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 height="39" alt="" src="" width="100" />
Following the launching of a major report, &ldquo;Green Jobs: Towards Decent Work in a Sustainable, Low Carbon World,&rdquo; there was a meeting of the Global Policy Innovations Program, held at the Carnegie Council, New York, on 30 September. A series of speakers, including Jill Kubit, Sean Sweeney, Heather Grady, and Peter Poschen reacted to the report&rsquo;s findings. 
 
The report was commissioned and funded by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), as part of the Green Jobs Initiative jointly mounted by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), the ILO, and the International Organisation of Employers. It was produced by the Worldwatch Institute, with technical assistance from the Cornell University Global Labour Institute. 

<img height="114" alt="" src="" width="120" />
The report focused on the creation of millions of new environmentally-friendly jobs around the world, while at the same time underscoring the need for fair transition for workers affected by climate change and new initiatives to cut carbon emissions. For instance, in Germany, environmental technology is expected to grow the number of jobs four-fold to 16% of industrial output by the year 2030. 
 
The report does say too few green jobs are being created for the most vulnerable of workers: the 2.5 billion working poor &ndash; 43% of the total global workforce &ndash; and the 500 million young people about to enter the global workforce over the next ten years. 

<img height="133" alt="" src="" width="200" />
ITUC Gen. Sec. Guy Ryder

&ldquo;This report shows the massive potential for new jobs in green products and services and underlines just how important it is for governments, many of which have paid little or no attention to the social and employment aspects of climate change,&rdquo; said ITUC General Secretary Guy Ryder. &ldquo;We know that there is little if any chance of the global goals to cut carbon emissions being met until governments put their full weight behind the green jobs agenda,&rdquo; Ryder added.

Green Jobs:  Decent Work in a Low-Carbon World – A New Report

<img height="39" src="" width="100" alt="" />
Members of two ICEM affiliates in the UK are on the verge of escalating industrial action at worksites around the Sellafield nuclear facility in Cumbria. Unite the Union and GMB represent about half of Sellafield&rsquo;s 10,000 workers, and they began limited industrial action on 19 September. 
 
Unite and GMB members have rejected a 2% pay deal, a proposed increase that is below inflation. Management has also offered a bonus scheme, but the two unions say too many strings are attached for workers to attain the efficiency bonuses. A ballot was counted in early September which revealed that members of the two unions voted by nearly 90% for strike action. 

<img height="113" src="" width="90" alt="" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <img height="90" src="" width="90" alt="" />
 
The union Prospect, representing engineering and managerial staff, accepted a 2.5% pay increase plus a 2.5% bonus in mid-September from Sellafield Ltd., operator of the facility on behalf of Britain&rsquo;s Nuclear Decommissioning Authority. 
 
Unite and GMB leaders at Sellafield will decide on Wednesday, 8 October, whether to escalate industrial action. For the past two weeks, workers have strictly performed only work in their own job classifications, refused to attend meetings on efficiencies, and refused cross-departmental work. 
 
If management does not re-open talks and improve the offer, strike action could begin on 16 October. 
 
The dispute has been simmering since late March, when 2008 pay talks should have been concluded. The massive Sellafield site, with a technical facility in Risley and a former uranium enrichment site in Capenhurst, will undergo a massive multi-year reprocessing and clean-up project, estimated to cost &pound;1.3 billion a year.

Industrial Action at UK’s Sellafield Nuclear Facility May Get Ramped Up

ICEM Agreement on HIV/AIDS Cooperation in India with German Pharmaceutical Company Boehringer Ingelheim 
The ICEM entered an agreement with Boehringer Ingelheim for the company to financially sponsor an HIV/AIDS project in India. Based on the initiation work by ICEM and its affiliates in India, and following an analysis of the prevailing problems and needs during a workshop in November 2006, negotiations for this partnership were facilitated by the German ICEM affiliate, IGBCE. The project runs from July 2008 to December 2009. 
 
The project&rsquo;s main objectives include closing the gap of qualified peer educators/lay counsellors in the industrial sectors covered by ICEM affiliates in India, and the up-scaling of awareness campaigns, education, and advocacy for VCT and ART. 
 
