English

Español

Français

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="100" height="39" />
The second meeting of the Latin American Trade Union Network of Dutch multinational Akzo Nobel was held on from 7-9 December 2010 in S&atilde;o Paulo, Brazil. The meeting was jointly organized by the project called CUTMulti, CUT`s International Relations Secretariat, and ICEM&rsquo;s Dutch trade union affiliate, FNV Bondgenoten. 
 
The meeting was attended by trade union representatives from Brazil, the Netherlands, US, Mexico, Argentina, and Colombia, together with representatives from the Brazilian national labour centre CUT, ICEM, and Brazil&rsquo;s Social Observatory Institute. 
 
At the opening session, the general coordinator of ICEM affiliate CNQ/CUT &ndash; the National Workers Confederation of the Chemical Sector &ndash; Antenor Nakamura (Kazu) congratulated the initiative to expand the committee, and highlighted the importance of trade union networking in the chemicals sector. 
<img alt="" src="" width="320" height="147" />
Delegates put forward their expectations from the network. Marcel Tesselaar, representative of FNV Bondgenoten, the union representing headquarters workers of AkzoNobel, acknowledged that the company has different behaviours in the Netherlands from the rest of the world. &ldquo;Through meetings like this, we can create a real social dialogue process,&rdquo; he said. 
 
James Carvin, a sub-district director of ICEM&rsquo;s North American Affiliate, the United Steelworkers (USW), told the meeting that his union&rsquo;s intention is to intensify the work with the network and promised to reproduce work done in Brazil in the US. 
 
ICEM&rsquo;s Kemal &Ouml;zkan reported on the current situation of the chemical industry worldwide. A international labor standards and other tools for union action presentation was made by Jos&eacute; Drummond, with emphasis on the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, the ILO tripartite declaration for multinationals, UN Global Compact, Socio-Labor Declaration of Mercosur, ISO 26000, and various companies codes of conduct. Data on the AkzoNobel restructuring process was presented by the DIEESE. 
<img alt="" src="" width="266" height="161" />
The meeting also included country reports on existing situations at AkzoNobel plants. A plant visit to Mau&aacute;, discussions on communication of the network, its expansion and political coordination, and strengthening of the Latin American network were the major topics of the meeting programme. 
 
The activities closed on 10 December with a social dialogue session with the participation of the company`s management for South America. Some eight managers attended, including human resource managers and union relations consultants hired specially to deal with the workers network. The social dialogue debates included a presentation of the company on strategic investments in China, a report of the network on the proposals put forward in this second Latin American meeting, international labor standards, the social dialogue process, organization at the workplace, corporate social responsibility, the company&rsquo;s code of conduct, and a proposal on training and labour/union relations for the management of the company.

Latin American Union Network for AkzoNobel Held in São Paulo, Brazil

<img src="" width="100" height="39" alt="" />
Cements workers and others of Jindal Cement and its parent, Indian steel conglomerate Jindal Group or JSW, had a demonstration busted up by riot police firing gunshots over their heads in Gadivemula, India. The 4,000 demonstrators were protesting on 23 January over the misery sum Jindal offered to pay the family of a construction worker who fell and died at the cement plant. 
 
Managers called area Kurnool police used near-deadly force to disperse the workers, who then hurled rocks and other objects at police, damaging a police vehicle. Some workers were injured when they jostled with police while trying to gain entry to the cement plant. 
<img src="" width="180" height="83" alt="" />
Workers claim it was Jindal&rsquo;s negligence that led to the death of the 43-year-old worker, Bikakalagudur, who fell from a high beam while employed on construction of the company&rsquo;s Gadivemula cement works. 
 
Jindal Cement at first offered to pay only one-half the standard ex-gratia to the dead worker&rsquo;s family. 
 
Mumbai-based JSW Group, a US$8 billion concern, is busy constructing cement plants adjacent to many of the company&rsquo;s steel mills in order to take advantage of slag and flyash for use in cement manufacture.

Cement Workers in India Vehemently Protest Over Dead Colleague

<img alt="" src="" width="368" height="87" />
Uluslararasi Sendika Federasyonlari IMF, ICEM, ITF ve UNI, &uuml;ye sendikalarını 14 Şubat tarihinden,&nbsp;Pasta de Conchos trajedisinin 5. yıld&ouml;n&uuml;m&uuml; olan 19 Şubat tarihine kadar eyleme davet etmektedir.
T&uuml;m &uuml;ye sendikalarımızdan Meksika H&uuml;k&uuml;meti&rsquo;ne y&ouml;nelik aşağıdaki &ccedil;ağrımıza katılması istemekteyiz: 
 
1. İşverenden ve Meksika h&uuml;k&uuml;meti yetkililerinden 19 Şubat 2009 tarihinde ger&ccedil;ekleşen ve 65 madencinin hayatına malolan Pasta de Conchos patlamasının hesabı sorulmalıdır. 
 
