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At the ICEM World Conference for the Energy Industry today in Stavanger, Norway, global trade union leaders issued the following statement:
Protest Note to the EU Commission on EU Coal Production 
 
Interfering in national legislation, the European Union (EU) Commission presented a law to close coal mines all over Europe until 2014 for reasons of austerity and liberal market policies regarding state aid. 
 
ICEM declares its solidarity with the unions in Bulgaria, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Spain and in all other countries which oppose the EU Commission&rsquo;s proposal and which defend miners&rsquo; rights to employment now and in future for a sustainable energy supply that includes coal in their respective counties under safe, secure and decent work conditions.

ICEM Energy Conference Takes Issue with EU Coal Policy

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All of France&rsquo;s main trade union confederations will strike tomorrow throughout the country, protesting President Sarkozy&rsquo;s bid to raise the retirement age from 60 to 62, increase public sector workers&rsquo; pension contributions, and increase the pension required contribution period to 41.5 years before a worker is entitled to a full state pension. 
 
The national strike will be held tomorrow, 7 September, to coincide with the Plenary debate of the bill in the National Assembly. The stoppage will be conducted from 7pm this evening, until midnight Tuesday. Stoppages are predicted across sectors, from public transport, power generation, teaching, telecommunications, while hospital staff will guarantee only emergency services. The action will seek to fight the proposed pension reforms, and also defend jobs and demand government action for economic recovery.
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The proposed pension reform is extremely unpopular in France, and unions are aiming to build on the 2 million people mobilised in June to protest the changes. Union activists plan strategy meetings on 8 September to consider next steps in the campaign. 
 
President Sarkozy is seen to be scrambling at present, with record low levels of public support, 18 months before presidential elections, the president&rsquo;s government last week scrapped plans to cut student accommodation subsidies, in an effort to reduce student support for tomorrow&rsquo;s protest. Defeat of the pension reform bill would conserve workers&rsquo; conditions, but also strike a significant blow to Sarkozy&rsquo;s right-wing UMP party&rsquo;s election chances in 2012. 
 
ICEM French affiliated union FCE-CFDT describes the pension reform and other government austerity measures as &ldquo;carriers of social injustice&rdquo;, adding that it is unacceptable that all the financial burden of the economic downturn is passed onto employees in both the public and private sector. 
 
Sarkozy is also suffering heavy criticism for his crime crackdown which is targeting the Roma community. The president&rsquo;s decision to target a group based on their ethnicity has concerned many, including members of his own cabinet.

French to Strike Tomorrow in Protest Against Retirement Age Rise

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ITF&rsquo;s (International Transport Workers&rsquo; Federation) Turkish affiliate TUMTIS&rsquo; (the union of road transport workers) ongoing dispute with UPS, was the centre of a global day of action, attracting solidarity and support from throughout the world, on 1 September. Those participating in the day of action called upon UPS in unison to &ldquo;Deliver Justice not Abuse&rdquo;. 
 
Local management of UPS, the global messenger company based in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, has reacted disgracefully to an organising drive of its workers by TUMTIS. While management have used physical intimidation on workers not to join the union, 157 employees of UPS and its contractors in Istanbul, Ankara, and Izmir have been sacked since April 2010 when the drive began, because of their support for TUMTIS. 
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(Photos: ITF)
Out of the 157 total, 126 were sacked at 3 UPS facilities in Istanbul, and 27 in Izmir. In Izmir one manager fired gunshots near the TUMTIS picket line, while other protesting workers were attacked by riot police. This is in direct breach of Turkish labour legislation, and certainly not in line with the company&rsquo;s pledges on corporate social responsibility, in which UPS promises to never obstruct its employees from joining a union. 
 
The day was organised following a unanimously adopted emergency resolution at the ITF Congress in Mexico City 5-12 August, reported InBrief No. 163 <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/3970-42nd-ITF-Congress-in-Mexico-City-Elects-MUA's-Paddy-Crumlin-President">here</a>. 
 
The global day of action saw trade unionists protesting in front of national UPS offices in Australia, Japan, Jordan, Korea, Hong Kong and Malaysia, among others. See more about the day of action <a href="http://www.itfglobal.org/campaigns/ups-justice.cfm">here</a>. 
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TUMTIS&rsquo; national labour centre, TURK-IS has supported the union&rsquo;s daily picket since the start of the conflict. 
 
The ITF urges supporters around the world to contact their local UPS management and transfer this <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/Model_letter_UPS_CEO.doc">model letter</a> condemning the union busting in Turkey. Locate your nearest UPS office <a href="http://www.ups.com/content/corp/worldwide/index.html?WT.svl=SubNav">here</a>.&nbsp; 
 
Workers at the 80% UPS-owned subsidiary &lsquo;Unsped Global Logistic Ticaret AS&rsquo; receive a monthly wage of 382 euros, while contract and agency (CAL) workers earn far less. The vast majority of UPS&rsquo; 5,000 employees in Turkey are CAL workers, often working over 70 hours per week. 
 
