23 November, 2007
The written, and more detailed reports of our activities in the different sectors and regions, as well as the different cross-sectoral reports covering the period since our last Congress, in 2003, were, in conformity with statutory requirements, all sent to you early September. Beyond highlighting some of the major issues in those reports, I see it more as my task today to reflect on the impact of ICEM activities, and to draw some conclusions toward future policy.
Indeed, understanding my obligation to report on what the ICEM has done in the past, I see even more need for all of us to look forward. Together, we must make sure that what we have not done well in the past, we do better in the future. And where we have done well, we may be able to do even better.
In saying this, you all know that I was only elected as Acting General Secretary in October 2006, and took office on the First of January this year. Likewise, Senzeni Zokwana was elected Acting President in 2005, when John Maitland decided to resign from that position.
It is truthful and factual to say that our two predecessors were confronted with very difficult decisions on internal restructuring that led to conflicts, even between the two of them.
However, it is also fair to say that both Fred Higgs and John Maitland, were strongly guided by what they believed was right for the ICEM. Both were extremely dedicated to the interests and needs of all workers that the ICEM and its affiliates represent.
I met Fred Higgs recently, and I am happy to tell you that he is well. John Maitland, whom I also met earlier this year, is also fine and well. That was again confirmed by Peter Murray, the General Secretary of the Mine and Energy Section of Australian CFMEU, who is here with us at this Congress and whose presence – if you allow me to say, dear Peter – is a good signal that his union still feels linked to the ICEM.
John Maitland and Fred Higgs can both be proud of what they contributed to the progress and success of the ICEM. I suggest that here, from this Congress, we send them again our thanks and best wishes.
Being elected ICEM General Secretary made me both proud and humble. Proud because of the heritage of our labour organisation; humble due to the high expectations before us.
Indeed, I quickly realised that there is a huge difference between following ICEM developments very closely, as I have done for some time from the view of an affiliate, and running the office, making sure there are proper and effective responses to the expectations and needs of all of you, the affiliates. It, for sure, has been a huge personal challenge. But, if I may say so, I am here today and I enjoyed very much doing what I did so far.
That is, not in the least, due to the great support that I have received from all of you, and for which I thank you all very much. I would also like to take up this opportunity to thank the staff in the Brussels’ office. In spite of all the uncertainties that they personally feel in regard to the decisions on the future of the organisation, they have devoted their full energy in support of the ICEM agenda.
My very special thanks go to Senzeni Zokwana. It is a very special privilege to work and cooperate on so many issues with him. Thank you very much, Senzeni, for all the advice, support and understanding that the Secretariat and myself receive from you.
Three groups of individuals that also deserve my personal appreciation – as well as yours – are the ICEM Presidium, the ICEM Executive Committee and the ICEM auditors. They made sure that our boat stayed on course, even in those times that the sea was rough. Actually, all the successes that we claim to have reached were the result of collective efforts.
When highlighting some of the developments since our last Congress, it may be proper to first mention the merger of the ICFTU and the World Confederation of Labour, the WCL, which founded the new ITUC. No doubt, this has been a historical moment in the history of the international union movement. Congratulations to all who worked so hard to overcome the traditional divisions.
Institutional progress, however, is only one step in delivering; now another task - some say the real challenge - lies ahead: the structural task to make the new ITUC work for unions and workers worldwide. I know Guy Ryder, who is here with us, is very well aware of this.
Integrating unions into a larger structure, making them work with one another, is also an upcoming task for the ICEM. At this Congress, we have already effectively integrated the affiliates of the former WFIW. It was a touching moment earlier today when our Congress welcomed our new sisters and brothers from the WFIW. However, here again, celebrations must be followed by action.
No doubt, globalisation has created challenges that we cannot ignore. When we look at the rapid developments and growth in countries like China or India, and in so many other countries, we cannot ignore the tasks at hand. While it is true that the rapid growth of these economies creates new chances for social progress, we also need to look at the other side of the coin: for many of our members, there is growing job insecurity, pressure on wages and social benefits, and many other worries.
