English

Español

Français

Русский

Aerospace

Automotive

Base metals

Chemical, pharmaceutical and bio-science

Energy 

Glass, cement, ceramic and associated industries

ICT, electrical and electronics

Mechanical Engineering

Mining and DGOJP

Pulp and paper

Rubber

Shipbuilding and shipbreaking

Textile, garment, shoes, leather and textile services

Sectors

Action Plan 2021-2025

Action on textile and garment industry

Clean up shipbreaking

Ratify ILO C176

United for a just future - time to pay up!

Disinvest from Myanmar

Campaigns

Global Framework Agreements

Union building

White-collar workers

Health & safety

Industry 4.0

Women

Youth

LGBTQI+

Gender, equality, diversity and inclusion (GEDI)

Just Transition

Organizing with industriALL 

What we do

Affiliates

Statutes

Elected officials

Executive Committee

Geneva head office

South East Asia 

Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Caucasus

Latin America and the Caribbean 

Middle East and North Africa

South Asia

Sub-Saharan Africa

Regional offices

About us

Global worker No1 2022

Global worker No2 2022

Publications

Resources

Logos of IndustriALL Global Union

Press

<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/BWI New.jpg" width="100" height="90" alt=""/>     <img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/ICEM100.jpg" width="100" height="86" alt=""/>
The ICEM joined the Building and Wood Workers' International (BWI), yesterday in launching a global campaign for equal rights of Holcim CAL workers in India.
Join the <a href="http://www.bwint.org/default.asp?Index=3442&Language=EN">campaign yourself by sending a message to the Holcim CEO</a> via the BWI website here. 
The Indian Cement Workers Federation (INCWF) an affiliate of both global union federations, has conducted a long-running campaign calling for equal rights, conditions, and salaries for contract workers, as stipulated under Indian law. Holcim India continuously neglects this legislation, specifically at its subsidiaries ACC in Bhilai and Ambuja Cement in Baloda Bazar.
The State High Court of Chhattisgarh ruled in favour of contract workers at Holcim Jamul Unit, instructing the company to regularise CAL employees and replace the "sham" contracts currently in place. Holcim India is yet to act positively on the court ruling. Workers at Jamul have conducted a "sit in" protest since 3 April.
On Holcim's purchase of ACC and Ambuja Cement, both companies were members of the Cement Manufacturer's Association and signatories to the National Wage Agreement for the sector. It is extremely unfortunate that under Holcim's ownership, this has been reversed, removing employee's protection from the National Agreement, blocking their right to bargain collectively.
See a recent <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4245-Finally-Excellent-Wage-Gains-Won-by-Indian-Cement-Workers" type="internal">ICEM report</a> on the positive national settlement for the Indian cement industry here.
The INCWF, backed by BWI, ICEM, and joint Swiss affiliate UNIA, are calling on the company to enter into dialogue so as to resolve these issues, respect global labour standards, Indian law, and end the discriminatory treatment of contract workers at Holcim.
Holcim is the second largest producer of cement in the world. An average salary for Indian contract workers is US$2.17 a day, and a high amount on limestone are factors moving Holcim to shift production to India from countries such as Spain and the US.
See the <a href="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Holcim%20Akermann%2028%204%202011.pdf" type="internal">joint BWI-ICEM letter to Holcim</a> CEO Markus Akermann here.

Global Campaign Launched for Indian Cement Contract Workers

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100" height="39"/>
The European Mine, Chemical and Energy Workers’ Federation (EMCEF) elected new leadership at an extraordinary General Assembly, held 3 May in Luxembourg. Some 90 delegates unanimously voted for Michael Vassiliadis, President of German trade union IG BCE, as President of EMCEF, while former ICEM officer Michael Wolters was named Acting General Secretary. 
 
They replace EMCEF President Hubertus Schmoldt, who retired from IGBCE in 2009, and General Secretary Reinhard Reibsch, who now retires. The assembly welcomed General Secretary Peter Scherer of the European Metalworkers’ Federation (EMF) and President Valeria Fedeli and General Secretary Patrick Itschert of the European Textile, Garment, and Leather Workers’ Federation. These two European federations together with EMCEF are expected to integrate in 2012, creating a single industrial trade union federation for Europe. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/0907.Michael%20Vassiliadis.jpg" width="165" height="140"/>
New EMCEF President, Michael Vassiliadis
General Secretary Bernadette Segol of UNI-Europa also addressed the assembly. She is likely to be elected General Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) when the ETUC holds its Congress next week in Athens. 
 
