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(Statement by International Metalworkers’ Federation) Union leaders representing the international labour movement met with Santiago Canton, Secretary of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights of the OAS, in Washington, DC, to urge immediate action on Mexico and investigate gross labour and human rights violations carried out by the Mexican government against the National Miners and Metalworkers' Union of Mexico (SNTMMSRM). 
 
Led by Marcello Malentacchi, general secretary of the International Metalworkers' Federation and Juan Luis Zuniga of the National Miners' and Metalworkers' Union of Mexico, the delegation included: international representatives for the United Auto Workers (UAW) and United Steelworkers (USW); Manfred Warda, general secretary of International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM); Stan Gacek of the AFL-CIO; Victor Baez, general secretary of the Trade Union Confederation of the Americas (TUCA-ITUC); and petitioners Marco Del Toro and Luis Chavez from Del Toro Associates as legal representation to the Mexican miners' union. The high-level delegation put forward recommendations to the commission, among them, urging an immediate call on the Mexican government to:
■ return all frozen funds immediately to the SNTMMSRM, those seized in 2006 and in 2008;
■ lift all charges still pending against Napoleon Gómez Urrutia and other members of the SNTMMSRM;
■ prosecute in a court of law, immediately and transparently, all those responsible in the corruption of documents and facts; and
■ recognize Napoleon Gómez as the democratically elected general secretary of the National Mexican Miners and Metalworkers Union.
"This case constitutes an important precedent for this commission which will mark its position on all acts of political persecution which prevent a person from aspiring to adequate defense against the abuse of power by a State," read the amicus curiae letter submitted by the delegation in support of the complaint filed with the commission by the Mexican miners' union. 
 
"The interference by the administrative authorities in judicial matters has thwarted any possibility of defense with a view to obtaining speedy verdicts in accordance with the law. The guarantee of due process has clearly been overtaken by the bias of the judicial authorities," the letter read.
The delegation also urged the commission to take immediate "precautionary measures" regarding the government's recent illegal seizure of all union accounts and funds; the government's refusal to officially recognize Napoleon Gómez Urrutia as elected general secretary of the miners' union; and health and safety issues of miners on strike at three mines owned by Grupo México, the largest and most powerful mining company in the country. "Precautionary measures" are measures for immediate action that the commission can take if there is a strong indication that irreparable harm may take place.
"Clearly this is of moral and strategic importance to us," said Stan Gacek, speaking on behalf of the American labour movement. "This is of significant importance to us at the national level, the regional level and the international level, as you can see given the representatives here. We have issues of irreparable harm here and we think that precautionary measures are absolutely critical."
Commissioner Santiago Canton thanked the delegation for their time and received the recommendations and evidence of human rights violations put forward by the international delegation of trade union leaders.

Trade Unionists Demand Inter-American Commission on Human Rights Action over Mexican SNTMMSRM Abuses

It was largely due to the efforts of those who suffered and their union representatives that governments, after decades of inaction, finally introduced regulations on the use of and exposure to asbestos. But asbestos is still around and there are those who continue to tout it as the “magic mineral.” While your brake linings and floor tiles may still contain asbestos, most of today's production is now exported to third world countries where weak regulation and enforcement allows people to be fatally exposed to the killer fibres. 
 
WHAT IS ASBESTOS? 
Asbestos is a class of silicate mineral fibre. There are three main asbestos minerals: chrysotile, crocidolite, and amosite. The most common type is chrysotile. 
 
Because of their chemical structure, they form long crystalline fibres of amazing strength and fire resistance which can be recovered from the mineral. Asbestos is used in textiles, cement products, brake linings, filters, roofing tiles, flooring, fillers for plastics and thousands of other products. 
 
While union activists in the 1970’s and 80’s managed to put the workplace hazards on the front burner and achieved enormous reforms on the job and legislatively, the fact is that asbestos is still in use. And the concerns initially raised by unionists 30 years ago, while still valid, have been somewhat muted by a well funded industry lobby, at times in sync with our governments. 
 