If we want to successfully tackle these problems, if we want to play our part in shaping a just and better world, we must strengthen our position as unions, and as global unions.
Day by day, we must show to our members that we are able to deliver. At all levels, organising the unorganised must be the highest priority of our work. We cannot effectively represent workers when we are weak. And we are too weak to protect workers if we are not able to organise them.
It is a fact that many of our affiliates are losing members. Evidence for that can not only be found through looking at the ICEM affiliation fees in our Financial Report, but also by noting that a few of the trade unions that once were active participants in our initiatives, no longer show up at ICEM events. This is worrisome.
My message here is clear: in all our activities, and as an integral part of all our policies, we need to devote more attention towards trade union organising. We must give support to our affiliates in this respect, and make this a major task of the ICEM.
The decrease in union membership in many parts of Europe, as well as in Japan, is mainly due to the restructuring and rationalisation processes that are occurring in our industries. At the same time – with organisational rates at 50 % and more often less - unions know there is still a big group of workers they can win into their ranks in order to stabilise our organisations and make us stronger.
With much delight, we have repeatedly been able to publicise a number of successful initiatives and projects that bring trade unions to workers that are traditionally weakly organised – not only in Europe and Japan. Only recently, the Ghana Mineworkers Union reported proudly of 600 senior staff employees of Anglogold Ashanti who decided to join the union.
We feel the need to communicate even more about affiliates’ successes in organising drives that target white collar workers, but also women, young workers, contract workers and workers in small and medium-sized enterprises.
Just to underline the potential and importance of the latter: according to UNCTAD figures, there are currently around 80,000 multinational enterprises, directly employing approximately 90 million workers. Even though much more are employed indirectly by the multinationals, through subsidiaries, subcontractors or suppliers, that still means that some 80% of all workers in our sectors work for small and medium-sized companies. And these workers expect to get as much attention from us as those who work within multinational enterprises.
No matter how much energy unions in most European countries need to spend to reach the minds and hearts of workers in organising campaigns, many of our affiliates in countries, such as the United States, Australia or Turkey, may look upon this as having a relatively comfortable condition. Unfortunately, I could mention more countries where affiliates are facing extremely hostile governmental and company policies. We must accept this as a big challenge for all of us.
Indeed, as much as it is our duty to ensure that companies show respect for human and trade union rights, indeed, for all social rights, we can also not allow national governments to ignore their responsibilities in this area.
We should never agree, for example, with government’s arguments that they cannot control the invincible forces of globalisation when they draft their neoliberal programs. There are many examples where, through union action and/or voter’s power, this agenda has been changed. And we see that, also there, economies still keep pace, in spite of all neoliberal warnings of impending doom. This happens not only in Europe, but also, and possibly more remarkably, in Latin America.
Let me here today express my hope for our Australian comrades to be successful in their campaign to elect a government that is more caring and concerned for workers and their families, and fully respects union rights. May they get the support of the Australian voters the day after tomorrow!
Let us also wish for our American colleagues to be able to celebrate the day soon that President Bush has to depart. Let us look forward to a new administration to be elected, one that is open to the needs of workers, and cares for the rights of American unions and unionists.
However, we must do more than just hope and work for political change in single countries. The international trade union movement and the ICEM must take the lead to take this struggle to the global stage.
The Global Union Council - the new structure already mentioned by President Zokwana, which is combining the forces of the Global Union Federations, the ITUC, and TUAC - is holding a conference on trade union organising and trade union recognition in Washington, DC, the week after next. We must give support to this new Council and help to make sure that, by agreeing on important actions and meaningful campaigning, the Global Union Council proves not to be just another international union office.
As the ICEM, we have entered into social dialogue at the global level with a number of companies. A major challenge, but also opportunity, here is the recognition of the right to organise and the right to represent workers collectively. Without that, there can be no sincere commitment to social dialogue. It is obvious to us – as it should be to everyone - that it can not be accepted that companies differentiate on trade union recognition between the various countries where they operate.