Patlamanın nedenleri bağımsız bir şekilde soruşturulmalıdır. Sorumlular hakkında hukuki kovuşturma başlatılmalıdır. H&uuml;k&uuml;met tarafından kurbanların ailelerinin haklarının adil bir şekilde karşılanması, g&ouml;&ccedil;&uuml;k altında kalan madencilerin cesetlerinin &ccedil;ıkarılması ve cenaze t&ouml;reninin yapılması gerekiyor. Meksika, madenlerdeki iş sağlığı ve g&uuml;venliği mevzuatını geliştirerek İLO S&ouml;zleşmeleri ile uyumlu hale getirmek i&ccedil;in harekete ge&ccedil;melidir. 
 
2. İşveren g&uuml;d&uuml;ml&uuml; &ldquo;koruma s&ouml;zleşmeleri&rdquo; ve sendika se&ccedil;imlerine m&uuml;dahaleyi de i&ccedil;eren &ouml;rg&uuml;tlenmeye y&ouml;nelik sistematik ihlallere son verilmelidir. 
 
H&uuml;k&uuml;met, &Ccedil;alışma Bakanlığı yetkililerinin, y&uuml;r&uuml;rl&uuml;ğe girmeden &ouml;nce sendika se&ccedil;imlerinin sonu&ccedil;larını onaylamasını gerekli kılan &ldquo;toma de nota&ldquo; uygulamasını ortadan kaldırmalıdır. Los Mineros ve SME sendikalarının se&ccedil;ilmiş y&ouml;neticileri bir an &ouml;nce tanınmalıdır. İş&ccedil;ilerin kendilerini temsil edecek sendikayı korkusuzca ve &ouml;zg&uuml;rce se&ccedil;ebilmeleri i&ccedil;in işveren g&uuml;d&uuml;ml&uuml; &ldquo;koruma s&ouml;zleşmeleri&rdquo; uygulaması sona erdirilmeli ve iş&ccedil;iler toplu s&ouml;zleşmenin bir kopyasını alma hakkına sahip olmalıdır. 
 
3. İş&ccedil;ilerin kendilerine daha iyi &ccedil;alışma koşulları ve daha y&uuml;ksek &uuml;cret, daha sağlıklı ve g&uuml;venli &ccedil;alışma koşulları sağlayacak olan &ldquo;demokratik sendika&rdquo; meşru talebini baskı altına almak amacıyla devlet veya &ouml;zel hukuk kişileri tarafından kuvvet kullanılmasına son verilmelidir. 
 
H&uuml;k&uuml;met, Federal Polis Kuvvetlerini bir an &ouml;nce Cananea ve diğer b&uuml;t&uuml;n işyerlerinden &ccedil;ekmelidir. 
 
Los Mineros &uuml;yeleri Hector Alvarez Gomez, Mario Alberto Castillo Rodriguez, Reynaldo Hernandez Gonzalez, Juventino Flores Salas, ve FLOC &ouml;rg&uuml;tlenme sorumlusu Santiago Rafael Cruz'un katledilmesinin sorumluları adalete teslim edilmelidir. 
 
4. Meksika Maden İş&ccedil;ileri Sendikası ve Meksika Elektrik İş&ccedil;ileri Sendikası'na y&ouml;nelik sistematik politik baskı kampanyasına son verilmelidir. 
 
H&uuml;k&uuml;met haksız yere cezaevinde tutulan sendika liderleri; Juan Linares Montufar ve Miguel Marguez'i serbest bırakmalı, Genel Sekreter Napoleon Gomez Urrutia ve diğer Los Mineros liderleri hakkındaki ceza kovuşturmalarını d&uuml;ş&uuml;rmeli, sendikanın dondurulan banka hesaplarındaki kaynakları geri vermeli ve SNTMMSRM ve SME'ye y&ouml;nelik sistematik politik baskıya sonlandırmalıdır. 
 
H&uuml;k&uuml;met Mexico City b&ouml;lgesine elektrik enerji dağıtımını yapacak yeni bir kamu şirketi kurmalı. İşe iadelerini talep eden işten atılmış iş&ccedil;ileri yeniden işe almalı ve SME'yi toplu s&ouml;zleşme tarafı olarak tanımalıdır. 
 
