ICEM’s BASF Network in South America Meets

Twenty-two workplace leaders from BASF chemical plants in South America convened 21-24 April in Buenos Aires, Argentina, for ICEM’s Latin American BASF Network. Trade union leaders from Argentina, Brazil and Chile, together with German Works Council members and IGBCE union officials, met amongst themselves from 21-23 April and then on the final day, entered into social dialogue with BASF management.

Trade union priorities included giving aid and support to a Peruvian chemical workers’ union in its efforts to organise a BASF factory, and adopting ICEM’s stand over contract and agency labour.

Works Council members from BASF’s huge Ludwigshafen complex in Germany, presented the challenges facing that body there, and IGBCE’s Michael Vasiliadis gave a report on the changing chemical industry relating to globalisation and the necessity to press global companies on their social responsibilities.

On 24 April, senior BASF managers reported on which priorities from last year’s social dialogue talks had been fulfilled. In follow-up discussions, led by ICEM Latin American/Caribbean Chair Sergio Novais of CNQ-CUT in Brazil, BASF South American managers agreed to accommodate efforts to organise the Peruvian plant.

The discussions were hailed on both sides as promoting an atmosphere of trust, and it was agreed to begin planning more formal rules for the annual process.