English

Español

Français

Русский

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 alt="" src="" width="180" height="55" />
The ICEM Thai Committee and the Thai Electronics Automobile Metalworkers (TEAM), the structure for IMF affiliates in the Southeast Asian country, joined hands and chanted for labour rights on May Day in Bangkok. They were a major part of a 1 May manifestation at Parliament and march along Ratchademnoen road to Democracy Monument. It drew 5,000 workers. 
It was one of two May Day protests in Bangkok and both demanded attention from the government on some of the same issues. The Thai Labour Solidarity Committee and the State Enterprises Relations Confederation (SERC) joined the ICEM-TEAM work forces. 
Both demonstrations demanded that the government ratify ILO Conventions 87 and 98, the core labour standards, and rescind Thailand&rsquo;s 1999 privatisation laws. The two manifestations also called for Social Secrurity reform in terms of better protections made in administrative reform and tax exemptions on workers&rsquo; final payment schemes.
<img alt="" src="" width="200" height="150" />
The ICEM-TEAM protest made other, worthy demands including protection for informal sector workers and migrant workers, creation of a specific government agency on job-related health and safety, revocation of the Public Assembly Bill, and allowing workers to vote in areas where they work rather than in their hometowns. 
Many that marched along Ratchademnoen road to Democracy Monument chanted political slogans and criticisms of the current government as the time draws for national elections in Thailand.

TEAM, ICEM Thai Committee March Together on May Day

<img alt="" src="" width="180" height="55" />
Respect for freedom of association, decent work and the payment of a living wage were high on the list of demands for over 3,000 Cambodian workers who marched in Phnom Penh on the occasion of May Day. 
 
The issues raised by the nine participating union organisations were a reflection of the pressure garment workers come under in attempting to defend their rights. Demands included the reinstatement of workers sacked or suspended for joining a strike for fair pay, the release of an unfairly detained union leader, and an end to efforts to curtail trade union rights through a proposed new Trade Union Law, as well as an end to the use of short-term contracts. 
 
Last September, some 200,000 supporters of ITGLWF affiliate C.CAWDU went on strike in protest at the increase in the minimum wage to 61 dollars, a wage which fails to cover basic living expenses and does not meet living wage standards. The strike led to mass dismissals of union supporters and dozens of legal cases filed against union leaders. 
 
Earlier this year, C.CAWDU signed an agreement with the Goldfame company regarding outstanding issues following the strike. The deal, aimed at promoting workplace cooperation and industrial relations, includes the reinstatement of 161 dismissed union leaders and members. The agreement was witnessed by the ITGLWF, the ILO and two buyers at the factory, Inditex and H&amp;M. 
 
In May ITGLWF General Secretary Patrick Itschert will return to Cambodia for talks with 13 factories which in spite of national and international pressure have not yet reinstated dismissed strikers. 
 
Although the September strike did not succeed in increasing the minimum wage it did result in an agreement to discuss benefits. As a result, the unions were able to negotiate a US$10 a month increase in bonuses for attendance, seniority and overtime. 
 
The May Day union demands also included the immediate release of Sous Chantha, a union leader at the United garment factory who was arrested six months ago on trumped-up charges of drug trafficking in retaliation for changing his union&rsquo;s affiliation. Sous Chantha&rsquo;s case has had a chilling effect on workers, with employers telling them that the same thing could happen to them if they step out of line. 
 
Meanwhile, the unions are continuing to campaign to prevent a proposed new trade union law from weakening unions and making them highly vulnerable to interference from government and employers. In addition, they continue to oppose the widespread use of short-term contracts which deprive workers of benefits and discourage them from joining or supporting trade unions for fear of dismissal. 
 
The ITGLWF is supporting the union demands through pressure on the government, the employers and the brands sourcing from Cambodia.

Cambodian Garment Workers Demand Fair Pay, Right to Unionise

<img src="" width="150" height="73" alt="" />
The already-limited freedoms of association in Iraq are under further attack. Last month, the Cabinet arbitrarily dismissed the executive board of the country&rsquo;s largest trade union organisation, the General Federation of Iraqi Workers (GFIW), and established a new committee to take over all union structures and assets, oversee and control upcoming union elections. 
 