Sizleri, bu talepleri desteklemeniz i&ccedil;in diğer sendikalar ile birlikte 14-19 Şubat 2011 tarihleri arasında aşağıdaki eylem bi&ccedil;imlerinden uygun bulduklarınızı uygulamaya &ccedil;ağırmaktayız. 
 
&bull; Meksika H&uuml;k&uuml;meti&rsquo;ne protesto mektubu g&ouml;ndererek, &uuml;lkenizdeki Meksika B&uuml;y&uuml;kel&ccedil;iliği ya da Konsolosluğu &ouml;n&uuml;nde g&ouml;steriler ve toplantılar d&uuml;zenlenebilir. 
&bull; İnsan hakları ve sendikal haklar alanında uluslararası m&uuml;zakereler yoluyla Meksika H&uuml;k&uuml;meti &uuml;zerinde etkili olabilecek politikacılarla toplantı ve brifingler yapılabilir. 
&bull; Temel haklara y&ouml;nelik bu ihlalleri a&ccedil;ıklamak i&ccedil;in ilgili Meksika şirketlerinin m&uuml;şterileri ve yatırımcıları ile toplantılar organize edilebilir. 
&bull; Kamuoyunun dikkatini Meksika'daki duruma &ccedil;ekmek i&ccedil;in basın a&ccedil;ıklamaları yapılarak, medyaya y&ouml;nelik etkinlikler d&uuml;zenleyin, gazete edit&ouml;rlerine mektuplar g&ouml;nderilebilir. 
 
Bu k&uuml;resel eylem haftasının koordine edilmesinde bize destek olmak i&ccedil;in &uuml;yesi olduğunuz ilgili K&uuml;resel Federasyonu ne t&uuml;r eylem planladığınıza ilişkin en kısa sure i&ccedil;erisinde bilgilendirmenizi istirham etmekteyiz. 
 
IMF (E-posta: <a href="mailto:unionrights@imfmetal.org">unionrights@imfmetal.org</a>) 
ICEM (E-posta: <a href="mailto:tom.grinter@icem.org">tom.grinter@icem.org</a>) 
ITF (E-posta: <a href="mailto:cortes_isabel@itf.org.uk">cortes_isabel@itf.org.uk</a>) 
UNI (<a href="mailto:Olga.Vinogradova@uniglobalunion.org">Olga.Vinogradova@uniglobalunion.org</a>)

Meksika`da Sendikal Haklar icin Eylem Haftasi - 14/19 Subat 2011

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
EMCEF, the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), European Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (EMF), and the European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU) &ndash;representing trade unions in electricity and gas across the European Union inclusively &ndash; warned that decisions to be made now by the European Commission will have serious impact later regarding energy use and energy supply. 
 
With a heavy Commission agenda on energy this spring, the four trade unions issued the alert on 3 February, a day prior to a special energy summit over development of a strategy document for the future. 
 
The unions said any strategy must include emission cuts and dedicated resources for a &ldquo;smart grid&rdquo; system that saves energy and thrives on innovation, training, and quality jobs. 
<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="72" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <img alt="" src="" width="90" height="80" />
&ldquo;Our members, whether workers or consumers, understand the importance for the economy of safe, reliable, sustainable and accessible energy for businesses and communities alike,&rdquo; read the statement. &ldquo;Our jobs and our communities depend on clear policies that guarantee that energy is viewed as a service of general interest.&rdquo; 
 
Sustainable development, the unions said, is &ldquo;the development of quality employment and the development of training to ensure genuine transitions.&rdquo; European trade unions also call for strict regulations, a financial framework for technical development, and market integrity and transparency to ensure no abuse inside energy markets. 
 
EMCEF, ETUC, EMF, and EPSU call for a sustainable energy mix in which supply is guaranteed and affordability is ensured. With Hungary currently presiding at the European Council, debate on a roadmap forward will occur at an Energy Council meeting on 28 February, a ministers&rsquo; meeting on 2-3 May, and again at a second Energy Council meeting, 10 June.

European Union Federations Warn Commission on Errant Energy Agenda

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
Over the last six months, public opposition has been growing in the eastern Indian State of Bihar over plans for a factory to manufacture asbestos products. Local residents took to the streets en-masse on 10 February in the state capital Patna in a rally coinciding with the group &quot;Citizens Forum Against Asbestos&quot; submitting a memorandum seeking the cancellation of the industrial license given to the proposed factory. 
 
