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In Peru, 800 iron ore miners, members of Sindicato de Obreros Mineros, an affiliate of Federaci&oacute;n Nacional de Trabajadores Mineros, Metalurgicos y Siderurgicos del Peru (FNTMMSP) began a strike 19 June against Chinese state-run Shouda Iron and Steel Group (Shougang). 
 
The strike at Peru&rsquo;s only iron ore mine at Marcona, 350 kilometres south of Lima, was caused when managers of Shougang Hierro Peru failed to meet wage demands of miners, who are among the lowest paid in the country&rsquo;s mining industry.
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The mine union, connected with ICEM affiliate FNTMMSP, is seeking wage increases equivalent of US$1.69-a-day, while Shougang offered only the equivalent of US$0.42-a-day. Shougang&rsquo;s miners earn a salary of only US$13-a-day, far below the average Peruvian mining salary of US$33-a-day, according to Peru&rsquo;s National Society of Mining, Petroleum and Energy. 
 
Union members at the mine last week blocked the entrance, preventing the company from using contract work to continue the work. Meanwhile, Peru&rsquo;s government has declared the strike a legal one, meaning the company must continue negotiating with the union and the Labour Ministry can impose an increase to workers&rsquo; salaries if work is to be re-started. 
 
Shougang declared force majeure on all iron ore exported from Peru, the majority of which is destined for Japan and China. The Chinese state company bought the mine in 1992 from a state-run Peruvian company for US$118 million, and has increased production since 2002 by an average of 20% per annum. 
The increased production has caused numerous safety concerns, which have not been addressed, and Peru&rsquo;s Energy and Mines Ministry says the company has not met investment commitments tied to the sale.

Miners Strike Chinese Iron Ore Operations in Peru

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The European Mine, Chemical, and Energy Workers&rsquo; Federation (EMCEF) held its 7th General Assembly in Istanbul, Turkey, 15-16 June under the banner &ldquo;The Future of European Integration.&rdquo; Attended by 200 delegates, the assembly notably adopted a motion on trade union rights and freedoms in Turkey that included support of the country in its negotiations with the EU for accession. 
 
In a letter to Turkish social policy ministers and to Turkey&rsquo;s chief negotiator with the EU, EMCEF noted the &ldquo;significant progress&rdquo; in accession talks, but &ldquo;that from a trade union perspective a lot remains to be done in terms of collective bargaining and trade union rights and freedoms. Full democratization is the only way towards integration.&rdquo;
<img height="66" alt="" src="" width="100" />&nbsp; 
 

The motion on the subject states that EMCEF &ldquo;supports membership negotiations between Turkey and the EU, (and) should end up with full membership of Turkey with all requirements being fulfilled. Additionally, (EMCEF) calls upon the government of the Republic of Turkey to take radical steps towards securing fundamental rights and freedoms within the framework of trade union rights and freedoms.&rdquo; 
 
The General Assembly also included a panel and plenary session on &ldquo;Perspective of European Integration in Light of Global Challenges.&rdquo; The discussion focussed on the future of EMCEF activities that could strengthen the social dimension of European integration. EMCEF intends to get trade unions at both national and European levels to inject more initiatives on this most important issue.

EMCEF’s General Assembly Addresses Turkey’s Accession, Social Dimensions to Integration

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ICEM Costa Rican affiliate Sindicato de Trabajadores Petroleros, Qu&iacute;micos y Afines (SITRAPEQUIA) has criticised the government of Dr Oscar Arias S&aacute;nchez for continuing rhetoric favouring privatisation of state oil company RECOPE. 
In a 15 June circular, the union points out that the company has operated effectively and efficiently since it was nationalised in 1974, a fact that finds other Central American governments attempting to replicate such management. 
 
&ldquo;We don&rsquo;t understand how our government can pretend to imitate the way these Central American governments have operated, meaning handing this important activity into the hands of multinational oil companies,&rdquo; the statement read. 
SITRAPEQUIA&rsquo;s strong rebuke comes as Arias is using political measures to ratify the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) with the US, an agreement which could lead to the sell-off of successful and highly-profitable state companies. The Costa Rican president made such overtures before an ILO audience in Geneva, Switzerland, on 7 June. 
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The union contends RECOPE has fulfilled its role on national development over the past decades, and that the oil company can serve to reduce poverty and as a means toward better redistribution of wealth. It also says that privatisation proposals of basic industries have consistently failed at the legislative level due to legitimate rejection by the public. 
 
SITRAPEQUIA union members massed with other Costa Rican trade unions affiliated to national centre Confederaci&oacute;n de Trabajadores Rerum Novarum (CTRN) in a march and demonstration in the capital city of San Jose. 
The 7 June mass demonstration, numbering 10,000, was over both Arias&rsquo;s intended remarks at the ILO, as well as over a constitutional court ruling that weakens union protections for public sector workers, an adjustment in accordance with CAFTA.