Cabinet Decrees 95 and 96 were issued on 17 April, withdrawing recognition of the GFIW and appointing a &ldquo;Ministerial Preparatory Committee&rdquo; (MPC), consisting of un-elected, politically bias officials, mostly from the Sadrist Party. MPC employees have already begun distributing union membership cards, arbitrarily choosing members favourable to their faction. Further to this, union offices have been taken over with support from police and military personnel. Upcoming union elections are expected to be held inside the Sadrist Party offices. 
 
The deeply concerning developments follow a recent distribution of government ministries between the various political factions of the coalition. The carving up of responsibilities saw the labour ministry taken over by the small, Shia sectarian Sadrist movement, followers of Cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. 
 
Eight years after the fall of Saddam Hussein, his regime&rsquo;s regressive labour laws have not been replaced, meaning all public sector employees have no right to organise or bargain collectively. The vast majority of workers in Iraq are affected by this law. But this latest attack is even in breach of the Saddam legislation. 
 
The TUC in the United Kingdom has been on the front line of a global union backlash, calling on the Iraq government to back down. TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber wrote to Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki explaining that the TUC will exercise its veto right to block the government-nominated workers&rsquo; delegate to the ILO Annual Conference (ILC) in June, unless the attack is reversed. 
 
Support the <a href="http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/solidarityforever/show_campaign.cgi?c=917">Labourstart campaign</a>, and send your protest message to Iraq Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki here. Also send your opposition to this attack on the GFIW to the Iraqi Embassy in your country. International pressure has proved effective in Iraq over recent years. The labour ministry decree has been publically condemned by the Minister of Civil Society in Iraq. Build the pressure, join the campaign. 
<img src="" width="210" height="158" alt="" />
Oil workers protest in Basra for fair wage
Iraqis continue to bravely organise in face of the government attacks. Oil workers in Basra last week, 10 May, walked out and threatened to stop production at the state-run South Oil Corporation, demanding fair salaries and benefits to match those of oilworkers at the international corporations operating in Iraq. Foreign workers were to be blocked from entering oil fields yesterday, but Basra Governor Khalaf Abdul Samad Khalaf agreed to meet the unions and averted the escalation of the protest, for the time being.

Iraqi Government Moves to End Free Trade Unions, Remove Recognition of National Centre

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
The end to bitter strikes by 4,000 members of Ammattiliitto Pro against Finnish paper producers came to an end last week, 18 May. After six weeks of tension, the union and the Finnish Forest Industries Federation (FFIF) came to terms over a second-year wage renewal. 
 
The ICEM white-collar affiliate in Finland won an across-the-board national salary increase, something FFIF had denied at the outset, but most importantly they narrowed the pay gap among the clerical, technical, and front-line managerial ranks of the pulp and paper industry. 
 
The 2011 national pay award, effective 19 May, is 1.5%, or &euro;48-per-month minimum, whichever is higher. The effect is to weight the package toward lower-wage clerical workers in order to narrow the pay gap. In the face of rampant administrative redundancies in the Finnish paper sector, these workers are working harder and taking on more responsibilities. 
<img alt="" src="" width="180" height="109" />
The government-mediated settlement calls for an additional 1% to be negotiated at the local level by 17 June. If talks on local issues such as training, development, skill requirements, and work tasks do not conclude by then, the 1% will be awarded on 1 July. Pro and FFIF also agreed to address and develop salary structures in the future in a more transparent direction. 
 
The union had been <a href="-Walkouts-Intensify-Because-of-Strike-Breaking due to strike-breaking">increasing strike pressure</a> and threats and intimidation in attempting to break a lawful overtime ban. Since early April, all Finnish-based companies were met with multiple strikes lasting up to two weeks and South-African-based Sappi was in the middle of a two-week strike last week when government mediator Esa Lonka finally succeeded in putting together a compromise. By last week, about 75% of white-collar staff in Finland&rsquo;s paper industry was on strike. 
 
