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Japonya, Endonezya, Hindistan, Malezya, Tayland ve Vietnam'dan kau&ccedil;uk iş&ccedil;ilerini &ouml;rg&uuml;tleyen yirmi beş sendikanın temsilcileri 27 Ekim g&uuml;n&uuml; Endonezya'nın Cakarta kentinde bir araya geldiler ve ICEM Asya-Pasifik Kau&ccedil;uk Sendikaları Ağı'nı kurdular. Friedrich Ebert Vakfı'nın desteklediği ve ICEM &uuml;yesi Kimya Maden ve Enerji İş&ccedil;ileri Sendikası'nın (FSP KEP) evsahipliğini yaptığı toplantıya Japonya'dan ICEM-JAF sendikası ve ICEM Sekretarya kadrosu da katıldı. 
 
FSP KEP Başkanı D. Pataobong Sjaiful a&ccedil;ış konuşmasında ş&ouml;yle dedi: &ldquo;D&uuml;nyada s&uuml;r&uuml;p giden ekonomik kriz koşullarında ve Asya-Pasifik B&ouml;lgesi'ne &ouml;zg&uuml; zorluklar karşısında, ICEM'in kau&ccedil;uk işkolundaki sendikaları bir ağ &ccedil;er&ccedil;evesinde bir araya getirme girişimi son derece &ouml;nemli. Ağır koşullarda &ccedil;alışan &uuml;yelerimizin haklarını daha iyi korumaya y&ouml;nelik bu birlikteliğe ihtiyacımız var.&rdquo; 
 
Toplantıda ICEM Kimya ve Kau&ccedil;uk B&ouml;l&uuml;m&uuml; Sorumlusu Kemal &Ouml;zkan k&uuml;resel kau&ccedil;uk sekt&ouml;r&uuml;ndeki &ouml;nemli gelişmeler ve zorluklar konusunda bir sunum yaptı. Toplantıdan &ouml;nce dağıtılan soru formları sayesinde, verilen &uuml;lke raporlarının ve sendikaların durumuyla ilgili tartışmanın sağlam verilere dayanması sağlanmış oldu. 
Toplantıda ICEM'in k&uuml;resel ve b&ouml;lgesel şirket ağları ve k&uuml;resel &ccedil;er&ccedil;eve s&ouml;zleşmeler &uuml;zerinde de duruldu. K&uuml;resel s&ouml;zleşmelerin &ouml;rg&uuml;tlenmede ara&ccedil; olarak kullanılması enine boyuna tartışıldı. Şirket ağlarının ise dayanışma &ouml;rg&uuml;tlemede ve bilgi alışverişinde hayati ara&ccedil;lar olduğu vurgulandı. 
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Şirket ağları konusu toplu pazarlık, iş sağlığı ve g&uuml;venliği, istihdam ve genel &ccedil;alışma koşulları bağlamında da ele alındı. 
 
Yeni kurulan Asya-Pasifik Kau&ccedil;uk İş&ccedil;ileri Ağı'nın başkanlığına Japon Kau&ccedil;uk İş&ccedil;ileri Sendikası (GOMU-RENGO) Başkanı Toshiaki Hojo se&ccedil;ildi. Toplantıda, ayrıca, izleme &ccedil;alışmalarıyla ilgili bir eylem planı da kabul edildi. Eylem planı d&uuml;zenli bilgi dolaşımını &ouml;ng&ouml;r&uuml;yor ve Kore merkezli Hankook ve Kumho ile Hindistan'dan Apollo gibi &ccedil;okuluslu şirketleri hedefliyor. 
 
Asya'da kau&ccedil;uk işkolunda hızla yaygınlaşan taşeron iş&ccedil;iliği de toplantının g&uuml;ndeminde yer alıyordu. İş&ccedil;ilerin k&uuml;resel &ouml;l&ccedil;ekte karşı karşıya bulunduğu bu soruna ilişkin &ccedil;alışmanın geliştirilmesine karar verildi.