Founded in 1996 in Luxembourg, EMCEF represents some two million members in 38 European countries. Delegates on 3 May discussed the Secretariat's report on activities and finances, and then went into a detailed report on the future of European trade union activities, including the role of a new industrial union federation in Europe. 
 
The General Assembly also gave approval to three resolutions: affirming the fight against contract labour and precarious forms of work, affirmation to create a new European industry trade union federation; and giving support to Romanian affiliates fighting against extreme austerity measures there. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1105.emcef.jpg" width="220" height="165"/>
Schmoldt, Vassiliadis, Wolters, Reibsch
Vassiliadis, in his first speech as head of EMCEF, underlined the importance integration: “We need combined forces to respond to major social, political, economic, and environmental challenges.” He also praised Schmoldt, who he said transformed EMCEF from a loose association of trade unions to an influential trade union federation. 
 
Elected President of IGBCE in October 2009, Vassiliadis has been on IGBCE’s six-member Governing Board since 2004, and has directed areas of works councils, shop steward development, trade union education, and youth activities for the German union. Originally from a Bayer plant near his home in Essen, he sits now on the supervisory boards of chemical companies BASF and Henkel, as well as serving as deputy chairman of the potash producer Kali and Salz and Evonik Steag. 
 
Wolters hails from Hamburg’s chemical sector. He began with IG Chemie in 1990, did youth work for the union in eastern Germany then and in 2001 became the director of the union’s Dresden office. He worked at the ICEM from 2005 until 2007 and since has been working in IGBCE’s International Department in Hannover. 
 
ICEM was represented at the EMCEF General Assembly by Chemical and Rubber Industries Officer Kemal Özkan.

New Leadership Comes in at EMCEF

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/image_aids_ribbon.gif" width="40" height="40"/>
In this issue of the ICEM HIV/AIDS newsletter, we report on how the HIV/AIDS project in India includes women, on ART adherence in Ethiopia, and reflect on the UN’s efforts to match commitment and declarations with concrete results. 
 
Indian Mineworkers’ Federation Involves Women 
 
In the framework of the HIV/AIDS project in India, which is sponsored by the German pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim, the Indian National Mineworkers’ Federation (INMF) organised a training programme for women peer educators and counsellors in Kolkata. Twenty-one participants from five different coal companies, most of them para-medical staff from company clinics, attended the two-day course. 
 
Participants discussed the basics of HIV and AIDS, voluntary counselling and testing services, perspectives of people living with HIV and AIDS and behaviour change. The ILO Delhi office sent a resource person to talk about the ILO Code of Practice on HIV/AIDS and the world of work and the new Recommendation No. 200 concerning HIV and AIDS and the World of Work. Participants also elaborated an action plan for activities in their workplaces and communities. 
 
On International Women’s Day, 8 March, two one-day programmes on HIV/AIDS and the workplace were organised in Dhanbad and Asansole. A total of 63 women attended the programmes which were organised by two master trainers who had received training in earlier stages of the project. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/image_aids_ribbon.gif" width="40" height="40"/>
US Confirms Pledge to Global Fund, Other Donors Backtrack 
 
The US Congress agreed on 15 April that the US will give US$1.05 billion to the Global Fund during the fiscal year that ends on 30 September 2011. This is the same amount that the US committed for the previous year. 
 
After Republicans took control of the House, they moved to cut this to US$0.6 billion. Eventually, after much backroom negotiation, agreement was reached on the US$1.05 billion figure. Congress passed the legislation, and President Barack Obama signed it. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Global%20Fund%20logo.gif" width="250" height="53"/>
However, one standard aspect of such legislation is that the US will give no more than 33% of the total given by all countries to the Global Fund. Thus, if all other donors do not give twice as much as the US commits, the US contribution will be reduced. 
 
