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Protests in Thailand against contract and agency labour continue in efforts to amend the New Labor Protection Act of 1998, which disproportionably created a mass of contract workers that possess no rights and no direct employee-employer relationship with the actual companies for which they work. 
On 20 November, 1,000 workers protested in front of Government House in Bangkok and, on 24 November, a similar protest in front of the Labour Ministry in the Dindaeng section of Bangkok occurred when Prime Minister Thaskin Sinawatra visited the ministry. This latter rally, attended by 500, called attention to Goodyear Tire and Rubber&rsquo;s misdirected decision to shift contract workers in its rubber stock and warehouse operations from its own employment rolls to a contract agency following months of pressure by the ICEM. 
The two protests were preceded by a forum sponsored by the Thai Labour Solidarity Committee entitled &ldquo;An Unjust Labour Contract: Stop Contract Labour System and Poverty.&rdquo;

Thai Workers Protest to Government on Contract and Agency Labour

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PENGASSAN, ICEM&rsquo;s white-collar oil workers&rsquo; affiliate in Nigeria, insisted that the government agency charged with product pricing and regulation reverse current petroleum prices in line with the recent decreases to international oil prices. 
Meeting at its National Executive Council last week in Benin City in conjunction with a workshop on &ldquo;Labour and Challenges of Reforms in Oil and Gas Sectors,&rdquo; the President of the union, Uche Okoro, said it was time longstanding disputes over excessive use of expatriate and contract workers be met with firm action. 
PENGASSAN&rsquo;s President also expressed outrage at a campaign by the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria to alter the country&rsquo;s constitution to allow President Olusegun Obasanjo to stand for a third four-term term in 2007. &ldquo;PENGASSAN suffered untold hardships and persecution in the struggle to bring about this democracy,&rdquo; said Okoro. &ldquo;We will not watch people abort it because of selfish interest. The first step to protecting democracy is to respect the constitution. There is no such provision as a third term in the constitution.&rdquo;

PENGASSAN Says No Third Term for Nigeria’s President

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Nigerian affiliate NUPENG held its First Delegates&rsquo; Conference in Benin City, Edo state, this month, and took unprecedented action toward peace and stability for the oil and gas sector of the country. 
The union issued a mandate that all refineries and other government assets that currently are up for privatisation need to maintain 10% stakes held by workers. NUPENG called for only &ldquo;credible and competent&rdquo; investors to take 51% stakes in enterprises, with 39% holdings held by the Nigerian government. 
The union&rsquo;s Delegate Assembly also called on oil exporting companies to build new refineries in Africa&rsquo;s most populous country, and pledged industrial actions between January and June, 2006, to address the issue of casualisation and contract labour. 
Specifically, NUPENG condemned the non-existent screening and auditing of expatriate worker quotas by the government&rsquo;s Directorate of Petroleum Resources. Such standards exist now in memorandums of agreement. 
Peter Akpatason was re-elected as NUPENG President; Ikechi Pius was re-elected as First Deputy; and Wosu Goodluck won election as Second Deputy. In elections for vice presidents, Osai Eddy was elected for Warri Zone, Okeke Basil elected for Port Harcourt Zone, Bako Joseph won re-election in Kaduna Zone, and Fakumoju K. in Lagos Zone. Elijah Okougbo remains NUPENG&rsquo;s General Secretary.

NUPENG Promises Industrial Actions over High Contract Labour Use

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Workers at Mauritanian contractor El Majabaat El Koubra Tours (MKT) remain on strike due to the oil services firm&rsquo;s sacking of union activists. 
The Energy and Petroleum Workers&rsquo; Union (CGTM) of Mauritania conducted a march and demonstration against MKT on behalf of the strikers on 18 November in the capital city of Nouakchott. The event drew over 1,000 protestors. 
The ICEM brought the dispute to international attention and on the day of the rally, MKT, a transport and logistic provider to Australian-based Woodside Petroleum, directed a four-page letter to the global union federation. The company admitted to the firings, but failed to justify reasons why the workers were sacked. 
In early October, MKT and the union reached a protocol agreement over terms, which included union elections for workers. But within days, the company sacked 16 workers, provoking the start of the strike on 14 October. A day later in efforts to reconcile the dispute, MKT agreed to take back ten workers, but not six others who were counted on by fellow workers to stand for election to union positions. 
The ICEM will continue to press MKT and Woodside for justice and recognition of legitimate trade union rights.