Asya-Pasifik Kauçuk İşçilerinin Sendikaları Bölge Ağı Kurdu

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The ICEM&rsquo;s Global Framework Agreement with the Freudenberg Group, a German-based rubber, auto accessories, nonwovens, and engineering company, was improved recently to include neutrality on union organising. Together with Michael Mersmann, International Director of the German union, IGBCE, ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda and ICEM Chemicals and Rubber Officer Kemal &Ouml;zkan met with Lorent Freudenberg, Human Resources Director, and Dr. Dirk Mahler, counsel of Freudenberg, to review and update the agreement with Freudenberg. 
 

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Meeting in Pittsburgh. UE's Bob Kingsley and John Hovis, USW's Leo Gerard and Gerald Fernandez 

Regarding proposals put forth to the privately-held company by the ICEM, it was agreed to continue discussions on most of those issues. But the company did accept a clause in the agreement on neutrality with immediate effect. 
It reads: 
 
&ldquo;The Freudenberg Group respects the right of its employees to freely decide whether or not to establish or to associate with any legitimate trade union of their choice. The Freudenberg Group shall remain strictly neutral concerning its employees&rsquo; choice in the matter.&rdquo; 
 
The agreement also contains a provision, stating, &ldquo;ICEM and IGBCE agree to use their best efforts to promote constructive approaches in local organising drives in the spirit of social dialogue and to achieve positive labour relations as expressed in this Agreement.&rdquo; 

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From left, CEP's Alan Tate, UE's Robin Alexander, ICEM Gen. Sec. Manfred Warda, and Lorent Freudenberg and Dirk Mahler of Freudenberg Group.
To establish the mutual trust and constructive approach in labour relations, the ICEM helped to arrange a US meeting in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on 1 October that brought managers of Freudenberg together with some of ICEM&rsquo;s North American affiliates, including the United Steelworkers (USW), United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE), and the Communications, Energy, Paperworkers (CEP) Union of Canada. 
 
The meeting was headed by USW President Leo Gerard and UE President John Hovis and following discussions that both labour and management termed honest and constructive, it was agreed that a model case would be implemented and executed regarding social dialogue procedures based on neutrality. 
 
The agreement between ICEM and Freudenberg was signed in June 2000, and was the ICEM&rsquo;s second such Global Framework Agreement at that time.

ICEM’s Freudenberg Global Accord Improved to Include Organising Neutrality

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On 26 October, ICEM Asia-Pacific Region&rsquo;s Working Women&rsquo;s group met in Jakarta, Indonesia, to continue its work on maternity protection. This work has been ongoing for at least a year, and was reflected from the seven points that arose out of the 2007 Women&rsquo;s World Conference. 
 
The meeting was attended by women from ICEM affiliates in Indonesia, Japan, India, Thailand, Malaysia, and Australia. The women came from different industries &ndash; mining, cement, chemicals, glass, pharmaceuticals, and electric power. 
 
Pregnant women and new mothers continue to face discrimination in most countries of the world. The global financial crisis just makes this discrimination more acute. 
 
Women&rsquo;s needs for maternity protection, or parents&rsquo; rights, differ greatly in the Asia-Pacific Region. Due to the ageing societies and skills shortages in Japan and Australia, for instance, it is dawning on decision-makers that providing women with incentives to bear children may provide the solution. In other countries, women&rsquo;s rights are under threat due to outsourcing. 
 
It was decided to campaign for the ratification of ILO Convention 183, the Maternity Protection Convention, since no country in the region has ratified it. Nevertheless, many unions have successfully achieved some level of maternity protection through collective bargaining, and these efforts must be continued and strengthened.

Maternity Protection Theme of ICEM’s Asia-Pacific Working Women’s Group

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With the announcement the week before last by US-based International Paper Co. that its Inverurie printing and writing papers mills is &ldquo;unprofitable and not financially viable,&rdquo; ICEM UK affiliate Unite the Union said it will do everything possible to save the mill and the jobs. 
 
The company says the 255,000-tonne-per-year could shut next year. At stake are 371 well-paying jobs in recession-bitten Scotland. A mandatory three-month consultation period between International Paper (IP) and Unite representatives and shop stewards must now commence before any final is taken. 
 
