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<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/CAL_en.jpg" width="146" height="66"/>
A plan of action to combat outsourcing in Latin America was agreed at the regional Contract and Agency Labour (CAL) seminar held in Mar del Plata, Argentina, 6-7 April. The seminar, organised by ICEM CAL Project Latin American Coordinators Rosane Sasse and Elias Soares-Pintado, was attended by 28 union leaders from Argentina, Ecuador, Brazil, Uruguay, Colombia, and Chile. 
 
The event began with participants presenting on the status of outsourcing in their own country. Colleagues from Ecuador shared the findings of research into the impact of legislation introduced by President Rafael Correa to ban the use of outsourcing. A number of participants mentioned how legislation in their countries is being abused and many expressed concern at the gap between law and practice. It was agreed that outsourcing has a detrimental impact in all countries, and that coordinated action is needed to stop its use. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1011EliasPintado.jpg" width="101" height="110"/>     <img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1011RosaneSasse.jpg" width="113" height="110"/>
Elias Soares-Pintado, Rosane Sasse
On 28 July, it was decided, all participating unions will launch an ongoing campaign against outsourcing in Colombia, Latin America, and the Caribbean. To coincide with this, participants will organise activities to raise workers’ awareness of the issues. 
 
A CAL network was established during the seminar, with each country nominating at least one representative. Representatives will exchange information about challenges and successes. 
 
A detailed plan of action against CAL was agreed, which includes: 
 
- The ICEM will approach Ministries of Labour in particular countries calling for recognition of CAL problems, for respect for trade unions and for concrete actions to be taken against CAL. 
 
- All unions, federations, and confederations should communicate the problems associated with outsourcing and begin a debate on CAL with their governments. 
 
- The ICEM will prepare documents on CAL for the Summit of the President of Latin American countries and the Andean Parliament. 
 
- When a new business is established, unions will immediately start a debate on how production is set out and whether CAL or permanent workers will be employed. 
 
CAL Americas network – list of representatives 
 
The list of representatives for the CAL Latin America Network includes: German Paplecino, SUTNA, and Marcelo Sotosca, STI Black River Gas, Argentina; Ricardo Rodrigues Vera, Fenatrapech, Chile; Moises Ochoa Berrocal, FENUPETROL, Peru; Walter Silva, CUOPYC, Uruguay; Marcelo Solozano, Link, Ecuador; Rodrigues Manuel Acevedo, SITRAPEQUIA, Costa Rica; Carlos Bustos Patiño, ICEM Project Coordinator, Colombia; and Elias Soares-Pintado, ICEM Project Coordinator, Brazil.

Latin America Seminar Agrees Regional Action Plan and Launches CAL network

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/CAL_en.jpg" width="146" height="66"/>
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has adopted updated Guidelines for Multinational Companies. The new OECD Guidelines were adopted on 25 May at a signing ceremony led by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and attended by AFL-CIO and TUAC President Richard Trumka. 
 
The update contains a number of positive elements, including a chapter on Human Rights and the unequivocal application of the Guidelines to suppliers and other business relationships. The Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD (TUAC) statement on the update of the guidelines states: “These elements significantly increase the relevance of the Guidelines and their potential to raise the standard of responsible business conduct in a global context. The success of the Update now depends on its prompt and full implementation both by adhering governments and by the OECD.” 
 
The updated Guidelines have particular relevance to Contract and Agency Labour as the coverage extends to those “in an employment relationship with the multinational enterprise.” The commentary to Chapter Five on Employment and Industrial Relations clarifies that the terminology is consistent with that used in the ILO Multinational Enterprises’ Declaration and refers enterprises wishing to understand the scope of their responsibility under Chapter Five to the non-exhaustive list of employment relationship indicators set forth in ILO Recommendation 198 of 2006, paragraphs 13 (a) and (b). 
 
Paragraph 13 of R198 states that the indicators of the existence of an employment relationship might include: 
(a) the fact that the work: is carried out according to the instructions and under the control of another party; involves the integration of the worker in the organization of the enterprise; is performed solely or mainly for the benefit of another person; must be carried out personally by the worker; is carried out within specific working hours or at a workplace specified or agreed by the party requesting the work; is of a particular duration and has a certain continuity; requires the worker's availability; or involves the provision of tools, materials and machinery by the party requesting the work; 
 
(b) periodic payment of remuneration to the worker; the fact that such remuneration constitutes the worker's sole or principal source of income; provision of payment in kind, such as food, lodging or transport; recognition of entitlements such as weekly rest and annual holidays; payment by the party requesting the work for travel undertaken by the worker in order to carry out the work; or absence of financial risk for the worker. 
 