Contract Service Workers Remain on Strike in Mauritania

Led by ICEM German affiliate IGBCE, 3,000 protestors on 23 November demanded that tyre maker Continental rescind its decision to fire 320 workers at its St&ouml;cken plant in Hannover. 
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A day before the rally that occurred at the company&rsquo;s headquarters in Hannover, Conti chief executive Manfred Wennemer reneged on a deal to maintain jobs and production levels by stating growth rates at the plant were not high enough. Despite profitability and cooperation from the IGBCE on workplace matters, Wennemer&rsquo;s announcement stung workers and politicians alike, particularly in view of prior production shifts to plants in eastern European countries. 
IGBCE board member Werner Bischoff, vice president of Continental&rsquo;s Supervisory Board, promised the matter will get full attention at the Supervisory Board&rsquo;s 6 December meeting, and said any further cooperative efforts with the company are now in danger.

German Union Protests Continental Tyre Decision

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By way of introduction to the full ICEM background report on the Pulp and Paper Industry, the ICEM prepared a presentation on globalisation in the pulp and paper sector for the ICEM World Conference for the Pulp and Paper Industry, in Brussels, on 15-16 November 2005. 
The presentation builds upon the background document, highlighting the latest sector&nbsp;statistics, unavailable at the time the document went to press. It also provides a few examples of recent labour disputes in the sector, and makes suggestions towards solutions at the global level. 
 
For the presentation, click <a href="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/0511EugenePaper.ppt">here</a>. 
 
For the full report, click <a href="/?id=147&amp;doc=1513">here</a>.

ICEM Presentation on globalisation in the pulp and paper industry

23 November 2005 
 
His Excellency Dr Thaskin Sinawatra 
Prime Minister 
Kingdom of Thailand 
Government House 
Pitsunalok Road 
Bangkok 10300 
Thailand
Dear Sir, 
 
I write on behalf of the 20-million-member ICEM on a serious labour matter affecting your country. It is the unregulated and unceasing use of contract and agency labour by major employers in Thailand. 
 
In assessing a number of labour disputes in Thailand, some of which are in ICEM sectors such as energy and rubber, others in sectors such as metals and food, covered by other, fraternal Global Union Federations, the issue of extensive use of contract labour is at the forefront. I ask you to consider the harm such labour practices bring to the overall social development in Thailand. 
 
I write this prior to a group of trade unionists&mdash;many of whom are members of trade unions affiliated to the ICEM&mdash;bringing this issue forward in a rally outside the Ministry of Labour, and I implore you to hear their voice as it calls forth the ill-effects brought to workers, their families and entire communities when permanent jobs are replaced by contractors and agencies. 
 
I invite you to meet with these trade unionists, and I invite the Thai Government to initiate discussions on this critical issue affecting workers and the communities in which they live. 
 
The ICEM is leading a global campaign on contract and agency labour. We would be quite willing to join a dialogue between your government and trade unionists in Thailand who are recognising the dangers, and rightfully speak out on this issue. The ICEM realizes that it is not practical to call for a total ban on contract and agency labour. 
 
But what we do seek is that contract and agency labour be properly controlled to avoid the unnecessary displacement of direct workers and when there is a need to utilize contract or agency arrangements, trade union representatives be consulted and dialogue occur prior to contracts being signed. The logic to this in terms of productive enterprises, and well-being of workers, families and the communities in which they live is clearly evident. 
 
The ICEM is promoting such simple and precise language for employers, governments and inter-governmental institutions to adopt. Again, I respectfully request that your government give this labour issue serious attention, and I and the ICEM stand ready to assist in any manner possible. 
 
Sincerely, 
 
 
Fred Higgs 
General Secretary 
 
CC Mr Somsak Thepsuthin, Labour Minister, Thailand

ICEM letter to the Prime Minister of Thailand on Goodyear Contract labour problems

The 20-million-member ICEM has declared its support for trade unionists in Thailand who protest tomorrow, 24 November, in front of the country&rsquo;s Labour Ministry on Mitmitree Road, Dindaeng, Bangkok, over the misdirected use of contract and agency labour. 
 
The protest comes at a time when Thai Prime Minister Dr Thaskin Sinawatra is visiting the ministry. ICEM, a Global Union Federation representing 389 affiliated trade unions in 122 countries, including six in Thailand, has written the Prime Minister urging his direct involvement on this workplace issue. 
<img height="182" alt="" src="/wp-content/uploads/articles/goodyear1.jpg" width="300" />
Discharged workers at Goodyear's Bangkok tire plant
ICEM affiliates in Thailand have been faced with serious affronts of late from multinational employers intent on replacing permanent, full-time workers with employees from agencies. 
 
One glaring example in Thailand is at a Goodyear tyre factory. Some 18 workers in the warehouse and rubber stock area of the plant&mdash;all who worked under individual year-long contracts for as many as ten years&mdash;were sacked after joining the Goodyear union that is affiliated to ICEM member Petroleum and Chemical Federation of Thailand (PCFT). 
 
