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	Some 250 European trade union militants turned out today at Unilever&#039;s Rotterdam headquarters in the Netherlands to protest the world&#039;s third largest consumer products company&#039;s unrelenting shut-off of a final salary pension scheme for 5,200 UK workers. 
	 
	The manifestation, under the banner &ldquo;Unilever, Don&rsquo;t Make Workers Pay for Your Profits&rdquo;, saw representatives from no less than 23 European trade union organisations, as well as from the ICEM and the International Union of Food and Agriculture Workers&#039; Association (IUF). 
	 
	For three months now, Unilever has been trying to bully UK&#039;s Unite the Union, GMB, and the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (USDAW) into conceding a final salary pension scheme, to replace it with an average career earnings pension plan effective 1 July 2012. Unilever CEO Paul Polman&rsquo;s 2010-11 salary and bonus pay-out equaled &euro;8 million, while Unilever&rsquo;s UK employees face a slash of between 20-40% on their pension earnings.

	<img alt="" src="" style="width: 208px;height: 150px" width="390" />

	At today&#039;s manifestation, led by Unilever&#039;s European Works Council (EWC), the European Mine, Chemical, Energy Federation (EMCEF), and the European Federation of Food, Agriculture, Tourism Trade Unions (EFFAT), rally leaders presented Unilever executive Rupert Chatwin with a declaration. 
	 
	In part, it read: &quot;We are very concerned that Unilever has been pursuing an approach of uncompromising unilateralism in the UK, which may be indicative of a change for the worse in Unilever&#039;s corporate culture. 
	 
	&quot;We believe that Unilever workers in Europe and around the world have good reason to fear for their futures. We have noted (CEO) Paul Polman&#039;s pledge to double Unilever revenue over the next ten years while promoting &#039;sustainable living&#039; but that he says nothing about sustainable employment.&quot;

	<img alt="" src="" style="width: 200px;height: 150px" width="390" />

	Rally leaders present Declaration 
	From left, Michael Wolters, Simon Cox, Unilever&#039;s Rupert Chatwin

	Unilever EWC Chairman Hermann Soggeberg told the gathering, including scores of the company&#039;s UK staff, that on behalf of 30,000 European workers, &quot;We stand by your side in this dispute. You are on the front lines of what is just the beginning of bigger problems facing workers in Western Europe. 
	 
	&quot;The struggle you face in the UK is a struggle we must all tie into.&quot; 
	 
	Other speakers included EMCEF General Secretary Michael Wolters, EFFAT EWC and Transnational Companies&#039; Coordinator Simon Cox, as well as Unite Convenor Bill Hodgson from Unilever&#039;s Port Sunlight plant. 
	 
	Among some of the unions taking part: FNV Bondgenoten of the Netherlands, IGBCE of Germany, PRO-GE of Austria, FGA-CFDT of France, NGG of Germany, Petrol-Is of Turkey, FGTA-FO of France, FITAG-UGT of Spain, CGT of France, FLAI-CGIL, FAI-CISL and UILA-UIL, all of Italy, CNV of the Netherlands, and FGTB/ABVV of Belgium.

	&nbsp;&nbsp;<img alt="" src="" style="width: 95px;height: 160px" width="390" />&nbsp;&nbsp;

	The Rotterdam manifestation comes just days two weeks after Unilever posted a strong set of financial numbers in its latest results and three weeks after UK workers from several Unilever sites descended on Davos, Switzerland, where Polman served as one of the co-chairs at the World Economic Forum.

	Unilever UK management did finally agree to meet with the unions on 9 February with the assistance of UK&rsquo;s Advisory, Conciliation and Mediation Services (ACAS), but the company is still adamant on closing the final salary pension scheme effective 1 July 2012.

Spirited Rotterdam Rally Calls on Unilever to Save UK Pensions

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	Just over a year after a People&rsquo;s Revolution shook Egypt, a glimmer of legislative light regarding trade union freedoms and formation of independent unions has come to the country. On 8 February, the Draft Law on Trade Union Freedoms was submitted to the People&rsquo;s Assembly, the lower house of Egypt&rsquo;s Parliament.

