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2 July, 2007
The annual meeting of the Steering Committee of ICEM’s Bridgestone Global Union Network of Workers was held in Tokyo, Japan, on 22-23 June. The Japanese Rubber Workers’ Union Confederation (GOMU-RENGO) hosted this seventh annual meeting of the network, and also chairs the Bridgestone network.
As decided at the 2006 meeting of the network, held in Johannesburg, South Africa, participants presented very detailed reports on occupational health and safety. The unions present gave the numbers of accidents occurring in 2006 at their respective factories, and presented their efforts on how they are attempting to prevent accidents.
Along with the extensive safety reports, participants reported on general economic conditions of the tyre industry, as well as on work and economic conditions in their particular plants and respective countries and regions. The Bridgestone Workers’ Union of Japan also submitted substantive information and data on Bridgestone.
Participants at the ICEM Bridgestone meeting
The union representatives on the steering committee include the São Paulo Rubber Workers Union of Brazil (FUB), representing Latin America; the National Union of Metal Workers of South Africa (NUMSA), representing Africa; the Federation of Related Industries of Spain (FIA-UGT), representing Europe; the United Steelworkers of the US, representing North America; and ICEM’s Japanese Affiliates Federation (ICEM-JAF), representing the Asia-Pacific Region, as well as GOMU-RENGO, which chairs the network.
ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda gave participants a Secretariat report, and spoke on the Global Union Federation’s general policies, specifically global union networks and global framework agreements. He referred to motions to be submitted to the 4th ICEM World Congress, to be held in Bangkok, Thailand, in November 2007, particularly one on “social dialogue and corporate campaigns.”
ICEM Chemicals and Rubber Industries Officer Kemal Ozkan, presented a general report on recent developments in the rubber industry, including raw materials, market trends, new technologies, and industrial policies, such as nanotechnology. He also reported on the Strategic Approach of International Chemicals Management (SAICM) and on CO2 emissions.
He pointed to trends in the non-tyre rubber industry and the close links that the sector has with the auto industry. Ozkan also summarised networking activity of the ICEM in the rubber industry and talked about the recent collective bargaining outcomes in the US, Australia, and Argentina.
The steering committee took a decision to hold the 2008 Bridgestone Global Union Network of Workers in the US, upon the invitation of the USW.