The ICEM supports demands of the ITF that all 150 sacked UPS employees are reinstated unconditionally, and that anti-union harassment is stopped immediately and fully at UPS and its subcontractors in Turkey. 
 
There will be a second global day of action on 15 September if the workers are not reinstated. 
 
Support the LabourStart campaign <a href="http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/solidarityforever/show_campaign.cgi?c=750">here</a>.&nbsp;

Day of Action for UPS Workers in Turkey

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Successful bargaining between the ICEM affiliated Argentine Trade Union of Tyre Workers (SUTNA), Argentina&rsquo;s Chamber of Commerce, and the Ministry of Labour culminated in agreement on 23 August, in Buenos Aires. A new collective agreement for the sector, covering the period July 2010 to June 2011, provides a salary increase of 27.5 percent, plus improved conditions and a lump sum for members. 
 
The agreement lays out a reclassification of jobs in the sector which improves social benefits by an average of 12 percent. All workers will also receive a lump sum of 1,000 pesos (US$250) and a further payment of 500 pesos in January. 
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SUTNA General Secretary Pedro Wasiejko
Of the 27.5 percent pay rise, 22.2 percent will be retroactive to 1 July 2010, with the remaining 5.3 percent increase coming on 1 January 2011. SUTNA General Secretary Pedro Wasiejko commended the corporate commitment to negotiate in good faith, with talks to reopen in the first half of 2011, &ldquo;there will be further improvements to these gains&rdquo; stated Wasiejko. 
 
The collective agreement was accepted by 75.5 percent of workers balloted, with a turnout of over 80 percent. 
 
The ICEM salutes SUTNA and its General Secretary Pedro Wasiejko for achieving such significant advances for its members. 
 
Argentina was hard hit by the global economic crisis.

Argentina’s Rubber Workers Achieve Significant Wage Gains

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Meeting under the banner Med Dig, F&ouml;r Dig, N&auml;ra Dig (With You, For You, Close to You), Pappers, Sweden&rsquo;s Paperworkers Union, held its 23rd Congress from 3-5 September in Norrk&ouml;pping. The weekend Congress came two weeks before national elections in Sweden, elections that quite likely will determine whether or not the modern Swedish social model will survive. 
 
That point was driven home by Pappers President Jan-Henrik Sandberg, Swedish Trade Union Confederation (LO) President Wanja Lundby-Wedin, and Mona Sahlin, the leader of the Social Democrats and the desired Prime Minister-to-be in the 19 September elections. 
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Pappers President Jan-Henrik Sandberg
Sandberg told delegates in his opening remarks that the socialistic and democratic ideals of the party of Olof Palme had traditionally prioritized and delivered policies good for all people, not just a few people. He also reminded delegates that after four years of a conservative governing alliance masquerading as a party of the people, all that has occurred is a shredded social safety net, a spike in unemployment, and fewer opportunities for the young people of Sweden. 
 
Sandberg also endorsed the platform of the red-green alliance that was put forward on 31 August. The alliance of the Social Democrats with the Left Party and the Green Party stands as the best chance, he said, for return to fair taxation and security of income. Improvement to the platform could occur, Sandberg added, if it were to include an energy policy that prioritized replacement of outdated nuclear reactors. 
 
Lundby-Wedin said that four years of a right-wing government has not destroyed Sweden&rsquo;s social model, but cautioned regional and section leaders of the 18,000-member union that four more years of conservative rule will indeed destroy the model. 
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The leader of Sweden&rsquo;s Social Democrats, Mona Sahlin 
Sahlin, speaking on day two of the Congress, said she was &ldquo;provoked and angry&rdquo; that the right-wing alliance of four parties has defined itself as the new workers&rsquo; party. She said a true workers&rsquo; party does not eliminate welfare schemes for those sick and disabled; it does not disqualify 500,000 from an unemployment fund; and it does not allow one in four young people to go without jobs. 
 
She also outlined six policy initiatives in which the red-green alliance will prioritise job creation, including keeping the energy provider Vattenfall a state-owned company, an entity the &ldquo;arrogance alliance&rdquo; seeks to fully privatize over the next four years if it remains in power. 
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The Congress featured a series of break-outs, as well as an interesting pair of workshops involving managing directors from three Swedish forest products companies (Holmen, SCA, and S&ouml;dra) speaking frankly on future sustainability initiatives inside the paper industry. The other workshop produced frank discussion on whether or not a small union can survive in the new industrial age, or if a merger might become a matter of necessity. That issue likely will be revisited by Pappers after its new four-year Congress period. 
 
Sandberg was re-elected President, while Bengt Sj&ouml;holm was re-elected Secretary and Henry Heini&ouml; was re-elected Treasurer. The six other members of Pappers&rsquo; nine-member governing board also won re-election. They include Lars-Olof Pettersson, Carina Magnusson-Fernlund, Lars-G&ouml;ran Johansson, Pelle Eriksson, Mikael Lilja, and Nils-Erik Andersson. 
 
