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CEP members ratified by 95% the master paper-mill collective agreement for eastern Canada with Bowater late last week. The agreement follows one with Abitibi-Consolidated last year, and covers 2,400 paperworkers at five mills. The CEP won an unreduced early retirement provision, and 11% pay increases over five years. &ldquo;With this strong ratification vote, our members have achieved the wage and pension improvements in the pattern agreement, and the company has secured five years of labour stability,&rdquo; said CEP President Brian Payne. It was the first bargain between the CEP and Bowater, a US-based newsprint firm that took over the Canadian mills only a few years ago.

Paperworkers in Canada Ratify Bowater Contract

A gas explosion early today in China has killed three and left 81 missing. The incident occurred at the Shenlong coal mine in Fukang city,Xinjiang province. Last week, two separate mine catastrophes killed 18 in China, and the week prior, a mine explosion killed 19. On 7 July at a licensed mine in Chishan township, Jiangxi province, a flood trapped 15 miners. A day earlier, three miners were killed due to a gas combustion explosion. That accident was at the Wangzifen coal mine in Chifeng city, North China&rsquo;s Inner Mongolia autonomous region. On 2 July, 19 of 24 miners working at the illegal Jiajiabao coal mine in Ningwu county, Shanxi province, died after a gas explosion rocked the mine.

Gas Blast in China Kills 81

Another North American mining contract involving the USW was settled peacefully. Some 900 miners in the state of Montana ratified a three-year contract last week with Stillwater Mining, the US&rsquo;s only producer of palladium and platinum. The workers at a mine and metal recovery facility won pay and benefit increases. Stillwater is majority owned by Russia&rsquo;s Norilsk Nickel, the world&rsquo;s leading nickel and platinum metals miner.

USW Comes to Terms with US&#039;s Only Pladdium/Platinum Miner

Copper miners in the US states of Arizona and Texas, represented by ICEM affiliate United Steelworkers (USW) are on strike against Asarco, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Grupo Mexico. Some 1,200 miners struck a pair of Asarco&rsquo;s Arizona worksites 2 July, just after their collective agreement expired, and another 350 struck at mine and processing sites in Arizona and Texas last week in sympathy. Their contract had expired 30 June 2004. Grupo Mexico is demanding a wage freeze and pension and health care benefit reductions at a time when copper prices are at a 16- year high. 
The company has told markets that 100,000 to 125,000 tonnes of processed and contained copper will be reduced from world supplies due to the strikes. The company has turned down requests by the union for bargaining to resolve the young strikes, and the USW has filed numerous unfair labour practice charges with the US labour board over the company&rsquo;s lack of bargaining and harsh reprisals in the workplace against trade unionists during bargaining.

Steelworkers in Southwestern US Strike Copper Holdings

<img alt="" src="" style="width: 100px;height: 39px" width="390" />

	The abuse of basic labour rights in Iraq, and the bravery of Iraqi workers to continue to organise under extreme pressure of aggressive employers supported by viciously anti-trade union legislation from the Saddam era is continuing. A raft of recent attacks on trade union activity of oil workers is attracting wide condemnation from international trade unions, and includes fines, forced demotions, and relocation of union officials.

	The Court of Appeal has ruled against Ibrahim Radi, vice-president of the Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions (IFOU), confirming a fine of 34 million Iraqi dinars (US$30,000), an amount far beyond the trade union leader&rsquo;s ability to pay. In case of non-payment, Radi will face jail, and also the possible dismissal from his job. Hassan Jumaa Awad Al Assadi, President of IFOU calls for solidarity and assistance from trade union comrades abroad.

	<img alt="" height="266" src="" width="200" />

	Hassan Jumaa

	IFOU President Hassan Jumaa has himself recently been disciplined for trade union activity, being arbitrarily demoted three years seniority including a substantial drop in salary.

	In May 2011 ICEM reported on the Sadrist-controlled Ministry of Labour controlling trade union elections, appointing a &ldquo;Ministerial Preparatory Committee&rdquo; (MPC), consisting of un-elected, politically bias officials, mostly from the Sadrist Party. MPC officials distributed union membership cards, arbitrarily choosing members favourable to their faction. Union offices were taken over with support from police and military personnel, and the union elections were held inside the Sadrist Party offices. Following international outcry, those election results were voided, but today the Ministry of Labour recognised the 2011 election results and asked the same preparatory committee to oversee a new round of worker elections on 2 June. The elections stand to appoint worker representatives at all levels, and will be marred with fraud and misconduct.