Following the late night 18 May agreement, shift workers returned to their jobs at 6h00 on 21 May, while day workers returned today, 23 May. 
<img alt="" src="" width="80" height="103" />
Jukka H&auml;m&auml;l&auml;inen
Ammattiliitto Pro paper industry Chief Negotiator Jukka H&auml;m&auml;l&auml;inen said the solidarity among Pro members is reflected in the fact that the union was united in closing the pay gap between men and women. He said improved salary equality between men and women was a major accomplishment in the one-year agreement. 
 
Pro received widespread global labour attention to this bitter white-collar dispute and issued this statement: &ldquo;Pro and its members on strike have received many messages of solidarity during the strike. Pro wishes to thank everyone for these important messages, which served as a significant incentive in this difficult industrial action.&rdquo; 
 
A day after the Ammattiliitto Pro/FFIF settlement, government mediator Lonka crafted a compromise between the Media Sector of Industrial Union TEAM with Finnish print employers, preventing possible industrial actions.

Ammattiliitto Pro Cuts Gender Pay Gap in Finland Paper Agreement

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
Today, the ICEM Presidium held its bi-annual meeting in Geneva, with the annual meeting of the Executive Committee scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday, 24-25 May. The meetings are being held at the ILO. 
 
Besides presenting a Secretariat Report and preparations for ICEM&rsquo;s Fifth Statutory Congress, the decision-making bodies will receive an ICEM Action Plan for the Congress and beyond. The Action Plan will be a working document through to the Congress, scheduled for 24-26 November 2011 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. 
 
On Wednesday afternoon, 25 May, the Executive Committees of ICEM, International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF) and the International Leather, Textile and Garment Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITGLWF) will meet in joint session to review the integration progress. IMF and ITGLWF statutory bodies are also meeting separately in Geneva this week. 
 
The three Global Union Federations (GUF) have been conducting joint task force deliberations to explore integration and to lay the groundwork for it. The task force has met four times since September 2010, with the most recent meeting &ndash; in Frankfurt on 5 May &ndash; producing a tangible outline for a new and dynamic industrial GUF. In Frankfurt, Nordic trade unions stepped forward and offered Copenhagen as the site for a founding Congress, likely to be held in 2012.

ICEM Statutory Bodies Meet in Geneva this Week

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
The ICEM&rsquo;s new global Contract and Agency Labour (CAL) Coordinator/Consultant began work in her new duties last week. Ashling Seely comes from the International Textiles, Garment, and Leather Workers Federation (ITGLWF) and will continue working for the ITGLWF part-time as coordinator for the Global Union Federation&rsquo;s Sportswear Project and as Policy Assistant to the General Secretary. 
 
Through her work as the new global Coordinator/Consultant on CAL, it is anticipated that more will be done, including support work to affiliates of ICEM, ITGLWF, and the International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF) in their daily struggles and solidarity actions on CAL and precarious work. 

<img alt="" src="" width="164" height="175" />
New ICEM Global CAL Coordinator, Ashling Seely
Other work at this level will include preparing interviews and newsletters for the ICEM&rsquo;s special CAL website, preparing country reports, assisting other ICEM staff on the issue of short-term and irregular work, and assistance in work related to the Council of Global Unions. 
 
All affiliates are encouraged to directly contact Ashling Seely with any issues they have over CAL. She can be reached <a href="mailto:aseely@itglwf.org">here</a>. View the ICEM CAL website <a href="http://cal.icem.org/">here</a>.

ICEM Welcomes New Global CAL Coordinator, Ashling Seely

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
Short strikes by copper miners in Chile have ended and new collective agreements are in place with both the state-owned copper company, Codelco, and with Anglo-Swiss multinational Xstrata. Striking mineworkers at Codelco&rsquo;s Chuquicamata complex have settled, however an agreement still needs to be reached for 280 miners at the state-owned firm&rsquo;s Codelco Norte and for 500 miners at El Teniente. 
 
