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Dear President Abdullah G&uuml;l, 
 
The [enter union name] presents its compliments to President Abdullah G&uuml;l and would like to communicate our grave concern with the situation facing TEKEL workers in Turkey. 
 
We are writing on this occasion in respect of 26 February 2010, the Global Day of Action in Solidarity with Turkish Workers. We stand in solidarity with our Turkish colleagues throughout Turkey, as trade union rights were violated too often in 2009. However at the forefront of our focus on this Global Day of Action is the situation currently facing the workers of TEKEL, the former state tobacco company, which was recently privatised. 
 
We understand that the government decided to close down all the warehouses owned by TEKEL, causing the loss of 12,000 jobs. Workers, their family members and supporters have been demonstrating in near freezing temperatures in protest against this decision since December last year. 
 
The protest began in front of the headquarters of the AKP, but the police cleared the area on 16 December and forced the demonstrators to a nearby park. The following day, police put up barricades around the park and then used water hoses and tear gas against the demonstrators. Police violence escalated and clubs were used against the demonstrators, many of whom had to be hospitalised. Mustafa T&uuml;rkel, president of Tekgida-Is, which represents these workers and is affiliated to ITUC-affiliated national union centre T&uuml;rk-Is, as well as the International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco &amp; Allied Workers' Association (IUF), and general secretary of T&uuml;rk-Is, was arrested, but then released later that evening. 
 
The police violence caused an outcry in the Turkish Parliament, but the government continues to refuse to accede to the workers' demand that they be given alternative employment with their full employee benefits, as the law on privatisation provides. The workers have been continuing their actions to date, in front of the T&uuml;rk-Is offices, for more than 70 days now. 
 
After meetings, on 11 February 2010, between the Chairman of The Turkish Grand National Assembly, Mr. Mehmet Sahin, and The Presidents of national union centres T&Uuml;RK-IS, DISK, KAMU-SEN and KESK on the one hand, and between Prime Minister Erdogan and T&uuml;rk-Is President Mustafa Kumlu on the other, the unions denounced the authorities' intransigence towards the workers' demands, and called on them to try to reach a negotiated solution to the problem. To date, their appeal has not been honoured; on the contrary, Prime Minister Erdogan announced that his government will not tolerate further actions after the end of February. 
 
Last year has been a very bad year for trade union rights in general in Turkey. The Brussels based International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) has written or co-signed protest letters to the government on no less than nine occasions, without ever receiving a reply. The violations of trade union rights which gave rise to these letters ranged from a plea to the authorities to refrain from violent repression of peaceful May Day demonstrations, over the massive arrests of trade union members and leaders, of which dozens were made to stand trial on charges of supporting terrorist organisations, and the attempted murder of S&uuml;leyman Celebi, President of the ITUC affiliated national union center Devrimci Is&ccedil;i Sendikalari Konfederasyonu (DISK), to the ill treatment of and lack of medical care for detained trade unionists. Furthermore, the ITUC, together with over a dozen representatives from trade unions and Global Union Federations from eight different European countries, a Human Rights officer of the delegation of the European Commission to Turkey, and representatives of Lawyers Without Frontiers and Protection International, joined an international observers' delegation which attended the trial which was held in Izmir in November last year against 31 members and leaders of national public sector union KESK, which is also an ITUC affiliate. 
 
After this trial, the ITUC denounced that &quot;2009 showed an intensified crackdown on the unions by the government. After the KESK arrests in May, there was the arrest and subsequent ill treatment of Murad Akincilar, a Turkish national working for the Swiss union UNIA, and the assassination attempt on DISK President S&uuml;leyman Celebi. T&uuml;m-Bel Sen representative Metin Findik is still in prison after more than five months, without being informed of any charges against him. On 7 December, 13 leaders of one of DISK's most important affiliates, Nakliyat-Is, were arrested (in the KESK case, most important affiliate Egitim Sen is being targeted). There is a true pattern in all of these cases: upon being arrested, all unionists are being treated in a rough manner, or even mistreated; the authorities invoke some legal clause in order to keep the cases &quot;under secrecy&quot;, meaning that the defense lawyers can initially not look into their clients' files &ndash; even for more than a month, as in the KESK case. And the accusations are all related to some form of &quot;terrorist activity&quot;. 
 