The campaign against the new factory is now pressuring the federal Indian government to offically impose&nbsp;a nationwide ban on the&nbsp;large-scale import of asbestos. Bihar state Chief Minister Nitish Kumar shifted blame from his administration to the national government. &quot;This factory has received the environmental clearance from the government of India. There should be a uniform policy, and asbestos factories stopped all over the country,&quot; he stated. 
<img alt="" src="" width="180" height="128" />
Construction at the Balmukund Cement and Roofings Ltd. (BCRL) factory has now been suspended. 
 
While India&rsquo;s national government has banned the mining of asbestos, it allows trade, manufacture, and use of the mineral, despite&nbsp;proven dangers of inhaling asbestos fibre. World Health Organisation (WHO)&nbsp;estimates that&nbsp;90,000 people die of asbestos-related illnesses every year. The White Asbestos Bill is currently pending&nbsp;in the Indian Parliament and awaits further debate. The legislation would ban the use and import of the deadly mineral. Almost half of the imported asbestos into India is mined in Canada. 
 
Inhaling asbestos fibre or dust can result in the&nbsp;painful and&nbsp;eventually fatal condition called mesothelioma, a form of&nbsp;lung cancer. Most patients are poor workers without access to medical care. Asbestos is banned in the European Union, Australia, and Japan.
A much-criticised memorandum of understanding was signed on 31 December 2010 between the Board of Trade of Montreal, Canada, and the Indian Chamber of Commerce for the &quot;safe&quot; use of asbestos. The agreement is seen as a clear disregard for the health of Indian workers, as profit-motive is the priority for&nbsp;both groups. The inclusion of a representative of Balcorp Ltd., a major asbestos miner and exporter, in the trade mission to India led by Quebec&rsquo;s Economic Development Minister earlier this month, has caused much concern for Indian activists.

Mass Popular Protests against Proposed Asbestos Factory in Bihar, India

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
ICEM Colombian affiliate Sintracarb&oacute;n averted a strike last week at the world&rsquo;s largest set of&nbsp;coal mines, and accepted a two-year labour accord with&nbsp;Carbones del Cerrej&oacute;n, the producer of rich thermal coal from La Guajira state that is owned jointly by AngloAmerican, BHP Billiton, and Xstrata. 
 
In a statement, the ICEM praised the new contract, calling it a result of respectful social dialogue, a process set in place with ICEM assistance back in 2004. The economic stakes counting down to a planned 8 February by 4,200 Sintracarb&oacute;n members were so high that Colombia Vice President Angelino Garz&oacute;n and Vice Minister of Labour Relations Ricardo Echeverry brokered final talks. 
 
The two-year labour accord between the mining union and Cerrej&oacute;n&nbsp;calls for a first-year wage increase of 6.5%, retroactive to 1 January 2011, and a 2012 increase of the greater between 5% or 2% above the Consumer Price Index. 
<img alt="" src="" width="232" height="174" />
But more importantly, Sintracarb&oacute;n continued to make improvements at the bargaining table for the communities surrounding the massive coal complex and tangible gains for over 5,500 contract workers employed at Carbones del Cerrej&oacute;n and Puerto Bolivar, the company&rsquo;s deep-water port 150 kilometres from the mine. 
 
The union recorded improvements in health benefits for workers and their families, transportation stipends to reach medical care, education and scholarships for family members, and an increase in the number of housing loans for workers. 
 
Cerrej&oacute;n stood firm on a first-year wage offer of 6% but following a 27 January strike ballot in which workers voted 96.4% for industrial&nbsp;action, the company first raised its offer to 6.3% and then 6.5% in mediation in Bogot&aacute; with the Vice President. 
<img alt="" src="" width="120" height="119" />
ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda
&ldquo;We have witnessed both sides reach the brink of negotiations in the past several sets of two-year talks,&rdquo; said General Secretary Manfred Warda in the ICEM statement. &ldquo;The fact that Sintracarb&oacute;n and Cerrej&oacute;n have not had a strike in over 20 years is testament to mutual respect and shared responsibility by both the union and management in looking after the welfare of communities, workers, and their families.&rdquo; 
 
The ICEM congratulates the union members of Sintracarb&oacute;n for mobilising for job action and then winning a deserved 2011 pay increase of 6.5%, better than double Colombia&rsquo;s current 3.19% CPI. The ICEM notes that Cerrej&oacute;n is a highly profitable enterprise for the parent companies, as well as for Colombia, which exported 76 million tonnes of coal in 2010 &ndash; 31 million tonnes of which was generated by the members of Sintracarb&oacute;n.