Meanwhile, mineworkers at Xstrata&rsquo;s Altonorte copper smelter agreed to contract terms, following one week of industrial action that ended on 4 January. 
 
Some 5,600 miners at Chuquicamata, located in Chile&rsquo;s northern region, ended two days of strike action on 5 January after accepting a pay rise of 4% and a bonus totaling US$24,280. Codelco&rsquo;s Chuquicamata workers also won a US$6,000 interest-free loan. Miners voted by 2,610 to 1,203 to accept the deal. 

<img alt="" src="" width="200" height="92" />
The Chuquicamata produces around four percent of the world&rsquo;s total copper supply. The vast complex includes the Chuquicamata and Mina Sur mines, and the short strike boosted global prices to a 16-month high. Union leaders had been seeking a 7.5% salary increase and a US$28,000 bonus, claiming the cost of living in the remote region is higher than anywhere in Chile. 
 
It was the first strike at these Codelco mines since 1996. The new collective agreement will last 38 months and took effect on 1 January. 
 
The settlement at Xstrata&rsquo;s Altonorte smelter, also in Chile&rsquo;s northern Region II, includes a two percent increase to base wages, a bonus of US$5,000, and an annual production bonus of US$1,500. The new collective agreement will be in effect for a three-year period, backdated to 18 December 2009. Miners of Labour Union No. 1 at Altonorte began their strike action on 28 December. 

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="101" />
Altonorte employs 660 workers and treats raw copper and other mining by-products to obtain copper anodes. The site has the capacity to produce 290,000 tonnes per year of copper in anode form. Xstrata is the fourth largest copper producer in the world. 
 
End-of-year negotiations at both Codelco and Xstrata coincided with a big jump in global copper prices, bringing pricing levels to 130 percent of what they were in early 2009. Codelco resumes bargaining with miners at El Teniente in March. 
 
Chile, the world&rsquo;s largest copper producer, reached an output of 5.3 million tonnes in 2008, and it is estimated that the 2009 figure will be similar. This equals roughly one-third of total global production.

Strikes Bring Chilean Miners Significant Advances with Codelco, Xstrata

<img src="" width="100" height="39" alt="" />
In Hobart, Tasmania, the Construction, Forestry, Mining, And Energy Union (CFMEU) and Belgian-based lead and zinc producer Nyrstar NV agreed to a 14-day cooling down period last week following escalated industrial tensions that included the threat of a lock-out under Australian&rsquo;s Fair Act by the company. 
 
Nyrstar operates a 300-worker zinc smelter in Hobart and exports some 250,000 tonnes of zinc cathode annually from Tasmania. The two parties resume negotiations under the supervision of Fair Work Australia, the government&rsquo;s new labour dispute agency. 

<img src="" width="160" height="80" alt="" />
The dispute flared in mid-December when some workers opted to take lawful industrial actions, including work bans and other stoppages. Strikes occurred on December 19 and December 24. Nyrstar immediately responded by issuing letters to strikers stating they would face a 16-day lockout, while another letter to those not striking stated that implementation of partial work bans will be construed as refusal to do any work, thus staff will not be paid at all. 
 
The central issue in the Nyrstar Australian dispute is the company insistence to continue a performance-based pay system, while the CFMEU and another workplace representative is seeking renewal of an enterprise agreement that contains automatic and set pay increases. The current operating enterprise contract expired three years ago, with no accord reached in that time period. 
 
Nyrstar was formerly a joint venture between Belgian metals and chemicals company Umicore and Australian mining and development company Zinifex Ltd. It was spun off into a separate company in late 2007 and wholly owns GM-Metal of France and 25% of Thailand&rsquo;s Padaeng Industry Public Company Ltd. Zinifex remains Nyrstar&rsquo;s primary source for raw zinc, while Umicore is a main buyer of Nyrstar&rsquo;s processed zinc. Globally, Nyrstar also processes some copper, gold, indium, and refined silver.

