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The mining world&rsquo;s largest stop-work action so far in 2006 ended on 31 August when Chilean copper miners of the Escondida Workers&rsquo; Union No. 1 voted, 1,607 to 121, to accept a 40-month collective agreement. 
A settlement, which ended the 25-day strike, occurred the day before when the union and BHP Billiton, the lead company in Minera Escondida Ltda., agreed to salary and bonus terms with the regional Labour Ministry serving as mediator. The Escondida mine is located in Chile&rsquo;s northern Region II. 
 
Miners won a satisfactory share of the huge profits made by the world&rsquo;s biggest copper producer. The union&rsquo;s 2,052 miners will receive a salary increase of 5% above Chile&rsquo;s inflation rate, or 8%, and a one-off bonus of US$17,000 per miner. The union had amended its demands in last week&rsquo;s bargaining to 8% above the inflation rate and a bonus of US$29,000. 
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The new agreement also includes universal health care coverage, education allowances, and interest-free loans, totalling about US$4,000 per miner. Workers began returning to their jobs late last week, with full production expected by the end of this week. 
 
Under Chilean labour law, workers can sign individual contracts and return to work after 16 strike days. BHP Billiton was hoping this would occur as it called for strike-breakers and a return to normal production. However, the company&rsquo;s scab plan failed and it increased a final pay offer when it became apparent that only a handful of miners &ndash; estimated at 20 &ndash; abandoned the strike. 
 
BHP Billiton, a 57.5% stakeholder in Minera Escondida, said in a statement that it is &ldquo;convinced that the final result of this large process will prove beneficial to both sides.&rdquo; The company and other stakeholders have seen profits triple from Escondida during the first six months of 2006, from US$936.9 million in the first half of 2005 to US$2.92 billion. The strike at the operation producing 8% of the world&rsquo;s copper supply stoked fears of a global shortage of the red metal. The current copper market is one of high demand, causing high pricing. 
 
The settlement will now loom large in negotiations between Chilean state-run copper company Corporacion Nacional del Cobre (Codelco) and its unions, covering 17,000 miners. Codelco&rsquo;s workers are among the lowest paid miners in Chile, while Escondida workers are now the highest. Negotiations between Codelco and unions at three of its four divisions begin in October 2006, with contract expirations coming on 30 November and 31 December. 
 
Codelco stands as the world&rsquo;s biggest copper company, with huge reserves at its Andina, Norte, El Salvador, and El Teniente mines. Some 25% of the world&rsquo;s total supply of copper originates from Chile.

Chile’s Copper Strike at BHP Billiton’s Minera Escondida Ends

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Several French trade unions are resisting the government&rsquo;s forced privatisation of Gaz de France through a merger with French-Belgian water and power concern, Suez Group. Three salaried administrators on the company&rsquo;s board, representing the trade union CGT, were successful last week before an Appeals Court in Paris in ordering the utility&rsquo;s management to hold an extraordinary board meeting to discuss anti-trust concerns raised on 18 August by the European Commission. 
 
That board meeting was held on 1 September, six days before French parliamentarians will take the matter up in the National Assembly. All four unions represented on Gaz de France&rsquo;s board, including FO, CFE-CGC and ICEM affiliate FCE-CFDT, claim that the objections by the European Commission present serious warning signs and warrant full disclosure. 
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The government-brokered merger deal was set in motion last spring by French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin to block a hostile takeover of Suez by Italian energy company Enel. If a Gaz de France-Suez merger were to become a reality, it would break a pledge contained in a 2004 French law which states that at least 70% of Gaz de France would remain in the state&rsquo;s hands. The proposed &euro;72 billion merger would mean the government&rsquo;s stake in the combined company would be diluted to 34%.
The CGT is threatening a strike sometime in September if the proposal in the National Assembly to validate the merger isn&rsquo;t defeated. In addition, CGT, FO and CFTC have called for national mobilisations on 12 September against the privatisation. 
 
FCE-CFDT is hostile to privatising Gaz de France and believes the state must continue to be the major shareholder of the utility. But the union is not opposed to closer cooperation between Gaz de France and Suez.

