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Scores of miners were trapped at the Tengda coalmine in Jiaohe city, Jilin province, China, on 24 April after flooding swept into mine shafts from the adjoining Ji'an mine. Some 39 miners were rescued due to a ventilation system that still worked in the Tengda mine, but 30 other miners perished. On Monday, 25 April, four miners died following a gas explosion at the Duzhai mine in the northern province of Shanxi.

Mine Accidents Continue to Occur in China

In India, a three-day strike by coal mines of the Singareni Collieries Co. ended 27 April, but the union--Singareni Collieries Employees Union-- promised an indefinite strike if the uniform pay increase from India's wage board is not implemented. Strikes at mines in Adilabad and Warangal districts saw 100% support by miners, while other areas such as Khamman and Karimnagan saw somewhat less participation. In total, the 72-hour strike had support from 75% of over 92,000 miners.

Coal Strikes in India’s Mines

Strikes by coal miners of state-owned Solid Energy in New Zealand have expanded, leading up to negotiations on 28 April. Another 500 coal miners of ICEM NZ affiliate Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union (EPMU) struck for 48 hours beginning 22 April. Miners are seeking their union's national call for at least 5% wage hikes, while Solid Energy is offering 2.8% with a profit-sharing plan. Four more mines joined the strike actions that were initiated when 238 EPMU miners at the Huntly East and Rotowaro mines on 15 April.

Strikes Continue in New Zealand Against State-run Coal Firm

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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

A five-GUF project kicks off this week, thanks to FNV Mondiaal of The Netherlands, the international arm of the national union confederation. It is a three-year union modernization effort on behalf of several affiliated unions in five countries: Russia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgystan by ICEM, IFBWW, ITF, IUF and UNI. The project will provide selected unions with strategic managing and organizational development skills.

Multi-GUF Union-Building Projects Begins for Eastern Europe

Industrial action in New Zealand is escalating over ICEM affiliate Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union&rsquo;s (EPMU) call for 5% wage increases across all sectors of the country&rsquo;s buoyant economy. On 15 April, 238 EPMU miners at collieries of Solid Energy in Huntly East and Rotowaro struck. Coal miners across NZ are seeking a 6% pay hike to offset lost wages from government passage of the Employment Contracts Act in the late 1990s. Miners are also seeking pay parity between operations of the North Island and South Island. Underground miners in the South are paid less than workers in the North, while open cast miners on the North Island earn less than those of the South. Metals and manufacturing workers, also represented by EPMU, are on the verge of striking if the 5% demands are not met.

Miners in New Zealand Take Strike Actions

Meanwhile, coal miners in South Africa, fearful they would be sacked by the sale of Zululand Anthracite Colliery by Ingwe Holdings&rsquo;parent BHP Billiton to Riverdale Holdings, staged an underground strike for several days beginning 10 April. Supported by the NUM, the strikers are seeing assurances that any redundancies at the colliery in northern KwaZulu-Natal State will be met with adequate payments. Another underground mine sit-in occurred in the Free State by 400 NUM members at Star Diamond near Theunissen. Miners were protesting the sackings of two workers who refused to work in dangerous conditions.

South African Coal Miners Stage Underground Strike

Today, 12 June, is the World Day Against Child Labour, as designated by the ILO. This year focus is the elimination of child labour in agriculture, and the ILO marks the occasion with an event at its International Labour Conference in Geneva, Switzerland. 
 
The ICEM, the Global Union Federation representing trade unions in the mining, energy, and process industry sectors, calls for the elimination of all child labour in all sectors. The ICEM calls attention to the great number of children who work in mining in many parts of the developing world. 
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It also cites a coal mine explosion in early February in G&aacute;meza, Boyac&aacute; state, Colombia, in which eight people were killed. One of the eight was a 13-year-old boy. 
 
The ICEM demands that all enterprises respect ILO Conventions 138 and 182 regarding child labour. The World Day Against Child Labour is observed throughout the world each year on 12 June. It serves as a catalyst to halt the growing demand for use of child labourers in all facets of work.

ICEM Calls for End to Child Labour

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ICEM&rsquo;s Chemical Workers&rsquo; Union affiliate in Finland, Kemianliitto, has taken exception to the recent sale by the Finnish government of its stake in Kemira GrowHow to a Norwegian concern. 
 
In a statement issued immediately following Finland&rsquo;s 24 May sale of its 30.05% stake in the phosphates and fertiliser company to Oslo-based Yara International ASA, Kemianliitto President Timo Vallittu said the sale sends the wrong kind of investment message concerning Finnish industry.
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&nbsp; 
&ldquo;With this decision to sell, it is very reasonable to ask why anybody would go on investing in Finnish industry when even the State abandons a holding of its own,&rdquo; said Valliuto. 
 
The union was not critical of the sale price, or of the buyer, and vowed to hold both the State and Yara to commitments made in the 24 May announcement that jobs in Finland would be retained and production enhanced. 
 
Yara paid &euro;12.12-per-share for the government&rsquo;s stake in Kemira GrowHow, or &euro;672 million. A Kemira stock market filing said Yara, which was spun off from Norsk Hydro in 2004, will continue business operations in Finland as usual and there would be no effects on personnel. The company would continue phosphate rock mining, phosphoric acid, and other production at Siilinjarvi and Uusikaupunki in Finland, and Yara would seriously consider opening phosphate production at the Sokli mine in Finnish Lapland. 
 
Yara is the world&rsquo;s largest producer of nitrogen-based fertilisers, while Kemira GrowHow is a leader in feed phosphates with production facilities in eight countries. Under Finland&rsquo;s Securities Market Act, Yara is now obligated to place tender offers for the remainder of Kemira GrowHow&rsquo;s shares at &euro;12.12-per-share, a 30% premium over the Finnish&rsquo;s firm&rsquo;s 23 May trading price. The merged company will control about 7% of the world&rsquo;s fertiliser market.

Finnish Union Kemianliitto Displeased with State’s Sale of Kemira GrowHow

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The ICEM, together with its Norwegian paperworkers&rsquo; union affiliate, Fellesforbundet, conducted its annual Norske Skog Global Framework Agreement review in Oslo on 21 May. The parties have been signatory to a Global Framework Agreement since June 2002, and the agreement was extended on 21 May for another two-year period. 
 
Chief among items discussed were proposals by the ICEM and Fellesforbundet for the agreement to incorporate the ILO&rsquo;s Code of Practice on HIV/AIDS, and to initiate a consultation process between the company and its trade unions prior to management at particular worksites engaging contract labourers or agency labour providers.
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&nbsp; 
Another request put before senior managers of Norske Skog by the unions was to drop a lawsuit brought by managers at the Tasman paper mill in New Zealand against ICEM affiliate Manufacturing and Construction Workers&rsquo; Union. Members of the union did stop-work actions after managers failed to fully consult with the union over cost-cutting measures concerning the elimination of back-up shifts. Such elimination presents serious safety concerns for workers. 
 
Norske Skog is reviewing that situation. The company has pledged to fulfil a section of the Global Agreement which states that employment in the company &ldquo;shall, as a main rule, be based on permanent employment. Temporary and part-time employees should as a main rule receive the same relative terms and conditions as full-time permanent employees.&rdquo;

ICEM Conducts Global Agreement Review Meeting with Norske Skog

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