CFMEU, Zinc Smelter Nyrstar Take ‘Cool Down’ Time in Australia

<img src="" width="100" height="39" alt="" />
Editor&rsquo;s Note: ICEM Health, Safety, and Sustainability Officer Brian Kohler provided daily COP 15 commentary from Copenhagen at the failed UN Climate Change Conference. 
 
12 December: A mass &quot;civil society&quot; demonstration demanding action on greenhouse gases took place today. Tens of thousands of demonstrators took part in mostly peaceful fashion, although there are reports of several hundred arrests, and some police brutality. The Copenhagen negotiations are troubled. The US negotiators in particular are so far reluctant to agree to anything substantive on targets and financing. China is unwilling to accept external verification of its progress, which is a US demand. Developing countries are anxious to defend the principles in the Kyoto Protocol and secure funding for mitigation and adaptation. Targets, and even a baseline year, remain far from agreement. 

<img src="" width="100" height="94" alt="" />
13 December: No formal meetings of the parties were scheduled for today. A limited number of meetings of observers and informal groups occurred. The trade union delegation met in caucus. Union lobbying is making a difference, and many governments seem favourably disposed to accepting some version of &quot;labour's paragraph&quot; in the final text. This may be due, in part, to the economic crisis and the wish of political leaders to be able to say something positive about jobs when spinning the Copenhagen outcome. However, attempts to modify the text or move it from the body of the &quot;Shared Vision&quot; document to the preamble of the final document, may create problems for us. 
As far as the broader progress of the talks is concerned, it is at present difficult to predict the outcome. The outcome may be a bad agreement (neither fair, nor ambitious, nor legally binding) with or without the wording on Jobs and Just Transition that labour wants. 
 
14 December: Today, at what was to be a meeting with the COP15 President, it was instead announced to those present that security issues would trump public participation in the remaining days of the Copenhagen talks. Of some 40,000 registered delegates, only 9,000 &quot;observers&quot; (all NGOs, all labour unions) would be admitted tomorrow and Wednesday; 1,000 &ldquo;observers&rdquo; on Thursday; and 90 &ldquo;observers&rdquo; on Friday. Security issues and problems at the registration desk have created a nightmare for people trying to get into the Bella Center. Fortunately, the next three days feature a number of events at labour's off-site World of Work pavilion, where access will be unaffected by developments at the Bella Center. Events today include: 1.) Trade Unions and Climate Change: the need for Just Transition, presented by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC); 2.) Low Carbon Diet: The trade union vision of sustainable food production and the right to food, presented by the International Union for Food and Agricultural Workers (IUF); 3.) Australian Labour/Environment Alliance: Green Jobs and the future, presented by the Australian Congress of Trade Unions (ACTU); 4.) Carbon Capture and Storage: Challenges Ahead for Energy and Industry, UK Trades Union Congress, United Mine Workers of America (UMWA), and Construction, Forestry, Mining, and Energy Union (CFMEU), Australia; 
 
5.) Climate Change Challenge: Social Standards and Sustainable Construction as Trade Union Agenda, presented by the Building and Woodworkers International (BWI); 6.) Environment and Social Dialogue in France, presented by the Conf&eacute;deration G&eacute;n&eacute;rale du Travail (CGT) and Conf&eacute;d&eacute;ration Fran&ccedil;aise D&eacute;mocratique du Travail (CFDT), France 7.) Public Services: Key to getting us out of climate crisis, presented by the Public Services International (PSI); and 8.) Building consensus for strong US climate policies through Blue-Green partnerships, presented by the Blue Green Alliance. 

<img src="" width="119" height="152" alt="" />
15 December: Reports continue of delegates trying to register standing in the cold for hours, only to be turned away. Keep in mind that the capacity of the Bella Center is only 15,000 according to fire safety regulations, but the secretariat accepted some 40,000 registrations. Today's World of Work events include: 
1). Low carbon industrial policies, presented by the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) with European Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (EMF), European Mine, Chemical and Energy Workers&rsquo; Federation (EMCEF), and other European federations; 2.) Visit to Danish Green Workplaces, organized by LO-Denmark; 3.) Climate and Social Justice: creating an economy for people and environment, presented by the Trade Union Confederation of the Americas (TUCA); 4.) Climate Change and Employment: An alternative model for transport, presented by the International Transport Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITF); 
 