With the training of peer educators/lay counsellors and the orientation of medical and para-medical staff in company health facilities, as well as teachers and staff at company schools, it is expected that greater awareness will lead to behaviour change and that Know-your-Status-Campaigns will increase the uptake of VCT.
&nbsp;<img height="35" width="25" src="" alt="" />
Master Trainers Programme Implemented in Kolkata
As the initial step for the implementation of the project in India, a training programme for master trainers was held in Kolkata, from 25-27 August 2008. Twenty-eight participants attended the course. 
 
Technical assistance was provided by the ILO New Delhi Office and its HIV/AIDS programme coordinator, SM Afsar, and programme officer, Divya Verma. General Secretary BK Das of ICEM affiliate Indian National Mineworkers&rsquo; Federation coordinated the programme. Participants also benefited from the technical support of the West Bengal State AIDS Prevention and Control Society and Coal India Ltd. 
 
During the course, the master trainers acquired key training skills on the basics of HIV/AIDS, the role of trade unions and HIV/AIDS in the world of work, behaviour change communication, and integrated counselling and testing. 
 
Master trainers will train some 700 peer educators in the coal mining, cement, chemical, and diamond sectors. 
&nbsp;<img height="35" width="25" src="" alt="" />
International AIDS Conference in Mexico City 
Labour&rsquo;s voice was heard loud and clear in the Global Village as well as in many of the sessions of the main Conference programme, according to the Chair of the Global Union AIDS Programme (GUAP), Alan Leather. 
 
A delegation of over 40 trade unionists from 25 countries organised a two-day Labour Forum prior to the International AIDS Conference and participated in events of the conference, which was held in Mexico City from 3 to 8 August. 
<img height="130" width="158" src="" alt="" />
Thousands of AIDS organisations and representatives attending the conference received succinct trade union messages. Written and visual materials were distributed, along with thousands of free condoms at a highly successful trade union display booth, which became the centre for the GUAP coordination of activists. This centre served as an invaluable tool in explaining why workers and trade unions have a unique role in tackling HIV/AIDS in the workplace. 
 
The conference provided many opportunities for presentations and dialogue on the major challenges facing the global response to AIDS. Formal sessions, satellite meetings, exhibitions, events at the Global Village, and a well-developed Cultural Programme served to focus on efforts to expand the delivery of HIV prevention and treatment to communities world-wide through knowledge transfer and sharing of best practice. 
 
At the conference, the ILO organized its own well-attended satellite meeting to discuss the development of a new international labour standard on HIV/AIDS. It was moderated by Mexico&rsquo;s Minister of Labour and representatives from trade unions, employers, governments, the ILO, and other agencies actively participated. 
 
(Source: GUAP Press Release, 10 August) 
&nbsp;<img height="35" width="25" src="" alt="" />
Assessment Missions to Zambia and Uganda 
In the last year of the project cycle, the ICEM conducts an internal assessment of the programme at national level. In July, the programme in Ghana, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone was critically reviewed (see e-bulletin: August/September 2008). 
 
In August, Project Management Assistant Paule Ndessomin went to Zambia and Uganda to meet with leadership of ICEM affiliates, peer educators trained by the programme, and national HIV/AIDS organisations, as well as health authorities. Visits of factory sites completed the mission. 
 
Overall, the programme has had a very positive impact in both countries. Awareness has increased considerably. Peer educators were trained, but some companies are still reluctant to give them time off to discuss HIV/AIDS issues at the workplace. In Zambia, Konkola Copper Mines, with more than 11,000 permanent workers and 4,000 contractors, has a comprehensive programme, including VCT campaigns and the provision of ARVs. Other companies in Zambia and Uganda have made efforts but too many still lag behind in their interventions. 
&nbsp;<img height="35" width="25" src="" alt="" />
ICEM Affiliates in Colombia Organise HIV/AIDS Seminar 
On 12 August, the ICEM Colombia coordinator, Carlos Bustos, organised a seminar on HIV/AIDS in the workplace. Thirty-five participants attended the seminar, which reviewed the progress made since the first HIV/AIDS activities in 2006. 
 
Regrettably, only at Carbones de Cerrej&oacute;n, the large coal-mining operation owned by three MNCs in the north of the country, does an adequate HIV/AIDS policy and intervention programme exist. Participants resolved to form an HIV/AIDS team and to negotiate clauses in collective agreements and HIV/AIDS policies with companies in the framework of the ICEM&rsquo;s Social Dialogue Project. Basis for the dialogue with companies will be the ILO Code of Practice on HIV/AIDS and the world of work. 
&nbsp;<img height="35" width="25" src="" alt="" />
Global Fund: Dramatic Increase in Round 8 Proposals 
Proposals that were submitted to the Global Fund in Round 8 are more than twice as large, in average dollar value, as in any previous round. Highlights regarding the Round 8 proposals include: 102 countries submitted 185 proposals in Round 8, which is 35 proposals more than were submitted in Round 7, but about the same as the average over Rounds 1-7. 
 