It is not yet known whether other donors will give twice as much as the US has promised. One problem is that a new trend has emerged whereby a few donors do not live up to their commitments. The most notable example of this is Italy, which has not paid any part of its 2009 and 2010 pledges of US$ 183 million per year. In addition, Spain has only paid US$134 million of the US$250 million it pledged for 2010, and Ireland has only paid US$11 million of the $48 million it pledged for 2010. 
 
(Source: Global Fund Observer, Issue 144 of 20 April. GFO is a free service of Aidspan <a href="http://www.aidspan.org">www.aidspan.org</a>; to receive GFO send an email to <a href="mailto:receive-gfo-newsletter@aidspan.org">receive-gfo-newsletter@aidspan.org</a>) 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/image_aids_ribbon.gif" width="40" height="40"/>
Ethiopia to Boost ART Adherence 
 
Patients taking their antiretroviral (ARVs) drugs irregularly risk developing drug-resistant strains of the virus. A three-month campaign by Addis Ababa's health bureau hopes to boost adherence to ARVs in the Ethiopian capital by improving communication between patients and health service providers. 
 
A 2009 study by the HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control Office (HAPCO) found that on average, 72.3% of patients on ARVs were still on first-line medication one year after starting treatment. The remaining people are lost. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Ethiopia.png" width="170" height="78"/>
Insufficient food, high transport costs to drug collection points, and stigma-related issues such as fear of disclosure are some of the main reasons why HIV-positive Ethiopians fail to stick to ARVs. Such failure can hasten progress from HIV to AIDS; patients taking their drugs irregularly also run the risk of developing drug-resistant strains of the virus, requiring significantly more costly second- and third-line ARVs. 
 
Addis Ababa's health bureau is partnering with the national AIDS Resource Centre (ARC) on the three-month campaign, launched in March and funded by the US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). Through a mass-media campaign and the use of toll-free telephone HIV/AIDS information services, it seeks to promote "astewai" (responsible patients), and "tagash" (tolerant service providers) as part of its efforts to improve adherence. 
 
Some 26 state-run health centre, five state-run hospitals and 13 private facilities that provide ART in Addis Ababa will participate in the campaign, with a plan to roll it out to the rest of the country should it prove successful. 
 
(Source: IRIN Plus News, Addis Ababa, 13 April) 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/image_aids_ribbon.gif" width="40" height="40"/>
Global Fund Selects Co-Chairs for Expert Panel on Corruption 
 
The Global Fund has selected two prominent people to co-chair the panel of experts that will be conducting an independent review of the Fund’s financial safeguards. They are former President of Botswana, Festus Mogae, and former US Health and Human Services Secretary, Michael O. Leavitt. 
 
The panel is part of a broader set of measures that the Global Fund is implementing to strengthen the Fund’s financial and risk management systems. Some of these measures, including the panel, were in response to the recent media coverage of corruption in the administration of Global Fund grants in a few sub-Saharan African countries, and to the reaction of some donors to the corruption revelations. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1105.unaids.botswana pres.jpg" width="128" height="169"/>     <img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1105.unaids.american.jpg" width="136" height="169"/>
Festus Mogae, Michael O. Leavitt
The co-chairs will select a small group of eminent persons and experts to join the panel. The Global Fund says that the panel will assess the Fund’s current practices in financial oversight, and will make recommendations to help strengthen the Global Fund’s fiscal controls and anti-corruption measures. 
 
(Source: Global Fund Observer, Issue 142 of 17 March. GFO is a free service of Aidspan <a href="http://www.aidspan.org">www.aidspan.org</a>; to receive GFO send an email to <a href="mailto:receive-gfo-newsletter@aidspan.org">receive-gfo-newsletter@aidspan.org</a>) 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/image_aids_ribbon.gif" width="40" height="40"/>
Burundi: ‘Die-in’ Protest over Lack of HIV Care 
 
NGOs fear the erratic drug supply could lead to the deaths of people living with HIV. Hundreds of Burundians living with HIV/AIDS recently staged a demonstration in the capital, Bujumbura, to protest against a lack of treatment. 
 
