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A first-ever national collective agreement covering 260,000 temporary workers was agreed to by ICEM Swiss affiliate Unia and swissstaffing, an umbrella organisation for labour agencies. The announcement came at a press conference in Zurich on 25 June. 
 
If approved by Switzerland&rsquo;s federal government, the blanket three-year agreement will take effect 1 January 2009 and cover labour agencies that comprise 70% of all agency work in Switzerland. Previously, labour agreements did exist between Unia and individual branch offices of labour agencies. The proposed agreement will not supplant those accords, but will lend a uniform set of rights for temporary workers, as well check the rampant expansion of temp work in Switzerland.
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The national agreement will give first-time collective work rights to some 180,000 temporary employees in over 100 job professions. It will also lift their minimum rates of pay. Although those who work in industrial settings will not see pay increases, they &ndash; and the 180,000 others &ndash; will realize new rights, such as medical insurance allowances, paid medical leave, better health and safety standards on the job, and continuous training opportunities. 
 
Part-time workers will gain increased levels of these benefits with longer and repeated periods of temporary work. 
 
Unia Co-President Renzo Ambrosetti called it a major step to overcoming the precarious work relationship between employee and employer due to short-term work. &ldquo;This collective agreement for temporary workers will stem wage dumping, and we now have a means to severely punish the black sheep among labour agencies&rdquo; who exploit workers, he said. 
 
Charles B&eacute;laz, president of swissstaffing and general manager of Swiss Manpower, called the agreement &ldquo;historical and innovative.&rdquo; He added that the accord gives the labour agencies&rsquo; association political gain and &ldquo;enables us to finally be a true social partner.&rdquo; 
 
Unia and swissstaffing, along with smaller Swiss unions, came to the novel agreement in late May, after a full year of negotiations.

Swiss Unia and Temp Work Association Agree to National Collective Agreement

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Two ICEM affiliates in Turkey, Kristal-İş and Lastik-İş, are bracing for industry-wide strikes in the coming weeks due to break-downs in negotiations. The unions have been negotiating with employers&rsquo; associations since autumn 2007, but without achieving final resolves. 
 
Salary issues are the main stumbling blocks in both sets of talks.
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Kristal-İş, representing glass workers, is now in its twenty-first term of industry negotiations with the Turkish Glass, Cement, and Soil Industry Employers&rsquo; Association. The bargaining covers 6,000 workers at 11 plant sites operated by glassware companies Paşabah&ccedil;e, Trakya Cam, Anadolu Cam, and Cam Elyaf. 
 
All are entities of the Siscam Group, the fast-growing glasswares multinational that has factories in Turkey, Bulgaria, Russia, and Georgia. 
 
After months of stalled negotiations, on 5 May, the last session, the glass association made a miniscule offer covering social bonuses, while failing to put any offer forward regarding salary increases. With no further progress in talks since that date, the Kristal- İş Executive Committee decided on 9 May to pursue strike action. 
 
In the tyre industry, Lastik-İş has been negotiating with three rubber multinationals &ndash; Bridgestone Brisa Sabanci, Pirelli Lastikleri, and Goodyear Lastikleri. The talks cover 4,000 workers at four factories in the cities of Izmit and Adapazari.
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Some 29 agenda items out of 59 have been concluded in the industry-wide collective talks, but the remainder are at impasse. A recent mediation session did not produce results. The main disagreements cover salaries for new hires, annual paid holidays, the use of temporary workers, and work hours. 
 
Lastik İş is demanding a wage increase of 12% for the first six-month period of a two-year contract, and the Turkish rate of inflation for each six-month period over the remaining 18 months. 
 
The union is also adamant in retaining rights gained in the past 50-year history of collective negotiations, and seeks to exclude industry-proposed rules regarding work flexibility. 
 
