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More than 1500 trade unionists participated in a torch-lit march in the city centre of Gent, Belgium, yesterday, protesting against the shocking behaviour of the management of Stora Enso&rsquo;s paper mill in Langerbrugge, near Gent. 
 
 

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At the heart of the demonstration were the two Belgian trade union representatives&nbsp;that Stora Enso, a Finnish-Swedish multinational headquartered in Helsinki, Finland, dismissed at the end of last year for their union activities. For the full background see: <a href="/?id=77&amp;doc=1638&amp;la=EN">Stora Enso Retaliates Against Union Leaders in Gent, Belgium (3 February 2006)</a>. 
 
 

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An ICEM delegation, led by Fred Higgs, ICEM General Secretary,&nbsp;participated in the protest march. The presence of the ICEM highlighted the international character of the dispute, as the ICEM representatives carried the banner of the Canadian Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada (CEP), another ICEM affiliate also facing an attack by Stora Enso management. 
 
One similarity between the disputes in Canada and Belgium is the desire of the company to have unchecked freedom in contracting out jobs, thereby seriously jeopardising job security at Stora Enso facilities. Another similarity is the blatantly anti-union behaviour. Stora Enso is becoming increasingly known as a company showing little or no regard for the rights of its workers and their unions in its chase of higher profitability. 
 
 

<img height="230" alt="" src="" width="250" />
 
At the march, flags were exchanged between representatives of the ICEM, in the name of CEP, and the Belgian ACCG, in a display of solidarity between the Canadian unionists and the Belgian protesters. Discussions took place between the two unions and the ICEM in Brussels last week. 
 
 

<img height="236" alt="" src="" width="380" />

Protest March Against Stora Enso Behaviour in Belgium

The UN's International Labour Organisation (ILO) should send a special Commission of Enquiry to Colombia without delay to investigate the widespread murder and abduction of trade unionists there. 
 
That is the call today from global unions representing more than 160 million workers worldwide. 
 
In an unusual move, the labour proposal was issued jointly by the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) and all of the global unions' sector-by-sector International Trade Secretariats, including the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM). 
 
This underlines global labour's deep concern over the rising tide of violence in Colombia. Trade unionists there are among the most frequent targets for assassination - mainly by right-wing death squads, and sometimes also by guerrilla movements. At least 129 Colombian trade unionists were murdered in 2000, and up to now, at least 63 more have been assassinated this year. Others have &quot;disappeared&quot;. Trade unionists and their families face constant threats and intimidation. 
 
Within the ILO, the world's governments, unions and employers meet on equal terms. They adopt international standards on, amongst other things, the protection of trade union rights. The ILO's annual conference is currently in session in Geneva. 
 
Addressing its plenary this afternoon, ICFTU General Secretary Bill Jordan will call on government and employer delegates to support the global unions' proposal for an enquiry on Colombia. 
 
If a special Commission of Inquiry finds persistent abuse of labour rights in a country, the ILO can ultimately call for the international community to take measures against the government concerned. This has recently happened in the case of Burma, over its systematic use of forced labour. 
 
The ILO commission should investigate all aspects of trade union rights in Colombia, the global unions say. It should establish who is to blame - both directly and indirectly - for the killings, abductions and threats against trade unionists. It should also gauge the overall social effects of these anti-union activities in a country where the trade unions are among the few remaining forces for peace and reconciliation. 
 
And it should examine closely why the Colombian government has not been taking adequate measures to guarantee the security of trade unionists, in line with ILO standards and the recommendations repeatedly made by the United Nations. A report this March by the Office on Colombia of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights found that the State had not decisively assumed its responsibility to guarantee the safety of trade unions and other sectors particularly at risk. 
 
Similarly, the unions say, employers in Colombia should be taking proper steps to ensure that trade unionists are safe from attack in the workplace and on the way to and from work. 
 
The global unions' proposal will now be examined by the ILO Governing Body. Other organisations that have called for an ILO Commission of Inquiry on Colombia include Amnesty International and the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights in Colombia.

