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<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/en-header.jpg" width="180" height="55"/>
On 24 February, Juan Linares was released after spending two years in jail. His release came just days after worldwide mobilization of unions in the 14-19 February global days of action demanding trade union rights in Mexico. Linares has been a member of SNTMMSRM (or Los Mineros) since 1972 as a mine worker at the ArcelorMittal Sicartsa steel mill. 
 
Why were you imprisoned and what was the impact of this on your union? 
 
I was imprisoned under false charges of fraud, on which no evidence was ever presented. This is clearly an anti-union measure taken by the government of Felipe Calderón to undermine and attack the Miners' Union. There was an investigation and an audit was carried out which shows that there has been no embezzlement of funds at all. The anti-union attacks from the government have been constant, firstly starting with the accusations against the General Secretary Napoleón Gómez Urrutia; secondly, the freezing of the bank account and thirdly, imprisoning me. This just serves the government’s intention to finish off our union. 
 
How did you manage to secure your release after two years in jail? 
 
International support, particularly from the IMF, ICEM, AFL-CIO, and the United Steelworkers, that mobilized international opinion about my case and in particular the global days of action held in February had considerable impact on my release. I was imprisoned for two years, two months and 20 days. 
 
Is the government persecution of Los Mineros continuing? 
 
Yes, the government continues daily to persecute Los Mineros and this is because it is a right wing government. This already started in the time of Vicente Fox and is now continuing with Felipe Calderón. Persecution is particularly harsh from the Minister of Labour. 
 
What is the situation for Los Mineros and the independent trade union movement in Mexico today? 
 
I think that things are slowly improving. The questions that we are discussing today on the merger at the global level will be particularly beneficial for Mexico. For example, another union under attack - SME - will soon be together with us and I think that we could achieve a really strong and independent labour movement in Mexico. 
 
How can international solidarity support Los Mineros and other independent unions in your struggle? 
 
One thing in which we need the support from the international organizations is to be able to continue organizing and recruiting new members in our union and that is what we would ask the international organizations to which we are affiliated. I also would like to share with you my great joy because we just heard on 25 May that our leader Napoleón Gómez has now been cleared of all accusations against him and we are looking forward to having him back with us in Mexico and to continue our struggle. We believe that the union movement in Mexico is really advancing.

Interview: Juan Linares, National Mexican Mine and Metal Workers Union (SNTMMSRM) 

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The ICEM expressed satisfaction today that the Kumho Tyre subsidiary of Kumho Asiana Group lifted its eight-day lockout on 3,400 rubber workers, members of the Korean Metal Workers’ Union (KMWU). Korea’s second biggest tyre maker locked out workers on 25 March at factories in Gwungju and Gokseong following a one-day warning strike. 
 
The lockout ended at 14h30 today. The company rescinded its demand that workers sign individual work agreements promising not to engage in further work stoppages. In return for lifting the lockout, the Kumho Tyre Workers’ Union said it would end its industrial actions in front of the two plants. 
 
The union executed the warning strike on 25 March because Kumho refused to engage in dialogue over relevant issues in the middle of a two-year labour agreement. Those issues included giving workplace union leaders the right to maintain their union representation duties while on the job, revisions to severance packages, and health factors inside the factories. (See <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4347-Warning-Strike-Leads-to-Lockout-at-Kumho-Tyre-Factories-in-Korea" type="internal">ICEM report</a> from 28 March.) 
 
In lifting the lockout, the Kumho Tyre Workers’ Union recognised the company’s fragile financial and market situation. The ICEM is encouraged that the two sides engaged in meaningful dialogue to end the mid-term dispute.

Kumho Tyre Lifts Lockout on Metal Workers Union in Korea

ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin - No. 67, April 2011 

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A long and drawn out court battle in Chhattisgarh state, India, saw exploited contract workers of Holcim Cement again win regularisation of their jobs in March through a High Court appeals ruling. But Holcim Cement of Switzerland is refusing to implement the court’s order. 
 
The result is that hundreds of contract workers at one of Holcim’s Indian subsidiaries, Associated Cement Co. Ltd. (ACC), and supporters are staging an ongoing “dharna,” or strike at the Bhilai Industrial Estate statue of Shankar Guha Niyogi, the legendary workers’ leader and founder of the Chhattisgarh Mukti Morcha (CMM) political party who was assassinated in 1991. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1104.shankar Guha.jpg" width="120" height="150"/>
Shankar Guha Niyogi
The CMM-associated labour union Pragatisheel Cement Shramik Sangh is carrying the struggle for the contract workers, much like Niyogi did for irregular workers in mining, metalworking, and textiles three decades ago. 
 