The <a href="http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/43/29/48004323.pdf">OECD MNE Guidelines</a> are available here. 
 
The <a href="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/TUAC%20Statement%20on%20Revised%20OECD%20Guidelines.pdf" type="internal">TUAC Statement</a> on the updated Guidelines is available here (PDF)

OECD Guidelines Positively Updated

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/CAL_en.jpg" width="146" height="66"/>
The ICEM CAL Mini Guide to Dealing with Contract and Agency Labour (CAL) is now available in French, Spanish, Portuguese, Hindi, and Bahasa Indonesian. 
 
The guide gives an overview of what the ICEM and its affiliates around the world are doing to promote permanent, direct employment and at the same time to promote better conditions for CAL workers. It also suggests ways in which unions can build relations with CAL workers, for example by creating a dedicated precarious workers’ section or representative, or introducing different membership fee levels and/or an alternate methods of dues collection. ICEM affiliates are encouraged to initiate a discussion on CAL within their own unions, and the Guide suggests a number of questions which may help to get these discussions started. 
 
The CAL Mini Guide in <a href="http://cal.icem.org/images/documents/ICEM%20Mini%20Guide%20CAL%20French.pdf">French</a> is available here. 
 
The CAL Mini Guide in <a href="http://cal.icem.org/images/documents/ICEM%20Mini%20Guide%20Spanish%20HQP.pdf">Spanish</a> is available here. 
 
The CAL Mini Guide in <a href="http://cal.icem.org/images/documents/ICEM%20Mini%20Guide%20CAL%20Portuguese.pdf">Portuguese</a> is available here. 
 
The CAL Mini Guide in <a href="http://cal.icem.org/images/documents/ICEM%20Mini%20Guide%20CAL%20Hindi.pdf">Hindi</a> is available here. 
 
The CAL Mini Guide in <a href="http://cal.icem.org/images/documents/ICEM%20Mini%20Guide%20CAL%20Bahasa.pdf">Bahasa Indonesian</a> is available here.

ICEM Mini Guide to Dealing with CAL now in multiple languages 

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100" height="39"/>
A tentative collective agreement was reached late in the evening on 19 June in New York City for 15,000 General Electric (GE) workers in the US. The proposed four-year accord came hours before a Sunday midnight expiration of a prior agreement for 11,000 of the 15,000 workers, represented by the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE) and the International Union of Electronic Workers/ Communications Workers of America (IUE/CWA). 
 
Ten American unions have been bargaining with GE since 24 May as part of a joint union Coordinating Bargaining Council (CBC). The unions represent industrial workers who manufacture everything from jet airplane engines to locomotive train diesels to electrical appliances to small motors to lighting systems. Pension terms negotiated under the agreement will also apply to staff of NBC, the US television network owned by GE. 
 
Details of the proposed agreement will not be released until Thursday, 23 June, to allow the GE Conference Boards of the UE and IUE/CWA time to consider all provisions and make recommendations to their respective memberships. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1106.john hovis UE.jpg" width="100" height="128"/>
UE President John Hovis
“While the proposal contains important improvements and advances, it also contains certain disappointments,” said President John Hovis of the UE, an ICEM affiliate. “However, given the current economic climate overall, it’s an agreement we can support.” 
 
Breakthroughs came in bargaining on 18 June when GE negotiators increased its wage offer and withdrew unfair and additional payments on retirees for prescription drug coverage. Entering bargaining yesterday (19 June), the two sides were still grappling with issues related to a company Health Choice medical plan, a pension scheme for new hires, and regressive GE proposals to an early retirement option for workers. 
 
The CBC has representation from the UE, IUE/CWA, United Steelworkers (USW), International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers (IAM), National Association of Broadcast Employees & Technicians (NABET/CWA), the United Auto Workers (UAW), the International Federation of Professional and Technical Employees (IFPTE), the Electrical Workers (IBEW), Sheet Metal Workers Union (SMWIU), the United Association of Plumbing and Pipefitting Union (UA), and the Firemen & Oilers division of the Service Employees Union (SEIU). 
 