The special instruments that the ICEM has developed in the area of social dialogue with companies are our Global Framework Agreements. Policy on this issue has been decided by our past Congresses, and the agreements continue to get strong support at our sector-conferences. Whereas my predecessor reported to the last Congress on 6 such agreements, the total number now is 13. The latest one, negotiated earlier this year, and signed in September, jointly with the International Metalworkers Federation, is with the Belgian chemical- and metal-company UMICORE.
However, to enter into a Global Framework Agreement is one thing. Making the best use of it is quite another. This is not only a major challenge for the General Secretary and the office in Brussels, even more important is that all ICEM’s affiliates give support to the initiative.
For sure, the agreements have helped us to solve specific conflicts where particular affiliates had disputes with signatory companies and turned to the ICEM for support and help. A number of such cases are covered in the written reports.
Let me just quote a few examples. Through the intervention with the Paris senior managers of Lafarge, we achieved a first collective agreement for an American trade union and their members at a Lafarge quarry operation. And at an enterprise called Malaysia Newsprint, which is 30% owned by Norske Skog, we prevailed upon our Global Agreement partner to get local managers to drop a labour court appeal, and accept workers that had been excluded from the Union.
There are also some good examples of joint actions and initiatives with these companies. Let me here just mention the ICEM’s recent joint visit to China, which took place together with the CEO of French chemical company Rhodia. The company made a clear commitment to work with the union in their factories and promised to give elected shop-floor-representatives all opportunities to get trained and become real negotiators in representing Rhodia’s Chinese workers. Again, other such examples can be found in the written reports.
As we all want to make Global Framework Agreements more effective, allow me to appeal to you: you, as affiliates, must play a stronger role. Please make sure that in the plants that you have organised, workers are informed by the respective company of these agreements and of their purpose.
And, please, make sure that any violations of the commitments contained in these agreements, are reported to us. It is of little use to negotiate new commitments on the global level, if we are not ready or able to check on what is happening with the current ones.
This is not possible, of course, if trade unions are not represented in the plants where problems occur. It must become the objective of the ICEM – and of its affiliates – to get the union in. In saying this, I know that many problems exist here. I know of the experience in the USA where affiliates were told by management that the agreement does not apply to them.
That is why, in all formal reviews of agreements with several companies since the beginning of this year, we have insisted on clearer and more specific language regarding the right to organise. Companies have been told that this is a key item for us. So please, all of you, help us by putting these agreements to the test.
The role of the unions in the home country of the company in helping to start the process towards the signing of a framework agreement, is a crucial one. For that, I would like to thank these affiliates. Expecting that they also take the lead in their implementation, GFAs can only be made a progressive tool if there is mutual understanding and cooperation between all involved affiliates.
This being said, I should not hold back either on communication problems that arise from time to time between affiliates themselves during the planning of actions and initiatives. Often, that is explained by differences in union cultures and histories. Fully realising that this has remained an issue – one that can not be ignored – I also know that there has been, over the past couple of years, much more personal contact and direct exchanges of experiences, in an effort to overcome these differences.
However, even more so than in the past, the ICEM must become a forum to strengthen open communication between affiliates. The unity that we proclaim in our slogan can only be the result of an agreement on common strategies. I agree fully with what I hear from many among you: to reach consensus, we need an open discussion from the start, and we should not shy away from the risk of controversy.
This, of course, can only be a useful exercise if it comes with the full commitment of all involved to reach understanding in the end. I personally feel very encouraged, in that respect, by the discussions that helped us overcome the internal problems of the past years.
Another important platform in developing a better mutual understanding are the company networks. They can help shop-floor representatives to avoid situations where, either on the regional or the global scale, companies play off workers against each other. They also provide chances for coordinated initiatives and actions.
