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The ICEM joined four other labour union federations at the ILO&rsquo;s 97th International Labour Conference to condemn the Iraqi government&rsquo;s neglect toward global labour standards, and its harassment of trade unions and trade union leaders in the Middle Eastern nation. 
 
The condemnation came at the ILO&rsquo;s Committee on Standards on 11 June, during a session in support of complaints from Iraqi trade unions. The ICEM joined the national center of the UK, the Trades Union Congress (TUC); the American federation, AFL-CIO; and fellow Global Union Federations, Education International (EI) and Public Services International (PSI) in declaring, before world governing bodies, that peace and prosperity in Iraq depends on strong, free, and independent trade unions. 
 
The statement denounces the occupying forces for raiding and ransacking union offices; condemns the government with maintaining laws that restrict trade unions and interferes with their internal and financial affairs; and admonishes &ldquo;so-called insurgents&rdquo; who &ldquo;target and kill trade union leaders and ordinary workers like teachers who are training the next generation in tolerance and human rights.&rdquo;
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The statement, read by ILO Government Board Member and TUC Representative Simon Steyne, also sets forth five major concerns that hinder peace and normal lives for Iraqi citizens. 
 
1.) Saddam&rsquo;s 1987 Decree 150, banning public sector trade unions: &ldquo;The public sector in Iraq &ndash; including oil, energy supply, public service, and health &ndash; accounts for 80% of the workforce. The decree prevents the vast majority of Iraqi workers from exercising their fundamental rights and must be abolished.&rdquo; 

2.) Decree 8750, imposed by the occupation&rsquo;s forces: It &ldquo;empowers the Government to take over trade unions at will, and has been used to freeze all Iraqi union bank accounts. It is odious, contrary to (ILO) Convention(s), and it too should be abolished.&rdquo; 

3.) Labour and Social Security Law: &ldquo;Apparently, an ILO-compliant labour law sits in the Ministry of Labour. Though ready for several years, we are often told it is under review. It should be adopted and implemented as promised. Any review can take place once Iraqis have seen how it works in practice.&rdquo; 

4.) Government interference, through both Decrees 150 and 8750: &ldquo;Earlier this year, the government told the General Federation of Iraqi Workers (GFIW) that it would release some of the frozen funds so internal elections could be held. Those elections are needed &ndash; but it should be GFIW&rsquo;s members&rsquo; decision when to hold them &hellip; the Government insists that election candidates must be Iraqi citizens, which is unacceptable to a free trade union movement representing workers wherever they come from. And in flagrant violation of Convention 98, (such nominees for union office) must have the support of their employer. The Government has used Decree 150 to insist that only unions in the private sector will be involved. This would forcibly restructure those unions with members both in and out of the private sector, and prevents the vast majority of GFIW members from having any say in their organisation&rsquo;s leadership.&rdquo;
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5.) Physical Transfer of IFOU Activists: &ldquo;Eight leaders of the ICEM-affiliated Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions (IFOU) are to be moved from their jobs and homes in the southern oil fields to a violent part of Baghdad, in a move calculated to disrupt the union&rsquo;s activities and put them in danger. The same trick, tried previously against the leaders of the GFIW-affiliated port workers union in Um Asr, was prevented by international and Iraqi trade union opposition.&rdquo;
In conclusion, the statement, read, &ldquo;The Government must explain the contradictions between its words and its deeds, must halt anti-union repression and introduce a labour law promoting social dialogue, freedom of association, and collective bargaining.&rdquo; 
 
In a TUC statement, Simon Steyne said, &ldquo;It is strange that a Government too busy fighting violence should spend so much time and effort harassing one of the few institutions which unites workers regardless of tribal, ethnic, or religious boundaries and is committed to women&rsquo;s emancipation and the creation of a peaceful and prosperous Iraq.&rdquo;

ICEM Teams with Labour Groups to Condemn Iraq’s Trade Union Abuses at ILO

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The Canadian province of Quebec&rsquo;s Labour Relations Board issued a stern reprimand to Petro-Canada over its attempt to circumvent the bargaining committee of the Communications, Energy, &amp; Paperworkers (CEP). In a 4 June ruling, the provincial government ordered the company to cease its intimidation of individual workers, and to begin good-faith bargaining with CEP Local 175 of Montr&eacute;al in earnest efforts to end the company&rsquo;s seven-month lockout of 260 refinery workers there. 
 