The rubber employers&rsquo; association has not put forward proposals concerning salaries or social bonuses. The Executive Committee of Lastik-İş, on 8 May, decided to endorse strike action.
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While Kristal- İş has not announced a date for it strike to begin, Lastik İş President Abdullah Karacan told the Anatolia News Service that a rubber strike has been set for 31 May. Under Turkey&rsquo;s Collective Agreements, Strikes, and Lock-outs Law, work stoppages must now occur within a two-month period from the time a petition was submitted. In the past, however, strikes called by both unions were banned by the government because of so-called &ldquo;national security&rdquo; issues. 
 
In tyre talks in 2004, a government decree prohibiting an industry-wide strike was overturned by Turkey&rsquo;s Supreme Court. That fact brought the rubber association to agreeable terms with Lastik- İş. 
 
The ICEM will continue to follow developments and lend unequivocal support to its two affiliates in their respective industry-wide collective talks. 
 
Meanwhile, Petrol- İş, another Turkish affiliate of the ICEM, has taken strike action at Nese Plastics, a company operating in the city of Gebze. Some 141 union members are striking. Negotiations began on 5 December 2007, but management of Nese Plastics has not made a wage offer, insisting on paying current salaries despite high inflation rates in Turkey.

ICEM’s Turkish Glass, Tyre Unions Readied for Strike Action

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The ICEM affiliate Mineworkers&rsquo; Union of Namibia (MUN) and management of Skorpion Zinc, owned by AngloAmerican, are expected to conclude negotiations today, ending a paralyzing 11-day strike that has affected global zinc markets. 
 
According to MUN President Andries Eiseb, the two sides exchanged proposals over the weekend, and spent the entire day on Sunday, 18 May, analysing the proposals. Further review is expected today, and the agreement is expected to be submitted to striking miners either late today or tomorrow.
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&ldquo;There is the intent by both parties now to amicably settle the dispute and we expect conclusion today,&rdquo; said Eiseb, who helped present the union&rsquo;s proposal to management at the mine and smelting operation near Rosh Pinah in southwestern Namibia. 
 
Salary agreement came late last week, when the union and management agreed on a 12% wage increase for all 680 miners. The major stumbling block in weekend negotiations was related to the company&rsquo;s desire for continuous operations, and the needed Labour Ministry exemption for that to occur. The issue of continuous operations also included the matter of adequate compensation. 
 
MUN agreed to support application for the exemption, and Skorpion must now compensate workers at time-and-a-half for all overtime, pending outcome of a court case. In a 2004 labour agreement, MUN won double-time for Sunday and public holiday work and that will remain intact. The overtime issue became complicated in negotiations due to the pending court case. 
 
Other issues that were resolved to the benefit of workers include housing allowances and company transport. The housing allowance was increased to N$1,700 per month, while MUN won a guarantee that the company will provide transport to the capital city of Windhoek, some 650 kilometres from the mine. Previously, transport was only granted to Keetmanshoop, a distance of 200 kilometres. 
 
Miners at Skorpion work seven-day on, seven-day off rotations.
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The ICEM affiliate Mineworkers&rsquo; Union of Namibia (MUN) and management of Skorpion Zinc, owned by AngloAmerican, are expected to conclude negotiations today, ending a paralyzing 11-day strike that has affected global zinc markets. 
 
According to MUN President Andries Eiseb, the two sides exchanged proposals over the weekend, and spent the entire day on Sunday, 18 May, analysing the proposals. Further review is expected today, and the agreement is expected to be submitted to striking miners either late today or tomorrow. 
 
&ldquo;There is the intent by both parties now to amicably settle the dispute and we expect conclusion today,&rdquo; said Eiseb, who helped present the union&rsquo;s proposal to management at the mine and smelting operation near Rosh Pinah in southwestern Namibia. 
 
Salary agreement came late last week, when the union and management agreed on a 12% wage increase for all 680 miners. The major stumbling block in weekend negotiations was related to the company&rsquo;s desire for continuous operations, and the needed Labour Ministry exemption for that to occur. The issue of continuous operations also included the matter of adequate compensation. 
 
MUN agreed to support application for the exemption, and Skorpion must now compensate workers at time-and-a-half for all overtime, pending outcome of a court case. In a 2004 labour agreement, MUN won double-time for Sunday and public holiday work and that will remain intact. The overtime issue became complicated in negotiations due to the pending court case. 
 
