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Press

Brussels, 7 March 2008 
 
Dear Colleagues, 
 
Following a decision taken by our Congress, last November 2007, the ICEM will move its headquarters to Geneva, Switzerland. 
 
As from 1st April the new address for ICEM will be: 
54bis route des Acacias 
1227 Geneva, Switzerland 
<img height="43" alt="" src="/wp-content/uploads/articles/icem-logo50.jpg" width="50" />
The transfer of the headquarters will implement some technical issues with the transfer of the IT server to Geneva. Indeed ICEM will be &lsquo;cut&rsquo; from any internet, e-mail or network communication from 21 March 2008 until most probably 6 April 2008 included. 
 
We apologies for the inconvenience the situation could cause you and we thank you very much in advance for your understanding. 
In case of emergency situation or issues, you can contact us by fax on +32-2/648-43-16 and we will do our best to help you. 
 
Looking forward to welcoming you in Geneva. 
 
In solidarity, 
 
Manfred Warda 
General Secretary

ICEM is moving to Geneva

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Mobil Oil Nigeria Plc. has become an anti-social force blocking workplace solutions to the downstream oil section of Nigeria. And the company&rsquo;s actions last week leave no doubt as to its intentions &ndash; it seeks to operate its technical and white-collar work units in downstream production with non-union staff. 
 
The company, 100% owned by US-based ExxonMobil, refused to attend a mandated mediation meeting called by the Nigerian Labour Ministry, on 3 March 2008, to resolve differences on work practices and severance procedures with white-collar oil workers&rsquo; trade union, PENGASSAN.
<img height="50" alt="" src="/wp-content/uploads/articles/NigeriaFlag.gif" width="100" />
Through much of 2007 and into 2008, ICEM-affiliated PENGASSAN and Mobil Oil &ndash; as they did similarly with other oil refiners &ndash; engaged in negotiations over severance packages. Some intermediate agreements had occurred, but implementing practical application of job separation was elusive. 
 
That process spilled into the Labour Ministry. Senior Nigerian managers of three downstream firms operating in Nigeria did attend the meeting with Nigeria&rsquo;s Labour and Industrial Relations Director a week ago. But Mobil Oil Nigeria failed to show up. 
 
In the days following that 3 March meeting, the American company displayed its prejudice: it unilaterally sacked PENGASSAN branch leaders, including the zonal Financial Secretary and the union&rsquo;s National Treasurer. It now has severed from employment all PENGASSAN bargaining committee members who represent workers in collective negotiations. 
 
It also has fired shop stewards and others identified with the union, rising to over 100 the number of full-time workers sacked. In last year&rsquo;s talks, PENGASSAN and Mobil Oil Nigeria had agreed to staff cuts of just over 40, mostly to accommodate a new data processing system. The company did employ about 400 white-collar staff permanently, but that number has now decreased, with contract and agency workers now taking many of those jobs.
<img height="92" alt="" src="/wp-content/uploads/articles/0803NigeriaBayoOlowoshile.jpg" width="100" />
&nbsp;PENGASSAN Gen. Sec. Bayo Olowoshile 

&ldquo;Mobil Oil Nigeria has betrayed our trust,&rdquo; stated PENGASSAN General Secretary Bayo Olowoshile. &ldquo;These recent actions are pre-meditated attempts to victimise and harass union officers, frustrate legal justice, and they amount to a serious breach of our existing labour agreement, national industrial law, and global labour standards.&rdquo; 
 
Olowoshile said Mobil has violated terms of the 2007-2008 labour agreement; breached Section 40 of the Nigerian Constitution, which grants rights to membership in trade unions; ignored Section 9 of the Nigerian Labour Code; and disregarded ILO Convention 135, the Worker&rsquo;s Representatives Convention. 
 
With the company failing to turn up for 3 March mediation session, the Labour Ministry is now expected to side with PENGASSAN in a National Industrial Court matter over the company&rsquo;s unilateral actions. The three downstream companies that did engage in last week&rsquo;s mediation session included Chevron, African Petroleum Plc., and Oando Plc. The labour relations of Shell Nigeria&rsquo;s downstream operations are not affected in these talks. 
 