5.) Sustainable mobility: Comisiones Obreras&rsquo; practical approach, presented by the Comisiones Obreras (CCOO), Spain; 6.) Green Workplaces in the Netherlands, presented by the Federatie Nederlandse Vakbeweging (FNV). 7.) Climate Change and Social Dialogue, presented by the Social democratic parties and trade union councils in the Nordic countries (SAMAK) and Council of Nordic Trade Unions (NFS); 8.) A Green Economy Without Unions? - Analysis of the &lsquo;Green Growth&rsquo; policy of Korean government and strategy for unions and civil society, presented by the Korean Congress of Trade Unions (KCTU), Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU), and Korean Energy and Climate Policy Institute 
(ECPI); 
 
9.) Green Jobs in India: the SEWA experience, presented by the Self-Employed Women Association (SEWA); 10.) Economic Recovery and Green Jobs: win-win for development, climate and labour, presented by the ILO; and 11.) Resource Efficiency at the Workplace in Germany, presented by the German Dachorganisation der Gewerkschaften (DGB) and DGB Bildungswerk. 
 
16 December: This morning, an informal meeting of trade unionists affiliated with the ICEM, as well as the IMF, the EMF and EMCEF took place at the headquarters of the Danish union 3F. Thanks must go to Jesper Lund Larsen of 3F for helping ICEM obtain the venue in an over-crowded and chaotic city. 
In the afternoon, the four organisations&rsquo; joint World of Work event, &quot;Cutting Emissions: Transforming Industrial Jobs&quot; took place. It was a huge success, with a standing-room-only crowd, high-profile speakers, and plenty of interest in our message. 
 
Other World of Work events that took place today include: 1.) Japanese Experience on Energy Conversion, presented by the Japanese Trade Union Confederation (RENGO). 2.) Sustainable Energy Supply, presented by the German Dachorganisation der Gewerkschaften (DGB) &ndash; BMU; 3.) Visit to Danish Green Workplaces, organized by LO-Denmark; 4.) Women Workers and Green Jobs: employment, equity and equality, presented by Sustainlabour, the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC); 5.) Climate Change Challenge: Social Standards and Sustainable Forestry as Trade Union Agenda, presented by the Building and Woodworkers&rsquo; International (BWI); 6.) Providing real access to energy for all, presented by the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), and F&eacute;d&eacute;ration G&eacute;n&eacute;rale du Travail de Belgique (FGTB) and Conf&eacute;deration des Syndicats Chr&eacute;tiens (CSC), both of Belgium; 
 
7.) Climate Solidarity: Trade Union Responses from Greener Workplaces to International Policy, presented by the Trades Union Congress (TUC), UK, LO-Denmark, AFL-CIO of US, and OHSE Bangladesh; 8.) The Sustainable Company &ndash; importance and role for workers interest representation, presented by the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI); 9.) Financing Climate Change, presented by Sustainlabour, Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), Nepal&rsquo;s General Federation of Nepalese Trade Unions (GEFONT) and the Trade Union Congress (NTUC), Nepal, the ITUC Africa Region, and Trade Union Confederation for the Americas (TUCA). 

<img src="" width="150" height="146" alt="" />
17 December: Admission to the Bella Center is all but impossible. &quot;Observer&quot; delegates admitted to the Bella Center today were supposed to be restricted to 1,000, but before this number was reached all new admissions were completely closed except to official government negotiators. A morning meeting of labour delegates took place at the LO-Denmark building, but a snowfall this morning was the final straw that broke the back of Copenhagen's already overstressed public transport system. I was not able to get there in time. Truly, this conference has become a catastrophe for the city of Copenhagen. Reports from those few still inside the Bella Center provided first indications that the entire negotiating work to date was being trashed in favour of a political agreement negotiated between only a few of the major participants. In this scenario, &quot;labour's paragraph&quot; will disappear, at least temporarily. 
 