Negotiations did re-start on 13 June, but there was no immediate indication that Canada&rsquo;s second largest energy company would meet the CEP&rsquo;s National Chemical and Energy Bargaining agenda. In prior talks this spring, the company placed further and more severe concessions on the table than what was proposed at the time of the 17 November 2007 lockout.
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CEP Local 175 Members Still Standing Strong
Then in early May, just prior to submitting another in a series of &ldquo;final offers&rdquo; to Local 175, managers at the Point-aux-Trembles refinery in Montr&eacute;al&rsquo;s east end contacted individual union members. They threatened closure of the refinery, urged an overthrow of the union&rsquo;s bargaining committee, and intimidated workers in attempting to coax them to accept the company&rsquo;s regressive proposal. 
 
In the 4 June ruling, Labour Relations Board Commissioner Suzanne Moro ordered the company to &ldquo;cease attempts to impede the activities of CEP Local 175, attempts to interfere in the activities&rdquo; of the union and &ldquo;attempts to dominate&rdquo; Local 175. 
 
The writ ordered company representatives to cease efforts &ldquo;to create double negotiations and to negotiate a collective agreement in good faith.&rdquo; Canadian press reports cited the company with denying the charges. But workers taped the conversations, and presented that as evidence to the labour board. 
 
&ldquo;The importance of this decision is it demonstrates what has been ongoing since bargaining began,&rdquo; said CEP Administrative Vice President for Quebec, Joe Gargiso, who also heads the union&rsquo;s Chemicals and Energy Bargaining Programme. &ldquo;Petro-Canada has had no intention of bargaining in good faith, only seeking a strategy of imposing a new collective agreement that our members don&rsquo;t want.&rdquo;
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CEP's Admin. Vice President (Quebec) Joe Gargiso
He added the locked-out workers are withstanding the pressures &ldquo;extremely well,&rdquo; and that they are &ldquo;united and standing solidly behind their bargaining committee.&rdquo; He also said the 260 oil workers are receiving strong financial support from the CEP, and from CEP&rsquo;s energy local unions across Canada. 
 
On 24-25 May, the union&rsquo;s National Chemicals and Energy local unions met in Montr&eacute;al, and adopted a strong statement to the company&rsquo;s president and CEO, Ron Brenneman, saying: 
 
&ldquo;We find it totally unacceptable that in Montr&eacute;al, your Company attempts to break the national Bargaining Settlement made with CEP at (Petro-Canada&rsquo;s) Edmonton refinery in April 2007. This settlement has been followed by Petro-Canada in its other locations, as well as by Imperial Oil, Shell, Husky, Suncor, etc. 
 
&ldquo;And we find it unacceptable and shameful that your Company is attempting to trash the Montr&eacute;al collective agreement by trying to impose a host of rollbacks in a clear design to curtail the union&rsquo;s ability to play its role in the workplace and ensure a safe environment.&rdquo; 
 
Petro-Canada has further breached Quebec&rsquo;s labour law by employing 34 replacement workers during the lockout. The inexperienced workers have teamed with managers, who are working 70-hour work-weeks in order to maintain outflow, and the combination has created obvious safety and environmental hazards to the refinery, which is located in a residential area.

Petro-Canada Breaks Law in Failed Effort to Break Workers’ Resolve

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A two-day workshop on Chinese investment in Africa was held 10-11 June in conjunction and following the ICEM&rsquo;s Sub-Sahara Africa Region meeting in Accra, Ghana. Thirty-one delegates attended the ICEM workshop, which had valuable support from Germany&rsquo;s Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Foundation (FES). 
 
Rayford Mbulu, ICEM Regional Vice President, who chaired the conference, said, &ldquo;We are experiencing a new form of direct investment from China and based on what we&rsquo;ve seen to date, we are deeply concerned that it could lead to a lowering of labour standards throughout the continent.&rdquo; 
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Participants at the workshop adopted a resolution, which will be presented to this week&rsquo;s ICEM Executive Committee meetings in Geneva for approval. 
 
The workshops focused on the thrust by Chinese state and other companies for the raw materials so vital to driving China&rsquo;s economy, and also on the exploitation of labour, communities, and the environment that such rapid development is leaving on Africa. The ICEM delegates concluded that any wealth generated from the extracted resources of the continent must be directly aligned with the ILO&rsquo;s concept of Decent Work, as well as providing for the health, housing, and education for Africans in a sustainable future. 
 