The BASF regional network in South America is a model for such networks. During the last 4 years, BASF has been convinced to recognise this network as an official institution, and the company has engaged in regular social dialogue on the regional level. It is with pleasure that I can add here that the Spanish energy company Repsol and our Latin American affiliates have indicated that they are close to forming a regional network of Repsol workers as well.
These two examples showcase the excellent opportunities we have where we are able to coordinate actions and have joint initiatives.
With such examples, I would hope that I can encourage all of you to give support to the other networks that have been established by the ICEM and its affiliates, or to the ones that are currently being proposed.
I need to add here that the ICEM can not, unfortunately, contribute financially to the operation of these networks. Here again, we have to thank those affiliates, particularly the Steelworkers in North America, but also our Japanese affiliates and others, who have taken the lead in this, and financed several networks.
However, the ICEM industry officers and regional contact persons are more than prepared to do their part. With their competence and experience, combined with your strengths and enthusiasm, we can certainly make company networks successful.
Globalisation has opened almost every single border for multinational companies. And multinational companies today no longer uniquely come from what was used to be called the “western world”.
Together with the ITUC and our sisters and brothers in the other Global Union Federations, we must insist that the operations of these cross-border enterprises bring along the notion of responsibility.
One sided, or paternalistic, corporate social responsibility codes, will, just by themselves, never give a multinational the credibility it seeks. The same applies to companies that merely sign on to international “ethical’ initiatives, such as the UN’s Global Compact,
At the same time, we should not criticise and discard the international standard setting bodies, conventions or initiatives just like that, without first seeking out our chances to use and, in some cases, improve them.
We may need to do more in this area, for example, by better informing our affiliates on the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Companies, and to explain to them how these can be used. The recent success, for example, that helped union workers in the Philippines, and in which the IGBCE, and the DGB, the national Centre in Germany, successfully cooperated, encourages us all to do more through the OECD process.
Some have criticised the ILO for its deficits and bureaucratic slowness. We should not allow this to become a blame game, but rather, with the ITUC in the lead, we should make sure that the ILO’s mandate is strengthened and that its internal structures and procedures become more dynamic.
We need to continue making good use of the ILO offices, for example, where we want to convince the governments of this world that it is essential to adopt ILO Convention No. 176, on safety and health in mines.
Recognising that all affiliates need support in their struggles for social protections and trade union rights, even and also in some democratic countries, we must unite even more to defend those sisters and brothers that face repression, persecution, and even murder, in countries ruled by brutal dictators, or by governments not prepared to protect their own people.
The list of countries and occurrences where the ICEM has provided assistance to trade unions or workers under attack is dramatically long. Here again, a heartfelt thank you goes to many of our affiliates, as well as to the ITUC, who have assisted us in giving support to comrades in need.
One of the worst countries to be a trade unionist still is Colombia, where it would be outright cynical to call the reduced number of murdered trade unionists of late a success. Through the ICEM’s Social Dialogue Project with multinationals operating in Colombia, we are able to provide a bit more hope to trade unionists that have to work in very difficult circumstances.
The extraordinary news of the successful contract negotiations earlier this year by our comrades of Sintracarbón at the big Cerrejón coal mining complex is an excellent example that collective bargaining can occur, even in Colombia, without threats and violence. And we are happy to know that our Social Dialogue Project played a role in that.
I must also mention another Colombian affiliate of the ICEM, Sintravidricol, and the outstanding work it has done – together with ICEM staff and the North American Steelworkers – to get another company, Ross International to engage in Social Dialogue at a single table for multiple plants.
I can report good news from several countries, including Nepal, Guinea, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. A number of sisters and brothers of our affiliates in those countries are here with us this week. Let me congratulate them for what they achieved in paving the way for democracy and a better future for the people in their country.
ICEM is proud of the role it has played in giving support to you, and I am sure I am speaking on behalf of all present here at this Congress, that this support will continue.
In this respect, I am happy to announce the latest success from our solidarity efforts. Only last week, we received the news that the Deputy General Secretary of the Pakistan WAPDA Labour Union was released. The union wrote to us, thanking all of you for your solidarity messages, which, they write, made the release possible.