Men, women, and children lay on the ground for 10 minutes to "show the government that if nothing is done rapidly - this week, this month – we will all die," said Jeanne Gapiya, a leading Burundian HIV activist. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Burundi.png" width="170" height="78"/>
The protest was staged on 29 March by REMUA, Reseau de Reinforcement Mutuel des Acteurs de la Première Ligne, a network of six NGOs providing HIV treatment to more than 9,000 people – about one-third of all people receiving antiretrovirals in Burundi. 
 
The protest was staged on 29 March by REMUA, Reseau de Reinforcement Mutuel des Acteurs de la Première Ligne, a network of six NGOs providing HIV treatment to more than 9,000 people – about one-third of all people receiving antiretrovirals in Burundi. According to Gapiya, despite funding from the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria in 2010, organizations caring for HIV-positive people had not signed agreements with the National Council for HIV/AIDS Control (CNLS) to access the cash. 
 
The Global Fund approved about US$35 million to fight HIV in Burundi under its eighth round of grants. An estimated 150,000 Burundians are living with HIV; the pandemic has left more than 20,000 orphans in the central African country. 
 
(Source: IRIN Plus News, Bujumbura, 4 April) 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/image_aids_ribbon.gif" width="40" height="40"/>
News from Global Unions 
 
The <a href="http://www.itfglobal.org">International Transport Workers’ Federation</a> (ITF) in its latest HIV/AIDS updates No. 104 and 105 in April, reports on HIV training courses for Burmese migrant workers, mainly fishermen, in Thailand and on a Southern Africa workshop on HIV/AIDS and TB in the transport sector, organised in cooperation with the ILO and UNAIDS. 
 
Dr Syed Asif Altaf, the ITF Global HIV/AIDS Coordinator has published, together with Robert Lovelace, Senior Fellow for the Trade Union Sustainable Development Unit, an article in the upcoming issue of the UN Chronicle on Labour, HIV and the Workplace – <a href="http://www.un.org/wcm/content/site/chronicle/">Working to Get the Job Done</a>.  
 
The EFAIDS (Education for All and HIV and AIDS Education) project of the Education International (EI) is ending after five successful years. Life saving skills training has been implemented by 80 member organisations in 48 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean. An independent evaluation of the five-year programme is being conducted and the findings will be shared at the EFAIDS closing conference in mid-May. 
 
The Building and Wood Workers’ International (BWI) reports that its affiliate in Zambia reached out to hundreds of workers through HIV/AIDS workplace education. During the educational activities, workers were trained in the usage of condoms and care and support while at the same time linking the training to health and safety. 
 
The latest issue of the SWHAP (The Swedish Workplace HIV and AIDS Programme) Newsletter can be accessed at <a href="http://www.swhap.org">www.swhap.org</a>. The website also gives useful links to a Peer Educators’ Monitoring Booklet and How to Start a Workplace Programme. SWHAP is a joint programme of the International Council of Swedish Industry (NIR) and the Swedish Industrial and Metalworkers’ Union (IF Metall). It is sponsored by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA). 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/image_aids_ribbon.gif" width="40" height="40"/>
Five Years Ago: From the May 2006 Issue (No. 8) 
 
The first issue of the ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin was published in October 2005. In current issues, we refer to an article from the same month five years ago and reflect on developments. 
 
In the May 2006 issue of the ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin, we reported on the comprehensive review the UN General Assembly undertook on the targets agreed by member states at the 2001 UN General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS). UNGASS adopted the Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS. This Declaration provides a comprehensive framework to halt and reverse the HIV/AIDS epidemic by 2010 and includes specific and measurable milestones for 2003, 2005, and 2010. Few of the targets have been met. 
 
Interestingly enough, the Declaration says in chapter 49: “By 2005, strengthen the response to HIV/AIDS in the world of work by establishing and implementing prevention and care programmes in public, private and informal work sectors, and take measures to provide a supportive workplace environment for people living with HIV/AIDS.” 
 
The General Assembly in 2006 adopted a Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS, without setting new targets but reaffirming the targets of the 2001 Declaration of Commitment. The Millennium Development Goals still stand. They say in Article 6.A: “Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS” and 6.B: “Achieve, by 2010, universal access to treatment for HIV/AIDS for all those who need it.” As stated in various UN and UNAIDS documents, targets for “universal access” do not necessarily require 100% coverage. 
 