Other issues that were resolved to the benefit of workers include housing allowances and company transport. The housing allowance was increased to N$1,700 per month, while MUN won a guarantee that the company will provide transport to the capital city of Windhoek, some 650 kilometres from the mine. Previously, transport was only granted to Keetmanshoop, a distance of 200 kilometres. 
 
Miners at Skorpion work seven-day on, seven-day off rotations. 
 
The strike started on 9 May, and immediately drove zinc prices up on the London Metals Exchange. Skorpion, one of the world&rsquo;s leading zinc mining and processing firms, produces 150,000 tonnes of special high-grade zinc annually. Management attempted to leverage its bargaining position last week by bringing in contract workers in efforts to continue production. 
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The Skorpion mining and smelting operation, wholly owned by Irish-based Anglo Base Metals, a subsidiary of AngloAmerican, began operations in Namibia in 2003. It became fully operational in mid-2005, and it produced 56,300 tonnes for the first six months of that year when the price of zinc was at US$660-per-tonne. The MUN strike pushed zinc prices up a full 5%, with it trading at US$2,285-per-tonne late last week. 
The strike started on 9 May, and immediately drove zinc prices up on the London Metals Exchange. Skorpion, one of the world&rsquo;s leading zinc mining and processing firms, produces 150,000 tonnes of special high-grade zinc annually. Management attempted to leverage its bargaining position last week by bringing in contract workers in efforts to continue production. 
 
The Skorpion mining and smelting operation, wholly owned by Irish-based Anglo Base Metals, a subsidiary of AngloAmerican, began operations in Namibia in 2003. It became fully operational in mid-2005, and it produced 56,300 tonnes for the first six months of that year when the price of zinc was at US$660-per-tonne. The MUN strike pushed zinc prices up a full 5%, with it trading at US$2,285-per-tonne late last week.

Skorpion Zinc Strike in Namibia Expected to Conclude Today

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A critical multi-union trade union conference was held in Basra, Iraq, last week, 14 May, under the scope of the Executive Committee of the General Federation of Iraqi Workers (GFIW). Chaired in part by Hashmeya Muhsin Hussein, president of the ICEM affiliate, General Union of Iraq Electricity Workers and Technicians (GUEWT), the conference produced a unified response to the Iraqi government&rsquo;s call for union elections between June and August of this year.
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&nbsp; 
At left, ICEM&nbsp;Executive Committee Member Hashmeya Muhsin Hussein&nbsp; 

The demand called on the government to abolish 1987&rsquo;s Public Law No. 150, a Saddam-era decree forbidding workers employed in the public sector from forming or joining a union. A statement issued to the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki that followed the meeting also called on it to abolish Decree No. 8750, the draconian instrument put in place in 2005 by the occupational forces. That measure effectively confiscated all trade union funds, and prohibited unions from collecting dues or maintaining assets. 
 
In addition, the 15 trade unions present issued a demand for revival of Article 22, Paragraph 3 of the Iraqi Constitution, which would guarantee Iraqi unions the right to form or join free and democratic trade unions. 
 
Early this year, the al-Maliki government decreed that trade unions inside Iraq must conduct several rounds of elections in order to choose leaders. But under Public Law 150 &ndash; and of equal significance, the occupation&rsquo;s Decree No. 8750, which al-Maliki continues to uphold &ndash; most of the unions at last week&rsquo;s GFIW Basra event could not participate in such elections. 
 
