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Social partners in Slovenia averted a series of strikes scheduled for this week and next week by reaching agreement on a private-sector wage increase in Ljubljana. The accord was reached on Friday, 25 January. 
 
Pushed by a centre-right government headed by Prime Minister Janez Jansa, trade union federations and business groups agreed on a February pay increase of 5.6%. That offsets current inflation, as well as sparing Slovenia vast production losses at the exact time it presides over the EU. 
 
Slovenia&rsquo;s December consumer price index was 5.7% higher than in December 2006. Last Friday&rsquo;s negotiated increase came two months after a manifestation by 70,000 Slovenian workers. One of their demands was to move a traditional August pay raise to February in order to offset climbing inflation. 
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On 11 January, the country&rsquo;s largest labour federation, 300,000-member Zveza Svoodnih Sindikatov Slovenije (ZSSS), announced a general strike for 6 February. Several other labour federations were expected to follow. Other Slovenia workers, including civil servants, also announced intent to strike plans in the days leading up to 6 February. 
 
The government headed off the public sector strike by granting wage increases to civil servants. That brought forth the private sector settlement. 
 
On 17 November 2007, union members and civil society marched 70,000-strong in the largest manifestation in Slovenia&rsquo;s 16-year history. They demanded that salaries keep pace with spiraling inflation. The manifestation also marked the historical unification of Slovenia&rsquo;s six trade union centres coming behind a joint initiative. 
 
Slovenia, which became a member of the EU in 2005 and adopted the Euro as currency in January 2007, has been beset by rising commodity prices.

Private-Sector Wage Increases Halt General Strikes Set for Slovenia

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On 15-16 January, some 40 global trade union leaders met in Brussels for the 2nd meeting of the Council of Global Unions (CGU), the structure established last year by the Global Unions Federations (GUFs), the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), and the Trade Union Advisory Committee (TUAC) to the OECD. 
On the agenda of the meeting, which was held at ICEM headquarters, was a series of wide-ranging national and international labour issues, ranging from the need to increase global support for organising and bargaining, scrutiny over non-transparent private and public investment funds, and attention to precarious employment practices. 
 
Focal points at the start were the lessons from the creative and successful &ldquo;Organising and Recognition Conference,&rdquo; organised by the CGU in Washington, D.C., in December 2007, and how to continue that work. 
The Washington Conference, which primarily dealt with how international work can assist national unions in their union organising efforts, generated a fair amount of enthusiasm and optimism. At the same time, however, it also highlighted a number of difficulties or barriers. The example of Australia, where a massive trade union campaign lead to a change in government, was particularly inspiring for many.
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ICEM President Senzeni Zokwana and 
ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda signing the CGU's founding document last year
One obvious conclusion from this earlier Conference is the strong link between collective bargaining coverage, on the one hand, and the fairness of income distribution, on the other. The situation in the U.S. is a clear &ndash; and negative &ndash; example of this. 
 
Building on the work done in Washington, the Brussels meeting looked for a number of concrete items that the international union movement could work on jointly. One such priority is the need to take action at the international level to support workers and their unions in the U.S., and to improve the U.S. labour situation in general. 
ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda explicitly supported this notion. He said that &ldquo;in countries such as China, the U.S. labour model is the one that is being looked at for copying.&rdquo; It was agreed that discussions would take place with U.S. unions in order to examine how the global trade union movement can be most helpful in supporting their efforts to change U.S. labour law so that freedom of association is respected. 
 
Other priorities taken under consideration include an international strategy to support unions in selected countries, in which international union pressure might improve the national labour situation; the continued sharing of much needed global economic data that support trade union claims; to undertake action on the 60th anniversary of ILO Conventions 87 and 98, on freedom of association and collective bargaining; and Global Unions&rsquo; work on Export Processing Zones.
Joint CGU action is also planned in the area of communication, where more - and possibly other and different - work needs to be done. This was also a conclusion from the Washington conference, citing the fact that the international union message is not always reaching workers at national level. 
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Different options were looked at to improve communications, including making increased use of IT tools. At the same time, it was acknowledged that this can only be helpful for certain parts of the world. In Africa, for example, emphasis needs to go to other means of communication, such as radio or mobile phones. Yet other methods are needed to reach out to, for instance, migrant communities. 
 
The international unions also decided to continue to expand their joint work on precarious work, which includes the ICEM priority of Contract and Agency Labour. ICEM will continue to take the lead on this, including through a multi-GUF working group on the subject. Temporary agencies, an area where UNI is already doing considerable work, might become a focus on work relationships, and may offer opportunities for productive co-operation among the GUFs. 
 
Equally highlighted at the 15-16 January meetings was the work &ndash; and successes &ndash; by several GUFs, the ITUC and TUAC, on private equity. Linked to that is the effort by the international union movement&rsquo;s Committee on Workers&rsquo; Capital, which works on such areas as pension trustee education, corporate and financial market governance, shareholder activism and economically targeted investments. 
 