It is useful for health and safety activists to keep alert on the dangers inherent with the use of asbestos and to keep the focus where it should be: saving our members’ livelihoods and lives. 
 
There are a multitude of environmental and health related issues surrounding the use of asbestos in society. 
 
ASBESTOS RELATED ISSUES 
 
EXPOSURE LIMITS 
Even though there is no evidence that there is any “safe” level of exposure, most jurisdictions have enacted limits. Check what applies in your workplace. Workers need to assure themselves, when working with or near asbestos, that exposure limits are not being exceeded; that protective measures are adequate (respirators, clothing, etc.); and, that you are not endangering yourself. In many jurisdictions, you have the right to refuse unsafe work. 
 
SMOKING AND ASBESTOS 
An asbestos worker who smokes will have many times the risk of cancer than a non-smoking asbestos worker; or a non-asbestos exposed smoker, would have. But attempts to deflect the dangers of asbestos by blaming high cancer rates on smoking are irresponsible. The fact is that asbestos workers who have never smoked in their lives die of asbestos related cancers. 
 
BLUE vs WHITE 
There has been some suggestion that only “blue” (crocidolite) asbestos is a problem and that “white” (chrysotile) asbestos is relatively safe.. If true, why is asbestos related disease so widespread when crocidolite accounts for only 3% of all asbestos used? 
 
IMMOBILIZED FIBRES 
Industry makes the argument that the fibres are immobilized or bound together in such a way they cannot be released in many asbestos products. But, there are workers who must handle these fibres prior to their incorporation into such products and others who must saw, cut or fasten them in such a way that the fibres may, indeed be released. 
 
FIBRE MODIFICATION 
There is little or no evidence that chemically modifying asbestos fibres renders them safer and the only way to find out is to wait decades for workers to die or get sick. 
 
SUBSTITUTE PRODUCTS 
Fibreglass and other synthetic mineral fibres are the main asbestos substitutes. While it may be true that they are safer to work with than asbestos, the best approach for workers is to treat asbestos substitutes with suspicion and handle them with caution. The more similar the substitute is to asbestos, the more likely it is to have similar health effects. 
 
ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES 
Asbestos provides a good example of the link between occupational and environmental health and safety. Widespread environmental contamination with asbestos in asbestos producing region and near industries which use asbestos may be causing a “cancer epidemic in slow motion.” 
 
JUST TRANSITION 
Regrettably, the money already spent by some governments propping up this sunset industry could have been used to create a first class Just Transition programme for asbestos workers, their families and the communities that have depended on the asbestos industry. 
 
HOW ASBESTOS KILLS 
Asbestosis is one disease caused by asbestos in the lungs. Some scientists think that when asbestos fibres are inhaled, cells called macrophages attempt to engulf and digest them. The fibres are not easily dissolved by the digestive enzymes, however – although certain harmful chemical constituents of asbestos may be dissolved enough to be a problem in themselves. As well, the size and shape of asbestos fibres causes some of them to project through the cell wall of the macrophages, allowing these powerful enzymes to leak out and attack surrounding lung tissue. The end result is progressive scarring and damage to the lungs, resulting in loss of elasticity of the lung tissue. Damage can become severe enough to cause disability and death. 
 
Cancer is another consequence of asbestos exposure. Estimates of the number of cancer cases vary widely. Of the cancers that asbestos is known to cause, 80% are lung cancers; 10% are mesotheliomas; and 10% are others such as throat, stomach and intestinal. Although some asbestos cancers are difficult or impossible to distinguish from cancers caused by other agents; mesothelioma (cancer of the lining of the lungs or intenstines) is ONLY known to be caused in humans by asbestos. Mesothelioma is 100% fatal. 
 