As the ICEM raised attention and global pressure on Goodyear management to change the practice, local management reacted by disengaging itself from short-term contracts, and brought in a labour agency to do the work. The agency refused to hire any of the 18. The ICEM finds such labour policies reprehensible, and the global union federation has protested in the strongest terms possible. 
<img height="142" alt="" src="/wp-content/uploads/articles/CALhorse.jpg" width="100" />
&ldquo;The Goodyear case is just one example in Thailand in which the issue of contract and agency labour is detrimental to the livelihoods of workers,&rdquo; said ICEM General Secretary Fred Higgs. &ldquo;We witness Goodyear and other employers say over and over how they want a loyal and proud workforce with a stake in the company. How is this possible when workers are not employed by the company?&rdquo; 
 
In the ICEM letter to Prime Minister Thaskin Sinawatra, Higgs cites a number of current labour disputes in Thailand, the issue of contract and agency labour is central in nearly all of them. He urges the Thai leader to give the matter serious attention and &ldquo;to consider the harm such labour practices bring to the overall social development in Thailand.&rdquo; 
 
&ldquo;I write this prior to a group of trade unionists&mdash;many of whom are members of trade unions affiliated to the ICEM&mdash;bringing this issue forward in a rally outside the Ministry of Labour,&rdquo; writes Higgs, &ldquo;and I implore you to hear their voice as it calls forth the ill-effects brought to workers, their families, entire communities when permanent jobs are replaced by contractors and agencies.&rdquo; 
 
Brussels-based ICEM is leading a global campaign on the issue of contract and agency labour. The federation is calling for proper controls on such labour practices in order to avoid displacement of direct employees. The ICEM is also calling on employers, governments and inter-governmental agencies to adopt simple and precise language on the use of contract workers and agency labour, stating that trade union representatives be consulted and dialogue occurs prior to when contracts for such labour practices go into effect. 
<hr />
Read the ICEM letter to the Thai Prime minister <a href="/index.php?id=73&amp;doc=1521&amp;la=EN">here</a>.
<hr />

Contract, Agency Labour Becomes Focal Workplace Issue in Thailand

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The global paper industry and its many individual workplaces face a large number of risks and dangers in the area of health and safety for workers. In addition to that, the industry also knows many environmental challenges, some of which are well known, such as the impact on the environment from forestry. 
 
At the ICEM World Conference for the Pulp and Paper Industry, in Brussels, on 15-16 November 2005, a comprehensive overview of these risks and challenges was presented by Reg Green, ICEM officer for Health, Safety &amp; Environment. 
 
His presentation, entitled &lsquo;Sustainability in the Pulp and Paper Sector&rsquo;, deals with the many hazards and dangers in this sector. Amongst other things, it discusses some of the key health and safety issues, such as the different problems related to the paper making equipment. Other issues include acute and chronic respiratory disorders and cancer. 
 
The presentation also discusses the main causes of injury in the pulp and paper sector. Towards the end, it suggests to&nbsp;increase the&nbsp;use of global framework agreements as&nbsp;a partial solution to the problem. 
 
Click <a href="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/0511REGpaperppt.ppt">here</a> for the complete presentation. 
<hr />

For more information on this conference, including background documents and presentations, click <a href="/index.php?id=147">here</a>.
<hr />

ICEM presentation on the Health and Safety risks in the Pulp and Paper Industry

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Global unions worldwide condemned the government of Iran&rsquo;s brutal suppression of bus drivers in Tehran and surrounding areas on 15 February. The condemnations came from the Global Union Federations, national unions and the ICFTU, but also were heard strongly from transport and oil unions in Jordan, Egypt, Iraq, Morocco and Tunisia. Rail workers and maritime unions in some of those North African and Middle East countries also participated in the Day of Action in support of Iranian bus drivers.
The government&rsquo;s Intelligence Ministry and its security militia, Basij, has deployed brute force since spring 2005 to put down strikes by drivers who have been seeking unpaid wages. And since December, the repression has become more violent with the government using a variety of means to silence drivers&rsquo; protests. 
On 28 January, 30 drivers were seriously injured and up to 1,400 were jailed for demonstrating. A few days later, family members and spouses of the jailed drivers gathered outside Iran&rsquo;s parliament, Majiles, and were met by security forces. The leader of the Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Co. (Sherkat-e Vahed), Mansour Osanloo, has been held since the government arrested leaders of the union on 22 December.
Because Iranian security teams have used beatings to force drivers out on routes, workers have resorted to a continual &ldquo;lights on&rdquo; protest of buses to draw attention to the violent crack-down of workers&rsquo; rights by Iran&rsquo;s authorities. The ICEM sent a strong letter of protest to the government of Iran on the 15 February Day of Action, which can be found at <a href="/index.php?id=24&amp;doc=1658.&amp;la=EN">/index.php?id=24&amp;doc=1658.&amp;la=EN</a>

Iranian Bus Drivers Given Global Union Support

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