No less important is the assistance that we were able to provide to many of our affiliates to build capacity, to adjust to changing conditions and to face new challenges. During the last Congress period, ICEM was able to support a large number of projects, organise many exchange programs, and arrange numerous workshops and conferences in order to address these issues, throughout our different regions and the various countries of the world.
Much of this was only possible with the help of solidarity support organisations. Let me join in the thanks that the President already has conveyed to them in his opening speech.
One country that received special attention from the ICEM this year has been Iraq. President Zokwana and I met officials from the Iraqi trade unions operating within our sectors recently in Amman, Jordan. We both agree that they represent a progressive force that gives hope to workers, but also to the people of Iraq in general, in these very troubling times. On the other hand, we also learned that they urgently need our solidarity and assistance if we want them to be able to continue to play that role.
It is a shame that the Iraqi government has not yet abolished Saddam’s Trade Union law. This law prohibits union activity in the public sector, which the oil sector falls under. It is even more scandalous that the occupational forces, who claim to have come in under the banner of democracy, have kept silent to our protests and have not insisted to overturn this draconian decree.
I am sure that you all agree that the struggle of our Iraqi friends for their legitimate union rights, for the protection of their natural resources, for peace and security and for the welfare of all Iraqi people should, and will, get the highest priorities and full support inside the ICEM.
Actually, there is a resolution at this Congress on Iraq, and I would like to ask you to give this resolution your unanimous support.
There also is a resolution on developments in Thailand, our host country, which also deserves your support.
Earlier this week, President Senzeni, Vice-President Ochiai of Japan, leaders of our Thai affiliates, and myself visited Thailand’s Deputy Labour Minister. Even though democratic elections are scheduled here in a month’s time, on December 23, we expressed our concern that it has taken since September 2006 to give the Thai people a democratic voice in their government. And we also voiced our concern over several cases of labour rights abuses that have occurred in Thailand.
As you know, Bangkok was chosen as the site for the ICEM Congress in 2004. Many of you questioned, justifiably, after the military coup a year ago, why we were going ahead with this Congress in Thailand. I must tell you: we consulted with our Thai affiliates on this, and they made it very clear to us that our presence would be a symbol to them, and to all the working people of Thailand, that democracy, civilian law, and most importantly, the right to engage in trade union activities with all the inherent rights, are extremely important issues.
Their willingness to host our Congress, and the hard work that went into hosting us, is, I feel, validation of the exemplary work that the ICEM has done in Thailand over the past Congress period. Some of that work is documented in the materials given to you. I must also mention the exceptional work that our affiliate EGAT-LU has done in resisting the privatisation of the Thai electric system by the past regime, and now by the interim government appointed by the military.
And we stand today with another of our Thai affiliates, the Government Pharmaceutical Organisation. This union, representing workers of the national pharmaceutical company, also faces a serious privatisation issue with the current, interim government. I propose there should be a clear message from this Congress, that our Thai comrades don’t stand alone, but all in ICEM are at their side.
Even though we have no affiliates in Burma, the ICEM, like many others in the world, is alarmed by the recent difficulties there. Burma is a mere 150 kilometres from here. In seeking to give support to the ITUC’s campaign against the repressive military regime, we will later discuss a motion on Burma that was submitted by our Japanese affiliates.
These same Japanese colleagues have given us much support in assisting other trade unions and affiliates in the Asia-Pacific Region. We are thankful for that. In Indonesia, for example, a country rich in resources that offers cheap labour for multinational enterprises, and attracts international investors through that, especially in the mining, materials, and the pulp and paper sectors, strong unions are clearly needed.
Our presence is also needed in other parts of the Asia-Pacific Region, where stronger union representation needs to develop. The same for a lot of other regions, including Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and North Africa, the Trans Caucasus, the Caspian Region, Eastern and Central Europe, and Turkey.