&ldquo;Our first concern is for our members and their families at the mill,&rdquo; said Unite Assistant General Secretary Tony Burke. &ldquo;This is another body-blow to the papermaking industry in Scotland and to manufacturing throughout the UK.&rdquo; 
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An MP in the area near Aberdeen met with both the union and local mill management on 23 October. Alex Salmond told the Herald of Glasgow newspaper that two things are clear following the meeting: &ldquo;One, and it is agreed by everyone, is that the plant continues throughout the consultation period and that means well into next year. Secondly, the management has confirmed that all options are on the table for consideration.&rdquo; 
 
IP&rsquo;s Inverurie mill is some 40 kilometres inland from Aberdeen. It has two paper machines, with the No. 4 machine having been rebuilt in 1996. IP&rsquo;s tentative plans are to cease papermaking and develop the site into other uses. 
 
The mill has been a mainstay in the area since papermaking began near Inverurie in 1852. The American company, Federal Paper Board, bought the family-owned Tait paper mill in 1989. In 1996, IP acquired the mill when it took over Federal Paper Board and its three paper mills, several wood operations, and some 700,000 acres of forestlands, mainly in the US southeast.

Unite the Union in UK Will Fight to Save International Paper Mill in Scotland

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The fourth regional meeting of the Asia-Pacific Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. Workers&rsquo; Network was held in Jakarta, Indonesia, on 28 October, with 20 delegates from five Asian nations attending. Previous Goodyear Asia-Pacific network meetings were held in Manila, Philippines, in 2005; Singapore in 2002; and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in 2000. 
 
&ldquo;The continuity of our regional network activity since 2000 shows the commitment of participating unions for international solidarity and cooperation, which gives us high hopes for the future,&rdquo; stated Toshiaki Hojo, President of the Japanese Rubber Workers&rsquo; Union Confederation (GOMU-RENGO). &ldquo;It is very important to carry out our activities in parallel with ICEM&rsquo;s Goodyear Global Union Network.&rdquo; 
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Toshiaki Hojo, President, GOMU-RENGO
Hojo added that the Asia-Pacific Workers&rsquo; Network of the American company has worked successfully on health and safety issues, and pledged to do more on this issue. 
 
Delegates evaluated past activities of the Goodyear Global and Asia-Pacific Region networks, and the meeting received a detailed report on Goodyear&rsquo;s financial situation and the labour relations of a company that employs 70,000 workers in 60 factories, operating in 25 countries. Delegates on 28 October identified specific situations in their plants by giving current figures on salaries, working hours, and collective bargaining developments. 
 
Health and safety was handled in a separate session, in which past histories were summarized by ICEM Chemicals and Rubber Officer Kemal &Ouml;zkan. Following, specific health and safety problems were put forward, and the importance of information exchange was highlighted. The ICEM was requested to provide some information on global standards, specifically on heat limits and safety glasses. 
 
After discussing the ICEM&rsquo;s 2009 World Conference for the Rubber Industries and other industry conferences to occur next year, the meeting decided &ndash; through an action plan &ndash; to escalate targeting of joint organising efforts, to focus on training and education programmes, as well as to engage in regular and detailed information exchange through electronic means. 
 
The 2008 regional network meeting also adopted a special announcement toward further action for reinstatement of Thai and Malaysian colleagues, workers who have been unjustly fired by the company.

Fourth Asia-Pacific Goodyear Rubber Workers’ Network Meets in Jakarta, Indonesia

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Twenty-Five trade union representatives from Japan, Indonesia, India, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam organising rubber workers&rsquo; met in Jakarta, Indonesia, 27 October, and formed the ICEM Asia-Pacific Rubber Unions&rsquo; Network. Sponsored by the Friedrich Ebert Siftung, a German labour-supportive foundation, and hosted by the ICEM affiliate, Chemical, Mining, and Energy Workers&rsquo; Union (FSP KEP), the meeting was also attended by Japanese ICEM-JAF, and by staff of the ICEM Secretariat. 
 
&ldquo;Under conditions of the current economic crisis throughout the world and specific difficulties in the Asia-Pacific Region,&rdquo; said FSP KEP President D. Pataobong Sjaiful, in opening the conference, &ldquo;the ICEM initiative of networking unions in the rubber industry is very vital. We need this togetherness to better defend rights of our members who work in severe conditions.&rdquo; 
 
The meeting saw a presentation by ICEM Chemicals and Rubber Officer Kemal &Ouml;zkan on major developments and challenges in the global rubber industry. Questionnaires were distributed prior to the meeting, so country reports given had a firm base for discussion over the situations unions face in the various countries. 
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The meeting also focused on ICEM&rsquo;s global and regional company networks, as well as Global Framework Agreements. Using global agreements as tools in organising was thoroughly discussed, while company networks were considered to be crucial instruments to organise solidarity and the exchange of information. 
 