IF YOU THINK THERE IS ASBESTOS IN YOUR WORKPLACE: 
Demand an immediate workplace Asbestos Survey. Your Joint Health and Safety Committee should lead the effort to identify and map all occurrences of asbestos and should be given all resources required to do the job. Once the asbestos has been identified, the JHSC should develop recommendations to control exposure. There are four generally accepted approaches. In order of preference, they are: 
 
1. Removal of the asbestos material: In all cases, this is the CEP’s recommended solution. It is the only way to ensure the hazard is eliminated. Strict procedures must be followed and enforced which means careful planning and attention to the training of all workers and supervisors as well as to the choice of replacement materials. 
 
Of the four accepted approaches to dealing with asbestos, removal is best 
 
2. Encapsulation or sealing of the asbestos material: Coating or impregnating the asbestos material with a bonding agent immobilizes the fibres and reduces their release. Danger still exists, however, because the bonding material may deteriorate or work (cutting, grinding, repairs, etc.) may be performed on the material, creating the potential of fibres being released. Encapsulation should be considered a temporary measure with the objective of removing the asbestos material at some appropriate future date. 
 
3. Enclosure of the asbestos material: If neither removal nor encapsulation is possible within a reasonable time, the next best approach is to separate the asbestos material from the rest of the workplace by some kind of barrier (removable ceilings or walls are not acceptable). Enclosure is not a control measure and should be accepted only as a temporary means of protecting workers until removal can be completed. 
 
4. Asbestos management plan: If any materials cannot immediately be removed completely and safely, a management plan will be required. If any asbestos materials remain in the workplace, even if encapsulated or enclosed, an ongoing system is needed to: 
• Maintain clear identification of the areas where exposure may take place; 
• Educate people what to do if work must take place in or near these areas; 
• Inspect the materials frequently for any changes; 
• Formulate a complete removal strategy as quickly as possible. 
 
There are many lessons to be learned by union activists from the decades of battle which have been waged to protect ourselves and the public from asbestos hazards: 
 
• Legislation and regulation on their own are not a total “win”. Regulatory solutions, too often, come after a problem becomes a crisis and while we need good laws, we also need better ways of identifying and controlling hazards before the death toll mounts. 
 
• Our memory is too short. Having greatly reduced the uses and abuses of asbestos in the 1980’s, too many people lowered their guard, believing the battle had been won. This has created an opportunity for the industry to rewrite history and win a rebirth. 
 
• Scientists and other supposed independent authorities are just as vulnerable to undue influence as anyone when powerful economic forces are at work. 
 
• Finally, the asbestos history reminds us that our best tool for building improved occupational health and safety is sold union activism at the shop floor level. 
 
DON’T TAKE YOUR RIGHTS TO THE GRAVE 
If there is any doubt about whether the work is proceeding safely or not, remember that the regulations are a minimum standard. Compliance with regulations may not be sufficient in some cases. Remember, too, that workers in some cases have the right to refuse unsafe work. Don’t take your rights to the grave!

ASBESTOS IS A KILLER

<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100" height="39" alt=""/>
ICEM’s Brazilian affiliate, the ABC Chemical Workers’ Union of São Paulo state, chose the motto “Strengthen Regional Integration and Decent Work” for its 10th Congress, which was held from 16-19 May. Aimed at promoting discussions over key challenges faced by workers in the workplaces as well as in the communities, the Congress extended over a period of 60 days and was divided into three stages. 
 
At part one on 16 May, some 800 workers opened the Congress by starting political discussions over various topics dealing with more recruitment, and mobilization against the impact of global economic crisis. The session also took up the challenges at regional and national levels. 
 
The second portion of the Congress was realised from 29 May to 17 June when chemical workers and union members were invited to discuss union actions in four main areas: the workplace; local, regional, and national councils and committees covering health, social security, environment, employment, and development; the various segments of the chemical industry, including plastics, pharmaceuticals, paints, and petrochemicals; and the union movement at both national and international levels. 
 
In these sessions, participants adopted resolutions and elected delegates for the third and final step of the Congress programme, which will take place 17-19 July. This forum will approve and begin implementation of the main struggle points for the ABC Chemical Workers’ Union over the next three years. 

