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The 4th ICEM World Congress begins this Thursday, 22 November, and participants and others can find Congress information on a special sub-section of the ICEM website. Through <a href="/congress">www.icem.org/congress</a>, you will find all background information, including several Congress documents, as well as practical information on the venue, the Queen Sirikit Convention Center, Bangkok, Thailand. 
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The week-long set of meetings around the Congress, which runs 22-24 November, actually began this past weekend. A two-day Women&rsquo;s Conference was held 17-18 November, and a Contract and Agency Labour Conference will run on Wednesday, 21 November. 
 
In addition, a special meeting of the ICEM&rsquo;s Pulp and Paper Sector will occur, also on 21 November. 
 
During the Congress, this web-page will also be the place to look for updates and news on the Congress.

ICEM Website Set for GUF’s World Congress

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An important new law was enacted in the US state of Illinois on 6 August 2007, when the state&rsquo;s governor, Rod Blagojevich, signed into force a bar on construction companies falsely classifying workers as &ldquo;independent contractors.&rdquo; The new law in the midwestern state is seen as a harbinger for what could occur across the US nationally, considering the coming political ballots, and George Bush&rsquo;s mandatory departure. 
 
&ldquo;Misclassification of employees as independent contractors is one of the devices that greedy employers use to cheat workers out of their benefits,&rdquo; said AFL-CIO President John Sweeney, who joined Blagojevich and other proponents of the regulation at the 6 August signing ceremony. 
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AFL-CIO President John Sweeney
The measure, passed by the Illinois Senate and House of Representatives early in the year, had broad support, including labour and scores of legitimate construction companies. These firms, relying on skilled, generally unionised workers, have been left at a competitive disadvantage by unscrupulous employers, who deliberately mis-classify workers as contractors in order to reduce their operating costs. In Illinois, estimates say that such nefarious enterprises save an average of 24% in submitting bids on projects. 
The law in Illinois, introduced as the Employee Classification Act, presumes all workers are regular employees unless certain conditions exist, such as being a partner or sole proprietor, a specific business or profession, or providing a service outside of the usual course of business. The law, the fifth such statute among the US&rsquo;s 50 state laws, includes US$2,500 penalties on companies that deliberately misclassify construction workers. Repeat offenders can face felony charges. 
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A university study found Illinois losing an average of US$125.7 million annually in tax revenue over a five-year period in the early 2000s. Cut-rate employers avoid paying Social Security, workers&rsquo; compensation benefits, jobless relief, state and federal taxes, and other social costs. Sweeney stated that such tax revenue losses deprive governments of immediate funds that could address &ldquo;so many vital programs.&rdquo; 
 
The US Congress, in the House of Representatives, took up the independent contractor issue in hearings last March, but has yet to act on legislation that could update US labour code on this crucial workplace issue.

US Building Workers Win Ban on Contract Labour in Illinois State

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ICEM affiliate Unite and the Offshore Industry Liaison Committee (OILC) have jointly called on the UK&rsquo;s Health &amp; Safety Executive (HSE) to investigate Royal Dutch Shell&rsquo;s safety practices at five North Sea energy platforms. The installations are currently up for sale, and Unite and OILC say low morale, coupled with departures of key staff that are familiar with safety procedures, creates very risky conditions. 
 
The five platforms include Cormorant Alpha, Dunlin Alpha (CADA), Tern, Eider, and North Cormorant (TENC). Some 400 Shell workers are affected. 
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In early August, Shell experienced a blackout at its Brent Bravo rig in the North Sea, stranding 61 workers for 48 hours. Shell said it did not want to risk a rescue at night, but the company faced questions on its slow response time in rescue. In 2003, a gas leak on the same rig killed two workers. Now, with key personnel leaving five other Shell rigs, safety again is a major issue. 
 
&ldquo;Many platform areas are now not covered by trained and competent people and certain HSE safety critical roles are not fully supported,&rdquo; Unite said in a joint statement. &ldquo;The gaps in these safety-critical positions could be so severe that, in the event of an emergency, staff may be unable to cope.&rdquo; 
 
Unite said such conditions are leading to a breakdown in communications between Shell and its workers, and it is affecting morale. 
 
