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Conflicting information has reached the ICEM about a recent strike in southern Iraq&rsquo;s oil fields. What does seem clear is that industrial actions, including strikes, occurred at the Basra-based Southern Oil Company on 22 and 23 August. The strike action was also clearly successful and effective. 
 
The two-day strike, which, as news agency Reuters reported, closed the main pipeline supplying Baghdad with refined products, was ended when Iraqi Oil Minister Hussein al-Shahristani agreed to issue a document assuring immediate pay raises. The Labour Ministry also committed to meet with the union to discuss all demands. 
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Reports quote Hassan Al-Asadi, the head of the union group representing over 700 employees from the General Company for Oil Lines and Pipes in the southern cities of Basra and Nassiriya. He said, &quot;We received a document from the ministry of oil. It is a document to increase our salaries and to pay us (a) share in seasonal profits.&quot; 
 
The strike action took place after both government and company had failed to respond to workers&rsquo; demands over recent months. Those demands include receiving pay in a timely fashion, making good on unpaid overtime worked, compensating for unused annual leave, compensation to workers for their profit-sharing incentives, raising minimum salaries, creating equal opportunity for advancement of all workers, and converting contract workers into full-time, permanent staff. 
 
Workers and unions of the various divisions of Southern Oil are said to be poised for further industrial actions if these and other demands are not met.

Strike Hits Southern Iraq’s Oil Sector

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It was two years ago when bitter mining fights broke out between ICEM affiliate Botswana Mine Workers&rsquo; Union (BMWU) and the managements of two companies. The prolonged fights spilled into courtrooms, led to splits in the BMWU, and were stained by overt interference by mining companies Debswana and Bamangwato Concession Ltd. (BCL) in branch and national union affairs. 
 
Perhaps worst of all, Debswana, a rich diamond operation shared between DeBeers and the government of Botswana, displayed despicable social behaviour by ruthlessly retaliating against some 450 strikers and their families. History will tell how a set of labour disputes led to internal trade union discord. However, it will also tell how profiteering by one of the companies &ndash; Debswana &ndash; created a climate during which the company took savage and unconscionable actions. 
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Debswana sacked the professional staff for striking, and then inflicted harsh retaliatory measures on them throughout lengthy court battles. Debswana forcefully evicted workers from company housing and closed educational opportunities to children of the workers. Both Debswana and BCL, a copper, nickel and cobalt mining concern based in Botswana, interceded into internal BMWU affairs by pitting branch leaders against the national leadership. The interference was obvious and flagrant. 
 
At BCL in August 2004, BMWU Selebi-Phikwe branch leaders were negotiating salaries with the company. After a 7% increase was offered and BCL miners were about to approve it, the company suddenly rescinded the increase and fired the branch leaders. BCL charged the union leaders with being in possession of internal financial data, information commonly shared in most collective bargaining relationships. 
 
That dispute, like the one at Debswana, still lingers. In early August 2006, some workers at BCL downed tools because aspects of the 2004 pay increase still has not been realised. In Botswana, mining investment continues at an unabated pace, making the country an African leader in resource output and production. 
 
A commemoration of both struggles was held over the weekend of 26-27 August in the mining areas of Orapa, Letlhakane, and Jwaneng. Sponsored by the BMWU, the programmes included demonstrations, speeches, and general reconciliation, as well as recognition that trade union unity brings strength to the working masses. Standing together with BMWU were the Botswana Federation of Trade Unions (BFTU), ICEM-affiliated Power Corporation Workers&rsquo; Union (BPCWU), the Manual Workers&rsquo; Union, and several white-collar workers&rsquo; unions. 
 
Speakers included ICEM President Senzeni Zokwana, President of South Africa&rsquo;s National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), BPCWU Organising Secretary Boitlhetswe Lentswe, BMWU General Secretary Jack Tlhagale, and BMWU National Chairman Chimidzani Chimidza. 
 