In June 2011, the General Assembly will undertake a comprehensive review of the progress achieved in realising the Declaration of Commitment and the Political Declaration in High Level Meeting (UNGA-HLM, see e-bulletin 67, April 2011).
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/image_aids_ribbon.gif" width="40" height="40"/>
This ICEM HIV-AIDS Newsletter – How to Subscribe 
 
To subscribe to the e-bulletin, send an email to <a href="mailto:press@icem.org">press@icem.org</a>. Please put “subscribe ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin” in the subject line.

ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin - No. 68, May 2011 

<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100" height="39" alt=""/>
In line with a 2001 agreement with US-based rubber multination Firestone, the ICEM-affiliated SUTNA announced on 9 May that 980 members at Firestone received a profit share bonus of 4,000 Argentine pesos (686 euros). It is the fourth time workers have received this kind of bonus since 2001. 
 
SUTNA General Secretary Pedro Wasiejko is now pushing for similar profit sharing to be extended to all workers in Argentina and enshrined in the country’s labour law. The agreement was reached between workers and management during a difficult economic period for the tyre and automobile sectors in Argentina. Workers then agreed to take a reduction in wages in line with the downturn in company profits, to ensure the company would recover. Now the tyre and auto sectors are performing well, workers are rewarded with the substantial bonus. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/0811PedroWasiejkoArgenSutna.jpg" width="149" height="164"/>
Pedro Wasiejko
According to the agreement, workers receive the bonus payment when annual profits reach more than 6%. Workers receive one third of the amount above the 6% mark, whatever that figure is equal to. 
 
See the video of the <a href="http://ejes.com/enc23mc6a2">press conference</a> where the announcement was made here.  
 
Wasiejko, also General Secretary of Industrial Workers’ Federation FETIA, and Hugo Yasky, General Secretary of the CTA national centre, argue that the Bill currently passing through the consultation phase within Congress ought to formalise the profit sharing bonus, and for those payments not to be taxed. This would encourage investment on the local level, and also from multinationals.

Argentinean Rubber Workers Receive Profit Share Bonus

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100" height="39"/>
A study entitled “Oil and Casualisation of Labor in the Niger Delta” was released recently by the US Solidarity Center. It vividly depicts the social erosion occurring to the livelihoods of Nigerian oil workers due to casualisation, or contract or outsourced work. 
 
The <a href="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1105.pubs_nigeria_degradationofwork.pdf " type="internal">study</a> can be found here. 
It states that casualisation in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector is facilitated by the widespread poverty, joblessness, and plundering of natural resources along the Niger Delta. “As a result, Nigerian oil workers are vulnerable to a new kind of attack – quiet but more potent – an industry-wide shift away from regular, full-time work toward forms of cheaper temporary labour and short-term contracting,” reads a part of the executive summary of the study. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/0805BayoOlowPenGS.jpg" width="120" height="180"/>
Bayo Olowoshile
The 36-page study says that under one-half of the country’s oil and gas workers are unionised, down from 60% in 2003. The rate of women in the union ranks is even less, 20%. It attributes the decline and low level of women in unions to increased use of casual workers in “an attempt to replace full-time unionised workers with lower-paid, less-protected workers and to relegate legal and managerial responsibilities to one or more third-party contractors. 
 
“The casualisation model enables employers to ignore workplace standards and workers’ social needs and to create a strong barrier against workplace organising.” 
 
Bayo Olowoshile, the General Secretary of ICEM salaried staff affiliate PENGASSAN, told the ICEM that major multinationals are to blame. “Companies have been allowed to adopt their human resource techniques and styles to deplete full-time staff and grant favour to dubious contractors.” He also blamed neo-liberal business models and government agencies willing to go along with those models for the anti-social trend. 
 
Olowoshile said it is a common problem with his union and the blue-collar ICEM affiliate NUPENG, but that the union representing junior staff have had more opportunities to organise casual workers. 
 