The rightful fight for contract workers at ACC Jamul Cement to gain full wages, provident fund benefits, and even proper safety equipment dates back nearly 20 years. Holcim bought controlling interest in ACC and Ambuja Cement in 2006-2007 and has continued resistance to the legitimate rights of contract workers at its Indian cement plants. 
 
In 2006, an Industrial Court ruled that some 573 contract workers at ACC Jamul, many subsequently fired, must be made regular employees, with their wages and working conditions tied to the Cement Wage Board, or the Nevatia Award. Holcim, Lafarge, the Aditya Birla Group’s Ultratech, and other major cement producers are tied to the Wage Board by hard fought strikes of the past. 
 
The Wage Board agreement has tight restrictions on the use of contract labour, limiting it to loading and unloading raw materials but with pay at the same rate as permanent workers. 
 
Holcim defied the Industrial Court’s ruling by paying only between two-to-five days salary per month – at US$2 per day – because that is how few days contract workers were on the job at the time of the Industrial Court filing because Holcim was trying to get them to resign. 
 
Pragatisheel Cement Shramik Sangh filed a writ petition with the High Court, and that portion of litigation is still pending. However, on 21 March, the High Court did rule that the paper arrangements between irregular workers and Holcim are “sham and bogus” and directed management to regularise over 100 contract workers. However, the ruling neglected to recognise the rights of about 400 who were coerced into accepting voluntary resignations. 
 
India is the world’s second largest cement producer behind China. The country has an annual growth rate in cement of 11%, which has seen the leading cement producers make major investments and acquisitions. 
 
But multinationals like Holcim and Lafarge are doing nothing to stabilise employment and bring decent work to rural people who are recruited and then exploited as contract workers. Alone in Chhattisgarh state in central India, it is estimated that 3,200 permanent workers are employed in the cement industry, while 11,000 others toil as short-term, expendable contract workers.

Holcim Defies India Court Ruling on Rights for Contract Workers

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Trade unions organizing employees at the German-based industrial gas company Linde in ICEM’s Asia-Pacific Region creates a workers’ network at a first-ever meeting, held in Singapore on 13-14 December 2010. The meeting was realized with political and financial support provided by ICEM’s long-standing project partner Friedrich-Ebert-Foundation (FES) 
 
Union representatives from Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, South Korea, and Vietnam attended the meeting while Michael Wolters, International Secretary of ICEM German affiliate IGBCE, Kemal Özkan, ICEM’s Chemical and Rubber Industries Officer, Dr. Stefanie Elies, FES Office for Regional Cooperation in Asia, André Edelhoff, FES Office Singapore, Yoon Hyo-Won, ICEM Asia-Pacific Project Coordinator, and Indah Saptori, ICEM Indonesian Project Coordinator, also participated. 
<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1101.thailand group.JPG" width="320" height="206" alt=""/>
The objective of this regional network meeting was defined as a first exchange of experiences in order to build a foundation for a steady network of unions representing workers at the Linde’s regional locations. It was pointed out that it would not be possible to solve individual or local problems by this network meeting. 
 
ICEM’s Özkan presented information on the gas industry in general, while IGBCE’s Wolters told of Linde’s industrial structure in Germany and Europe. Specifically, Wolters defined the work of the Works Council system in Germany and the work of the European Works Council of the company. 
 
The participating union representatives gave information about the situation in their home countries, which varies from country to country. In Indonesia, labour relations for unions follow a high standard of regulations, and stable situations also exist at Linde plants in Singapore and Vietnam. But in Thailand, there are big problems and conflicts with the management, while the situation of the union in South Korea is extremely difficult. 
<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1101.thailand 1.JPG" width="221" height="186" alt=""/>
Özkan gave a perspective on the issue of Contract and Agency Labour, or “precarious work.” This was then discussed by participants regarding use of non-regular or short-term contract workers at Linde plants in Asia. At all of the locations have some variations of precarious work, such as broad outsourcing of work, use of temporary agency workers, or non-regular casual workers. In Thailand, logistics will be completely outsourced until 2012 with the effect of a wage reduction for workers affected. Global Framework Agreements and union networks were also discussed at the meeting. 
 