Zokwana delivered a message that building strong unions is not easy, but essential in order to gain equal footing with global companies. In encouraging all of Botswana&rsquo;s unions to stand together, Zokwana said, &ldquo;The challenge is to link class struggles together, then you become bigger and the voice gets stronger.&rdquo; 
<img height="148" src="" width="120" alt="" /> 
ICEM President Senzeni Zokwana
Lentse brought a message of reconciliation and resilience. &ldquo;Make peace and know that these are the deeds of employers and the government to dive us so they can rule,&rdquo; he said, according to published newspaper reports in Botswana. &ldquo;The fight against capital needs very strong unions with informed and militant membership,&rdquo; said Lentse. He echoed the main theme of the commemoration &ndash; justice, dignity, and reinstatement for the 450 Debswana workers, as well as for the branch officers who were also fired by BCL. 
 
Lentse cautioned Botswana&rsquo;s labour leaders not to align themselves inside the country&rsquo;s political parties, but rather to join global labour organisations for solidarity and skills development. 
 
Tlhagale reminded all in Botswana, including Debswana&rsquo;s 7,000 miners, that the 450 health care and other professional staff fired by the company had merely been protesting for a share of the lucrative bonuses given to Debswana&rsquo;s top managers only months before the August 2004 strike. 
 
He said that the sacked workers are victims of the bad-faith bargaining in wage negotiations by Debswana toward BMWU. &ldquo;It is unfortunate that government continues to take great interest in investors under the pretext that there is a stable labour market guaranteed by impoverishing docility,&rdquo; Tlhagale said, reported the Mmegi Reporter.

Companies Apply Divide-and-Conquer Tactics on Botswana’s Mining Union

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Nigerian oil workers&rsquo; unions, steadfastly acting as NUPENGASSAN, met in a Joint National Executive Council (NEC) on 30 August and issued a mandate to both government and energy companies that violence must stop and that the unions&rsquo; longstanding demands must be seriously implemented. ICEM affiliates NUPENG and PENGASSAN plans a three-day warning strike, starting 13 September across all oil and gas installations of the region if immediate action is not undertaken. 
 
If the government fails to provide a peaceful and safe working environment for oil and gas workers in the region following the warning strike, the unions would call an indefinite strike. 
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Following the day-long meeting in Benin City, a communiqu&eacute; was issued containing harsh words for both the Nigerian national government&rsquo;s &ldquo;poor response&rdquo; to the rash of kidnappings along the Niger Delta as well as to state governments, which have displayed a &ldquo;hypocritical and non-chalant attitude &hellip; in the deteriorating state of insecurity and criminality which now pervades the entire region.&rdquo; 
 
The statement says that the recent federal policy by President Olusegun Obasanjo to meet force-with-force has only created &ldquo;deepening insecurity&rdquo; in the region. NUPENGASSAN&rsquo;s complete NEC communiqu&eacute; can be read <a href="/index.php?id=25&amp;doc=1943&amp;la=EN">here</a>.
The two unions also condemned governmental handling in the release of a kidnapped PENGASSAN member last month. Comrade Nelson Ujeye was killed on 20 August when joint military and police troops ambushed a militant youth group on Niger Delta waters as he was about to be released. The communiqu&eacute; called it &ldquo;a grievous fratricidal sacrifice that arose from applying a negative approach.&rdquo; The story of Comrade Nelson Ujeye&rsquo;s abduction and subsequent death, including the ICEM&rsquo;s statement on the incident, can be found in a recent InBrief Alert <a href="/?id=77&amp;doc=1927&amp;la=EN">here</a>. 
 
The NEC also took note of the increasing number of cases of expatriate quota abuse inside the employment ranks of energy companies doing business in Nigeria. 
 