In its most recent Progress Report in the framework of the Turkish EU accession negotiations, dated 14 October 2009, the European Commission stated that &quot;Full trade union rights have not yet been established in Turkey. The current legal framework is not in line with EU standards and ILO Conventions, in particular as regards the right to organise, the right to strike and the right to bargain collectively, for both the private and public sectors. The ILO Committee of experts called upon Turkey to adopt these reforms and suggested the organisation of a high-level bipartite mission to assist the government.&quot; As you will know, this mission is early next month. 
 
The deterioration of trade union rights in Turkey is a cause of serious concern for the international trade union movement. International trade union objectives are clear and remain the same. We are calling for full democratic rights for all Turkish citizens, including freedom of association; a halt to all violent repression; the release of all imprisoned trade unionists; and respect for core labour standards and workers' rights, including the TEKEL workers'. 
 
Yours sincerely,

Global Solidarity Action Day with Turkish Workers

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The Third Ordinary Congress of UILCEM took place in Iglesias, Sardegna Island, on 2-4 February under the motto, &quot;Our History, Our Future.&rdquo; The Congress was attended by the General Secretary of UIL Confederation Luigi Angeletti, General Secretary of FEMCA-CISL Sergio Gigli together with Dario Ilossi, National Secretaries of FILCEM-CGIL and FLAEI-CISL (Electricity Workers' Union), a number of representatives of employers&rsquo; federations and individual companies. 
 
Also in attendance were Kemal &Ouml;zkan, Chemicals and Rubber Industries Officer of the ICEM, and Jean-Fran&ccedil;ois Renucci, General Secretary-elect of the French union FCE-CFDT. 
 
As one of the three ICEM Italian affiliated trade unions, UILCEM (Chemical, Energy and Manufacturing Workers' Union) is part of the UIL (Italian Workers' Union) national centre. It brings together workers of the chemical, pharmaceutical, mining, energy, oil, engineering, manufacturing, rubber and plastics, glass, lamps, ceramics, tiles, electricity, water, and gas sectors. 

<img src="" width="257" height="173" alt="" />
Augusto Pascucci, General Secretary of UILCEM
Augusto Pascucci, General Secretary of UILCEM and a Vice President of the ICEM, reported on the effects of the global economic crisis in Italy. Pascucci explained the significance of the Congress being held in Iglesias, near a mine under threat of closure due to the financial downturn. The mine supports the livelihoods of 2,000 workers in the area. Pascucci called for a government reform package that would see Italy intervene in moments of crisis. 
 
The General Secretary of UIL underlined the current trade union agenda items in Italy and gave particular attention to job creation, the securing of industrial production, and an increase in the minimum wage. ICEM's &Ouml;zkan, in his speech, covered globalisation, the economic crisis, changes in the employment relationship toward more precarious work, sustainable development, and climate change. 
 
The final declaration of the Congress laid out the union&rsquo;s objectives for the upcoming period. That agenda includes: More trade union training; a new &quot;architecture&quot; of the financial system; elimination of discrimination against women, creation of an open society for everyone, and specific financing for women&rsquo;s activities; and an escalation of support and solidarity with international and European federations 
 
The Congress unanimously re-elected Augusto Pascucci as General Secretary of UILCEM. 
 
Another ICEM Italian affiliate, FILCEM, will merge with FILTEA, the Textile Workers&rsquo; Union. The name of the new union is FILCTEM, and will represent 250,000 members, with 27 national-level collective agreements in the relevant sectors. FILCTEM will hold its First Congress soon.

Third Ordinary Congress of Italy’s UILCEM Held

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ICEM Turkish affiliate &Ccedil;IMSE-İş, the Cement, Ceramics, Soil, Pottery, and Glass Workers&rsquo; Union, held its 18th Congress in Ankara on 6 and 7 February, with the 207 delegates present electing a new President and expanding the union&rsquo;s executive committee from four to five. Zekeriye Nazlim, the former &Ccedil;IMSE-İş regional president of the Ankara Branch, was elected President of the national union. 
 
