30 November, 2005ICEM News release No. 28/2005
An ICEM-led network of Caspian and European trade unions, meeting in Baku, Azerbaijan, on 28-29 November, united forces with the Oil and Gas Industry Workers Trade Union of Azerbaijan (AOGWU) to force Caspian Sea contractor McDermott International to pay fair and equal wages to local workers.
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The Russian version of this ICEM news release can be found here.
The network of trade unions was meeting in the Azerbaijan capital in the midst of a bitter strike by AOGWU that saw workers occupy an offshore oil installation of McDermott, a major US-based global construction company for the oil industry. The two-day meeting, hosted by AOGWU, was dominated by the dispute.
Direct pressure from the meeting on Caspian management of McDermott, which is under contract to BP and Azerbaijan state oil company SOCAR, helped win for the 2,000 workers a historic labour agreement, the first with a western multinational oil sector contractor in the Caspian Region.
“It is a historical day for our trade union,” said AOGWU Chairman Jahangir Aliyev. “We proved that it is possible to set a standard. We struck and delivered a result.”
McDermott workers, organized by AOGWU, launched various industrial actions and, on 22 November, briefly took control of a McDermott marine facility with news reporters present. Six days later they then brought the dispute, important for organized labour in this strategic oil and gas producing region, to the Caspian Sea Energy Union Leaders’ Network in Baku.
The standoff, which centered on pay and benefit disparity, ended yesterday and McDermott agreed to wage terms and formal recognition of AOGWU. Workers were demanding salary parity with foreign workers brought to the region by McDermott. Some of these workers earn 50% more than Azeri workers, and receive better medical and other benefits.
AOGWU won a labour agreement with excellent gains, including a significant salary raise, effective 1 December 2005. Workers will also receive an extra month’s bonus pay. Additionally, they will receive another sizeable pay increase on 30 January 2006. Medical insurance was also secured for the 2,000 workers, and a joint commission between the union and employers will be established over the issue of foreign workers in Caspian oilfields.
AOGWU announced it will use the Caspian Sea Energy Union Leaders’ Network to launch an internal working group to monitor the labour practices of multinational companies in the region’s oil and gas industries.
“The presence of the seminar had a big influence on this particular outcome,” added Jahangir Aliyev. “When I met with the workers, I told them they had the backing of the ICEM and were supported by trade unions from all over the world.”
Chairing the Caspian’s Union Leaders’ forum was Lars Myhre from oil workers’ union NOPEF in Norway. Myhre, who heads ICEM’s Energy Industries Sector, stated, “This labour agreement gives us inspiration and concrete evidence to the importance of trade unionism in the Caspian Region.”
Unions participating in the ICEM’s Caspian Sea Energy Union Leaders’ Network included: AOGWU; Energy and Electrotechnical Industry Workers’ Trade Union, Azerbaijan; Russian, Oil, Gas and Construction Workers Trade Union (ROGWU), Russia; Energy and Electronical Industry Workers Trade Union, Georgia; and the Petroleum, Chemical, Rubber Workers’ Trade Union (Petrol-Is), Turkey.