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A joint information campaign by the European Mine, Chemical, and Energy Workers&rsquo; Federation (EMCEF) and the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) is proving successful in alerting trade unions and workers&rsquo; representatives to coming deadlines of REACH and the Chemical, Labeling, Packaging (CLP) regulation of the EU. The campaign is aimed at workers inside companies that market or use chemicals in their manufacturing. 
 
REACH is the Registration Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals regulation, an EU statute that took effect in 2007 and which is being phased in over several years. REACH requires industrial operators to register any chemicals they make or import in quantities above one tonne per year with the new European Chemicals Agency. 
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EMCEF General Secretary Reinhard Reibsch
The deadline for employers to register is 30 November 2010, and the EMCEF/ETUC campaign is asking workers to remind employers of this fact. The accompanying CLP regulation says they have to notify the new agency regarding the classification and labeling of all hazardous substances that go on the market, regardless of production volume. 
 
A 1 December 2010 exists for CLP Reclassification, while a 3 January 2011 deadline looms for CLP notification. 
 
The two European trade union federations see fulfillment of the requirements as job-saving measures in the European chemicals sector. &ldquo;Workers in this industry are very interested in sustainable development of the sector based on high environmental values, social progress, and economic success,&rdquo; said EMCEF General Secretary Reinhard Reibsch, adding the joint EMCEF/ETUC campaign is an extension of that.

EMCEF, ETUC Alert European Workers to REACH Deadlines

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from the International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF) 
 
The meeting is the first joint activity on the organization of trade union networks in Latin American companies organized by the International Metalworkers' Federation (IMF), the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM) and the Building and Woodworkers' International (BWI) to develop new strategies together with their affiliates. 
 
On 23-24 September, an international seminar on forming union networks in Latin American trans-national companies (TNCs) took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, representatives of the International Metalworkers' Federation (IMF), the Building and Woodworkers' International (BWI), and the ICEM representing workers in metallurgical, chemical, construction and wood sectors took part. 
 
Supported by the Friedrich-Ebert Foundation (FES), the aim of the meeting was to exchange experiences on existing networking activities and joint planning of actions in these companies. GUFs and unions provided information on several companies, as well as on the relationship (or lack thereof) that currently exists between companies and unions. 
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Photo: IMF 
 
The companies reviewed were Vale, WEG, Votorantim, Petrobras, and Arauco Odebrecht. All of the companies are involved in more than one sector, and some engage in unacceptable anti-union practices. 
 
&ldquo;Unfortunately, we have suffered so much abuse by foreign TNCs. But today we see that the Latin American TNCs are no different. Our experience also shows that the anti-union practices and disregard of workers' rights by some companies are even fiercer in the countries where the company has opened new operations than in their home countries,&rdquo; said IMF Assistant General Secretary Fernando Lopes. 
 
During the meeting, all participants decided to support the workers struggle at Brazilian Vale's operations in Voiseys Bay, Canada, where 230 workers have been on strike since 1 August 2009, after the company would only accept to renew the collective agreement if the workers represented by USW agreed to a drastic reduction in conditions and increased job insecurity. 
 
The IMF Regional Representative for Latin America and Caribbean, Jorge Almeida said, &quot;This meeting was also a first step in the region. In a few years, we will work on a global scale with the merger of three confederations overall: IMF (metalworkers), ICEM (chemical) and ITGLWF (textiles).&rdquo; 
 
The meeting included affiliates from Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Peru affiliated to IMF, ICEM, and BWI, and also included were representatives from IG Metall, Germany, and the US Solidarity Center, AFL-CIO.

FES Sponsors Tri-GUF Multinationals Seminar in Brazil

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A new slate of officers won election at the Congress of ICEM-affiliated Mineworkers&rsquo; Union of Namibia (MUN), held 17-19 September in Swakopmund, Namibia. The Congress met under the banner of stronger enforcement of safety and health regulations in all workplaces. 
 
Elected to the position of General Secretary was Jonas Lumbu, who replaces Joseph Hengari. Elected President was John Ndawedapo, replacing Andres Eiseb. The Congress elected Michael Heita as Vice President, Eben Zarondo as Assistant General Secretary, Eliphas Iita as National Secretary, Gerson Max as Vice National Secretary, Paul Rooi as Treasurer, and Phillip Muninguni as Vice Treasurer. 
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The theme of the Congress comes at a time when the Namibian mining sector is experiencing its worst fatal and serious injury accident rate in ten years. The MUN has witnessed mass retrenchments due to the financial crisis, but delegates to the Congress said a recovery is underway. The MUN has been frustrated by an American company that holds uranium mining rights because the company hinders union representation rights. 
 
Debate at the Congress also took place over a recurring issue inside Namibia&rsquo;s trade unions, that of union leaders holding decision-making positions inside enterprises or on boards. This issue has spawned conflict-of-interest charges inside many unions affiliated to the National Unions of Namibian Workers (NUNW).