In the Caspian Region, I must add that the ICEM, together with several affiliated energy unions, have united to form a very successful oil and gas workers’ network. This network brings together our affiliates from producing and pipeline transit countries in the region, including Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey, and, especially, Russia. Let me thank all our colleagues for their efforts in this network.
This Caspian network played a key role in the first-ever organising of contract workers in the Caspian, and we are very proud, indeed, of the Oil and Gas Workers Union of Azerbaijan for what they have done in this regard. We are also thankful to Industri-Energi of Norway for facilitating this network, as well as to FES and the ILO for their support.
Many similar examples of our support and solidarity initiatives are described in our written reports. Let me comment on just a few more, as they are some of the more important and more recent developments.
I already mentioned the recent conference in Amman, Jordan. This conference was, above all, meant to be a signal of solidarity and readiness of the ICEM to do more in the Middle East and North Africa. The response we got was tremendous. At the time of the conference, 11 unions decided to apply for affiliation in the ICEM. However, this now obviously also means that there are new goals and new expectations that we must live up to in the future.
A lot of positive changes are also coming from the Latin American region, where Sergio Novais, as Vice-President for that region, has helped us to mobilise more interest and support for the ICEM. There is an urgent need for us now to show what we can offer, as we learned at a recent energy conference held in Montevideo, Uruguay.
We also need to understand the possible disintegration dangers that come from initiatives set up to form new regional federations of unions in Latin America. Our answer can only be that the ICEM will become more visible, and more active. We therefore invite all who agree with us, to tackle these challenges in the region, together with us.
As to Africa, I had to learn and must be honest, affiliates have felt neglected and even disrespected in recent years. We can truly be grateful to our South African comrades, especially to Senzeni Zokwana, our President, and to his union, the National Union of Mineworkers, for their efforts to hold our affiliates together. I agree with them that much more initiative is needed by the ICEM.
Many of the African countries have become targets for international investors, particularly in the mining and energy sectors. Even though this has become a challenge for many, only a few of these countries are ready to face the challenges. Internal problems, such as disunity in the union movement, like that in the Democratic Republic of Congo, further make work difficult.
We therefore must give our support to the example set by unions like the NUM, who, together with a few others, more experienced unions, are taking the lead in cooperating with – and helping - other unions in the region.
I believe that similar close cooperation would be helpful for other regions as well, for example in Latin America. In fact, this would apply to all areas that experience similar and massive investments in the extractive industries.
This boom in the extractive industries is world-wide. That sounds like good news. We also do, unfortunately, experience a simultaneous trend for more fast return on capital investment. This results, among other things, to increased negligence in safety and health.
You have all heard and read about the many mining disasters that occur all over the world. There is much work for us to do in this.
The investors and the companies that profit from the growing demand and the sky-rocketing prices of natural resources can certainly afford to pay for the necessary safeguards to protect the lives and health of workers. There is no doubt about that. It is, in addition also our duty to hold the national authorities responsible for upholding and creating new health and safety enforcement mechanisms. In addition to companies, countries, and their governments, also need to protect the health and safety of workers.
Many governments, for example, as I mentioned earlier, have not yet ratified ILO Convention 176, the Safety and Health in Mines Convention. They must be prepared to do so.
We also need to make sure that the right of workers to be represented and protected by unions must be assured everywhere in the mining sector. In a conference only two weeks from now, we will therefore start a campaign on health and safety in the mining industry. Here as well, we will need all your support in order to make this a success. And, let me stress it here, it is good to know the ILO is on our side in this initiative.
The global mining industry, but also all other industries that we deal with, needs to make it clear that they care for their people. And they need to make sure that there is a better understanding and acceptance of what they can offer to our societies. For that reason, they need to address the environmental issues in an open and progressive way.
The environmental challenges that confront us are global and must be addressed globally. Members of our unions expect that we will raise our voice on this most crucial issue, not only for the future of their jobs, but also their quality of life.
