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&ldquo;National Project Conference of Turkey: 
Organising and Social Dialogue&rdquo; 
 
15 &ndash; 16 June 2009 
Ankara, Turkey 
 
A g e n d a 
 
 
15 June 2009, Monday 
 
09:30 - 10:30 Opening : 
 
Bayram Eren, General Education Secretary of Tes-İş 
Henk Van Der Kolk, President of FNV Bondgenoten, The Netherlands (<a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/henk.fnv.speech.pdf">speech</a>) 
Manfred Warda, ICEM General Secretary 
 
10:30 - 11:00 Break 
 
11:00 - 12:30 First Session: &ldquo;Organising and Social Dialogue: International Mechanisms&rdquo; 
 
G&uuml;lay Aslantepe, ILO Turkey Representative 
Zerg&uuml;l &Ouml;zbilgi&ccedil;, Undersecretariat of Treasury, General Directorate of Foreign Capital, Head of Department of International Relations (OECD Turkey National Contact Point) 
Kemal &Ouml;zkan, ICEM Chemical and Rubber Industries Officer 
Manfred Warda, ICEM General Secretary and Board Member of &ldquo;Global Compact&rdquo; (<a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/fnv.manfred.pres.pdf">presentation</a>) 
 
Discussions 
 
12:30 &ndash; 14:00 Lunch 
 
14:00 &ndash; 16:00 Second Session : &ldquo;Organising and Social Dialogue : International Trade Union Tools&rdquo; 
 
Kemal &Ouml;zkan, ICEM Chemical and Rubber Industries Officer (<a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/fnv.kemal.pres.pdf">presentation</a>) 
Marc Ferron, EDF Global Agreement TU Secretary, France (<a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/fnv.ferron.pres.pdf">presentation</a>) 
Y&uuml;cel Top, Coordinator of Turkey-EU Trade Union Integration Com. 
Jorgen Juul Rasmussen, Danks El-Forbund, Denmark (<a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/fnv.jorgen.pres.pdf">presentation</a>)&nbsp; 
 
Discussions 
 
16:00 - 16:30 Break 
 
16:30 &ndash; 17:30 Third Session : &ldquo;Different Country Trade Union Structures, Experiences and Strategies for Organising and Social Dialogue&rdquo; : Experiences from North America and Asia 
 
Joe Drexler, ICEM Director of Industry and Corporate Affairs (<a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/fnv.drexler.pres.pdf">presentation</a>) 
Phee Jungsun, ICEM Materials Industry Officer (<a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/fnv.phee.pres.pdf">presentation</a>) 
 
Discussions 
 
19:00 &ndash; 22:00 Dinner 
 
16 June 2009, Tuesday : 
 
09:30 &ndash; 10:30 Fourth Session : &ldquo;Different Country Trade Union Structures, Experiences and Strategies for Organising and Social Dialogue&rdquo; (continuation) : Experiences from Europe-1 
 
Michael Wolters, IG BCE, Germany (<a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/fnv.wolters.pres.pdf">presentation</a>) 
Marc Blanc, FCE-CFDT, France (<a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/fnv.blanc.pres.pdf">presentation</a>) 
 
Discussions 
 
10:30 - 11:00 Break 
 
11:00 &ndash; 12:30 Fifth Session : &ldquo;Different Country Trade Union Structures, Experiences and Strategies for Organising and Social Dialogue&rdquo; (continuation) : Experiences from Europe-2 
 
Isidor Boix, FITEQA-CC.OO., Spain (<a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/fnv.bois.pres.pdf">presentation</a>) 
Lob&eacute; Gevaerts &ndash; Mail &Uuml;rker, FNV Bondgenoten, The Netherlands 
 
Discussions 
 
12:30 &ndash; 14:00 Lunch 
 
14:00 &ndash; 15:30 Sixth Session : &ldquo;In line with discussions, Strategy and Action Plan for Developing Organising and Social Dialogue in Turkey&ldquo; 
 
Fikret Sazak, T&uuml;rkiye Maden-İş (mining) 
&Uuml;zeyir Ataman, Lastik-İş (rubber and chemical) 
İsmail Hakkı Kurt, Petrol-İş &amp; Belediye-İş (oil/public service) 
Resul Limon, Tes-İş (Energy) 
Bahri Top&ccedil;u, T&uuml;rkiye &Ccedil;imse-İş (Materials) 
 
