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Hashmeya Muhssin Saadawi, ICEM Executive Committee member and President of the Basra Electricity Workers&rsquo; Union, has long been fighting for the rights and welfare of women, as well as for men, in Basra, Iraq, for many years. She has now launched a campaign inside the worn-torn country for social security, a campaign funded in large part by money awarded to her upon winning the Dutch Human Rights Award, the FNV&rsquo;s prestigious Febe Elisabeth Velasquez Trade Union Award. 

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Hashmeya Muhssin Saadawi
She was awarded that on 12 May 2009, after being nominated by the ICEM, for her courageous work under challenging circumstances and great personal risks, in the furthering of the trade union struggle in Iraq. (See report of that award <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/3218-Dutch-FNV-Trade-Union-Award-to-Goes-to-Iraq’s-Hashmeyia-Muhsin-Saadawi ">here</a>.) 
 
The elements of the social security campaign are equality and social equality, as well as security, social security, work, housing, and education. Land needs to be redistributed, health insurance has to be provided, and cures for different diseases have to be found. Click <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/denicezelmalombard/IraqSocialSecurity#">here</a> to view the campaign manual in English.&nbsp; 
 
Hasmeya Muhssin is the first female trade union leader in the Arab-speaking world.

Hashmeya Muhssin Launches Social Security Campaign in Iraq

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The ICEM reported <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/3571-Safety-Benefits-Won-by-Iraqi-Leather-Workers-after-53-Day-Strike">here</a> of the successful leather workers&rsquo; strike that concluded in December in Iraq, a strike that spawned a shorter strike in the clothing and textile sector in the Baghdad area. Both workers&rsquo; units come under the Federation of Workers&rsquo; Councils and Unions in Iraq (FWCUI), a national labour centre that counts two ICEM affiliates to its rolls. 
 
In January, the Ministry of Industries has retaliated by predictably reverting to something that other Iraqi ministries have done: It has taken the leader of the textile strike, FWCUI President Falah Alwan, and transferred him from a Cotton Industry enterprise, under the State Company for Textiles, to another enterprise in order to suppress his union activities. 

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Falah Alwan
The ICEM condemns this action and urges trade unionists and human rights activists globally to protest. The ICEM notes that global protests in the past produced reversals for other Iraqi trade unionists who were exiled for trade union building, including port workers of the General Federation of Iraqi Workers (GFIW) in Um Asr and eight leaders of ICEM-affiliated Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions (IFOU) in the Basra area. 
 
Please send an e-mail in your own words to Minister of Industry and Minerals, Fawzi Hariri, <a href="mailto:minister.office@industry.gov.iq">here</a> and <a href="mailto:minister@industry.gov.iq">here</a>, and copy the State Company for Textiles <a href="mailto:textile@industry.gov.iq">here</a>. 
 
Trade unions in Iraq are under constant pressure, considering neither the occupation forces nor the Iraqi government has lifted the draconian Saddam era Decree150 that prohibits independent unions from existing in the all-encompassing public sector. The Iraqi government has also failed to pass into law a meaningful labour code, a set of fair and universally accepted statutes that have been drawn up by Iraqis with assistance from experts at the ILO.

Iraqi Government Reprimands Falah Alwan by Exiling His Work Posting

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The ICEM supports the International Trade Union Confederation-led trade union appeal for victims of the earthquake disaster in Haiti. The trade union relief work is being carried out primarily by ITUC&rsquo;s affiliates in the Dominican Republic, in cooperation with Haitian colleagues across the border. 
 
We urge ICEM affiliates to support this Appeal. 
 
Funds for the appeal can be transferred to the following ITUC bank account: 
 
No. 375-1008200-61 
Banque ING, Brussels Branch Institutionals, 1 rue du Trone, B-1000 Brussels 
Code IBAN: BE 62375100820061 
Code BIC/Swift: BBRUBEBB 

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The ITUC requests that the words &ldquo;SOS Solidarity &ndash; Haiti&rdquo; are included with each transfer to this account. 
 
ITUC General Secretary Guy Ryder has called for the cancellation of Haiti&rsquo;s debt, in the aftermath of the disaster, to increase the country&rsquo;s chances of reconstruction. 
 
As has been widely reported in the mainstream media, the huge earthquake hit Haiti on 12 January, and was followed by a number of aftershocks. Along with the reported death toll of over 100,000, Haiti&rsquo;s infrastructure has been severely damaged, with many buildings and roads completely destroyed. The humanitarian situation is desperate and aid is needed. 
 