NUPENGASSAN, also at the meeting, reiterated its incriminations against the government&rsquo;s privatisation authority in the sale of state-owned Eleme Petro Chemical Ltd. Due diligence was not done in investigating the buyer of the Port Harcourt olefins refinery, the three-year-old Thai company Indorama. The enterprise is vastly under-valued, according to the two unions. 
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The NEC also condemned pipeline vandalism, as well as the fact that the government allowed the nation&rsquo;s five refineries to become mere transport &ldquo;conduits&rdquo; of imported petroleum products, rather than emphasizing local refining of such products to meet Nigeria&rsquo;s domestic needs. 
 
And finally, the unions&rsquo; grievances include strong objection to merging the Petroleum Training Institute, established by law to provide mid-level Nigerian staff to the oil and gas industries, into the University of Benin, and calls on the government to grant full autonomy to the Department of Petroleum Resources, so that it can effectively serve as the oil and gas regulator. 
 
The ICEM strongly supports the unions&rsquo; warning strike next week, as well as their other demands. The ICEM also calls on oil and gas companies operating in Nigeria to apply the same efforts and resources in securing a safe work and living environment for Nigerian oil workers, and their families, as they do for foreign national employees.

Violence-Plagued Niger Delta Must Heed Oil Workers’ Unions Call

The ICEM has expressed disgust and dismay over the circumstances in which a Nigerian trade unionist was killed earlier this week in the Niger Delta. Nelson Ujeya, a member of white-collar oil workers&rsquo; union PENGASSAN, was apparently murdered as he was about to be released by a militant youth group in Bayelsa State. 
 
Reports say that Brother Ujeya was killed when troops of Nigeria&rsquo;s Joint Military Task Force ambushed the militants at a time when he was about to be released. In all, 11 people were killed in the ambush that took place on 20 August. 
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On 8 August, Nelson Ujeya, the Community Liaison Officer for Shell Petroleum Development Company Ltd., was abducted on an official visit to Letugbene community while he was accompanied by senior Bayelsa State government officials to inspect community projects. 
The ICEM denounces the Bayelsa State government and the federal government of Nigeria for failing to provide timely and relevant information on the abduction and subsequent killing of Nelson Ujeya to his family and to the leadership of PENGASSAN. 
Further, in a <a href="/index.php?id=25&amp;doc=1926&amp;la=EN">letter to PENGASSAN President Peter Esele</a> that was also sent to Nigerian government entities and other organisations, the Brussels-based trade union federation said: 
 
&ldquo;The 20-million-member ICEM, the Global Union Federation for oil and gas workers, finds it reprehensible that such indiscriminate use of force by Nigerian government militia be used in such a situation. The ICEM stands firmly behind PENGASSAN in holding both the government of Bayelsa State initially responsible for the abduction of Brother Ujeya while in the presence of state officials, and the federal government for its new policy of &lsquo;force by force&rsquo; in dealing with kidnappings that occur in the Niger Delta.
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&ldquo;The ICEM calls on all energy companies operating in Nigeria to apply the same effort and resources in securing the release of kidnapped Nigerian workers as they do for their foreign national employees.&rdquo; 
 
PENGASSAN and the blue-collar Nigerian oil workers&rsquo; union, NUPENG, will hold a joint National Executive Council meeting in Benin City, Nigeria, on 30 August to take up the matter of security for oil workers&rsquo; employed in the Niger Delta. The ICEM notes that the combined voice of the two unions, operating under the aegis of NUPENGASSAN, has been one of reason and soundness in efforts to curb the kidnappings and violence of the area. 
 
That voice has called for both the government of Nigeria and the oil companies operating in the region to provide greater and better employment opportunities to the youth and indigenous of the region through skills training and other social development initiatives.&nbsp;

Abhorrent Circumstances Surround the Killing of PENGASSAN Member in Nigeria

25 August 2006 
 
Comrade Peter Esele 
President 
PENGASSAN 
NIGERIA 
 
 
Dear Comrade Peter, 
 
The ICEM has learned of the tragic and senseless death of one of PENGASSAN&rsquo;s members, Nelson Ujeya, earlier this week in the vicinity of Brass Creek or Biobou Creek, Bayelsa State. We understand that Brother Ujeya had been kidnapped on 8 August 2006 in Letugbene while performing his employment duties for Shell Petroleum Development Corporation. 
 