The talks were national in scope for multiple local branch unions of the UE and IUE/CWA, while mostly single-site or single-unit bargaining was simultaneously occurring for the other unions although the entire CBC was at the large table in the New York talks. 
 
Messages of support (or congratulations) can still be given CBC negotiators by signing this IUE/CWA <a href="http://action.cwa-union.org/c/783/p/salsa/web/common/public/content?content_item_KEY=2601 ">Unity Petition</a>.

Tentative Pact Reached in US for 15,000 General Electric Workers

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100" height="39"/>
Accord was reached in Belgium recently for 150,000 metalworkers of three unions, MWB-FGTB/ABVV-Metaal, ACV-CSC Metea, and CGSLB/ACLVB. The two-year collective agreements cover workers in metal manufacturing, including aeronautical, automotive, and metal construction, as well as in the iron and steel industry. 
 
The agreements did not come without discord, however. Contentious bargaining over early retirements, unemployment benefits, contract and temporary workers’ rights, and layoff notices led to issuance of a strike notice that was to take effect on 24 June. 
 
But wage terms were reached in late May between the unions and employers’ federation Agoria in metal manufacturing, and agreement came on 6 June between the unions and the iron and steel grouping GSU. The three union federations won extension of early retirement provisions, and also longer periods of notice before layoffs can take effect. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/BelgiumACV.gif" width="130" height="77"/>
The issue of subcontracting and temp workers’ rights was put aside and will be addressed in a separate memorandum. Belgian unions are seeking equal pay for equal work for such workers. 
 
Effective on 1 January 2012, redundancy notices will be extended in iron and steel from seven to 28 days for workers with less than six months service, and from 35 to 42 days for workers with over six months but less than five years’ service. 
 
The indexation of wages from cross-industry negotiations early in 2011 with the Belgian government will take hold in metal sectors. Wage rises of 0.3% higher than inflation will go into effect on 1 July 2011 and 1 July 2012. In addition, an economic “green” bonus of €250 will be awarded. This is intended for purchase of environmental friendly products or services. The contracts run until 30 June 2013.

Two-Year Metalworking Contracts Set in Place in Belgium

<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100" height="39" alt=""/>
In a letter to Ukraine’s President, Viktor Yanukovych, ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda called for the recent escalation of government intimidation and interference into trade union activities to end. 
 
The national centre, Federation of Trade Unions of Ukraine (FPU) has born the brunt of a brutal attack by the Office of the General Prosecutor of Ukraine, headed by Viktor Pshonka who is said to have “declared war” on the unions. New teams have been established inside various government ministries charged with combating the FPU, and establishing yellow unions to oppose the FPU. 
<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1106.ukraine.png" width="238" height="159" alt=""/>
FPU Picket Office of the General Prosecutor
The illegal attack on the FPU has included brazen attempts at manipulating internal union activity. On 23 May the FPU received instructions from the General Prosecutor’s office, banning items on the agenda of the union’s Presidium meeting the following day. Demands for detailed information of internal union workings are continuing, with FPU leadership being summoned for interrogation to the General Prosecutor’s office, including FPU President Vasyl Khara on 3 June. 
 
Also ongoing is a disinformation campaign run through the country’s mass media, attempting to discredit the FPU. The lie being disseminated is that the FPU leadership unlawfully sold union assets. Whereas it is a clear fact that no FPU facilities have been sold since November 2008. 
 
The intense interference is in breach of national law, international law, and the constitution of Ukraine. 
 
On 8 June, the FPU conducted a large picket in front of the office of the General Prosecutor of Ukraine, demanding an end to the oppression of trade union rights. 
 
See the full text of <a href="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/62.ICEM.Ukraine%20President.FPU.20June.pdf" type="internal">Warda’s letter</a> to President Yanukovych here.

ICEM Protests Crackdown on Ukrainian Trade Unions

<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100" height="39" alt=""/>
The Pulp and Paper sector of the ICEM selected Jan-Henrik Sandberg, President of Sweden’s Paperworkers Union (Pappers), as the new chairman of the global sector. Sandberg replaces Jouko Ahonen, President of Paperiliitto of Finland, who will become the head officer for the Council of Finnish Industrial Unions (TP) on 1 June. 
 
