English

Español

Français

Русский

Aerospace

Automotive

Base metals

Chemical, pharmaceutical and bio-science

Energy

Glass, cement, ceramic and associated industries

ICT, electrical and electronics

Mechanical Engineering

Mining and DGOJP

Pulp and paper

Rubber

Shipbuilding and shipbreaking

Textile, garment, shoes, leather and textile services

Sectors

Action on textile and garment industry

Clean up shipbreaking

Ratify ILO C176

United for a just future - time to pay up!

Disinvest from Myanmar

Action Plan 2021-2025

Global Framework Agreements

Union building

Women

Youth

White-collar workers

Health & safety

Industry 4.0

Just Transition

Organizing with industriALL

What we do

Affiliates

Statutes

Elected Officials

Executive Committee

Geneva head office

South East Asia

Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Caucasus

Latin America and the Caribbean

Middle East and North Africa

South Asia

Regional offices

About us

Global worker No1 2022

Global worker No2 2022

Publications

Resources

Press

<img alt="" src="" width="50" height="65" />
In the 2010 special ICEM newsletter on April 28, the ICEM stressed that the key to getting a global ban on asbestos lies in Canada. If Canadian support for the asbestos industry fails, then a global asbestos ban will succeed. Everyone who cares to examine the evidence by now knows that the link between all forms of asbestos (asbestosis, mesothelioma, other cancers) is irrefutable. 
 
An important step forward was taken by the Conf&eacute;d&eacute;ration des Syndicats Nationaux (CSN) at the union federation&rsquo;s 11 March congress. The congress decided to withdraw the federation&rsquo;s traditional support of the Qu&eacute;bec asbestos industry. This was truly an historic and courageous stand, in a province where the asbestos industry is so closely tied with labour history. 
<img alt="" src="" width="150" height="107" />
Claudette Carbonneau, President of the 300,000 member organization, told the congress: &ldquo;Qu&eacute;bec, like many advanced industrial societies, has been shaken by the use of a resource which sows death. If health and safety conditions do not prevent these deadly illnesses in Qu&eacute;bec, it is difficult to pretend that there can be safe use of asbestos in developing countries.&rdquo; 
 
However, for every step forward, there seems to be at least one step backwards. Just this month, the Qu&eacute;bec government approved a C$52 million economic aid package to expand the Jeffrey asbestos mine, whose products will be exported principally to India, Indonesia, the Philippines and other Asian countries. Proof, once again, that the industry would not be viable without heavy government subsidies. 
 
Meanwhile, the body which regulates place-names in Qu&eacute;bec has given permission for the regional body known as MRC de L&rsquo;Amiante to delete the Amiante (Asbestos) from its title and rename itself &ldquo;MRC des Appalaches.&rdquo; So, evidently there are people even in the region of Qu&eacute;bec that mines asbestos who are perhaps disgusted by the shameless hypocrisy of politicians and profiteers and would prefer not to be associated with the export of this deadly fibre.

Québec Labour Federation CSN Takes Heroic, Historic Stand on Asbestos

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
The ICEM Norwegian affiliate, IndustriEnergi (IE), announced on 1 May that Shaher Sae&rsquo;d, General Secretary of the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions (PGFTU), is the 2011 recipient of the Arthur Svensson International Award for Union Rights. 
 
Sae&rsquo;d becomes the second recipient of the Svensson Award. Wellington Chibebe, the Secretary General of the Zimbabwe Confederation of Trade Unions (ZCTU), won the award in 2010, which comes with a NOK 500,000 (&euro;60,000) cash prize. 
 
In selecting Sae&rsquo;d and the Palestinian national labour centre, IE said, &ldquo;PGTU fights for better understanding of the importance of union rights in the Palestinian self-government administration. They also work for Israel to stop the occupation of the Palestinian territories and the illegal settlements.&rdquo; 
<img alt="" src="" width="253" height="169" />
Shaher Sae&rsquo;d, General Secretary of the PGFTU
Some 30 individuals and organisation were nominated for the award in 2011, which will be presented at a dinner and ceremony in Oslo on 16 June. The award is named after Arthur Svensson, a leader of Norsk Kjemisk Forbund, the Norwegian Chemical Workers&rsquo; Association, which merged in 2006 with the Petroleum and Energy Workers&rsquo; Federation (NOPEF) to create IE. 
 