The GUEWT, for example, as well as workers in the oil, railway, transport, ports, and health care sectors, are excluded because these sectors all are part of Iraq&rsquo;s public sector. &ldquo;We agree with the format for union elections, but with reservations,&rdquo; said Abdullah Muhsin, GFIW International Representative. &ldquo;Full freedom of association and common recognition of free and democratic trade unions inside Iraq must come first.&rdquo; 
 
In the letter to Prime Minister al-Maliki, that went as well as to Iraq&rsquo;s President and the President of Parliament, the GFIW states: &ldquo;Five years have passed since the fall of the hated regime. Iraqi workers, instead of receiving the support they deserve, must realize their potential and thus employ this potential to help reconstruction of Iraq&rsquo;s devastated economy.
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&ldquo;In the name of Basra workers, our federation, the GFIW in Basra, appeals to your Excellencies to recognize the sacrifices endured by Iraqi workers in their defiance of extremist onslaughts, and allow workers the right to conduct free and open elections across Iraq&rsquo;s public, private, and cooperative industries.&rdquo; 
 
Besides the GUEWT, the letter was signed by the GFIW Basra Head, Hussein Fadel Hassan; the Mechanic Workers&rsquo; Union of Basra; the Transport Workers&rsquo; Union of Basra; the Service Workers&rsquo; Union of Basra; the Construction and Wood Workers&rsquo; Union; the Municipality Workers&rsquo; Union of Basra; the Iraqi All Ports Workers&rsquo; Union, based in Basra; the Railway Workers&rsquo; Union; the Health Workers&rsquo; Union of Basra; the Engineering and Professional Workers&rsquo; Union of Basra; the Agricultural Workers&rsquo; Union; and the Society for Development and Reconstruction.

Iraqi Trade Union Conference Demands Repeal of Draconian Labour Decrees

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ICEM&rsquo;s Central European Regional Council was held in Katowice, Poland, on 29 April, and leaders of affiliates from eight Central European countries discussed trends and developments within the ICEM region, as well as global matters. 
 
The problems mentioned by ICEM&rsquo;s trade union leaders of the region often mirrored those from neighbouring countries. Workers in most countries face problems with stagnant wages &ndash; and extremely low minimum wages &ndash; as well as high inflation rates. In Croatia, many workers do not earn more than &euro;8 per day.
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The ICEM Central European Regional meeting was hosted by Polish trade union sentre Solidarnosc
Unions in Croatia are calling for a minimum wage to be set at the level of 50% of the average wage. Unions in other countries are setting that bar at 60%. In several Central European nations, the current minimum wage is often lower &ndash; 40% of the average wage, or even lower.
<img width="120" height="60" src="" alt="" />
Croatia&nbsp;
Progress is slow on that front, but it is being made. In Slovakia, for example, union and employers are now jointly negotiating a new minimum wage through social dialogue. In Romania, the minimum wage was raised last year from &euro;100 to &euro;150 per month. 
 
Standard wages do differ between countries. An average wage in Bosnia stands at around &euro;300, whereas the average salary in Poland, before taxes, is around &euro;800. The wage differences between sectors inside some countries are oftentimes wide. Some Polish workers barely earn &euro;300 per month, while others make &euro;1,700.
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&nbsp;Bosnia-Herzegovina
Overall, unions in Central Europe are generally reporting progress. One such area that is progressing is negotiations with multinational companies. In nearly all countries, privatisation exercises continue and that does cause serious hardship for many trade union members. Unions do report that fair dismissal packages are now being won, a welcome change from previous years. Another positive aspect is that relations with incoming multinational companies are improving. 
 
Engagement in social dialogue is a key priority for most unions, including with several non-European multinational investors. This phenomenon has grown rapidly over the last few years. Multinational companies from Russia, Turkey, India, and South Korea are no longer the exception. Regrettably, industrial relations with some of these firms (for example, Korean Hankook Tire in Hungary) are acrimonious, since some of these newly-arrived companies lack relevant experience with the European social dialogue system. 
 
Nearly all trade union leaders attending the regional meeting also mentioned the positive, and growing, international cooperation between unions in the region. Trade unions and their members are increasingly attending each other&rsquo;s demonstrations, across borders, and are sharing more and more information. 
 
Also reported was the vastly improved trade union cooperation inside countries. This is occurring between unions that often belong to different national confederations. One clear example came from Poland, where a joint ICEM-EMCEF office is being set up, allowing six industrial unions to speak with one voice. 
 
As a result of this increased cooperation, there also appears to be a growing political will to do away with the problem of having too many unions inside one country. Leaders spoke of the need for consolidation and mergers, in order to avoid situations where unions compete with each other. 
 