Sandberg’s nomination came from a work group meeting of Geneva-based ICEM’s Pulp and Paper sector in late May, with the ICEM Executive Committee approving the nomination on 25 May. 
<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/0511paperpresident1.jpg" width="131" height="110" alt=""/>     <img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1106.jan henrik p n p chair.jpg" width="104" height="120" alt=""/>
Jouko Ahonen, Jan-Henrik Sandberg
Sandberg, 52, has been President of 18,000-member Pappers since 2006. Prior to that, he worked for 17 years as a recovery boiler operator in the pulp mill of Korsnäs AB in Gävle, Sweden. He served as Pappers local branch chairman at Korsnäs in Gävle from 2001 to 2006 and previously served as education director of the branch union. 
 
Ahonen had served as President of Paperiliitto since 2003. In his new duties with TP, he will oversee collective bargaining and industrial policy for 14 Finnish trade unions. Petri Vanhala has been elected at Paperiliitto as General Secretary to succeed Ahonen. 
 
Both Ahonen and Sandberg steered their respective trade unions through pivotal and success bearing labour disputes in their home countries, Ahonen in a 2005 industry-wide lockout in Finland and Sandberg in a 2010 strike by paperworkers across industry in Sweden.

ICEM Pulp/Paper Sector Selects New Global Chairman

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100" height="39"/>
The Australian Workers’ Union (AWU) won a definitive judgment from Fair Work Australia on 24 June that grants the union right of entry to lunch rooms at Rio Tinto’s Alcan aluminum smelter in Bell Bay, Tasmania. The ruling ends months of legal wrangling and should serve as a precedent against employers from blocking legitimate union access to workers on job sites. 
 
On 1 July, marking the second anniversary of the Fair Work Act of 2009, which makes such access legitimate, AWU National Secretary Paul Howes and three AWU organizers triumphantly met with AWU members in lunch rooms at Alcan’s Bell Bay smelter, breaking Rio Tinto’s claim that such meetings had to in administrative areas, generally parts of worksites where surveillance and management intimidation is greater. 
 
The 550-worker Alcan smelter has been a test case in Australia over right of entry under a balanced Fair Work Act, a law that reversed many of the management rights provisions in the former Conservative government’s WorkChoices Act. (See prior <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4314-" type="internal">ICEM Bell Bay article</a> here.) It also stands as a major crossing of a threshold that will lead to full enterprise bargaining between AWU and Alcan. 
 
The AWU, which counts a majority of Alcan workers at Bell Bay as members, also used this Fair Work Australia decision to re-boot an advertising campaign aimed at recruitment of non-union Rio workers to the union fold. The ad campaign, which first ran in March, states that process operators at other, unionized Australian aluminum plants, namely Alcoa’s, are paid up to A$20,000 per year more than operators at Bell Bay. 
 
The AWU said it would use the decision to meet union members in similar surroundings at Alcan worksites in Gladstone (Boyne Island) and Yarwun, Queensland. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/AUSTRALIA AWU - Paul Howes.jpg" width="129" height="160"/>
Paul Howes
“Make no mistake, the bullies at Rio Tinto are losing the stranglehold they once had over their workforce,” said Howes in an Australian newspaper report. “The decision is highly symbolic of that, and I know it will be a crushing embarrassment for the company.” 
 
That decision, FWA Case 3878, found Alcan’s insistence on a conference room inside an administration building was not reasonable. It stated such meetings there meant workers had to travel 8-15 minutes longer from work stations, and this was insufficient time to meet with AWU representatives during average break times. 
 
Fair Work Australia’s ruling also rejected Alcan’s claim that the meal rooms closer to work areas were too small for such lawful meetings under the Fair Work Act and that worker-union discussions would disrupt other workers in the break areas. 
 
Rio Tinto Alcan said it disagrees with the decision, but this time will not appeal the Bell Bay right of entry ruling. The company said the AWU had made some 20 visits to meet with union members in conference rooms, and it made note of the fact that the 24 June ruling had found that the company did not intimidate or hinder workers from meeting with the AWU in the conference rooms. 
 
Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) Secretary Jeff Lawrence said the Bell Bay decision “sends a positive message to other employers that they must respect fundamental workers’ rights to collective bargaining and union membership.”