French Unions Press Issue on Gaz de France Privatisation

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The Mineworkers&rsquo; Union of Namibia (MUN) has scored an important victory for fixed-term contract workers at a diamond-cutting and polishing factory in the capital city of Windhoek. Last week, ICEM affiliate MUN successfully completed negotiations with the Namibian managers of Israel-based Lev Leviev Diamonds LLD. The agreement will make 356 mainly young workers into permanent employees, complete with rights and benefits. 
 
&ldquo;Workers are happy about the fact they have representation,&rdquo; MUN General Secretary Joseph Hengari told the ICEM. &ldquo;There have been many shortcomings in work procedures since this factory started and our duty now is to bring these technicalities to a close to the benefit of workers.&rdquo; 
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In late July, about a quarter of the workers at the Lev Leviev enterprise struck after they were given an ultimatum by managers to sign new 12-month-long individual contracts for the third time. Strike leaders contacted the MUN, whose intervention ended the strike and began collective negotiations with the company. 
 
MUN&rsquo;s involvement also proves beneficial to the company, which had been operating without knowledge of local laws, without a functioning human resources department, and without a proper method of salary calculations. In fact, one major grievance that led to the 27 July strike was the fact that individual contracts disqualified the workers from getting a basic salary unless they reached certain production quotas. 
 
MUN will soon become the official bargaining representative at the Lev Leviev plant. During two weeks of intense negotiations in August that covered a number of employment issues including salary and remuneration, MUN and the company agreed to make the 356 workers permanent effective 1 September. All 356 applied for membership to the MUN. In addition, another 56 were classified as trainees, but will progress from that status to permanent workers in the near future. The company also says it intends to bring another 120 trainees into the plant, with the aim of having a total of over 500 permanent workers. 
 
The diamond-cutting and polishing operation opened in mid-2004 and has a capacity to produce 25,000 carats of polished stones monthly. The factory currently is dependent on rough stones mined from another Lev Leviev enterprise, the Sakawa Mining Corporation of The Netherlands, located in offshore areas of southern Namibia. But the company is attempting to convince the Namdeb Diamond Corporation, the country&rsquo;s joint venture with DeBeers, to supply rough stones to the factory in order to fully promote local beneficiation of Namibian diamonds.

ICEM Namibian Affiliate Succeeds in Making Diamond Polishing Jobs Permanent

Nigerian oil workers&rsquo; unions NUPENG and PENGASSAN demand the immediate release of a comrade recently kidnapped in Bayelsa State. Nelson Ujeya, the Community Liaison Officer for Shell Petroleum Development Company Ltd, a trade union member of white-collar PENGASSAN, was abducted on 8 August following an official visit to the Letugbene community to examine community projects. 
 
A NUPENGASSAN union communiqu&eacute; said the kidnapping occurred &ldquo;in the full glare of a team of senior Bayelsa State Government officials&rdquo; following the coordinated visit with officials to Letugbene. 
The two ICEM affiliates demanded in the statement &ldquo;that the Government and good people of Bayelsa should immediately produce our member whom they invited to a Community-related assignment.&rdquo; 
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&ldquo;On our part, considering the escalation of kidnapping and other violent acts in the Niger Delta Region, we are under tremendous pressure to take action that will guarantee the safety of lives and properties of our members.&rdquo; 
 
In Nigeria, NUPENG and PENGASSAN have been consistent in the call for a stop to the senseless kidnappings of oil workers&rsquo; of any nationality, but also for state and federal governments, as well as oil industry enterprises, to do more inside Niger Delta communities. 
 
The two unions, operating under the aegis NUPENGASSAN, call for education and skill development, and other meaningful social protections that improve the quality of life in these oil-rich areas. The ICEM stands behind the efforts of NUPENGASSAN, and applauds their trade union voice on this extremely serious problem in the global oil industry.

Call for Release of Kidnapped PENGASSAN Member in Nigeria

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Two UK trade unions, the Transport &amp; General Workers&rsquo; Union (TGWU) and Amicus, received a new pay offer last week after they issued a date for a one-day work stoppage. Pirelli of Italy increased its pay offer made to 1,100 tyre workers in the British Midlands to 3%, after attempting to force an unacceptable 2.2% raise on workers. 
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Workers and their union leaders at a Pirelli tyre plant in Carlisle and at another facility in Burton-on-Trent chose this coming Friday, 24 August, for industrial action. TGWU and Amicus members will now consider the offer in consultations. A Pirelli spokesman said the company was hoping to &ldquo;move forward from our national dispute&rdquo; to an agreement. 
 
