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A series of protests by Ukrainian trade unions has succeeded in delaying for now consideration of bitter amendments to the country&rsquo;s labour code by the Verkhovna Rada, its Parliament. The delay, mustered by a combination of trade union and opposition party pressure, means that the ILO will now have an opportunity to assess the revisions and make recommendations under its labour standards and laws process. 
 
On 17 November, in a letter to Ukraine Prime Minister Mykola Azarov, the ICEM signaled its desire that the labour code revisions be put on hold. That letter can be found <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/140%20Prime%20Minister%20Ukraine.pdf">here</a>. 
 
Two days earlier, some 100 trade union demonstrators gathered in front of the Rada to protest the ruling party&rsquo;s rush to enact the law. At the time, a conciliation council of committee leaders and opposition leaders was meeting to take direction on the draconian measure. 
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Besides waiting on the ILO&rsquo;s recommendation, trade unions seek full parliamentary hearings on the proposed changes. The draft revisions were submitted to the ILO in July and it is hoped that an opinion will be rendered late this month or in December. 
 
The proposed revisions include lifting the standard work week from 40 hours to 48; reducing the amount of time for redundancy notice from 60 days to two weeks; and granting employers at small enterprises the option to reduce remuneration. 
 
In addition, a revision would weaken or even eliminate collective agreements by giving employers unilateral regulatory discretion over labour relations. One labour leader predicted that if this latter provision was enacted that within six months, up to 70% of Ukrainian employers would either terminate existing agreements, or avoid signing new ones. 
 
The ICEM stated that such revisions would be contrary to both international labour standards, as well as European standards.

Ukrainian Unions Succeed in Deferring Regressive Revisions to Labour Law

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Members of two ICEM affiliates in Belgium carried out a 24-hour strike at two glass factories in western Flanders on Friday, 26 November, as an immediate response to Japanese-based Asahi Glass&rsquo;s decision to radically downsize two AGC (formerly Glaverbel) plants near Zeebrugge. In an extraordinary meeting of the company&rsquo;s board a day earlier, the board failed to give reason why it would eliminate 101 of 297 jobs at AGC Zeebrugge and AGC Seapane. 
 
The strike was carried out by De Algemene Centrale ABVV, ICEM&rsquo;s Socialist affiliate in Belgium, and by Algemeen Christelijk Vakverbond ACV, the Christian affiliate. The company must still negotiate with the unions over the redundancies. 
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The announcement is the second major restructuring by Asahi in Belgium in just over a year and the fourth in ten years. In October 2009, AGC Automotive caused industrial unrest in the Wallonia region of Belgium by making redundant over 200 of 475 workers employed at a factory in Fleurus and an administrative centre in Seneffe. 
 
Last week&rsquo;s announcement in Flanders comes as a blow to a pair of factories that have a reputation for innovation, advanced technical design, and high-value glass applications among Asahi&rsquo;s worldwide operations. The company also announced job sackings, numbering between 60 and 90, at glass production facilities in Kryry, Czech Republic, the AGC Klin factory near Moscow, and one in The Netherlands. 
 
In addition to the planned 101 sackings in Zeebrugge, eight temporary workers will be let go. 
 
At the ACG Zeebrugge factory, a maker of automobile mirrors and high-value glass used in the furniture industry, 72 of 176 jobs are proposed to be cut. At ACG Seapane, a maker of heat-insulated glazed architectural glass used in the construction industry that had seen its job ranks grow up through last year, 29 of 121 workers are scheduled for redundancies. 
 
ABVV Regional Secretary Luc Geerardyn said the board&rsquo;s decision last week is flawed. He said AGC failed to provide any hard evidence for the proposed sackings, nor did it provide any financial figures to justify the decision.

Belgian Glass Workers Strike Over Asahi’s Unwarranted Job Cuts

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The President of the Union of Workers&rsquo; of the Collahuasi Copper Mine, Manuel Mu&ntilde;oz, told the ICEM on Friday, 26 November, that the 24-day copper strike in Chile&rsquo;s northern Region I now enters a pivotal period. There is strong likelihood that mass violence could break out because of threatening, strong-arm tactics of company-controlled local police in Iquique, as well as by federal police. 
 
The company is Do&ntilde;a Ines de Collahuasi, a leading global copper producer owned by Xstrata, AngloAmerican, with a smaller share held by Japan&rsquo;s Mitsui &amp; Co. The lurking possibility of violence surrounds the union&rsquo;s daily peaceful manifestations in the city of Iquique, 185 kilometres from the open cast copper mines of Collahuasi. 
 