The ICEM steadfastly stands behind PENGASSAN and its illegally sacked leaders at Mobil Oil Nigeria, and will work toward reinstatement. The Global Union Federation notes that the company, in 2004, replaced all its permanent blue-collar workers in the downstream sector with agency workers. Those full-time staff had been represented by ICEM affiliate NUPENG.

ExxonMobil Viciously Victimises Union Staff at Nigerian Downstream Operations

WOMEN’S BULLETIN NO. 27

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ICEM Planning sub-regional Workshops and Assessment Missions 
More than three years into the HIV/AIDS project, the ICEM will conduct sub-regional workshops and assessment missions in three African sub-regions: English-speaking West Africa (Ghana, Nigeria and Sierra Leone), French-speaking West Africa (C&ocirc;te d&rsquo;Ivoire, DR Congo and Mali) and southern Africa (Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia). 
 
After five regional training courses for national coordinators the impact of their work at national level has to be assessed. Sub-regional workshops will include union leadership to renew their commitment in the fight against the pandemic. 
 
The HIV/AIDS resolution of the 4th World Congress called on the ICEM to continue to treat HIV/AIDS as a priority. Assessment of the current project will also identify national priorities and objectives for an extension of the present project. 
&nbsp;<img height="35" alt="" src="/wp-content/uploads/articles/Aids20ribbon.jpg" width="25" />
Mauritius: ICEM Affiliate Raises Issue of Migrant Workers 
The Chemical, Manufacturing and Connected Trades Employees&rsquo; Union (CMCTEU) has approached the ICEM for cooperation in dealing with the issue of migrant workers. 
 
In a total workforce of 550,000 there are around 30,000 migrant workers mainly from the Indian sub-continent, China and Madagascar. Some of those workers become commercial sex workers during their free time to supplement their meagre salary. 
 
According to UNAIDS, the prevalence rate in Mauritius is a low 0.6% but it is much higher among injecting drug users and sex workers. In 2004, when tested for HIV, 13% of surveyed sex workers were found to be HIV-positive (only 32% stated that they had consistently used condoms). 
 
CMCTEU also reported on their successful activity on World AIDS Day in which they used ICEM, ILOAIDS and UNAIDS/WAC material made available at the ICEM World Congress. 
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Chevron Commits USD 30 million to the Global Fund 
Chevron Corporation, one of the world&rsquo;s leading integrated energy companies, has become the Global Fund&rsquo;s first &ldquo;Corporate Champion,&rdquo; donating US$30 million over three years to support programmes financed by the Fund in parts of Asia and Africa. 
 
With the announcement of this donation on 21 January 2008, the Global Fund officially launched its Corporate Champions Program, which the Fund describes as &ldquo;an innovative way for multinational corporations to significantly invest in the fight against the three diseases.&rdquo; The plan is that each Corporate Champion will contribute to Global Fund-supported programs in the countries where the company operates. 
 
The launch of the Corporate Champions program and the announcement of the Chevron donation are important developments for the Global Fund, which has had a long-standing goal of increasing investments from the private sector. 
 
A copy of the press release announcing these developments can be downloaded from the Global Fund&rsquo;s home page at <a href="http://www.theglobalfund.org">www.theglobalfund.org</a>. 
 
(Source: Global Fund Observer Issue 84, 29 January 2008. GFO is a free service of Aidspan <a href="http://www.aidspan.org">www.aidspan.org</a>.&nbsp;To receive GFO, send an email to <a href="mailto:receive-gfo-newsletter@aidspan.org">receive-gfo-newsletter@aidspan.org</a>) 
&nbsp;<img height="35" alt="" src="/wp-content/uploads/articles/Aids20ribbon.jpg" width="25" />
PEPFAR Renewal 
The US President&rsquo;s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, expires this year. The five-year, USD 15 billion effort to combat AIDS in 15 mostly sub-Saharan African countries is arguably the most important and popular international programme of the Bush Presidency. 
 
The President wants to double global AIDS money to USD 30 billion over the next five years; Congress wants to increase it to USD 50 billion. Yet its renewal has gotten hung up over ideology and political debate about disease prevention. 
 
Democrats want to remove a provision in the bill that requires one-third of all prevention spending go to abstinence programmes. Another controversial provision forbids grants to groups that provide care to commercial sex workers. 
 
