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9 August, 2005ICEM News release No. 24/2001
Pressure to end forced labour in Burma and restore democracy has been stepped up by the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM).
In the USA, the ICEM today urged shareholders of energy multinational Unocal to support two Burma-related resolutions on human rights and ethical conduct, to be voted on at the company's upcoming May 21 annual meeting.
Meanwhile, ICEM Asia-Pacific has launched a poster, leaflet and Internet campaign to rally support for the Burmese workers. It says that unions in the region should ask companies to pull out of Burma, and should, if necessary, prepare to organise consumer boycotts of any firms that refuse to do so.
"The ICEM has consistently pressed multinational companies in its industries to withdraw from Burma until full democracy and human rights, including trade union rights, are restored there," commented ICEM General Secretary Fred Higgs in Brussels today. "Through the US shareholder lobby, the Asia-Pacific action and other means, we are now intensifying that campaign."
Investigations by the UN's International Labour Organisation had "shown beyond any shadow of a doubt that the use of forced labour in Burma is as systematic as it is brutal," Higgs said. "The ILO has advised companies, states and international organisations to review their relations with Burma, so as to ensure that they do not in any way support or condone forced labour.
"We once again call upon all companies in our sectors to disinvest from Burma," he said. "This applies not least to those oil and gas corporations whose continued presence there is helping to prop up one of the world's most repressive regimes.
"Any company that continues to do business with the Burmese junta will do itself great discredit," Higgs pointed out. "So will any company that continues to do business with the Burmese state oil company MOGE, which has helped to launder the money generated by the junta's worldwide trafficking of illegal narcotics."
In the US, the first of the ICEM-backed resolutions for the Unocal annual meeting is sponsored by the LongView Collective Investment Fund of the Amalgamated Bank of New York, which is a shareholder. It urges the Unocal board of directors to adopt, implement and enforce a code of conduct based on the ILO's trade union rights conventions.
The second resolution, sponsored by shareholders Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers, the Interfaith Center of Corporate Responsibility, As You Sow Foundation and Walden Asset Management, urges the Unocal board of directors to appoint a special committee of the board to review ways to link executive compensation with the company's ethical and social performance.
In a letter sent today to Unocal's top 100 institutional investors, Kenneth Zinn, ICEM North American Regional Coordinator, said that "by adopting exemplary standards of corporate governance and best global practices in human rights in the workplace, the company will be taking significant measures to enhance shareholder value."
Zinn pointed out that over the past two years, Unocal shares have fallen more than five percent compared with a 69 percent gain for its industry peer group, and that the company's uneven exploration record has raised concerns for its financial future.
Unocal has received significant criticism over its investments in Burma. It is a participant in a 1.2 billion US dollar joint venture with the Burmese government in the Yadana gas pipeline, a project on which forced labour is alleged to have been used.
A law suit against Unocal by Burmese plaintiffs in a US district court in California was dismissed last August but is currently under appeal. Judge Ronald Lew stated in his opinion: "The evidence does suggest that Unocal knew that forced labour was being utilised and the Joint Venturers (including Unocal) benefited from the practice."
"If Unocal truly implemented a workplace code of conduct that fully complied with the ILO conventions, it would have to pull out of Burma," said the ICEM's Kenneth Zinn today. "The outlawed trade unions and the democratic movement in Burma have called for foreign companies to withdraw, and Unocal should follow the example of the many other companies that have pulled out of that country."
ASIAN ACTION
"There can be no human rights without trade union rights in Burma," ICEM Asia-Pacific insists.
ICEM Asia-Pacific, which has just launched a new poster, leaflet and Internet campaign on Burma, says that unions in each country must choose the best ways of taking part in the action.
It recommends four basic forms of action by affiliated unions:
Seek wider support: "Ask the trade union movement in your country to participate fully in this campaign. Ask your government to publicly condemn the military regime of Burma and to pledge support to the trade union movement in the fight for change in Burma. Ask employer organisations and employers that your union works with to do the same."
Target companies that trade with Burma: "Check if any of the companies that your union has members at trades with Burma. If they do, ask that they stop doing so until real change is achieved in Burma. Be prepared to expose them publicly if they refuse and run a campaign to boycott their goods."
Protest: "Write letters of protest to the Burmese authorities in your country. Press the trade union movement to organise rallies and demonstrations outside their Embassy. Use the media in your campaign."
Education: "Make sure that union members are aware and involved in the campaign. Get their support for the restoration of union rights and the end of forced labour in Burma. Raise the issue at union meetings. Ask the membership to pass resolutions supporting the trade union campaign."