The company offered 1.1% when bargaining began in April. Workers voted for industrial action by 75% after the company had revised the pay offer to 2.2%. TGWU represents most workers at the two Pirelli worksites, including the auto and light truck tyre plant in Carlisle.

Pirelli Heads Off UK Industrial Action with New Tyre Offer

CEP労組支部 、ストーラエンゾーが新たに提示した協約案を検討 
 
ノヴァスコチア州ポートホウクスベリーにあるストーラエンゾ工場のカナダ通信エネルギー製紙労組 (CEP) 支部組合員はこの週末に会社側が提出した協約案を検討するために集会を開く予定だ。フィンランド/スウェーデン系の同社は、４日間の集中交渉の後、６月１０日、CEP９７２支部に新協約案を提示した。５月３０日、同社は、６月２４日までに協約が妥結しない場合、６００人の製紙労働者が働くこのコーティング紙・新聞用紙工場を閉鎖すると 通告している。ストーラは、カナダ東部の製紙産業パターン方式協約で認められている以上に作業・業務をアウトソーシングし、これまで以上のフレキシビリティーを確保したいと主張し、２００６年１月２６日からロックアウトを開始した。５月初めに再開した団体交渉で、会社側は１４〜１８％の賃金及びその他の手当の削減を含むリストラ案を提示した。今回提示された協約案には１０％の賃金カットが含まれている。 
 
６月１０日に提示された協約案の詳細はCEP９７２支部の組合員が検討するまで公表されなかった。６００人の製紙労働者のロックアウトは現在２１週間目に入った。 
 
 
フランスの労働組合、フランスガスとスエズの合併問題で６月２０日にスト 
 
フランスの３労組は、６月２０日、国営フランスガス社とフランス/ベルギー系の水道及び電力会社スエズの合併問題から政府が手をひくことを求めて、共闘ストを行うことを決めた。CGT、FO及びCFE-CGCのエネルギー部会は、６月２０日、作業停止と大規模なデモと集会を行う予定だ。イタリアのエネルギー会社エネル社が進めているスエズの敵対買収を阻止する目的でドミニック・ヴィルパン首相が提案し、政府が仲介して進められているこの合併案は、フランスガスの経営権は最低限７０％を政府が所有することを規定した２００４年制定の法律に違反することになる。７２０億ユーロ規模のスエズとの合併が実現した場合、政府所有の経営権は３４％となってしまう。 
 
フランスの国務大臣のニコラス・サルコジーが、先週、この合併案は議会及び政府幹部の支持を失いつつある、と述べたため、フランスの労働諸組織は後押しを得た形となった。１日ストとデモはこの合併案を可能にする法案について今週議会で審議される時に合わせて実施される。 
 
 
ストーラエンゾ、ブラジルのアルクルズ．セルローズ、契約労働に依存過多 
 
ICEM加盟組織のフィンランド製紙労組とフィンランド労働組合連帯センター (SASK)が委託した調査研究によると、ストーラエンゾとアルクルズ．セルローズが共同経営しているブラジルのパルプ工場は契約労働への依存度が高すぎることが判った。 
この研究はブラジルのナショナルセンターCUTの外郭研究機関である社会問題研究所が６月７日に発表したもの。同研究所は、このジョイントベンチャーにはあまりにも多くの下請け業者が入っているために適正にモニターすることが出来ないと報告している。 
 
工場はVeracel Florestal Ltdaという会社で、バイア州エウナポリスにある。この工場ではパルプ製造に使うユーカリの収穫に下請け業者を使っており、大規模な環境問題を起こしている。また、工場ではパルプ製造には正規労働者を雇用しているが、その他の部門の作業の大半は問題となっている下請け業者を使っている。その結果、賃金は全般的に低くなり、雇用条件も低下した。上述の研究報告は、この工場では安全衛生にも問題があり、工場の労働者及び地域住民共に化学物質に高いレベルでばくろしている、と指摘している。この工場は2005年に操業を開始し、年間９０万トンのユーカリパルプを生産している。 
 
 
IGBCEとドイツ化学産業経営者団体、家庭を重視した協約議定書を発表 
 
ドイツのICEM加盟組織、 IGBCEと化学産業経営者団体、BAVCは６月１２日、職場において家庭重視の政策を実施しようと共同声明を発表した。この種の合意はドイツでは初めて。 
 