(Source: USA Today, 18 February and AP, 2 February) 
&nbsp;<img height="35" alt="" src="/wp-content/uploads/articles/Aids20ribbon.jpg" width="25" />
Global Fund Guidelines on Representation on CCMs 
The revised Global Fund Guidelines for the Country Coordinating Mechanisms (CCMs) contain an annex entitled &quot;Guidelines on Types of Civil Society and Private Sector Representation Most Relevant to the Work of CCMs&rdquo;. The Global Fund says that the Representation Guidelines &quot;are intended to provide guidance for CCMs wishing to strengthen and/or improve&quot; representation from these sectors, particularly in light of the CCMs' roles in proposal development and grant oversight. 
 
The Representation Guidelines contain lists of the types of representation from civil society and the private sector that the Global Fund suggests to be included on CCMs. 
 
The list for civil society representatives includes, among others, vulnerable groups/key populations, women's organisations and religious and faith-based groups. Under private sector representatives large for-profit companies, business associations to fight HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria representatives from exposed industries and charitable foundations established by corporations are mentioned. 
 
(Source: Global Fund Observer Issue 85, 25 February 2008. GFO is a free service of Aidspan <a href="http://www.aidspan.org">www.aidspan.org</a>.&nbsp;To receive GFO, send an email to <a href="mailto:receive-gfo-newsletter@aidspan.org">receive-gfo-newsletter@aidspan.org</a>. 
 
Comment by the Editor of the ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin: 
The Global Fund has again failed to recognize the role of organized labour. Nowhere in the detailed annex to the Guidelines are trade unions or workers&rsquo; organizations mentioned; neither under civil society nor under the private sector. 
 
Large for-profit companies are credited for having pioneered responses to fight HIV/AIDS totally ignoring the contribution of organised labour. One can only wonder what the South African National Union of Mineworkers would say to a statement that large mining houses in South Africa have &ldquo;pioneered&rdquo; the response to HIV/AIDS when they have often only reacted to union pressure. 
 
Out of four sectors specifically mentioned, two &ndash; oil/gas and mining &ndash; are represented by the ICEM and its affiliates. Again, all that the Global Fund can say about it is that &ldquo;for-profit companies, business coalitions and/or employers&rsquo; associations who represent the exposed industries can offer insight and support&hellip;.&rdquo; Not one word about workers&rsquo; organisations. 
 
It is time that the Global Fund changes its ways. Global Unions and their national affiliates should pull their weight to question procedures and operations of the Global Fund. It cannot be that business and companies get such exclusive recognition and that workers&rsquo; organizations are completely ignored. Global Unions and national trade union centres have lobbied hard that donor countries increase their contribution and make long-term financial commitments to the Global Fund. 
 
(For the full text of the Guidelines go to the website of the Global Fund <a href="http://www.theglobalfund.org">www.theglobalfund.org</a>) 
&nbsp;<img height="35" alt="" src="/wp-content/uploads/articles/Aids20ribbon.jpg" width="25" />
News from the ILO 
To expand and strengthen AIDS responses in the world of work, the ILO Governing Body decided in March 2007 to develop a new labour standard on HIV/AIDS. In preparation, the Office assembled information for an overview 'law and practice' report, including the most comprehensive compilation to date of national laws and policies on HIV/AIDS, covering 170 countries. 
 
The report and its accompanying questionnaire have been sent to the ILO's member states for consultation with its constituents on the form and content of the proposed standard. Governments are to reply to the questionnaire in consultation with employers and workers. The draft standard - an &quot;autonomous Recommendation&quot; - will be discussed at the International Labour Conference in June 2009. 
 
The report is available on the website of ILOAIDS &ndash; <a href="http://www.ilo.org/aids">www.ilo.org/aids</a>. 
HIV/AIDS guidelines for the construction sector were published recently. They are also available on the ILOAIDS website. 
 