The average two-year cost of the proposals submitted in Round was US$35 million, dramatically up from $16 million in Round 7 and US$12 million on average over Rounds 1-7. The total cost of the proposals submitted in Round 8 was US$6.4 billion, up from US$2.4 billion in Round 7 and US$2.3 billion on average over Rounds 1-7. 
 
The number of HIV proposals submitted in Round 8 was up by 30% from Round 7. The cost split between the HIV/malaria/TB proposals submitted in Round 8 was 50% for HIV, 33% for malaria, and17% for TB proposals. 
 
Only 40% (75 of 185) of the Round 8 proposals opted to follow the Fund&rsquo;s recommendation (but not requirement) that the proposal be &ldquo;dual-track&rdquo;, i.e. have one Principal Recipient from the government sector and one from another sector. 
 
(Source: Global Fund Observer, Issue 93, 18 August 2008. GFO is a free service of Aidspan <a href="http://www.aidspan.org">www.aidspan.org</a>,&nbsp;a Kenya-based NGO that serves as an independent watchdog of the Global Fund. To receive GFO send an email to <a href="mailto:receive-gfo-newsletter@aidspan.org">receive-gfo-newsletter@aidspan.org</a>) 
&nbsp;<img height="35" width="25" src="" alt="" />
Technical Review Panel Recommends Approval of US$3 Billion 
After conducting its detailed review of Round 8 proposals, the Global Fund&rsquo;s Technical Review Panel (TRP) has recommended that the Global Fund Board approve grants that will cost in excess of US$3 billion. This is roughly half of the proposal amount (see article above), and makes Round 8 nearly three times the size, in dollar terms, of any previous round of Global Fund grants. 
 
Malaria proposals were particularly successful and represent more than half of the recommended amount. The recommendations of the TRP for individual grants are not known until the Global Fund Board gives its final approval in November. 
 
(Source: Global Fund Observer, Issue 95, 26 September 2008) 
&nbsp;<img height="35" width="25" src="" alt="" />
Australia Mining Boom Linked to HIV Spike 
Australia&rsquo;s mining boom may be fuelling an alarming rise in HIV infections among cash-rich outback miners and businessmen who holiday in Asia. 
 
Rates of HIV infections in Australia have increased by almost 50% in the past eight years, according to a new national HIV/AIDS report by the National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research. Homosexual men still account for most new infections, but a large number of new infections are among heterosexual men in the country&rsquo;s mining states of Western Australia and Queensland. 
 
Many miners work fly-in, fly-out shifts consisting of several weeks straight of employment, followed by a few weeks off. Researchers say some are visiting Southeast Asian countries during their holidays and having unprotected sex. 
 
(Source: Reuters, 17 September) 
&nbsp;<img height="35" width="25" src="" alt="" />
ICMM Publishes Guide on HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria 
The International Council on Mining and Metal (ICMM) published its new guide, &ldquo;Good Practice Guidance on HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria,&rdquo; at the end of August. 
 
The guide provides a systematic framework and practical advice on disease management that will enable mining and metal operations worldwide to address key challenges, both among workers and neighbouring communities. 
 
The guide can be accessed at the ICMM website <a href="http://www.icmm.com">www.icmm.com</a>. 
&nbsp;<img height="35" width="25" src="" alt="" />
News from the Global Union Programme and Global Unions 
In its most recent HIV/AIDS Updates, the International Transport Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITF) (<a href="http://www.itfglobal.org">www.itfglobal.org</a>) reports, among other noteworthy items, on the increased risk for HIV of Mexican migrant workers when they arrive in the US. The newsletter also covers changes in sexual behaviour; the high likelihood of married of Indian women, who experience physical and sexual abuse by husbands, are to contract HIV; and the introduction of a text messaging programme in Uganda to increase awareness of and knowledge about HIV/AIDS, including advocacy for HIV testing.

ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin

On the Global Labour Movement&rsquo;s Day of Action for Decent work, 7 October 2008, ICEM is intensifying its campaign aimed at improving the working conditions of temporary, short-term contract workers, and staff employed through labour agencies. 
 