Olowoshile said the issue of casualisation will get more attention in the coming weeks in Nigeria with the release of a tri-partite position paper stemming from a PENGASSAN/NUPENG strike last August. That strike centered on infringement of workers’ rights for casuals. He said the unions and employers may not agree on all tenets contained in the paper, but that it must serve as a basis for dialogue to correct the economic and social imbalances inherent in the trend toward irregular employment.

Study: Stark Effects to Casualisation in Nigeria’s Oil Sector

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/IraqGFIW.png" width="320" height="38"/>
The ICEM today vehemently condemned the deepening trade union repression occurring in Iraq. In recent days, a youth leader of the Mechanics’ and Printers’ Union of the General Federation of Iraqi Workers (GFIW) and three others were rounded up and presumably jailed, and Jamal Abdul-Jabbar, President of the Oil and Gas Workers’ Union of the GFIW in Kirkuk was forcibly transferred from his job at Northern Oil Company to a remote location due to his union activities. 
 
On 27 May, plainclothes Iraqi security police in a civilian ambulance grabbed the four young activists as they were on their way to demonstrate in Tahrir Square, the central Baghdad flashpoint this year for protests. Taken away were Jihad Jalil, 27, a worker and Mechanics’ and Printers’ Union activist; Ahmed Alaa al Baghdaddi, 19; Moyaid Fasil al Taib, 29; and Ali Abdul-Khaliq, 24. 
 
They were on their way into Tahrir Square near the Green Zone to manifest for trade union rights, jobs, basic services, political reform, and an end to corruption when police apprehended them for merely attempting to express their internationally recognised human rights, as well as rights under the Iraqi constitution. 
 
In Iraq’s north, Jamal Abdul-Jabbar was forcibly transferred from his position at major Northern Oil installations in Kirkuk to a remote and isolated company site. He had led a walk-out in defence of contract workers at Kirkuk about a month ago. The transfer of elected union leaders away from any mass concentration of workers has been commonplace in Iraq over the past several years. 
 
“The ICEM is angry that the Al-Maliki government is escalating trade union repression,” ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda said in a letter to the government. “Rather than persecuting Iraqi citizens for engaging in their fundamental human rights, the government must institutionalise free and independent trade unions in a modern labour law for peace and prosperity of all Iraqis.” 
 
The ICEM expressed disheartenment that Iraq’s government is moving away from democratic reforms. It noted the implementation of Cabinet Decrees 95 and 96 in mid-April, which in part stripped away recognition of the GFIW and replaced it with a committee of non-elected and politically-biased officials from the Sadrist Party. The GFIW is affiliated to the ICEM. 
 
Eight years after the fall of Saddam Hussein, his regime’s prohibition against trade unions not officially connected to the Baathist regime continues, only with a different political covering. “By restricting trade unions and the right of workers to freely engage in democratic assemblies that will benefit their work lives, and Iraqi society as a whole, your government appears to be stepping back in time,” wrote the ICEM to Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki. 
 
The ICEM also notes that last week’s apprehension of a Mechanics’ and Printers’ Union leader is not something new. On 27 March 2007, the union’s leader, Najim Abd-Jasem, was abducted from his home and three days later his body was found with clear signs he had been tortured before his murder. 
 
For further information, contact ICEM Information Officer Dick Blin, <a href="mailto:dick.blin@icem.org">dick.blin@icem.org</a>, +41 22 304 1842.

