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<img height="40" alt="" src="" width="100" />
The former battery workers at two Gold Peak Industrial Holding plants in China who had been diagnosed with excessive levels of cadmium had their case heard in a Chinese court on 3 November. Some 146 workers &ndash; mostly young women &ndash; are being victimised by the Hong Kong-based company.
In 2004, some 400 workers at two of Gold Peak&rsquo;s battery plants in China engaged in strike action to overcome the company&rsquo;s refusal to carry out health tests. Now, Gold Peak is arguing that the 146 workers have no legal basis for claims to compensation, claims for lost working time, or re-employment. 
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The 146 employees, 95% of whom are women between ages 20 and 30, worked at the Gold Peak battery plants of Huizhou Xianjin and Huizhou Chaoba in Guangdong province. In documents, the workers said they were terminated from employment and given little compensation when high levels of cadmium were found in their bodies. The Huizhou city government had certified that a total of 177 Gold Peak workers had been tested and that excessive levels of cadmium had been found in their blood systems. 
 
The Chinese court, after hearing the case on 3 November, adjourned without issuing a verdict. 
 
Investor-based Gold Peak operates several battery-producing factories in China, and sells the batteries under different brand names worldwide.

Gold Peak Battery Workers Have Their Day in Court in China

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ICEM French affiliate FCE-CFDT is demanding that Bayer Pharmaceutical tend to all its social obligations in the German company&rsquo;s recent announcement of location changes inside France. After last summer&rsquo;s purchase by Bayer of Schering Pharma, the company announced last week it was moving the offices of the pharmaceutical division from Puteaux near Paris to the northern French town of Lys-lez-Lannoy, just inside the Belgian border.
<img height="67" src="" width="100" alt="" />
The pharmaceutical branch of FCE-CFDT warns that 500 jobs could be threatened by the move. &ldquo;Important social consequences&rdquo; will arise, FCE-CFDT said in a statement, &ldquo;because not all Puteaux workers will go north. In addition, there might be collateral consequences for staff of other divisions of the company, including Bayer SAS and Bayer Jardin.&rdquo; 
 
The union is calling on Bayer to commit itself to propose &ldquo;an acceptable solution to every worker impacted by the decision,&rdquo; and FCE-CFDT demands that an extraordinary meeting occur to address the social and economic future of the site at Puteaux.

FCE-CFDT in France Warns Bayer on Social Consequences of Move

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The National Federation of Mining, Metallurgy, and Steel Workers UNION (FNTMMSP) of Peru will hold a national session of all its affiliates in Lima on 22-23 November in order to formulate plans for a national strike. 
 
The ICEM affiliate said its discontent is aimed not at mining companies, but rather at the government. A bill now before Peru&rsquo;s Congress aims to change the way profit-sharing plans are regulated. The union also seeks to get the government to regulate and enforce the manner in which contract workers are employed.
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&ldquo;Our problem is a political problem,&rdquo; said FNTMMSP General Secretary Carlos Luis Castillo in a published Reuters report. &ldquo;On November 22 and 23, we will have a national session with delegates from all the country&rsquo;s unions, and we&rsquo;ll define the start date for the strike. 
 
Castillo added that in an era of high demand and high prices for base metals, &ldquo;we show that we aren&rsquo;t passive about things that are happening either because of government inaction or because of laws before Congress.&rdquo; 
 
Mining companies operating in Peru have seen huge profits coming from high global pricing of metals. FNTMMSP has consistently backed the needs of people living in mining areas by seeking more social investment and environmental safeguards for these areas. 
 
Peru&rsquo;s is the world&rsquo;s third largest producer of copper and zinc, and ranks fifth in global output of gold.

ICEM’s Peruvian Mining Affiliate Braces for National Strike

According to UNAIDS, more than 33 million people are living with HIV/AIDS. In 2008 alone, 2 million people died worldwide of AIDS, 2.7 million more were newly infected with HIV. The high death rates have turned the clock back reversing decades of development gains. The UN Millennium Goals look ever more unachievable. 
 
Medical science has advanced dramatically since HIV/AIDS was first discovered 30 years ago. The appropriate use of the right antiretroviral drugs (ARV) can give an infected person a high quality of life for many years. But too few people have access to life-saving drugs. Although the percentage of those needing ARV treatment who actually receive it rose from 7 percent in 2003 to 42 percent in 2008 or 4 million, about 5 million people are still not receiving it. 
 
The vast majority of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) are engaged in productive activity. HIV/AIDS is a union issue. Unions have workplace access and roots in the community; they fight discrimination, victimisation and stigma. Unions can build on the trust of workers; their capacity to negotiate agreements with companies is important in securing non-discrimination, non-victimisation, voluntary counselling and testing and anti-retroviral treatment. 
 
Women are particularly hard hit by the pandemic. Inequalities and dependency expose them to partner infidelity and sexual violence. Yet they are more aware of HIV/AIDS issues and have a vital role as carers of families, children and PLWHA. 
 