Other items discussed in Brussels were the call for a strong public sector; the upcoming World Day of Action on Decent Work (7 October 2008); the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises; and ongoing action towards the World Bank and its private investment arm, the International Finance Corporation (IFC). Also discussed were labour-related issues inside a number of countries, such as Burma, Bangladesh, and the Philippines. Guy Ryder, ITUC General Secretary, reported on the organisation&rsquo;s intense debate on China at its last General Council meeting in December, also in Washington. 
 
The international trade union leaders decided to continue their strong support for a number of joint offices, including, for example, the highly acclaimed ITUC/Global Unions Washington office. They also agreed on a budget for the work of the CGU. Fred van Leeuwen, General Secretary of Education International (EI), remains the CGU&rsquo;s chair for another year. Anita Normark, General Secretary of the Building and Woodworkers International (BWI), continues as the Vice-Chair, and Guy Ryder as the CGU&rsquo;s Secretary. 
 
In addition to Manfred Warda, the ICEM was represented at the meeting by its President, Senzeni Zokwana, and by its Vice-President, Liv Undheim.

Council of Global Unions Meets at ICEM in Brussels

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The Ceylon Mercantile, Industrial, and General Workers&rsquo; Union (CMU) will commemorate its 60th year as a democratic mass organisation of workers on 1 February, 2008, a milestone deserving of recognition. 
 
The union has deep roots that go back even 20 years earlier in then, British-occupied Ceylon. A union of clerical workers organised others employed in mercantile houses that were mainly operated by British interests. 
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CMU General Secretary Bala Tampoe
The ICEM recognises CMU as a strong force in Sri Lankan civil society. CMU has been at the forefront in resisting efforts to weaken labour legislation. And CMU successfully resisted a police-enforced ban of 1 May as a public holiday in the 1990s, a feat deserving of acclaim. CMU also has proven to be a unifying force between public and private sector workers in Sri Lanka. 
 
CMU&rsquo;s Executive Committee will host a number of activities on 1 February, including a tribute to General Secretary Bala Tampoe, who has headed CMU throughout with great distinction. 
 
The ICEM congratulates CMU on this anniversary, a milestone for a trade union that brings cohesion and unity to the country&rsquo;s workers.

ICEM Sri Lankan Affiliate, CMU, Celebrates 60 Historic Years

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The ICEM was saddened to learn of the death on, 17 January 2008, in Japan, of Daisaku Kouchiyama, chairman of ICEM-JAF from 1992 until 2001. He was 68. 
 
&ldquo;Brother Kouchiyama was a driving force in establishing the present structure of the ICEM,&rdquo; stated General Secretary Manfred Warda. &ldquo;We have lost a brother and a leader whose name will be remembered in the context of the successes that, first, the ICEF achieved, and then the ICEM reached.&rdquo; 
 
Warda alerted many present and past leaders of the ICEF, MIF, and ICEM of his passing. That brought many written tributes and testaments that were forwarded to his family at his funeral on 20 January. Brother Kouchiyama was a leader in the reformation of the modern Japanese labour movement, as well as a champion of the rights of workers globally. 
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Daisaku Kouchiyama
He served as a Vice President and Chairman of the Asia-Pacific Region of the ICEF and ICEM until his retirement in 2001, and was one of the key negotiators in the merger between the ICEF and Mineworkers&rsquo; International Federation (MIF). In 1854, he started working at Takeda Pharmaceutical, and rose through the trade union ranks of Zenka Domei and later, UI Zensen labour federation. 
 
In Japan, he served on a number of important committees, including the Council on Statutory Social Insurance, the Council of Chemical Products, the Price Stabilization Committee, the Central Labour Relations Commission, and the Japanese National Commission for UNESCO. 
 
Brother Kouchiyama had been bed-ridden since mid-December 2007, suffering from the last stages of cancer. The ICEM extends its condolences to his family, and to the trade union movement in Japan over his passing.

ICEM Mourns Death of Daisaku Kouchiyama Japan

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Leaders of Japanese labour and business opened the first round of spring wage negotiations, called shunto, on 23 January at Keidanren Kaikan Hall in Otemachi, Tokyo. The talks, led by the Japanese Trade Union Confederation, Rengo, commence in the automotive and appliance industries, with other Japanese sectors scheduled to follow. Shunto talks usually run until the end of March. 
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Expectations are high, and for the first time in the recent past, unions in several industries have announced fixed wage goals for this year&rsquo;s talks. For example, the Japanese Automobile Workers&rsquo; Union is demanding at least &yen;1,000-a-month as a salary adjustment, while other unions are demanding even more.
This spring&rsquo;s wage offensive also includes achievable goals to raise salaries and levels of benefits for part-time and agency workers. Rengo is demanding that companies sign a minimum wage agreement for contract workers, ensuring them of a salary that is higher than the official minimum wage. It will also push for revision of Japan's Worker Dispatch Law. That proposed change will guarantee more rights for contract workers and temporary workers. 
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Both Japanese trade union confederations, Rengo and UI Zensen, are championing the cause of temporary and agency workers. Japanese unions made substantial gains last year in recruiting part-time and non-regular workers into the union ranks, judging by a 12% increase in 2007. Japanese unions have prioritised gains for part-time and non-regular workers, knowing how dangerous a wide wage disparity between full-time and part-time workers can be.