SITRAPEQUIA Out to Protect State-run, Costa Rican Oil Company

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The ICEM&rsquo;s joint project with affiliate General Union of Petroleum, Mining and Chemical Workers of Palestine (GUPMCWP) to develop leadership of women began 10-12 June in Amman, Jordan. Heavily supported by NOPEF, Norway&rsquo;s dominant oil union, the seminar was attended by 23 women from GUPMCWP.
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Workshops dealt with collective bargaining and health issues, and were led by ICEM Women&rsquo;s Officer Carol Bruce and Turid &Oslash;ygard of NOPEF. ICEM&rsquo;s two Jordanian affiliates, General Union of Petrol and Chemical Workers Union, and the General Trade Union of Workers in Mining and Metal Industries, cooperated in developing the workshops. 
 
Union-building work with GUPMCWP, as well as work in support of unions in Iraq, has been identified as a priority by the ICEM&rsquo;s Middle East/North Africa Region, and the initial women&rsquo;s project with ICEM&rsquo;s Palestinian affiliate was agreed to in 2005 by the ICEM&rsquo;s Secretariat and GUPMCWP leadership.
A report of the meeting can be found in <a href="/index.php?id=71&amp;doc=1967&amp;la=AR">Arabic here</a> and in <a href="/index.php?id=71&amp;doc=1967&amp;la=EN">English here</a>.

ICEM’s Palestinian Women’s Project Begins with Training Workshops

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The Thai subsidiary of French-based public relations giant Publicis Groupe has withdrawn its ill-brought libel lawsuit against Junya Lek Timprasert and the Thai Labour Campaign (TLC). Lawyers for the company dropped the suit, which was before Bangkok&rsquo;s Southern Criminal Court, on 20 June. 
 
The TLC, with Lek as coordinator, has received strong support from the ICEM over the years in its efforts to reveal human rights and labour rights violations in Thailand. Their &ldquo;crime&rdquo; in the Publicis Thailand case was to republish an article from CSR Asia Weekly on the TLC website regarding an unfair dismissal case brought forward by five women workers of the public relations subsidiary.
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The company, in 2005, had charged TLC and Lek with &ldquo;defamation by propagation&rdquo; in the Thai court. Lek faced jail time, while TLC might have had to pay monetary damages and seen limitations to its valuable work, had global pressure not been brought against the French public relations company to drop the lawsuit. 
 
&ldquo;It is frustrating that we, who are directly in contact with workers that produce for the world and witness many rights violations, cannot bring situations to the attention of the world without the risk of being sued,&rdquo; said Lek. &ldquo;Furthermore, workers who report to us, of course, face all kinds of pressures and risk being dismissed.&rdquo;

Lawsuit Dropped by French PR Firm Against Thai Labour Campaign

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The refusal by oil service companies doing business in Norway&rsquo;s oil patch to harmonise a national agreement with other collective agreements in the oil industry has caused selective strikes. The strikes began on 21 June by ICEM affiliate NOPEF, and threaten to disrupt North Sea oil production, as well as impacting development and well maintenance work. 
 
NOPEF called 87 workers out on strike after arbitration between the union and the Oil Industry Association (OLF) failed on 20 June to achieve a new two-year pay deal. The oil service companies struck include Halliburton, Baker Hughes, Schlumberger, Weatherford and Oceaneering. The companies affected primarily maintain wells, aid new drilling exploration, and assist drilling production operations in the North Sea. 
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NOPEF's Lars Myhre
NOPEF is seeking to harmonise the oil service agreement with other national agreements covering testing, drilling, tug-piloting, catering and other operational areas, agreements that already have common working conditions. &ldquo;Oil service companies do not want staff on regular weekly schedules and regular rotations,&rdquo; said NOPEF&rsquo;s Lars Myhre, ICEM&rsquo;s Energy Section chairman, adding, &ldquo;They are only interested in their own flexibility demands.&rdquo;

NOPEF Seeks Harmonisation of Norwegian Oil Contracts by Striking Service Companies

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In the US, ICEM affiliate United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) is combating unprecedented mining accidents that have occurred this year in unorganised coal mines, with both court room action and legislative efforts. The UMWA, on 8 June, filed a federal lawsuit in Washington, D.C., against the Bush administration&rsquo;s Mine Safety &amp; Health Administration (MSHA). 
 
The lawsuit seeks to compel MSHA to begin conducting random checks of oxygen devices used in underground mine emergencies. The lawsuit also seeks to force the mine safety bureau to train miners on the use of such devices. 
 