Once the immediate humanitarian effort passes, the solidarity campaign will continue to use funds raised to help Haitians in their recovery from this natural disaster.

ICEM Urges Haitian Relief Funds through ITUC

The 20-million-member International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine, and General Workers&rsquo; Unions (ICEM) is demanding that the government of Bosnia-Herzegovina intervene on behalf of 1,250 workers in the northern city of Lukavac. The workers have had their pay slashed and are owed wage arrears by India-based Global Infrastructure Holdings Ltd., a subsidiary of the Ispat Group, owned by the Mittal steel-making family. 
 
The company is the minority owner but manages a coke-chemicals enterprise called Global Ispat Koksana Industtrija Lukavac (GIKIL), which sells to steel mills throughout Central Europe, Turkey, and in India. The local government of the Canton of Tuzla is majority stakeholder. 
 
In a 21 January letter to Bosnia-Herzegovina Prime Minister Mustafa Mujezinovic and to Canton of Tuzla Prime Minister Enes Mujić, ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda &ndash; together with International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF) General Secretary Jyrki Raina &ndash; called on both the federal government and regional government to ensure that restoration of previous pay levels dating to 2003 are restored, that wage arrears are paid, and that the governments be more vigilant on potentially serious health risks existing inside GIKIL. 
 
The ICEM, a Geneva-based global trade federation that numbers 467 affiliated trade unions in 132 countries, is pursuing justice for Lukavac workers on behalf of one of those affiliates, the Independent Trade Union of Chemistry and Non-Metal Workers of Bosnia-Herzegovina. 
 
&ldquo;The ICEM has probed Global Infrastructure Holdings, its parent, the steel-maker Ispat Group, and Pramod Mittal himself.&rdquo; said Warda. &ldquo;What we find is a history of depraved conduct placed on people in many countries and total disregard for global social standards, as well as statutes enshrined in European law.&rdquo; 
 
In Lukavac, workers have carried out lawful strikes twice in six months, laying claims to salaries owed them. Despite all workers taking membership in the union, GIKIL&rsquo;s Indian managing director, Guttupalli Jagannadham, has bypassed the union in slashing pay to 55% of previous earnings. That level is below the minimum wage standard contained in the national collective agreement for chemistry and non-metals, and amounts to just above &euro;200 per month (400 marka), putting it well under the minimum wage threshold for the sector in Bosnia-Herzegovina. 
 
Workers staged a strike from 6 January to 14 January after salaries had not been paid in October, November, and December 2009. During the strike, the October and November pay was made, but December salaries are still in remiss. A mediated agreement that ended a three-day strike in July 2009 called on GIKIL management to honour the collective agreement, and pay all wages due by 31 December 2009. 
 
The ICEM and IMF also stated concern for workers&rsquo; health at GIKIL in the letter to the Bosnia-Herzegovina government. The Independent Trade Union of Chemistry and Non-Metal Workers believes a number of workers have acute cases of cancer due to lack of safeguards around coke ovens. 
 
In the joint letter, the combined 45-million-member ICEM and IMF cautioned the government not to lose oversight over labour-management relations at GIKIL. &ldquo;We think this a mistake, considering the recent history of wage arrears, asset stripping, and general social depravation brought by Global Infrastructure Holdings.&rdquo; 
 
The ICEM cites a number of instances in the near past where Ispat and its Global Steel Holdings and Global Infrastructure Holdings subsidiaries have not met payrolls and displayed other social misconduct following privatizations and restructuring. Those cases have occurred in Nigeria, Libya, Bulgaria, as well as against Indian expatriate staff working abroad. 
 
&ldquo;We take the breach of contract, failure to engage the union in social talks, and wage issues very seriously,&rdquo; said Warda of the conflict in Lukavac. &ldquo;Either the government of Bosnia-Herzegovina corrects the wrongs imposed on workers, or we carry this dispute to different levels.&rdquo; 
 
For More Information, Contact: or Kata Iveljic, Tuzla Branch President, Independent Trade Union of Chemistry and Non-Metal Workers, <a href="mailto:sindikat.tz@bih.net.ba">sindikat.tz@bih.net.ba</a>, +387 35 279 081 (mobile: +387 61 894 385); or Dick Blin, ICEM Information and Campaigns Officer, <a href="mailto:dick.blin@icem.org">dick.blin@icem.org</a>, +41 22 304 1842 (mobile: +41 79 734 8994).