15:30 &ndash; 16:00 Break 
 
16:00 - 17:00 Wrapping-up of two-day works and Proposals for the future 
 
17:30 End of the Conference

FNV Turkey Project Conference

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
Members of the ICEM&rsquo;s Executive Committee discussed and deliberated on the effects of the world&rsquo;s financial crisis on day two of the statutory body&rsquo;s annual meetings 24 June. The discussion started with ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda outlining the unified strategy that Global Union Federations (GUFs), together with the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and TUAC of the OECD, are pursuing in order to shift from the failed policies of global capital. 
 
Those strategies include stricter engagement with the world&rsquo;s financial institutions in order to make meaningful structural changes. The ICEM invited Peter Bakvis, the GUFs&rsquo; and ITUC coordinator in Washington, DC, who monitors activity of the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, and the regional development banks. 
 
Bakvis gave the underlining causes to the crisis, and the warning signs that were given by global labour to the institutions in the years leading up to the 2008 crisis. He also told ICEM Executive members of the trade union response since the collapse of last autumn. His presentation can be found <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/icem%20pb%20geneva.bakvis.pdf">here</a>. 

<img alt="" src="" width="337" height="181" />
ICEM Executive Committee, Tuesday 23 June
Some 25 members of the Executive then gave overviews and crisis responses from their unions and countries. Their testimony saw reviews of safety nets in various countries for the growing number of unemployed, as well as specific situations within ICEM sectors that have been deeply affected. 
 
A resolution on the crisis was presented. That document was amended by delegates to warn against governments adopting stringent protectionist measures, and it also denounced trends toward racism, xenophobia, and any move toward political parties that reflect such anti-social conduct. 
 
Delegates also denounced companies which have used the crisis as a pretext to implement destructive social measures. The ICEM Executive Committee&rsquo;s Resolution can be found <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/ExecResFinCri2009EXEC.pdf">here</a>. 
 
The ICEM will continue to update trade union responses to the financial crisis on its website under &ldquo;Financialisation,&rdquo; and the first effort in that regard can be found <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/EFFECTS%20of%20the%20GLOBAL%20FINANCIAL%20CRISIS%20on%20WORKERS.pdf">here</a>.

Financial Crisis Effects Key Focus of ICEM Executive

<img height="39" alt="" src="" width="100" />
Early this week, workers of a transportation subcontractor at the world&rsquo;s largest open-pit coal mines, Carbones del Cerrej&oacute;n in Colombia, will present their demands to managers. Backed by powerful Sintracarb&oacute;n, the ICEM affiliate representing 4,000 Cerrej&oacute;n miners, one of those presenting the demands will be Vincente Pomarico, the leader of a transport workers&rsquo; organising effort who was summarily dismissed recently on expiration of his short-term contract. 
 
The new union, called SINTRAS, would be the first union of subcontractors at Cerrej&oacute;n, owned jointly by BHP Billiton, AngloAmerican, and Xstrata, to organize. Sintracarb&oacute;n, recognizing the social harm inflicted by a key contractor who only gives fixed-term contracts to its workers of six months or up to one-year, seeks to make that happen and set a precedent for workers employed by other subcontracting firms on the mine site. 
 
SINTRAS, now counting some 80% of 150 drivers and others as bonafide members, has met fierce resistance in gaining recognition from SOTRANS, the transport company that grew from a very small Guajira department transport firm to a major service-provider at the world&rsquo;s richest coal reserves. Contract workers, together with Sintracarb&oacute;n members, have not backed down, conducting recent mobilizations, marches, and meetings with several work groups at Cerrej&oacute;n. 

<img height="115" alt="" src="" width="250" />
The contract company has shown willingness to talk with workers&rsquo; representatives, but has adamantly refused to enter into a collective agreement. 
 
Firstly, workers are unionizing because they want stability in employment. They want full-time and permanent status. Besides Pomarico, one other SOTRANS worker saw his employment severed because he was promoting the union. Both have been designated as bargaining committee members. 
 
Secondly, workers want pay increases and levels of social benefits that meet minimum standards in Colombia. SOTRANS workers deserve monthly salaries that are better than the US$250 they now receive, particularly with the profitability of the company. 
 