Svensson died in 2008, but left a legacy in Norway and beyond as a man who promoted global peace, disarmament, and a nuclear weapons-free world. 
 
Noting the fact that Shaher Sae&rsquo;d has been imprisoned a number of times, and his own safety and that of his family have been at risk several times, the selection committee said Sae&rsquo;d &ldquo;has shown outstanding leadership of the Palestinian trade union movement, while the political and financial framework has made this work especially difficult. 
 
&ldquo;The Palestinian people have fought against occupation, as well as an independent state for over 60 years. Under the leadership of Shaher Sae&rsquo;d, PGFTU has shown a will for dialogue and has refused to isolate any Palestinian groups, including Hamas. He has been open to a dialogue and cooperation with Histadrut, the organisation of trade unions in Israel.&rdquo;

Palestine’s Shaher Sae’d Winner of Norwegian Arthur Svensson Union Rights Award

<img src="" width="100" height="39" alt="" />
Fifteen United Steelworkers (USW) branches in 11 US states last week ratified a new master agreement with International Paper (IP) by a 73% vote count, the union announced. The four-year agreement covers 6,800 workers at 15 pulp and paper mills, and it now builds on a first master agreement covering multiple workplaces of IP that was achieved in August 2007. 
 
The agreement, to take effect in August, includes wage increases of 1% in 2011, 2% in 2012, 1.5% in 2013, and 2% effective on 31 August 2014. It also includes improvements in a defined benefit pension plan, and lump sum payments into an existing employee savings plan of US$1,000 each in 2012 and 2014. 
<img src="" width="369" height="151" alt="" />
USW Bargaining Committee
In addition, the agreement spells out stabilisation over health care costs, and provides job security, mainly through a &ldquo;successorship clause.&rdquo; That means that if IP sells any of the 15 mills, the new owner must retain all workers, recognise the USW as bargaining representative, and honour the collective agreement. 
USW Vice President Jon Geenen, who heads collective bargaining for the union in the pulp and paper sector, said the IP agreement continues a historic achievement. &ldquo;In the past,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;our locals bargained site by site, even though most companies approach bargaining as part of a national strategy.&rdquo; 
 
Geenen added: &ldquo;The success of our local unions here sets a precedent for bargaining in the rest of the industry.&rdquo;
<img alt="" src="" width="125" height="165" />
USW VP Jon Geenen
The agreement came together in late March and early April after nearly a year of planning and strategic meetings. It culminated in face-to-face discussions in New Orleans, Louisiana, early last month in which an 80-person USW bargaining committee participated. &ldquo;One of the main benefits of all the locals bargaining together at the same time is that everyone gets a voice in shaping the package,&rdquo; said Geenen. 
 
The USW has a similar master accord with IP in the paper converting industry, covering 2,800 workers at 32 paper-converting plants of the company in 18 US states. The first master agreement in converting came into effect in 2008 and expires in 2012.

Steelworkers Renew Master Labour Pact with International Paper in US

<img src="" width="120" height="59" alt="" />
The ICEM expressed satisfaction today that the Kumho Tyre subsidiary of Kumho Asiana Group lifted its eight-day lockout on 3,400 rubber workers, members of the Korean Metal Workers&rsquo; Union (KMWU). Korea&rsquo;s second biggest tyre maker locked out workers on 25 March at factories in Gwungju and Gokseong following a one-day warning strike. 
 
The lockout ended at 14h30 today. The company rescinded its demand that workers sign individual work agreements promising not to engage in further work stoppages. In return for lifting the lockout, the Kumho Tyre Workers&rsquo; Union said it would end its industrial actions in front of the two plants. 
 
The union executed the warning strike on 25 March because Kumho refused to engage in dialogue over relevant issues in the middle of a two-year labour agreement. Those issues included giving workplace union leaders the right to maintain their union representation duties while on the job, revisions to severance packages, and health factors inside the factories. (See <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4347-Warning-Strike-Leads-to-Lockout-at-Kumho-Tyre-Factories-in-Korea">ICEM report</a> from 28 March.) 
 