ICEM, IMF Decry Mittal’s Pay Delinquencies in Bosnia-Herzegovina

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The Geneva, Switzerland-based International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine, and General Workers&rsquo; Unions (ICEM) announces that it gives its unequivocal support to the 560 miners of US affiliated union, International Longshore &amp; Warehouse Union (ILWU), who were locked off their jobs by the Rio Tinto subsidiary, US Borax and Chemical Corp., on Sunday, 31 January. 
 
The workers were refused entry to the mine and processing plant in Boron, California, when they showed for their work shift at 06h00 on Sunday. 
 
&ldquo;We note that all 500 members of ILWU Local 30 voted against the company&rsquo;s contract proposal on Saturday night,&rdquo; said ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda. &ldquo;This should have served as a message to Rio Tinto Minerals to continue negotiating, continue seeking the necessary compromises in order to achieve a mutually acceptable collective agreement.&rdquo; 
 
A prior contract expired on 4 November 2009. Management is seeking unprecedented changes to workers&rsquo; seniority, shift and overtime assignments, and the way in which promotions are made, as well as seeking unilaterally to impose flexibility changes that favour the company to the detriment of workers. 
 
The ICEM condemns the company for its announcement that it will continue production with replacement workers during the company-initiated lockout. The ICEM will use its role, as the leading Global Union Federation in the mining industry, to alert trade unions around the globe, particularly those representing Rio Tinto workers, of the lockout and urge them to take action on behalf of ILWU Local 30 in California. 
 
Borax, or sodium borate, is a mineral used in detergents, glass, building materials, and other uses such as an ingredient in chemicals. The ICEM represents 20 million workers worldwide that are part of 467 affiliated trade unions in 132 countries. 
The ICEM urges all affiliates and supporters to send their own letter to Rio Tinto, condemning the lockout.&nbsp; Click <a href="/index.php?id=5&amp;la=EN&amp;doc=3600">here</a> for a model, paste the text onto your letterhead, and send to Rio Tinto CEO Albanese at <a href="mailto:tom.albanese@riotinto.org">tom.albanese@riotinto.org</a>, copied to <a href="mailto:joe.drexler@icem.org">joe.drexler@icem.org</a> and <a href="mailto:info@ilwu.org">info@ilwu.org</a>.

ICEM Pledges Support to Locked-Out Rio Tinto Workers in US State of California

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Workers&rsquo; Memorial Day this year will use the moniker &ldquo;Unions Make Work Safer,&rdquo; as global labour moves 28 April &ndash; the Commemoration Day for Dead and Injured Workers &ndash; as the one day that every day must bring in the fight for safe, healthy, and risk-free workplaces. The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) has designated that theme for 2010 in order to emphasize the vital role trade unions play in constantly improving occupational health and safety. 
 
In the UK, the government became one of over 20 countries worldwide to officially designate 28 April as Workers&rsquo; Memorial Day when Work and Pensions Secretary Yvette Cooper announced formal recognition of the day on 28 January. After beginning consultations in July 2009, it became clear to the government that the growing number of observances and health/safety renewal commitments on 28 April each year merited official designation. 

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What UK recognition now means is that the government will encourage commemorations of the day throughout the country, with ministers committed to support and promote public commemorations. &ldquo;Workers&rsquo; Memorial Day has been an important date in the trade union calendar for many years and we look forward to working with ministers to increase its profile,&rdquo; stated Trades Unions Congress (TUC) General Secretary Brendan Barber. 
 
The ITUC expects 2010 to exceed the 10,000 activities that occurred in over 100 countries around 28 April 2009. The ITUC itself will produce and release background materials, campaign ideas, and additional tools as 28 April 2010 nears. 
 
&ldquo;Workers&rsquo; Memorial Day gains more local, national, and international recognition with each passing year,&rdquo; stated ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda. &ldquo;And it is only fitting this year to draw attention to workers who, through their unions, have done so much to improve everyday workplace safety and health.&rdquo; 
 
The facts bear this out. In Canada, a recent report by the Ontario Safety and Health Agency found that 79% of unionised worksites report high compliance with health and safety legislation, while between 54% and 61% of non-union workplaces report such compliance. 
 
In Australia, unionised workplaces are three times more likely to have a safety committee and twice as likely to have performed a safety audit as non-union-sites. 
 
The ICEM encourages affiliates to begin preparing now for 28 April. The day became officially recognized by the ILO in 2001 as the &ldquo;International Day of Action for Safety and Health at Work,&rdquo; but had its origins before then. The ITUC marks the day to 1996 when the UN lit Commemorative Candles for the 188 victims of the Kader toy factory in Thailand in 1993. 
 