The ICEM covers sectors which are hardest hit by the pandemic such as mining because of the working and living conditions of miners. It also organises workers in the pharmaceutical industry. The ICEM and its affiliates are strategically positioned to play an important role in the fight against HIV/AIDS. 
 
Global Framework Agreements (GFA) are an invaluable tool for national affiliates to hold Multinational Companies (MNCs) responsible for what has been agreed at global level. Therefore an HIV/AIDS clause based on the ILO Code of Practice on HIV/AIDS and the world of work should be included in GFAs. The ICEM and its affiliates also seek agreement with key MNCs on the provision of voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) and treatment with effective and affordable drugs. It advocates the expansion of medical services to dependents and to the wider community. 
 
The ICEM supports the call to the international community for a long-term commitment to massively increase funding to provide protection and treatment. 
ICEM HIV/AIDS Project
The project started with a workshop for sub-Saharan African countries in November 2004. From 2005 to 2009 it was sponsored by the LO/TCO Secretariat of Sweden and FNV Mondiaal of the Netherlands with support from the Swedish and Dutch ICEM affiliates. The present project cycle from 2010 to 2012 is sponsored by SASK Finland and FNV Mondiaal. 
 
Achievements 
 
At the global level, an information policy is in place. The ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin has been published monthly since October 2005 and the ICEM web pages on HIV/AIDS are being updated. Affiliates are given guidance on World AIDS Day campaigns. Two manuals on collective bargaining and resources were published. Working relations are established with ILO/AIDS, UNAIDS, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the World Bank/International Finance Corporation and other organisations such as the World AIDS Campaign and the Global Business Coalition. 
 
The ICEM has lobbied hard for ILO HIV/AIDS Guidelines for the mining sector, which have yet to be adopted. An HIV/AIDS clause based on the ILO Code of Practice on HIV/AIDS and the world of work has been included in some ICEM Global Framework Agreements. The ICEM cooperates with the Global Union AIDS Programme. The wider impact of ICEM&rsquo;s HIV/AIDS work is demonstrated by the increasing recognition it receives. In terms of fundraising for sustainability, the ICEM has had some success (see projects below). 
 
An HIV/AIDS Consultant, based in Geneva, looks after the global aspects of the project. He is also in charge of additional projects which are listed below. 
 
At the regional level, national coordinators have been trained in five regional workshops which covered a wide range of topics. In 2008, missions to all project countries and three sub-regional workshops for Southern and East Africa, Anglophone West Africa and Francophone West Africa assessed the progress in the HIV/AIDS project and laid the basis for future activities. 
 
At national level, coordinating committees were established. In cooperation with national coordinators, they have elaborated annual projects which concentrated on peer education and advocacy for voluntary counselling and testing (VCT). Training of VCT counsellors was implemented in 2007 in four African countries with a grant from a major US pharmaceutical company. Pilot co-investment projects were discussed with major mining companies in Ghana and Namibia. Still lagging behind are negotiations on HIV/AIDS workplace policies and protective clauses in collective bargaining agreements. In 2009, most participating countries produced their own HIV/AIDS leaflets and other materials. 
 
The project in Africa is run by a Project Manager based in Johannesburg with the assistance of a coordinator for Francophone Africa, based in Abidjan. 
 
Additional Projects 
 
The ICEM managed to widen the scope of its HIV/AIDS work with additional funding from ICEM affiliates, solidarity support organisations and corporate partnership. 
 
The Danish LO/FTF supports a project on HIV/AIDS and the mining sector in Ethiopia, which runs until 2011. Major outcomes of this project in 2009 include an HIV/AIDS policy for the ICEM-affiliated National Industrial Federation of Energy, Chemical and Mine Trade Unions, the draft of an HIV/AIDS workplace policy as well as the production of materials for a toolkit for peer educators. 
 
The Humanity Fund of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers&rsquo; Union of Canada (CEP) co-sponsored a project in Nigeria together with the ICEM HIV/AIDS Project and the Nigerian affiliates NUPENG and PENGASSAN. The training of unionists as peer educators/lay counsellors led to a massive uptake of VCT among workers, their dependents and members of the community. An application for an extension of this project is pending. 
 
The CEP also made funds available for an HIV/AIDS project in Trinidad and Tobago in 2009 and 2010 in cooperation with the Oilfield Workers&rsquo; Trade Union. 
 
Collection of funds by the Women&rsquo;s Department of the German affiliate IG BCE enabled affiliates in Tanzania in 2009 to focus on gender issues and a large VCT campaign, which will be continued in 2010. 
 
Affiliates in Japan and Taiwan contributed to a programme in Mongolia in 2009. 
 
Discussions are underway with the Norwegian affiliate Industri Energi for a project in Jordan. 
 