このイニシアチブは仕事と家庭間の適正なバランスの実現に向けたパイオニア的取り組みとなる。「この合意は仕事と家庭の両立に向けた大きな前進だ。」と IGBCEのエデルトラウト・グランザーは言う。彼女は、これからポジションペーパーには化学産業の職場において実施されるべき諸策を挿入する必要がある、と付け加えた。ドイツの家族問題担当長官のウルスラ・ヴォン・デルレイデンは調印式に出席し、「労働組合と使用者団体がこのような家庭重視の労務管理政策について宣言した事実が仕事と家庭のより良いバランスの決定的前提条件となる。」と述べた。 
 
 
トリニダッド・トバゴ石油労組、協約交渉停止に抗議し、スト突入 
 
トリニダッド・ドバゴの加盟組織、石油油田労組(OWTU)は先週、国営石油会社ペトロリンで再度ストを行使した。ストは暗礁に上がっている賃金交渉、安全衛生問題及び２人の従業員のレイオフに抗議して、６月５日と６日の二日間行われた。 
 
５月１１日、１日１６万バレルの稼働能力を持つ石油精製所に働く従業員を除く、陸上及び沖合操業の事業所に働くOWTU組合員は昨年から停止状態にある協約交渉の再開を求めてストを行った。石油精製所に働く労働者たちは３年間協約改定を要求し、この３月に２回ストを実施した。先週の場合は、経営側が協約妥結に向けて誠実に交渉に臨むと誓約したため、組合側はストを停止した。しかし、OWTUは大きな前進が見られない場合、引き続き争議行為を実施すると警告した。OWTUは 2005年&minus;2008年間の協約締結に向けて、意味ある対話が出来るよう、経営側との交渉に臨んでいる。 
 
 
米国のタイヤ労働者２万７千人を適用対象とする協約交渉始まる 
 
USWは今月、ミッシェランの北米子会社のBFグッドリッチと、また、６月１４日からブリヂストン/ファイヤーストーンと交渉を開始する予定だ。これらの３企業はタイヤ産業では最も大規模な会社であり、米国のゴム産業のマスター協約となる。USWはグッドイヤ-で１万７千人、ブリヂストンで６千人、ミッシェランで４千人の労働者を組織している。 
 
USW はこれら３社の中から１社をパターン方式協約交渉のターゲットとし、他社との交渉のモデルとしたいと考えている。現行の３年間協約は７月２２日に発効期限が切れる。 
 
 
米国のデュポン２工場で協約妥結 
 
USWは最近、米国内にあるデュポン社の２つの化学工場で新たに協約を締結した。この別々の協約は長期間の交渉の後妥結し、過去数年間凍結されていた賃金の値上げも含まれている。ケンタッキー州ルイスビルにあるフッ素化合物を生産する工場には９５人のUSW組合員が働いている。同工場の２年間協約は５月３１日に妥結した。この工場の労働者たちは過去４年半の期間協約なしの状態で就労していた。協約では４％の即時賃上げと２００６年９月からさらに３％の賃上げが合意された。 
 
デラウェア州エッジモールにあるニ酸化チタニウム工場の３年協約では４％、３％、３％の賃上げが協約で合意された。この協約の適用対象となっている労働者は１３０人あまり。今回の協約には最低限の要員数が規定された。また、特定の医療保険給付金についての権利放棄の条文が削除された。両工場の交渉ではデュポンは医療保険給付金のカットを一方的に押し付けようとし、USWを公式団体交渉から外そうと試みるライバルの労組も経営側の譲渡を受け入れた。 
 
 
ニューランド労組、９０日の見習い期間法案に反対 
 
ニュージーランドの労働組合は、使用者は採用から９０日間に処罰なしに労働者を解雇できる法案に反対し、６月２日、毎週一回のピケの抗議運動を開始した。この反対運動を主導するのはICEM加盟組織のエンジニア印刷及び製造産業労組 (EPMU)。 
 