Prior President Ramazan Safak stepped down from that position at this Congress. He was credited for enacting efficiencies within the union that doubled &Ccedil;IMSE-İş cash reserves in the midst of a financial crisis. The union represents 18,000 Turkish workers, down a full 25% due to effects of the global financial collapse. 

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Zekeriye Nazlim&nbsp;of &Ccedil;IMSE-İş
The hardest hit among &Ccedil;IMSE-İş industrial sectors were those in ceramics, tiles, and pottery. Safak was responsible for keeping the T&uuml;rk-İş affiliated union on solid financial footing through the retrenchment of workers and loss of membership, and also was credited with limiting the effects of the crisis through constructive social dialogue with employers. 
The Congress was chaired by T&uuml;rk-İş Confederation President and ICEM Executive Member Mustafa Kumlu. He outlined the recent industrial actions undertaken by 12,000 workers of the once state-owned tobacco and alcohol company Tekel, workers who have been denied their rights as victims of privatization. 

<img src="" width="110" height="177" alt="" />
T&uuml;rk-İş President Mustafa Kumlu
ICEM Rubber and Chemicals Officer Kemal &Ouml;zkan reported on the overall global effects of the economic crisis, as well as on ICEM&rsquo;s campaign on Contract and Agency Labour (CAL) and ongoing efforts to create a new global trade union structure for industrial and manufacturing sectors. &Ouml;zkan also thanked &Ccedil;IMSE-İş for co-hosting last October&rsquo;s ICEM World Conference for the Materials Sector in Izmir, Turkey. 
 
The Congress passed resolutions on decent work; against precarious employment; for fair taxation; reform to Turkish labour statutes, particularly regarding unionization; a better health insurance system; better management of unemployment funds; and a halt to privatization efforts. 
 
Re-elected General Secretary of &Ccedil;IMSE-İş was Yusuf &Ccedil;irak; re-elected as treasurer, Cemil Kaya; and Erkan Atar was elected Secretary of Education, while Cengiz G&ouml;z&uuml;k&uuml;&ccedil;&uuml;k was elected Secretary of Organising.

ÇIMSE-İş Holds Congress in Ankara; Elects New President

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The pitched battle in Australia&rsquo;s coal fields between Xstrata and the Construction, Forestry, Mining, and Energy Union (CFMEU) continues as miners at Tahmoor in New South Wales overwhelmingly voted down a contract offer today. Xstrata has been aggressively attacking workplace conditions and union rights at several coal mines in Australia, but the Tahmoor mine dispute has become prominent due to the length of the conflict and the intensity of it. 
 
Some 300 miners there faced off against an Xstrata lockout from 8-15 February and then following that lockout, they imposed another three days of industrial actions. CFMEU members are frustrated because they&rsquo;ve been without a credible enterprise labour agreement now for nearly 11 months, but they&rsquo;re even more frustrated that Xstrata is trying to set the clock back to John Howard and his WorkChoices regime. 

<img src="" width="300" height="95" alt="" />
The balloting at Tahmoor that started last week was ordered by a government Fair Work tribunal, after the government ruled against CFMEU allegations that Xstrata had engaged in bad-faith bargaining in bypassing the union and going directly to workers on bargaining matters. 
 
Swiss-based Xstrata seeks an enterprise agreement that gives it broad flexibility on writing and re-writing workplace polices and procedures; one that is void of any independent arbitration mechanism; and one in which the union, or any common disputes procedure, is absent from health and safety issues. 

<img src="" width="251" height="189" alt="" />
Locked out Xstrata workers at Tahmoor
Although pay is not forefront to this dispute, the fact that Xstrata wants all future bonus schemes to not be a subject for bargaining is another and unpopular proposal. Even though Xstrata is utilizing its lockout right contained in the disputes process of the labour government&rsquo;s Fair Work statutes, its crass attitude toward terms and conditions of work represents a lingering culture of Howard&rsquo;s one-sided labour laws of the recent past. 
 
CFMEU miners at Xstrata&rsquo;s Bulga mine in New South Wales faced a 24-hour lockout by the company on 19 January after engaging in lawful industrial actions the previous two days. Some 250 miners at Bulga had a collective agreement expire in December 2009 and face many of the same company-positioned proposals that miners at Tahmoor have now rejected. Bargaining with the company also is about to commence at two other CFMEU-represented mines, Liddell and Glendell, both in Queensland, where 450 miners are now braced to resist Xstrata&rsquo;s draconian terms. 
 