Colombian Killings: 63 Trade Unionists Murdered Since January

Electricity workers in Pakistan have been staging protest strikes over the arrest of a union leader, according to reports reaching the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM). 
 
Pirzada Imtiaz Syed, General Secretary of the ICEM-affiliated Pakistan WAPDA Labour Union (PWLU) was arrested on 1 June. WAPDA is the Pakistani electricity utility, currently facing privatisation plans. 
 
Pirzada was arrested during a raid on the union's headquarters by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA). The raid was a very violent one, during which a member of the union staff had his arm broken, computers and other equipment were smashed and the PWLU's files were seized. 
 
No reason was given for Pirzada's arrest. 
 
It is understood that he is still being detained by the FIA in Lahore. An application for his release on bail was rejected yesterday. The judge reportedly said that Pirzada would be brought before a court on 12 June, but refused to specify the charges against him. 
 
&quot;If any criminal charges are to be preferred against Pirzada Imtiaz Syed, I request you to inform me of the nature of those charges,&quot; wrote ICEM General Secretary Fred Higgs in a message to General Pervez Musharraf, the Chief Executive of Pakistan. &quot;If no such charges have been brought, I urge you to ensure his immediate and unconditional release from detention. In either case, I request your assurance that he is being detained in humane conditions and is not subject to ill-treatment of any kind.&quot; 
 
Higgs has also requested a meeting with Pakistan's charg&eacute; d'affaires in Brussels.

Pakistan Power Workers Strike After Leader&#039;s Arrest

Industrial workers face a double challenge from climate change. 
 
For workers and their families, changes in the world's climate have big implications for living standards, lifestyles, the supply and price of food, and health and safety. 
 
But on the other hand, measures to limit those changes are seen as a major threat to industrial jobs. 
 
So must we choose between environment and employment? Between environment and development? 
 
Not necessarily, says a position paper adopted today by unions representing the world's energy workers - and workers in some of the world's most energy-intensive process industries. 
 
A &quot;just transition&quot; within industry is the key to minimising climate change while maximising jobs, says the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM). The detailed paper &quot;Labour and Climate Change&quot; was approved today by the ICEM's global Executive Committee, currently in session in Brussels. 
 
The ICEM feels a particular responsibility to help define, refine and promote the concept of sustainable development. Many ICEM-affiliated workers around the world &quot;are directly employed in the energy industries - coal mining, oil and gas extraction and processing and power generation.&quot; And &quot;the majority of the other industries in which the ICEM is involved - chemicals, pharmaceuticals, rubber, ceramics - are heavy energy users.&quot; 
 
Tackling climate change and other environmental problems is therefore seen as a special challenge. &quot;Not only will there be major industry restructuring required,&quot; the ICEM warns, &quot;but unions and governments may find themselves in conflict if a major effort is not made to find a globally just and substainable solution.&quot; 
 
And how is that conflict to be avoided? Certainly not by ignoring the problem, the ICEM insists. &quot;Just transition&quot; implies an acceptance that industry will have to make big changes. Better to start now, and to plan the transition properly, than to face panic measures and social chaos a few years hence. 
 
At the same time, industry alone will not be able to solve all the problems. As the ICEM points out, the choices made by individuals, as consumers, will be equally important. 
 
 
ACTION POINTS 
 
Among the ICEM paper's main recommendations: 
 
- CARBON TAXES, in other words taxes on the use of fossil fuels, &quot;must be considered carefully by ICEM unions.&quot; On balance and over time, &quot;increased taxes on natural resources, including a carbon tax on fossil fuels, will lead to more jobs in other industries. However, the clear consequence is also that resource and energy-intensive industries are penalised... The jobs that may be created from cuts in labour taxes as a result of a carbon tax are not immediately likely to go to those workers who lose their jobs in power generation and energy-intensive industry.&quot; But &quot;in assessing the cost of this to the members of ICEM unions we need to bear in mind that massive employment losses in many ICEM industries are already occurring as a result of technological change and market forces. Carbon taxes will accelerate that problem, but how much of an additional contributor will they be?&quot; If ICEM unions are confronted with carbon tax proposals, the paper argues, they should also negotiate to have the tax revenues directed towards reducing the taxes and charges on labour - thus creating jobs - and to funding &quot;just transition&quot; programmes for affected workers. 
 