On 29 January 2008, trade union representatives in Sri Lanka signed the Trade Union Joint Policy on HIV/AIDS. This policy aims to strengthen trade union interventions in HIV prevention and impact management. It was developed in the framework of the draft National Policy on HIV/AIDS and is based on he ILO Code of Practice on HIV/AIDS and the world of work. 
&nbsp;<img height="35" alt="" src="/wp-content/uploads/articles/Aids20ribbon.jpg" width="25" />
News from the Global Union Programme and Global Unions 
In its most recent HIV/AIDS updates (nos. 36 and 37 of 1 and 15 February) the International Transport Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITF) <a href="http://www.itfglobal.org">www.itfglobal.org</a> reports, among others, on awareness programmes and care work of its affiliates in Thailand where an explosion of the infection rate among injecting drug users and commercial sex workers was successfully contained. 
The nautical school in Argentina will include HIV/AIDS in its curriculum to ensure that seafarers have an understanding of HIV/AIDS and will be able to provide education to their peers on ships. It also informs about the alarming situation in Papua New Guinea which by UNAIDS is described as the new frontline of the epidemic in the Asia-Pacific region. 
 
Public-sector union UNISON of Great Britain is expanding its work in southern Africa with a massive new programme covering unions in teaching, nursing and local government.

ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin

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Among the scores of new affiliates to join the ICEM at the turn of the year, one from Cyprus is particularly grateful due to the fact that the ICEM website now includes Turkish-language features. It is the Union of Turkish Electricity Institution Employees (EL-SEN).
The union, founded in 1957, represents workers of the Turkish Electricity Institution, and it is headed by President Caglayan Cesurer and General Secretary Ercan K&ouml;seoglu. It has several hundred members and it also affiliated to the Cypress-Turkish Trade Union Federation (T&Uuml;RK-SEN). 
<img height="92" alt="" src="/wp-content/uploads/articles/Cyprus.png" width="200" />
The ICEM welcomes EL-SEN to its family of affiliates, and wishes the union and its members many years of Turkish-language reading, courtesy of the ICEM website.

Cypriot Electrical Union Takes to Turkish-language ICEM Website

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Civil unrest has gripped Panama now for two weeks, following the cold-blooded murder on 12 February of a leader of a construction workers&rsquo; union. Members of the National Union of Workers in the Construction and Similar Industries (SUNTRACS) were protesting in the Caribbean port city of Col&oacute;n over inadequate health, safety, and hygiene on the job, when student-leader Al Iromi Smith was shot in the back by a police officer. 
 
The killing, the third by police or agents of a yellow construction union of SUNTRACS members since last August, brought tens of thousands of protesters to the streets in several Panamanian cities between 13-16 February. Those protests continued last week, as SUNTRACS members and their allies passed circulars, with their demands printed, on major avenues in Panama City, Col&oacute;n, and other cities.
<img height="75" src="/wp-content/uploads/articles/PanamaSurtracs.jpg" width="242" alt="" />
On 16 February, Panama&rsquo;s President, Mart&iacute;n Torrijos, issued a decree calling for more enforcement and safeguards inside the country&rsquo;s booming construction market. But that decree did not go far enough in meeting building workers&rsquo; demands. In a one-year period to January 2008, 29 construction workers have died on the job, mostly from falls off high-rise buildings that are under construction. 
 
The Global Union Federation, Building and Wood Workers&rsquo; International (BWI), immediately lodged a stern protest over the assassination of Smith, which reportedly occurred as he was entering a medical centre for treatment following street clashes with police. BWI also launched a letter-writing drive to Torrijos and National Police Commander, Rolando Mirones. 
 
Some 30 or more protesters were severely injured in the clashes, with reports of 700 construction workers being detained. SUNTRACS said national police raided construction sites in the days following the 12 February death of Smith, arresting building worker activists and holding them in isolation. The government did arrest the police officer charged in the shooting, as well as another officer who witnessed the killing. 
 
At Smith&rsquo;s funeral, on 19 February, SUNTRACS leaders said the government and employers&rsquo; association still must meet wage demands and impose price freezes on living essentials, such as food, fuel, and housing. A Panamanian growth rate surpassing 10% has caused a 2007 inflation rate of 6.4%, with wages left far behind. 
 

<img height="92" alt="" src="/wp-content/uploads/articles/Panama.png" width="200" />
The union is also demanding the dismissal of Interior Minister Daniel Delgado Diamante, a former Noriega aide who is accused of suppressing protests, using strong-armed tactics, means since his appointment last year. They also seek the removal of Police Commander Mirones. SUNTRACS will meet again tomorrow, 26 February, with government leaders and the building employers&rsquo; association in attempts to resolve differences. 
 