Visit the CFMEU&rsquo;s Xstrata Facts website <a href="http://www.xstratafacts.com/">here</a>.

No Resolve to Coal Fight in Australia Between CFMEU and Xstrata

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An inquiry into the fatal helicopter crash that killed 17 workers and crew headed to Canadian offshore oil platforms on 12 March 2009 continued earlier this month. In the days following the early February continuation, former Labrador-Newfoundland Supreme Court Justice Robert Wells, who heads the inquiry undertaken by the nation&rsquo;s Transportation Safety Board, issued immediate procedural changes a full seven months before his commission&rsquo;s report. 
 
Those changes are based on testimony from local union officers and staff of Communications, Energy, Paperworkers (CEP) Union, which represents 700 workers at two of three offshore platforms some 300 kilometres off Newfoundland. 
 
One mandate calls on the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board, the agency regulating the offshore oil industry, to ensure that a fully equipped search-and-rescue helicopter is on standby at St. John&rsquo;s, Newfoundland, and ready to respond within 15 to 20 minutes of any mayday call. It took the charter service contractor, Cougar Helicopters Ltd., between 45 minutes to an hour to equip and launch a rescue helicopter last year on 12 March. 

<img src="" width="150" height="75" alt="" />
The other instruction by Wells restricts night flights to only emergencies until a dedicated helicopter is available that is equipped with an auto-hover and forward-looking infrared device in the event a rescue mission is necessary at night. Both recommended changes were accepted by the Offshore Petroleum Board and the agency was informing lead oil companies at the platforms of the directives last week, including ExxonMobil, Suncor, Husky, Chevron Canada, and ConocoPhillips. 
 
The immediate precautionary changes stem from testimony that CEP leaders gave on 9 February, and also last October and November when the inquiry began. Officers of CEP Local 2121, representing workers at the Hibernia and Terra Nova platforms, expressed concerns that response time, non-fitting survival suits, and lack of underwater breathing devices typify a corporate culture that is lax on transport safety. They testified that in the North Sea oilfields, a separate agency singly monitors air transport to the platforms and a 15-minute response time in the event of an emergency is mandated. 
 
The union also pointed out that Cougar&rsquo;s operations in the Gulf of Mexico provides search-and-rescue emergency service in 20 minutes time. 
 
The CEP also brought to question why no 24-hour military search-and-rescue helicopters are stationed at St. John&rsquo;s, the closest point and major port serving the offshore rigs. Such military craft, called Cormorants, are located in Gander, in central Newfoundland, a travelling time of up to two hours air time to the flight paths used by Cougar. Canadian military officials have neglected to address this issue, or to join the inquiry. 

<img src="" width="120" height="119" alt="" />
Also of concern to oil workers, according to Local 2121 President Sheldon Peddle and Vice President Brian Murphy and the lone survivor of the March 2009 ditching, Robert Decker, is the fact that Cougar&rsquo;s Sikorsky S-92A helicopters are equipped with a large fuel tank inside the cabin that complicates emergency exiting. Decker testified at the Wells inquiry on 6 November 2009. 
 
Peddle said that simulators used for worker safety exercises do not have such cabin impediments. 
 
On 12 March 2009, a Cougar Sikorsky S-92A helicopter carrying two crew members and 16 oil workers ditched into North Atlantic waters, eight minutes after oil pressure readings dropped from instruments that monitor the helicopter&rsquo;s engine gearbox. Two of the 18 on board managed to get out of the cabin after the crash, with only Decker managing to survive in the frigid waters. 
 
The issue of helicopter safety is of utmost importance to the ICEM-International Transport Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITF) Joint Onshore-Offshore Task Force, particularly in view of recent tragedies. On 1 April 2009, 16 workers died tragically in the North Sea when a Eurocopter Super Puma AS 332L2, operated by Bond Offshore Helicopters, ditched on its way to BP&rsquo;s Miller platform in the ETAP oilfields. 
 