What is exasperating Sindicato de los Trabajadores de Collahuasi are company efforts to break the strike by offering individual miners a bonus and pay increase &ndash; above what it is offering the union &ndash; to quit the strike and return to work. Labour law in Chile allows workers to abandon a work stoppage and return to work after 15 days on strike without the union imposing repercussions. If over 50% of a workforce does that, the strike can be legally terminated. 
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Mu&ntilde;oz told the ICEM that as of early Friday, 100 of the 1,551 miners had accepted the offer and abandoned the strike, even though a local court ruling last week deemed that illegal. Collahuasi has inflamed tensions by making direct appeals to family members and coercing them to convince husbands and fathers to quit the strike. 
 
Collahuasi is nowhere near the 50% mark, and the company&rsquo;s strike-breaking tactic is reflected in the fact that it has extended the deadline for individual workers to accept the enhanced pay package. The copper mining concern said ten days ago that the deadline for strikers to accept a bonus of 14 million pesos (US$28,733) and a 42-month pay increase of 16.3% was midnight on 23 November. 
 
But even after stating early on 23 November that the deadline would not be extended, Collahuasi did just that later in the day, extending it until midnight 26 November. 
 
Mu&ntilde;oz is less concerned about Collahuasi breaking the strike than he is about police and renegade thugs that side with the company precipitating violence. 
&ldquo;We are in a state of worry because our strategy of peaceful protests might be met with violent conflict,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;There is frustration by our members because of company tactics including coercion on families and this has not helped.&rdquo; 
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The union has attempted to re-start negotiations, both with a direct appeal to Chile&rsquo;s Labour Minister and an offer by Roman Catholic Bishop Marco Antonio &Oacute;rdenes to mediate the pitched copper dispute. Collahuasi has rejected the offer by the Catholic bishop, while the Labour Ministry told the union that its efforts ended in the run-up to the strike when it fulfilled its lawful duties by offering mediation services once the parties hit impasse. 
 
There was a small ray of light on 25 November when an Iquique Labour Court Judge, Marcela Diaz M&eacute;ndez, issued an order stating that under Section 492 of the Labour Code, the company has a legal obligation to declare collective negotiations with the union not complete. The order thus negates direct appeals to workers to abandon the strike. It is expected that Collahuasi will appeal the judge&rsquo;s order. 
 
For the Union of Workers&rsquo; of Collahuasi, the strike is about far more than gaining adequate pay and bonus claims against a mining enterprise that saw net earnings last year of US$1.56 billion. The union is also seeking an increase in company-paid health coverage from 80% to 100%, and education benefits for children of miners hiked from 50% to 100%. 
 
The health issue is a major concern. Collahuasi is located in the Atacama Desert, some 4,000 metres high in the Andes where oxygen levels are low and stress on the body is high. As well, a US$750 million mine expansion is underway that will lift production from the current 550,000 tonnes per year to one million tonnes, with new mining areas to be located in altitudes of 5,000 metres. 
 
In these open-cast copper mines, workers are exposed to dust clouds containing crystalline silica particles from crushed rock. Such conditions are prone to miners contracting silicosis, a deadly lung disease.

Chile’s Collahuasi Copper Strike Now in Crucial Stage

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	&nbsp;

	Job security and job creation was the foundation behind a new two-year national labour agreement between social partners in Denmark. That came together in marathon bargaining over the weekend, 11-12 February, in framework talks for 240,000 Danish manufacturing workers and 6,000 enterprises, the latter represented by Dansk Industri.

	The trade unions, led by the eight making up Co-Industri, including 3F, Dansk Metal and HK/Pivat, in concert with the Danish Confederation of Trade Unions (LO), set an agenda of wage moderation, instead focusing on winning excellent and precedent-setting job preservation protections such as training, seniority, and reduced work hours at full pay for both old and young workers.

	This industrial social accord now establishes the parameters for other work sectors. The agreement will run from 1 March 2012 to 1 March 2014. The national industrial agreement did establish minimum wage guideposts, but exact wage increases will now be negotiated at local levels and inside company agreements.

	The framework agreement grants training at full pay with business downturns and when reductions in work time occur, and it also allows older workers to reduce their working time within five years of retirement by continuing their income levels through salaries and partial pension benefits. Workers will also have the option to tap into current pension plans as a supplement to salaries.

	A key element in the new agreement is an additional &euro;.05-per-hour worked will be added to the national Industrial Training fund.