The German pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim sponsored a large HIV/AIDS project in India in 2008 and 2009. With the technical assistance from the ILO Office in Delhi, master trainers were trained who in turn prepared peer educators for their awareness and prevention work at workplaces and in villages. The project also adapted ILO material, such as manuals, leaflets and posters for training purposes and mass distribution. 
For further information please contact the 
ICEM HIV/AIDS Consultant Hans J Schwass 
<a href="mailto:hiv.aids@icem.org">hiv.aids@icem.org</a> or <a href="mailto:schwass@bluewin.ch">schwass@bluewin.ch</a> 
+41 22 7574920, +41 79 3330394

ICEM Responding to HIV/AIDS

A nationwide power strike was postponed at the last minute in South Korea today. However, the dispute is unlikely to be resolved. 
<img height="263" src="" width="350" alt="" />
 
The Korea National Electricity Workers' Union (KNEWU) today agreed to hold four more days of talks with the government over plans to split up and privatise the national power utility KEPCO. 
 
The union - and a large proportion of the Korean public - oppose the privatisation scheme. 
 
The strike had been due to start at 5 a.m. today local time. It was temporarily postponed after the government threatened to impose emergency arbitration. This would have made any strike action illegal. 
 
But there are few signs that the government will back down over the power sell-off, union sources say. So strikes are still likely at the beginning of December. 
 
If the industrial action goes ahead, it may merge into a broader general strike. Today, for the first time ever, the presidents of the two national trade union confederations FKTU and KCTU agreed to hold a joint press conference about plans for a general strike next month. This will be in protest against the privatisation of state-owned companies, the structural adjustment programme in the bank industry and the sell-off of the Daewoo motor company. 
 
Meanwhile, a sit-in at the headquarters of the power utility KEPCO will continue, the KNEWU said. 
 
At the global level, the KNEWU is affiliated to the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM), which has pledged full support for the union's campaign. Asia-Pacific energy unions meeting in Bangkok this week also declared their solidarity. Energy unions in a number of Asian countries have been contending with World Bank-influenced plans to privatise their industries.

Korean Power Strike Postponed For Talks

South Korea faces a nationwide power strike from 24 November over plans to privatise the electricity sector. 
 
Notice of industrial action has already been served by the Korea National Electricity Workers' Union (KNEWU), which will ballot members tomorrow. The union says it will launch the action if the Korean parliament presses ahead with legislation to split up and privatise the Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO). 
 
The parliament's Standing Committee on Industry and Energy is due to consider the draft law by 23 November. The KNEWU has publicly opposed the plans from the outset. A recent opinion poll showed 90.8 percent of KEPCO employees ready to take part in protests, and the scheme has also run into growing opposition from the public at large. In fact, the restructuring is already behind schedule because parliament pulled back from adopting the legislation last year. 
 
KEPCO is one of South Korea's biggest public enterprises. By law, the government currently holds 52.6 percent of its equity. The corporation accounts for about 94.2 percent of the country's power generation, and has 44 GWh of installed capacity. It transmits, distributes and sells all of South Korea's electricity. In June this year, it employed 34,146 people. 
 
The government has tabled a four-phase privatisation plan, starting with a split-up of KEPCO's generation side from this year onward and full privatisation of generation by 2002. Full competition would be introduced into the wholesale electricity market in the period 2003-2008, and the retail side of the business would be sold off. Competitive retailing of electricity would be brought in from 2009 onwards. 
 
KEPCO's thermal and hydro generation units are already being hived off into five separate subsidiaries, as a prelude to privatisation. Its nuclear capacity will be kept as a wholly-owned KEPCO subsidiary for the foreseeable future. As in power sell-offs elsewhere, there may be few or no takers for the nuclear stations. 
 
One issue is the debts run up by KEPCO, but the union points out that these are the result of the government's own policy of providing cheap electricity to industry and to low-income households. KEPCO has a public service ethic which includes support for rural communities, small and medium-scale enterprises and the domestic coal industry. 
 
The union's fight against privatisation is &quot;not just a matter of job security,&quot; said KNEWU representative Kim Chae-Ro. &quot;Resolving KEPCO's debts through asset sales will destroy the company. The changes will lead to an industry where suppliers wield the sword.&quot; 
 
Globally, the KNEWU is affiliated to the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM), which has declared full support for the Korean union's action. 
 
&quot;Your powerful campaign has so far prevented the sell-off of your national utility,&quot; ICEM General Secretary Fred Higgs emphasised in a message to KNEWU President Oh Kyung-Ho today. &quot;In Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America and Africa, we are helping our unions to fight against destructive privatisation which has led to huge job losses, higher prices and declining health and safety conditions everywhere it has been carried out. In countries such as Mexico, Costa Rica, Hungary, Uruguay, Paraguay and Thailand, unions have campaigned successfully in favour of alternative models which safeguard the interests of workers, their families and the citizens. The ICEM strongly believes that energy is a social product. It should be produced and distributed for the good of all citizens, not just for the benefit of the few.&quot; 
 
At special ceremonies across South Korea today, KNEWU officers had their hair trimmed down to a monkish minimum. It was a token of their readiness - and a cutting comment on a sell-off that could leave Korea shorn.