On 26 February 2008, the same make craft crashed in southern Atlantic waters, killing five of 17 workers and crew heading to a Petrobras rig. That caused members of ICEM-affiliated FUB, the Oil Workers&rsquo; Federation of Brazil, to boycott the Super Pumas for the next six months. Two other Super Pumas also crashed in the South China Sea in January 2007 and November 2006. And two other ditchings occurred in North Sea waters in the first half of 2009 where, miraculously, nobody was killed.

CEP Testimony in Canadian Offshore Helicopter Crash Leads to Changes

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The ICEM South African affiliate, Chemical, Energy, Pulp, Paper, Wood, and Allied Workers Union (CEPPWAWU), has condemned management&rsquo;s on-going reluctance to take into account union demands at the Azochem Laboratory in Roodeport, near Johannesburg. 
 
Workers at the laboratory have been on strike since 27 November 2009, and their central demand is an end to contract work and placement of temporary workers in direct employment. At a minimum the union demands that, if short-term contract work remains in place, those workers must receive a 13th salary payment, with bonus, and that salaries be paid by the hour with a 10% across-the-board raise. 

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CEPPWAWU Deputy General Secretary Thabane Mdlalose announced that the union will &ldquo;use all mechanisms at our disposal, including mobilizing our members in other sectors to support our members in the Azochem Laboratory.&rdquo; 
 
Azochem management abandoned negotiations when the union brought the dispute before South Africa&rsquo;s Commission for Conciliation, Mediation, and Arbitration (CCMA). The CCMA is an independent dispute resolution body, established under the terms of the Labour Relations Act of 1995. 
 
Azochem is a contract manufacturer of cosmetics and neutraceuticals, with a broad and growing client base in South Africa. 
 
The ICEM is encouraging affiliates and activists to write to Azochem management to call on them to re-enter into negotiations with CEPPWAWU. The chief company contacts are J.C. Fellingham, Jr., Azochem Managing Director, at <a href="mailto:craig@azochem.co.za">craig@azochem.co.za</a> and W.A. Roos, Technical Director, at <a href="mailto:andre@azochem.co.za">andre@azochem.co.za</a>. 

<img alt="" src="" width="120" height="118" />
CEPPWAWU is also fighting another pharmaceutical company, Winthrop, over their continued refusal to reinstate dismissed workers following a July 2009 strike. The CEO of the Pretoria-based multinational has threatened legal proceedings if the union does not cease calls for reinstatement. 
 
The company dismissed 20 union members for their role in the legal strike of July 2009. Eight workers have been reinstated, but 12 are still without jobs. 
 
CEPPWAWU is frustrated with the continued refusal of management to enter into discussions with the union over the issue. Winthrop is part of the large Sanofi Aventis Group, a French-based chemicals and pharmaceutical giant that has remained silent on the dispute. In 2009, Winthrop won a government contract to produce medicine on the condition that they would &ldquo;contribute in saving and creating jobs.&rdquo; CEPPWAWU accuses them of doing just the opposite. 
 
The ICEM joins calls to management of these companies to sit down with CEPPWAWU and resolve the matters amicably. Protest letters may be sent to: CEO John Fagan, 3rd Floor Aventis House, 2nd Bond Street, Midrand, South Africa 1685. The fax is +27 11 256 3700.

CEPPWAWU Defends Temp Workers in Pharmaceutical Strike in South Africa

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The Belgian-Flemish ICEM affiliate, LBC-NVK, held its Congress from 24-26 March 2010 in Mol, Limburg Province, bringing together 600 trade unionists for three days of workshops, discussions, and decision-making. 
 
Ferre Wyckmans, General Secretary of the LBC-NVK, was re-elected, and he is assisted by incumbent Deputy General Secretary, Marijke Persoone. The union&rsquo;s President remains Robert Schuermans. 
 
