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Legislation in South Korea to revise how contract and agency labour is regulated became deadlocked in the country's National Assembly. The country's two national labour centers--FCTU and FKTU--have joined hands and said passage in the bill's existing form would ensure a general strike across Korea. 
Employers are seeking a top pay rate of 70% coupled with the use of contract and non-regular labour on an unlimited basis. The union federations, whose top two leaders 22 April announced they would start a hunger strike over the issue, back a recommendation from the National Human Rights Commission of Korea which states the bill must provide part-time workers with full labour pay rates, and contain guarantees of full rights and safeguards against discrimination.

Korean Reform Legislation On Contract Labour

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The world&rsquo;s largest newsprint producer, Canadian-based AbitibiBowater, will exit from bankruptcy in mid-October, some 18 months after it sought protection from creditors in both Canada and US. A creditors&rsquo; committee last week gave approval to a restructuring plan that includes novel and company-saving collective agreements that were negotiated last spring, preserving pensions and granting unique union rights. 
 
Those agreements on both sides of the North American border between the forest products company and the Communications, Energy, Paperworkers (CEP) of Canada and the United Steelworkers (USW) in the US kept the company solvent and operating. They also gave AbitibiBowater immediate financial relief, yet preserved some of the best union rights language in the North American paper industry. 
 
Last week&rsquo;s unsecured creditors vote came a day after the province of Quebec announced it would grant relief on contributions to workers&rsquo; pension plans in exchange for the company investing C$75 million in new projects over the next five years, as well as to maintain its headquarters in Quebec. 
 
The CEP and its President, Dave Coles, applauded both the province&rsquo;s and creditors&rsquo; actions, but reminded that the federal government has been conspicuously absent from issues to preserve the Canadian forest products industry.
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CEP President Dave&nbsp;Coles&nbsp; 

&ldquo;Workers have done more than their fair share to save this company, in marked contrast to our federal government which did nothing to come to the aid of ailing forest communities,&rdquo; said Coles. &ldquo;We will remember the Harper government&rsquo;s inaction at election time.&rdquo; 
 
The CEP preserved its pattern bargaining for the eastern Canadian paper sector in court-monitored negotiations with AbitibiBowater last spring. Although the five-year agreement contained 10% wage cuts for the first two years, it did protect existing and future retirement benefits with the company contributing C$500 million to a new, union-operated pension fund. In the US, in a four-year pact, USW members took a lesser salary reduction for the same period but won several union rights issues unique in American labour agreements. 
 
In Canada, the restructuring plan under the country&rsquo;s Companies&rsquo; Creditors Arrangements Act (CCAA) now goes before a Quebec Superior Court judge on 20 September for approval, while in the US, a conformation hearing under Chapter 11 of the US Bankruptcy Court occurs 24 September in the state of Delaware.

Newsprint Maker Abitibi to Emerge from Bankruptcy, Thanks to NA Paperworkers

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A 17-day strike by members of the Australian Manufacturing Workers&rsquo; Union (AMWU) ended last Wednesday, 15 September, against Megabolt Australia Pty. Ltd., a Campbellfield, Victoria, producer of nuts, bolts, roof plates and other metal gear primarily sold to the mining industry. The 25 metalworkers won an exceptional contract in their first enterprise labour agreement with the company, owned by the Hutchins family&rsquo;s Wham Investments. 
 
Megabolt workers took up the AMWU banner after being stymied by a thriving company over wages. Some employees had worked up to ten years at wages of A$15 an hour, barely above the Australian minimum wage.
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photo: Tim Laurence
After maintaining 24-hour picket lines since the strike started on 30 August, Megabolt General Manager Tom Hutchins admitted he wanted labour peace and a resumption of production because, as he stated in a local newspaper, &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got more business to win and jobs to create &hellip; I don&rsquo;t want anything more than to get a resolution.&rdquo; 
 
That resolution came in the excellent three-year accord. Workers won a 10% wage increase, backdated to 2 June 2010, with 4.5% increases to come each in 2011 and 2012. In addition, the AMWU won an A$750 ratification bonus for each worker, and the union negotiated permanent and full-time work status for all casual workers who have been on the job for longer than six months. 
 