Korean Power Strike Over Privatisation

How can workers face up to the might of the global corporations? 
	 
	By organising globally.

	That is why more than 20 million workers worldwide are already members of the ICEM, the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers&#039; Unions. 
	 
	The ICEM is a rapidly growing industry-based world labour federation dedicated to practical solidarity. It unites trade unions in its sectors on all continents. Its aim is to become a truly global trade union.

	<img alt="" height="43" src="" width="50" />

	Its main focuses are:
<ul>
	<li>
		<div align="justify">
			negotiating and monitoring global agreements with multinational companies - mainly on workers&#039; rights, equality at work and the highest standards of health, safety and environmental protection worldwide</div>
	</li>
	<li>
		<div align="justify">
			networking trade union reps within global corporations</div>
	</li>
	<li>
		<div align="justify">
			coordinating solidarity and support for member unions during disputes</div>
	</li>
	<li>
		<div align="justify">
			union-building in countries where unions are weak or non-existent</div>
	</li>
	<li>
		<div align="justify">
			providing information and expertise on topics ranging from collective bargaining to health and safety standards</div>
	</li>
	<li>
		<div align="justify">
			representing workers&#039; interests within the UN, its agencies and other intergovernmental bodies</div>
	</li>
	<li>
		<div align="justify">
			skills training and development work with trade union officers and rank-and-file union members.</div>
	</li>
</ul>

	 
	The ICEM organises in a wide range of industries: 
	 
	Energy 
	Exploration, production, generation, refining and distribution of all types of primary and secondary energy. 
	 
	Mining and Quarrying 
	Exploration, extraction and processing of hard coal and lignite, metallic and non-metallic minerals, clays, sands, gravels and gems. 
	 
	Chemicals and Bioscience 
	Research, production and refining of chemical elements, compounds and products, pharmaceuticals, chemo-technical products, petrochemical products, agrochemicals, plastics, plastic products and composites and artificial fibres. Research and manufacture of products and materials resulting from biotechnical methods or genetic engineering techniques. 
	 
	Pulp and Paper 
	Research, production and conversion of pulp, paper, board, kraft, paper packaging and other paper and board products. 
	 
	Rubber 
	Research and production of synthetic rubber and composites and fabrication of both natural and synthetic rubber products. 
	 
	Diamonds, Gems, Ornaments and Jewellery Production 
	Diamond and gem sorting, cutting and polishing; pearl farming and setting; ornament and jewellery manufacture. 
	 
	Glass, Ceramics, Cement and Associated Industries 
	Research, production and fabrication of flat glass, container glass, glass fibres, household glass, technical glass and all other glass products; all types of pottery, clay and ceramic materials, composites and products; cement, non-metallic minerals, composites and products. 
	 
	Environmental Services 
	Waste disposal and recovery, pollution control, recycling, cleaning and maintenance, laundry, dry cleaning and hygiene services, porterage and security and associated activities. 
	 
	Service and Miscellaneous Industries 
	Service and miscellaneous industries not falling within the scope of other International Trade Secretariats. 
	 
	 
	The ICEM membership includes all employee categories within its sectors.

	By March 2012, the ICEM represented 355 industrial trade unions in 115 countries. Enquiries are welcomed from other unions in ICEM sectors worldwide. 
	 
	The ICEM unites workers irrespective of race, nationality, gender or creed. It supports sustainable industrial development. The ICEM campaigns for the highest levels of health and safety at the workplace, and for environmentally responsible industrial products and processes. The ICEM is also committed to the global application of the best possible standards and practices - especially within multinational corporations.

	&nbsp;

	 
	Principal officers of the ICEM

	&nbsp;

	 
	<img alt="" height="198" src="" width="160" /> 
	 
	President 
	Senzeni Zokwana 

	&nbsp;

	<img alt="" height="169" src="" width="160" /> 
	 
	General Secretary 
	Manfred Warda

	 
	The ICEM promotes modern techniques of information exchange between affiliated trade unions, including computer networking. In particular, it is expanding trade union contacts and cooperation within the worldwide operations of the major multinational companies in its industries. 
	 
	As a clearing house for trade union expertise, the ICEM draws on a pool of specialists from its affiliated trade unions around the world. Its own staff provide rapid responses to unions&#039; specific questions on, for example, collective bargaining trends, company structures or the health hazards of a new industrial chemical. 
	 
	The ICEM believes that its policies must be locally &quot;owned&quot; by its rank-and-file membership - not handed down from above. These policies must be relevant to the day-to-day needs of its affiliated trade unions. The ICEM&#039;s union-building programmes carefully avoid the creation of client organisations. Its assistance to newly emerging industrial trade unions is on the basis of help for self-help. 
	 
