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Two iron ore strikes in eastern Canada have crippled mining production in Labrador, province of Newfoundland. On 19 July, 1,250 members of ICEM affiliate United Steelworkers of America (USWA) struck the Iron Ore Co. of Canada, 58.7% held by Rio Tinto, over company proposals to strip health care and pensions, freeze wages and install a psychological profiling programme of workers on which to base discipline. The strike affects 1,000 workers at a mine and pellet processing plant in Labrador City and 250 port workers in Sept-Iles, Quebec. Some 350 USWA members are on strike at Wabush Mine in Labrador City and an accompanying processing plant and port in Pointe Noire, Quebec. That strike began 5 July and is against a consortium of firms led by US-based Cleveland Cliffs and is over efficiency issues including contracting out bargaining unit work. The two strikes affect 60% of Canada&rsquo;s iron ore exports.

Canadian Mine Strikes Shut Rio Tinto, Wabush Mine Operations

After a one-week strike, some 300 members of ICEM affiliate Korean Chemical &amp; Textile Workers&rsquo; Federation reached a labour agreement with BASF Korea in Yeosu. The 23 July agreement calls for a base monthly salary hike of 5% and a reduction in weekly work hours from 42 to 40 without any corresponding loss of pay. 
The amiable settlement is contrasted with the harsh response of government and joint venture partners LG Group and ChevronTexaco at the nearby LG Caltex refinery.

Week-Long Strike Brings BASF Settlement in Korea

US affiliate United Steelworkers of America (USWA) ratcheted up the bargaining pressure on Bridgestone/Firestone 16 February by conducting handbilling at some 200 Nissan auto dealerships across America. The &quot;Day of Action&quot; at non-union Nissan North America was meant to remind Nissan customers of quality problems the last time the Japanese tyre manufacturer imposed a labour dispute on 6,000 USWA members employed at Bridgestone/Firestone. The union and company are currently locked in intense talks on the master rubber agreement in the US.

USWA Pressuring Bridgestone Over new Tyre Contract

China was regrettably not alone in mining disasters of late. In Russia as well, mining accidents are the order of the day. Here too, they are frequently the consequence of aging equipment, lack of safety regulations and economic pressures. On 9 February, 22 miners died in the Yesaulskaya mine in the Kemerovo region in Siberia where an explosion in a mine was fatal for most of the 30 workers that were present in the shaft at the time.

Gas Blast Kills 22 in Siberian Mine

Over 200 workers have died in what has been the biggest mining disaster in China for more than half a century. In spite of promises by the Chinese authorities to increase the overall safety in mines, through legal efforts as well as through education, the 15 February explosion in the Sunjiawan mine, near Fuxin in northeast China, stands as further proof of the continuing dangerous conditions inside Chinese mines. China accounts for 80% of deaths in the mining industry, while only producing 35% of the world&rsquo;s coal. 6,000 workers are said to have died in 2004 in Chinese mines. The accident also shows the necessity and timeliness of the ICEM-led effort on safety in Chinese mines. According to a memorandum signed as a result of this effort in December 2004 by eight different parties, more technical cooperation with the Chinese mining entities is urgently needed to start improving the safety and health situation in the mines in China.

Massive Mine Disaster in China Kills Over 200

The Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions (IFTU) is very concerned about the kidnapping of Mr. Moaid Hamed, General Secretary of the IFTU in Mosul. Mr. Moaid Hamed was abducted on 11 February, in Mosul, by gunmen who attacked him and took him away. At the end of January 2005, the president of the IFTU in Mosul had already been abducted for a week, at which time he was severely tortured. Prior to his release on 1 February, he was told to stop his trade union work or be killed. The ICEM demands the immediate release of Mr Moaid Hamed and strongly supports the campaign by the IFTU to end terrorism against trade unionists in Iraq and to organise Iraqi workers into free trade and democratic unions.

Another Iraqi Trade Union Leader Abducted

Transport and General Workers&rsquo; Union (T&amp;G) of the UK termed Royal Dutch/Shell&rsquo;s profits announcement as &ldquo;obscene.&rdquo; Shell made history last week by reporting the largest annual profit ever posted by a British company&mdash;&pound;9.3 billion or US$18.5 billion. The massive earnings statement propped up by record oil and energy prices are making many in the UK&mdash; including ICEM affiliate T&amp;G&mdash;call for a windfall tax bill. &ldquo;With our pensions in crisis, (Shell&rsquo;s) profits are 9.3 billion extra reasons for a windfall tax,&rdquo; said T&amp;G General Secretary Tony Woodley. &ldquo;The government should grasp the nettle so everyone can benefit.&rdquo;

UK Affiliate Terms Shell&#039;s Profits &#039;Obscene&#039;

The United Steelworkers of America (USWA) extended the US national rubber agreement to another tyre company when workers of Yokohama Tire Corp of Japan ratified an agreement in Salem, Virginia. Similar to USWA&rsquo;s rubber workers employed at Goodyear and Michelin&rsquo;s B.F. Goodrich, the 670 trade unionists in the state of Virginia won guaranteed job security measures, as well as increases to their pension formula. USWA currently is in talks with Bridgestone/Firestone over the same issues&mdash;job security, capital investment in US unionized tyre sites and other economics&mdash;at BSF&rsquo;s US tyre factories. Talks on the US pattern agreement for rubber have followed extensions for most companies since 2003 expirations. Bargaining broke off, however, between Continental Tire and USWA during mid-term negotiations when the German company proposed concessionary terms including increased out-of-pocket health care costs for retirees.

USWA’s Master Tyre Contract in US Extended to Yokohama

American affiliate PACE announced that the US government&rsquo;s Mine Safety and Health Administration has found 48 violations of health and safety standards at Imerys&rsquo; calcium carbonate plant in Sylacauga, Alabama. The French-based firm has tallied 44 of the charges, while four are related to substandard conditions created by contractors. PACE has filed further unfair labor practice charges against Imerys, this time for retrenching the job of the local union president, retaliating against other PACE members for lawful union conduct, and unilaterally changing work terms without consultation with PACE. The US government has already found Imerys guilty of three labour code violations. PACE, together with the ICEM, is pursuing an OECD investigation of Imerys for its anti-union conduct at Sylacauga.

Imerys in US Called on Mine Safety Violations

Australian affiliate CFMEU condemned the legal recourse two mining companies are taking over their criminal convictions to health and safety laws. The two, Xstrata and Centennial Coal, say they will challenge to overturn a statute in New South Wales calling for criminal prosecutions of serious health and safety violations. Both have been convicted of such offences. CFMEU says there will be no compromise on the statute. &ldquo;Let these companies tell the miners face to face why they consider their health and safety not worth the protection of the law and why they consider their lives of no value,&rdquo; said Tony Maher, the union&rsquo;s Mining and Energy General President.

Mining Companies in Australia Seek to Overturn Convictions

Archive

Canadian Mine Strikes Shut Rio Tinto, Wabush Mine Operations

Week-Long Strike Brings BASF Settlement in Korea

USWA Pressuring Bridgestone Over new Tyre Contract

Gas Blast Kills 22 in Siberian Mine

Massive Mine Disaster in China Kills Over 200

Another Iraqi Trade Union Leader Abducted

UK Affiliate Terms Shell's Profits 'Obscene'

USWA’s Master Tyre Contract in US Extended to Yokohama

Imerys in US Called on Mine Safety Violations

Mining Companies in Australia Seek to Overturn Convictions

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