The conference also lauded the April 2008 Solidarity action by the South African Dockworkers&rsquo; Union (SATAWU), which refused to off-load a shipment of 77 tonnes of armaments destined for the repressive Zimbabwean regime of Robert Mugabe. A Chinese government cargo ship, the An Yue Jiang, was forced to depart the port of Durban with the cargo still on board.

ICEM’s Africa Delegates Attend Relevant China Investment Forum

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Tensions are mounting with ICEM Nigerian affiliate PENGASSAN against Royal Dutch Shell&rsquo;s holdings in the country. Shell Petroleum Development Co. Ltd. (SPDC) is embarking on major retrenchments in its upstream sector, by merging four oil and gas businesses into a single entity. 
 
PENGASSAN, the senior staff union in Nigeria&rsquo;s oil and gas sector, has threatened to strike Shell&rsquo;s operations if the company continues to ignore labour law and undermine the union&rsquo;s collective agreement regarding social dialogue over redundancies. Shell is a 45% partner with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. (NNPC) in the various operations, but serves as operating partner. 
 
The controversy arises out of Shell&rsquo;s desire to lop 2,000 of 7,000 white-collar jobs without national level dialogue, as well as demanding that workers re-apply for their jobs in the consolidated company. 
 
According to PENGASSAN General Secretary Bayo Olowoshile, the company is selectively targeting for layoff union members who are close to full retirement, but not fully there.
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PENGASSAN Gen. Sec. Bayo Olosohile
To qualify for full pensions, a senior staff member must be at least 45 years of age and have 15 years of service. 
 
&ldquo;We maintain that these retrenchments, first and foremost, must be voluntary and elective,&rdquo; said Olowoshile, adding that 1,000 workers have expressed interest in redundancy packages. &ldquo;But we also question why Shell has only targeted the middle and lower ranks for retrenchment, while whole levels of top managers are unaffected.&rdquo; 
 
Olowoshile said Shell has pierced the integrity of the national collective agreement, as well as the union&rsquo;s constitution, by addressing the redundancies at branch level, rather than with PENGASSAN&rsquo;s national secretariat. 
 
Olowoshile also said Shell is creating discord in the communities of Nigeria&rsquo;s oil patch. &ldquo;Local citizens are becoming disoriented because they feel that Shell has now taken steps that will curtail job opportunities.&rdquo; 
 
In a 4 June letter to SPDC that gave notice of possible industrial action, the union calls the company&rsquo;s retrenchment exercise &ldquo;insensitive to the public and national interest.&rdquo; In February, Nigeria&rsquo;s National Assembly called for a halt to SPDC&rsquo;s unilateral decision to retrench. And more recently, the NNPC has come on record, stating only those who have reached the retirement age, or who volunteer to be made redundant, should leave.
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PENGASSAN awaits a SPDC&rsquo;s response and a meeting with union leaders on the national level. The SPDC concern is a major issue before the union&rsquo;s five-day Strategy Planning Synergies Conference, meetings involving the union&rsquo;s 80-member Central Working Committee, which begins today in Ogun State. 
 
Meanwhile, a PENGASSAN threat of strike against US-based Chevron&rsquo;s upstream operations has diminished, following dialogue last week that relieved some of the serious safety concerns plaguing workers. And regarding Chevron downstream operations in Nigeria, the union is continuing to meet with Nigerian equity partners to obtain the 60% stake that the American company is selling.

Nigeria’s PENGASSAN Threatens Strike Action Against Shell over Unilateral Job Cuts

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A 14-day tyre strike by 4,000 members of ICEM affiliate Lastik-İş in Turkey ended Friday night, 13 June, and workers at three multinational rubber companies were back on their jobs for the afternoon shift on 14 June. 
 
The strike ended when a two-year accord was reached between the union and the three employers, who jointly represent the tyre industry in talks. The companies include Goodyear Tire &amp; Rubber Co., Bridgestone Brisa Sabanci, and Pirelli.
The bargaining on 13 June&nbsp;was the first set of negotiations since the strike began on 31 May. Talks first began on a renewal labour agreement for 2008-2009 for the four&nbsp;tyre factories in September 2007. 
 
The two sides agreed to a 14% pay increase for the year 2008, and an increase equaling the Turkish rate of inflation for 2009. In 2007, the Turkish rate of inflation was 8.39% and is expected to rise above that this year. Lastik-İş had sought a 12% wage hike for the first six months of 2008, with increases matching the inflation rate in each six-month period through 2009. 
 