- EMISSIONS TRADING, under which a country, industry or company can purchase part of another's right to emit climate change gases, receives qualified support. &quot;ICEM unions should give serious consideration to supporting emissions trading both within and amongst nations. The main caveat is that emission-trading systems should not be relied upon to be the primary means of reducing emissions, as that will unfairly penalise ICEM industries and workers because emission-trading will focus on carbon dioxide and the energy industries to the exclusion of other greenhouse gases and other emission sources.&quot; 
 
- TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER is vital if the world is to be united in its efforts to tackle climate change. &quot;ICEM unions in both developed and developing countries have a major interest in the transfer of appropriate technology to developing countries to help mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. However, the transfer of such technologies should involve more than a simple 'zero sum' achievement where jobs are concerned - such that the transfer costs are not predominantly borne by workers.&quot; 
 
- THE UN'S INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANISATION, THE EUROPEAN UNION AND THE OECD must be pressed &quot;to address, in particular, the implications for job security and job creation of the various climate change mitigation measures being considered.&quot; To that end, the ICEM will continue to actively support a climate change discussion launched between TUAC and BIAC, the union and employer advisory committees to the OECD. 
 
- In general, DIALOGUE BETWEEN UNIONS AND EMPLOYERS ON CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION MEASURES is essential. Particularly important are &quot;shared commitments to energy efficiency, energy conservation and emissions in ICEM industries.&quot; In many such industries, &quot;there is substantial scope to reduce energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. In some cases these do not require large capital investments and are able to reduce costs to business. Workers can be one of the drivers for this change if they are empowered to do so.&quot; 
 
- One way of building up workers' interest and participation in this issue is to INCLUDE ENVIRONMENTAL TARGETS IN COLLECTIVE BARGAINING. Where environmental measures actually save the company money, &quot;the bargaining arrangements should provide for sharing of the financial gains.&quot; Where such measures entail additional costs and/or adversely affect a firm's market position, &quot;collective bargaining should provide for consultation over least-cost responses, including minimisation of job losses.&quot; 
 
<a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/labourandclimatechangeEN.pdf">Labour And Climate Change 
</a> 
<a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/LabourAndClimateChangeFR.pdf">Monde du Travail et Changement climatique</a> 
 
<a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/LabourAndClimateChangeGE.pdf">Die Position der Gewerkschaften zum Problem der globalen Klimaver&auml;nderungen 
</a> 
<a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/LabourAndClimateChangeJA.pdf">労働組合と気候変動 </a> 
 
<a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/LabourAndClimateChangeRU.pdf">Трудящиеся и изменение климата 
</a> 
<a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/LabourAndClimateChangeSP.pdf">El trabajo y el cambio clim&aacute;tico 
</a> 
<a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/LabourAndClimateChangeSW.pdf">Arbetarna och klimatf&ouml;r&auml;ndringen</a>

Environment? Employment? We Can Have Both!

The world's pharmaceutical and allied workers' unions today issued a strong protest over plans by multinational Roche to cut 3,000 jobs. 
 
Roche workers in the US, Britain and Switzerland will be hit particularly hard by the dismissals. Announced last night, the cutbacks have already caused protest demonstrations in Basle, Switzerland. Roche currently employs some 65,000 people worldwide, of which about 41,000 are in the pharmaceutical sector. 
 
Roche's decision is &quot;one more example of an economic logic that prescribes the maximisation of profits, to the greater good of shareholders and the detriment of wage-earners.&quot; So says the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM) in an emergency resolution adopted by its Executive in Brussels today. 
 