Upstream publication reported last week that claims reveal safety deficiencies in control room operations, shift supervisors, and technical capacities regarding instrumentation and electrical. &ldquo;It is reported that on some platforms there is now a lack of suitable trained fire team leaders,&rdquo; reported the oil and gas trade weekly. 
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Meanwhile, separately, the head of the HSE&rsquo;s Offshore Division, Ian Whewell, delivered a stark address to industry leaders at an Offshore Europe forum in Aberdeen. He called it unfortunate that offshore companies consider it a regulatory nuisance to comply with safety standards. 
He also fully endorsed worker involvement in safety, and his comment on participation counters the reality now occurring at Shell: &ldquo;The commitment of many in the offshore workforce is undoubted, but HSE believes that unless the workforce is encouraged to actively participate, the industry is missing a key opportunity.&rdquo; 
 
ExxonMobil&rsquo;s Esso division also announced in June 2007 that it would divest in North Sea production facilities.

Shell’s Redundancies Causing Safety Deficiencies on North Sea Platforms

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Belgium&rsquo;s FGTB Union has raised awareness to the number of workplace fatalities occurring in Saint-Gobain operations, particularly in China. The ICEM affiliate is voicing concern because of the French multinational&rsquo;s own admittance that it counts 21 fatalities so far in 2007. 
 
Three of those fatalities have come in Chinese operations of the Paris-based company since June. The FGTB is calling for a trade union analysis of the company&rsquo;s safety procedures, and a greater emphasis on preventative measures. 
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The union also stresses that support and solidarity to Saint-Gobain must occur when accidents and fatalies do happen, including stop-work actions to attend funerals and communiqu&eacute;s and distribution of information when accidents occur. 
 
The company has cited a worker at a Beijing, who was crushed to death by a falling machine part on 22 June; another worker killed in a Hanglas plant in Wehai City on 27 June by an &ldquo;unexplained fall of a heavy metallic piece;&rdquo; and a woman killed at another Hunglas plant in Kunshan on 12 July by a loaded fork-lift. In addition, a sub-contractor was killed in Gunsan, South Korea, on 20 June during a gas leak in a confined space, and a French delivery driver was buried when a wall collapsed in Cagnes sur Mer on 18 July. 
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Saint-Gobain also reported heart attacks occurring on the job in Brazil, South Korea, and the US, and workers dying due to road accidents in France and Brazil. Early in 2007, the company was fined &pound;10,000 by UK&rsquo;s Health &amp; Safety Executive due to a four-tonne runaway truck seriously injuring a worker at a facility in Ilkeston, UK.
And last year, the French company lost a US$3.06 million judgement after a gas blast severely burned sub-contractors sued for damages. They had been hired at a Grandview, state of Missouri, glass plant of Saint-Gobain Calmar to remove a heating unit line, and were told by the company that all gas had been removed from the line. 
 
Last year, the company said the average rate of daily injuries occurring in its global operations had been reduced to six.

Questions Raised on Number of 2007 Workplace Tragedies by Saint-Gobain

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French unions have vowed to mobilise in the coming weeks over the news that European energy companies Gaz de France and Belgian-Franco Suez Group are finally on cue to merge. French trade unions CGT, CFDT, FO, CGF-CGC, and CFTC pledged last week that they will again escalate resistance to further consolidation of Europe&rsquo;s energy markets. 
 
The French unions have banded together many times in the past to place roadblocks and barriers in the form of lawsuits and social dissent against the long planned merger. French President Nicholas Sarkozy has now become the catalyst to push the deal through. 
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The merger that would create the world&rsquo;s third largest utility contradicts a European Commission priority to place more competition in gas and electric markets. It angers the French unions, and French citizens alike, who remember Sarkozy as the Finance Minister that promised Gaz de France would never fall below 70% of a state-controlled public asset. 
 
The &euro;90 billion merger would reduce France&rsquo;s stake in the combined company to roughly 35% from 80.2%. The Sarkozy government now heralds a 35% stake as &ldquo;controlling&rdquo; and says the state will be a &ldquo;rational shareholder.&rdquo; 
 
The French unions, however, must now wrestle with the effects of a potential deal with sell-offs, redundancies, and likely cost cutting by equity stakes that sweep in on mandated divestitures. Such businesses that will be separated include waste disposal and water, with a new GDF Suez to become Europe&rsquo;s largest supplier of natural gas and the world&rsquo;s largest storage terminal operator for LNG. 
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The five unions will build resistance through consumer groups and political pressure, as well as mass mobilisations across France. They announced they will also conduct a national petition. 
 