A day before the lawsuit was filed, the US House of Representatives voted 381 to 37 to approve stricter mine safety regulations. The proposed law would mandate mine operators to provide two hours of oxygen in underground mines, and would give them three years to install communication and tracking equipment in underground mines.
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It also requires companies to report any life-threatening accident within 15 minutes of occurrence and requires all mines to have on-site rescue teams, something only UMWA-staffed mines have at present. In May, the US Senate approved the measure, strongly backed by the UMWA, and it now must go to President George Bush for his signature before becoming law. 
 
To date in 2006, 33 deaths have occurred in US coal mines, all of them in non-union worksites. The majority of those deaths have been caused from carbon monoxide poisoning following explosions, a fact compounded by faulty breathing devices and insufficient oxygen supplies in underground mines.

Mine Workers in US Take Steps to Improve Safety

<a href="http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/article_page.aspx?ar=1582&amp;L2=1&amp;L3=106">OUTSOURCING GROWS UP</a> 
 
Written in early 2005 by two partners of the McKinsey&rsquo;s London office, this article shows that the ICEM views on contract and agency labour are beginning to be accepted by influential Management Consultants. 
 
According to the article, the main objective of the first companies using outsourcing, was purely to reduce costs. That has changed somewhat. It is now generally accepted that companies also use contract and agency labour to improve their operational performance. 
 
The authors&rsquo; research shows that, in spite of this change,&nbsp;few companies changed the way they make their deals. They also say that that &ldquo;up to 50% of outsourcing arrangements fail to deliver the expected value&rdquo;. 
 
Examples are given of companies experiencing severe problems during the operation of the contract, due to the fact that they did not have a clear strategy at the beginning of the process. Towards the end, the article argues to work with all the internal stakeholders that will be affected by the move, including union representatives. 
The article can be found here: 
<a href="http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/article_page.aspx?ar=1582&amp;L2=1&amp;L3=106">http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/ 
article_page.aspx?ar=1582&amp;L2=1&amp;L3=106</a>

Useful Background Articles on Contract and Agency Labour

The 20-million-member ICEM today condemns King Gyanendra and his autocratic rule in Nepal for the arrests and intimidation of dozens of pro-democracy activists in the days leading up to a four-day general strike beginning tomorrow, 6 April. The ICEM also condemns the absolute monarchy&rsquo;s threat to civil servants and professionals, who have been served notice that participation in the strike could mean dismissals or job transfers to remote areas of the Himalayan country. 
 
Specifically, the ICEM calls attention to the arrest yesterday of General Federation of Nepalese Trade Unions (GEFONT) official Ramesh Badal. He was seized in New Baneswer as he was speaking to the Professional Alliance on joining the strike. Badal heads GEFONT&rsquo;s Department of Labour Relations. 
<img height="137" alt="" src="" width="131" /> 
 
Ramesh Badal
&ldquo;Arrests of activists before major strikes and demonstrations have become all too common in Nepal,&rdquo; said ICEM General Secretary Fred Higgs. &ldquo;But this makes them no less appalling. Real rights and freedoms will not exist until Nepal&rsquo;s monarch lifts his absolute rule and allows political parties to function.&rdquo; 
 
The ICEM, a Global Union Federation consisting of 389 affiliates in 122 countries, including four in Nepal, supports the 6-9 April general strike as a means of challenging Gyanendra&rsquo;s autocratic rule, now in place for 14 months. This week&rsquo;s general strike is being called by a wide ranging political coalition called the Seven Parties Alliance. The royal government has countered the strike with prohibition orders banning all assemblies inside the greater Kathmandu area.

ICEM Condemns Arrests, Repression Leading to General Strike

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Exactly one week after the Howard government&rsquo;s WorkChoices legislation in Australia went into effect, labour unions across the country have mounted campaigns to alert workers of the dangers. The unions also are preparing to oust Prime Minister John Howard from office at the time of next elections in 18 months. Several unions have established websites where workers can post and respond to employer abuses. 
The new law went into effect on 27 March and, in short, dismantles collective bargaining in favour of a system of individual contracts and exempts employers with fewer than 100 workers from unfair dismissal claims. 
In the first week alone, Australian unions have noted a rash of abuses. For instance, in South Australia, a hotel has announced a restructuring plan in which it will half its workforce, and place all staff on individual contracts with longer work hours. At another business in New South Wales, a company sacked all 29 of its employees and invited them to apply for 20 jobs based on individual contracts with salaries of A$180 per week less. 
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ICEM affiliate Australian Manufacturing Workers Union has begun a campaign entitled &ldquo;WhatChoice?&rdquo; and the Australian Council of Trade Unions, in conjunction with several states, is bringing legal action to reverse the law.

Australia’s Labour Reform Strips Workers of Protections

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