We also have unconfirmed reports that he died in a violent gun fight between Nigeria&rsquo;s Joint Military Task Force and militant youth groups on 20 August 2006 as he was about to be released after negotiations. 
 
The 20-million-member ICEM, the Global Union Federation for oil and gas workers, finds it reprehensible that such indiscriminate use of force by Nigerian government militia be used in such a situation. The ICEM stands firmly behind PENGASSAN in holding both the government of Bayelsa State initially responsible for the abduction of Brother Ujeya while in the presence of state officials, and the federal government for its new policy of &ldquo;force by force&rdquo; in dealing with kidnappings that occur in the Niger Delta. 
 
The ICEM calls on all energy companies operating in Nigeria to apply the same effort and resources in securing the release of kidnapped Nigerian workers as they do for their foreign national employees. 
 
Next week, on 30 August 2006, PENGASSAN and NUPENG will conduct a joint National Executive Council (NEC) in Benin City to discuss this and other security matters in the Niger Delta. The ICEM recognises that the combined voice of NUPENGASSAN in Nigeria has been one of reason and soundness in stemming the social instability occurring along the Niger Delta. We know that this combined voice has stood for education, skills training and other social development initiatives that will increase employment opportunities in the oil and gas sectors for Nigerians. We commend and fully endorse that stand. 
 
We would look forward to having a report from the NEC&rsquo;s deliberations as soon after 30 August as possible in order to publicise your sensible positions on the global level. 
 
In conclusion, please convey sincere condolences from the ICEM and its family of global trade unions to the family of Wilson Ujeya. We are very distraught on the circumstances of his horrific death. Also, please express our deep concern to all trade union members of PENGASSAN and NUPENG, who are forced to work in such a difficult and terrifying environment. 
 
Fraternally, 
 
 
Fred Higgs 
General Secretary

ICEM letter to Pengassan

<a href="http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/article_page.aspx?ar=1582&amp;L2=1&amp;L3=106">OUTSOURCING GROWS UP</a> 
 
Written in early 2005 by two partners of the McKinsey&rsquo;s London office, this article shows that the ICEM views on contract and agency labour are beginning to be accepted by influential Management Consultants. 
 
According to the article, the main objective of the first companies using outsourcing, was purely to reduce costs. That has changed somewhat. It is now generally accepted that companies also use contract and agency labour to improve their operational performance. 
 
The authors&rsquo; research shows that, in spite of this change,&nbsp;few companies changed the way they make their deals. They also say that that &ldquo;up to 50% of outsourcing arrangements fail to deliver the expected value&rdquo;. 
 
Examples are given of companies experiencing severe problems during the operation of the contract, due to the fact that they did not have a clear strategy at the beginning of the process. Towards the end, the article argues to work with all the internal stakeholders that will be affected by the move, including union representatives. 
The article can be found here: 
<a href="http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/article_page.aspx?ar=1582&amp;L2=1&amp;L3=106">http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/ 
article_page.aspx?ar=1582&amp;L2=1&amp;L3=106</a>

Useful Background Articles on Contract and Agency Labour

The 20-million-member ICEM today condemns King Gyanendra and his autocratic rule in Nepal for the arrests and intimidation of dozens of pro-democracy activists in the days leading up to a four-day general strike beginning tomorrow, 6 April. The ICEM also condemns the absolute monarchy&rsquo;s threat to civil servants and professionals, who have been served notice that participation in the strike could mean dismissals or job transfers to remote areas of the Himalayan country. 
 