Sintracarbón, Cerrejón Reach Satisfactory Terms in Colombia

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
Full work rights for irregular workers took a big step forward in Korea last week. A ruling by the Seoul High Court against Hyundai Motor and for a sacked subcontract worker was greeted as a marker for those following this critical global issue. 
 
In a case reviewed, overturned, and then sent on to the Seoul High Court by Korea&rsquo;s Supreme Court, the ruling rightfully declared that Choe Byeong-seung, 35, was a direct employee of Hyundai while employed at its Ulsan manufacturing complex between 2003 to 2005. 
 
In issuing the verdict on 10 February, the High Court said Choe &ldquo;carried out his duties mixed with regular workers on either side of the conveyer belt, and Hyundai Motor made decisions regarding workload, methods, sequence, etc.&rdquo; 
<img alt="" src="" width="140" height="122" />
Following the ruling, the Hyundai Irregular Workers&rsquo; Union and its parent, the Korean Metal Workers&rsquo; Union (KMWU), held a press conference in front of Hyundai&rsquo;s headquarters in Seoul. Their message is that the world&rsquo;s fifth largest auto maker must take this ruling as signal to bring all subcontract workers&nbsp;to direct employment. 
 
Hyundai employs roughly 34,500 workers at its plants in Korea, with nearly one-quarter of them irregular workers. Choe, for instance, was hired by the car maker through a labour agency, but he sued Hyundai, not the agency, for restitution of his work rights. He was sacked, allegedly, for exercising his right to belong to a union. 
 
For the company&rsquo;s part last week, it denigrated the judgment by announcing it would appeal the High Court&rsquo;s ruling back to the Supreme Court, and stated it&nbsp;might even file a Constitutional Petition. 
 
The plight that irregular workers face is again becoming a hot-button issue in Korea&rsquo;s politics. All political parties are engaged on the issue, and even a leading member of the ruling Grand National Party declared it &ldquo;hypocritical to talk about welfare issues while ignoring the problem of irregular workers.&rdquo; On 27 January, the opposition parties, Democratic Labor Party (DLP) and People Participations Party (PPP), broke new ground by debating the issue of irregular employment in a public forum. 
<img alt="" src="" width="146" height="66" />
The urgency of the issue, in no small part, also arises from last November-December&rsquo;s 25-day sit-down strike at Ulsan, as well as job actions by non-regular workers at Hyundai plants in Asan and Jeonju during the same period. The strike at Ulsan caught the world&rsquo;s attention, revealing accurately a major global manufacturer in an OECD country capitalising on servitude. 
 
Hyundai is hardly the only Korean equipment maker that exploits precarious workers. The GM Daewoo Irregular Workers&rsquo; branch of the KMWU in Incheon City has been battling for full-time rights for nearly four years. Despite local government and civil society pleas to GM Daewoo Auto &amp; Technology Co. to begin talks with the union over misuse of irregular workers, the company has refused, citing no responsibility because it is not the official employer. 
 
Workers staged a sit-in atop an arch leading into the factory in December and later that month, the branch&rsquo;s President, Sin Hyeon-chang, went on a hunger strike.

Hyundai Court Win for Irregular Worker Lifts Stakes in Korea

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
The ICEM directed criticism at Advanced Chemical Industries Ltd. (ACI) of Bangladesh last week over 22-23 January protests inside a pharmaceutical factory in Siddhirganj, central Narayanganj district, that left one worker dead. The ICEM believes that both full-time and temporary workers were pushed to their limits by ACI Plant Manger Ishtiaque Ahmed, who exhibited notoriously cruel behaviour to workers with constant threats of dismissal. 
 
Following peaceful worker protests on 22 January, ACI management responded by calling for armed police action against nearly all 400 workers inside the plant on the following day. The ICEM learned that management refused several times in recent months to engage in earnest discussions over workers&rsquo; grievances. 
 
The ICEM&rsquo;s protest to ACI can be found <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/2.GDFSUEZunitedwatLet.pdf ">here</a>. Police fired rubber bullets and 30 canisters of tear gas on 23 January to break up the in-plant protests. One worker, 25-year-old temporary worker Enamul Huq, died from wounds suffered by he police assault. Over 100 others, including some police officers and the plant manager himself, were hospitalised. 
<img alt="" src="" width="123" height="151" />
Arrest Warrant: Beaten Worker
In the early days of last week, local Narayanganj police issued arrest for 30 named workers and another 300 whose names were not listed. 
 