Other gains include monthly rostered days off, improved redundancy provisions, an award-aligned classification structure, language on use of contractors, as well as health and safety and union rights. 
 
&ldquo;We&rsquo;re ecstatic with the outcome,&rdquo; said AMWU delegate Zelko Cimboro inside Megabolt. &ldquo;We got the outcome we wanted and the workers definitely feel stronger together now.&rdquo;

Australia: Vigilant Strike Leads to Superior Gains for AMWU Members at Megabolt

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The Mining and Energy section of the Construction, Forestry, Mining, and Energy Union (CFMEU) welcomed remarks by BHP Billiton CEO Marius Kloppers last week that carbon pricing in Australia must be part of the mix in meeting the challenges of climate change. 
 
CFMEU National President Tony Maher said in a statement on 17 September that BHP Billiton&rsquo;s breaking from the rest of industry on a future carbon tax is &ldquo;a big step in the right direction.&rdquo; 
 
&ldquo;As the world&rsquo;s largest mining company, BHP has laid down a challenge to the other mining operations and the Minerals Council,&rdquo; said Maher. &ldquo;The scare campaigns on climate change cannot be repeated,&rdquo; he added, referring to a hot-button issue inside Australia that was at top of the list in the toppling of the Kevin Rudd government.
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CFMEU National President Tony Maher&nbsp;
Kloppers made his comments in a speech on 15 September at a lunch in Sydney to a forum of the Australia-British Chamber of Commerce. He said eventually a global initiative regarding carbon pricing will come and when it does, &ldquo;Australia will need to have acted ahead of it to maintain its competitiveness.&rdquo; 
 
The BHP executive said, &ldquo;Carbon emissions need to have a cost impact in order to cause the consumer and companies to change behaviour and favour low-carbon alternatives.&rdquo; Before the business leaders, Kloppers called for &ldquo;a mosaic of initiatives&rdquo; to reduce carbon emissions, including a &ldquo;combination of a carbon tax, land use actions and limited (carbon) trading systems&rdquo; covering power plants. 
 
The speech marked a dramatic shift in public views voiced by resource-rich mining houses and industry alike on the climate change debate in Australia. Following the speech, both business and industry leaders denounced the speech. 
 
However, CFMEU suggested BHP Billiton&rsquo;s shift, along with the appointment of Parliamentarian and former Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) Secretary Greg Combet as new Minister for Climate Change, has turned the tide on the debate. The Labour Party&rsquo;s Combet is currently assembling a climate change committee in hopes that legislation implementing a carbon pricing system will be readied by 2012. Opposition parties in Australia, the Liberals and Conservatives, are boycotting the committee.

CFMEU Applauds BHP Billiton’s Shift to a Carbon Tax in Australia

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Members of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) in South Africa strongly rejected last Thursday (16 September) a weak wage proposal from Northam Platinum Ltd., thus extending a 15-day strike by 8,600 miners at the company&rsquo;s Zondereinde mine in Limpopo province. The two sides will meet again tomorrow, 21 September, under auspices of the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation, and Arbitration (CCMA) in Polokwane, but the two sides are far apart. 
 
The strike started with the night shift on 5 September, following NUM strike notice served to the South African-based company on 2 September. In August, a certificate of non-resolution was served by the CCMA.
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Last week&rsquo;s company wage offer of 8.5% is less than fair for NUM members at Northam, who are paid notoriously low wages. The offer was presented as &ldquo;a take-it-or-leave-it&rdquo; proposition from bosses, and NUM members at Zonereinde rejected it resoundingly with a heavy &ldquo;no&rdquo; vote. 
 
Northam&rsquo;s offer was a mere half-percent above its original proposal, and it rather miserly raised its monthly living-out allowance in last week&rsquo;s offer from 1,600 rand to 1,700, or US$237. The NUM is seeking a wage increase of 15% plus a living-out stipend twice the company&rsquo;s offer, 3,500 rands per month, or US$485. 
 