Australia: AWU Wins Correct Access to Rio Tinto’s Alcan Smelter

<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100" height="39" alt=""/>
ICEM’s Turkish affiliate Selüloz-Is, Pulp, Paper and Products Workers’ Union has been picketing in front of the plant of Form Mukavva Ambalaj Sanayi ve Ticaret Ltd.Şti located in Torbali, close to the country’s third biggest city Izmir. The Selüloz-Is picket-line is in protest over the dismissals of sixteen union members by the Turkish-based cardboard packaging company Form Mukavva following recent successful organising drives of the union which lasted several months.
<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1107.selusoc is turkey.jpg" width="211" height="160" alt=""/>
Selüloz-Is applied to the Ministry of Labour on 9 May 2011 for the authorisation documentation showing that the union organises more than the legally-required 50% of workers at the workplace. The Ministry sent the authorisation paper, confirming the union’s majority. At the time of the application to the Ministry, Selüloz-Is had much more than the legally required minimum 50% registered union members. But when the management received the paper from the Ministry, they first filed a case at local labour court claiming that the union did not hold the required legal majority to become a bargaining partner, a common tactic by employers in Turkey for union de-recognition, subsequently 16 pioneering members of Selüloz-Is were kicked out on 20 June 2011. Since then Selüloz-Is has conducted industrial action calling for the reinstatement of those dismissed workers and for union recognition. The action is receiving wide support from the families of workers and the local community. 
 
“The reason for the dismissal of our members was that they enjoyed trade union rights guaranteed by the country’s constitution” said Ergin Alşan, President of Selüloz-Is. “We vehemently protest dismissals of our members because of their joining our union. We clearly announce that our struggle will continue until our members are reinstated” added Alşan.
<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1107.selulozis president Ergin Alsan.png" width="146" height="110" alt=""/>
President Ergin Alşan
In his letter to Yılmaz Mineli, Owner and General Director of Form Mukavva, the ICEM General Secretary urged the company that sixteen dismissed workers must be immediately reinstated without delay. “This targeted and systematic attack by your management to block your employees from exercising their right to organise and bargain collectively will cause much anger. We expect the hindrance of union rights at Form Mukavva Ambalaj in Turkey to be solved without further intervention” added Warda. 
 
ICEM’s <a href="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/65.ICEM.Form%20Mukavva%20Ambalaj.Turkey.27June.pdf" type="internal">protest letter</a> can be found here. Support letters to Selüloz-Is can be sent to <a href="mailto:selulozis@selulozis.org.tr">selulozis@selulozis.org.tr</a>.

Turkey’s Selüloz-Is struggles for recognition at Form Mukavva

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100" height="39"/>
As with CEPPWAWU, the National Union of Metalworkers' of South Africa (NUMSA) has today begun strike action following a failure of negotiations with the Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of South Africa (SEIFSA). NUMSA has lowered its demand for a 20 per cent salary increase, to 13 per cent, however SEIFSA only offered 7 per cent, and refused to seriously negotiate the other key NUMSA demand for labour brokers to be banned in all companies with NUMSA members employed. 
 
Further NUMSA demands include a two-year wage agreement, as opposed to three years sought by employers, a one-day medical test for all workers, a five-day family responsibility leave per occurrence, and a 20 per cent night shift allowance. 
 
Talks between NUMSA and the Metal and Engineering Industry Sectors Bargaining Council ended on Thursday with a certificate of non-resolution being issued, paving the way for a strike. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1107.numsa rally.jpg" width="214" height="161"/>
The indefinite mass countrywide action is likely to include upwards of 300,000 workers. David Carson, executive director of SEIFSA, responded to impending strike action on Thursday, declaring 48 hours’ notice before initiating lockouts at various firms. 
 
Strikers convened at the Workers’ Library in Johannesburg from 9am today. Led by NUMSA General Secretary Irwin Jim and the general secretary of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), Zwelinzima Vavi, workers marched to submit a memorandum at Metal Industries House on Anderson Street in Johannesburg. 
 
Demonstrations also took place in Port Elizabeth, Cape Town and East London. A march in Northern Cape will take place tomorrow. 
 
Employer’s regressive demands in the failed negotiations included protecting their right to outsource work via labour brokers, introducing incredibly low entry level salaries, increasing the working week from 40 hours to 45, and exempting companies with fewer than 50 employees from many of their responsibilities towards workers.

South African Metalworkers' Strike

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