Mineworkers in Namibia Elect New Leaders

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The ICEM affiliated oil and gas workers&rsquo; trade unions in Nigeria, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) and the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), are threatening mass strike action if the Nigerian government continues efforts to pass a new legislation without their consultation that will deregulate the sector. 
 
NUPENG and PENGASSAN have the power to shut down all oil and gas installations in the West African country, and are threatening to do so if the government continues unwise implementation of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB). 
 
Workers have been frustrated at being excluded from the drafting process, while global oil corporations have been at the centre of negotiations. Nigeria, the most populous nation in Africa, relies heavily on its oil resources. Although the predominately state-owned company is guilty of inefficiency, NUPENG and PENGASSAN oppose the sell-off of the industry to foreign investors without proper protections for the Nigerian economy and for protection of labour rights in this sector. 
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NUPENG and PENGASSAN has issued appeals and demands to the Joint Committee on Petroleum, the Inter-Governmental Committee, the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), the Petroleum and Labour Ministers, and also in writing to President Goodluck Jonathan. These appeals call attention to the ambiguity in areas of the legislation that could easily be exploited by corporations. 
 
The new legislation stands to cancel existing protections set up to rollback casualisation and the outsourcing of labour, already a dramatically growing problem in the sector. 
 
PENGASSAN and NUPENG National Presidents, Babatunde Ogun and Achese Igwe, made a joint statement last week expressing shared concerns and demands. Also co-signing the statement were General Secretaries Bayo Olowoshile of PENGASSAN and Elijah Okougbo of NUPENG. 
 
The ICEM supports the demands of both its affiliates, that the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill should be halted at least until it is made available for scrutiny by all affected parties. The progress of such a strategically important law must be transparent. The Joint Committee of the National Assembly and the Petroleum Minister must include oil workers&rsquo; trade unions in all deliberations and all legislation drafting.

Nigerian Oil Unions Threaten Strike over PIB Implementation

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The US United Autoworkers&rsquo; Union (UAW) will divest hundreds of millions of dollars from JPMorgan Chase over the bank&rsquo;s refusal to implement a two-year moratorium on housing foreclosures in the state of Michigan. The divestiture of pension, health care, and other union-managed funds from the New York-based bank is also due to Chase&rsquo;s ties to the RJ Reynolds Group, and that company&rsquo;s treatment of low-wage farm workers in the US state of North Carolina. 
 
At a press conference on 24 September in Detroit, UAW President Bob King was joined by church and American farm-labour leaders in calling for a full citizens&rsquo; boycott of JPMorgan Chase. King and a coalition of civil society leaders from Michigan met with bank officials in June following a protest and requested a moratorium on home foreclosures of unemployed workers. 
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UAW President Bob King
At a follow up meeting, UAW and religious leaders called on Chase to join President Barack Obama&rsquo;s Hardest Hit Homeowners programme and declare a temporary freeze on foreclosures. Although the bank made a good-faith promise to continue the dialogue with the social partners, the bank &ldquo;has since failed to communicate its intentions regarding any of the issues raised,&rdquo; said the UAW. 
 
At the press conference ten days ago, US Farm Labour Organising Committee President Baldemar Velasquez detailed low wages, unsanitary conditions, and the Reynolds Group&rsquo;s hindrance of trade union organizing rights for tobacco workers. 
 
King said Americans &ldquo;have a moral responsibility to step up&rdquo; and join the boycott. &ldquo;Chase needs to help unemployed homeowners in Michigan and underpaid farm workers in the Carolinas,&rdquo; stated King. &ldquo;The bank could make a huge difference by suspending foreclosures and pressuring RJ Reynolds to do the right thing.&rdquo;

US Auto Workers’ Pull Money from Bank over Home Foreclosures

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Some 1,000 union leaders from across Canada in the energy, paper, media, and telecomms sectors met 19-23 September in Toronto for the Communications, Energy, Paperworkers (CEP) Union&rsquo;s biennial convention. Delegates denounced the Canadian federal government&rsquo;s ineptitude in handling forestry and pension crises, and they heard from noted economists that the greed of a few has caused grave financial damage to millions of workers worldwide. 
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CEP President Dave Coles at offices of Brookfield Asset Management 
The Convention also saw the re-election by acclamation of President Dave Coles and Secretary-Treasurer Ga&eacute;tan M&eacute;nard. Delegates to the convention also took to the streets of Toronto in protest, directing it at one culprit responsible for the financial collapse. CEPers marched on the downtown Toronto offices of Brookfield Asset Management, a US-based equity firm that took over and then led Fraser Paper into bankruptcy. 
CEP delegates passed a number of resolutions, including a continued CEP policy to press forward on a national pharmacy plan. They also heard about the structural economic flows in the existing financial system from US economist James Galbraith and Haitian economist Camille Chalmers. And the Canadian political landscape was also covered by NDP leader Jack Layton, Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) President Ken Georgetti, and Toronto Star columnist Thomas Walkom. 
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CEP Secretary-Treasurer Ga&eacute;tan M&eacute;nard
In opening the convention, Coles leveled harsh criticism at the federal government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper for its inaction in the face of many crises, including the forest industry one, pensions, and foreign control of traditional Canadian-owned industries. &ldquo;These idealogues have failed to lift a finger to aid forest communities, and if they win the next election, other sectors will meet the same fate,&rdquo; stated Coles. 
 