	A LabourStart campaign will be launched in the coming days gathering online messages to the Iraqi authorities. Join the campaign which also calls for justice in a number of further cases, connected to a peaceful protest of workers at the Maysan Oil Company for which they are charged and disciplined for &ldquo;inciting unrest&rdquo;.

Iraqi Oil Workers Union under Government Attack

<img alt="" src="" style="width: 100px;height: 39px" width="390" />The Colombian subsidiary of US-based glass company Ross International, Moldes Medellin, is attempting to dismiss the majority of its employees at the Sabaneta and Estrella Antioquia plants, despite social bargaining agreements protecting the workers&rsquo; rights to their jobs.The workers are members of ICEM-affiliated Sintravidricol and the union is leading the campaign against the dismissals. So far 20 employees have been forced out either through unilateral decisions of management or under the pretence of a &ldquo;voluntary agreement&rdquo; which has no other possible alternative than the worker losing their job.The fear now is that Moldes Medellin will cut its workforce by half, condemning 60 workers and their families to unemployment. Management is accused of targeting the unionised workers in the cuts, punishing the exercising of freedom to organise.<img alt="" height="174" src="" width="232" />If the mass dismissal is not stopped, Moldes Medellin will effectively crush the Sintravidricol plant-level unions. Sintravidricol then calls for solidarity and support in this conflict for labour rights and job stability.Write in protest to the company&rsquo;s legal representative Doctor Carlos Daniel Posada DuqueSolicitamos a todos pronunciarse, enviando notas de protesta y exigiendo el respeto por el derecho al trabajo y la estabilidad laboral, al representante legal de la empresa, <a href="mailto:Daniel.posada@moldesmedellin.com.co">Doctor CARLOS DANIEL POSADA DUQUE</a>, and to the Colombian Minister of Labour, <a href="mailto:dtantioquia@mintrabajo.gov.co">Doctor Gustavo Alberto Areiza</a>. Send copies to the union addresses: <a href="mailto:icemcol@hotmail.com">icemcol@hotmail.com</a>, <a href="mailto:sintravidestrella@gmail.com">sintravidestrella@gmail.com</a>, <a href="mailto:sintravidsab@une.net.co">sintravidsab@une.net.co</a>.Sintravidricol organised Ross International subsidiaries through a hard fought victory in December 2007, achieving recognition and a collective agreement following a 23-day strike, and a three-year struggle that garnered international support through the ICEM, with key support from the United Steelworkers (USW). The agreement made all 240 workers at the three plants full-time employees, whereas the majority were previously on fixed-term contracts.Those hard-won advances are now at serious risk.

Support Colombian Glass Workers Facing Mass Dismissal

<img alt="" src="" style="width: 100px;height: 39px" width="390" />

	With an 80% approval vote last week, 105 members of Canadian Auto Workers Local 551 in Camrose, Alberta, ratified a four-year labour agreement, ending a near three-week by Evraz North America, a subsidiary of the multinational steel and mining company, Evraz Group.

	The union won wage and pension increases, and agreed to a modified pension plan for new hires, the main issue in the dispute. (See <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/5020-Evraz-Pipe-Shamefully-Locks-Out-Members-of-Canadian-Auto-Workers">ICEM report</a> from 16 May.) CAW Local 551 preserved a hybrid blend of a defined benefit and defined contribution pension scheme that will be fully paid by the company.

	&ldquo;The overriding factor in agreeing to the settlement wasn&rsquo;t anything to do with money,&rdquo; said CAW National Representative Todd Romanow, &ldquo;but rather the company agreeing to keep the defined pension plan in the agreement for new hires and the company agreeing to limit supervisors and foremen working outside the bargaining agreement to hold their seniority rights for one a one-year time frame, while previously it was open ended.&rdquo;

	&nbsp;<img alt="" src="" style="width: 120px;height: 157px" width="390" />&nbsp;

	Todd Romanow&nbsp;

	The Evraz Camtose facilities include two pipe-making plants, one making up to 16-inch electric-resistance piping and casing for oil drilling and transport of oil and natural gas, the other producing larger tubular piping for transmission lines.