The participants of the meeting agreed to set up a regular e-mail communication system among them. Kelvin Tang from Singapore was given responsibility for forming the communication network. The participants committed to inform their local and national unions about the results of the meeting, and will as well address their local managements. One result of the December meeting is to organise a special meeting regarding the situation in Thailand.

Linde Industrial Gas Workers’ Network Created in Asia-Pacific

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The second meeting of the Latin American Trade Union Network of Dutch multinational Akzo Nobel was held on from 7-9 December 2010 in São Paulo, Brazil. The meeting was jointly organized by the project called CUTMulti, CUT`s International Relations Secretariat, and ICEM’s Dutch trade union affiliate, FNV Bondgenoten. 
 
The meeting was attended by trade union representatives from Brazil, the Netherlands, US, Mexico, Argentina, and Colombia, together with representatives from the Brazilian national labour centre CUT, ICEM, and Brazil’s Social Observatory Institute. 
 
At the opening session, the general coordinator of ICEM affiliate CNQ/CUT – the National Workers Confederation of the Chemical Sector – Antenor Nakamura (Kazu) congratulated the initiative to expand the committee, and highlighted the importance of trade union networking in the chemicals sector. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1101.brazil.JPG" width="320" height="147"/>
Delegates put forward their expectations from the network. Marcel Tesselaar, representative of FNV Bondgenoten, the union representing headquarters workers of AkzoNobel, acknowledged that the company has different behaviours in the Netherlands from the rest of the world. “Through meetings like this, we can create a real social dialogue process,” he said. 
 
James Carvin, a sub-district director of ICEM’s North American Affiliate, the United Steelworkers (USW), told the meeting that his union’s intention is to intensify the work with the network and promised to reproduce work done in Brazil in the US. 
 
ICEM’s Kemal Özkan reported on the current situation of the chemical industry worldwide. A international labor standards and other tools for union action presentation was made by José Drummond, with emphasis on the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, the ILO tripartite declaration for multinationals, UN Global Compact, Socio-Labor Declaration of Mercosur, ISO 26000, and various companies codes of conduct. Data on the AkzoNobel restructuring process was presented by the DIEESE. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1101.brazil.2.JPG" width="266" height="161"/>
The meeting also included country reports on existing situations at AkzoNobel plants. A plant visit to Mauá, discussions on communication of the network, its expansion and political coordination, and strengthening of the Latin American network were the major topics of the meeting programme. 
 
The activities closed on 10 December with a social dialogue session with the participation of the company`s management for South America. Some eight managers attended, including human resource managers and union relations consultants hired specially to deal with the workers network. The social dialogue debates included a presentation of the company on strategic investments in China, a report of the network on the proposals put forward in this second Latin American meeting, international labor standards, the social dialogue process, organization at the workplace, corporate social responsibility, the company’s code of conduct, and a proposal on training and labour/union relations for the management of the company.

Latin American Union Network for AkzoNobel Held in São Paulo, Brazil

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Georgia GTUC.jpg" width="100" height="99"/>
A strike by 400 miners of ICEM affiliate Metallurgical, Mining, and Chemical Workers’ Trade Union of Georgia ended peacefully yesterday when management of Saknakhshiri, or Geo-Coal, gave recognition to the union and agreed to good-faith negotiations. 
 
Those negotiations will begin Monday, 7 February, and will commence over safety issues and pay for surface transportation workers, the lowest paid workers at Tkibuli-Mindeli, a set of two underground mines in the Imereti region of western Georgia. Saknakhshiri is wholly-owned by the Georgian Investment Group (GIG), a diverse conglomerate controlled by the Georgian political figure, Davit Bezhuashvili. 
 
The agreement yesterday, brokered between the company and the Metallurgical, Mining, and Chemicals union and the Georgian Trade Unions Confederation (GTUC), gives parity to the union regarding social issues and gives the union full status on a commission to revamp safety and health conditions, a major contributing factor to the strike action this week. 
 