ICEM Demands Release of Iraq Mechanics’ Union Leader

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/en-header.jpg" width="180" height="55"/>
The framework of a new industrial Global Union Federation (GUF) made a major step forward on 25 May in Geneva when a joint meeting of the IMF-ICEM-ITGLWF Executive Committees produced a clear mandate to forge ahead with integration of the three GUFs. 
The Executives met in joint session at the ILO and confirmed the commitment that global industrial workers in all sectors must integrate into a unified GUF for greater strength. Such a federation will number 55 million workers and it will unite textile workers with rubber, plastics, and autoworkers in the automotive sector; mineworkers’ with steel, smelting workers in basic metals; and chemical and electronic workers in high-tech and other industries. 
The commitment is to build a strong and responsive GUF that will unite and organise workers across entire supply chains. The new GUF will tackle tough social issues to reverse the global wealth imbalance including broader trade union rights in more countries, reducing the harmful trend in society of informal and precarious labour, and it will ensure there is just transition and decent work in green industries. 
It will also promote and build democratic and self-reliant trade unions across all industrial sectors. And through networks that communicate and respond, it will stand as protector of workers’ rights and social justice against errant multinationals throughout the world. 
The uniform consensus coming out of the 25 May meeting is paralleled by the work that IMF, ICEM, and ITGLWF already do jointly in Thailand, Turkey, Mexico, Canada, and several other countries. It is manifested in common policies put together inside forums between the three GUFs regarding climate change, economic disparity, and global finance flaws. 
The meeting of the joint Executives outlined new structures that will guide an integration process to a founding Congress. The secretariat will be headquartered in Geneva and the new GUF will have a President, three Vice Presidents, a General Secretary, and three Deputy General Secretaries. It will also have an Executive Committee with at least 30% women’s representation. 
It was recognised that the new organisation must be built on solid financial footing and a common set of affiliation fees will be established during the initial four-year Congress period. Regional structures will exist that both implement the global policies of the GUF, as well as discuss and act on matters specific to the region. There was agreement on continuing strong sector work and enhance supply-chain coordination among workers and their unions. 
A joint working group of the three GUFs will continue its work to finalise statutes. Another working group will be set up to develop an action plan for the new organisation. Final approval to the process is expected to come at ITGLWF’s Executive Committee in September, ICEM’s Congress in late November, and IMF’s Central Committee in early December. 
A contest for affiliates of the three GUFs to name the new organisation will be introduced in the coming weeks through a letter. Nordic trade unions offered to host dissolution Congresses and a founding Congress in Copenhagen. The proposed dates are 18-20 June 2012.

Creation of New Industrial GUF Takes Shape

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100" height="39"/>
from International Metalworkers’ Federation 
 
Some 10,000 workers and citizens from every part of Korea participated across the night of 9-10 July in the "Hope Bus" march to the Hanjin shipyards in Korea to protest against dismissals in breach of contract and precarious work, and to make a solidarity visit to hunger-striking protester Kim Jinsuk. After a culture festival at Busan, the participants started a candlelight march to the shipyards. One kilometre from the yard riot police blocked the road and opened fire on marchers with water cannons and liquid tear gas. 
 
Kim Jinsuk has been denied access to medical treatment since 5 July, when her doctor was physically prevented from seeing her. The company has also stopped her from getting necessities and a recharged mobile phone. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1107.korea.jpg" width="252" height="161"/>
Marchers attacked with tear gas
The president of a national trade union centre, the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), planned on taking part in the hunger strike on 13 July to call on the Hanjin Corporation to bargain in good faith. 
 
The Korean Metal Workers' Union (KMWU) will hold a press conference on 14 July to announce protest letters to the Korean president Lee Myung-bak to the press. 
 
The International Metalworkers’ Federation (IMF) sent a letter to the Korean president on 4 July, calling for the Korean government to stop all violence against the workers at Hanjin Heavy Industries shipyard and Yuseong Piston Ring factories, to push the companies to start collective bargaining and lift the lock-out, stop the persecution of union officials, members and sympathizers, and to respect the ILO Conventions on freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining. 
 
The IMF, KMWU and LabourStart have launched a campaign calling on the Korean government to end the violence immediately. Join the <a href="http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/solidarityforever/show_campaign.cgi?c=1046 ">LabourStart campaign</a> through this link.

Korean Metal Workers’ Continue Struggle at Hanjin Shipyards

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100" height="39"/>
Trade unionists are encouraged to apply for the Masters programme at Witwatersrand University, South Africa. The deadline for applications is 31 July. The course on Labour Globalisation is one of the specialised Masters programmes offered by the Global Labour University (GLU). 
 
Participants of GLU courses have the unique opportunity to engage in a diploma course that puts individuals on the front lines of current labour policies in the rapid globalisation of trade and commerce. 
 
The two 14-week semesters of the course compliment an internship placement for participants at trade unions and labour research institutions, offering the chance to engage in the labour movements in different countries and at the international level. 
 