Unions in Serbia, for example, spoke of improvements in their own operations, as they manage, frequently after changing internal structures, to halt the drop in union membership and boost affiliation fees.
<img width="120" height="71" src="" alt="" />
Serbia
Related to these efforts was an overview by Mato Lalic on the South-East European Education Project for ICEM and IUF affiliates. He reported on a number of successes from this project, which is expected to enter its last two-year cycle this year. For over ten years, Lalic has organised over 300 seminars, workshops, and seminars, with over 6,000 trade unionists attending. And some 30-to- 40% of these participants have been women. 
 
Some problems, however, remain country-specific, such as the after-war issue of the non-payment of pensions in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Also, austerity measures were cited as a measure to offset the GDP deficit in Hungary. 
 
Other problems appear simultaneously in all countries. Many spoke, for example, of anticipated difficulties &ndash; and possible long and hard struggles &ndash; in relation to the expected increases of the statutory pension age in their respective country. The issue of green jobs, and the need to have an ecological balance, but also the possible difficulties that industries may face as a result of a more stringent emissions rights system, were equally mentioned by many.

Reports from Central Europe Regional Meeting Point to Cautious Optimism

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Some 4,000 union members of ICEM affiliate Sindicato Unico Trabajores del Neum&aacute;tico Argentina (SUTNA) launched a 48-hour strike on 25 July against three tyre manufacturing companies, Bridgestone-Firestone, Pirelli, and Argentine-based FATE. The union has been deadlocked since April in 2008 wage negotiations with the major rubber makers. 
 
SUTNA had been conducting protests in the cities of the three factories in recent weeks. With tyre production growing in Argentina due to a boom in automotive production, the union is seeking a salary increase of 35%. 
 
&ldquo;After the employers refused our demands, workers through their asemblies at the factories decided to begin (job actions),&rdquo; said SUTNA Gen. Sec. Pedro Wasiejko. He added that employers offered a two-phase increase of 28%; 13% at present and a noncumulative 15% in January 2009. 
 
&ldquo;This was not accepted by our members,&rdquo; said Wasiejko, citing the fact that the increase would amount amount to only 1,800 pesos (US$600). He said labour costs in the Argentine tyre industry are only 4-to-6% of all production costs.
<img height="93" alt="" src="" width="140" border="1" />
&nbsp; 
Japanese-based Bridgestone-Firestone and Pirelli of Italy each employ 1,400 workers in factories near Buenos Aires, while FATE emplys 1,200 at a plant in San Fernando. 
 
Argentina&rsquo;s tyre industry will experience a major change this year with Continental of Germany now entering the retail market. Continental&rsquo;s supply agreement with FATE ends at the end of this year, and the company has established a subsidiary in Argentina in order to import tyres from a factory in Brazil, as well as from Europe. 

Tyre production in the South American country, however, has increased nearly 20% over the first four months of 2008 compared with the same period in 2007.

Rubber Workers in Argentina Begin Job Actions to Gain Fair Pay

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The Graphical, Paper, and Media section of ICEM affiliate Unite in the UK won a key organizing victory on 14 July, when the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC) granted workers of Leicester Paper Company (LPC) union recognition with the country&rsquo;s largest trade union. 
 
The ruling, following two hearings in which longtime, union-avoiding LPC tried to subvert a Unite majority by inserting new workers into the proposed bargaining unit, as well as changing the work contracts for others, means the company has until 14 August 2008 to begin negotiations with Unite.
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The union overcame LPC tactics by relying on organizers and activists inside the mill to actively enroll more paperworkers in Unite. A solid majority of the 84 workers at the Kamns towel and tissue mill in Leicester, East Midlands, signaled to the CAC that they want a first-time union contract. 
 
CAC is an independent UK body with statutory powers to rule on applications for formal recognition and de-recognition of trade unions regarding collective bargaining. Hearing testimony from the union and the company&rsquo;s attorneys, a CAC panel upheld Unite&rsquo;s claim for recognition, ruling that there were no circumstances identified in legislation that would merit a ballot of workers. 
 