Contract workers are receiving much assistance from Sintracarb&oacute;n and its President, Jairo Quiroz Delgado, as well as from the regional committee of the Central Unitaria de Trabajadores de Colombia (CUT) in Guajira department. Who they are not receiving support from is the multinational Carbones del Cerrej&oacute;n. 

<img height="89" alt="" src="" width="100" />
Sintracarb&oacute;n&rsquo;s Jairo Quiroz rejects his employer&rsquo;s &ldquo;passive&rdquo; stance on the matter, and states that Cerrej&oacute;n&rsquo;s claim of &ldquo;enterprise autonomy&rdquo; is unacceptable, considering the mining concern&rsquo;s own social pact with his union and miners and communities in the region. Jairo Quiroz says many contract employees at Cerrej&oacute;n are employed in &ldquo;semi-slave or enslaved&rdquo; conditions. 
 
CUT-Guajira charges SOTRANS with denial of basic freedom of association by coercing and frightening workers. It also challenges Carbones del Cerrej&oacute;n to fulfill its social obligations by pressing for the right of trade union representation at its transport contracting agent. 
 
The ICEM supports formal establishment of the new transportation union, SINTRAS, and pledges to monitor the rights of contract employees at Carbones del Cerrej&oacute;n.

Sintracarbón Seeks Unionisation for Subcontractor at Cerrejón in Colombia

<img src="" width="100" height="39" alt="" />
The ICEM has again registered sharp complaint to the Iraqi government over anti-social conduct at its State Company for Petrochemical Industries&rsquo; set of plants in Basra. The latest incident finds a new state manager harassing, and then filing police charges against Mohammed Zaki Ibrahim, the leader of ICEM affiliate Petrochemical Workers&rsquo; Union of Basra. 
 
Last month, Mohammed Zaki was verbally assaulted by the new general manager, who stated his trade union activity was an &ldquo;obstacle&rdquo; to the way he intended to operate the company. The manager also charged Zaki with being under the influence of &ldquo;external forces.&rdquo; 
 
The ICEM was compelled to harshly condemn that violation of freedom of association in a letter to Iraq&rsquo;s Minister of Industry and Minerals. 
 
The letter also pointed out that after Zaki left the abusive meeting &ndash; witnessed by other managers &ndash; he was immediately charged by police with trade union activity, and labelled as a danger to the Iraqi national economy. As the Zaki case illustrates, managers have been vindictive in upholding Saddam&rsquo;s decades-old decree banning trade unions in the public sector, a draconian labour code that continued under the occupation forces. 
On 28 January, a workers manifestation over wage arrears at the enterprise resulted in management calling in the army. Managers targeted four union leaders with leading the protest, and then brought cruel and unjust discipline on to one of them: Kareem Johi Sahan was banished from the petrochemicals enterprise for six months and his pay grade was lowered. 
 
&ldquo;The ICEM has paid close attention to events at the Basra facility,&rdquo; said General Secretary Manfred Warda. &ldquo;The Iraqi government must also. This must become a worksite where trade union rights are respected and we will continue working from the outside with trade unionists on the inside to fulfil that.&rdquo; 
 
The state-owned petrochemical facility employs 5,000 workers and contains six plants making ethylene, polyethylene, vinyl chloride, and other chemicals. The Basra Petrochemical Workers&rsquo; Union is affiliated to the Iraq Oil Workers&rsquo; Federation (IFOU).

Iraq: ICEM Again Condemns Union Harassment at Basra Petrochem

<img src="" width="100" height="39" alt="" />
Japanese tyre-maker Bridgestone&rsquo;s failure to listen to alternatives on redundancies in social talks has caused a fiery strike at the company&rsquo;s airplane tyre factory in Frameries, Belgium. The strike by all 140 workers and led by ICEM Belgian affiliate FGTB Centrale G&eacute;n&eacute;rale started on 11 June over eight job cuts. 
 
A day into the strike, trade unionists convinced managers to stay away from the factory and the plant has been idle since. 

<img src="" width="250" height="171" alt="" />
Bridgestone seeks to unilaterally lay off eight workers. FGTB and the 140 workers say that decision ridicules a plant rule on job security. They also point to the fact that Bridgestone employs 14 workers on short-term contracts at Frameries. The FGTB states that Belgium&rsquo;s pre-pension plan qualifies 24 workers for leave, but Bridgestone will not consider other solutions to its reduction in force. 
 