Delegates to the convention displayed their generosity by raising and donating more that C$100,000 to the union&rsquo;s Canadian charity of choice, the Spina Bifada and Hydrocephalus Association, an organization focused on spinal birth defects and abnormal brain fluids. The CEP&rsquo;s Woman of Distinction Award was given to Joy Langan, an activist, proud trade unionist, former Member of Parliament, and tireless advocate for women&rsquo;s rights who passed away on 30 July 2009. She received the award posthumously, with the CEP honouring her by changing the name of the award to the Joy Langan Women of Distinction Award.

CEP Holds Biennial Convention in Toronto, Canada

Despite two full days of bargaining between ICEM affiliate, the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA), and the New Tyre Manufacturing Employers&rsquo; Industry Association (NTMEIA) on 16-17 September, no accord was reached to end the three-week old strike. Some 6,000 rubber workers have been on strike at six tyre factories operated by four employers since 29 August. 
 
Today in Port Elizabeth, 4,000 NUMSA members from tyre plants in the Eastern Cape will march in protest of rapt division among employers in this year&rsquo;s wage talks. They will present a petition to management at the plant gates of Bridgestone-Firestone in Port Elizabeth this afternoon.
The 20-million-member International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine, and General Workers' Unions (ICEM), based in Geneva,&nbsp;continues its support&nbsp;for striking rubber workers in South Africa, and endorses today's mobilisation in Port Elizabeth.&nbsp; 
 
In last week&rsquo;s talks guided by an independent mediator in Port Elizabeth, management of the Japanese-based company continued to deviate widely from the wage offers put forth by other tyre companies associated with the NTMEIA. While Continental, Goodyear, and Apollo-Dunlop of India placed on the table a three-year package containing wage increases of 9%, 7.5%, and 7.5%, Bridgestone-Firestone&rsquo;s offer was 7%, 5%, and 5%. 
 
Rubber workers of NUMSA are willing to accept a three-year pact, but their wage expectations are 9% in each of the three years. In addition, they seek a modernized wage module that will lift the salaries of workers who have been stuck at minimum levels for as long as 10 to 15 years. 
 
Another key issue at the bargaining table revolves around the use of labour brokers. Although the NTMEIA will not agree to a ban, it has conceded to pay contributions for short-term and temporary workers into the Provident Fund, as well as make retirement and medical payments for them. The South African tyre industry employs about 1,000 such workers. 
 
Also last week in South Africa, 70,000 NUMSA members across the country returned to their jobs at fuel retail outlets and auto component shops. On 14 September, NUMSA convened a special National Executive Committee meeting, where eight of nine regional structures of the union agreed to accept terms of the Retail Industry Motor Association and the Fuel Retailers&rsquo; Association, ending strikes that began on 1 September. 
 
The three-year contract for filling station attendants includes wage gains of 10%, 9%, and 8%, while auto-parts workers will receive 9%, 8%, and 8%. NUMSA did achieve a solid breakthrough regarding labour brokers, particularly in these sectors in which several employers are totally reliant on staff provided by outside hire firms. 
 
The agreement calls for all labour brokers to be registered by one of two certifying agencies, and all staff of labour brokers must receive minimum rates of pay inside the two industries as well as getting the same benefits and condition of employment. In addition, the negotiated settlement calls for the gradual phase-out of labour brokers, with a cut to 35% of current levels by the year 2013.
For further information, contact Dick Blin, ICEM Information&nbsp;Officer, <a href="mailto:dick.blin@icem.org">dick.blin@icem.org</a>, or +41 22 304 1842 (office), +41 79 734 8994 (mobile).&nbsp;

ICEM Continues Support for South African Tyre Strike

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US President Barack Obama has named United Steelworkers (USW) President Leo Gerard to the President&rsquo;s Advisory Committee on Trade Policy and Negotiations. The committee is a private sector initiative established by the US Congress in 1974 to ensure that US trade policy and trade negotiating objectives adequately reflect US commercial and economic interests. 
 
&ldquo;I am grateful to President Obama for the confidence he has shown in me, and I pledge to work closely with the Administration to help resolve some of the issues we face in maintaining a fair trading system among nations,&rdquo; said Gerard. The appointment was made on 15 September.
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The USW under Gerard&rsquo;s stewardship has been stalwart in protecting American jobs in the face of unfair trade advantages. Only last week, Gerard testified both before a House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee on legislation aimed at addressing China&rsquo;s unfair trade advantages because of its currency undervaluation, and before the US Federal Trade Commission on dumping of coated paper products into the US by China and Indonesia.

Obama Names USW’s Leo Gerard to American Trade Policy Panel

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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.
<img src="" width="156" height="117" alt="" />
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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