	Employee discretion in taking training options increases from two weeks to six weeks, in some cases, and full seniority is granted to workers when they are called back from lay-offs within nine months. Previously, it was six months. As well, paid sick leave occurs after six months on a job rather than the previous nine months.

	The new pact is also kinder to lower-income earners and gives better pay-outs when such workers are laid off. Parental leave was made more flexible and added pension accrual was put in place for weekend, holiday or extra work performed.

	The recommended minimum wage increase is &euro;.18-per-hour effective 1 March, and the same amount again on 1 March 2013. A pay supplement of 1.4% each year is available for performing difficult work, and apprentices, trainees and interns will get a 2.25% pay hike in each year.

	The bargaining, which began in early January, nearly reached dispute when HK/Privat , the Commercial and Clerical Workers&rsquo; Union, sought to drop the 50% benchmark regarding number of staff needed before a collective agreement takes effect. A compromise was struck that gives employers the opportunity to sign labour agreements without the 50% threshold and HK/Privat coverage also was expanded to include administrative staff working as trainees and college students.

	The agreement was widely praised in Denmark as the necessary building block to restore some 80,000 industrial and manufacturing jobs that have been lost in the country since the onset of the financial crisis.

Enlightened Industrial Labour Pact Set in Place in Denmark for 240,000 Workers

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	&nbsp;

	The ICEM &ndash; along with the European Mine, Chemical, Energy, Federation (EMCEF) &ndash; will march in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, tomorrow, 16 November, in support of 5,200 British workers who are seriously threatened by Unilever with closure of a final salary pension scheme. The ICEM and EMCEF will join European workers of the world&rsquo;s third largest consumer goods company in protest at the company&rsquo;s Rotterdam headquarters.

	The message &ndash; Unilever, Don&rsquo;t Make Workers Pay for Your Profits &ndash; will specifically target Unilever CEO Paul Polman for his 2010-11 salary and bonus pay-out of &euro;8 million. Unilever is out to slash between 20-40% of pension earnings to UK workers represented by trade unions Unite the Union, GMB and the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers&rsquo; (USDAW).

	<img alt="" src="" style="width: 141px;height: 159px" width="390" />

	Jennie Formby

	&ldquo;Executive greed and compensation must be challenged,&rdquo; stated United National Officer Jennie Formby. Polman saw a 50% increase in his total earnings from 2010 to 2011, some 285 times that of the average Unilever worker.

	The Rotterdam manifestation comes just days two weeks after Unilever posted a strong set of financial numbers in its latest results and three weeks after UK workers from several Unilever sites descended on Davos, Switzerland, where Polman served as one of the co-chairs at the World Economic Forum.

	The three British unions have engaged in two rounds of industrial actions against Unilever at 11 plants, the latest coming with 11 days of rolling strike actions that ended on 28 January. Unilever UK management did finally agree to meet with the unions on 9 February with the assistance of UK&rsquo;s Advisory, Conciliation and Mediation Services (ACAS), but the company is still adamant on closing the final salary pension scheme effective 1 July 2012.

	Unilever instead intends to implement a pension scheme based on career average earnings. Formby said Polman&rsquo;s vision of doubling Unilever&rsquo;s revenue stream over the next ten years and creating &ldquo;sustainable living&rdquo; is disingenuous in view of cutting workers&rsquo; pensions.

	Tomorrow&rsquo;s manifestation will begin at 12h00 at Unilever&rsquo;s offices at Weena 455, Rotterdam. The ICEM also will raise concerns over the 5 February closure due to a labour dispute at Unilever&rsquo;s Basamadi, Nepal, factory. The dispute at that facility, which produces Lux and Lifebuoy soaps and Pepsodent and Close-Up toothpastes, is close to a resolve this week after intervention from the Nepalese government.

Unilever Rotterdam Protest Pits Corporate Compensation vs. Workers’ Pension Cuts

ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin - No. 77, February 2012

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	Warning strikes across Austria&rsquo;s electric energy sector slated for tomorrow, 15 February, brought a national labour agreement to 21,000 workers over the weekend. ICEM affiliate PRO-GE and GPA-djp, the Salaried Employees, Print, Journalism, Paper Union reached accord on 12 February after the third round of bargaining last week failed.

	In keeping with a decision made in worksite meetings after the second round of talks failed, late in January, the two unions got strike endorsement from the Austrian Federation of Trade Unions (&Ouml;GB) and were to start manifestations today, with warning strikes commencing tomorrow.