	CAW Local 551 won a 4.5% wage increase over the four years, as well as C$3 in increases on the pension scheme for current workers over the term of the contract. The first year 1.5% wage increase is retroactive to 1 February 2012 &ndash; the date a prior labour agreement expired &ndash; and further 1.5% increases in 2013, 2014, and 2015. Workers also receive a C$1,000 ratification bonus.

	The deciding factor in workers ratifying the agreement, said Romanow was the limitation of one year for supervisors and foremen to return to the bargaining unit with full seniority.&nbsp;

	Evraz North America is based in Chicago, USA, and Luxembourg-based Evraz Group is controlled by holding companies primarily owned by Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, also owner of UK&rsquo;s Chelsea football club of the English Premier League.

CAW Local Branch Fends Off Pension Cuts, Ending Evraz Pipe Lockout in Canada

<img alt="" src="" style="width: 100px;height: 39px" width="390" />

	A third industrial strike by UK dockworkers concluded last night, 29 May, just as members of the Swedish Dockworkers&#039; Union began a sympathy blockade in their support against paper manufacturer Stora Enso. The 45 dockers &ndash; members of Unite the Union &ndash; are resisting unilateral and unfair changes to their work shifts by Enterprise Distribution Centre, a Port of Tilbury employer that exclusively handles parent paper rolls shipped to the UK by Stora Enso.

	On 1 March, Enterprise Distribution abrogated the dockers&rsquo; collective agreement by changing working hours to a &ldquo;follow the ship&rdquo; policy, meaning dockers are only paid from the time ships are ready to unload rather than normal daily shift schedules. The 45 Unite members employed at Stora Enso&rsquo;s portside warehouse stand to lose from &pound;2,500 to &pound;5,000 annually with the change.

	<img alt="" src="" style="width: 265px;height: 160px" width="390" />

	The company, with the consent of Stora Enso, did this without consultation or negotiations with Unite. The ICEM joined the fray yesterday by sending <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/42.ICEM%20UK%20Enterprise%20Distribution.29May.pdf">a letter</a> in support of the dockworkers and sending a circular inviting other trade unionists to lend solidarity. Join that campaign by clicking on the <a href="/en/19-Pulp-Paper/5032-UK-Dockworkers-Handling-Stora-Enso-Parent-Rolls-Need-Immediate-Support">ICEM link</a> here.

	Yesterday&rsquo;s conclusion of a second 48-hour strike at the Essex port &ndash; a 24-hour once was held 8 May &ndash; saw dockworkers&rsquo; in G&ouml;teborg, Sweden, begin the first of two similar 24-hour strikes in support of the Tilbury dockers. Stora Enso operates two ships between G&ouml;teborg and the Port of Tilbury, owning one outright and leasing the other from the Danish shipper DFDS.

	Due to the lawful industrial strikes in May, the first formal negotiations over the shift changes between Enterprise Distribution Centre and Unite will be held today, nearly three months after the company imposed the changes without consultation. A spokesman for the dockworkers said the union will wait to see how those talks go before determining whether or not to serve another seven-day intent to strike notice.

	The Port of Tilbury employs 3,500 workers through several stevedoring and shipping companies.

Support Widens for Dockworkers Victimised by Stora Enso at UK’s Port Tilbury

<img alt="" src="" style="width: 100px;height: 39px" width="390" />

	Under the banner, &ldquo;30 Years of Unbroken Revolutionary Trade Union Struggle,&rdquo; delegates to the 14th Congress of ICEM South African affiliate National Union Mineworkers&rsquo; (NUM), held in Kempton Park near Johannesburg from 23-27 May, gave renewed three-year terms to President Senzeni Zokwana and General Secretary Frans Baleni in contested elections.

	Zokwana, also the ICEM President, topped challenger Joe Montisetse with a 641 to 458 vote count, while Baleni, an ICEM Executive Committee member, bested Deputy General Secretary Oupa Komane 637 to 461.

	A total of 1,200 delegates participated in the 320,000-member NUM&rsquo;s triennial Congress, timed to coincide with the 30th anniversary of the founding of South Africa&rsquo;s preeminent trade union. Some 80 international delegates took part, including ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda and Director of Industry and Corporate Affairs Kemal &Ouml;zkan, International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation General Secretary Jyrki Raina, and Building and Wood Workers&rsquo; International (BWI) General Secretary Ambet Yuson.