The topic of networks was also emphasized in regards to experience on other topics, such as collective bargaining, health and safety, employment, and general work conditions. 
 
Elected to chair the newly-founded Asia-Pacific Rubber Workers&rsquo; Network was Toshiaki Hojo, President of the Japanese Rubber Workers&rsquo; Union Confederation (GOMU-RENGO). The meeting also adopted an action plan of follow-up activities, which includes the regular circulation of information and targeting rising multinational companies such as Korean-based Hankook and Kumho, and Apollo from India. 
 
Contract and Agency Labour was also a key topic discussed since its use has spiraled upward in the rubber industry of Asia. Delegates decided to further their work on this challenging issue that faces global labour. 

&nbsp;

Asia-Pacific Rubber Workers’ Unions Form Regional Network

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Twenty-nine Chinese coal miners will be confirmed dead today, following a gas explosion at the state-run Yaotou colliery in Shaanxi Province on 29 October. The methane gas blast was just one of three accidents causing death that day in China&rsquo;s coal mining industry. 
 
At least three others were killed and 20 more trapped after flooding filled shafts at separate mines in central Henan Province and at Quinghai Coal Mining Co. in Shanxi Province. In the month of October, recorded killings inside the country&rsquo;s coal mines rose well over the 100 mark, as China&rsquo;s coal mining industry remains the deadliest in the world. 
 
Also in October, authorities began unravelling a cover-up in which 35 miners were killed on 14 July. That happened due to the mishandling of explosives at the illegal Lijawa Coal Mine in Yuxian County, Hebei Province. Owners had destroyed the bodies, hidden evidence, and paid off journalists and the victims&rsquo; families to keep the July incident quiet. A total of 63 people are under investigation. 
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Last week&rsquo;s Shaanxi Province blast killed 29 of 36 workers who were inside shafts. They were draining water for the municipal government, which operates the enterprise, when gas ignited. The Yaotao mine had been idle since 3 October due to flooding. 
 
On 19 October, a rope snapped on a cage carrying miners underground at Shenzhou Mining Co. in northern Shanxi Province, China&rsquo;s centre of coal production. Five miners were killed, and 36 of the 42 inside the cage were seriously injured. The tragedy occurred near Luliang city. Shenzhou Coal&rsquo;s main shareholder is Taiyuan Coal Gasification Co. 
 
Perhaps the most egregious mine safety crime of late &ndash; next to the Lijawa cover-up &ndash; happened on 16 October in the Ningxia Autonomous Region of China. Sixteen people were killed at Shenhua Coal&rsquo;s Dafeng Mine when workers set off two tons of dynamite while blasting rock, well exceeding limits regarding safety. 
 
The victims included five miners who were passing by in a vehicle, and others who were off-duty and in a nearby shed. A total of 48 were injured, including 16 seriously. The blasting firm, Guangdong Blasting Co. Ltd., is being held responsible for its workers&rsquo; actions. 
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A day earlier, the bodies of seven more miners were recovered at the Fuhua Coal Mine, lifting the death count from a 20 September fire caused by an explosion to 26. The mine is in Hegang City, Heilongjiang Province. 
 
From 10 to 13 October, another 29 Chinese miners perished in recorded gas explosions at three collieries. On 13 October, nine died inside Hebei Coal Industries in central Henan Province; on 12 October, 10 were killed when 5,000 cubic metres of methane gas ignited inside the Xingfu Coal Mine in Sichuan Province; and on 10 October, nine Chinese miners died in the Guangxi Autonomous Region&rsquo;s largest colliery, the Heshan Coal Mine of Heshan City. 
 