The ICEM denounces &quot;this short-term economic vision which seeks to sacrifice the interests of employees and of the community in order to achieve immediate high returns on capital.&quot; It encourages its affiliated unions to &quot;organise at the international level, so as to resist these job cuts and remind Roche of its social responsibilities.&quot;

World&#039;s Pharma Unions Protest Roche Job Cuts

Worker shareholders at energy multinational Unocal&rsquo;s annual meeting in the US yesterday challenged the company&rsquo;s support for the Burmese military dictatorship. 
 
Representatives of the US national trade union federation AFL-CIO and the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers&rsquo; Unions (ICEM) supported two shareholder resolutions addressing Unocal&rsquo;s involvement in human rights abuses in Burma. 
 
One of the largest pension funds in the world, the California Public Employees&rsquo; Retirement System (CalPERS), announced that it was voting for the two resolutions. CalPERS has assets totalling more than US$ 151 billion. 
 
Proponents of the resolutions contend that the company&rsquo;s involvement in Burma creates substantial risk. Unocal is the only US-based company with significant direct investments in the Burmese oil and gas industry, one of the country&rsquo;s most strategic sectors. 
 
&quot;Working people who invest in Unocal want to make sure that the company isn&rsquo;t propping up the military regime in Burma, which condones forced labour and other human rights abuses,&quot; said AFL-CIO President John Sweeney. &quot;It&rsquo;s about time that the company starts focusing on creating long-term sustainable value, which includes becoming a good corporate citizen and minimising its risk exposure to serious human rights violations.&quot; 
 
The first resolution, sponsored by the LongView Collective Investment Fund of the Amalgamated Bank of New York, urged the Unocal board of directors to adopt, implement and enforce a code of conduct based on workplace human rights standards set by the UN's International Labour Organisation (ILO). 
 
The second resolution, sponsored by Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers, the Interfaith Center of Corporate Responsibility, As You Sow Foundation, and Walden Asset Management, urged the Unocal board of directors to appoint a special committee of the board to review ways to link executive compensation with the company&rsquo;s ethical and social performance. 
 
DISINVESTMENT CALLS GROW 
 
In November 2000, the ILO approved a resolution urging its member governments, employers and unions to &quot;review their relations with Burma&quot; and &quot;ensure that such relations do not perpetuate the system of forced or compulsory labour in that country.&quot; 
 
A recent proclamation issued by the ICEM's energy union affiliates from the Asia/Pacific region, meeting in Bangkok, Thailand, called on oil and gas companies to &quot;cease investment in Burma while the use of forced labour continues.&quot; The unions represented were from Australia, Bangladesh, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. The ICEM is a global trade union federation uniting more than 20 million workers. 
 
Yesterday's shareholder resolutions were voted down at the Unocal meeting, but they contributed to the growing disquiet among Unocal shareholders about the company's involvement in Burma. 
 
Unocal may face significant liabilities because of its investments there. The company is a participant in a US$ 1.2 billion joint venture with the Burmese government in the Yadana gas pipeline, a project on which forced labour was used. 
 
A lawsuit against Unocal by Burmese plaintiffs in a US district court in California was dismissed last August but is currently under appeal. Judge Ronald Lew stated in his opinion: &quot;The evidence does suggest that Unocal knew that forced labour was being utilised and the Joint Venturers (including Unocal) benefited from the practice.&quot; In addition, a federal court has now ruled that a similar case can proceed in a state court, addressing Unocal&rsquo;s involvement in human rights violations. 
 
Since the beginning of this year, Unocal has had a new CEO, Charles R. Williamson, and a new chairman of the board, John W. Creighton, raising expectations that the company will reassess its Burmese operations.

Burma Rights Violations: Unocal Urged to Withdraw

Worker shareholders are stepping up their global campaign to end corporate support for Burma's military dictatorship. 
 
At Halliburton's annual meeting in the US today, union representatives will speak in favour of a shareholder resolution addressing the company's involvement in human rights abuses in Burma. 
 
The union speakers will be from the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM) and the US national labour federation AFL-CIO. 
 
Halliburton, the energy giant formerly headed by American Vice-President Dick Cheney, is one of the few US-based companies with investments in Burma. The Burmese government is noted for massive human rights violations and involvement in narcotics trafficking. 
 