Tkibuli-Mindeli employs some 1,050 Georgian workers, including 650 miners, 200 transportation workers, and 250 administrative personnel.
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Georgia.png" width="220" height="101"/>
  
Following a methane gas explosion on 21 January that killed one and seriously injured four others – the third deadly gas blast in less than a year at Tkibuli-Mindeli – workers and their new union demanded modern mine safety equipment than the Soviet-era devices in place, and demanded improved work and pay conditions. 
 
The situation was exasperated last week when police arrested two lower-tier managers for safety negligence in the 21 January explosion. In support of the two and as protest to the overall work and safety conditions, miners staged a two-hour warning strike on 31 January and then embarked on an open-ended strike on 1 February. 
 
That strike brought broad public support and generated regional media coverage. Meanwhile, the ICEM affiliate and GTUC were actively engaged with Saknakhshiri in addressing issues. Yesterday’s agreement produced a 13-point commitment by the Georgian mining company to address all issues in respectful social dialogue, including new labour agreements that replace non-regular employment, pay and overtime concerns, and a joint safety structure to replace outdated equipment and correct deficiencies. 
 
For the union, it signed a four-point commitment to protect social guarantees of workers, take full part in development, training, and implementation of new safety features, and “will popularize and foster social dialogue, between the administration and employees, as a means of civilized resolution” of conflicts. 
 
GTUC Vice President Gocha Alexandria said the critical aspect to yesterday’s agreement is time deadlines. The union and company have strict time frames to reach accord on different issues. For instance, a joint study and policy directive on mine safety will be completed by 20 February; a wage increase for transportation workers will be readied by 7 February, with implementation on 1 March; and pay and other conditions for miners must be introduced by 10 March and implemented soon afterward. 
 
Talks on Monday will also firmly resolve the issuance of protective wearing apparel for workers, another grievance that led to the dispute. Yesterday’s accord also establishes a time frame in which a first collective agreement for Tkibuli-Mindeli miners of the Metallurgical, Mining, and Chemical Workers’ Trade Union will be achieved. That date is set at 20 March 2011. 
 
Workers began joining the Metallurgical, Mining, and Chemical Workers’ Trade Union of Georgia following a 27 August 2010 methane gas explosion that killed four and severely injured six other miners. On 3 March, another gas explosion killed four, this time severely burning one miner. 
 
The ICEM salutes the union, the capable leadership at GTUC, and the workers at Tkibuli-Mindeli for taking direct that led to this successful outcome. A report this week can be found here on <a href="/en/5-Mining-DGOJP/4228-ICEM-Supports-Safety-Strike-at-Georgian-Coal-Mine" type="internal">ICEM support</a> for the Georgian miners.

Strike Ends, Georgian Miners Recognized at Tkibuli-Mindeli Colliery

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Fifteen United Steelworkers (USW) branches in 11 US states last week ratified a new master agreement with International Paper (IP) by a 73% vote count, the union announced. The four-year agreement covers 6,800 workers at 15 pulp and paper mills, and it now builds on a first master agreement covering multiple workplaces of IP that was achieved in August 2007. 
 
The agreement, to take effect in August, includes wage increases of 1% in 2011, 2% in 2012, 1.5% in 2013, and 2% effective on 31 August 2014. It also includes improvements in a defined benefit pension plan, and lump sum payments into an existing employee savings plan of US$1,000 each in 2012 and 2014. 
<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1105.USW IP Master Contract.jpg" width="369" height="151" alt=""/>
USW Bargaining Committee
In addition, the agreement spells out stabilisation over health care costs, and provides job security, mainly through a “successorship clause.” That means that if IP sells any of the 15 mills, the new owner must retain all workers, recognise the USW as bargaining representative, and honour the collective agreement. 
USW Vice President Jon Geenen, who heads collective bargaining for the union in the pulp and paper sector, said the IP agreement continues a historic achievement. “In the past,” he said, “our locals bargained site by site, even though most companies approach bargaining as part of a national strategy.” 
 
Geenen added: “The success of our local unions here sets a precedent for bargaining in the rest of the industry.”
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Jon.geenen.USW.jpg" width="125" height="165"/>
USW VP Jon Geenen
The agreement came together in late March and early April after nearly a year of planning and strategic meetings. It culminated in face-to-face discussions in New Orleans, Louisiana, early last month in which an 80-person USW bargaining committee participated. “One of the main benefits of all the locals bargaining together at the same time is that everyone gets a voice in shaping the package,” said Geenen. 
 
