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Coal talks between New Zealand&rsquo;s Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union (EPMU) and Solid Energy broke down last week, and workers began renewed industrial action at three worksites by refusing to load coal trains. State-run Solid Energy responded by suspending workers without pay. By 10 June, EPMU workers were back on jobsites and further bargaining is scheduled for next week between the union, Solid Energy and five of its contractors. EPMU compromised its wage demands from 6% to 5% in line with the union&rsquo;s national &ldquo;Fair Share&mdash;Five in &lsquo;05&rdquo; campaign, but the coal company has only offered 2.8% in bargaining.

Coal Dispute in New Zealand Again Grows Tense

Three deadly mine accidents last week in China left 33 miners dead. On 8 June, an explosion at the Zijiang coal mine in Loudi, province of Hunan, killed 21 and injured 24. On the same day at an iron ore mine in Shahe, Hebei province, another gas blast killed nine and injured eight. On 7 June at the Shilongxiang coal mine near Zhaotong, Yunnan province, a methane explosion killed three. 
In a further Chinese mine safety note, it was revealed through an investigation that the owner of the illegal Xinfu coal mine in Qitaihe, Heilongjiang province, in which 18 miners died in a 14 March explosion was also a top safety official for the provincial mine supervisory bureau. The Xinfu mine was found to lack basic ventilation and gas monitoring equipment.

Three Mine Accidents in China Leave 33 Dead

Shell Employees Union of Batangas, an independent and fearless rank-and-file trade union at Shell in the Philippines, threatened to strike a refinery in Batangas Province over the company&rsquo;s proposal to place a moratorium on wage increases. In mid-September, the Philippines labour secretary took jurisdiction of the dispute, a move objected to by the 100-member union. Shell has placed the future of the 100,000 b/d refinery in jeopardy and the refinery&rsquo;s general manager said at the weekend that it suffers from insignificant investment by the super-major. Shell&rsquo;s Tabangao refinery is one of only two refineries in the Philippines.

Philippines Union Threatens to Take On Shell Over Wages

Dutch citizens are expressing themselves in mass dissent at the center-right coalition government&rsquo;s austerity measures that targets valued social programs. Led by trade unions such as ICEM affiliate FNV Bondgenoten, some 300,000&mdash;better than three times the expected number&mdash;protested in Amsterdam 2 October. A full spread on the protests in NL will be featured in the upcoming issue of the ICEM print magazine Global-Info.

300,000 Dutch Citizens Turn Out to Say &#039;No&#039; to Social Cuts

Nigerian affiliates NUPENG and PENGASSAN launched a two-day warning strike 7-8 October against Royal Dutch Shell in Nigeria. The strike was over Shell&rsquo;s planned 2,000-worker job cuts, a restructuring the unions feel is baseless. The two-day strike was meant as a precursor for further industrial action aimed at curtailing production if the Anglo-Dutch firm does not change its position.

Nigerian Affiliates Launch Warning Strikes against Shell

Nigerian Labour Congress President Adams Oshiomhole was arrested 9 October at gunpoint by the country&rsquo;s secret police. The arrest came on the eve of today&rsquo;s mass general strike called by the NLC that ICEM affiliates NUPENG and PENGASSAN are supporting. The strike is over the government&rsquo;s 15% October petrol price hike. The NLC has become the leader of mass dissent among Nigeria&rsquo;s population over government&rsquo;s failed social and petroleum policies. In September, a federal court in Abuja ruled that the position of NLC president does not exist under law and the labour federation has no power to call a strike.

Nigerian Secret Police Arrest NLC President

The ICEM&rsquo;s North American Women&rsquo;s Committee was prominent in Ottawa, Canada, at a rally and march aimed at forcing the government to maintain Canada&rsquo;s public, non-profit health care system. The ICEM women, meeting in Ottawa, were asked to deliver a live webcam message on the issue.

North American Women’s Committee at Canadian Health Care Rally

Gold-mining members of ICEM affiliate Turkiye Maden-Is marched and rallied in Bergama, Turkey, 14 September to convince the government to re-open Newmont Mining Corp.&rsquo;s mine there. An administrative court in Izmir ordered the mine shut on 19 August due to overstated environment concerns. The closure cost the jobs of 169 Maden-Is members, plus 300 contract workers.

Mining Affiliate in Turkey Seeks to Reopen Closed Newmont Mine

ICEM Netherlands affiliate FNV Bondgenoten has temporarily suspended talks with the Social Economic Council over policies of the right-wing government. Those include deterioration of social benefits for the unemployed and those sick, and a proposed block on workers seeking to take early retirement. On 20 September, a mass union rally in Rotterdam entitled &ldquo;This Government Policy is a Bridge Too Far&rdquo; will occur spanning the Erasmusbridge and Willemsbridge into the center of Coolsingel. And then on 2 October at 12:00 noon, a mass strike expected to draw hundreds of thousands of citizens is set for Amsterdam at Museumplein prior to Parliament&rsquo;s debate over taxes.