The shareholder resolution, sponsored by the LongView Collective Investment Fund of the Amalgamated Bank of New York, urges the Halliburton board of directors to report on the company's operations in Burma. The resolution asks what steps Halliburton has taken to ensure &quot;that neither Halliburton nor any of its subsidiaries is involved in or appears to benefit from the use of forced labour or other human rights abuses in Burma.&quot; 
 
&quot;Working people who invest in Halliburton want to know if its operations in Burma prop up a military regime which condones forced labour and other human rights abuses,&quot; said AFL-CIO President John Sweeney. &quot;The LongView resolution at Halliburton is a positive measure in the best interests of its shareholders that will lead toward compliance with internationally-recognised workers' rights.&quot; 
DISINVESTMENT CALL 
 
In November 2000, the UN's International Labour Organisation (ILO) approved a resolution urging members to &quot;review their relations with Burma&quot; and &quot;ensure that such relations do not perpetuate the system of forced or compulsory labour in that country.&quot; 
 
&quot;The ILO has clearly ruled that forced labour is continuing and systematic in Burma, and our energy unions in that region have made their views very plain,&quot; said Fred Higgs, ICEM General Secretary. &quot;We call upon Halliburton to disinvest from Burma. We cannot condone any economic activity which directly or indirectly supports the regime in Burma until full democracy and human rights, including workers' rights, are restored there.&quot; 
 
A recent proclamation issued by the ICEM's energy union affiliates from the Asia/Pacific region, meeting in Bangkok, Thailand, called on oil and gas companies to &quot;cease investment in Burma while the use of forced labor continues.&quot; The unions represented were from Australia, Bangladesh, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. The ICEM is a global trade union federation uniting 20 million workers in 390 affiliated unions in 107 countries. 
 
Halliburton's recent activities in Burma include its participation in the Yadana pipeline, a project that used forced labour. The Yadana pipeline is one of the largest foreign investments in Burma, projected to provide the military-controlled regime with US$150-400 million annually for decades. Unocal, another US company doing business in Burma, is being sued by victims of forced labour on the Yadana project. Halliburton's involvement in the Yadana project occurred during Vice-President Cheney's tenure as CEO of the company. 
 
In addition, Halliburton has been instrumental in efforts to oppose sanctions on Burma through its strong involvement with USA-Engage and the National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC), two powerful industry groups. Vice-President Cheney last autumn defended his former company's operations on the CNN talkshow Larry King Live. Cheney stated that &quot;you have to operate in some very difficult places and oftentimes in countries that are governed in a manner that's not consistent with our principles here in the United States.&quot; 
 
&quot;The struggle for human and workplace rights in Burma has been critical for our union for many years,&quot; notes Joe Drexler, Director of Special Projects of ICEM American affiliate the Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers International Union (PACE). &quot;Our members don't want their retirement savings invested by Halliburton in brutal dictatorships that use forced labour. It's just wrong.&quot; PACE represents workers in the US oil and gas industry. 
 
The situation in Burma violates the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, including the right to no forced labour. Unions around the world have recently launched a campaign to make sure workers know these rights, distributing an ILO-produced poster (see below) in workplaces and communities worldwide.

Unions Challenge Halliburton Over Burma Ties

Shareholders in mining multinational BHP should vote against a proposed merger with Billiton plc. 
 
That is the call from seven unions representing most of BHP's Australian and New Zealand workers. 
 
Launched at a press conference in Australia yesterday, the joint union lobby includes a &quot;Vote No&quot; letter to BHP shareholders and an advertising campaign in the press. 
 
It is part of a groundswell of opposition to the merger deal. Corporate Governance International, which counsels large institutional investors, is understood to have advised rejection of the plan. 
 
The proposed merger between UK-based Billiton and Australian-headquartered BHP will be put to BHP shareholders at an extraordinary general meeting in Melbourne on 18 May. If the deal went through, it would create the second-largest natural resources company in the world. 
 