A total of 149 delegates from the union&rsquo;s 60 sections attended the Congress.

Pappers Conducts Congress at Crucial Political Juncture in Sweden

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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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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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Following a full year of negotiations, ICEM German affiliate IGBCE and the Northeastern Chemical Employers Association, or AGV Nordostchemie, reached terms on a trendsetting work-time agreement in Germany&rsquo;s eastern states. 
 
On 2 November, the social partners announced completion of a collective agreement that reduces work-time for both younger and older staff, as well as further harmonizing pay and other remuneration with chemical workers in western Germany. The social contract covers 36,000 employees at some 130 companies operating in the five eastern states. 
 
The key component is creation in 2013 of a monetary fund that employers will subsidize through 2.5% of their total annual payrolls, which will initially come to &euro;30 million. It will be used to maintain wage levels for older workers, age 60 and above, who choose to work one less day every other week. For shift workers of the same age, they have the option to work one day less per week. 
<img alt="" src="" width="175" height="132" />
IGBCE Chief Negotiator Peter Hausmann
The fund will also work for younger workers in order for them to tend to family and child care responsibilities. Their normal 40-hour work week in the east will be reduced by 3.5 hours with a minimal pay cut, but not proportional to the time off. In the chemicals sector in western states, the work week is 37.5 hours and the agreement is seen as harmonizing working hours without loss of pay. 
 
It is also seen as a means to retain skilled workers in eastern chemical enterprises, particularly with 70% of eastern workers between the ages of 44 and 59. The agreement bridges the demographic divide by rewarding older workers with sector knowledge and experience, specifically with the statutory retirement age expected to increase upwards from 65. The agreement also creates a &ldquo;work-time bank&rdquo; that allows staff to accumulate extra hours. 
 
&ldquo;We have agreed on a work-time model that provides a collective response to demographic changes,&rdquo; said IGBCE Chief Negotiator Peter Hausmann. &ldquo;For employees with children or dependents, for shift workers and for our older colleagues, this creates significant work-life opportunities.&rdquo; 
 
And IGBCE Northeast Regional Director Petra Reinhold-Knape said, &ldquo;We put in place a very innovative work-time model,&rdquo; adding the agreement will bring to parity the remaining differences between the east and west by &ldquo;putting more money in the pockets&rdquo; of eastern chemical workers. 
 
That was achieved by lifting eastern workers&rsquo; 13th month Christmas salary payment in two stages to match the 95% that western workers get by 2014. Workers in the east now receive 65% for the 13th month. 
 
As well, pay increases for job levels will be harmonised between east and west. Currently, the wage increases within each level are different, with those in the west 8% higher. Next year, that divide will be halved, with parity coming in 2014, the time when IGBCE and AGV Nordostchemie enter the next round of bargaining.

IGBCE Reaches Novel ‘Work Time’ Pact in Eastern Chemicals Sector

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Union members of Teamsters (IBT) Local 495 approved a long-term agreement with the successor employer to BMW at an auto-parts distribution warehouse in Ontario, California. Local 495 members, who waged a <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4570-US-Teamsters-Ardently-Resist-BMW-s-Auto-Parts-Outsourcing">summer-long campaign</a> to retain their jobs after BMW said it would terminate the labour agreement and outsource the operation, ratified a new accord 46-2 on 28 October. 
 
The ratification means that none of the 70 workers currently employed by BMW North America will be laid off and they will begin employment under a logistics company called the 2 AM Group on 1 January with full seniority and full union rights. The contract also contains nearly the same wage and benefit package as currently paid by BMW. 
 
The 2 AM Group is a logistics provider for BMW at assembly plants in the US states of South Carolina and Alabama, and also operates services for the luxury automaker in Munich, Germany, and Puebla, Mexico. 
<img alt="" src="" width="308" height="161" />
Teamsters handbilling in Seattle
This is the first collective agreement for 2 AM Group in the US. 
 
Although the agreement calls for a slight pay decrease from the base US$25-per-hour wage to US$23.50, the upcoming contract contains performance incentives that could lift overall pay. 
 
Local 495 and its Washington, DC-based parent union, the IBT, ran a pressure campaign against BMW in Germany, the UK, and across the US aimed at job retention and continued union representation at BMW&rsquo;s Southern California warehouse. That campaign won partial success on 9 August when the two sides agreed to extend a collective agreement expiring on 31 August for another six months. (Read <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4610-Campaign-Action-Wins-US-Teamsters-BMW-Contract-Extension">ICEM report</a> here.)&nbsp; 
 
The new accord with 2 AM completes the victory and proves that active campaigning by a trade union when confronted with workplace restructuring can reverse a company&rsquo;s intended plans. 
 
IBT Director of Global Strategies Tim Beaty expressed the appreciation of the union on behalf of General President Jim Hoffa and Local 495 Secretary-Treasurer Bob Lennox to the trade unions in Europe and the US that helped bring the message to BMW over the summer.

US Teamsters Win Job Security with BMW’s Auto Parts Successor

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