At the ICEM’s World Energy Conference last year, delegates demanded the ICEM that we begin debates on sustainable development and that we develop a policy. This policy must be cross-sectoral, we now know, as a good environmental policy would also affect the chemical industry, the pulp and paper industry, the materials, the rubber, and all other industries in which we represent workers.
I claim the ICEM is well prepared to play a meaningful role in the global debate. That applies, for sure to our involvement in the Strategic Approach to the International Chemicals Management (SAICM), an international effort initiated by the UNEP, which also offers an excellent opportunity for a broader stakeholder dialogue.
Decisive here to ensure progess is that the international employer organisation in the chemical industry has a clear mandate for joint action with us. Obviously, we can’t forget what happened to the Responsible Care Initiative some 5 years ago, which finally was blocked by US chemical companies.
As important as it is to focus on the environment, when we look for sustainable development solutions and progress, we also still need to continue looking at the broader picture.
We will lose the battle for a cleaner environment and controls on climate change if we do not overcome worldwide poverty.
Many of our affiliates still struggle to get their members a living wage, as is the case, for example, in many countries in small scale mining, or in the diamond and gem industries, just to mention a few. We too, must do our part. We need continued action and broad solidarity to fight the ravages of poverty.
The issue of HIV/AIDS, as well, is not only a human tragedy in many countries. It is a question that concerns our future.
We have achieved headway in Africa with our HIV-AIDS project. We have a very dedicated team of national coordinators in many sub-Saharan countries. They know that the scourge of HIV-AIDS is a workplace issue, and they have dealt with this through viable awareness and educations campaigns inside workplaces.
We will soon expand our work in this area to India and to Colombia. I sincerely thank the LO-TCO Secretariat in Sweden and FNV Mondiaal in The Netherlands in this respect for so generously sponsoring this project.
Another new battleground is the new doubts on sustainable development that have arisen recently in regard to the investment policies of private equity and hedge funds. The greed that some of them display - the only thing that some of these funds are interested in is their immediate cash return - has crippled many well-functioning companies. Moreover, it has destroyed the jobs and incomes that come with these companies.
These problems add dramatically to the challenges that already require the full mobilisation of union strength in all our industries.
Company restructuring, streamlining of their portfolios, concentration on acquisitions and takeovers, all this has become an almost routine challenge to union representatives the world over.
All these challenges have kept our industry officers, and our research and communications team, extremely busy. They also dominated major portions of the debates inside our industry conferences.
Let me again emphasise, here, the important role that company networks can play in this regard.
Especially, in the pulp and paper, rubber, materials, and aluminium industries, outsourcing has become a major issue, an issue that urgently needs to be addressed globally. Throughout the past few years, we have received this message loud and clear and, as a first response, we helped to arrange an extraordinary meeting of the unions in our pulp and paper sector just yesterday.
The ICEM is coordinating global solidarity behind our Finnish and Swedish paper industry unions in the attacks on them by Stora Enso. We have been pro-active in the paper industry, and we will remain that way, not just in paper, but in all our sectors.
The other conference that we held this week was on contract and agency labour, and the high number of participants – 260 of you attended - there would have been more if the room was larger – confirms how relevant this issue is.
This has been the third conference that we have organised on this issue since our last Congress, when we - that means you - decided to give the issue the highest priority.
Contract and agency labour has remained a key priority for the ICEM. It is one that we have pushed in all our statutory meetings, as well as in dozens of other external meetings that took place all over the world. As part of this campaign, we have organised national and local workshops to train negotiators on the issue; we have prepared materials and documents for distribution; and on the ICEM website, there are over 190 related articles tracking this contract labour and agency work.
The impact that we have had is clear: we increasingly get stories from affiliates in which they have reacted successfully to this threat, in collective bargaining or through national legislation. Most prominently, but not exclusively, success has occurred in Latin America, as reports from our CAL Conference yesterday have shown.
The ICEM has also taken the lead on contract and agency labour at the Global Unions level. In a larger, multi-sectoral, context, this central question has become: ‘What are the relationships, under which work is performed, that present obstacles to bargaining, organising, and union recognition?’