The unions say they have two main interests in the affair: 
 
&quot;Firstly, BHP's workforce is a major stakeholder in the company. Tens of thousands of Australians and New Zealanders - mostly union members - have laboured in BHP over the decades. These workers built the company and are entitled to know that any merger decisions are soundly-based, in our interests and that of the nation as a whole. Good business decisions enhance our security of employment. Poor decisions are inevitably paid for by the workforce as much as by shareholders. In the last decade, BHP workers have endured cost-cutting, retrenchments and work speed-ups to make up for losses sustained elsewhere. 
 
&quot;Secondly, many union members employed by BHP are shareholders in the company directly or via their savings in superannuation schemes and other investment vehicles. We are concerned that the merger proposal represents poor value for these investments in both the short and longer term.&quot; 
 
They argue that the deal is poorly structured because: 
 
- No independent report on the proposal has been released 
 
- BHP assets have been undervalued relative to those of Billiton 
 
- The merger proposal is earnings dilutive for BHP shareholders in the short term 
 
- BHP shares may trade at a discount to Billiton shares after the merger 
 
- Bonuses for top management cannot be voted on separately 
 
- Board accountability for medium term outcomes is not adequate. 
 
 
The seven unions are the Association of Professional Engineers, Scientists and Managers, Australia; the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union; the Australian Workers Union; the Communications, Electrical and Plumbing Union; the Construction, Forestry, Mining &amp; Energy Union; the Maritime Union of Australia; and the New Zealand Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union. 
 
At the global level, most of them are affiliated to the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM). 
 
&quot;We fully support the campaign by our Australian and New Zealand colleagues,&quot; said ICEM General Secretary Fred Higgs in Brussels today. &quot;Workers are stakeholders. The BHP workers have every right to question this proposal, which could put the future of their company at risk. We wish them success in securing a 'No' vote.&quot;

Mining Mega-Merger Opposed: BHP Deal with Billiton is Flawed

Pressure to end forced labour in Burma and restore democracy has been stepped up by the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM). 
 
In the USA, the ICEM today urged shareholders of energy multinational Unocal to support two Burma-related resolutions on human rights and ethical conduct, to be voted on at the company's upcoming May 21 annual meeting. 
 
Meanwhile, ICEM Asia-Pacific has launched a poster, leaflet and Internet campaign to rally support for the Burmese workers. It says that unions in the region should ask companies to pull out of Burma, and should, if necessary, prepare to organise consumer boycotts of any firms that refuse to do so. 
 
&quot;The ICEM has consistently pressed multinational companies in its industries to withdraw from Burma until full democracy and human rights, including trade union rights, are restored there,&quot; commented ICEM General Secretary Fred Higgs in Brussels today. &quot;Through the US shareholder lobby, the Asia-Pacific action and other means, we are now intensifying that campaign.&quot; 
 
Investigations by the UN's International Labour Organisation had &quot;shown beyond any shadow of a doubt that the use of forced labour in Burma is as systematic as it is brutal,&quot; Higgs said. &quot;The ILO has advised companies, states and international organisations to review their relations with Burma, so as to ensure that they do not in any way support or condone forced labour. 
 
&quot;We once again call upon all companies in our sectors to disinvest from Burma,&quot; he said. &quot;This applies not least to those oil and gas corporations whose continued presence there is helping to prop up one of the world's most repressive regimes. 
 
&quot;Any company that continues to do business with the Burmese junta will do itself great discredit,&quot; Higgs pointed out. &quot;So will any company that continues to do business with the Burmese state oil company MOGE, which has helped to launder the money generated by the junta's worldwide trafficking of illegal narcotics.&quot; 
 
 
In the US, the first of the ICEM-backed resolutions for the Unocal annual meeting is sponsored by the LongView Collective Investment Fund of the Amalgamated Bank of New York, which is a shareholder. It urges the Unocal board of directors to adopt, implement and enforce a code of conduct based on the ILO's trade union rights conventions. 
 
The second resolution, sponsored by shareholders Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers, the Interfaith Center of Corporate Responsibility, As You Sow Foundation and Walden Asset Management, urges the Unocal board of directors to appoint a special committee of the board to review ways to link executive compensation with the company's ethical and social performance. 
 