All levels of social benefits will also increase by the inflation rate over the life of the labour agreement. The ICEM, the Global Union Federation covering the chemicals, rubber, plastics, and pharmaceutical sectors, considers the 2008-2009 Turkish rubber agreement a major achievement, considering wage and social benefit gains were stymied in the late 1990s and early years of this decade due to strike bans imposed by the Turkish government.
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&nbsp;Lastik-İş President Abdullah Karacan 
 

&ldquo;We didn&rsquo;t make any concessions, we preserved our contractual and work-rule provisions, and we posted substantial economic gains,&rdquo; stated Lastik-İş President Abdullah Karacan. &ldquo;The decisiveness of our union members at these four factories was effective and ultimately proved successful in bargaining.&rdquo; 
 
The four tyre plants, which saw workers return to work at 16h00 on 14 June, include two of&nbsp;US-based Goodyear&nbsp;in Izmit and Adapazari, and one operated by Bridgestone Brisa Sabanci, a joint venture between Japan-based Bridgestone and the Turkish Sabanci Group, and the other owned by&nbsp;Italian-based Pirelli. Both&nbsp;the Bridgestone&nbsp;and Pirelli plants&nbsp;are located&nbsp;in Izmit.

Turkey’s 14-Day Rubber Strike Ends with 14% First year Wage Gain

&nbsp;
June 9,&nbsp;2008 
 
 
Viktor Turmanov 
President 
Coal Mining Workers&rsquo; Union of Ukraine (PRUPU) 
117 Posysheva Street 
83000 Donestsk 
UKRAINE 
 
Dear Brother Turmanov, 
 
It was with great sadness that the ICEM learned this morning of the major explosion at the state-owned mine near Yenakiyevo in the central Donbass region of the Ukraine yesterday. We understand that the miners endangered are members of your proud Trade Union, and I write to offer the ICEM&rsquo;s condolences for those who have died, and our greatest hope that rescue efforts will succeed for those who still might be alive inside the mine. 
 
We understand that this particular mine is a low-yielding producer of coal, thus we question why the government even had the mine in operation. Certainly any mining operation that produces coal in Ukraine should and must have the proper methane detection devices and other modern safety equipment in place, and we wonder if this was the case of the mine near Yenakiyevo. 
 
The 20-million-member ICEM, the Global Union Federation for the Mining and Energy sectors, stands behind PRUPA in calling on the new Minister of Coal and other Ukrainian authorities to conduct a full investigation into this tragedy. 
 
Please pass our sincerest condolences to the families of the miners who perished, and know that the ICEM stands with our affiliated Trade Union PRUPU in demanding safe and secure workplaces inside the Ukrainian mining industry. 
 
Fraternally, 
 
Manfred Warda 
General Secretary

ICEM Letter To Ukrainian PRUPU Union on 8 June Mine Tragedy

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At its bi-annual Congress last month, ICEM affiliate Paper &amp; Printing Federation of Thailand (PPFT) elected Amnuay Iemraksa as President of the 6,000-member union. She is the strong and energetic local branch leader at a Kimberly Clark mill in Pathumtahni and is the first woman to lead PPFT, which has members in many paper and paper-related companies across Thailand. 
 
Elected Secretary-General of PPFT was Witaya Inwan, a leader at Rank Group&rsquo;s SIG Combibloc, who played a vital role last year in the reinstatement of Thaneth Jhanluechai at that packaging plant in the Rayong industrial area.
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PPFT's Witaya Inwan and Amnuay Iemraksa
The two are joined on the union&rsquo;s Executive Committee by Sommai Saranjit, another woman who is the leader of a plant-level union at Norske Skog&rsquo;s Singburi Newsprint Mill in Amphur Muang. She led a very successful set of talks at that mill late in 2007, in which Norske Skog management agreed to prohibit all contract labour in production, while limiting only specialized contractors in the performance of maintenance work. 
 
They are joined on the committee by brothers and sisters from the English-speaking newspaper, the Bangkok Post. They include Sister Jarinporn Niyom, and Brothers Worachit Jangsrisook and Prajak Krongsri.
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&nbsp; 
Elected the plant-level President at the Kimberly Clark mill in 2006, Amnuay Iemraksa led a highly successful set of negotiations there a year ago at a primary mill, which produces 135,000 tonnes of paper per year. Those talks gained rights for contract workers to be made permanent when regularized workers retire. She said her main goal as leader of PPFT is to organise more workplaces into the PPFT, to forge greater unity among the plant-level unions of the union, and to win rights for contract and agency workers.