Two new major tools to assist unions around the world in their efforts to fight precarious work are launched: a new website and an in-depth guide on contract and agency labour (CAL) world-wide. Both are in support of the ICEM&rsquo;s call to its affiliates to concentrate on organising CAL workers. 
Action on these &ldquo;new forms of employment&rdquo; is increasingly needed, since research reveals that the phenomenon of contract and agency workers - employed through subcontracting companies, or as individual subcontractors themselves, or working on temporary contracts, often through agencies - is growing around the world. 
<img height="126" alt="" src="" width="294" />
A <a href="http://cal.icem.org">new site</a> (<a href="http://cal.icem.org">http://cal.icem.org</a>) on contract and agency labour, which will soon also become multi-lingual, is launched by the ICEM today. Aiming to become a first port of call for all ICEM affiliated trade unions, and their members, as well as other trade unionists searching for practical and useful information, the site will continuously provide campaign materials, brochures and guidelines, best practice examples, case studies, and more. 
 
Prominently featured on the site is the new &ldquo;<a href="http://cal.icem.org/images/documents/icem%20manual%2029092008.pdf">ICEM Guide on Contract and Agency Labour</a>&rdquo;. Describing numerous CAL situations from around the world &ndash; both in developing and developed countries &ndash; the guide contains both good and bad stories, the latter outlining some of the horrendous working conditions that workers in precarious employment find themselves in. 
 
The guide also provides an overview of some of the recent changes on this issue in national and international labour laws and standards. It further deals with combating this phenomenon at company level. Useful and often encouraging examples from different parts of the world are provided throughout the guide, as well as various strategy options. 
 
Also on the new ICEM CAL site is the &ldquo;<a href="http://cal.icem.org/images/documents/shortguide%20A4%20english.pdf">Short Guide for Negotiators on How to Deal with Contracting Out, Outsourcing and/or Agency Labour</a>,&rdquo; an instrument to assist trade unionists at the plant level. It provides practical suggestions on what to do when (or before) the issue comes up. This short guide is also available in <a href="http://cal.icem.org/images/documents/shortguide%20A4%20french.pdf">French</a>, <a href="http://cal.icem.org/images/documents/shortguide%20A4%20spanish.pdf">Spanish</a>, <a href="http://cal.icem.org/images/documents/shortguide%20A4%20russian.pdf">Russian</a> and <a href="http://cal.icem.org/images/documents/shortguide%20A4%20japanese.pdf">Japanese</a>. 
 
&ldquo;We join with other Global Union Federations and the International Trade Union Confederation in making this Global Day of Action a turning point for workers victimised by the forces of globalisation,&rdquo; said ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda. &ldquo;And for the ICEM, that means more emphasis on bringing workplace rights and protections to contract and agency workers.&rdquo;

ICEM intensifies Campaign on Contract and Agency Labour with New Site and New Publications

Turkish trade unions and Global Trade Federations (GUFs) joined together on 20 October in Istanbul to lend support to workers of subcontract transport companies providing services to Unilever of Turkey. The workers have been denied basic trade union rights of freedom of association and collective bargaining, and were fired when they attempted to exercise those rights. 
 
Unilever subcontracts shipping from its Turkish manufacturing operations throughout the country and the Middle East to two companies, &Ccedil;ipa and Şimşek. In 2007, when warehouse workers of the two companies began organising with the Turkish trade union T&Uuml;MTIS, an affiliate of London-based International Transport Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITF), they were met with repression and victimization. 
 
Since April 2008, 87 workers &ndash; all of them union members &ndash; have been sacked.
<img height="255" alt="" src="" width="340" />
Unilever Warehouse Picket Line, 20 October
Three Turkish unions, T&Uuml;MTIS, ICEM affiliate PETROL-İş, and TEKGIGA- İş, an affiliate of the International Union of Food and Agricultural Workers (IUF), held a joint meeting on 20 October. That meeting produced a strong commitment to step up pressure against Unilever to get the Anglo-Dutch multinational to intervene and reinstate the workers. 
 
The three Turkish unions and the three GUFs also demand that Unilever order its delivery companies to recognise T&Uuml;MTIS and enter into bargaining with the union. 
 
The discharged workers did not receive redundancy pay when they were sacked. The workers are now are in their fifth month of daily picketing at &Ccedil;ipa and Şimşek. 
 