In a letter sent today to Unocal's top 100 institutional investors, Kenneth Zinn, ICEM North American Regional Coordinator, said that &quot;by adopting exemplary standards of corporate governance and best global practices in human rights in the workplace, the company will be taking significant measures to enhance shareholder value.&quot; 
 
Zinn pointed out that over the past two years, Unocal shares have fallen more than five percent compared with a 69 percent gain for its industry peer group, and that the company's uneven exploration record has raised concerns for its financial future. 
 
Unocal has received significant criticism over its investments in Burma. It is a participant in a 1.2 billion US dollar joint venture with the Burmese government in the Yadana gas pipeline, a project on which forced labour is alleged to have been used. 
 
A law suit against Unocal by Burmese plaintiffs in a US district court in California was dismissed last August but is currently under appeal. Judge Ronald Lew stated in his opinion: &quot;The evidence does suggest that Unocal knew that forced labour was being utilised and the Joint Venturers (including Unocal) benefited from the practice.&quot; 
 
&quot;If Unocal truly implemented a workplace code of conduct that fully complied with the ILO conventions, it would have to pull out of Burma,&quot; said the ICEM's Kenneth Zinn today. &quot;The outlawed trade unions and the democratic movement in Burma have called for foreign companies to withdraw, and Unocal should follow the example of the many other companies that have pulled out of that country.&quot; 
 
ASIAN ACTION 
 
&quot;There can be no human rights without trade union rights in Burma,&quot; ICEM Asia-Pacific insists. 
 
ICEM Asia-Pacific, which has just launched a new poster, leaflet and Internet campaign on Burma, says that unions in each country must choose the best ways of taking part in the action. 
 
It recommends four basic forms of action by affiliated unions: 
 
Seek wider support: &quot;Ask the trade union movement in your country to participate fully in this campaign. Ask your government to publicly condemn the military regime of Burma and to pledge support to the trade union movement in the fight for change in Burma. Ask employer organisations and employers that your union works with to do the same.&quot; 
 
Target companies that trade with Burma: &quot;Check if any of the companies that your union has members at trades with Burma. If they do, ask that they stop doing so until real change is achieved in Burma. Be prepared to expose them publicly if they refuse and run a campaign to boycott their goods.&quot; 
 
Protest: &quot;Write letters of protest to the Burmese authorities in your country. Press the trade union movement to organise rallies and demonstrations outside their Embassy. Use the media in your campaign.&quot; 
 
Education: &quot;Make sure that union members are aware and involved in the campaign. Get their support for the restoration of union rights and the end of forced labour in Burma. Raise the issue at union meetings. Ask the membership to pass resolutions supporting the trade union campaign.&quot;

Burma Disinvestment Campaign Stepped Up

Efforts to secure a global union-employer agreement for the chemical sector have failed, the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM) announced today. 
 
Speaking in Washington, ICEM General Secretary Fred Higgs expressed &quot;profound concern&quot; over &quot;what may turn out to have been a two-year charade masquerading as serious dialogue between the world chemical industry and the ICEM.&quot; 
 
Detailed negotiations between the ICEM and the companies' International Council of Chemical Associations (ICCA) had seemed close to success. Now, however, the American Chemistry Council (ACC) - a major member organisation of the ICCA - has decided to &quot;take no position&quot; on a proposed memorandum of understanding covering health, safety and environmental issues between the ICCA and the ICEM. This seriously jeopardises the prospects of the hoped-for ICCA/ICEM agreement. 
 
The scuppering of the worldwide agreement would pose a particular threat to the chemical industry's Responsible Care programme. 
 
Responsible Care aims to portray the chemical sector as applying uniformly high occupational health and safety and environmental standards wherever the industry operates. It has been the industry's main response to critics of its social and environmental record. Responsible Care programmes have been introduced in many parts of the world, often backed by lavish advertising campaigns. 
 