	While maintaining its global unity, the ICEM has devolved some of its decisions and action to the world&#039;s different regions. 
	 
	Special provisions ensure that women workers throughout the world are properly represented within the ICEM, which runs programmes to meet their particular concerns. 
	 
	The ICEM issues a range of general and specialised publications, both in print and via the Internet. It also voices workers&#039; concerns within the world media. And its website at www.icem.org is first with the unions&#039; news and views. 
	 
	The ICEM often makes representations on workers&#039; behalf to national authorities and international bodies. These include the relevant specialised UN agencies, such as the International Labour Organisation and the World Health Organisation. 
	 
	The ICEM maintains close contact with the trade union movement&#039;s other sector-by-sector Global Union Federations (GUFs), with the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), with regional trade union bodies of all continents and with other organisations campaigning on issues that directly affect its members (for example, the environment and human rights). 
	 
	The world&#039;s major employers are now organised globally. Trade unions cannot lag behind. The ICEM believes that industrial trade unionism worldwide must concentrate on its main tasks - improving workers&#039; pay and conditions and recruiting new members.

The ICEM - who we are, what we do

Global Solidarity 
A newsletter for unionised Goodyear workers world-wide
 
Global Network Links Workers across Borders 
 
When more than 100 labor leaders and trade union representatives from 16 countries gathered in Cleveland, Ohio in March 1999, they decided to form a global network for Goodyear workers around the world. The goal was to open lines of communication worldwide and to share information of mutual interest. 
 
Publishing Global Solidarity is one facet in the creation of a network that builds international worker solidarity within a multinational corporation. With the continuing consolidation of the world tire industry, workers need a united global front to address common problems. 
 
The Cleveland conference and the establishment of a global network was a direct result of an agenda established during an ICEM rubber industry conference held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in June 1998. 
 
The delegates at the Cleveland conference elected a network steering committee comprised of Richard Davis (United Steelworkers of America), chairman; Yoshihiko Sawada (Gomo Rengo, Japan); Bill Holmes (Manufacturing Science &amp; Finance, U.K.); Carlos Antonio da Silva (Frente Unica de Borracha, Brazil); Thabang Nchele (National Union of Metalworkers, South Africa); and Peter Schmitt, (ICEM). 
 
The Steering Committee met in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on January 25, 2000 to set the network&rsquo;s direction. Among other things, the network held an initial meeting with senior Goodyear executives and proposed that a joint agreement on health and safety be negotiated. 
 
 
U.S. Steelworkers Win Contract Improvements 
 
On November 15, 2000, the Goodyear/Kelly Springfield/Dunlop Policy Committee of the United Steelworkers of America announced member ratification of changes to the Master Contract. The contract improvements are consistent with the industry pattern agreement established in the 2000 Bridgestone negotiations. 
 
Union workers at Goodyear and subsidiary plants in the U.S. will receive wage, cost-of-living and pension increases as well as language improvements in several areas, including preferential hiring and outside contracting. The agreement covers 12,000 employees at nine Goodyear locations, 5,700 workers at three Kelly plants and 2,600 workers at two Dunlop facilities. 
 
Negotiations between Goodyear and the Steelworkers began in March. Re-opener discussions were suspended March 10, about a month after the Steelworkers chose Bridgestone as its target company for pattern bargaining. When negotiations between Bridgestone/Firestone and the union concluded successfully in September, talks between the Steelworkers and Goodyear resumed. 
 
 
Asia/Pacific Unions Hold Regional Conference 
 
The ICEM hosted the Asia/Pacific Goodyear Network Workshop in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on July 25-26, 2000. The workshop resulted from actions taken at the ICEM World Rubber Conference of June 1998 and the ICEM-USWA Goodyear World Conference of March 1999, which directed Goodyear steering committees in all regions to conduct sessions. 
 
Yoshihiko Sawada, president of the Japanese Rubber Workers Union Confederation (Gomu Rengo, Japan) chaired the workshop that included 18 participants from five countries. Participants also came from SP KEP Goodyear Union, Indonesia; National Union of Workers, Australia; National Union of Employees in Companies Manufacturing Rubber Products, Malaysia; Centre of Indian Trade Unions; as well as ICEM-JAF and the ICEM. 
 
In addition to developing ways to network and communicate better, work groups discussed issues such as industrial health and safety, occupational diseases, and training and education programs. 
 
 
Goodyear Pushes to Bust Union in Colombia 
 
Despite extensive efforts over the past months to work with the company to reduce production costs at the Santiago de Cali plant, Goodyear management in Colombia is engaged in a blatant effort to undermine its collective bargaining relationship with the tire workers union SINTRAINCAPLA. 
 