A local court decision did order reinstatement of the first group of workers who were fired, but the transport companies have refused to recognise the union, and even refused to meet with a joint Turkish trade union delegation to discuss the situation. 
 
To date, Unilever management itself has rejected any responsibility for the gross breaches of trade union rights.
<img height="180" alt="" src="" width="240" />
&nbsp;ICEM's Kemal Ozkan Speaks at Unilever Picket Line 
 

Following adoption of the statement in Istanbul, leaders of the three Turkish unions, together with representatives of the three GUFs, travelled 40 kilometres to a Unilever warehouse, where they joined the sacked workers in picketing the facility. 
 
ICEM, ITF, and IUF have promised to escalate pressure against Unilever so that its contract delivery companies comply with international labour standards.

Turkish Unions, 3 GUFs – ICEM, ITF, IUF – Pressure Unilever Over Contract Haulers’ Conduct

<img height="39" alt="" src="" width="100" />
The ICEM and Paris-based International Energy and Mines Organisation (IEMO) were both observers at a trade union conference last week on natural gas in Haugesund, Norway. The conference, 12-14 October, was organised by trade unions from five countries that are important to the gas industry, both in terms of supply and production in Europe and the Mediterranean. 
 
Unions affiliated to both ICEM and IEMO in Norway, as well as ICEM-affiliated Russian Oil and Gas Workers&rsquo; Union (ROGWU), the FNME-CGT of France, and one union from Algeria invited other delegations. Organisers of the conference also included delegations form Belgium, Spain, and Germany.
<img height="261" alt="" src="" width="390" />
Participants at the Natural Gas Conference in Norway&nbsp;
The discussions were chaired by Lars Myhre of Norway&rsquo;s Industri Energi Union, also the Chairperson of the ICEM Energy Industry Section. 
 
The conference was opened by Leif Sande, President of Industri Energi. Each of the organising trade unions made major interventions covering gas production and consumption, including forecasts for the future, safety, health, and environmental issues, social questions such as job security, social discrimination, and wages and working conditions. 
 
ICEM, represented by Energy Officer Jim Catterson, gave a presentation on ICEM activities in that sector in a joint session with IEMO&rsquo;s Alain Simon. Both organisations expressed a wish that future discussions and conferences should be open to all relevant member trade unions of the two international organisations. 
 
Following detailed discussions in an editorial board, which included representatives of each of the organising trade unions, a proposed charter of Transnational Social Standards for the Gas Sector, and a Declaration on International Trade Union Solidarity, were considered. Both were accepted as working documents that still need further work before adoption can come.
<img height="87" alt="" src="" width="160" />
Delegates saw the conference as an important beginning to an increased focus on this crucial sector. ROGWU was asked to coordinate follow up and future work. 
 
Outside the formal discussions, conference participants were welcomed by the mayor of Haugesund at a reception, and made a visit to the head office and control centre of Gassco, the Norwegian state-owned gas transport company. The company is responsible for gas transportation on the Norwegian Continental Shelf and through export pipelines to mainland Europe and the UK.

ICEM Participates in Natural Gas Trade Union Conference in Norway

<img height="39" src="" width="100" alt="" />
A bitter and pronounced lock-out by a big Canadian stevedoring company against 18 members of the ICEM North American affiliate, United Mine Workers of America (UMWA), continues following failed mediation last week. The mediation session, by province of Nova Scotia labour ministry officials, was held on 15 October. 
 
Montreal-based Logistec Stevedoring locked the 18 union members off their jobs on 15 September, nine months after a previous collective agreement expired. UMWA Local 2268 was in a position to strike in June, but continued working in hopes that a new labour agreement could be negotiated.
<img height="60" src="" width="120" border="1" alt="" />
Three days after last month&rsquo;s lock-out, the company sought and gained an injunction from the Nova Scotia provincial Supreme Court restricting UMWA picket-line activity. Since, Logistec has been unloading thermal coal and hauling it to Nova Scotia Power&rsquo;s generating facilities using replacement workers. 
 
The lock-out is over workers&rsquo; refusal to accept concessionary contract language, as well as dockworkers&rsquo; refusal to accept an inferior company&rsquo;s pay offer. UMWA members employed by Logistec in Nova Scotia earn about 45% less than the company pays for similar port-handling work in Halifax and Saint John, Newfoundland. 
 