Working on a number of themes, including &ldquo;decent work,&rdquo; &ldquo;how to take action,&rdquo; a &ldquo;fair economy,&rdquo; and an &ldquo;active government,&rdquo; delegates adopted, on the final Congress day, a wide range of principles dedicated to future work. Among them included priorities on decent salaries (as well as excessive bonuses), good fiscal regulations, the need for high-quality training and education, &ldquo;how to deal with flexibility,&rdquo; and the need for a &ldquo;green economy.&rdquo; 

<img src="" width="195" height="192" alt="" />
LBC-NVK Gen. Sec. Ferre Wyckmanns
On the flexibility issue, LBC-NVK calls for action against the omnipresent &ldquo;increasing flexibility demands.&rdquo; The union, while also calling for temporary and agency labour contracts to be made permanent and direct with a primary employer after six months, seeks to ensure that the already existing Belgian laws on agency and temporary work are better applied, monitored, and sanctioned. Open-ended and direct permanent contracts are &ndash; and need to remain &ndash; the benchmark. 
 
At the international level, the union stated it seeks to increase involvement in global and European activities, including through a more active participation in the Global Union Federations. Specifically highlighted was the need to make the international trade union movement stronger as a countervailing power to match that of multinational enterprises. Framework agreements with multinationals are seen as one of the possible ways forward in this respect. 
 
The LBC-NVK (Landelijke Bedienden Centrale - Nationaal Verbond voor Kaderpersoneel) is a trade union for white collar, professional, and managerial employees in Flanders, Belgium, that is affiliated to the Belgian national labour centre ACV-CSC. It had 315,000 members at the end of 2009, an increase of 6,000 members since 2008. Of all members, 188,000 are women and 127,000 are men.

Belgian-Flemish Affiliate LBC-NVK Conducts Congress in Limburg

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
&ldquo;Expanding borders from Brazil to other Mercosur countries&rdquo; was the central decision taken at the Fifth Meeting of the Solvay Trade Union Network in Curitiba, Paran&aacute;, Brazil, from 29-31 March. 
 
During the first day of the network meetings, the Chemical Workers&rsquo; Union of Bah&iacute;a Blanca of Argentina formally joined the multi-union network, which is now to be called the Solvay Mercosur Trade Union Network. 
 
Solvay is a Belgian-based chemicals company, and the network already had participation from workers at a number of Brazilian locations of the company. 
 
&quot;The principles guiding the network are the same principles guiding our own union work,&rdquo; said Oscar Strutenberg from the Chemical Workers&rsquo; Union of Bah&iacute;a Blanca. &ldquo;We are committed to be together, so we will officially work within the group to boost the network.&rdquo; 

<img alt="" src="" width="235" height="197" />
In fact, representatives from the Argentine union already had participated in two meetings of the network, but now membership is official, a move viewed very positively by the other unions present. 
 
&ldquo;I believe this formal new entry shows the growth and maturity of our network,&rdquo; stated Network Coordinator Juvenil Nunes da Costa from Sindicato dos Quimicos do ABC, a CUT-affiliated regional chemical workers&rsquo; union of S&atilde;o Paulo state. &ldquo;It is an important step in our process, because unions organising workers at the same company in different countries enhances our global alliance.&rdquo; 
 
With the arrival of the Argentine union, the Network is composed of Sindicato dos Quimicos do ABC, Sindicato dos Trabalhadores da Ind&uacute;stria Qu&iacute;mica, Petroqu&iacute;mica (the Chemicals and Plastics Union of S&atilde;o Paulo), the Oil and Chemical Workers&rsquo; Union of Osasco, and the Paran&aacute; Chemical Workers&rsquo; Union. 
 
The next steps for the network will be to create a logo, exchange further information, and schedule common actions of the workers&rsquo; representatives, including a possible trip to ICEM headquarters in Geneva later this year to discuss issues related to effective social dialogue.

Solvay Brazil Union Network Expands to Include Other Mercosur Countries

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The ICEM has issued stern rebuke to the cowardly perpetrators of an assassination attempt on two union officers of the National Oil Workers&rsquo; Union (USO) of Colombia, and calls on the government of President &Aacute;lvaro Uribe to apprehend and prosecute those responsible. On 27 March, in the city of Villavicencio, in Meta Department south of Bogot&aacute;, hired killers on a motorcycle fired automatic weapons at Fernando Navarro and Yesid Prieto, two USO subcommittee officers of Bogot&aacute;. 
 
Although both escaped unharmed, their bodyguard, Antonio Pedro Carre&ntilde;o, was shot and killed. 
 