In lifting the lockout, the Kumho Tyre Workers&rsquo; Union recognised the company&rsquo;s fragile financial and market situation. The ICEM is encouraged that the two sides engaged in meaningful dialogue to end the mid-term dispute.

Kumho Tyre Lifts Lockout on Metal Workers Union in Korea

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
The ICEM was deeply saddened early last week to learn of the sudden passing of Gabriel Miranda, a leader in France of the CGT glass and ceramics section. Comrade Miranda, long active in the ICEM&rsquo;s Materials Sector, died of an aneurysm late in the evening of 21 March. He was 59. 
 
In a statement of sympathy to CGT General Secretary Bernard Thibault, the ICEM said: &ldquo;Many ICEM affiliates across the globe are indebted to Comrade Miranda for his selfless and devoted works of solidarity not only in France, but throughout the world. ICEM recognised Gaby as always the first person to respond to a call for solidarity and he never hesitated to extend support to the struggle of glass workers from Thailand to Korea to Australia and in many other countries.&rdquo; 
<img alt="" src="" width="150" height="153" />
Gabriel Miranda
Miranda served as secretary of CGT&rsquo;s glass sector from 1987 to 2005. He was mayor of his village of Saint-Beno&icirc;t de Carmaux, in province Tarn near Toulouse, beginning in 2009. He served on the town council there since 1983. On the evening of his death, he was leading a meeting of his communist compatriots regarding an agenda on community affairs for upcoming local elections. 
 
He was a working man who stayed true to his political convictions of liberty, freedom, and justice for the common person throughout his life. He fought for retaining post offices in small villages, public-sponsored day-care centers, and public health clinics. 
 
Miranda began as a glass fitter at a factory in Albi and also worked for Saint-Gobain in Tarn province. He had been secretary of the French Saint-Gobain Works Council. He is survived by his wife Brigitte and four children. A celebration of his life and work was held in the Saint-Beno&icirc;t town hall on 25 March.

ICEM Mourns Death of French Glass Sector Leader, Gaby Miranda

<img src="" width="100" height="39" alt="" />
A strike by 450 mostly Hispanic foundry workers in the US enters its second week today. The strike by members of the Glass, Molders, Pottery, Plastics and Allied Workers&rsquo; Union (GMP) is against Pacific Steel Castings in Berkley, California. 
 
Workers began the strike at midnight, March 20, at contract expiration after the privately-held company refused to move from a concession-laden contract offer that contained skyrocketing increases to the share of employee-paid health care. A leading American trade union journalist, David Bacon, reported that the out-of-pocket increase in health coverage to US$300-per-month would mean a 10% drop in workers&rsquo; salary earnings. 
 
The company also seeks to increase the yearly deductible for health coverage from the current US$1,500 to US$6,000. 
<img src="" width="240" height="144" alt="" />
Bacon reported that Pacific Steel Castings is seeking a two-year wage freeze, with only miniscule raises after that. Workers of GMP Local 164B have gone without pay raises for the past two years. 
 
Pacific Steel also wants work-rule changes that will inhibit seniority and promote job speed-ups, discrimination, and favouritism. GMP International Vice President Ignacio De La Fuente told Bacon that wage freezes over the past two years were meant to offset rising private health insurance costs. 
 
On 22 March, Berkeley police in riot gear used force to disperse strikers who were attempting to discourage truck drivers from making deliveries into the plant. A seven-month pregnant worker, Norma Garcia, was pushed to the ground and hospitalised. 
 
Pacific Steel&rsquo;s customers are in the petroleum, truck assembly and repair, and heavy equipment industries. It is one of the largest steel casting foundries in the US with revenues totalling US$100 million annually. It is wholly-owned by the holding company Tri-Pacific &amp; Pvt. 
 
GMP was a long-time affiliate of the ICEM but dropped global union activity in the early 2000s. The ICEM has been encouraging the Media, Pennsylvania-based union to return to the ICEM family because of joint work being done in the glass industry in Colombia.