	After months of promises to leaders of the Egyptian Democratic Labour Congress (EDLC) and the Centre for Trade Union and Worker Services (CTUWS) for such legislation, it was introduced just over two weeks from the time the People&rsquo;s Assembly opened its session following elections.

	If enacted, the law would codify many of the core ILO Labour Conventions that Egypt has ratified over the years, but has failed to implement due to draconian laws and decrees by the Mubarak regime, and more recently the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF). Continuing Revolution Party Parliamentarian Aboul Ezz Al-Hariry is said to be championing the new law, and the EDLC and CTUWS &ndash; as well as the newly formed Independent Union of Workers in Electricity and Energy&mdash;are hopeful some provisions of it can still be strengthened.

	The draft law was prepared by Minister of Labour and Migration Ahmed Hassan El-Borai and had been discussed in eight tri-partite meetings of Egypt&rsquo;s Manpower Committee before it was submitted to SCAF, which was silent on it.

	Now officially in Parliament, it will go before the Committee for Suggestions and Complaints and then to special Committees on Manpower and Legislative in public sessions.

	Foremost, the law would guarantee the right of freedom of association and encourage free and independent trade unions to thrive. It is hoped that other debate in Egypt will also occur on adopting an effective minimum wage policy, giving permanent contracts to temporary employees, and lifting bans and penalties on sit-ins, demonstrations and other forms of freedom of expression.

	&ldquo;A year has gone by since the people of Egypt &ndash; most specifically workers&rsquo; groups &ndash; have stood and demanded their freedoms,&rdquo; said ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda. &ldquo;We are encouraged by the Trade Union Freedoms draft law and fully intend to support an Egyptian labour law that is in full compliance with global labour standards.&rdquo;

ICEM Encouraged by Draft Labour Law in Egypt

&nbsp;

	Meeting in Johannesburg, South Africa, on 9 February, the ICEM&rsquo;s Sub-Saharan African Regional Organisation (SSARO) adopted a moving statement that denounces violence against women in the workplace, most specifically a rape and murder earlier this week inside Anglo American Platinum Ltd.&rsquo;s (Amplats) Khomanani Mine in Rustenburg, North West Province.

	ICEM affiliate National Mine Workers (NUM) of South Africa has given North West police until the end of this week to arrest those responsible for this horrific act of violence. The SSARO statement follows:

	&ldquo;On the morning of 6 February, a 28- year-old female worker was violated and murdered underground at Khomanani Mine, which is owned by Amplats, a wholly owned subsidiary of Anglo American.

	&ldquo;This barbaric and neanderthal act against an innocent young worker is the most glaring case of gender-based discrimination against women and abuse of power. Sexual assault is cruel, inhuman, horrible. A mineworker underground on a daily basis has to deal with death or injury that can come from a rock fall or machines. Having to deal with death and violation against your person sexually and otherwise compounds the insecurity of a human being. A fellow worker who was supposed to act as a fellow human being acted as an animal.

	&ldquo;The National Union of Mineworkers has been fighting to enable women to work in mines. This and similar incidents should not be misconstrued to undo the progress that women have made to achieve equal employment rights.&rdquo;

	He who does not love a woman, who does not respect a woman, despises his own mother having come out of a kind womb of a woman.

	&ldquo;As the ICEM African Executive Committee and the ICEM African Women&#039;s Structure, we strongly condemn this atrocious act of barbarism.

	&ldquo;Mines and all workplaces must be safe environments for women and men. It is up to the employer to ensure that the workplace is safe for all. We will be holding the employer accountable for this tragedy.

	&ldquo;We call for a speedy and thorough investigation into these crimes. We are confident that the perpetrators will be brought to justice, whoever they are. We call on the police to do a thorough investigation as the mine has records of who works what shift. We call on them to use all the forensic technology at their disposal to find out who the perpetrator is. We will be following up on this case and checking that justice is done. We also call for a tough sentence for the perpetrator or perpetrators once found.

	&ldquo;This young woman was only 28 years old and had one child, and her future and dreams were destroyed by a barbaric act of violence by a male counterpart. This is the triple oppression that we need to continue to fight against to attain true liberation for African women.