&ldquo;We have been organizing for years at LPC in what can only be described as very hostile circumstances,&rdquo; said Unite National Secretary Peter Ellis. &ldquo;This fantastic result is a testament to all the hard work done by our organizing team and the resolve of our determined membership. 
 
&ldquo;We look forward to putting the past behind us and engaging the company in a constructive dialogue that will lead to a better working environment for workers at the Kamns mill,&rdquo; added Ellis. 
 
LPC is a privately-held consumer towel and tissue manufacturer, which, in the UK, is the major private-label producer for retail chains Morrison&rsquo;s and Tesco. Besides the Kamns mill, LPC also operates three paper converters in central England, employing another 550 paperworkers. 
 
It has also expanded outside of the UK, by purchasing in 2007 a towel and tissue mill of American-based Kimberly-Clark in Duffel, Belgium. In fact, it was unionized workers then at that location, while reaching out to the ICEM for information on LPC, which spurred Unite to refresh its organizing efforts in Leicester. 
 
The ICEM is continuing to build a network of workers at the company&rsquo;s manufacturing locations in Belgium, France, Sweden, and the UK.

UK: Unite Wins Union Recognition for Workers of Evasive Paper Company

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Strategic and rolling&nbsp;strikes by 500 Canadian miners &ndash; members of the United Steelworkers (USW) &ndash; could occur at any time now within the&nbsp;three mining operations&nbsp; of&nbsp;Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan, the world&rsquo;s largest fertiliser company. 
 
On 23 July, three local branches of the USW in the western Canadian province of Saskatechewan issued the necessary 48-hour strike notice against the company. Management countered by giving the unions a 48-hour lockout notice.&nbsp; 
 
Miners have been without a current contract since 30 April 2008. The USW local unions voted by a 96% margin on 21 July for industrial action. 
 
Workers&nbsp;met again on Friday, 25 July, and ballotted for an overtime ban at&nbsp;mines in Allan, Cory, and Patience Lake, beginning the next day, 26 July. In 2007, Canadian steelworkers worked a total of 147,000 overtime hours for Potash Corp., heavily impacting&nbsp;the company&rsquo;s bloated profit sheet. 
 
The company, capitalising on high commodity prices, posted its largest quarterly profit margin in second quarter 2008, with C$905.1 million in earnings. Its 2007 net income was C$1.1 billion.
<img height="180" alt="" src="" width="160" />
USW Canadian National Director Ken Neumann&nbsp;
USW National Canadian Director Ken Neumann, in an opionion article in a provincial newspaper last week, compared the publicly-listed company&rsquo;s sales figures, together with other potash producers, with royalty fees paid to Canadian units of government. In a decade between 1997 and 2007, the ratio of sales to royalities has dropped from 13% to seven percent. 
 
&ldquo;Record potash prices and continuing provincial giveaways allowed the company to collect an after-tax profit of C$566 million in the first three months of 2008,&rdquo; stated Neumann. 
 
&ldquo;This quarterly profit amounts to well over C$100,000 for each of the company&rsquo;s 5,000 employees,&rdquo; wrote Neumann. &ldquo;Although the company is reveiving far more profit per worker than most mining companies, it pays wages lower than many major Canadian mining operations.&rdquo; 
 
USW Locals 7468, 189, and 7689 also are seeking, in a renewal labour agreement, greater controls over use of contract labour, a bonus scheme, and improvements in pensions and vacation time.
If Potash Corp. does not return to the bargaining table&nbsp;by&nbsp;mid-week, the likelihood of a full-scale strike across all three mines is great.&nbsp;

Canadian Steelworkers Commence Overtime Ban Against Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan

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Mineworkers and port workers of non-affiliated Colombia union, Sintramienerg&eacute;tica, ended a week-long strike on Wednesday, 23 July, against US-based coal producer Drummond. The miners shut one of Drummond&rsquo;s two big open pit mines in C&eacute;sar department, the Pribbenow mine, as well as the company&rsquo;s thermal coal exporting port at Santa Marta. 
 