Salaries at Northam are as low as 3,500 rands per month before taxes, about US$480. Very recently, South African Mvelaphanda Resouces sold a 12.2% stake in Northam to London-based but Asian-centered Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. Plc. for 2.2 billion rand (US$295.9 million). 
 
Two other NUM strikes, both in South Africa&rsquo;s mineral sands sector, ended in September. A CCMA dispute between the NUM and Richards Bay Minerals, a 50/50 joint venture between Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton in northern KwaZulu-Natal, was resolved with a three-year labour accord that ended a week-long strike in early September. Richards Bay Minerals produces titanium minerals mined from sand dunes, such as zircon, titanium slag and rutile, and titanium dioxide. 
 
The other strike, against Exxaro&rsquo;s KZN Sands operation also in KwaZulu-Natal that involved 600 miners, ended on 14 September with a satisfactory 2010 wage gain and re-writes to job grades. That strike began 24 August.
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NUM Spokesman Lesiba Seshoka
In other NUM news, the powerful union continues its longstanding policy of downing tools for a day in remembrance to comrades killed on the job. That will again happen this week, following the 14 September death of a NUM member at AngloGold&rsquo;s TauTona mine near Carletonville. The death was caused by an underground tram accident and workers at TauTona will observe the tragedy this week, in the words of NUM spokesman Lesiba Seshoka, &ldquo;to ensure that the company gets the message loud and clear that if you continue to claim the lives of innocent workers, we will claim your profit.&rdquo;

NUM Members at Northam Platinum in South Africa Reject Inferior Offer

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Mineworkers&rsquo; in northern Spain in September have taken to blocking roads, clashing with police, and staging sit-down strikes deep inside coal mines to protest wage arrears brought on by the government&rsquo;s inaction in renewing subsidies for utilities that operate coal-fired power plants. 
 
The series of strikes, blockades, and other manifestations in the provinces of Palencia and Leon have led now to leaders of energy unions of the nation&rsquo;s two labour federations calling for four days of a general coal strike &ndash; starting this Wednesday, 22 September &ndash; across Spain. That announcement came after senior union leaders, on 15 September, failed to convince Industry Minister Miguel Sebastian to remedy wage arrears for hundreds of Spanish coalminers and to implement a decree passed last February renewing the subsidies. Some 8,000 coal miners are expected to take part in the four days of strikes. 
 
When last week&rsquo;s meeting failed to move the government, the senior trade union leaders blockaded themselves overnight in an Industry Ministry room in Madrid as symbolic protest to miners at collieries in the north who are striking underground.
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Leaders of the UGT and CC.OO announced general coal strikes for 22-23 September and 29-30 September. The 29 September strike will tie in with a Spanish and Euro-wide day of mobilization against austerity and labour market reforms being pushed by governments and monetary institutions. 
 
For 19 days now, 52 miners of the Uni&oacute;n Minera del Norte (UMINSA) company have locked themselves 500 metres underground in the Las Cuevas colliery near Guardo in Palencia province because wages have not been paid since mid-July. Above ground, as many as 3,000 family members and supporters have led protests that have snarled roads and blocked train lines in and out of the northern part of the province. 
 
Despite a promise to the Industry Ministry weeks ago that it would pay wages, UMINSA owner Victorino Alonso, who also heads the coal producers&rsquo; association Carbunion, said poor cash flow by companies brought on by reduced buying of domestic coal has meant no ability to meet payroll, pay taxes, or make social security contributions. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re not paying anything. We have no liquidity,&rdquo; he said. 
 
On 6 September, 14 miners repeated the Las Cuevas action by beginning a sit-down strike inside the Alto Bierzo company mine near Tremor de Arriba in Leon province. That strike was followed by 200 supporters manifesting in Ponferrada, as well as several traffic tie-ups on roads between Leon and Oviedo. 
 
The government of Prime Minister Jos&eacute; Luis Rodr&iacute;guez Zapatero has been reluctant to implement the decree from last February that would renew the subsidies to utilities using Spanish coal rather than imported coal. The government&rsquo;s reluctance is based on official European Commission objections to the subsidies. A Commission ruling has called for all state subsidies for domestically-mined coal to end by 31 December 2010.