	&ldquo;We call on comrades to rally around this slogan: Not Another Woman Must Be Reaped, Not Another Woman Must Be Murdered.

	&ldquo;We call upon affiliates and sister organisations of ICEM to post this statement on their websites and to disseminate it widely to the press.&rdquo;

ICEM SSARO Condemns Grisly Rape, Murder of Woman inside Amplats Mine

The ICEM&rsquo;s Japanese Affiliates Federation (JAF) has been using many of its own resources, and nearly all of its time and energy to deal with the horrible after effects of last Friday&rsquo;s earthquake and tsunami. The ICEM has been in contact with JAF several times daily in order to determine the federation&rsquo;s needs. What follows is a Circular Letter from General Secretary Manfred Warda to all ICEM affiliates alerting them on how they can help:
Please Contribute: Japanese Earthquake/Tsunami Relief 

Dear ICEM Affiliated Unions, 
 
Many of you have inquired over the past several days the best means to contribute to Relief Funds handling the horrible disaster in Japan. You should know that we have been in constant touch with JAF, the ICEM&rsquo;s Japanese Affiliates Federation, and they have been doing the very best they can, under unimaginable circumstances, to come to the assistance of their electric energy, oil and gas, and other union members in North-east Japan, as well as in other areas. 
 
As is ICEM policy in such natural disasters, we ask that you consider contributions to your local or national Red Cross or UNICEF agencies, with the earmark of Japanese Earthquake/Tsunami Fund. 
 
But we also have been informed by JAF General Secretary Yoshio Sato that JAF has set up an account in its Tokyo Bank to handle relief efforts undertaken by the unions. The bank transfer coordinates there: 
 
Bank Name: Mizuho Bank, Ltd. 
Swift Code: MHBKJPJT 
Branch name: Shiba Branch 
Branch Address: 5-34-7, Shiba, Minato-Ku, Tokyo 108-0014, Japan 
Account Name: Nihon Kagaku Enerugi-Kouzan Roudoukumiai Kyougikai 
Account Number: 054-3316103 
 
Please state in the transfer &ldquo;Earthquake.&rdquo; 
 
Obviously, ICEM and ICEM JAF are very grateful for any and all contributions. And messages of Support and Solidarity can still be sent, addressed to <a href="mailto:icemjaf@blue.ocn.ne.jaf">Yoshio Sato</a>.
Lastly, please take a moment to reflect on the safety and health of the courageous workers, members of JAF affiliate Denryoku Soren, who are working non-stop on the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant. These and other JAF members who are working around the clock on Japanese security, relief efforts, and tending in so many ways to abate this disaster are the real heroes in the world today. They deserve our Support and Solidarity. 
 
Again, thank you for your efforts. 
 
In Solidarity, 
 
Manfred Warda 
General Secretary

ICEM’s Japanese Affiliates Identify Earthquake Relief

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A wage strike broke out last week in Argentina&rsquo;s Zarate-Campana petrochemical complex when members of the Zarate branch of the Federation of Chemical and Petrochemical Workers&rsquo; Unions (FESTIQyPRA) walked out at six companies. Workers and their unions are seeking 2011 wage hikes over a series of instalments that will keep pace with the country&rsquo;s high inflation rate. 
 
The companies affected include Petrobras, Bunge, Rohm and Haas, Lanxess, Atanor, and Dow. At the Petrobras petrochemical plant, production stopped on 5 March due to the company seeking a safe and orderly shutdown. FESTIQyPRA Zarate is negotiating with the Chamber of the Chemical and Petrochemical Industry (CIQyP), and the sides are now in mediation that is being conducted by the Argentina&rsquo;s Ministry of Work. 
<img alt="" src="" width="120" height="117" />
FESTIQyPRA&rsquo;s Nelson Palacios said workers are justified in asking for a general 25% pay rise, with minimum wage workers expected to gain more. FESTIQyPRA Zarate also seeks a fixed remuneration sum of ARS 2,463 (&euro;437, US$611) added to the base wage between May 2011 and February 2012. 
 