６月２日、 EPMUは法案を提出したウェイン・マップのタカプナにある選挙事務所の前でピケを行った。この後、反対運動はオークランドや選抜したターゲット地区で実施される予定だ。また、６月２１日にはウワンゲレイで大規模な集会 が、７月２０日にはオークランドの議会前でデモ行進と集会が予定され、この雇用関係法改正案反対運動を盛り上がっていくことになっている。この法案が成立した場合、採用後９０日間の労働者の苦情申し立て条項はすべて削除される。この法案は、マップが率いる国民党に他の４党が加わり、２００６年３月１５日に議会において賛成６３票反対５８票で最初の審議を通過した。政府と緑の党は労働組合とともにこの法案に反対している。 
 
 
全米鉱山労組、 安全問題でブッシュ政権を追及 
 
全米鉱山労組 (UMWA)は，現在、今年未組織炭坑で起きた労災事故に関連し、裁判闘争と法案改正運動を展開している。UMWAは６月８日、ブッシュ政権の鉱山安全衛生局 (MSHA)を連邦裁判所に告訴した。告訴状の争点はMSHAによる地下炭坑の緊急時に使用される酸素吸入器の抜き取り検査の実施とすること、炭坑労働者を対象にしたこの機器の使用についての訓練の実施の義務化だ。告訴の前日、米国下院は賛成３８１票、反対３７票でこれまでよりも厳しい鉱山安全法を採択した。この法案で２時間分の酸素吸入装置の使用の義務化と３年以内に地下炭坑用の通信装置と追跡装置の設置を 炭坑会社に義務づけている。 
 
また、石炭会社は死亡者が発生する可能性がある事故は発生後１５分以内に報告し、すべての炭坑事業所内に救援隊を設置することが義務付けている。現在、事業所内に救援隊を設置しているのはUMWAが組織している炭坑のみである。この５月、米国の上院は、UMWAの強い支持を受け、この法案を採択した。現在、この法案が法律として成立するためにはブッシュ大統領が署名するだけの状態だ。米国で２００６年に起きた炭鉱事故ですでに３３名が亡くなっている。これらの死亡事故はすべて未組織炭坑で発生した。死亡原因の大半はガス爆発による一酸化中毒である。つまり、酸素吸入器の不具合と地下炭坑での不十分な酸素供給が死亡者を多数出した理由であることは明白だ。 
 
 
トルコ炭坑事故、許せない政府・ビジネス関係者の発言 
 
６月１日、トルコのウルサンベイある民営未組織のセンタス炭坑でメタンガス爆発が起き、坑内のシャフトが崩れ落ち、１７人が死亡し、９人が重傷を負った。炭坑事故は毎日のように世界各地で起こっているが、この事故は特に留意する必要がある。それは、トルコの石炭産業関係者らやエネルギー天然資源大臣が「この種の事故は石炭産業ではよく起こる。」と発言したからだ。 
 
他の諸国と同様、トルコでも炭坑や鉱物鉱山事業所が遠隔地に拡大しており、安全衛生リスクが高くなっている。特に、労働組合が基準の履行をモニターできない場合、危険性が高くなるのが実情だ。今回の事故と担当大臣及び石炭産業経営者団体による冷淡な発言に対して、ICEM加盟組織のトルコ炭坑労組は、トルコには炭坑の安全衛生を規定する法律はあるが、きちんと法規定の基準を履行していないため、多くの労災事故が起きている、と指摘した。「この労働組合がこの事業所内で組織されていたならば、安全基準は守られていた。労働組合がある炭坑では労災事故数が著しく少ない。」と同労組は言う。 ICEMは ６月１日、トルコ炭坑労組に宛てた書簡の中で、同労組のトルコ鉱業における安全衛生の取り組みについて絶対的支持を表明した。

ICEM InBrief  ２００６年６月１２日発行

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On 1 June, 17 coal miners died after a methane gas explosion caused a collapse of shafts at a mine owned by the privately-held Sentas Madencilik mining company in Dursunbey, Turkey. Nine other miners were seriously injured at the unorganised mine in Belıkesir province. 
 
The tragedy, just one in a series of underground mining accidents occurring across the world on almost a daily basis, deserves attention due to the response from business interests inside Turkey, as well as from the minister of Energy and Natural Resources. That response was to explain away the Dursunbey deaths as &ldquo;such things happen in the mining industry.&rdquo;
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But in Turkey, as in many other countries, the expansion of coal and minerals mining into remote areas by more and more operators brings with it higher safety risks, particularly when those mines are operated without the monitoring and compliance that trade unions offer. 
 