For details, including application and scholarship availability, visit the <a href="http://www.global-labour-university.org">site</a> here. <a href="http://www.global-labour-university.org/54.html">Application forms</a> can be downloaded here. Applications should be sent to <a href="mailto:engage@uni-kassel.de">engage@uni-kassel.de</a>. 
 
The GLU, part of the ILO, has trained trade unionists in economics and in social sciences from 49 countries in its short existence, giving national and local trade union staff the opportunity to pick up specific curriculums tailored to improve their skills at home. 
 
The GLU awards a limited number of scholarships for participants from developing and transition countries. Applicants need to have the endorsement of a trade union to apply for a scholarship.

Global Labour University Masters Application Deadline 31 July

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBriefAlert.jpg" width="120" height="59"/>
The 55-week lockout by US manufacturing and technology company Honeywell Inc. on 228 unionised workers appears to be over. United Steelworkers (USW) Local 7-669 in Metropolis, Illinois, and the US company came to tentative terms for a new three-year contract on 20 July, which likely sets in motion a return to work for USW members beginning on 15 August if union members ratify the tentative accord next week. 
 
The workers convert yellow-cake uranium into uranium hexafluoride (UF6), which is used in nuclear fuel enrichment. USW Local 7-669 members have been locked off their jobs since 28 June 2010 and in the weeks following, Honeywell inexplicably re-started operations at a worksite utilising dangerous chemicals with inexperienced replacement workers. 
 
Local 7-669 President Darrell Lillie said the union is currently in the process of sorting out job re-classifications; Honeywell has created 21 new jobs and with the union retaining its seniority provisions in the tentative new agreement, job scheduling and job bidding must take place for returning workers.
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Darrel Lillie - Honeywell USW.jpg" width="154" height="169"/>
USW Local 7-669 President Darrell Lillie  

Lillie said that should be complete today and the union will conduct an explanation meeting of the new contract early next week, with voting on the tentative agreement expected to occur by mid-week. 
 
“Overall, we’re not entirely happy with the proposed contract but we are glad that several of the key issues that the company was trying to take from us will remain in place,” said Lillie. “We preserved most provisions that are at the heart of what trade unionists value.” 
 
Those provisions include the seniority provisions, which allow senior-most workers to accept more favourable jobs when they become open; retention of a defined benefit pension plan for existing workers; retiree medical care under that same pension scheme; and retention of overtime pay for time work after eight and 12 hours per day. Honeywell workers in Metropolis work both eight- and 12-hour work shifts. 
 
Another important provision kept by workers was time-and-a-half pay on the sixth consecutive day in a week worked, and double-time for the seventh. (See <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4538-Honeywell-Threatens-Safety-by-Extending-Lockout-of-USW-Members-" type="internal">ICEM news piece</a> from earlier this month.) 
 
Regarding wages, the proposal contains no increase for the first year of the contract, 1% effective 15 August 2012, and 2% due on 15 August 2013. It should be noted that at the outset of the lockout, Local 7-669 proposed a freeze on wages and continuation of all terms and conditions from a previous three-year contract, but the company was set on gutting many benefits and union-protection provisions. 
 
In the proposed agreement, new hires will fall into an equity fund scheme rather than the defined-benefit AlliedSignal Pension Benefit Thrift Fund, and workers on leave under the US Family and Medical Leave Act must take vacation time concurrently. A handful of janitorial and laundry jobs will be contracted out, and more worrisome in such a dangerous worksite, a single safety operator job will be outsourced. That position is responsible for maintaining all safety equipment throughout the plant, such as fire extinguishers, emergency breathing devices and other safety equipment. 
 
Lillie said 150 workers will return to training and re-orientation as mandated by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission on 15 August, 40 workers two weeks later, and the remainder two weeks after that. The unionised workforce will number about 220 workers when the experienced and qualified USW members are fully back to work.  
 
“Local 7-669 is highly appreciative of the tremendous support we have received from trade unions, those in the community and others throughout this long lockout,” said Lillie. “The donations, the international support, and the recognition by many here and abroad on what we were up against will never be forgotten.”

USW Union at Honeywell Reaches Tentative Labour Agreement

Archive