	Instead, the employers&rsquo; association moved a previous 3.6% wage offer to over 4%, with the minimum level of wages in the utility sector lifted to 4.2%. Higher-level wages will be increased by 3.8%, while those of apprentices will be hiked by 4.2%.

	The two unions took the stalemate in 2012 wage negotiations to union memberships at the shop-floor level because employers were refusing to come close to wage level increases reached in Austria&rsquo;s metal sector last October, or to account for a 2011 inflation rate of 3.2% that continues to rise. The unions also cited rising company earnings as reason why electric generating and distribution companies could pay what was achieved in the nation&rsquo;s metal sector.

	In a statement issued yesterday, PRO-GE&rsquo;s Manfred Anderle and GPA-djp&rsquo;s Karl Proyer jointly said: &ldquo;Our great thanks go to all employees and to the shop stewards, who made this possible through their solidarity and readiness for action.&rdquo;

Threat of Strikes in Austria’s Electric Sector Brings National Accord

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	The Australian High Court last week refused to hear an appeal by Rio Tinto over the company&rsquo;s illegal non-union collective agreements imposed on iron ore miners in West Australia. The denial is a victory for ICEM affiliate Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU), which took the case forward, and a victory for legitimate collective bargaining rights.

	It also stands as a rebuke to Rio Tinto in its efforts to avoid 2009 changes in Australian labour law.

	The 10 February ruling not to hear Rio&rsquo;s appeal to a 25 July 2011 determination by the full bench of the country&rsquo;s Federal Court means Rio&rsquo;s sham labour agreement from July 2008 is not a genuine collective agreement. (See <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4571-Australia-s-CFMEU-Wins-Major-Bargaining-Ruling-Against-Rio-Tinto">ICEM report</a> on Federal Court decision from 1 August 2011.)

	It also serves as an invitation for iron ore miners &ndash; and others &ndash; in West Australia&rsquo;s rich Pilbara region to take membership in the CFMEU, with the aim to negotiate real enterprise labour agreements through the union.&nbsp; The High Court ruling will also negate other mining firms such as BHP Billiton, which also converted individual work agreements into non-union labour agreements that were intended to keep trade unions away from workers and workers without a union voice.

	In Rio Tinto&rsquo;s case, it brought ten new hires of its Pilbara Iron Company Pty. Ltd. subsidiary into a bogus Pilbara Iron Employee Agreement for a five-year duration that was meant to include all other new hires during that time. The ploy was done to avoid changes in law that took effect with the July 2009 effective date of the Fair Work Australia law.

	Some 20 such delusionary labour agreements are said to have been put in place to avoid the Fair Work law, and Rio Tinto&rsquo;s legal failure last week is expected to strike the ones that are still in effect null and void.

	&ldquo;Rio Tinto made a cynical attempt to circumvent their obligations under the Fair Work laws,&rdquo; said CFMEU Mining General Secretary Andrew Vickers. &ldquo;It has tried to dodge its obligation to recognise the rights of its workers to genuinely collectively bargain for future pay increases and improved conditions.

	&ldquo;It has been a long legal battle, but it&rsquo;s been worth it to safeguard the rights of our members in the Pilbara and demonstrate that Rio Tinto is not above the law,&rdquo; added Vickers.

Australian High Court Denies Rio Tinto’s Appeal to Evade Union Contracts

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ICEM Belgian affiliate Centrale G&eacute;n&eacute;rale-FGTB and the chemicals company Clariant made temporary peace over the weekend in a pitched industrial strike by blue-collar workers in Louvain-la-Neuve. In weekend talks between the union and Clariant Benelux, the blue-collar workforce accepted reinstatement of one of two discharged shop stewards and resumption of social dialogue based on trade union rights and safeguards of freedoms, said the FGTB. 
 
Mohamed Loukili and Kemal Bennaceur were sacked by Clariant on 27 July for faithfully carrying out union responsibilities inside the workplace. This weekend&rsquo;s negotiations won reinstatement for Loukili, while Bennaceur decided earlier to accept a pay-out package from Clariant and depart the company. 
<img alt="" src="" width="231" height="164" />
Strikers Surround FGTB Rep Mohamed Loukili at 17 August Manifestation
A 17 August strike manifestation at Clariant plant gates in Louvain-la-Neuve saw 200 workers and supporters call on Clariant to reverse the anti-social sackings. Three days before the annual summer shut-down, managers announced dismissal of the two union representatives. That caused a strike by the entire 45-worker blue-collar unit, a strike that threatened the safety of some 100 white-collar staff when work resumed last week. 
 