The company unilaterally violated the union contract by hiring temporary workers in the production and maintenance departments. The collective bargaining agreement explicitly prohibits the use of temporary or contract workers unless the company and union agree. 
 
Workers at the plant have already accepted a number of concessions pursuant to collective bargaining negotiations with management aimed at saving jobs and keeping the plant open. 
 
 
Canadian Workers Reject Company Proposal 
 
Members of a Salaberry-De-Valleyfield, Quebec union, already on strike for six months, rejected a five-year contract proposal from Goodyear on November 15. Wage and job security issues were the reasons that members of Steelworker Local 919 overwhelmingly rejected the offer. The 76-member local, mainly office and technical workers at Goodyear&rsquo;s Valleyfield passenger radial facility, have been on strike since April 27, 2000. 
 
Local members have been working without a contract since July 1996. The union and the company have fought within Quebec&rsquo;s labor department over alleged exclusion of certain jobs from unionization. Initially the local was prevented by provincial law from striking, but regained that right earlier this year. 
 
The exclusion of jobs from bargaining units has continued to be an issue during the negotiations. Management&rsquo;s desire to turn union into non-union work, continued layoffs of Local 919 members, and increased use of subcontracting has reduced union employment by about 40% over the past decade. The Communications, Energy &amp; Paperwork Union represent production and maintenance workers at the plant. 
 
 
Indonesian Union Makes Proposal to Company 
 
In November, the SP.KEP Goodyear Indonesia (Chemical, Energy and Mine Workers Union at Goodyear Indonesia) 
 
initiated negotiations with PT. Goodyear Indonesia Tbk. The union is looking to improve wages, working condition and safety for its members. 
 
 
Goodyear Reneges on UK Union Agreement 
 
The company has mounted a major attack on two ICEM-affiliated unions in the United Kingdom. The Transport and General Workers Union and the MSF are battling to protect its members&rsquo; terms and conditions of employment as well as their ability to effectively represent membership. 
 
Goodyear has already announced layoffs (redundancies) of 540 workers at its Wolverhampton facility. More troubling is the way the company is handling the matter. In addition to the redundancy notice, the company has delivered 90 days notice that it is unilaterally canceling the long established employment security and severance payment agreement. 
 
ICEM General Secretary Fred Higgs and Goodyear Network chairman Dick Davis have urged the company to honor its commitments. 
 
The agreement, first signed in 1985, was revised and renegotiated as recently as October 1999. In September 2000, a Goodyear senior vice president promised the workers at Wolverhampton that the company would honor all existing agreements, including the Security of Employment Agreement. 
 
 
Operating Engineers Ratify Contract 
 
Striking workers at Goodyear&rsquo;s chemical plant in Houston, Texas overwhelmingly ratified a new contract in mid-December. The new agreement provides pension improvements and a first-year lump sum wage increase. 
 
Union solidarity was key in fighting Goodyear&rsquo;s demand for concessions on seniority rights, contracting out, health benefit cuts and wage reductions. Members of Local 347 of the International Union of Operating Engineers walked out on October 10 after rejecting the company&rsquo;s proposed new agreement. 
 
International unions representing Goodyear workers in France, Germany, Guatemala, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Peru, Colombia, Australia and the U.S. registered protests with the company and lent support to Local 347. 
 
In early November, the workers rejected by a 2-to-1 margin another company offer that called for contracting out 139 jobs or across-the-board pay cuts. Wages would have automatically been cut by 33%, health care cost would have increased and a number of jobs would have been phased out over a two-year period. 
 
The settlement covers 350 workers at a plant that manufactures emulsion styrene butadiene rubber, a material used in tire production. 
 
 
Anti-Union Tactics in Guatemala 
 
The ICEM reported last year that Goodyear has targeted workers in Guatemala with anti-union practices. Forty-eight production employees, members of STGINSA, at the Guatemala City plant were fired without just cause and two executive committee members of the union were suspended. 
 
The union said the action breaches the collective bargaining agreement, the labor laws of the country and the international labor conventions ratified by the government of Guatemala. Ron Hoover, USWA Goodyear Coordinator in the U.S. urged the company to &ldquo;take the necessary steps to restore the proper integrity to the collective bargaining process (in Guatemala) and protect the company&rsquo;s &ldquo;Good Name.&rdquo; 
 
 
European Unions Stand Up for Goodyear Workers 
 
The IGBCE of Germany and the FCE-CFDT of France have recently written support letters on behalf of Goodyear workers in Wolverhampton, UK, Houston, U.S. and Colombia, South America. The letters were written to Goodyear Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Samir Gibara. 
 
Both letters proclaimed support for the Houston workers&rsquo; fight for a new contract and condemned Goodyear&rsquo;s management for undermining negotiations in Colombia, as well as terminating a job security agreement in the U.K. 
 