The USW has a similar master accord with IP in the paper converting industry, covering 2,800 workers at 32 paper-converting plants of the company in 18 US states. The first master agreement in converting came into effect in 2008 and expires in 2012.

Steelworkers Renew Master Labour Pact with International Paper in US

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Following agreement in the Netherlands in the light metal and electric-technical sector last month, Dutch unions and the employers’ grouping Metalektro reached terms on 19 April in the heavy metal sector. The new accord runs for 26 months and covers 150,000 metalworkers employed by some 1,300 companies, including DAF Trucks, Scania, ASML, and NedCar. 
 
The agreement is similar to the <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4364-Dutch-Unions-Agree-to-�Trendsetting-Terms-in-Light-Metals-Electric-Sector" type="internal">earlier metalworkers agreement</a> covering 330,000 workers on wages, training and education, and restrictions on labour agencies. While the light metal contract pays 4.45% in four steps over the next 18 months, the heavy metal one pays out 4.25% but 4.75% in total, taking into account bonuses the employers’ association agree to pay for reorganisation of the pension scheme effective 1 January 2012. 
<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/NetherlandsFNVBondgenoten.gif" width="164" height="95" alt=""/>
Metalektro is bargaining with FNV Bondgenoten, CNV Vakmensen, and De Unie in the Dutch metalworking sectors. There is one major bargain remaining and that is in automotive, where 90,000 workers will have a contract expire on 1 June. 
 
The settlement in heavy metal recognised the shortage of skilled staff due to early retirements and redundancies and in turn made the sector more attractive for young workers. The agreement removes minimum levels of wage rates, allowing workers age 22 or over to progress into higher-paid jobs. The new accord also grants excellent industry-paid training and education opportunities. These areas are key and stand at the heart of this agreement. 
 
Of further importance, and similar to the one in light metal, the agreement has strong language on the use of short-term contract workers provided by agencies. The contract reads that work can only be outsourced to labour-hire firms that have collective agreements with the unions, mainly ones associated with Stichting Normering Arbeid (SNA). 
 
FNV Bondgenoten said the agreements so far indicate that the metal sector in the Netherlands is poised to lead Dutch economic recovery.

Employers, Dutch Unions Reach Terms in ‘Heavy Metal’ Sector

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The ICEM Norwegian affiliate, IndustriEnergi (IE), announced on 1 May that Shaher Sae’d, General Secretary of the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions (PGFTU), is the 2011 recipient of the Arthur Svensson International Award for Union Rights. 
 
Sae’d becomes the second recipient of the Svensson Award. Wellington Chibebe, the Secretary General of the Zimbabwe Confederation of Trade Unions (ZCTU), won the award in 2010, which comes with a NOK 500,000 (€60,000) cash prize. 
 
In selecting Sae’d and the Palestinian national labour centre, IE said, “PGTU fights for better understanding of the importance of union rights in the Palestinian self-government administration. They also work for Israel to stop the occupation of the Palestinian territories and the illegal settlements.” 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1105.asvensson winner palestine.JPG" width="253" height="169"/>
Shaher Sae’d, General Secretary of the PGFTU
Some 30 individuals and organisation were nominated for the award in 2011, which will be presented at a dinner and ceremony in Oslo on 16 June. The award is named after Arthur Svensson, a leader of Norsk Kjemisk Forbund, the Norwegian Chemical Workers’ Association, which merged in 2006 with the Petroleum and Energy Workers’ Federation (NOPEF) to create IE. 
 
Svensson died in 2008, but left a legacy in Norway and beyond as a man who promoted global peace, disarmament, and a nuclear weapons-free world. 
 
Noting the fact that Shaher Sae’d has been imprisoned a number of times, and his own safety and that of his family have been at risk several times, the selection committee said Sae’d “has shown outstanding leadership of the Palestinian trade union movement, while the political and financial framework has made this work especially difficult. 
 
“The Palestinian people have fought against occupation, as well as an independent state for over 60 years. Under the leadership of Shaher Sae’d, PGFTU has shown a will for dialogue and has refused to isolate any Palestinian groups, including Hamas. He has been open to a dialogue and cooperation with Histadrut, the organisation of trade unions in Israel.”

Palestine’s Shaher Sae’d Winner of Norwegian Arthur Svensson Union Rights Award

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