<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/0906.Paul.Lage.Brazil.ABC.JPG" width="250" height="186" alt=""/>
ABC Chemical Workers' Union President, Paul Lage
The President of the union, Paulo Lage, stated: “Instead of presenting prepared arguments and proposals to debate, we adopted a methodology that facilitates participation in the sessions and working groups, where arguments and resolutions are developed for debate and adoption at the final Congress round.” 
 
ICEM’s Latin American/Caribbean Region Vice-President Sérgio Novais, who is also an officer of the ABC Chemical Workers’ Union, also believes strongly in the innovative methodology of this process. He said it “improves the organization in the workplace, facilitates the organization of workers’ networks to understand globalization, and it presents real challenges and opportunities in which to find solutions.”

Brazil’s ABC Chemical Workers’ Union in Unique 60-day Congress Period

<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100" height="39" alt=""/>
ICEM’s Bridgestone Global Union Network held its 9th Steering Committee meeting in Tokyo, Japan, on 26-27 June, and is was hosted successfully by the ICEM’s Japanese affiliate, Rubber Workers’ Unions Confederation (GOMU-RENGO) and its member organisation, the Bridgestone Workers’ Union. 
 
GOMU RENGO President Toshiaki Hojo chaired the meeting with the assistance of Akihiro Nagasawa and Gen Tashiro, President and Vice President, respectively, of the Bridgestone Workers’ Union. (Gen Tashiro also serves as secretary of the Network.) 
 
Following the general report by ICEM’s Chemicals and Rubber Officer Kemal Özkan on developments and challenges in the tyre and rubber industry at global level, delegates to the meeting gave country and regional reports. They came from Japan, Spain, Brazil, and South Africa. 

<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/0906.Bridgestone.Network.jpg" width="350" height="144" alt=""/>
As the central focus to the Network, delegates deliberated on industrial accidents within Bridgestone across the world. Delegates were informed of the circumstances around serious recent accidents in Japan and Brazil. A lengthy discussion then ensued on measures to improve occupational health and safety at the Japan-based company. 
 
The meeting also saw an extensive report by ICEM’s Özkan on the ongoing strike at a Bridgestone plant located in Frameries, Belgium, as well as problems in obtaining trade union recognition and health and safety concerns at a factory in Tatabanya, Hungary. 
 
The Japanese host union promised to put these problems before executives at Bridgestone headquarters in Japan. The delegates from Spain, Brazil, and South Africa extended solidarity both to ICEM affiliate FGTB Centrale Générale in Belgium and VDSz, the affiliated Chemical and Energy Workers’ Federation in Hungary. 
 
Along with Hojo, Nagasawa, Tashiro, and Özkan, delegates attending included Daniel Demetrio and Batista Goncalves, Rubber Workers’ Union of Brazil (FUB); Jesus Delgado, Secretary of the European Works Council of Bridgestone and Eduardo Alonso, shop steward at Burgos, Spain, both members of the Federation of Related Industries of Spain (FIA-UGT); Nicholas Masilo from National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA); and Yoshio Sato, General Secretary of ICEM’s Japanese Affiliates Federation (ICEM-JAF). 
 
The next meeting of the Steering Committee is scheduled to take place during the last week of June 2010 in Spain.

Bridgestone Global Safety Steering Meets in Tokyo

<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100" height="39" alt=""/>
Japanese tyre-maker Bridgestone’s failure to listen to alternatives on redundancies in social talks has caused a fiery strike at the company’s airplane tyre factory in Frameries, Belgium. The strike by all 140 workers and led by ICEM Belgian affiliate FGTB Centrale Générale started on 11 June over eight job cuts. 
 
A day into the strike, trade unionists convinced managers to stay away from the factory and the plant has been idle since. 

<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/0906.bridgestone.strike.jpg" width="250" height="171" alt=""/>
Bridgestone seeks to unilaterally lay off eight workers. FGTB and the 140 workers say that decision ridicules a plant rule on job security. They also point to the fact that Bridgestone employs 14 workers on short-term contracts at Frameries. The FGTB states that Belgium’s pre-pension plan qualifies 24 workers for leave, but Bridgestone will not consider other solutions to its reduction in force. 
 