Japanese Wage Talks Start with Set Expectations, Gains for Non-regular Workers

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A French court on 22 January ruled that before an amended merger plan between Gaz de France and Suez can go to shareholders, trade unions and the Works Council must be given more information in order to shape their views on the merger. 
 
The decision by the Tribunal de Grande Instance in Paris comes in a case filed by Gaz de France in December on the Works Council for its inability to come to a definitive opinion, prior to Works Council members&rsquo; terms ending on 31 December. 
 
The company was seeking a court order mandating an opinion from the workers&rsquo; body, but what was delivered was another costly delay to an ill-advised merger. 
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Under French law, the Works Council had to submit a non-binding opinion on an amended merger plan that was submitted in September 2007. But workers&rsquo; representatives did not have needed information on a plan to spin-off the water and environmental businesses of Suez. 
 
The merger of the state-run French utility with Franco-Belgian Suez Group was initially proposed early in 2006. It has been held up in the courts at several points. 
 
French unions and workers&rsquo; representatives have resisted the merger because it essentially privatises Gaz de France. The company is 80% state held, and a merger would reduce France&rsquo;s stake in the combined company, to be called GDF Suez, to 35%. French trade unions CGT, CFDT, FO, CGF-CGC, and CFTC have united to resist further consolidation of Europe&rsquo;s energy markets. 
 
A new consultation committee of the Works Council is expected to be in place by mid-February to examine further information by the companies regarding the merger.

Unions Win French Ruling Citing More Information Needed on Gaz de France, Suez Merger

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The three-day Coal Conference for global trade unions, held in Calcutta, India, 14-16 December 2007, produced a report presenting an overview of the current, unprecedented growth rates in coal consumption and production, and how that relates to safety and health and trade unionism. That report can be found <a href="/index.php?id=5&amp;doc=2552&amp;la=EN">here</a>. 
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The ICEM is grateful to its affiliated trade union, the Indian National Mineworkers&rsquo; Federation (INMF), as well as to the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), for hosting the conference, and to the ILO for its generous support.

Report Available from December’s Coal Conference in India

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In a 3 January letter to the Minister of Labour and Social Affairs of Iraq, Hassan Juma&rsquo;a Awad al Assadi, leader of the Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions (IFOU), demanded enactment of a draft labour law upholding workers&rsquo; rights to join unions and bargain collectively. 
 
Iraq needs passage of the Labour and Social Security Law for stability, Hassan Juma&rsquo;a Awad said, and he also proposed that Iraq formalize a multiple trade union federation and union structure, based on professions and industries. That structure would be headed by a central council of labour federations &ldquo;to promote and advance the democratic work&rdquo; necessary to build trade unions that protect the best interests of the Iraqi workers, he wrote. 
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Hassan Juma&rsquo;a Awad, IFOU leader, speaking at the ICEM Congress in Bangkok
Hassan Juma&rsquo;a Awad and the IFOU call on the government to comply immediately with the part of the 2005 Constitution, which &ldquo;guarantees the right of forming and joining professional organisations and unions.&rdquo; The draft labour law, written in 2006, is now delayed up by Iraq&rsquo;s Council of Ministers, preventing it from reaching the Parliament. 
 
The Labour and Social Security Law, if passed, would guarantee trade union rights, for instance, to elect shop floor representatives. It would ensure full freedom of association, and it would grant protection from discriminatory actions, such as death or threat of death, due to trade union activity. 
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Hassan Juma&rsquo;a Awad&rsquo;s letter urged the Labour and Social Ministry to implement &ldquo;a pluralistic approach whereby sectoral federations and professional organisations are recognised in the union work.&rdquo; He also stressed that union participation must begin with trade union committees on shop floors in order &ldquo;to follow the bottom-top approach&rdquo; to building unions and trade union federations.
The ICEM insists that the Iraqi government act now to adopt this rights-bearing labour law. Reconciliation can really begin when living standards rise. The ICEM has condemned the union-crippling measures that were implemented by the occupying forces following the 2003 invasion, as well as renewal of those decrees by the Iraqi government since. 
 