But the commemoration day has its true roots in the Canadian trade union movement, where unionists worked for several days before the Canadian Parliament in 1989 passed Bill C-223, designating 28 April as the official &ldquo;Day of Mourning&rdquo; for the North American country.

‘Unions Make Work Safer’ Theme for 28 April, Now Official Day in UK

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On 21&ndash;22 January in Kiev, Ukraine, ICEM together with the Freidrich Ebert Foundation (FES) organized an international conference on &ldquo;Restructuring of Mining and Energy Companies in the Countries of Central and Eastern Europe.&rdquo; Present were trade union representatives from Bulgaria, Belarus, Hungary, Serbia, Poland, Russia, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan, as well as specialists and experts from the ILO, and the Independent Institute on Coal Markets. 
 
Industry-wide restructuring and privatisation is occurring throughout the region, with the process at different stages in different countries. There are major concerns over jobs. Experiences differ, from negative ones in Ukraine, to some of the best experiences reported in Uzbekistan. In Belarus, restructuring has not occurred to the same extent as in other CIS states. 

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ICEM Vice-President Ivan Makohnachuk chairs the meeting
The presentation by Valery Zadenvarg, of the Independent Institute of Coal Markets, addressed the three stages of restructuring in Russia that have resulted in the closing of unprofitable mines and a decrease in coal mining jobs from 800,000 to 180,000. Currently there are 23 more mines in Russia that are slated for closing due to an inability to compete in the marketplace. The presentation by Nikolay Rogovsky of the ILO addressed socially-sensitive restructuring. 
 
The meeting heard that although Poland has ratified ILO 176, the Safety and Health in Mines Convention, it is not being implemented in the country, which is evident by continued coal mine disasters. 
 
The seminar concluded with a request by the affiliates to hold another such seminar in 2011 to gain more knowledge on the experience of restructuring in Western Europe, and on lessons to be learned from ICEM affiliates in those countries.

ICEM, FES Hold Conference on Mining, Energy Restructuring in Central, Eastern Europe

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An ICEM affiliate in Sri Lanka, the Free Trade Zone &amp; General Services Employees&rsquo; Union, is celebrating a successful outcome in its campaign for higher wages in the country&rsquo;s private sector. Until now, wages in the private sector have been governed by the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka (BOI), but with no dialogue or input from workers&rsquo; representatives. The pay gap between private sector and public sector workers has grown considerably in recent years. 
 
An unskilled public-sector employee can expect a monthly salary of Rs.11,630 (&euro;78), whereas an unskilled private sector employee&rsquo;s minimum wage is Rs. 6,700 (&euro;43). The trade union pressure placed on national government by the campaign moved the Ministry of Labour to raise private-sector minimum wages up by Rs. 2,500. 

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Workers turn out in white to protest low wages
The announcement by Labour Secretary Mahinda Madihahewa signals the government&rsquo;s intent to raise minimum wage across all of the country&rsquo;s trading zones, thus angering business leaders which have grown accustomed to nominal raises each year, or outright restrictions on increases in certain regions. 
 
There was no adjustment to salaries in 2009 as employers rejected BOI recommendations, citing the financial crisis. The BOI withdrew its recommendation in 2009 in the face of an adamant employer response against any increase. In 2009, there was no involvement from workers&rsquo; representatives in the process. 

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The handing over of a 20,000-strong petition
The BOI&rsquo;s recommendation for salary adjustments in 2010 was for a raise of Rs. 500, limited to factories in a small geographical region. The campaign put forth by the Free Trade Zone &amp; General Services Employees&rsquo; Union distributed this information widely and mobilised workers against the low and limited salary. Twenty-thousand signatures were collected protesting the salary revision. These signatures were presented to the office of the Minister of Labour. 
 
The Free Trade Zone &amp; General Services Employees&rsquo; Union campaign focused on educating workers throughout Sri Lanka on the issue, and it included a &ldquo;white dress&rdquo; protest in which workers came to work dressed in white. Media attention to the protest highlighted the workers&rsquo; message and increased pressure on government. The campaign has succeeded with the significant salary hikes, across all private sectors and all regions, and the ICEM congratulates the Sri Lankan union on the campaign.