Outside the coal sector, a mudslide at an iron-ore tailings dam broke on 8 September killing at least 300 people, with scores more still counted as missing. This happened at Tashon mine in Xiangfen County, northern Shanxi Province. The mine was unlicensed and lax safety procedures were blamed for the collapse of a 3,000-metre-long embankment. Over 1,000 survivors were left homeless, and the governor and vice-governor of Shanxi Province were forced from office because of the disaster.

China Coal Mine Deaths Rise in October; Last Week, 29 killed in Blast in Shaanxi Province

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A six-month rubber workers&rsquo; dispute in South America, involving 4,000 staff represented by ICEM affiliate Sindicato Unico del Neum&aacute;tico Argentina (SUTNA), ended on 22 October when workers agreed to a mediated contract arrangement. It ended under terms put forth by the country&rsquo;s Labour Ministry through mandatory conciliation in September and October.&nbsp; 
 
SUTNA and management representatives of Bridgestone-Firestone, Pirelli, and Argentine-based FATE accepted a salary increase of 28% that was defined by the ministry, plus reinstatement for many of the 214 workers of the three companies who were fired during July industrial actions. Others accepted compensation as terms set in the government-mediated resolve. 
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The agreement calls for a 15% wage increase backdated to 1 July 2008, and another 13% on 1 December, but based on salaries that were effective in June 2008. As well, an allowance of 1,800 pesos was agreed to be paid in three installments: 1,000 pesos at the signing of the agreement, 400 pesos late in October, and another 400 pesos in March 2009. 
 
The ardent and pitched dispute, dating back to expiration of a prior agreement on 1 April 2008, was marked by a 48-hour strike on 24-25 July, in which the 214 were sacked. When the companies refused to reinstate the workers, an indefinite strike then began on 25 August. That was suspended only when the Labour Ministry declared compulsory conciliation. 
 
The ICEM issued an alert to its affiliates in the rubber sector, asking for support to the union and its 35% wage demands. July and August also saw several trade unions and civil society organisations in Argentina take to the streets to support SUTNA and the rubber workers. 
 
&ldquo;We thank the ICEM affiliates from around the world that sent messages to SUTNA during this difficult dispute,&rdquo; said ICEM general Secretary Manfred Warda. &ldquo;A settlement is now in place and we hope reconciliation and mutual respect become the norm in all three tyre plants.&rdquo; 
 
Japanese-based Bridgestone-Firestone and Pirelli of Italy operate factories near Buenos Aires, each employing 1,400 rubber workers, while FATE employs 1,200 at a plant in San Fernando.

Tyre Dispute in Argentina Ends with Ministry of Labour Intervention

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Scores of ICEM affiliates have sent letters to Mexican President Felipe Calder&oacute;ne condemning the Mexican government&rsquo;s campaign to destroy the Mexican National Miners&rsquo; and Metalworkers&rsquo; Union (SNTMMSRM), known as Mineros, and undermine the union&rsquo;s duly elected general secretary, Napoleon G&oacute;mez Urrutia. 
 
The Mexican government has colluded with Grupo M&eacute;xico to destroy Mineros, which stands out as one of the few democratically elected trade unions in a country in which genuine trade union rights are routinely repressed. G&oacute;mez, who exited the country under threats of assassination and arrest on false charges, was subsequently overwhelmingly re-elected to head Mineros. However, the government has refused to recognize the election as lawful, further demonstrating the government&rsquo;s complicity with Grupo M&eacute;xico.
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Political leaders in Europe, the US, Canada, and Latin American have also sent letters of protest to the Mexican government. 
 
Two members of Mineros, who have been on strike for over a year at a Grupo Mexico copper mine, attended the ICEM&rsquo;s Global Mining Conference in August in St. Petersburg, Russia. They gave a stirring presentation of the strike by 3,000 miners and the repressive actions taken against their union and Napoleon G&oacute;mez. ICEM affiliates agreed to engage in actions in support of Mineros, and the letter to Calder&oacute;ne represents a first-step in a widening campaign of support. 
 
The ICEM is working closely with International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF) and the United Steelworkers (USW) to build global trade union support for the union and G&oacute;mez.

ICEM Affiliates Protest Mexican Government’s Assault on Mine, Metalworkers’ Union

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The ICEM&rsquo;s ongoing Turkey Organising and Social Dialogue Project, supported by the Dutch trade union confederation FNV, took an important initiative toward mobilizing young unionists in starting organizing drives last month. The two-year project saw a seminar on 21-22 October in the Aegean town of Kusadasi. 
 