Unions in Netherlands Gear Up to Protect Social System

Some 1,450 US tyre workers at General Tire's Charlotte plant yesterday (Sunday) voted overwhelmingly to approve a new labour agreement. 
 
The vote, by members of Local 850 of US tyre workers' union the USWA, ends a year-long strike at the General Tire plant and delivers the largest wage and benefit increases negotiated in the US tyre industry in decades. 
 
General Tire is a subsidiary of global tyremaker Continental, and international trade union solidarity played an important part in the resolution of the dispute. 
 
The new contract for employees at the plant provides for the first general wage increases since 1989, restores full cost-of-living adjustments in wages, and includes substantial pension improvements, 100% family health insurance coverage, and a return to work for all strikers who chose to do so. 
 
The labour agreement in Charlotte ends a contentious strike that began one year ago today, on 20 September 1998, when collective bargaining between labour and management broke down because of what the union charged were unfair labour practices by the company. 
 
USWA President George Becker hailed the agreement as &quot;a victory for tyre workers throughout the industry. By bringing wages and pensions at General Tire in line with the industry pattern, we have ensured that all companies in the industry will be competing on a level playing field, instead of using lower wages and benefits to gain a competitive advantage.&quot; 
 
In addition to the settlement in Charlotte, the USWA simultaneously negotiated tentative agreements at General Tire&rsquo;s plants in Mayfield, Kentucky and Bryan, Ohio, pending resolution of local issues. Contracts at all three plants will now expire in close proximity in 2006. 
 
&quot;The men and women of our local toughed it out,&quot; said Earl Propst, President of Local 850. &quot;Only 15 crossed the picket line during this strike. Our solidarity set a standard that has seldom been matched by workers anywhere in the South.&quot; 
 
Propst said the strikers had a high degree of support from non-union as well as union workers in the Carolinas. This support was evident at the large Labor Day demonstration held in Charlotte this month, attended by some 5,000 union workers and their families. 
 
 
GLOBAL CAMPAIGN 
 
At the global level, the USWA is affiliated to the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM). The strikers' case in the year-long dispute was bolstered by a worldwide trade union campaign coordinated by the ICEM. Public information activities included a major protest at last summer&rsquo;s Continental shareholders&rsquo; meeting in Germany. The international corporate campaign also included: 
 
- a solidarity drive that galvanised support among workers at the company's plants in the US and abroad 
 
- a European tour by Charlotte strikers and their families, which generated widespread media coverage 
 
- a sympathy strike by South African tyre builders 
 
- an Australian union picket of the German consulate in Sydney 
 
- a special ICEM cybercampaign on the World Wide Web 
 
- informational protests at tyre dealerships throughout the US 
 
- a nationwide US campaign targeting Ford Motor Company dealers and their customers with information about Ford&rsquo;s purchase of tyres made by inexperienced replacement workers. 
 
 
THE AGREEMENT 
 
Key provisions of the new labour agreement include: 
 
- General wage increases in three of the six years of the agreement. 
 
- Cost-of-living provisions that, added to negotiated raises, will result in total estimated increases of $2.97 an hour. 
 
- Pension improvements that during the life of the contract increase the pension multiplier from less than US$30 per month per year of service to a minimum of $41 - more when and if industry pension levels increase. 
 
- Improved incentive pay provisions. 
 
- Preservation of a host of benefit and contract protections, including health insurance coverage, bidding rights, seniority, voluntary overtime, maintenance labour jobs, light duty pay and protection against random drug tests. 
 
- Special economic benefits for employees who want to retire early. 
 
John Sellers, Vice President of the USWA&rsquo;s rubber and plastic industry conference, said, &quot;This new contract restores Continental General Tire to the industry-wide patterns our union has worked so hard to maintain for workers in the rubber and tyre industries. And the way it was won reminds every tyre company of how strong our commitment to pattern bargaining is.&quot; 
 
&quot;This is an excellent outcome and a full vindication of the campaign by the USWA and the ICEM,&quot; commented ICEM General Secretary Vic Thorpe. &quot;International labour solidarity played an important part in achieving a just resolution to this dispute. When workers organise globally, they can prevail. Workers everywhere - and employers everywhere - should never forget that.&quot;

US Conti Dispute Settled

Archive

Coal Dispute in New Zealand Again Grows Tense

Three Mine Accidents in China Leave 33 Dead

Philippines Union Threatens to Take On Shell Over Wages

300,000 Dutch Citizens Turn Out to Say 'No' to Social Cuts

Nigerian Affiliates Launch Warning Strikes against Shell

Nigerian Secret Police Arrest NLC President

North American Women’s Committee at Canadian Health Care Rally

Mining Affiliate in Turkey Seeks to Reopen Closed Newmont Mine

Unions in Netherlands Gear Up to Protect Social System

US Conti Dispute Settled

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