IGBCE president Hubertus Schmoldt also cited serious problems with Goodyear at its Philippsburg, Germany factory. Schmoldt criticized the company for trying to wreck the collective agreement and for not reinvesting in the facility. 
 
Both unions appealed to the company to take a civilized approach of discussing and negotiating changes with both the workers and their unions. 
 
 
ICEM &amp; FUTINAL Host International Conference 
 
Leaders of 25 unions from Mexico, Guatemala, Venezuela, Colombia, Peru Chile and Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil and the United States, gathered in Praia Grande, Brazil in November 2000 to participate in a conference hosted by the ICEM and the Latin American United Tire and Rubber Industry Workers Front (FUTINAL). 
 
The tire and rubber worker trade unionists examined trends in the world industry as well as national, regional and global concerns. Measures were adopted that will improve the exchange of information between workers of different global tire companies that operate in the region. 
Several motions were passed that extended solidarity to Goodyear workers in the region. Members Guatemalan Goodyear union STGINSA received a pledge of support from the conference in their battle against the company&rsquo;s anti-union practices. 
 
A resolution condemning Goodyear&rsquo;s union busting attempts in Colombia was passed, as was a motion directed to the Colombian government that denounced death threats by right wing groups to labor leaders. 
 
A motion to offer international solidarity to the Titan Tire workers in Uruguay, members of FUNSA, also passed. This action denounced the recent agreement between Titan and Goodyear that reduces tire production in Uruguay and promotes the imports of Goodyear products. 
In an act designed to strengthen the links between workers across borders, it was decided that an international delegation of rubber workers would visit in early 2001 all the countries of the Americas affiliated with FUTINAL. Next year&rsquo;s conference will be held in Argentina. 
 
 
Goodyear-Pacific Dunlop Announces Restructuring 
 
South Pacific Tyres Ltd. is cutting production at one site and laying off workers at another in Australia. The joint venture of Goodyear and Pacific Dunlop looks to reduce costs and reverse company losses within six months. 
 
Heavy truck production will be halted at the Somerton plant and passenger and light tire production will be reorganized. The company also plans to lay off 500 workers at its Melbourne plant and reduce the product line at that facility. 
 
The National Union of Workers represents workers at these plants. 
 
 
Aircraft Tire Production Resumes in Brazil 
 
After a seven-year hiatus, Goodyear has resumed production of aircraft tires at its Sao Paulo, Brazil facility to meet increased demand. The company manufactured aviation tires at the plant from 1943 until 1992, when it suspended production. 
 
About 30 percent of the tire output will be for the Brazilian market while the rest will be exported to North America, Europe, Asia, Australia and other Latin American countries. 
 
Brazilian airplane manufacturer Embraer-Empresa Brasiliera de Aeronautica, the world&rsquo;s fourth largest producer of airliners and a Goodyear customer since 1969, is building a new domestic plant that the company will supply. 
 
 
Global Goodyear 
 
Goodyear is the world&rsquo;s largest tire company. In addition, it manufactures and markets worldwide several lines of belts, hoses and other rubber products for the transportation industry, as well as various industrial and consumer products. 
 
Goodyear operates 92 plants in 27 countries around the world. Thirty-two plants are located in the US, eight in Canada, 20 in Europe, two in Africa, 13 in Latin America and 17 in Asia. With the addition of its Dunlop tire joint ventures, Goodyear employs more than 100,000. 
 
Last year, Goodyear posted net sales of $12.9 billion and net income was $241.1 million. For the nine months ending September 2000, net sales increased 12%. 
 
Goodyear is the No. 1 tire maker in North America and South America and the largest in Europe. Chairman and CEO, Samir Gibara, earned $1.6 million USD in salary last year and exercised options worth another $216,000 USD during that time. 
 
 
Send Your News! 
 
Global Solidarity is published by the United Steelworkers of America, Five Gateway Center, Pittsburgh, PA. 15222, USA. 
 
If you have news and information for the next issue of Solidarity News, please send it to Don Faulkner by: 
 
Fax + 1 412 562 2520 or 
 
E-mail mailto:dfaulkner@uswa.org

Goodyear network Global Bulletin - English version

A grim New Year faces the Ukraine's unpaid miners and their families. 
 
40,000 miners have now launched an indefinite strike at the call of the Miners'Indepedent Trade Union of Ukraine (MITU). 
 
They have two demands: 
<ul>
 <li>
 <div>Payment of the wages owed to them. Wages and other social payments are now 11 months in arrears. The miners are owed more than 800 million US dollars. 
 </div>
 </li>
 <li>
 <div>Provision in the 1999 budget for state subsidies to the coal mines. </div>
 </li>
</ul>
Miners who see their families going hungry are now turning to acts of despair. 
 
This Monday, a MITU miner picketing the Lugansk state administration tried to burn himself to death. Alexandre Mikhalevich is in critical condition after suffering 45 percent burns to his body and lungs. 
 
Three other miners say they will resort to self-immolation unless the wage backlog is paid. 
 