Meanwhile, following a mass meeting of SUNTRACS members on 23 February in Panama City, the union will partner with a coalition grouping, the National Front for the Defence of Economic and Social Rights (FRENADESO), in calling two warning marches &ndash; Thursday, 28 February, and again on 13 March &ndash; which would serve as a precursor for a national strike if workers&rsquo; demands are not met by the government and employers.

Strife, Trade Union Deaths Caused by Unsafe Work Conditions in Panama

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Earlier in February, workplace sit-ins by the Federation of Workers&rsquo; Councils and Union in Iraq (FWCUI) occurred in Basra, Hilla, Musayab, and Kut, following the failure of the Electricity Minister to accede to demands by workers. 
 
After a few hours of sit-ins by thousands of workers on 4 February, Minister Karim Wahid Hasan called FWCUI leaders with a readiness to hear those demands. FWCUI called the sit-ins successful for that result, saying in a statement that it was &ldquo;a courageous step for all workers of Iraq.&rdquo;
<img height="165" alt="" src="/wp-content/uploads/articles/0802Iraq2.jpg" width="220" />
The sit-ins had been called by the Union of Engineering Technicians of FWCUI, as well as other workers&rsquo; groups. 
 
Workers&rsquo; demands include a halt to the corruption inside the Ministry of Electricity, creation of new electric stations to serve Iraqi provinces, housing for workers in the sector, repayment of danger entitlements to workers, giving day labourers work contracts, and lifting the status of temporary workers to permanent staff. 
 
At a news conference last week, Electricity Minister Wahid called on the government to increase the ministry&rsquo;s 2008 budget nearly three-fold to US$4 billion in order to re-build the occupied country&rsquo;s power network. Current electric generation is less than half the 9,500 megawatts needed in Iraq, with power outages resulting mainly from sabotage, according to the UN&rsquo;s Humanitarian Office.
<img height="180" alt="" src="/wp-content/uploads/articles/0802Iraq1.jpg" width="240" />
United Press International reports that in a period from March to November 2007, 1,211 workers in the electric sector had been targeted for attacks. A study done for the news agency found that the sector in that period had undergone 651 attacks on distribution and transmission lines, 66 attacks on thermal power stations, and 18 attacks on other power operations. 
 
The ICEM supports FWCUI in their efforts to achieve security and just economic entitlements for workers in Iraq.

Iraqi Union Federation, FWCUI, Stages Electrical Sector Sit-In

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With majority support, Eastern Canadian pulp and paper union officers voted to enter talks a full year early in efforts to preserve job security and find solutions to the forestry crisis in Canada. Meeting in Montr&eacute;al, Quebec, last week, 250 local union leaders of ICEM affiliate Communications, Energy, and Paperworkers (CEP) Union, from both the East and the West of Canada, drew up common strategies on bargaining agendas. 
 
CEP and the lead company chosen in the East, Canadian-based AbitibiBowater, will begin talks on 2 March, 13 months before the expiry of labour agreements in the East. CEP will be seeking a contract extension in these talks.
<img height="102" src="/wp-content/uploads/articles/ICEMpaper2.jpg" width="100" alt="" />
CEP represents 5,500 AbitibiBowater workers in about 15 eastern Canadian pulp and paper mills. The bargaining pattern set there will then be used for contract extensions at other pulp and paper companies in the East, which employ another 20,000 paperworkers. 
 
In the West, contracts at CEP-represented mills expire on 1 April 2008. CEP President Dave Coles said key issues in both East and West negotiations will be job security, probing operational processes in order to achieve productivity gains, and contract term lengths.
<img height="100" alt="" src="/wp-content/uploads/articles/canadacep.gif" width="120" />
Coles said the challenges in these talks will be to find modern ways to enhance productivity, without wage and benefit cuts. &ldquo;This will not be done by making economic cuts in our collective agreements,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We think it is better to optimize productivity than to cut wages.&rdquo; 
 
Pulp and paper local unions in both parts of Canada are currently under five-year labour accords, with the ones in the East due to expire on 1 April 2009.

Canadian Paperworkers Vote to Enter Eastern Talks Early

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American trade union leaders have vowed to continue blocking the US-Colombia Free Trade Agreement in the US Congress, following a two-hour meeting on 13 February in Bogot&aacute; with President &Aacute;lvaro Uribe and Attorney General Mario Iguar&aacute;n Arana. That is because the Colombian government gave them no guarantee that justice would be served over trade union murders and human rights abuses. 
 