The attack comes days after USO marked the eight-year anniversary of the assassination of the union&rsquo;s Director, Rafael Jaimes Torra, by paramilitaries. Rafael Jaimes&rsquo; nephew, the only witness to the attack, was also murdered shortly after. 

<img alt="" src="" width="250" height="115" />
ICEM-affiliated USO reported the attack to the Attorney General&rsquo;s office, as well as to national and regional government officials and to the government&rsquo;s ombudsman. USO and the ICEM call on Colombian authorities to investigate this attack as a matter or urgency and to bring those responsible to justice. The union wants assurances from the government, as well as from the state oil company Ecopetrol, that their right to life and right to conduct trade union activities are protected. 
 
Paramilitary groups, such as Cuchillo (Knife) and El Loco Barrera (the Crazy Barrera), intimidate workers and trade unionists in the oil fields without reprimand. Recent public statements by paramilitaries that they receive regular payment from oil companies, has added weight to USO&rsquo;s claim that complicity at many levels is involved in the trade union murder-for-hire racket. 
 
One recently example was the 13 March killing of the teachers&rsquo; union ADIDA activist, Duvian Dario Rojo Cadavid, who was gunned down together with his wife a day after speaking to media about armed groups who extort money from teachers. 

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="138" />
Manfred Warda
&ldquo;The ongoing deaths, assassination attempts, and common forms of threats and intimidation by telephone and other means against trade unionists have got to stop,&rdquo; said ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda. &ldquo;If the Colombian government continues not to take action, then it is up to the world community to take sharp measures against the government of Colombia and its denial that violence impedes free, democratic trade unionism.&rdquo;

Assassination Attempt on USO Leaders in Colombia Kills Bodyguard

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from International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation website 
The ILO is urging the Mexican government to resolve its dispute with the National Miners' and Metalworkers' Union of Mexico (SNTMMSRM) and considers the government has acted in a way that is incompatible with ILO Convention No. 87 on Freedom of Association. 
 
The ILO released on 26 March the interim recommendations of its Committee of Freedom of Association to the Mexican government in response to a complaint on interference in union autonomy lodged by the SNTMMSRM and the International Metalworkers' Federation (IMF) in March 2006, ILO Case No. 2478. 

<img alt="" src="" width="120" height="145" />
The complaint documents how Napole&oacute;n G&oacute;mez Urrutia, the democratically elected general secretary of SNTMMSRM, was forcefully removed from his position after speaking out against the Mexican government and mining company in response to a tragic mine accident in Pasta de Conchos that left 65 miners dead, many of them members of the union. The complaint also documents how the government illegally intervened in independent union activities, forced the dismissal of union leadership, seized union assets, and made government appointments to union elected positions. 
 
In subsequent submissions on Case No. 2478, the union and IMF has also documented ongoing interference and acts of violence by Grupo M&eacute;xico and the Mexican government, including using the national army and federal police to break strikes, kill workers, and arrest union leaders fighting for safer working conditions in Grupo M&eacute;xico-owned mines. 
 
In its recommendations to the ILO Governing Body, the Committee on Freedom of Association states that it &ldquo;considers that the labour authorities engaged in conduct that is incompatible with Article 3 of Convention No. 87, which established the right of workers to elect their representatives in full freedom.&rdquo; 
&ldquo;The Committee deplores the excessive length of the judicial procedures relating to various aspects of the case and the grave prejudice that this has caused to the complainant union&rdquo; and &ldquo;urges for a rapid conclusion of the judicial procedures.&rdquo; 

<img alt="" src="" width="98" height="91" />
The committee requests addition information from the government on several points and in particular on the question of the death of worker Reynaldo Hern&aacute;ndez Gonz&aacute;lez, the use of force by public security forces at the Cananea mine, continuing arrest warrants, freezing of union accounts, threats and acts of violence, including the death and injury of trade unionists. 
 
The Committee calls on all the parties concerned to continue to make efforts within the existing round of negotiations to resolve the collective dispute to which this case results. 
 
A copy of the report is published on the ILO website under Mexico, Freedom of Association Cases, and can be found <a href="http://www.ilo.org/ilolex/english/newcountryframeE.htm ">here</a>.

ILO Backs Los Mineros, Cites Mexican Government with Convention 87 Interference

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