The ICEM finds that the mayhem is attributable to ACI, which for too long neglected the pleas of workers and their plant-level trade union to address issues. Those issues include extended temporary work status to deserving workers, denying those workers union representation, and employing temporary workers at a sub-par level of benefits. Some temporary staff at ACI Pharmaceutical in Siddhirganj have worked as long as 12 years in unsecured job postings. 
 
The ICEM noted that nearly 400 of the plant&rsquo;s 407 workers took part in last weekend&rsquo;s protests. The ACI plant employs 167 full-time and 240 temporary workers. 
 
The ACI plant produces drug aids for human use. The plant employs 167 full-time workers and is a major Asian manufacturer, marketer, and distributor of drug aids, agri-chemical and pesticide products, and basic consumer products.

ICEM Says Bangladesh Chemical Company Provoked Riot that Killed One

<img src="" width="100" height="39" alt="" />
Release from International Textile, Garment, and Leather Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITGLWF) 
 
The Global Union representing workers in the garment industry is convened a meeting of jeans&rsquo; brands and retailers to raise awareness of the need to eliminate the use of sandblasting, a method used to give jeans a fashionably faded look. 
 
Patrick Itschert, General Secretary of the International Textile, Garment, and Leather Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITGLWF), said, &ldquo;Sandblasting is an extremely harmful process which can cause silicosis. The meeting on January 20 in Brussels provides an opportunity to hear contributions by experts, to examine best practices, to exchange points of view and to discuss further steps for action. 
<img src="" width="130" height="106" alt="" />
ITGLWF General Secretary Patrick Itschert
&ldquo;In Turkey, the world&rsquo;s third largest exporter of jeans and the only country so far where the impact of sandblasting on the health of workers has come under scrutiny, 550 former sandblasting workers have been diagnosed with silicosis since 2005 and 46 have so far died of the disease. These officially-documented cases are just the tip of the iceberg both in Turkey and globally. 
 
&ldquo;Clearly, government regulation is needed to ban the process or to enforce existing bans. However, in the absence of effective government regulation brands and retailers urgently need to take voluntary action. 
 
&ldquo;Even if brands and retailers adopt rigorous standards regarding sandblasting, there will always be suppliers that do not enforce those standards, thus putting unsuspecting workers at risk. Therefore the best policy is to ban sandblasting altogether in the garment industry. Several leading brands have already done so and we believe others should now do the same&rdquo;. 
 
Speakers at the meeting, entitled &ldquo;Towards the Elimination of Sandblasting in the Garment Industry,&rdquo; were trade union health and safety experts as well as brands that have taken the step to ban sandblasting.

ITGLWF Convenes Meeting of Jeans’ Companies on Perils of Sandblasting

<img src="" width="100" height="39" alt="" />
In early January, the ICEM learned of a major workers&rsquo; protest in al-Ferdous Square in Baghdad by Iraqi public employees and civil servants. More details are now available on that 4 January manifestation, thanks to the Federation of Workers&rsquo; Councils and Unions in Iraq (FWCUI). This legitimate protest was held to uphold work rights for Politically Dismissed Workers. 
 
An inquiry commission is about to wrongly verify documentation acknowledging the sackings of hundreds of workers from ministries and agencies within Industry, Commerce, Agriculture, Irrigation, and other departments of government over political allegiances.
<img src="" width="231" height="155" alt="" />
Public Workers Carry a Symbolic Coffin in Baghdad
The demonstration was vocal and visual, by all accounts. 
 
The manifestation&rsquo;s first demand called for the cancellation of all decisions by the inquiry commission. Secondly, the 4 January rally and march demanded that sacked workers&rsquo; dismissal periods count as actual employment and thirdly, the 500 protesters demanded a stop to proceedings of verification against the politically dismissed workers. 
<img src="" width="230" height="173" alt="" />
FWCUI President Falah Alwan
After trade union activists spoke at al-Ferdous Square, demonstrators carried a coffin as a death symbol to government officials destroying any semblance of global labour standards in this particular case. The march wound its way in central Baghdad to Square Wiz and then back again to al-Ferdous Square. 
 
The protest was widely covered by Baghdad television, radio, and print media outlets. 
 
The ICEM gives global support to Iraqi workers who exercise their legitimate rights under international labour standards.

Public Sector Workers Demand Justice for Sacked Workers in Iraq

Archive