The workshop was organized at the education and holiday facility of one of ICEM&rsquo;s Turkish affiliates, Belediye-İş, the General and Municipal Workers&rsquo; Union. The hotel is the Grand Belish, which hosted some 7,500 union members with their families in the summer of 2010. 
 
The facility also welcomes ICEM affiliates from around the world (for information on the union&rsquo;s hotel, click <a href="http://www.grandbelish.com">here</a>).&nbsp;&ldquo;Hosting such an important event for youth organizing at our facility gives us a great honour and motivation,&rdquo; said Nihat Yurdakul, President of Belediye-İş, at the opening of the seminar. &ldquo;Thanks to international solidarity and co-operation, active involvement and increasing the union density of young people is a priority for us. 
 
&ldquo;The ICEM project is a driving force to all of us in this direction,&rdquo; he added. 
<img src="" width="277" height="146" alt="" />
Belediye-İş President Nihat Yurdakul
With a population of 75 million, Turkey has a workforce of 22 million that includes 16 million men and six million women. An important statistic is that 65% of all Turkish people are under age 30. 
 
But regarding work, four million out of 5.5 million employed in various industries work, on average, over 45 hours per week. For the rest, the average work-week is more then 60 hours. The proportion of workers employed in the informal economy is larger than that of the formal one. 
 
The youth seminar in Kusadasi was attended by 60 young militants, shop stewards, and local officers, with women comprising 40% of the participants. 
 
The seminar also hosted a large group of international participants: Paulo Lage, Sergio Novais, Juvenil Nunes, Fabio Lins, and Nilton Freitas from the ABC Chemical Workers&rsquo; Union of Brasil; Liv Christensen and Anders Lapon from Dansk El-F&ouml;rbund of Denmark; Celil &Ccedil;oban and Mail &Uuml;rker of FNV Bondgenoten in the Netherlands; Philippe Gousenbourger, Youth Officer of International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), Brussels; and Dick Blin, ICEM Information, Campaigns, and Pulp &amp; Paper Officer, and Kemal &Ouml;zkan, ICEM Chemical and Rubber Industries&rsquo; Officer, from Geneva. 
<img src="" width="300" height="146" alt="" />
Guest speakers exchanged their knowledge and experiences with the participants, particularly on youth organizing. 
 
The seminar also gave support and solidarity to a 27-year-old trade union woman named M&uuml;zeyyen Acunal, an activist for the Turkish paper and packaging affiliate Sel&uuml;loz-İş. She was fired for initiating a union organising drive at a paper company in the city of Torbali. 
 
Her situation clearly demonstrates the difficulties that Turkish trade unions face in organising. (For further information, click <a href="/en/19-Pulp-Paper/4100-Turkish-Woman-Fired-for-Union-Organising-at-Izmir-Packaging-Mill ">here</a> to see how you can assist M&uuml;zeyyen Acunal.) 
<img alt="" src="" width="90" height="106" />
M&uuml;zeyyen Acunal 
As a regular exercise during the FNV Mondiaal project, Turkish trade union expert &Uuml;zeyir Ataman, Director of Education and Collective Bargaining of Lastik-İş, also presented union history and the current labour relations situation in Turkey. Later, the seminar focused on Power and Weak Points, Challenges and Opportunities, and Concrete Organising Targets Inside Turkey, with contributions and inputs by participants from different sectors and regions. 
 
Participants also created an e-mail group for continuing communication among future leaders of the unions, which will allow them the opportunity to exchange information, as well as to further solidarity. 
 
&ldquo;The Kusadasi Seminar gives us great hope and motivation for the future of our Turkish unions,&rdquo; said &Ouml;zkan, coordinator of the two-year project. &ldquo;We now feel more obliged to do more work towards organising young workers, not just in Turkey, but also throughout the world.&rdquo; 
 
The project will conclude with an Evaluation Seminar scheduled to occur late this month, 29-30 November, in the Turkish capital Ankara.

ICEM, FNV Mondiaal Turkey Project Mobilizes Young Unionists to Organise

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