The factory is a Bridgestone re-treading plant. The strike at the plant comes at a time when Bridgestone is boasting to global financial markets that its 2009 earnings sheet will be better that previously predicted because of a stronger yen and already-implemented expense reductions.

Bridgestone Tyre Strike in Belgium Erupts

<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100" height="39" alt=""/>
The ICEM has again registered sharp complaint to the Iraqi government over anti-social conduct at its State Company for Petrochemical Industries’ set of plants in Basra. The latest incident finds a new state manager harassing, and then filing police charges against Mohammed Zaki Ibrahim, the leader of ICEM affiliate Petrochemical Workers’ Union of Basra. 
 
Last month, Mohammed Zaki was verbally assaulted by the new general manager, who stated his trade union activity was an “obstacle” to the way he intended to operate the company. The manager also charged Zaki with being under the influence of “external forces.” 
 
The ICEM was compelled to harshly condemn that violation of freedom of association in a letter to Iraq’s Minister of Industry and Minerals. 
 
The letter also pointed out that after Zaki left the abusive meeting – witnessed by other managers – he was immediately charged by police with trade union activity, and labelled as a danger to the Iraqi national economy. As the Zaki case illustrates, managers have been vindictive in upholding Saddam’s decades-old decree banning trade unions in the public sector, a draconian labour code that continued under the occupation forces. 
On 28 January, a workers manifestation over wage arrears at the enterprise resulted in management calling in the army. Managers targeted four union leaders with leading the protest, and then brought cruel and unjust discipline on to one of them: Kareem Johi Sahan was banished from the petrochemicals enterprise for six months and his pay grade was lowered. 
 
“The ICEM has paid close attention to events at the Basra facility,” said General Secretary Manfred Warda. “The Iraqi government must also. This must become a worksite where trade union rights are respected and we will continue working from the outside with trade unionists on the inside to fulfil that.” 
 
The state-owned petrochemical facility employs 5,000 workers and contains six plants making ethylene, polyethylene, vinyl chloride, and other chemicals. The Basra Petrochemical Workers’ Union is affiliated to the Iraq Oil Workers’ Federation (IFOU).

Iraq: ICEM Again Condemns Union Harassment at Basra Petrochem

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100" height="39"/>
A unique happenstance followed an ICEM workshop on Contract and Agency Labour (CAL) in Guinea recently: the Industrial Relations manager of Russian bauxite and steel producer RUSAL was expelled from the country following revelations at the conference of the company’s horrid labour practices in Guinea. 
 
Mineworkers in Guinea, backed by leaders of the trade union federations, provided vivid evidence on working conditions, including child labour, at Compagnie des Bauxite de Kindla, RUSAL’s joint venture bauxite mining concern with the government. 
 
The testimony resulted in the government, led by Captain Moussa Dadis Camara, to expel Anatoly Pantchenko from Guinea. 
 
Trade unionists told how the RUSAL manager had organized a culture of outsourcing at the mine and at RUSAL’s wholly-owned Friguia alumina smelting plant. The company utilises some 120 outsourcing companies. Discussion centered on how the system has aggravated poverty and created extremely poor work conditions and salaries, leaving workers under RUSAL’s umbrella with little means for improved living conditions. 

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/0703Guinea2.jpg" width="350" height="233"/>
From left to right: Ibrahima Fofana, Rabiatou Sereh Diallo, Manfred Warda and Yamodou Touré
The report was not new to the ICEM. In 2007, after street protests in Guinea loosened the dictatorial powers of President Lansana Conté, Rabiatou Sereh Diallo, General Secretary of the National Confederation of Workers of Guinea (CNTG), visited the ICEM in Brussels. She and other trade union leaders from Guinea then told how RUSAL relies heavily on “phantom” subcontracting companies that are tied to Conté associates. 
 