Logistec operates a coal-handling import facility at Sydney, Nova Scotia, a facility that is leased from the Cape Breton Development Corp. (Devco). At one time, Devco operated a large coal mine in the maritime province, but closed it some ten years ago. Hundreds of UMWA Local 2268 members lost their jobs then, with only a small workforce remaining at the port-handling facility of Sydney.

Lock-Out of 18 Mine Workers at Coal Port in Canada Continues

<img height="39" src="" width="100" alt="" />
The 200,000-member ICEM Swiss affiliated union UNIA held its first Congress since the October 2004 merger of five unions. The Congress, held in Lugano from 9-12 October, saw issuance of an important paper entitled &ldquo;Collective Contracts for All.&rdquo; 
 
Switzerland&rsquo;s largest union also declared itself &ldquo;The Trade Union for Hard Times&rdquo; at the Congress, and pledged to organise 5,000 workers per year until the next Congress in 2012. 
 
The 400 delegates present adopted resolutions calling for a better economic order, integration of immigrants into Swiss work life, and support for a late November federal initiative regarding flexible retirement. The &ldquo;Collective Contracts for All&rdquo; paper includes a call for a higher minimum wage in Switzerland, and states that UNIA would consider calling for a Swiss federal initiative to make that increase happen.
<img height="121" src="" width="120" border="1" alt="" />
The paper also calls for a short work week, a standard 13th month pay-check, or an automatic offset to such an increase, and better compatibility between the work-life environment. 
 
The Swiss general workers&rsquo; union re-elected Co-Presidents Renzo Ambrosetti and Andreas Rieger, and pared an 11-member Executive Committee to nine. With that, the union elected, following a resolution adopted on 10 October, a strict call for a 33% gender balance in all its activities. That then occurred the next day in elections to the 38-member Central Committee. 
 
In his remarks to the Congress, Rieger called for halt to an economic culture of enterprises maximizing profits to the detriment of an equitable socio-economic system. Ambrosetti, in referring to the Congress&rsquo;s centrepiece paper, said UNIA, over the next four years, will &ldquo;negotiate when possible but fight when necessary.&rdquo; 
 
Besides Ambrosetti and Rieger, the Central Committee now consists of newly-elected members Vania Alleva and Corrado Pardini; and Fabienne Blanc-K&uuml;hn, Jean-Claude Rennwald, Hansueli Scheidegger, Rita Schiavi, and Michael von Felten were re-elected. 
 
ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda, attending the Congress, congratulated the new team on their elections, as well as UNIA&rsquo;s commitment inside the ICEM to further workers&rsquo; interests globally in the pharmaceutical, chemicals, and cement industries. He credited UNIA&rsquo;s Roland Conus with leading those efforts. 
 
The Congress also was marked by a half-day workshop entitled &ldquo;UNIA: International Solidarity.&rdquo; It focused on the union&rsquo;s &ldquo;Fair Play &ndash; Fair Games&rdquo; pressure on the Swiss-based International Olympic Committee, the need for fair play and safe construction standards as South Africa prepares to host the 2010 FIFA World Cup, and ongoing cooperation projects in Central and Eastern Europe.

Swiss UNIA Holds First Ordinary Congress Since 2004 Merger

<img height="39" src="" width="100" alt="" />
ICEM&rsquo;s Sub-Saharan African Affiliate, the National Union of Metalworkers&rsquo; of South Africa (NUMSA), held its Eighth National Congress in Vanderbijlpark near Johannesburg from 13-16 October, and elected former rubber worker Irvin Jim as General Secretary. The Congress marked the 21st year of 264,000-member NUMSA in South Africa, and over 800 delegates attended. 
 
Second Deputy President Cedric Gina was elected President, following the retirement of Mthuthozeli Tom, who has been the union&rsquo;s longest serving President. Phil Bokamba was elected First Vice President, while Christine Oliver won elected as Second Deputy President. Gina is from NUMSA&rsquo;s KwaZulu-Natal Region, and was a key figure in protests against high electric costs by Eskom this past summer.
<img height="200" src="" width="152" alt="" />
NUMSA President Cedric Gina&nbsp;
Irvin Jim, 40, has been NUMSA&rsquo;s Eastern Cape Regional Secretary since the year 2000. He had been active in the Youth League of the African National Congress (ANC) in Port Elizabeth, and began his employment at Firestone Tyre there at age 23 in 1991. Three months after becoming employed at Firestone, he was elected as a full-time shop steward. 
 