Spain’s Miners Feel Pain as Government Coal Subsidies Shrink

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The rescue of 33 miners, trapped 47 days today 700 metres under Chile&rsquo;s Atacama desert, brightened considerably over the weekend. On Friday, 17 September, one of two rescue drills perforated a ceiling of a work room near where the miners are entrapped. And yesterday, 19 September, a third drill began boring a separate rescue hole. 
 
An oil-drilling rig, made by a Canadian manufacturer and leased to Chilean state oil company ENAP, began boring Sunday through high-silica rock to get to 597 metres and an area 300 metres from where the miners are trapped. 
 
But the big news at the weekend was the American-built Schramm T-130 reaming through ceiling rock of a workshop at 624 metres. That lifted hope and renewal, across Chile, particularly with Saturday, 18 September, being the celebration of Chile&rsquo;s bicentennial independence. The miners, already frustrated and bedeviled by topside doctors and psychologists controlling supply tubes, celebrated Independence Day with song and dance, and roasted meat pies and pasties, a diet different than the usual one of liquid nutrients and vitamin juices.
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Top side, the Schramm T-130 drill was changing bits in order to re-drill the hole to a wider 74 centimeters. 
 
Two mine-drilling rigs have been operating since 31 August and early September, with South African mine, construction, and engineering giant Murray &amp; Roberts overseeing operations through Chilean associates Terraservices and Cementation Sudamerica. The first to begin drilling, an Australian-made Strata 950 Raisebore drill developed&nbsp;by South African company RUC Cementation that is boring a 38 centimeter hole, temporary stopped drilling last week at 250 metres for maintenance purposes. The Strata 950 is built for raise-boring of holes from one underground area to another, and was transferred to the site from state-owned Codelco&rsquo;s Andina mine. 
 
The larger Schramm T-130 rig, made by US-based Center Rock Inc. that is blind reaming another hole, hit a steel support beam in an abandoned shaft at 268 metres on 11 September, causing a two-day delay before spare parts were flown in. But days later, it had drilled through to an area close to the entrapped miners. 
 
Those 33 miners, employed at the San Jose mine of junior miner Campa&ntilde;ia Minera San Esteban Primera, escaped their deaths on 5 August when a shaft collapsed due to an explosion. The San Esteban company, a family-owned enterprise that stands now as a black mark on Chilean safety regulations inside non-major mining companies, extracts copper and gold and sells to Codelco. As a result of the mine collapse and entrapment, San Esteban has filed bankruptcy. 
 
A Chilean court has seized the firm&rsquo;s assets of US$1.8 million, or &euro;1.43 million, but the state has not made arrangements over lost wages. For sure, 100 San Jose miners who were not underground on 5 August, as well as another 170 San Esteban miners at the neighbouring San Antonio mine, are not being paid wages. Reportedly, Campa&ntilde;ia Minera San Esteban&rsquo;s insurance carrier is responsible for wages of the trapped miners. 
 
Together with the Murray &amp; Roberts contractors, Chilean state officials and officials of Codelco are leading the rescue, and the use of three separate bore holes is intended to give the greatest chance of faster freedom to the miners. The oil-drilling rig, Rig 421, is expected to reach 597 metres and is drilling away from the other rescue drills because its heavier size likely would cause rock slides. 
 
Once widening occurs by the mine-drilling rigs, as it begins today for the Schramm T-130, a steel &ldquo;rescue pod&rdquo; will be erected by both the miners below and technicians on top in order to lift the miners out one at a time in the 15-minute ride to the surface. 
 
Estimates of when the miners will earn and win their freedom have now been moved up, perhaps to happen in early November.
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In the meantime, and perhaps the biggest indignity for miners still working for a bankrupt company, has their strength been restored enough to clear the rock and construct the cage to ensure rescue? They suffer from skin sores, foot fungi, and abrasions caused by handling rock. With temperatures at 35 degrees Centigrade and humidity at 88%, the risk of infections and bacteria in a low-oxygen environment is very high. Three, small, 15-centimetre holes used to ferry capsules of food, liquids, medicines, and other essentials is now their only portage to the outside. 
 