In December 2008, following the death of Conté, Captain Moussa Dadis Camara and a team of military officers took over the country. They immediately forged relations with the three main trade union federations and pledged to end corruption in the mining sector. 
 
Since then, relations between RUSAL and the government have been tenuous, and ICEM’s CAL workshops in May provided all the evidence Moussa Camara needed to expel RUSAL’s top manager from Guinea. In mid-April, workers at the Friguia refinery staged a strike, and RUSAL – now the world’s second largest steelmaker – said the work stoppage was instigated by the government. 

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/CAL_en.jpg" width="146" height="66"/>
The ICEM’s CAL conference agreed on a plan of action for Guinea’s mining sector, which will see trade unions and the government push for a review of the national mining convention, a code that became obsolete and neglected under the corrupt Conté regime. Such a review will make it possible to properly address outsourcing, as well as to include guarantees on working conditions in employment contracts. 
 
A new committee was established with the government that is tasked with carrying out the review. The committee is composed of 13 members, two of whom are trade union leaders. 
 
The West African nation of Guinea holds two-thirds of the world’s bauxite deposits. A second multinational bauxite miner, called Halco, also operates in Guinea. But trade unionists tell the ICEM that work conditions there are far superior to those existing at RUSAL. Halco is an enterprise 51% owned by US-based Alcoa World Alumina and Alcan of Canada, with the remainder owned by Guinea’s government.

ICEM’s Contract Labour Forum in Guinea Forces Expulsion of Russian Mine Boss

“National Project Conference of Turkey: 
Organising and Social Dialogue” 
 
15 – 16 June 2009 
Ankara, Turkey 
 
A g e n d a 
 
 
15 June 2009, Monday 
 
09:30 - 10:30 Opening : 
 
Bayram Eren, General Education Secretary of Tes-İş 
Henk Van Der Kolk, President of FNV Bondgenoten, The Netherlands (<a href="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/henk.fnv.speech.pdf" type="internal">speech</a>) 
Manfred Warda, ICEM General Secretary 
 
10:30 - 11:00 Break 
 
11:00 - 12:30 First Session: “Organising and Social Dialogue: International Mechanisms” 
 
Gülay Aslantepe, ILO Turkey Representative 
Zergül Özbilgiç, Undersecretariat of Treasury, General Directorate of Foreign Capital, Head of Department of International Relations (OECD Turkey National Contact Point) 
Kemal Özkan, ICEM Chemical and Rubber Industries Officer 
Manfred Warda, ICEM General Secretary and Board Member of “Global Compact” (<a href="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/fnv.manfred.pres.pdf" type="internal">presentation</a>) 
 
Discussions 
 
12:30 – 14:00 Lunch 
 
14:00 – 16:00 Second Session : “Organising and Social Dialogue : International Trade Union Tools” 
 
Kemal Özkan, ICEM Chemical and Rubber Industries Officer (<a href="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/fnv.kemal.pres.pdf" type="internal">presentation</a>) 
Marc Ferron, EDF Global Agreement TU Secretary, France (<a href="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/fnv.ferron.pres.pdf" type="internal">presentation</a>) 
Yücel Top, Coordinator of Turkey-EU Trade Union Integration Com. 
Jorgen Juul Rasmussen, Danks El-Forbund, Denmark (<a href="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/fnv.jorgen.pres.pdf" type="internal">presentation</a>)  
 
Discussions 
 
16:00 - 16:30 Break 
 
16:30 – 17:30 Third Session : “Different Country Trade Union Structures, Experiences and Strategies for Organising and Social Dialogue” : Experiences from North America and Asia 
 
Joe Drexler, ICEM Director of Industry and Corporate Affairs (<a href="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/fnv.drexler.pres.pdf" type="internal">presentation</a>) 
Phee Jungsun, ICEM Materials Industry Officer (<a href="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/fnv.phee.pres.pdf" type="internal">presentation</a>) 
 