Paper, Printing Federation of Thailand Elects New Activists; Focus Begins on Organising, Contract Wo

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Despite an administrative order in the Philippines requiring a unit of government to render a decision within 60 days once a case has been filed, a year has nearly passed and the Department of Labour and Employment (DOLE) has not taken any action on a collective bargaining deadlock. That deadlock is between the Philippine Cement Workers&rsquo; Council (PCWC) and Holcim Philippines Inc. 
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Members of the ICEM affiliate, and nearly 100 supporters, gathered on 28 May in front of the country&rsquo;s Labour offices at Intramuros in Manila and picketed the agency. Besides workers belonging to the UBSEU branch of PCWC, which has been denied a resolve to a collective agreement since an Assumption of Jurisdiction application was filed with DOLE on 29 June 2007, nine other PCWC local unions from Cemex and Lafarge plants also attended the picket. 
 
During the protest, the Philippines Acting Labour Department Secretary came out to speak to protestors. He said no clear date for release of an administrative ruling could be given, since the relevant Filipino officials were out of the country attending the annual ILO Labour Conference in Geneva.
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&nbsp; 
Workers at Holcim, a Swiss-based global producer of cement and building materials, at three operations in the Philippines (Bulacan, Rizal, and La Union), have been without a current contract and denied pay increases since last year. Holcim, the second biggest producer of cement in the Asian country, announced late in May a major expansion at these plants, including construction of three new manufacturing plans and 70 new cement mixes in 2008. 
 
Under the archaic Filipino Assumption of Jurisdiction process, management has an incentive to remain fixed on an initial bargaining position by declaring an early impasse. Once an application has been filed, it is the responsibility of the DOLE Secretary to issue an order, taking up the case. 
<img height="285" src="" width="380" alt="" />
But PCWC contends, the process restricts good-faith social dialogue, and most orders &ndash; when issued &ndash; tend to fall on the side of the employer in the interest of promoting investment in the Philippines. 
 
ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda sent a message that was read at last week&rsquo;s PCWC protests, calling DOLE&rsquo;s failure to rule an &ldquo;act of administrative conspiracy&rdquo; that fails &ldquo;to comply sincerely with ILO Conventions 87 and 98,&rdquo; the global labour standards on freedom of association and the right of collective bargaining. 
 
PCWC has pledged to hold other concerted actions if the Holcim situation is not rectified.

Labour Department Inaction Moves Philippine Cement Workers’ Council to Pickets

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Strategic planning was the focus of an ICEM Latin American/Caribbean Region meeting in Montevideo, Uruguay, from 8-9 May. Following up on ICEM Congress motions, delegates defined actions and activities for the period 2008-2011. 
 
The meeting was attended by members of the regional committee, ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda, ICEM Latin America/Caribbean Vice President Sergio Novais, country project coordinators, regional Contact Person Carol Bruce, as well as Regional Secretary Jorge Almeida of the Federaci&oacute;n Internacional de Trabajadores de las Industrias Metal&uacute;rgios (FITAM), the regional body of the International Metalworkers Federation (IMF).
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ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda&nbsp;
Warda explained the concrete meaning of many decisions made at Congress, including offering means for social dialogue with multinationals and working toward Global Framework Agreements with companies. He noted that in Latin America, Rhodia, Freudenberg, Endesa, Degussa, SCA, Lafarge, and Umicore are companies in which ICEM has agreements. An effective workers&rsquo; rights agenda at those companies can be implemented, he said. 
 
Warda encouraged trade unions in the region to check that these companies adhere to the principals contained in the respective agreements. He also cited Brazilian state oil company Petrobras and the growing global mining house from Brazil, Vale, as companies in which to approach for social dialogue. 
 
The ICEM campaign of Contract and Agency Labour was also thoroughly discussed. Warda said the ICEM is beginning to coordinate this campaign with other Global Union Federations (GUFs) in efforts to counter the worst trends of this phenomenon. It was also noted that in Latin America, there have been excellent examples of meaningful social dialogue with companies on the issue, and that those experiences should be shared with other regions. 
 