In 1994, he became the Eastern Cape Region&rsquo;s provincial chairman, and served in that post for six years. He has proven to be a strong and outspoken regional leader, as evidenced by recent leadership on behalf of striking NUMSA members at Shatterprufe Glass and Schnellecke SA, an auto-parts logistics provider. At the auto-glass plant, a major supplier to Volkswagen in Uithenhage, workers have been striking since September, mainly over wages and the fact that 60% of the workforce is comprised of employees supplied by labour brokers. 
 
Jim has demanded, at the bargaining table, that Shatterprufe abolish labour brokers, because workers of such agencies &ldquo;do not enjoy all benefits as stipulated in the Labour Relations Act and Basic Condition of Employment Act.&rdquo; 
 
Following his election on 15 October, Jim told a South African publication, &ldquo;We will not compromise when it comes to the overall well-being of our members, because we are tired of seeing capital reaping the sweat of our labour.&rdquo; 
 
He won election over incumbent General Secretary Silumko Nondwangu by gaining a 58% vote of delegates. Karl Cloete won election as Deputy General Secretary, and Philemon Shiburi was re-elected National Treasurer. 
 
The Congress saw an address by Jacob Zuma, the ANC president, on 14 October. Zuma said the ANC&rsquo;s election platform next year would focus on accelerated land reform. &ldquo;We will work to intensify our land reform programme to ensure that 30% of the land is on the hands of the rural poor by 1014,&rdquo; Zuma said.

Former Shop-Floor Leader at Firestone in South Africa Elected General Secretary of NUMSA

<img height="39" src="" width="100" alt="" />
Just as ICEM UK affiliate Unite&rsquo;s Graphical, Print, and Media Sector closed a longstanding employer wrongful death claim, another fatality occurred in this sector in Peterborough. The union mourned and promised to press for a full investigation into the 6 October fatality at a St. Ives Ltd. magazine printing plant near Cambridge. 
 
There, a father of two, 43-year-old Ian Ebbs, a maintenance engineer from Lincolnshire, died from injuries sustained when he was trapped inside a paper-folding machine. He died in a hospital following the tragic workplace occurrence.
<img height="143" src="" width="140" alt="" />
This death occurred within days of a UK High Court ruling that declared another company and its insurer, Zurich of Switzerland, is liable in a 2003 death inside a paper plant. A justice ruled that the family of Dean Thomas was entitled to &pound;335,000 in compensation from a 3 May 2003 tragedy at a paper plant in Gloucestershire. 
 
Thomas, 42 and also a father of two, was crushed to death when another worker at JR Crompton Ltd. lowered a hydraulic slitter rewinder in a paper machine that produces perforated tea-bag paper while the victim was inside the machine. That co-worker had not been trained by the company in proper operating procedures. 
 
A judge, in 2006, ordered JR Crompton to pay a mere &pound;200 fine, rationalising that it was &ldquo;fruitless&rdquo; to order the firm to pay more since it was bankrupt. But Unite predecessor union Amicus pushed the case forward, stating that the wrong message was being sent to companies guilty of workplace deaths, and that Zurich must be held liable. 
 
&ldquo;This case has been a grotesque dance by Zurich to reduce the amount of compensation that (an) innocent family should receive,&rdquo; stated United Regional organiser David Lewis. &ldquo;We all have a right to go to work and not be injured or killed.&rdquo; 
 
In this month&rsquo;s print-shop death at St. Ives, Unite has pledged to push the Health and Safety Executive for a full investigation, and will vigorously monitor developments.

UK’s Unite Heralds Wrongful Death Award, But Mourns as Another Occurs in Print Sector

Archive

Green Jobs: Decent Work in a Low-Carbon World – A New Report

Industrial Action at UK’s Sellafield Nuclear Facility May Get Ramped Up

ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin

ICEM intensifies Campaign on Contract and Agency Labour with New Site and New Publications

Turkish Unions, 3 GUFs – ICEM, ITF, IUF – Pressure Unilever Over Contract Haulers’ Conduct

ICEM Participates in Natural Gas Trade Union Conference in Norway

Lock-Out of 18 Mine Workers at Coal Port in Canada Continues

Swiss UNIA Holds First Ordinary Congress Since 2004 Merger

Former Shop-Floor Leader at Firestone in South Africa Elected General Secretary of NUMSA

UK’s Unite Heralds Wrongful Death Award, But Mourns as Another Occurs in Print Sector

About IndustriALL

Follow us

Contact us