Discussions 
 
19:00 – 22:00 Dinner 
 
16 June 2009, Tuesday : 
 
09:30 – 10:30 Fourth Session : “Different Country Trade Union Structures, Experiences and Strategies for Organising and Social Dialogue” (continuation) : Experiences from Europe-1 
 
Michael Wolters, IG BCE, Germany (<a href="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/fnv.wolters.pres.pdf" type="internal">presentation</a>) 
Marc Blanc, FCE-CFDT, France (<a href="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/fnv.blanc.pres.pdf" type="internal">presentation</a>) 
 
Discussions 
 
10:30 - 11:00 Break 
 
11:00 – 12:30 Fifth Session : “Different Country Trade Union Structures, Experiences and Strategies for Organising and Social Dialogue” (continuation) : Experiences from Europe-2 
 
Isidor Boix, FITEQA-CC.OO., Spain (<a href="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/fnv.bois.pres.pdf" type="internal">presentation</a>) 
Lobé Gevaerts – Mail Ürker, FNV Bondgenoten, The Netherlands 
 
Discussions 
 
12:30 – 14:00 Lunch 
 
14:00 – 15:30 Sixth Session : “In line with discussions, Strategy and Action Plan for Developing Organising and Social Dialogue in Turkey“ 
 
Fikret Sazak, Türkiye Maden-İş (mining) 
Üzeyir Ataman, Lastik-İş (rubber and chemical) 
İsmail Hakkı Kurt, Petrol-İş & Belediye-İş (oil/public service) 
Resul Limon, Tes-İş (Energy) 
Bahri Topçu, Türkiye Çimse-İş (Materials) 
 
15:30 – 16:00 Break 
 
16:00 - 17:00 Wrapping-up of two-day works and Proposals for the future 
 
17:30 End of the Conference

FNV Turkey Project Conference

<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100" height="39" alt=""/>
Following the ICEM’s Executive Committee Meetings late in June in Geneva, and the two-day International Nuclear Workers’ Union Network (INWUN) conference, the ICEM held a wider Electric Power Workers’ Conference on 27 June. 
 
Under the chairmanship of Lars Myhre, ICEM Energy Industries Section Chairman, the conference saw participation of trade unions involved in the production and distribution of electric power, regardless of the method of generation used. 
 
A number of presently unaffiliated trade unions from the North America electric industry had been invited and a union representing power workers of British Colombia, Canada, Local 38 of the Canadian Office and Professional Employees’ Union, was in attendance. 
 
After an opening session where speeches of welcome preceded a detailed presentation of the global industry and recent ICEM work, made by Energy Officer Jim Catterson, a presentation on ICEM’s Sustainable Development policy was made by Health, Safety, Sustainability Officer Brian Kohler. 

<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/0907.electricity.jpg" width="343" height="142" alt=""/>
Michael Langford, Lars Mhyre, Manfred Warda
The conference focused on key priorities of ICEM including Global Framework Agreements, networks, and campaigns. On global agreements, an overview by ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda was followed by a detailed presentation on the EDF agreement by Marc Ferron of French affiliate FCE-CFDT. 
 
Ferron is the secretary of the coordinating committee established within the EDF agreement, and his presentation generated much interest and discussion. A second session focused on network building with presentations on the previous two days of INWUN meetings, done by INWUN Chairman David Shier of the Canadian Power Workers’ Union, and on the Asia-Pacific Electric Power Workers’ Network, a presentation made by a colleague from Japan. 
 
A third focus of the conference was on campaigning and following an overview of recent ICEM campaigns in the industry by ICEM Information and Campaigns Officer Dick Blin, the meeting heard a report of the ongoing campaign for a first collective agreement at Covanta in the US state of Massachusetts by Michael Langford, President of the Utility Workers Union of America (UWUA). This presentation focussed on the international aspects of the struggle for justice, and also generated considerable interest and discussion. 
 