The CGT predicted that consumers will be harmed by rising prices, and said the French stake at 35% will offer little in protection of workers or consumers. The CFDT said European partners ought to take Sarkozy&rsquo;s new claim, &ldquo;at the very least, as arrogant&rdquo; and the Commission itself must consider the social consequences that mandated divestitures will bring to public utilities. CFDT said the current merger plan essentially dismantles the Suez Group, while effectively privatising Gaz de France.

Broken Sarkozy Promise on Gaz de France and Suez Means French Unions Will Mobilise

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We sharply repudiate the deliberate actions by the Colombian government to go against its function of being the counterweight between the weakest in society and the economic elite, taking advantage of the legal apparatus to attack trade union institutions legitimately elected by the workers, to break collective agreements , to close companies and reopen them with a different legal personality, with the specific aim of breaking the back of these organizations and voiding legally concluded collective agreements, with the explicit objective of lowering wages and salaries, eliminating rights and benefits and making work precarious. 
We protest against the systematic violation of ILO conventions by the Uribe government, primarily conventions 87 and 98. We demand an end to this persecution and the murders of trade union leaders in Colombia. 
 
Resolution passed at the ICEM Latin American Energy Meeting, 29 and 30 August 2007, Montevideo, Uruguay.

ICEM resolution on Colombia - ICEM Latin America energy meeting in Montevideo, Uruguay

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The participants at the ICEM Latin American Energy Meeting declare that trade unions always pronounce themselves clearly and decisively for solidarity among workers in our region and on our continent. 
This consistency and this solidarity have always guided our actions, which mean that we are siding with our Peruvian brothers in these difficult times of reconstruction of cities and respect for those who lost lives in the recent earthquake.
Resolution passed at the ICEM Latin American Energy Meeting, 29 and 30 August 2007, Montevideo, Uruguay.

ICEM Resolution on Peruvian earthquakes - ICEM Latin America energy meeting in Montevideo, Uruguay

The International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM) commends Turkish trade union affiliate Petrol-Is and management Fresenius Medical Care for signing a collective bargaining agreement today, 18 December, for workers at Novamed. The ICEM salutes the 300 workers of Novamed, a manufacturer of bloodline and kidney dialysis equipment, for their stand in becoming the first unionised workforce within the Antalya Free Trade Zone of Turkey. 
 
A three-year initial labour agreement was signed today in Istanbul between Petrol-Is and Novamed that ends a historic strike by 84 of the workers in Mersin, Antalya. The strike, which will stand as a test of courage for fairness and dignity on the job, began on 26 September 2006. 
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The (no longer) striking workers at Novamed
&quot;The ICEM is extremely proud to have played a major role in bringing a negotiated settlement that ends this long struggle,&quot; said General Secretary Manfred Warda. &quot;We especially commend the workers of Novamed, union leaders of Petrol-Is, and management of Fresenius in Germany and Novamed in Turkey for bringing resolve to issues that caused the strike. 
 
The settlement will bring the 84 strikers, 82 of whom are women, back to the job, and will grant all workers a wage increase of 5% for the first year, and of 4% for the second and third year of the agreement. It also brings a social package that includes a payment for each of two religious holidays in Turkey, as well as productivity and attendance bonuses for workers. All the striking workers will return to work on the 2nd of January 2008. 
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The ICEM recognises the work and cooperation done by the European Mine, Chemical, Energy Workers' Federation (EMCEF) and by ICEM&rsquo;s German affiliate IGBCE in helping to bring about the settlement. The ICEM also recognises the important role played by other trade unions, as well as by many women's groups, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and others inside Turkey who shared steadfast support with the strikers. Warda paid special tribute to Petrol-Is President Mustafa Oztaskin and other leaders of the union for their efforts. 
 
&quot;This is a victory that the entire family of ICEM unions globally can be proud of,&quot; he said. &quot;The solidarity and support by many made it happen. We now extend to workers and managers alike at Novamed for a long and mutually beneficial relationship in this workplace.&quot; 
 
The strike drew worldwide interest following concerted action by the ICEM on 8 March 2007, International Women's Day, in which hundreds of trade unions and individuals rallied to the defence of workers. Following a meeting in Germany by ICEM, EMCEF, and IGBCE with corporate officials in late September 2007, negotiations began in Turkey, and after two sessions in October and November, the negotiations were concluded with an agreement on 18 December 2007.