The regional committee also moved to commemorate 28 July 2008 as a memorial to the 200 contract workers who lost their lives due to a landslide while constructing a hydroelectric dam 25 years earlier near Ubal&aacute; Cundinamarca, Colombia.
<img height="195" src="" width="260" alt="" />
Brazilian Women March&nbsp;
ICEM&rsquo;s HIV/AIDS policy was also confirmed at the regional meeting, as well the GUF&rsquo;s policy on gender equality. The issue of sustainable development was also introduced. 
 
A major discussion point was cooperation with other GUFs. It was emphasized that GUF cooperation globally is meaningless unless real ties between trade unions are made on the national and regional level. Colombia was cited as one example in which efforts are being made to build a single national trade union centre. 
 
Most countries in Latin America have strong mining economies, but only in a few of those economies does one find a match with equally strong mining unions. It was stressed that mining trade unions must meet the demands that major investment in the sector brings. 
 
Also at the regional conference, the Coordination of Mercosur Trade Unions presented their work. The organisation campaigns for living wage, eradication of child labour, and better distribution of wealth in the region. It has also a working group engaged on the issue of biofuels, as well as a commission encompassing electric power trade unions. 
 
Since all Latin governments in Mercosur are currently progressive and socially-oriented administrations, delegates said it was a good time to draft a model for social development in the region, as well as draft in detail a social charter. The challenge facing the Mercosur Trade Unions is the low degree of efficiency of union organisations, and how to improve that. 
 
The group defined these priorities and conclusions in the region: subcontracting; Global Framework Agreements and trade union rights; HIV/AIDS; the environment; and gender equity. Delegates concluded that networks, social dialogue, and cooperation were the key. 
 
The issue of modernisation of trade union structures and involvement of young workers in the trade union movement was discussed and stressed as imperative in strengthening those structures. This will take further involvement in the ICEM.
<img height="58" src="" width="120" alt="" />
Immediately following the strategic planning conference in Uruguay, ICEM organised a meeting in Buenos Aires with trade unions there to heighten relationships. Germany&rsquo;s Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Foundation (FES) lent valuable assistance in order for this to occur.

ICEM Latin American/Caribbean Region Firms Action Plan for 2008-2011

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Kemianliitto, ICEM&rsquo;s Finnish affiliate in the chemicals, rubber, and textile sector, held its semi-annual Union Council meetings in Helsinki on 22-23 May, and reaffirmed its position to be part of a six-union merger across Finland&rsquo;s industrial sectors. 
 
The late May conference was the Council&rsquo;s first meetings since elections were held recently by Kemianliitto&rsquo;s 12 electoral regions, which are organised by respective industries. Re-elected President was Timo Vallittu, who has headed the union since 1995, and elected as Union Secretary was Hannu Siltala, who comes to Kemianliitto from the Finnish Railwaymen&rsquo;s Union.
<img height="226" src="" width="160" alt="" />
Kemianliitto President Timo Vallittu&nbsp;
A 15-member Executive Committee also had been elected. 
 
The Council meetings were marked by a large influx of new &ndash; and young &ndash; trade unionists that now comprise Kemianliitto&rsquo;s 53-member Executive Council. Some 40 members are newly elected. The Union Council moved to continue work toward a 2010 merger of Finnish trade unions, and committed to hold a democratic referendum among all Kemianliitto members on that merger. It also adopted resolutions that included establishing two separate work groups to revise future work strategies for the union.
<img height="135" src="" width="180" alt="" />
&nbsp;Kemianliitto Union Secretary Hannu Siltala 

Speakers at the Council meetings included ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda, Swedish IF Metall Vice President Anders Farber, and Lauri Ihalainen, the President of the Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions (SAK). 
 
The 47,000-member Finnish trade union is composed of four sectors: shoe, leather, and rubber; glass and ceramics; textile and clothing; and chemicals. It is a product of union mergers in the 1990s, which brought together unions from the chemicals, rubber and leather, and glass and porcelain sectors. In 2004, the Finnish Chemical Workers&rsquo; Union merged with Teva, the Textile and Clothing Workers&rsquo; Union. 
 
The proposed six-union merger in Finland is tentatively to be called TEAM, and will number 360,000 workers. Besides Kemianliitto, other unions engaged in discussions toward that merger are the Finnish Electrical Workers&rsquo; Union, the Wood and Allied Workers&rsquo; Union, the Finnish Media Union, Finnish Railwaymen&rsquo;s Union, and the Finnish Metalworkers&rsquo; Union.

Finnish Chemical Workers’ Union Holds Key Executive Council Meeting

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