The factory is a Bridgestone re-treading plant. The strike at the plant comes at a time when Bridgestone is boasting to global financial markets that its 2009 earnings sheet will be better that previously predicted because of a stronger yen and already-implemented expense reductions.

Bridgestone Tyre Strike in Belgium Erupts

<img src="" width="100" height="39" alt="" />
ICEM&rsquo;s Bridgestone Global Union Network held its 9th Steering Committee meeting in Tokyo, Japan, on 26-27 June, and is was hosted successfully by the ICEM&rsquo;s Japanese affiliate, Rubber Workers&rsquo; Unions Confederation (GOMU-RENGO) and its member organisation, the Bridgestone Workers&rsquo; Union. 
 
GOMU RENGO President Toshiaki Hojo chaired the meeting with the assistance of Akihiro Nagasawa and Gen Tashiro, President and Vice President, respectively, of the Bridgestone Workers&rsquo; Union. (Gen Tashiro also serves as secretary of the Network.) 
 
Following the general report by ICEM&rsquo;s Chemicals and Rubber Officer Kemal &Ouml;zkan on developments and challenges in the tyre and rubber industry at global level, delegates to the meeting gave country and regional reports. They came from Japan, Spain, Brazil, and South Africa. 

<img src="" width="350" height="144" alt="" />
As the central focus to the Network, delegates deliberated on industrial accidents within Bridgestone across the world. Delegates were informed of the circumstances around serious recent accidents in Japan and Brazil. A lengthy discussion then ensued on measures to improve occupational health and safety at the Japan-based company. 
 
The meeting also saw an extensive report by ICEM&rsquo;s &Ouml;zkan on the ongoing strike at a Bridgestone plant located in Frameries, Belgium, as well as problems in obtaining trade union recognition and health and safety concerns at a factory in Tatabanya, Hungary. 
 
The Japanese host union promised to put these problems before executives at Bridgestone headquarters in Japan. The delegates from Spain, Brazil, and South Africa extended solidarity both to ICEM affiliate FGTB Centrale G&eacute;n&eacute;rale in Belgium and VDSz, the affiliated Chemical and Energy Workers&rsquo; Federation in Hungary. 
 
Along with Hojo, Nagasawa, Tashiro, and &Ouml;zkan, delegates attending included Daniel Demetrio and Batista Goncalves, Rubber Workers&rsquo; Union of Brazil (FUB); Jesus Delgado, Secretary of the European Works Council of Bridgestone and Eduardo Alonso, shop steward at Burgos, Spain, both members of the Federation of Related Industries of Spain (FIA-UGT); Nicholas Masilo from National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA); and Yoshio Sato, General Secretary of ICEM&rsquo;s Japanese Affiliates Federation (ICEM-JAF). 
 
The next meeting of the Steering Committee is scheduled to take place during the last week of June 2010 in Spain.

Bridgestone Global Safety Steering Meets in Tokyo

<img src="" width="100" height="39" alt="" />
ICEM&rsquo;s Brazilian affiliate, the ABC Chemical Workers&rsquo; Union of S&atilde;o Paulo state, chose the motto &ldquo;Strengthen Regional Integration and Decent Work&rdquo; for its 10th Congress, which was held from 16-19 May. Aimed at promoting discussions over key challenges faced by workers in the workplaces as well as in the communities, the Congress extended over a period of 60 days and was divided into three stages. 
 
At part one on 16 May, some 800 workers opened the Congress by starting political discussions over various topics dealing with more recruitment, and mobilization against the impact of global economic crisis. The session also took up the challenges at regional and national levels. 
 
The second portion of the Congress was realised from 29 May to 17 June when chemical workers and union members were invited to discuss union actions in four main areas: the workplace; local, regional, and national councils and committees covering health, social security, environment, employment, and development; the various segments of the chemical industry, including plastics, pharmaceuticals, paints, and petrochemicals; and the union movement at both national and international levels. 
 
In these sessions, participants adopted resolutions and elected delegates for the third and final step of the Congress programme, which will take place 17-19 July. This forum will approve and begin implementation of the main struggle points for the ABC Chemical Workers&rsquo; Union over the next three years. 

