security, social security, work, housing, and education. Land needs to be redistributed, health insurance has to be provided, and cures for different diseases have to be found. Click <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/denicezelmalombard/IraqSocialSecurity#">here</a> to view the campaign manual in English.&nbsp; 
 
Hasmeya Muhssin is the first female trade union leader in the Arab-speaking world.

Hashmeya Muhssin Launches Social Security Campaign in Iraq

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