Specifically, the ICEM calls attention to the arrest yesterday of General Federation of Nepalese Trade Unions (GEFONT) official Ramesh Badal. He was seized in New Baneswer as he was speaking to the Professional Alliance on joining the strike. Badal heads GEFONT&rsquo;s Department of Labour Relations. 
<img height="137" alt="" src="" width="131" /> 
 
Ramesh Badal
&ldquo;Arrests of activists before major strikes and demonstrations have become all too common in Nepal,&rdquo; said ICEM General Secretary Fred Higgs. &ldquo;But this makes them no less appalling. Real rights and freedoms will not exist until Nepal&rsquo;s monarch lifts his absolute rule and allows political parties to function.&rdquo; 
 
The ICEM, a Global Union Federation consisting of 389 affiliates in 122 countries, including four in Nepal, supports the 6-9 April general strike as a means of challenging Gyanendra&rsquo;s autocratic rule, now in place for 14 months. This week&rsquo;s general strike is being called by a wide ranging political coalition called the Seven Parties Alliance. The royal government has countered the strike with prohibition orders banning all assemblies inside the greater Kathmandu area.

ICEM Condemns Arrests, Repression Leading to General Strike

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Exactly one week after the Howard government&rsquo;s WorkChoices legislation in Australia went into effect, labour unions across the country have mounted campaigns to alert workers of the dangers. The unions also are preparing to oust Prime Minister John Howard from office at the time of next elections in 18 months. Several unions have established websites where workers can post and respond to employer abuses. 
The new law went into effect on 27 March and, in short, dismantles collective bargaining in favour of a system of individual contracts and exempts employers with fewer than 100 workers from unfair dismissal claims. 
In the first week alone, Australian unions have noted a rash of abuses. For instance, in South Australia, a hotel has announced a restructuring plan in which it will half its workforce, and place all staff on individual contracts with longer work hours. At another business in New South Wales, a company sacked all 29 of its employees and invited them to apply for 20 jobs based on individual contracts with salaries of A$180 per week less. 
<img height="100" src="" width="100" alt="" />
ICEM affiliate Australian Manufacturing Workers Union has begun a campaign entitled &ldquo;WhatChoice?&rdquo; and the Australian Council of Trade Unions, in conjunction with several states, is bringing legal action to reverse the law.

Australia’s Labour Reform Strips Workers of Protections

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South African affiliate National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) has challenged Harmony Gold Mining&rsquo;s sacking of 300 contract workers without consulting the union. Harmony fired contractor DBE Mining at the Kalgold mine in the Northern Cape, and will bring in a new contractor employing other workers. 
NUM, which has filed a complaint over the matter in a South African labour court, is demanding that Harmony, &ldquo;in the current climate of a boom in gold prices,&rdquo; hire the 300 on a permanent basis. 
In a statement, NUM said, &ldquo;Harmony would like to hide behind the myth that the 300 workers are employees of a contractor while in reality they do critical work in a Harmony mine &hellip; subcontracting and outsourcing are new forms of exploitation through which big companies try to exonerate themselves from the stain of careless laying off of employees.&rdquo;

Layoffs of Contract Workers Challenged by NUM

<img height="41" alt="" src="" width="100" />
Trade union members of Amicus, an ICEM affiliate in the UK, staged a second four-hour strike on 30 March at International Paper Co.&rsquo;s Inverurie mill in Scotland. The union and its 231 members at the paper mill will escalate industrial actions this week with two further strikes, tomorrow and Thursday, 4 and 6 April, if the company does not revise a pay offer for 2006 and 2007. 
Management has proposed an unacceptable pay freeze for this year and a minimal one-off payment in 2007. Workers for the past two years have contributed part of their weekly earnings to help fill a gap in the company&rsquo;s pension scheme. The industrial actions have boosted Amicus support inside the printing and writing papers mills, as well as in the nearby community of Aberdeenshire.

Further Strikes at IP Paper Mill in Scotland

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