Palacios said the union&rsquo;s proposal calls for 30% of the total to be awarded in May 2011, with other increments to follow in October, December, and in February 2012. Several collective agreements in Argentina are on the brink of dispute, including ones in metals, oil and gas, and in service industries. CGT General Secretary Hugo Moyano has stated that a 2011 increase of 28% is in line for workers to meet the rampant run-up in Argentina&rsquo;s inflation rate. 
 
FESTIQyPRA is affiliated to CGT. The Zarate-Campana petrochemical plants are in northeast Argentina, in Buenos Aires province and situated on the Paran&aacute; River.

FESTIQyPRA Zarate Branch in Argentina Strikes 6 Chemical Companies

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Elefsina, an industrial town on the outskirts of Athens, was the venue for the 38th Congress of ICEM &ndash; affiliated trade union, the Pan-Hellenic Federation of Employees in Petroleum Products, Refineries and Chemical Industry. ICEM Energy Officer, Jim Catterson represented the ICEM at the Congress which brought together several hundred delegates together with guests from the across the political spectrum of Greek political parties as well as international trade union guests from Cyprus, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, and Turkey.
<img alt="" src="" width="252" height="189" />
The world economic crisis and its effects on the Greek economy with the imposition by government of a severe austerity package was subject to extensive and lively debate, including the messages from both political and international guests who also discussed the RETUN-SEE network of Energy Unions, the future role of Greece as a transit country for gas and petroleum supplies to European Union countries as well as the changing economics and structures of European petroleum refining. 
 
The Congress elected a Presidium to guide the union&rsquo;s work in the next Congress period. It will elect the President and other leading officials of the union at its first meeting. 
<img alt="" src="" width="365" height="141" />
Prior to the Congress the union arranged a first meeting between ICEM and senior management of Hellenic Petroleum, a significant multinational involved in Petroleum refining and distribution throughout the Balkans, as well as exploration in both Macedonia and Egypt. Jim Catterson was able to describe ICEM priorities in the industry including Global Framework Agreements as well as discuss in general the challenges facing the industry, ranging from the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico to the present turmoil in the Middle East and North Africa.

Petroleum, Energy Workers of Greece Celebrate 38th Congress

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The 28 affiliates of the Confederation of Trade Unions of Slovakia (KOZ) have the antidote for centre-right coalition government intent on imposing dreaded labour laws reforms in the Central European country. KOZ and its trade unions have launched a petition drive to change the eight-hour work day to one of seven and a 25-hour work week, with no reduction in salaries. 
 
The campaign already has the necessary 350,000 signatures needed to put an initiative up for vote under Slovakia&rsquo;s referendum law. But the unions will continue collecting signatures, in part, to galvanise support against Prime Minister Iveta Radicova&rsquo;s labour code revisions to cut worker protections. 
<img alt="" src="" width="140" height="142" />
KOZ has drawn up a draft referendum that poses three questions to Slovak citizens: Do you want to preserve the current system of worker protections? Do you agree that overtime work should be limited to 80 hours per year? Do you want working time shortened to 35 hours per week? 
 
Leaders in the ruling coalition parties claim that if accepted, employers will reduce costs by furloughing workers. But union leaders argue that reducing the number of work hours can produce jobs if fair and socially correct policies are enacted by the government. 
 
The labour-friendly Smer-Social Democracy Party is the one political party supporting KOZ&rsquo;s campaign. 
 
In order for a plebiscite to become effective in the Slovak Republic, at least 50% of voting-age people must turn out for the referendum vote. Since 1993, the country has held seven such plebiscites and only once has achieved the necessary 50% &ndash; in 2003 when Slovakian citizens voted to join the EU.

Slovak Trade Unions Campaign for 7-Hour Work Day

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ICEM-affiliated mineworkers&rsquo; unions know the difficulties in dealing with Rio Tinto, whether it is collective agreements or the charades the company plays to deny legitimate rights for train drivers in western Australia&rsquo;s rich iron ore region. Now an Australian union has set as goal organizing the unorganized plants of Rio Tinto Alcan, the mining giant&rsquo;s aluminum smelting subsidiary there. 
 
The Australian Workers Union (AWU) is currently ramping up a recruiting drive at Alcan factories in Tasmania, Queensland, and the Northern Territory and without surprise, is meeting fierce resistance by Rio&rsquo;s managers. 
 