At the global level, MITU is affiliated to the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM). 
 
&quot;The desperate act of Alexandre Mikhalevich reminds us immensely and painfully of the limits of what humans can endure,&quot; writes ICEM General Secretary Vic Thorpe in a solidarity message to MITU Chairman Mikhail Volynets. &quot;The sheer enormity of the wages and social payments due to workers cannot distract us from the thought that behind these figures are tens of thousands of men, women and children suffering in their limbs and souls. We realise that entire communities must feel that they have been brutally robbed of their past and of their future.&quot; 
 
But, Thorpe warns, &quot;our compassion cannot distract us from the firm belief that the response of organised workers lies in struggle - not self-annihilation. Yes, there are moments when we are overwhelmed by the complexity and magnitude of the problems in front of us, but the bitter experience of the ICEM's members is that there are no alternatives than to continue to fight for justice, dignity and solutions.&quot;

Grim New Year For Ukrainian Miners

GLOBAL AGREEMENT 
 
between
ANGLOGOLD LTD. (AngloGold) 
 
and 
INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF CHEMICAL, ENERGY, MINE AND GENERAL WORKERS' UNIONS (the ICEM) 
 
on 
 
THE PROMOTION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF GOOD HUMAN AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS IN ANGLOGOLD OPERATIONS WORLDWIDE 
 
1 PREAMBLE 
 
1.1 AngloGold is a South African based gold mining company with business operations in several countries around the world. The ICEM represents trade unions that organise workers in the mining industry worldwide. 
 
1.2 AngloGold and the ICEM record their mutual interest in the development and sustainability of the gold mining industry worldwide, and in good human resources and industrial relations practice. 
 
1.3 AngloGold and the ICEM agree to give practical effect to their common interest, and accordingly enter into this agreement to: 
 
&middot; create an effective channel for an ongoing dialogue between them to protect and advance their mutual interests; 
 
&middot; affirm the principles and values of internationally accepted labour relations and human resource practice;and 
 
&middot; establish a procedure for the resolution of disagreements that may arise from time to time. 
 
1.4 In pursuance of this objective and of advancing the interests of all stakeholders in the gold mining industry the parties seek to promote an industry that is safe, humane and productive. 
 
 
2 APPLICATION 
This agreement is intended to apply to operations, wherever situated, over which AngloGold has direct managerial control.The parties agree that no additional processes or rights other than those specified in this agreement will be imposed by the application of the agreement by ICEM affiliates. 
 
 
3 FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES AND VALUES 
 
The parties respect the following principles and values: 
 
&middot; the promotion of universal respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms for all, without distinction as to race, gender, language, national extraction, social origin, political opinion or religion; 
 
&middot; the rights of freedom of association with due regard to the principles underlying ILO Convention 87; 
 
&middot; the determination of the terms and conditions of employment through appropriate mechanisms, with due regard to the principles underlying ILO Convention 98; 
 
&middot; the elimination of all forms of forced and compulsory labour as proscribed by ILO Conventions 29 and 105; 
 
&middot; the effective abolition of child labour as proscribed by ILO Conventions 138 and 182; 
 
&middot; the elimination of discrimination and the promotion of employment equality in respect of employment policies and practices, with due regard to ILO Conventions 100 and 111; 
 
&middot; the provision of a safe and healthy working environment by the application of industry best practice; 
 
&middot; the conduct of mining operations with proper regard for the environment and for the health and safety of all those involved, and the public at large; 
 
&middot; the promotion of good relationships with local communities and a positive and meaningful contribution to community activities; and 
 
&middot; those principles and values referred to in the UN General Secretary's initiative, the Global Compact. 
 
 
4 IMPLEMENTATION 
 
4.1 Review and Application 
 
The parties agree to meet as often as is necessary, but at least annually, to review past practice and to preview future plans relevant to their interests, and to discuss the terms of this agreement. A sub-committee will be established to consider plans and proposals placed before it by either party following any alleged breach of accepted standards of conduct that could not be resolved at the level of local and national operation. 
 
4.2 Information Sharing and Training 
 
The parties agree to distribute copies of this agreement throughout their organisations to each appropriate level and area, and to advise the parties of their rights and duties under this agreement. 
 
 
5 ADMINISTRATION AND DURATION 
 
5.1 The General Secretary of the ICEM or a designated nominee and the Chief Executive Officer of AngloGold or a designated nominee is responsible for the administration of the agreement. 
 
5.2 The agreement will come into effect once signed and remains in force unless otherwise agreed or amended, or terminated by either party giving three calendar months&rsquo; notice, in writing, to the other. 
 
 
Signed by 
 
 
Fred Higgs, General Secretary, ICEM 
Bobby Godsell, CEO, Anglogold 
Senzeni Zokwana, President, NUM

Text of the Global Agreement between ICEM and AngloGold

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