	<img alt="" src="" style="width: 219px;height: 159px" width="390" />

	President Senzeni Zokwana

	In his opening remarks, Zokwana said: &ldquo;Our union will mobilize membership and remain active and vigilant.&rdquo; He said NUM&rsquo;s primary task will continue to recruit and unify new members, to improve condition of services, to develop class consciousness and to defend the rights of the working class at all workplaces.

	The Congress heard keynote speaker Jacob Zuma, President South Africa, praise the historic role that NUM played in liberating the country from the wrath of apartheid. He also urged NUM members not to become &ldquo;paper revolutionaries,&rdquo; a reference to non-involvement in ruling party African National Congress (ANC) deliberations.

	<img alt="" src="" style="width: 212px;height: 159px" width="390" />

	President Zuma

	&ldquo;I feel very strongly that your participation as workers in the ANC is vital,&rdquo; said Zuma. &ldquo;You cannot make the issue of your ANC membership a casual one.&rdquo;

	In his address to the Congress, Warda recounted the contributions made by the NUM in working-class struggles throughout the world. &ldquo;The ICEM is extremely grateful to the NUM for providing great leadership to our Global Union Federation in making us more progressive, more active and more relevant in the world&rsquo;s trade union movement.&rdquo;

	Warda, on behalf of the ICEM, closed his address by announcing the ICEM&rsquo;s contribution to a memorial fund set up by the NUM for the family of Pinky Mosiane.

	<img alt="" src="" style="width: 238px;height: 159px" width="390" />

	Manfred Warda and NUM&rsquo;s Pinky Mosiane Monetary Contribution

	She was brutally raped and murdered by a co-worker or co-workers on 6 February inside a mine owned by American Platinum (Amplats) in Rustenburg, North West Province. The ICEM announcement spurred other unions in attendance, including BWI, United Steelworkers (USW), Mining and Energy Division of Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU), to also pledge contributions.

	Baleni presented both an organizational report and an international report, the latter outlining the important role the NUM plays inside global labour, particularly in mining sector trade unionism and within the ICEM spectrum.

	<img alt="" src="" style="width: 261px;height: 160px" width="390" />

	Delegates Displaying Revolutionary Spirit

	Delegates passed resolutions calling for amnesty on black-listing South Africans faced with debts up to R200,000, a call to the nation&rsquo;s mining companies to stop exports to Israel, the decriminalization of sex work, and a ban on labour brokers.

	The Congress also rejected wholesale nationalization of most industries, calling such moves non-strategic and something that would result in nationalizing mining debt and providing bail-outs to mine investors. <a href="http://lolitaoutfits.com/Lolita-Corset_l166">corset tops</a>&nbsp;Following the close of Congress late in the evening of 26 May, the NUM held a report-back rally the next day with rank-and-file miners in nearby Carletonville.

	&nbsp;

	Also elected to NUM leadership positions were: David Macatha, National Treasurer; Tshimane Montoedi, Deputy General Secretary; Piet Matosa, Deputy President; Peter Bailey, National Chair for Health and Safety; Eric Gcilitshana, National Secretary for Health and Safety; Ecliff Tantsi, National Secretary for Education; and Helen Diatile, National Chair for Education.

NUM Re-Elects President Zokwana, General Secretary Baleni at South African Congress

After seven years and over 310 consecutive editions of ICEM InBrief, this is the final issue. A new weekly newsletter will debut upon the founding of IndustriALL in June.

Discontinuation of ICEM InBrief

Archive

Paperworkers in Canada Ratify Bowater Contract

Gas Blast in China Kills 81

USW Comes to Terms with US's Only Pladdium/Platinum Miner

Steelworkers in Southwestern US Strike Copper Holdings

Iraqi Oil Workers Union under Government Attack

Support Colombian Glass Workers Facing Mass Dismissal

CAW Local Branch Fends Off Pension Cuts, Ending Evraz Pipe Lockout in Canada

Support Widens for Dockworkers Victimised by Stora Enso at UK’s Port Tilbury

NUM Re-Elects President Zokwana, General Secretary Baleni at South African Congress

Discontinuation of ICEM InBrief

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