Campaign for Higher Private Sector Salaries in Sri Lanka Succeeds

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The workers&rsquo; trade union of Cosmos Petroleum Services, Peru, has begun an indefinite strike action following two years of unsuccessful attempts to halt abuses of labour rights in the country. Cosmos is an outsource contractor to Brazilian oil and gas multinational Petrobras. Petrobras Peru&rsquo;s centre of operations is located at Lote X in the El Alto Province, where the conflict is now occurring with workers calling on Petrobras to take responsibility for the conduct of its contractor. 
 
The minimum monthly wage for a Peruvian Petrobras employee is 950 soles, or US$330, and workers of Cosmos are demanding an increase to receive at least that minimum. 
 
Union General Secretary Julio Rigoberto Alarc&oacute;n Fiestas points to the contract agreed between Petrobras and Cosmos on 28 February 2008, that sets forth the extremely low for contract workers. He said that service contract did not account for overtime or bonuses, and in fact was in breach of Peruvian national legislation. 

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He added that even the minimal contractual responsibilities of Cosmos to its staff have not been respected and the union cites numerous abuses, including wage and social benefits below the contractual minimum and information not being made available to workers. 
 
The workers&rsquo; union of Cosmos Petroleum Services asks for support in getting their employer to meet its contractual obligations on wages, and on where and how withheld money is used. 
 
The strike is a brave step for the union, as Cosmos management previously had illustrated its contempt toward union activists in the third quarter of 2008 by suspending workers. The company said financial concerns as the reason, despite that period being a boom in the industry. The suspensions were followed by the cancelling of the workers&rsquo; reemployment, along with cancellation of all redundancy payments. 
 
These actions were then endorsed by Petrobras but were later met by rulings from Peruvian labour authorities that opposed the unilateral actions. These rulings were ignored by Cosmos management. 
 
Union officials at Cosmos also criticize management for refusing to seek a solution during collective bargaining when the previous agreement ended last year. 
 
The ICEM calls on Petrobras to take responsibility for its outsourced workers at Cosmos Peru, and encourages the Brazilian company to step in and settle this conflict. 
 
Petrobras is the largest company in Latin America and the largest company headquartered in the Southern Hemisphere, with output of more than two million barrels of oil equivalent per day. It is also a major distributor of oil products.

Workers of Petrobras Contractor in Peru Take Strike Action

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For third time since management shut the copper, lead, and zinc mining and smelting operations of Doe Run Per&uacute; at La Oroya in June 2009, members of a branch of ICEM affiliate National Miners&rsquo; and Metalworkers&rsquo; Union (FNTMMSP), along with two other unions, agreed to extend the shutdown until 29 April, only this time the 3,200 mines and metalworkers will receive 70% of their salaries and labour benefits. 
 
That agreement was reached late last week and extends an enforced vacation agreement that first went into effect in August 2009. The shutdown then lasted three months with workers receiving 63% of pay, and an extended 90-day negotiated vacation shutdown took effect in November 2009, which saw workers receive 65% of their standard pay. That expired at the end of January. 

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FNTMMSP Gen. Sec. Luis Castillo Carlos
FNTMMSP General Secretary Luis Castillo Carlos said the union&rsquo;s number one priority is to reopen the La Oroyo complex in Yauli Province, 175 kilometres east of Lima, with all workers receiving full pay and full benefits. Castillo said the company also agreed to meet weekly with unions to apprise them of financial developments in regard to re-opening. 
 
Doe Run Per&uacute; has been hard hit by debt, including money owed ore suppliers and financiers. The Peruvian Congress has given the company until 27 July 2010 to restart, a deadline that also saw the government give a 30-month extension to the American company for environmental clean-up that will cost US$156 million. 

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The company&rsquo;s troubles were also compounded early this month when it was expelled from Peru&rsquo;s National Society of Mining, Oil, and Energy (SNMPE) for violations of three codes of conduct: negligent health and safety conditions for workers, disregard for the environment, and mining exploration that fails to comply with Peruvian legislation. The smelter is known to have caused serious lead poisoning along the River Mantaro. 
 
Doe Run is owned by privately-held Renco Group, a New York-based holding company controlled by industrialist Ira Rennart. Renco also owns AM General, a maker of armored vehicles for military use, and US Magnesium. Its Doe Run affiliate also has lead recycling and processing operations in the US states of Arizona, Missouri, and Washington. 
 
In Peru in 2008, Doe Run&rsquo;s La Oroya smelter produced 114,259 tonnes of lead, 53,831 tonnes of cooper, and 43,440 tonnes of zinc. The polymetallic smelter also produced a host of minor metals as well.

Peruvian Miners Give Doe Run Management until 29 April to Reopen

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