The ICEM has received scores of requests from trade unions seeking to lend support to the miners. The ICEM has been in contact with one of the leaders of Union No. 2 of Compania Minera San Esteban, its Secretary, Javier Castillo, and we encourage trade unions and trade unionists to send messages of goodwill to the miners at <a href="mailto:jcastillojulio@gmail.com">jcastillojulio@gmail.com</a>. 
 
The ICEM also congratulates the humanity and solidarity shown from throughout the world to the trapped miners of Union No. 2. In just one example of such solidarity, through a call by Australia&rsquo;s Construction, Forestry, Mining, and Energy Union (CFMEU), hundreds of construction workers in West Australia at a building site donated A$50 each to pay for food, housing, and other costs for family members. That inspiring response to the now longest underground mine survival in human history is being repeated in one form or another by trade unions and others all across the world.

Rescue of Chilean Miners Hits Stride

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New England Teamsters Union members, 400 strong including trade unionists of another American union, are effectively blockading 20 cement plants and terminals of Swiss-based Holcim subsidiary Aggregate Industries in the US states of Massachusetts and New Hampshire. 
 
The strike, and subsequent sympathy strikes by other branch Teamster locals and Operating Engineer locals, started 16 August when Holcim&rsquo;s American and UK subsidiary implemented work terms making drivers and plant operators part-time workers. The ICEM intervened late last week, stating this in a letter to Holcim CEO Markus Akermann: 
 
&ldquo;ICEM affiliates, together with BWI, represent hundreds of thousands of workers at Holcim and other cement plants throughout the world. We will expose your actions and make this a truly global campaign, starting right here in Switzerland.&rdquo; 
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Last week&rsquo;s strike actions find global justification because Aggregate Industries unilaterally implemented part-time work status at one facility while legally engaged with the union in negotiations at the same time. Truck drivers and operators of Teamsters Local 170 diligently had worked for Aggregate Industries for five months past expiration of a prior labour agreement. Holcim rewarded that loyalty by taking the decision that it could and would reduce work-day time to four hours without negotiating with the union. 
 
Following the walk-out by Local 170 teamsters, supportive trade unionists from Teamsters Locals 25 and 379 in New England downed tools at other Aggregate Industries plants, as did members of the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE). A few of these local branch unions have upcoming contract expirations with the national cement-products producer, and workers across Holcim&rsquo;s New England operations clearly recognize that such a one-sided work rule is tantamount to social dumping. The ICEM applauds the actions of cement drivers and workers in New England, and pledges all necessary support. 
 
The ICEM reiterates its demand that Holcim in Switzerland take responsibility for this labour breach and immediately rescind the unilateral implementation of reduced working hours. To negate social dialogue over an economic issue of this depth is counter to the principles that Holcim supposedly adheres to. 
 
Holcim bought Aggregate Industries, active in several US and UK regional markets, in 2005. Early in 2010, Zurich-based Holcim merged Aggregate Industries US fully with Holcim US to create a single business unit.

American Teamsters Union Strikes Holcim Cement Subsidiary

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Draft legislation in South Africa on whether to ban labour brokers or to increase regulation on enterprises that supply workers to businesses is stalled in the government, with the likelihood that revisions to the Labour Relations Act (LRA) on this key national issue will not be heard in Parliament by year end. 
 
Four draft bills were submitted to the Cabinet in May, but have been returned to the Labour Ministry for language revisions. Even after the Cabinet accepts the draft amendments to the LRA, including revising Section 198 (temporary employment services), they must still go the National Economic Development and Labour Council (NEDLAC) for review, and then to public comment before the full Parliament takes up South African labour law revisions. 
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Besides whether or not to ban labour brokers, the proposed legislation is expected to prohibit discrepancy in wages and working conditions between temporary and permanent workers, provide protection against unfair dismissals during probation periods for workers, provide more government labour inspectors to investigate abuses, harsher fines on abusive companies that are linked to their annual turnovers, and impose extended liability on primary employers when abuses occur. 
 