Following the Dursunbey tragedy and the cold-hearted remarks by both the government&rsquo;s minister and an employers&rsquo; organisation, ICEM affiliate Maden-Īş Sendikasi said that although mine safety legislation is in place in Turkey, weak enforcement is to blame for many mine disasters. &ldquo;If there were unions at this workplace, safety regulations would be followed,&rdquo; said the union. 
 
&ldquo;Where there are unions&rdquo; in mines, &ldquo;the number of accidents declines noticeably,&rdquo; added a Maden-Īş spokesperson. The ICEM addressed the 1 June Turkish mining catastrophe in a letter to the union by issuing unequivocal support for Maden-Īş&rsquo;s health and safety efforts across the mining industry in Turkey.

Turkish Mine Deaths Illuminated by Callous Official Comments

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The United Steelworkers (USW) achieved new collective agreements at two DuPont chemical plants in recent weeks in the US. The separate contracts are long overdue and contain wage increases for USW members that have been denied to them for the past several years. 
 
At a Louisville, state of Kentucky, fluorochemicals plant where 95 steelworkers are employed, a two-year agreement was put in place on 31 May. Workers there had been without a current agreement for the past four-and-a-half years. The accord calls for an immediate wage increase of 4%, while 3% was won effective in September 2006.
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At a titanium dioxide plant in Edge Moor, state of Delaware, USW members agreed to a three-year contract with DuPont that will provide wage increases of 4%, 3% and 3%. Some 130 workers are covered by this new agreement, which also contains a minimum staffing requirement and removes DuPont&rsquo;s waiver language on certain health care benefits. 
 
At both locations, DuPont has attempted to unilaterally impose cuts to health care benefits, and has supported rival unions in efforts to overthrow USW as the official bargaining representative

Two DuPont Labour Agreements Fall in Place in US

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Bargaining in the US tyre industry began on 9 June when the United Steelworkers (USW) kicked off talks when Goodyear Tire &amp; Rubber Co. and America&rsquo;s largest industrial union exchanged proposals in Cincinnati, Ohio. 
 
USW also begins talks with Michelin&rsquo;s North American subsidiary BF Goodrich this month, and bargaining with Bridgestone/Firestone begins on 14 June. The three companies represent the largest of the tyre firms which comprise the master rubber agreement in the US. The union represents some 17,000 Goodyear employees, 6,000 Bridgestone workers, and 4,000 at Michelin.
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USW is expected to select one of the three as the &ldquo;target&rdquo; company, in which it hopes to achieve a pattern contract that will be taken to the others. Current three-year contracts in the US tyre industry expire on 22 July.

US Tyre Talks Begin for 27,000 Workers

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A study commissioned by ICEM Finnish affiliate Paperiliitto and the Trade Union Solidarity Centre of Finland (SASK) says a greenfield pulp mill in Brazil operated jointly by Stora Enso and Aracruz Celulose is too dependent on contract workers. 
The study, released 7 June by Observatorio Social, the research institute connected with the Brazilian trade union centre CUT, reports that the joint venture has so many contractors that it cannot adequately monitor them.
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The mill, called Veracel Florestal Ltda. and located in Eun&aacute;polis, state of Bahia, utilises contractors in the harvesting of eucalyptus for the mill, which causes immense environmental damage. Also, the mill relies on questionable contractors rather than permanent workers for most tasks at the mill, except for the actual production of pulp. 
 
The result is that overall salaries are driven down and labour contract terms circumvented. The study also reports that health and safety is compromised, and there is too much exposure to chemicals by both workers and those living in Eun&aacute;polis. The pulp mill went on line in 2005 and can produce 900,000 metric tonnes per year of eucalyptus pulp.

Stora Enso, Brazilian Aracruz Celulose Too Dependent on Contractors, Study Says

Archive

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Call for Release of Kidnapped PENGASSAN Member in Nigeria

Pirelli Heads Off UK Industrial Action with New Tyre Offer

ICEM InBrief ２００６年６月１２日発行

Turkish Mine Deaths Illuminated by Callous Official Comments

Two DuPont Labour Agreements Fall in Place in US

US Tyre Talks Begin for 27,000 Workers

Stora Enso, Brazilian Aracruz Celulose Too Dependent on Contractors, Study Says

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