The ICEM congratulates the FGTB on winning this important union rights test, and notes it is the second time in a month that Belgium&rsquo;s Socialist Union has won reinstatement rights for sacked job leaders. It happened at Belgian Refining Corp. (BRC), near the Port of Antwerp, when two union delegates were reinstated through dialogue on 15 July between FGTB-ABVV and BRC managers. (See <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4558-BRC-Belgium-Conflict-Settled-Sacked-Oil-Workers-Reinstated ">ICEM story</a> here) 
 
Clariant&rsquo;s chemical plant in Louvain-la-Neuve is part of the Swiss company&rsquo;s Masterbatches division and produces colour chemicals for inks and textiles.

Union Rep at Clariant in Belgium Reinstated

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Jack Layton, the soul of a progressive Canada and leader of the NDP, passed away Monday, 22 August, of cancer. For the past decade and more, Layton has led a populist surge in Canada that has given NDP, the party of fairness and justice, the official opposition stamp &ndash; since May 2011 &ndash; to the ruling neo-liberal Tories. Layton was 61. 
 
Layton had recently been diagnosed with his second bout against cancer. He died at 4h45 on 22 August in his home and surrounded by his family. 
 
Layton&rsquo;s energy and conviction inspired ordinary Canadians and statements on his passing testified to that. Statements by North American unions said Layton&rsquo;s inspiration, ideas, and vision must push faster forward. 
 
In a statement to Canadian unions, the ICEM said, &ldquo;What happens in Canada has global significance&rdquo; (see full <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/100.ICEM.Jack%20Layton.Canada.23August.pdf">ICEM letter</a>). The ICEM remembers Layton as a courageous fighter for social justice, depicted best in his own words on the labour strife brought by Vale, the Brazilian mining giant, or to the Mexican government on its union smashing. 
 
In Sudbury at the beginning of a bitter year-long strike Vale provoked against Canadian living standards, Layton stood among thousands of miners, and emphatically said, &ldquo;They cannot take away what working people have built over generations in this country, or this town.&rdquo; 
<img src="" width="290" height="161" alt="" />
Toronto: Tributes to Jack Layton
In 2009, Layton was part a global labour mission to Mexico sponsored by the ICEM and International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF). He accurately summarised the full trade union climate in Mexico: &ldquo;We made it clear that the government&rsquo;s interference in union governance, it&rsquo;s jailing of union leaders and freezing union bank accounts, declaring strikes illegal and failing to prosecute the killers of union leaders, are serious and unacceptable violations of basic human rights.&rdquo; 
Dave Coles, President of the Communications, Energy, Paperworkers (CEP) of Canada said: &ldquo;I knew Jack Layton as a principled social democrat who was utterly committed to social justice and peace. Thousands of our members knew Jack by his first name, as a leader who had reached out to them in their workplaces and communities. Jack Layton paid attention to our members&rsquo; deepest concerns and gave them unqualified support in their struggles.&rdquo; 
Ken Neumann, Canadian National Director of the Untied Steelworkers (USW), said: &ldquo;Jack reawakened Canadians to the reality that government can &ndash; and must &ndash; play a positive role in ensuring the economic and social wellbeing of its citizens. Steelworkers will help lead the way in honouring Jack&rsquo;s legacy by carrying on his fight to build a better Canada and a better world.&rdquo; 
Ken Lewenza, President of the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) said in a message to the NDP: &ldquo;At Jack&rsquo;s passing, your voice of conscience is needed more than ever. Your efforts can and will make a difference in the direction of our country.&rdquo; The CAW also said in mourning, progressive Canada must reflect on Jack&rsquo;s vision for Canada &ldquo;and how we can endeavour to make some of his cherished ideas a reality.&rdquo; 
 
Jack Layton was born in Hudson, Quebec, into a political family. He entered public service in 1982 as a member of the Toronto City Council after leaving academia. His years on the city council of Canada&rsquo;s largest city were marked by many accomplishments concerning poverty, homelessness, public transport, and environmental stewardship. In 2004, Layton won election to the federal Parliament as NDP leader, and the NDP has grown steadily to where it now is the logical political choice for a social Canada, and beyond. The ICEM letter said Jack stood always for workers, the poor, the disenfranchised. 
 
Jack is survived by his wife, Olivia, his dedicated political partner; and a son, Mike, a member of the Toronto City Council, and daughter, Sarah, who works for the Stephen Lewis Foundation.

ICEM Mourns Passing of Canadian Stalwart Jack Layton

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