<img src="" width="250" height="186" alt="" />
ABC Chemical Workers' Union President, Paul Lage
The President of the union, Paulo Lage, stated: &ldquo;Instead of presenting prepared arguments and proposals to debate, we adopted a methodology that facilitates participation in the sessions and working groups, where arguments and resolutions are developed for debate and adoption at the final Congress round.&rdquo; 
 
ICEM&rsquo;s Latin American/Caribbean Region Vice-President S&eacute;rgio Novais, who is also an officer of the ABC Chemical Workers&rsquo; Union, also believes strongly in the innovative methodology of this process. He said it &ldquo;improves the organization in the workplace, facilitates the organization of workers&rsquo; networks to understand globalization, and it presents real challenges and opportunities in which to find solutions.&rdquo;

Brazil’s ABC Chemical Workers’ Union in Unique 60-day Congress Period

<img src="" width="100" height="39" alt="" />
A massive methane gas explosion in a coal mine in the West Sumatra province of Indonesia, 560 miles northwest of capital Jakarta, killed 31 mineworkers earlier in June. Shafts inside the mine, in Suwahlunto district, collapsed on Tuesday 16 June, following the explosion. 
 
The mine, owned by a local company without union representation, was unregulated by either the central Jakarta government or provincial authorities. 
 
The Sarana Arang Sejati mine has had a history of safety problems. A similar explosion happened in 2007, killing three workers and leading to public calls for the mine to be closed. Instead, the PT Dasrat mine was given a license to mine in December 2008, and then the local enterprise outsourced mining work to the same operator who had previously operated the pit. 

<img src="" width="180" height="132" alt="" />
Miners were left unprotected with the absence of modern safety measures, and were using traditional methods to mine the coal, including explosives. The ICEM contacted both its mining union affiliates in the country, and urged them to push for ratification of ILO Convention 176, the Safety and Health in Mines Convention. 
 
The ICEM also called on the ILO to convene a tripartite meeting in Indonesia as soon as possible on the Convention. 
 
Indonesia is the Asia-Pacific&rsquo;s second largest coal exporter behind Australia, with a projected output this year of 230 million tones. It is the region&rsquo;s largest exporter of thermal. It is estimated that there are some 77,000 illegal mines in Indonesia, employing 465,000 workers. The informal mining sector exploits ten times the number of miners than that of the formal sector.

Colliery Deaths in Indonesia Reinforces Call for Ratification of ILO 176

ICEM Women’s Bulletin No. 33

<img height="39" alt="" src="" width="100" />
The multinational pharmaceutical company Menarini was put on notice 15 January by Italian unions to improve its social contract with workers, or face a first eight-hour strike on 30 January. In a statement by the tri-union Coordinating Committee of the Menarini Group, FILCEM-CGIL, FEMCA-CISL, and UILCEM-UIL jointly gave warning that pay and profit-sharing increases must be made to Italian workers, and greater participation in corporate strategies must be granted workers. 

<img height="116" alt="" src="" width="95" />
The unions are attempting to secure a four-year social compact with the privately-held, Florence-based company, which specialises in development and manufacture of cardiovascular, respiratory, and other drugs. The three unions are still in search of a satisfactory contract with a term stretching from 2008 to 2011. 
<img height="80" alt="" src="" width="110" />
The statement, issued after a 14 January meeting of the Coordinating Committee in Florence, demands a profit-sharing scheme using a different measure and one weighted more heavily on productivity. The three unions also seek wage quotas that meet the industry medium. 
<img height="71" alt="" src="" width="126" />
In addition, the unions demand working conditions, job classifications, and job re-organisation which will give workers more say in decision-making. Menarini, Europe&rsquo;s 19th largest pharmaceutical company, employs 3,850 of its global workforce of 12,500 in Italy. Besides several other Italian worksites, it operates a large bio-technical centre in Pomezia. 
 
In March 2007, the ICEM intervened on behalf of Turkish affiliate Lastik-İş when Menarini&rsquo;s subsidiary in Istanbul, İbrahim Ethan İla&ccedil;lari A.S., sacked union leaders who were seeking Lastik-İş representation. The company&rsquo;s refusal to abide by a court decree recognising the union caused a plant occupation by workers.

Italian Unions Put Demands on Gruppo Menarini, Plan 30 January Manifestation

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