Bitter Strike Breaks Out Between US GPM Union, Pacific Steel Castings

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
The governing body of Metalliliitto, Finland&rsquo;s Metalworkers&rsquo; Union, gave leadership of the union authority to establish a blockade of construction at Olkiluoto III, the country&rsquo;s long-delayed fifth nuclear power reactor now underway on the southwestern coast. The approval for industrial action was given because of wage arrears and noncompliance of Finnish social standards by a Polish subcontractor, KMW Engineering. 
 
The blockade could come as early as this week and will largely depend on an audit report by a regional state agency, and on further negotiations between the union and contractors. The blockade has the support of Finland&rsquo;s Construction Trades Union, the Finnish Electrical Workers&rsquo; Union, and Pro, the union for salaried workers in Finland. 
<img alt="" src="" width="337" height="190" />
Photo: YLE/Termonen Tapio
The Polish company is hundreds of thousands of euros in wage arrears, has failed to keep overtime pay records, and reportedly has been negligent over health and safety matters. Metalliliitto has asked for pay records for all of 2009 and 2010. The union also claims that KMW&rsquo;s employment practices are substandard to those established in the national metal sector collective agreement. 
 
The French nuclear company Areva is the main contractor for Olkiluoto III , which is being built alongside two other nuclear reactors by the private-sector Finnish energy company Teollisuuden Voima Oy (TVO). Metalliliitto has attempted to negotiate with all parties connected to the 1.6 gigawatt (1,600 megawatt) nuclear project but none have been willing to hold KMW responsible for its social dumping. KMW is building cooling units at Olkiluoto III. 
<img alt="" src="" width="96" height="128" />
Metalliliitto President Riku Aalto
Metalliliitto President Riku Aalto said the union has consistently been denied even the bare minimum of data on its information requests. He said social dumping continues at Olkiluoto III, in part, because unions in Finland are restricted from filing legal cases to stop such practices. Aalto said that is not the case in countries such as Sweden, Norway, and Germany. 
 
Olkiluoto III is already three years behind schedule, with construction now scheduled to end late in 2012. Commissioning of the reactor would then happen late in 2013. The original &euro;3.95 billion project is reported to be &euro;1.5 billion over budget and has been marked by litigation among contractors and between contractors and TVO.

Finland’s Metalworkers close in on Blockade of Nuclear Plant Work

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
Second-year salary adjustments for some 20,000 white- and blue-collar Finnish pulp and paper workers ran separate courses over the past 12 days, with ICEM affiliate Ammattiliitto Pro &ndash; representing 4,000 salaried professionals &ndash; issuing a strike notice on 23 March against one company. A two-week strike will begin on 6 April at all UPM operations if official government mediation beginning today fails. 
 
Meanwhile, Paperiliitto, representing 16,000 workers at some 60 paper operations, agreed to terms with the Finnish Forest Industries Federation (FFIF) on 16 March. Workers will receive a guaranteed 2.5%, or &euro;.41-per-hour increase. The union also granted other adjustments in the collective agreement. 
 
Both ICEM affiliates have been negotiating separately with the FFIF on wage terms for the back end of a two-year labour agreement. The parties had until last week to reach accord, or bargaining is automatically shifted into the government&rsquo;s dispute resolution process. 
 
Ammattiliitto Pro, formerly Toimihenkil&ouml;unioni or TU prior to a merger in December with the insurance and banking union Suora, gave the strike warning because FFIF refused to put forward a similar national pay offer as the one given and accepted by Paperiliitto. Instead, there was no increase extended on the national level, with employers saying wage hikes will only be negotiated on a mill-by-mill basis. That stand quickly became an insult to dedicated staff.
<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="129" />
Jukka H&auml;m&auml;l&auml;inen
&ldquo;We seek a binding pay formula in this portion of the collective agreement,&rdquo; said Jukka H&auml;m&auml;l&auml;inen, chief Pro negotiator for the paper sector. &ldquo;We want a system that recognizes the increased work and greater responsibility taken on by our members.&rdquo; H&auml;m&auml;l&auml;inen said only a short few years ago, there were 6,000 white-collar workers in Finland&rsquo;s pulp and paper sector. That number is now 4,000. 
 