The strike ended for the 2,700 workers when the two sides compromised on a two-year wage deal. Workers will receive a 9.1% increase this year. For 2009, the union won the Colombian consumer price index plus 1.75%. The union had orginally been seeking a 16% wage hike, while Drummond started bargaining with a 7.5% offer.
<img height="115" alt="" src="" width="250" />
Sintramienerg&eacute;tica also won job security assurances, housing and education improvements, safety and health gains, and needed social investments in the surrounding communities. Striking Drummond miners received strong support from Colombian Senator Jorge Enrique Robledo. 
 
Drummond is Colombia&rsquo;s second largest coal producer, behind Carbones del Cerrej&oacute;n in La Guajira department, where ICEM affiliate Sintracarb&oacute;n represents 4,500 miners. 
 
Meanwhile, the country&rsquo;s third largest mining house, Glencore International, came to terms with Sintramienerg&eacute;tica prior to the miners taking strike action in mid-July. The negotiated first year wage adjustment at the Swiss company&rsquo;s La Loma and Lagua mines was set at 9%. Miners at both Drummond and Glencore voted on 8 July to issue ten-day strike notices.

Drummond Coal Mine Strike Ends in Colombia; Accord Also Reached with Glencore

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The Eighth ICEM Steering Committee of the Bridgestone-Firestone Global Union Network met in Las Vegas, Nevada, 27-28 June, preceding the constitutional convention of the United Steelworkers (USW). The USW hosted the meeting, which was chaired by Tashiaki Hojo, President of the Japanese Rubber Workers&rsquo; Union Confederation (GOMU-RENGGO). 
 
The conference welcomed the Network&rsquo;s newest trade union affiliate, the Firestone Agricultural Workers&rsquo; Union of Liberia (FAWUL), as well as Liberian Labour Minister Samuel Kofi Woods. FAWUL won bargaining rights for 5,000 workers at Firestone Rubber Plantation in Harbel last year, bringing a legitimate and democratic voice to workers long neglected by both management and a prior union.
<img height="208" alt="" src="" width="370" />
Particpants at the Eighth Bridgestone-Firestone Global Workers' Union Network&nbsp; 

FAWUL President Austin Natee and General Secretary Edwin Cisco told Bridgestone-Firestone unionists about working conditions at the plantation, and their struggle to gain recognition through an internationally-monitored ballot. They also underscored the global solidarity they received from the ICEM, the USW, and the US-based Solidarity Center. 
 
&ldquo;This is a moving moment for the ICEM and to one of our newest affiliates, we applaud your heroic struggle to bring dignity and full rights to your co-workers in Liberia,&rdquo; ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda told the Liberians. Warda attended the network meeting along with ICEM Chemicals and Rubber Officer Kemal &Ouml;skan. 
 
Warda presented the current activities of the ICEM to the Bridgestone-Firestone network, and specifically outlined the resolutions and the work plan coming from the ICEM&rsquo;s Fourth Congress in Bangkok last November. &Ouml;skan delivered a general report on global developments in the tyre and rubber industry, along with trade union activity within the industry throughout the world. 
 
Regional and country reports then were presented, followed by a full report on industrial accidents within the Japanese-based company from around the world. Delegates then engaged in a lengthy discussion on measures to improve occupational health and safety at Bridgestone-Firestone. 
 
Delegates attending included: Gen Tashiro and Akihiro Nagasawa, from the Japanese Bridgestone Workers&rsquo; Union; Jo&atilde;o Batista Goncalves, S&atilde;o Paulo Rubber Workers&rsquo; Union of Brazil (FUB); European Works Council Secretary Jesus Delgado and Eduardo Alonso, both of the Federation of Related Industries of Spain (FIA-UGT); Ron Hoover, John Sellers, and Melinda Newhouse, all from host union USW: and Yoshio Sato, General Secretary of ICEM&rsquo;s Japanese Affiliates Federation (ICEM-JAF). 
 
The next meeting of the Steering Committee is scheduled to occur in June 2009 in Japan.

ICEM’s Bridgestone Workers’ Network Meets in the United States

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