The IFOU is a 30,000-member labour federation based in Basra that is the workers&rsquo; voice in some ten oil businesses connected with the Southern Oil Co.

Iraqi Labour Law Must Be Enacted Now, Says IFOU Leader

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Global intervention by the ICEM and German affiliate IGBCE resolved a restructuring dispute at Dystar Colours in Indonesia, a manufacturer of disperse dyes used in the textile industry. The dispute started in September 2007, when local managers of Dystar unilaterally implemented job losses on 91 workers out of 500 at the chemicals plant in Gabus, Banten Province. 
 
Worse, managers called a meeting of elected shop-floor leaders of ICEM affiliate FSP-KEP, the Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and Gas Workers&rsquo; Unions, on 11 September to inform them of the restructuring, but told them to be silent on the sackings. 
<img height="115" src="/wp-content/uploads/articles/Indonesia.png" width="250" alt="" />
The 91 job cuts were announced to affected workers on 13 September. 
 
FSP-KEP vehemently objected to the lack of consultation with the labour union over the restructuring, as mandated by Indonesian law. Management responded on 13 September by escorting the 91 sacked workers off company grounds on a bus operated by security guards armed electric stun guns and tear gas. Local police were on standby, as well. 
 
&ldquo;They were treating workers as enemies, or terrorists, rather than partners in production,&rdquo; stated FSP-KEP President Sjaiful Patombong, adding managers warned that no severance would be paid unless the union and affected workers adhered to the company&rsquo;s unilateral plan. 
 
Dystar Colours is German-based and had been 35% owned by Aventis, and 30% each by Bayer and BASF. In 2004, the big American private equity firm, Platinum Equity, purchased the company from the three partners.
<img height="83" src="/wp-content/uploads/articles/GermanyIGBCE.gif" width="66" alt="" />
FSP-KEP alerted the ICEM over the breach of Indonesian labour law, and the Global Union Federation, in turn, contacted IGBCE. In the meantime, Indonesia&rsquo;s Ministry of Manpower began conducting meetings between the parties, urging management to comply with the letter and to negotiate with the union. 
 
The result came in mid-January. Although the 91 workers remained off their jobs, they now will receive twice the allowable severance compensation as stipulated by law. They also will receive two times the rate of yearly compensation, an additional four months of pay, and a lump sum Indonesian Rupiah (IDR) totalling 5,000,000. 
 
Through the global intervention, Dystar also agreed to engage FSP-KEP six months in advance in the event of any further restructuring, and agreed to halt the unnecessary intimidation of workers and their union representatives.

Global Intervention Increases Severance Packages for 91 Dystar Colours Workers in Indonesia

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A five-day strike by 400 chemical workers, members of ICEM-affiliated Oilfields Workers&rsquo; Trade Union (OWTU) in Trinidad and Tobago, ended last week with workers gaining equal voice in managing their production bonuses.
The strike, which began on 18 January against Yara Trinidad Ltd., wholly-owned by Norway&rsquo;s Yara International, also achieved wage gains that workers had fought for during several months of futile bargaining. For the collective bargaining term 2007-2010, OWTU members at the ammonia-producing company&rsquo;s will see a 16.5% salary increase, plus an additional lump-sum payout of 0.5% this year. 
 
Prior to the strike, in some 33 rounds of talks dating to last summer, Yara Trinidad had refused to offer anything close to 16% for that term. This set of talks also saw mediation intervention from the country&rsquo;s Ministry of Labour. Workers sought a profit-sharing plan at Yara&rsquo;s three-plant, 300,000 metric tonne-a-year operations at Point Lisas, Trinidad, an enterprise profitable due to high pricing and strong demand for ammonia. 
<img height="115" src="/wp-content/uploads/articles/TrinidadAndTobago.png" width="250" alt="" />
OWTU won guarantees that its workers&rsquo; representatives will be involved in establishing bonus plans in budget preparations and guaranteeing that realistic targets are set. In addition, OWTU won an 80% increase in housing allowance, 50% on travel allowance, and improvements to the medical plan. 
 
OWTU issued official strike notice on 16 January, and workers downed tools on the afternoon of 18 January. The strike caused non-stop bargaining over the weekend of 18-20 January, and agreement came on 21 January. 
 
The Point Lisas operation of Yara was acquired by the Oslo-based company in 2004 when Norske Hydro sold its chemical fertiliser business, Hydro-Agri. Yara is now the world&rsquo;s largest producer of chemical plant nutrients following last year&rsquo;s buy-out of Kemira&rsquo;s GrowHow business from the Finnish state. 
 
Yara also owns a 49% stake in Trinidad Nitrogen Co. Ltd. (Tringen), a joint venture it operates for state-held National Enterprises Ltd. of Trinidad and Tobago.

OWTU Wins Chemicals Strike at Yara Trinidad Ltd.

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