The union will begin an overtime ban on 1 April, the date the current two-year agreement is terminated if no resolve is realized. And then at 06h00 on 6 April, a full strike by 1,000 Pro members at UPM will commence that is certain to affect production at the Helsinki-based company&rsquo;s Finnish mills. 
 
In the accord between Paperiliitto and the FFIF, blue-collar workers receive effective today a 1.5%, or &euro;.24-per-hour increase, and then another 1% (&euro;.17) will be negotiated on the local level. If that isn&rsquo;t accomplished by 21 April, then it reverts back to the national level where a process is established to guarantee that increase retroactive to 28 March. 
 
Paperiliitto also agreed to grant local branches the option to increase work shifts from ten hours per day to 12, although it is mandated that there be no accumulative increase in yearly working hours. The union also agreed to a mobility clause, granting paper firms the flexibility to make short-term transfers of new hires employed in maintenance areas to other company operations. For current maintenance workers, companies must get one-time or more consent agreements from the individual for such a temporary transfer. 
 
The union agreed to the mobility language as deterrent to the use of outside contract or agency labour, and to assure that maintenance work will continuously be performed by Paperiliitto members.

Finnish Paper Sector Wage Accords Divert Between ICEM Affiliates

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
Co-hosted by two of ICEM&rsquo;s Spanish affiliated trade unions, FIA-UGT and FITEQA-CC.OO, the ICEM World Women&rsquo;s Conference brought together over 230 delegates from 47 countries to Seville on 23-25 March. The theme of the conference was &ldquo;Conquests and Dreams.&rdquo; 
 
The historic conference was the largest ever and women resolved to focus efforts on building and developing structures for improved coordination for the women of the ICEM. Coordinating committees already exist in some countries and this will now be extended to create a women&rsquo;s committee in each country where there is more than one ICEM affiliate. This will then be followed with a women&rsquo;s network in Europe, and several sub-regional networks. 
<img alt="" src="" width="317" height="188" />
Women&rsquo;s Officer Carol Bruce talks to Spanish TV
ICEM women look forward to combining strength and resources with the International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF) and the International Textile, Garment, and Leather Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITGLWF) in the creation of a new international trade union federation. While the three organizations have differing levels of women&rsquo;s membership and activities, the ICEM women&rsquo;s sector will work to combine the best practices. 
 
Two campaigns launched at the conference included: the campaign to put a stop to violence against women in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC); and campaign for wider use of female condoms to prevent the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Two other major work plans will also receive increased focus: preventing violence against women and creating better self-esteem. 
 
View the full <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/EN%20resolution%20to%20ICEM%20Congress.pdf">conference resolution</a> here.&nbsp; 
<img alt="" src="" width="367" height="164" />
Delegates Respect Victims of Japan&rsquo;s Earthquake/Tsunami
In his opening remarks, ICEM President Senzeni Zokwana called delegates to stand and mark a minute&rsquo;s silence in memory of those affected by the earthquake and tsunami disaster in Japan. 
 
ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda then said, &ldquo;Gender will be a major part of the ICEM Action Plan to be discussed at the Executive Committee and then at our Congress. We are proud of the work of the women inside the ICEM, marking this milestone conference.&rdquo; 
 
The conference attracted local- and national-level female politicians. Matilde Fern&aacute;ndez, former Social Affairs Minister, highlighted the importance of the fight for gender equality in Spain, a country where women are paid 15% less than men, meaning that they would have to work 51-52 days per year more than men to achieve wage parity. 
<img alt="" src="" width="158" height="199" />
M&uuml;zeyyen Acunal of Turkish Sel&uuml;loz-İş
&ldquo;Changes to legislation have been necessary, but they still are not sufficient,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;We need to change the attitudes of the society.&rdquo; 
 
The conference unanimously re-elected Russia&rsquo;s Evgenia Esenina as President of ICEM&rsquo;s Women&rsquo;s Committee and Zimbabwe&rsquo;s Angeline Chitambo as Vice-Chair. 
 
