Today, 15 March, the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine, and General Workers’ Union (ICEM), the International Metalworkers’ Federation (IMF) and their Norwegian affiliated trade unions, Fellesforbundet and IndustriEnergi (IE) signed a Global Framework Agreement (GFA) with Norsk Hydro ASA in Oslo.

The agreement covers provisions of freedom of association and collective bargaining rights, discrimination, forced labour, child labour, health and safety, wages, working conditions, employment conditions, skills training, HIV/AIDS, and environmental conditions, referencing the standards established by the core labour conventions of the International Labour Organisation (ILO).

From left to right: Arve Bakke, Fellesforbundet President, Jyrki Raina, IMF General Secretary, Wenche Agerup, Norsk Hydro Executive Vice-President, Corporate Staff, Manfred Warda, ICEM General Secretary, Leif Sande, IndustriEnergi President

Norske Hydro was established more than 100 years ago and today is a leading global supplier of aluminum products and energy solutions. The Hydro companies have a total of 23,000 workers in more than 40 countries worldwide. The production facilities are mainly located in Europe, North America, Australia, and Qatar.

In addition to the agreement, the parties agreed to establish a working group on the US legislation and US practices related to freedom of association and collective bargaining rights. The conclusions of this group’s work will provide a basis for revision of the GFA in 2012.

Arve Bakke, Jyrki Raina, Wenche Agerup, Manfred Warda, Leif Sande

The parties also committed to work together to build an open channel of network which ensures implementation of the GFA in all Hydro workplaces.

A copy of the agreement in English can be found here.

For further information, contact ICEM Information Officer Dick Blin (dick.blin@icem.org), +41 22 304 1842, +41 79 734 8994 (mobile); or IMF Communications Director Anita Gardner (agardner@imfmetal.org), +41 22 308 5032.