AWU kicked off its union campaign to deliver better wages and benefits to all workers at Alcan plants last month at its National Delegates Conference. The union intends to do that by recruiting wall-to-wall, or every worker at smelting facilities in Bell Bay, Tasmania, and Yarwun and Boyne Island, Queensland, that does not carry a union card. 
 
AWU began the drive in earnest last week by placing advertisements in Tasmanian newspapers alerting the public and workers at Alcan&rsquo;s Bell Bay smelter that Tassie staff are paid far less than at two union-represented smelters of Alcoa in Victoria. The ads, titled &ldquo;Tassie Workers Deserve Better: Fair Go &ndash; Rio Tinto,&rdquo; reveal that Alcoa operators earn up to A$20,000 more per year than operators at Bell Bay. 
<img alt="" src="" width="188" height="251" />
AWU Newspaper advert 
Photo: AWU 
It was at Bell Bay, in northern Tasmania, in late February where the AWU won a health and safety victory for the 550 workers there. Late in February, a state Justice Department of Justice secretary issued a definitive ruling that AWU representatives must be allowed access to break areas of the plant to consult with union members over safety and work issues. The company had appealed a Tasmania Supreme Court judgment giving the AWU right-of-entry. 
 
Alcan managers at Bell Bay have undertaken vigorous litigation to block access by attempting to restrict union consultation with workers to outside conference rooms, areas where such meetings are in full view of managers. (See previous <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4195-Court-Tosses-Rio’s-Australian-Appeal-on-Safety-‘Right-of-Access’">ICEM InBrief report</a>.) Right-of-entry to lunch rooms is seen by Aussie unions as a pivotal point under Fair Work Australia in order to rid fear and intimidation as factors in workers choosing union membership. 
 
Alcan &ndash; and Rio Tinto &ndash; resistance to unionization was also seen recently at an Alcan facility called Gove Alumina in the Northern Territory. There, members of the Australia Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU) have since 2008 rejected three times in enterprise bargaining a demand from Alcan to change roster scheduling at the 403-worker refinery. 
 
Despite enterprise bargaining talks still in effect, last week a leaked e-mail surfaced revealing that Alcan management had advised that the next set of talks not include the designated AMWU representatives. Such an attempt to circumvent the union is a serious breach of Australian federal labour law. 
 
The anti-union bias pattern that Rio&rsquo;s Alcan managers use is best summarized by a labour leader in central Queensland, where AWU is seeking worker power and workplace gains at Yarwun and Boyne Island, both sites that have low union membership. The Gladstone Branch president of the Queensland Council of Trade Unions, Craig Giddens, described the difference between construction of the Yarwun facility and commencement of production, a point when Alcan installed security cameras and heavy locked gates. &ldquo;Whenever we go&rdquo; to meet with workers, Giddens told newspaper reporters, &ldquo;we&rsquo;re locked in an office at the front (and) there&rsquo;s a security camera at the front so management can watch who comes down.&rdquo;

Australian Union Seeks ‘Wall-to-Wall’ Recruitment at Rio Tinto Alcan

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In April, the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) will begin searching for union members in the metals and engineering sector who retired between 1980 and 2001. The reason is that NUMSA last month won a long-running battle through arbitration with South Africa&rsquo;s Steel and Engineering Industry Federation. 
 
The arbitrated judgement is an award for R20 billion (&euro;209 million, US$290 million) in surplus pension funds that had been withheld by the employers&rsquo; federation for decades. 
 
NUMSA fought in court and through negotiation channels for the right to disburse the surplus entitlement funds. The money was accumulated in both the Engineering Industries Pension Fund and the Metal Industries Provident Fund since the 1950s. 
<img alt="" src="" width="130" height="78" />
The surplus was accumulated and held when worker contributions to the funds were never paid out to staff who had not reached the vesting scale of ten years employment, or when NUMSA members failed to claim pensions when they retired or resigned. ICEM-affiliated NUMSA began battling for disbursement in 2001, but the case was not resolved because employers imposed many legal entanglements to block any disbursement. 
 
