Taking questions from delegates are, l. to r., Kemal Özkan, Assistant General Secretary, IndustriALL; IP Newton Jones, Sector Chairman; and Matthias Hartwich, Director, Mechanical Engineering and Materials Industries, IndustriALL.
IndustriALL meeting focuses on cement, glass, ceramics
INTERNATIONAL PRESIDENT NEWTON B. Jones chaired the IndustriALL World Conference for Materials Industries in Bremen, Germany, November 2-3, which drew affiliate unions from around the world to discuss worker issues in the cement, glass and ceramics sector.
The meeting focused on three core issues: health and safety; sustainable industrial employment, including the need to address CO2 emissions and the threat to jobs posed by automation; and precarious work (temporary and agency jobs with little worker protections, rights or benefits).
The two-day event ended with adoption of an action plan for the next four years and the election of IP Jones as co-chair of the sector, along with co-chair Lena Yuliana of Indonesia, an employee of LafargeHolcim and a labor activist in the cement industry.
Also speaking at the conference for the Boilermakers were Tyler Brown, Executive Director, Industrial Sector Operations, and Mark Garrett, Director, Health & Safety Services. IndustriALL represents 50 million affiliate members from 600 unions across 140 countries. The organization seeks to hold multinational corporations accountable for the welfare of the workers they employ and sponsors groups such as the North American Cement Network (of which the Boilermakers belong) to encourage cooperation among labor unions representing members working for the same employer.