The electric conference then drew together the discussions under a general theme of building and strengthening trade unions throughout the industry. Iraq was clearly focused on as an immediate priority following a moving presentation of the situation there by Hashmeyia Saadawi, the President of ICEM-affiliated General Union of Electricity Workers and Technicians (GFIW) and a member of the ICEM Executive. She gave a detailed report on the daily dangers involved in trade union work in Iraq and her presentation centered on the lack of regular electric power supply service there, and on safety and health problems, which has led to an appalling rate of accidents and deaths record in the industry. 
 
Participants also congratulated Hashmeyia Saadawi on her recent award of the prestigious Febe Elisabeth Velasquez Trade Union Award presented by FNV, a Dutch national labour centre, which is given to a trade union leader who has worked under difficult circumstances, taken enormous personal risks, but has defended trade union rights in countries where such rights are routinely violated. 
 
The conference marked the first time ICEM has held a meeting devoted purely to Electric Power, and all participants considered it a very worthwhile exercise in building and organising solidarity. Delegates resolved to build a sector-wide communication network to build solidarity to conflicts and to communicate good practice and union success stories quickly and easily.

ICEM Hold First Electric Power Conference

<img height="39" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100"/>
With 95% and 85% strike votes over the weekend, 3,500 Canadian miners of two United Steelworkers (USW) branch unions voted to take joint strike action beginning early today against Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (Vale-Inco). 
 
The strike started in northern Ontario province and at a southern Ontario refinery and port. Production from Ontario accounts for 10% of the world’s nickel supply, and the Vale-Inco assets in Ontario are considered among the world’s richest nickel and plating resources in the world. 
 
The strike came after the USW, in late May, gave the Brazilian-based company a ten-week extension to complete talks. Management continued pressing for a concession-ridden collective agreement in that period, and Canadian miners spoke with one voice and multiple strike lines in total response to the company’s social cuts. 
 
Picket lines went up at midnight on 13 July at mines, a smelter, and processing plants in the copper-nickel belt surrounding Sudbury, Ontario, and at Port Colborne, some 400 kilometres south on Lake Erie. USW represents some 3,300 miners in northern Ontario, while USW Local 6200 represents 200 workers at Port Colborne. A strike website has been created, and is <a href="http://www.fairdealnow.ca">here</a>. 
 
“We have spoken to all the unions that work in the global operations of Vale and we have their unanimous support as well,” said USW President Leo Gerard, himself a native of Sudbury and a member of Local 6500. 

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Leo Gerard
“This is a global fight and we are a global union and we will use our global power to fight these concessions.” 
 
Vale-Inco’s concessionary proposals are many, including a new and reduced pension scheme for new hires, reductions to production bonuses, loss of value in cost-of-living increases, and amendments to contracting-out provisions, which will decrease job security for Vale-Inco workers. 
 
The company is attempting to supplant a defined benefit pension plan with a defined contribution plan for new hires. Other concessions proposed to the pension benefit include removal of the indexing provision and deep cuts to the disability pension. Regarding outsourcing, Vale-Inco seeks to give outside contractors’ use of the company’s moving equipment, a serious threat in mining to full-time, permanent jobs. 

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In a solidarity letter to nickel miners and smelting and port workers of USW Locals 6500 and 6200 in Canada, the ICEM wrote, “ … the fact that young workers and old workers at Inco are standing tall and standing together to preserve future incomes” is highly commendable. 
 
“We must not let corporate greed and a rush to the bottom stop us from choosing the correct path out of financial malaise,” said the ICEM letter. “In this fight, in a strategic nickel-processing area of the world, union members of Locals 6500 and 6200 have chosen the correct road.” 
 
Vale is the world’s second biggest mining company. It bought Canadian-based Inco late in 2006. Also in Canada, at Vale-Inco NL, members of another USW branch local are braced to strike on 1 August at Voisey’s Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador province. The company takes nickel, copper, and cobalt reserves from northern Labrador. Similar to Ontario, USW Local 9580 had given Vale-Inco a temporary contract extension to resolve bargaining issues, but little positive movement has come from Inco.

Miners of USW Strike Vale’s Nickel Riches in Canada

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