The Steel and Engineering Industry Federation insisted that South Africa&rsquo;s Labour Relations Act (LRA) apply in settling the issue. NUMSA and the Financial Services Board argued that surplus monies should come under the Pension Fund Act because the LRA had no provision for addressing pension issues. Finally, in 2008, the LRA was amended to address pensions and the two sides began negotiations. It was resolved in February through arbitration in the union&rsquo;s favour. 
 
Some 1.5 million former and current NUMSA members will now benefit. A total of R11 billion (&euro;115 million, US$160 million) will be paid out to former or retired members, while R9 billion (&euro;94 million, US$130 million) will go into existing funds to buoy those funds for the benefit of current NUMSA members. 
 
Said NUMSA National Benefits Coordinator Samuel Tsiane, &ldquo;Now it becomes our task to locate former members to deliver what belongs to them.&rdquo; Tsiane said a small part of the pay-out will go to the union to achieve this and in April, NUMSA will utilise 450 people to conduct an initial ten-day blitz to identify retired or former metal or engineering staff. The pay-outs are expected to start being made in September.

NUMSA Wins 20-Billion-Rand Surplus Pension Case

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
A precedent-setting case for South African miners was won in the nation&rsquo;s highest court on 3 March. The landmark case is expected to allow thousands of miners stricken with life-threatening respiratory and other diseases to sue companies under common law in South Africa. 
 
The Constitutional Court ten days ago overturned a Supreme Court of Appeal judgement and grants a former AngloGold Ashanti worker the right to sue the company for contracting silicosis. The worker, Thembekile Mankayi, died six days before the monumental ruling, and now it is up to his family whether or not to continue the case. 
 
The Supreme Court and a lower court had ruled against Mankayi because he had received compensation under South Africa&rsquo;s Occupational Diseases in Mines and Works Act (Odimwa). He had received a paltry R16,320 (&euro;1,706, US$2,350) after it was determined he was ill with tuberculosis and silicosis from AngloGold&rsquo;s silica quartz dust after working inside the Vaal Reefs mine from 1979 to 1995. 
 
The Supreme Court of Appeal upheld a June 2008 Johannesburg High Court ruling dismissing Mankayi&rsquo;s claim of R2.6 million (&euro;271,800, US$374,400) against AngloGold for lost income and other compensation. Mankayi was seeking the monetary judgement under South Africa&rsquo;s Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act of 1993 (Coita). In upholding the lower court, the Supreme Court stated that Section 35(1) of Coita barred a worker from bringing a claim against an employer once that worker collected under Odimwa. 
<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="142" />
NUM General Secretary Frans Baleni 
But in the 3 March ruling, Constitutional Court Judge Sisi Khampepe ruled that the Supreme Court &ldquo;had erred in concluding&rdquo; the two pieces of legislation had the same compensatory structure, adding the difference between the two was apparent. 
 
&ldquo;If Coida removes Mr. Mankayi&rsquo;s common law right to claim compensation for negligence, employees in his position &hellip; would be left without an effective remedy to rectify the harm caused by the negligence of employers,&rdquo; Khampepe wrote, adding, &ldquo;Mineworkers, African (ones) in particular, have contributed enormously to this country&rsquo;s wealth at great cost to themselves and their health. The impugned legislation affects many vulnerable members of society.&rdquo; 
 
Judge Khampepe ordered AngloGold to pay the court costs for Mankayi, and the ruling opens the way for his family to return to the Johannesburg High Court to again lay claim to R2.6 million. In a statement following the 3 March judgement, the company said if the executor wishes to pursue litigation there, &ldquo;AngloGold Ashanti will defend the case on its merits.&rdquo; 
 
Sadly, Thembekile Mankayi died of the disease on 25 February, leaving a wife and ten children. 
 
ICEM affiliate National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) hailed the high court&rsquo;s ruling, calling it an achievement and a breakthrough. &ldquo;For many years mining employers had sent hundreds of thousands of poor, sick miners home to die,&rdquo; said General Secretary Frans Baleni. We will remain &ldquo;at the forefront of ensuring that employers pay for their long forgotten sins.&rdquo;

South African High Court Overrules AngloGold in Landmark Silicosis Case

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