447-Day Long Strike Ends with First Trade Union Inside Turkey&#039;s Antalya Free Trade Zone

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Many of the ICEM affiliated trade unions, in different countries, play important roles in their national trade union movements. One obvious example is Turkey, where Brother Mustafa Kumlu has been elected as President of the country&rsquo;s largest national confederation TURK-IS, at their Congress held in Ankara on December 6-9. 
 
Brother Kumlu, a titular Executive Committee member of the ICEM, where he represents Turkey, is the current President of the Turkish Electricity, Water and Gas Workers Union (TES-IS). He also is the Chairman of the ICEM Turkish Coordinating Committee.
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The President of another ICEM member union, Belediye-Is, Brother Nihat Yurdakul, got the confidence of the Congress delegates as one of the member in the 5-member Management Committee of the confederation. 
 
&ldquo;I congratulate you for being elected to this important duty. It is a great honour for the ICEM to see our long-standing colleagues in higher positions, serving members. I am sure you will continue to give more support to the ICEM activities with your new capacity in your country.&rdquo; said ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda in his messages to Kumlu and Yurdakul.

ICEM Executive Committee member to Lead the Largest National Union Centre in Turkey

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The above-mentioned title was one of the main mottos of the Workers Group, which was coordinated by the ICEM, at the recent Experts&rsquo; Meeting of the International Labour Office (ILO) on Hazardous Chemical Substances. This meeting took place from 10 to 13 December in Geneva. 
 
The main purpose of the meeting was to discuss how ILO instruments, as well as other tools concerning occupational safety and health, and hazardous substances, could be best incorporated into a new policy framework and action plan. 
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The meeting examined the best practices and appropriate national legal frameworks to promote safe and healthy working environments. It also reviewed the roles of governments, and of employers&rsquo; and workers&rsquo; organisations, as well as ways of establishing tripartite consultation mechanisms on occupational safety and health, and of ensuring that workers and their organisations participate in the consultation mechanisms. 
 
The meeting further considered the impact of new and ongoing initiatives related to hazardous substances, including the UN-wide Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM) and the Globally Harmonized System of Chemical Classification and Labeling (GHS). 
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On the basis of the background paper prepared by the ILO (which <a href="http://www.ilo.org/public/english/dialogue/sector/techmeet/mepfhs07/mepfhs-r.pdf">can be found here</a>) and the subsequent actions of the Office, the meeting adopted recommendations, including on the need to increase, speed up and integrate the processes for the assessment and management of existing and new hazardous substances in the development and marketing of chemicals. This needs to take into account the special requirements for the protection of all workers, in particular for precarious and vulnerable workers, as well as facilitate access to information on preventive and protective measures. 
 
Other recommendations were on promoting the ratification and implementation of the up-to-date ILO&rsquo;s general OSH (Occupational Health and Safety) and chemical safety instruments, including ILO Conventions 155, 170, 174 and 187, as a comprehensive and coherent basis for the sound management of chemicals and the establishment; and on the need to increase and strengthen the dialogue and joint actions of employers and workers throughout all levels, including at the global scale, on OSH and chemical safety issues. 
 
&ldquo;It is an obvious success to see the main parameters of the Action Plan adopted by the ICEM World Conference for the Chemical Industries, which took place in 2006 in Trinidad &amp; Tobago, reflected in the final document of this ILO Meeting. ICEM and its affiliates should increase their efforts in protecting our members&rsquo; health and safety by using all the instruments at international level&rdquo; said ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda.

Decent Work Must be Safe Work

Archive

ICEM Website Set for GUF’s World Congress

US Building Workers Win Ban on Contract Labour in Illinois State

Shell’s Redundancies Causing Safety Deficiencies on North Sea Platforms

Questions Raised on Number of 2007 Workplace Tragedies by Saint-Gobain

Broken Sarkozy Promise on Gaz de France and Suez Means French Unions Will Mobilise

ICEM resolution on Colombia - ICEM Latin America energy meeting in Montevideo, Uruguay

ICEM Resolution on Peruvian earthquakes - ICEM Latin America energy meeting in Montevideo, Uruguay

447-Day Long Strike Ends with First Trade Union Inside Turkey's Antalya Free Trade Zone

ICEM Executive Committee member to Lead the Largest National Union Centre in Turkey

Decent Work Must be Safe Work

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