This teamwork is only one example of the well established cooperation that is currently developing between the Global Union Federations. More joint activities, initiatives, solidarity actions, networking, and even joint negotiating, signing, and applying the standards in Global Framework Agreements have occurred between the ICEM and other GUFs, including with the IMF, BWI, ITGLWF, ITF, IUF, UNI and PSI.
As good and relevant as all this is, it is my personal view that we need and can do more. I therefore fully agree with the proposals that the Executive Committee has put forward to this Congress and that we will discuss over the coming two days in our deliberations. So let me now only briefly report on what we have done recently to prepare for a more systematic cooperation with other Global Union Federations.
The owners of the building where our head office in Brussels is located, i.e. the cooperateurs, have decided to sell it. And, meanwhile, a contract was signed with a buyer that says we must vacate the building by the end of June 2008, at the latest.
In the Congress deliberations tomorrow, we need a decision on where to move to, and the proposal that is tabled is Geneva. You, for sure, have read the arguments contained in the motion. So let me just add this extra bit of news, which is that the International Metalworkers Federation is able to provide office space for us in their building in Geneva.
Financially, we must be thankful for the generosity of the cooperateurs. The cooperateurs decision to make the money from the sale of the building available for this possible move to Geneva, makes sure there will be no burden on our regular budget. Through their assistance, we are able to offer an incentive to those members of our staff who will come with us to Geneva, and we are able to cover the social hardship costs for those who have reasons to stay behind.
I assume that, in the event we move to Geneva, there is a logic for our European sister organisation, EMCEF, to stay in Brussels, the capital of Europe. I therefore agree with Reinhard Reibsch, the General Secretary of EMCEF, whom we have invited to speak to us at this Congress tomorrow morning, that we must, together, make sure this proposed move will not have a negative effect on the important and valuable cooperation that we need between our 2 organisations.
Indeed, there is an understanding that we must do even more to strengthen this relationship. The reporting of European developments and policy, for example, can, and has to, be improved by the ICEM. The impact that the European regulation on REACH has on the chemicals industry in other regions of the world, is only one example of this.
And we certainly can do more together in Central Europe. Another area where we can cooperate with EMCEF is in establishing more dialogue between our affiliates in Central and in Eastern Europe, which is something that our affiliates clearly would appreciate. Similar joint attention needs to be given to the Mediterranean region, the Balkans, and Turkey.
I need to recognise of course, in this regard, the important support that we have already been getting from our European affiliates. They have been very generous in their support for other unions, not only in the different parts of Europe, but also throughout the whole world. And they deserve a lot of gratitude for that.
Our work on gender equality will also remain very important. It was indeed the Women’s Committee of the ICEM that produced the motto for this Fourth Congress, Global Unity, Global Equality. We will be proud to carry that banner through the next Congress period.
Regarding our Women’s Committee, it was in partnership with EMCEF and Germany’s IGBCE that we rightfully stood strong with our Turkish affiliate, Petrol-Is, and the courageous women strikers of Novamed in the Free Trade Zone of Antalya. On International Women’s Day last March, we highlighted their struggle globally, and Women of the World heard it and responded.
I am pleased to report today that the likelihood to solve the conflict seems within reach.
If the company will finally agree to accept the women’s justified demands and recognise the union, many can be proud to have contributed.
But, above all, we all are proud of the determination and courage of the women of Novamed. Their struggle gives a signal to all of us across the globe, and it emphasises the important role of women in our unions, as well as inside the ICEM.
Let me congratulate Evgenia Esenina and the whole ICEM women group for their dynamic contributions to our struggle.
Let me, at the same time, appeal to all of you to give support to women, so that they can play their role. It is upon all of us to help making sure that they are able to participate in ICEM’s activities.
Finally, in conclusion, let me stress again: all we reached was reached through joint efforts. Let us therefore continue to work together on the motto of this Congress. Only in global unity will we reach global equality.
Thank you