In the USA, the ICEM today urged shareholders of energy multinational Unocal to support two Burma-related resolutions on human rights and ethical conduct, to be voted on at the company's upcoming May 21 annual meeting.
Meanwhile, ICEM Asia-Pacific has launched a poster, leaflet and Internet campaign to rally support for the Burmese workers. It says that unions in the region should ask companies to pull out of Burma, and should, if necessary, prepare to organise consumer boycotts of any firms that refuse to do so.
"The ICEM has consistently pressed multinational companies in its industries to withdraw from Burma until full democracy and human rights, including trade union rights, are restored there," commented ICEM General Secretary Fred Higgs in Brussels today. "Through the US shareholder lobby, the Asia-Pacific action and other means, we are now intensifying that campaign."
Investigations by the UN's International Labour Organisation had "shown beyond any shadow of a doubt that the use of forced labour in Burma is as systematic as it is brutal," Higgs said. "The ILO has advised companies, states and international organisations to review their relations with Burma, so as to ensure that they do not in any way support or condone forced labour.
"We once again call upon all companies in our sectors to disinvest from Burma," he said. "This applies not least to those oil and gas corporations whose continued presence there is helping to prop up one of the world's most repressive regimes.
"Any company that continues to do business with the Burmese junta will do itself great discredit," Higgs pointed out. "So will any company that continues to do business with the Burmese state oil company MOGE, which has helped to launder the money generated by the junta's worldwide trafficking of illegal narcotics."
In the US, the first of the ICEM-backed resolutions for the Unocal annual meeting is sponsored by the LongView Collective Investment Fund of the Amalgamated Bank of New York, which is a shareholder. It urges the Unocal board of directors to adopt, implement and enforce a code of conduct based on the ILO's trade union rights conventions.
The second resolution, sponsored by shareholders Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers, the Interfaith Center of Corporate Responsibility, As You Sow Foundation and Walden Asset Management, urges the Unocal board of directors to appoint a special committee of the board to review ways to link executive compensation with the company's ethical and social performance.
In a letter sent today to Unocal's top 100 institutional investors, Kenneth Zinn, ICEM North American Regional Coordinator, said that "by adopting exemplary standards of corporate governance and best global practices in human rights in the workplace, the company will be taking significant measures to enhance shareholder value."
Zinn pointed out that over the past two years, Unocal shares have fallen more than five percent compared with a 69 percent gain for its industry peer group, and that the company's uneven exploration record has raised concerns for its financial future.
Unocal has received significant criticism over its investments in Burma. It is a participant in a 1.2 billion US dollar joint venture with the Burmese government in the Yadana gas pipeline, a project on which forced labour is alleged to have been used.
A law suit against Unocal by Burmese plaintiffs in a US district court in California was dismissed last August but is currently under appeal. Judge Ronald Lew stated in his opinion: "The evidence does suggest that Unocal knew that forced labour was being utilised and the Joint Venturers (including Unocal) benefited from the practice."
"If Unocal truly implemented a workplace code of conduct that fully complied with the ILO conventions, it would have to pull out of Burma," said the ICEM's Kenneth Zinn today. "The outlawed trade unions and the democratic movement in Burma have called for foreign companies to withdraw, and Unocal should follow the example of the many other companies that have pulled out of that country."
ASIAN ACTION
"There can be no human rights without trade union rights in Burma," ICEM Asia-Pacific insists.
ICEM Asia-Pacific, which has just launched a new poster, leaflet and Internet campaign on Burma, says that unions in each country must choose the best ways of taking part in the action.
It recommends four basic forms of action by affiliated unions:
Seek wider support: "Ask the trade union movement in your country to participate fully in this campaign. Ask your government to publicly condemn the military regime of Burma and to pledge support to the trade union movement in the fight for change in Burma. Ask employer organisations and employers that your union works with to do the same."
Target companies that trade with Burma: "Check if any of the companies that your union has members at trades with Burma. If they do, ask that they stop doing so until real change is achieved in Burma. Be prepared to expose them publicly if they refuse and run a campaign to boycott their goods."
Protest: "Write letters of protest to the Burmese authorities in your country. Press the trade union movement to organise rallies and demonstrations outside their Embassy. Use the media in your campaign."
Education: "Make sure that union members are aware and involved in the campaign. Get their support for the restoration of union rights and the end of forced labour in Burma. Raise the issue at union meetings. Ask the membership to pass resolutions supporting the trade union campaign."