The major employer federations that cover staffing companies in South Africa, namely the Association of Personnel Service Organisations (APSO) and the Confederation of Associations in the Private Employment Sector (CAPES), are taking a pro-action position that some type of legislation must pass. 
 
But these groups are lobbying for tighter regulation of the more nefarious side of the industry, believing that there is abusive practices by unscrupulous labour brokers that must be stopped. 
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Labour unions in South Africa, however, led by the Congress of South African Unions (COSATU), are holding firm that a complete ban is necessary. The unions have made it a rule to inject the ban language on labour brokers in their collective agreements, and several employers have agreed to the ban. 
 
In the ten-day strike in August between the National Union of Metal Workers of South Africa (NUMSA) and the Automobile Manufacturers Employers Association (AMEA), representing BMW, Ford, General Motors, Nissan, Toyota, and Volkswagen, the two sides agreed to the ban. It takes effect on 1 January 2011, with the exception of pre-existing labour broker contracts, which will be permitted to run their term. 
 
Regarding the legislation, Minister of Labour Membathisi Mdladlana made it clear while speaking at a labour law conference in mid-August that labour brokering in the country will definitely get a revamp with the objective of creating decent jobs. 
 
He told labour lawyers present that the notion of treating labour as a commodity must halt. &ldquo;We must stop this thing of selling labour,&rdquo; Mdladlana stated.

Labour Broker Law in South Africa Stalls, For Now

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To highlight how the issue of Contract and Agency Labour (CAL) is being used by companies around the world, and to demonstrate the innovative way trade unions are dealing with these issues, the ICEM CAL Project is producing a series of country reports. The first of these reports focuses on the situation in Thailand. 
 
The use of CAL is widespread in Thailand and became even more so during the economic crisis, which hit Thailand&rsquo;s export markets hard. In 2008, the Thai labour code was amended to include improved rights for agency workers, with companies being required to pay equal wages to agency workers doing the same jobs as permanent workers. 
 
This promising piece of legislation, however, has been severely undermined by the fact that many companies simply switched to employing workers directly on short-term contracts and paying them only the legal minimum wage. 
 
Thai unions are responding to the proliferation of CAL in various ways. Many are working to ensure that CAL workers can join the same union as permanent, directly-employed workers. TIGLU, the union representing workers at Thai Industrial Gases (TIG), Thailand&rsquo;s largest provider of industrial gases and a subsidiary of German-based Linde Group, launched a campaign to secure their right to recruit CAL workers.
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CAL Thai Project Manual
In early 2008, with support from the ICEM CAL Project and from ICEM affiliated unions in Germany, the Netherlands, and Belgium, TIGLU signed a milestone agreement with the company solidifying the union&rsquo;s right to organise contract and agency workers. The ICEM is working to ensure that freedom of association is respected for all workers at TIG/Linde. 
 
Although it is often extremely challenging to recruit CAL members, a number of Thai unions have been successful in their attempts to do so. A branch union affiliated to the ICEM affiliate, the Paper and Printing Workers Federation (PPFT), successfully recruited 80 of 120 contract workers employed by Cellox, a tissue paper company in Thailand. The ICEM Asia CAL Project is working with the union and PPFT to organise union education for the new members. 
 
Many Thai unions have made CAL a priority in their collective bargaining and organising efforts. Since 2006, the Local Union of the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand, called EGAT-LU, has been bargaining collectively to improve the working conditions of CAL workers at EGAT, the public-sector electric power company that employs 7,000 agency workers. 
 
In April 2007, the ICEM-affiliated union amended its statutes to make it possible for contract workers to join. Since then, the union has negotiated a new company policy with EGAT, which not only aims to improve working conditions for CAL workers but also ensures that all workers receive the entitlements outlined in Thai labour legislation. In 2009, the union launched an organising drive and succeeded in recruiting 650 of EGAT&rsquo;s 760 contract workers. The ICEM is working with EGAT-LU and the Danish Union of Electricians (Dansk El-Forbund) to organise union education for the newly recruited members.

Country Report Thailand: Exemplary Actions by ICEM Unions on CAL

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