18 December: Only 90 &quot;observer&quot; delegates, including only 9 trade unionists, were to be admitted to the Bella Center. It is now hopeless for any others to try to interact directly with any of the negotiators. 
The political leaders of the world, unable to reach a consensus on prepared texts, have crafted a face-saving document. In fact, the document was negotiated primarily between the US, China, and some 20 other countries, short-circuiting the UNFCCC process. Now called the Copenhagen Accord, the document itself meets none of the criteria of labour and civil society groups necessary to the final accord, and it contains no references to sustainable jobs, decent work, or Just Transition. However, it does make reference to political will to keep global warming below 2 centigrade degrees global average, with a scientific review following the release of the IPCC's fifth review. It also has some non-specific references to financing and targets. After two weeks of meetings, and months and years of preparatory work, many would describe this weak result as a disgrace. In the interests of fair reporting, some optimists say that at least it creates a political basis for a potential agreement at a later meeting. The work of the Ad-hoc Working Group on Longterm Cooperative Action, where &quot;labour's paragraph&quot; resides, is mandated to continue and may be incorporated in a subsequent, more detailed agreement. Let us hope that the pessimists are wrong and the optimists are right. In either case, we still have much work to do.

ICEM: COP 15 Second Week Diary and Commentary, 12-18 December

<img src="" width="100" height="39" alt="" />
The ICEM condemns the police violence taken against Trinidad and Tobago trade union leader David Abdullah and others on 18 December. Abdullah was one of the organisers of a peaceful protest outside Parliament. He was detained by riot police and charged with &ldquo;obstruction of free passageway.&rdquo; The protest was part of the campaign against a proposed Property Bill in the Caribbean islands nation. 
 
A number of other demonstrators, including members of ICEM affiliate Oilfields Workers&rsquo; Trade Union (OWTU), suffered injuries during the mid-December demonstration, as police attacked with batons. 
 
The movement opposing the property tax bill, called People&rsquo;s Democracy, is an umbrella group of trade unions, NGOs, and others in civil society. It organised the 18 December protest outside Parliament to coincide with deliberations on the bill inside the Lower House. OWTU President-General Ancel Roget also participated in the organization of the protest. 

<img src="" width="147" height="205" alt="" />
David Abdullah centre (Photo T&amp;T Newsday)
Several international groups have also condemned the unprovoked police attacks and arrest of Abdullah. UK Trades Union Congress General Secretary Brendan Barber, in a letter to the country&rsquo;s authorities, urged that &ldquo;the charges against Mr. Abdullah are dropped and that all citizens are allowed the free exercise of their democratic rights without interference from the State.&rdquo; 
 
Roget told police, who demanded the manifestation stop any noise making, that they were doing nothing illegal. It was then that police became violent, using batons against protestors holding only placards. Abdullah complained about the violence and was thrown into a police vehicle, while government police beat OWTU members who tried to follow. 
 
Following Abdullah&rsquo;s arrest on 18 December, four members of the opposition in Parliament came out and joined the march around the Parliament. 
 
Upon release, Abdullah said, &ldquo;This will further strengthen the resolve of those who are interested in (our country&rsquo;s) future because we saw physical evidence today of the dictatorship in Trinidad and Tobago. The right to peaceful picketing is a right we will never, ever give up. We have not and will not engage in anything illegal. And even the police could not tell us that we were violating any law by communicating our message by singing, chanting, and clapping our hands.&rdquo; 

<img src="" width="130" height="162" alt="" />
Ancel Roget
Roget accused the government of beating citizens into submission. 
 
Court action against David Abdullah will continue on 13 January and People&rsquo;s Democracy members intend to turn out at the court proceedings in support of their leader. The movement picketed the offices of Prime Minister Patrick Manning on Thursday, 7 January. 
 
The campaign against the Property Tax, seen as an ill-advised national policy to offset government shortfalls and wasteful spending, will continue. The campaign can be viewed <a href="http://www.peoplesdemocracytt.org/ ">here</a>.

Trinidad/Tobago Police Use Brutality to Stifle Free Speech, Assembly Rights

Archive