The US union leaders, representing national labour centre AFL-CIO, United Steelworkers (USW), and Communications Workers&rsquo; of America (CWA), met on 12 February with a panel from Colombian national centres CUT, CTC, and CGT. The Colombian unionists urged the American labour leaders to oppose the free-trade agreement until Colombia takes uncompromising action to halt trade union violence, and bring those responsible to justice. 
<img height="115" alt="" src="/wp-content/uploads/articles/Colombia.png" width="250" />
The American delegation was composed of AFL-CIO Vice President Emerita Linda Chavez-Thompson, CWA President Larry Cohen, and USW Legal Counsel Dan Kovalik. The trade unionists told Uribe that his 2005 reconciliation act, the Justice and Peace Law, has failed. They urged him to take sharper measures to halt the judicial impunity that Colombia is granting the murderers of trade unionists.
The USW said 443 trade unionists have been assassinated since Uribe took office in 2002. Although the number of killings in 2007 was down to 38, five murders have already occurred in 2008. The USW&rsquo;s Kovalik said only 3% of these murders have been successfully prosecuted to conviction. 
 
Over a 21-period in the South American country, from 1986 to the close of 2007, 2,557 trade unionists have been assassinated. Representatives from the union Unite in the UK also participated in the Colombia trip earlier this month.

Unions Will Continue to Block US-Colombia Trade Pact Due to Trade Union Murders, Impunity

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This Friday, 29 February, is a Day of Action for ICEM North American affiliate Communications, Energy, Paperworkers (CEP) against Petro-Canada. CEP members will protest and handbill at many of the company&rsquo;s petrol stations country-wide to draw attention to an unfair, 15-week lockout imposed by Petro-Canada on 267 workers at an oil refinery in Montreal, Quebec. 
 
Teams of locked-out workers are also travelling Canada, speaking at union meetings and other forums. They are also warning the public at home, in Montr&eacute;al, of the safety risks that the Calgary, Alberta-based company is taking by operating the refinery with managers and scabs. The union has called on Quebec&rsquo;s Environmental Office, as well as on city of Montr&eacute;al regulators, to inspect reports of leaks and malfunctions.
<img height="266" alt="" src="/wp-content/uploads/articles/0801Canada2.jpg" width="200" />
&nbsp;CEP Local 175 members at a January rally
A provincial Ministry of Labour team, which visited the refinery late in January, found that at least 26 replacement workers are grouped with bosses in working long hours to maintain throughput. Employing replacements during a labour dispute in Quebec is a labour law violation. But worse, the company is jeopardizing the safety and welfare of the community, since bosses and scabs &ndash; some 120 in total, compared to 267 skilled and trained CEP members &ndash; have each been working in excess of 70 hours per week. 
 
The refinery, which saw a production increase from 105,000 barrels-per-day to 130,000 in 2006, is located in a residential area called Point-aux-Trembles, in the east end of Montreal. 
 
Among the contract concessions the company is seeking from CEP Local 175 is elimination of a health and safety prevention officer. Petro-Canada is seeking to break the CEP&rsquo;s National Energy and Chemical Bargaining Programme for 2007-2008, a pattern that was set in May 2007 in a three-year agreement between the CEP and Petro-Canada at a refinery in Edmonton, Alberta. 
 
Management in Montr&eacute;al is seeking a six-year term, and also is demanding unwanted changes to scheduling, job assignments, and an accelerated training programme that will further jeopardize health and safety. 
 
Petro-Canada bought the refinery from Fina in 1981. The lockout began on 17 November 2007. 

Petro-Canada is seeking to break the CEP&rsquo;s National Energy and Chemical Bargaining Programme for 2007-2008, a pattern that was set in May 2007 in a three-year agreement between the CEP and Petro-Canada at a refinery in Edmonton, Alberta. Management in Montr&eacute;al is seeking a six-year term, and also is demanding unwanted changes to scheduling, job assignments, and an accelerated training programme that will further jeopardize health and safety.

CEP Brings Ills of Petro-Canada’s Montréal Lockout Across the Country

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