In closing the conference, President Senzeni Zokwana built enthusiasm for the future, in terms of gender work, and of the overall hopes heading into a new international. &ldquo;We will be new and strong, let us breed unity, breed oneness. We can achieve more together!&rdquo;

Largest Number Ever Attend ICEM Women’s Conference in Spain

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
Upwards of a half million people marched through London on Saturday in a turnout that British trade unions said exceeded their highest predictions. The manifestation, heard around the world, was called &ldquo;The March for the Alternative: Cuts are not the Cure&rdquo; and was direct push-back to the deep, rapid, and unfair public sector cuts in the pipeline by the ruling UK Tory/Liberal Democrat coalition. 
 
Turnout for the march and rally at Hyde Park in London&rsquo;s West End was so massive that the rear of the march had just left the Victoria Embankment staging area when the Hyde Park rally &ndash; five kilometres away &ndash; began. The front of the march left Victoria and passed by Parliament four hours earlier. 
<img alt="" src="" width="365" height="192" />
photo: Mac Urata
Using the argument that fiscal austerity is needed to reduce UK&rsquo;s financial deficit, the right-wing government led by David Cameron wants to cripple a social welfare system that will see cuts to people and curtailment of British services. And both will fall disproportionately on the poor and on the workers of Britain. 
 
Deep cuts to education, pensions, and Britain&rsquo;s 62-year-old National Health Service (NHS) are being laid out on the Con-Dem chopping block. And Saturday&rsquo;s manifestation &ndash; the biggest in London since 2003 and an anti-Iraq war protest &ndash; validated the fact that tens of thousands of teachers, doctors, nurses, police and prison guards, municipal council workers, joined by students, retirees, private-sector workers fiercely resist this agenda. 
 
The 26 March manifestation sponsored by the Trades Union Congress (TUC) was civil and peaceful. But the beat of drums, whistles, and chants of resistance made it clear that anger is real. Anger at the fact that for every &pound;4 in spending cuts, there is a &pound;1 tax hike and that mainly is a higher VAT; anger that 50,000 jobs will disappear when the NHS is cut; anger that the brutal cuts will cost 170,000 public-sector jobs. 
<img alt="" src="" width="265" height="189" />
photo: John MacLennon
Instead of cuts, the &ldquo;alternative&rdquo; should be a crackdown on tax avoidance totalling &pound;25 billion alone taken by City of London operators; initiating a Robin Hood tax on banks and financial institutions over their transactions; a stop to exorbitant executive bonuses; and a gradual, sensible, and sustainable deficit reduction plan based on jobs, growth, and tax justice. 
 
At the afternoon rally, TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: &ldquo;We will fight these savage cuts and we will not let them destroy services, jobs, and lives. Today we are speaking for the people of Britain, and David Cameron, if you want to meet the Big Society, we&rsquo;re here in Hyde Park.&rdquo; 
 
Unite the Union General Secretary Len McCluskey called it the greatest demonstration in London in a generation, and said there is &ldquo;palpable anger in the country. If the government was brave enough, it would tackle the tax avoidance that robs the British taxpayer.&rdquo; 
<img alt="" src="" width="133" height="150" />&nbsp;&nbsp; <img alt="" src="" width="105" height="160" />
Unite's Len McCluskey, USW's Leo Gerard 
photos: John MacLennon
Unison General Secretary Dave Prentis, whose public-sector union chartered 500 coaches to get people to London, told the assembled at Hyde Park that he wants the Con-Dems &ldquo;to feel the fear and anger of people who have come here today from every part of the UK to vent their frustration and to stand up for a fairer future.&rdquo; 
 
Another speaker was USW President Leo Gerard of North America who drew the link between the purge of public services in the UK to what is happening in several US states. He said the real culprits are the greedy banks and corporations who pull the strings of politicians. 
 
&ldquo;It is their reckless speculation that took down the world economy,&rdquo; said Gerard, adding, The best way to rob a bank is to manage one. We will stand together, we will march together, and we will fight together to demand that our governments protect the rights of public employees and of all workers.&rdquo;

500,000 Protest Con-Dem Coalition’s Public Sector Cuts in London

Archive