However, Responsible Care long lacked public credibility. A survey published by the ICEM in December 1997 showed that chemical workers were neither particularly involved in, or even aware of, Responsible Care. 35 percent of the chemical unions surveyed did not know what Responsible Care was. Among those that did, many regarded it as little more than a public relations exercise. One union called it &quot;window dressing.&quot; 
 
In February 1999, all this looked set to change. A meeting of the world's governments, chemical employers and chemical unions decided to establish a formal dialogue between the ICEM and the ICCA - notably in a bid to inject some real content into Responsible Care. 
 
Organised by the UN's International Labour Organisation (ILO), the meeting was hailed at the time by the companies and the unions as a major step forward in the promotion of Responsible Care. 
 
Among the ILO meeting's conclusions: 
 
- Internationally comparable systems of performance indicators should be developed and maintained to track chemical enterprises' performance on workplace health and safety and on environmental protection. Workers and their representatives should be involved in the development and use of these systems. 
 
- Workers and their representatives should be actively involved in identifying training and education needs and in designing and implementing training programmes. 
 
At the time, this and the meeting's detailed agreed principles for worker involvement seemed to offer new hope for Responsible Care and the industry's other &quot;voluntary initiatives&quot;. The thinking was that careful monitoring by chemical workers and their trade unions, from the workplace right up to the global level, could give more real substance to these programmes and so boost their credibility. 
 
It was not to be. 
 
&quot;We had supposed that the industry was discussing in good faith,&quot; Higgs said today. &quot;That was clearly not the case. Whilst I am inclined to believe that those with whom we were negotiating under the auspices of the ICEM/ICCA Joint Advisory Committee were sincere, I am forced to conclude that we were not talking to the real decision-makers and that, furthermore, those making the final decision never had any intention of reaching agreement with the ICEM.&quot; 
 
And he left no doubt as to the villains of the piece. 
 
&quot;It is appropriate that I am making this announcement in Washington,&quot; Higgs said, &quot;because it is the US chemical industry - or at least one or two powerful voices within it - which deliberately destroyed this international process. The consequences will be extremely damaging, perhaps fatal, for Responsible Care and the industry's other voluntary initiatives worldwide. 
 
&quot;Ironically,&quot; Higgs added, &quot;the US chemical companies have made this move at the precise moment when their own reputation is in tatters. The programme 'Trade Secrets: A Moyers Report', televised by PBS here in the States on 26 March, demonstrated just how badly the American chemical industry has behaved in the past, the tactics it uses to silence or neutralise its critics and the widespread public mistrust and anger directed against it. In particular, the progamme chronicles the US chemical manufacturers' very well-funded fight against the 'precautionary principle' for the regulation of toxic chemicals. Long used and accepted in, for example, the European Union, this principle says that, in case of doubt, government regulators should opt to regard a chemical as toxic, thus protecting public health and safety. Due to sustained lobbying by the US chemical companies' trade association, Americans still do not have the basic protection of the precautionary principle. 
 
&quot;When the PBS programme was made, and when we were negotiating with the ICCA, the US chemical manufacturers were grouped in a body called the Chemical Manufacturers' Association (CMA),&quot; Higgs said. &quot;Now, it is called the American Chemistry Council (ACC). Frankly, I'm not surprised that they had to change its name. 
 
&quot;What other ICCA member associations have to decide now,&quot; Higgs said, &quot;is whether they want to be identified with the blinkered attitude of their US counterparts. That is, of course, a difficult choice, but unless they isolate the American companies, the chemical industry worldwide will risk a serious loss of social and environmental credibility. Both for labour relations and for the environment, the present political climate in the USA is anything but good. The White House is clearly at the beck and call of America's most reactionary boardrooms. So on chemical safety, as on other issues, the world may just have to get on with its own agenda and, reluctantly, leave the USA to one side for the moment. 
 
&quot;That is the challenge now facing the ICCA,&quot; Higgs concluded. &quot;If you want to keep talking to us, if you want to salvage the chemical industry's global reputation, prove to us - now, without any more doublecrosses or doubletalk - that you are no longer the hostages of your most backward US member companies. It's entirely up to you.&quot;

US Chemical Firms Scupper Global Agreement

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