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The ICEM’s Japanese Affiliates Federation (JAF) has been using many of its own resources, and nearly all of its time and energy to deal with the horrible after effects of last Friday’s earthquake and tsunami. The ICEM has been in contact with JAF several times daily in order to determine the federation’s needs. What follows is a Circular Letter from General Secretary Manfred Warda to all ICEM affiliates alerting them on how they can help:
Please Contribute: Japanese Earthquake/Tsunami Relief 

Dear ICEM Affiliated Unions, 
 
Many of you have inquired over the past several days the best means to contribute to Relief Funds handling the horrible disaster in Japan. You should know that we have been in constant touch with JAF, the ICEM’s Japanese Affiliates Federation, and they have been doing the very best they can, under unimaginable circumstances, to come to the assistance of their electric energy, oil and gas, and other union members in North-east Japan, as well as in other areas. 
 
As is ICEM policy in such natural disasters, we ask that you consider contributions to your local or national Red Cross or UNICEF agencies, with the earmark of Japanese Earthquake/Tsunami Fund. 
 
But we also have been informed by JAF General Secretary Yoshio Sato that JAF has set up an account in its Tokyo Bank to handle relief efforts undertaken by the unions. The bank transfer coordinates there: 
 
Bank Name: Mizuho Bank, Ltd. 
Swift Code: MHBKJPJT 
Branch name: Shiba Branch 
Branch Address: 5-34-7, Shiba, Minato-Ku, Tokyo 108-0014, Japan 
Account Name: Nihon Kagaku Enerugi-Kouzan Roudoukumiai Kyougikai 
Account Number: 054-3316103 
 
Please state in the transfer “Earthquake.” 
 
Obviously, ICEM and ICEM JAF are very grateful for any and all contributions. And messages of Support and Solidarity can still be sent, addressed to <a href="mailto:icemjaf@blue.ocn.ne.jaf">Yoshio Sato</a>.
Lastly, please take a moment to reflect on the safety and health of the courageous workers, members of JAF affiliate Denryoku Soren, who are working non-stop on the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant. These and other JAF members who are working around the clock on Japanese security, relief efforts, and tending in so many ways to abate this disaster are the real heroes in the world today. They deserve our Support and Solidarity. 
 
Again, thank you for your efforts. 
 
In Solidarity, 
 
Manfred Warda 
General Secretary

ICEM’s Japanese Affiliates Identify Earthquake Relief

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Welcome to this first issue of a quarterly newsletter in 2011 of IMF, ICEM and ITGLWF aimed at providing information on the creation of a new International uniting industrial workers. 
 
Trade unions around the world affiliated to the International Metalworkers' Federation (IMF), the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM), and the International Textile, Garment, and Leather Workers Federation (ITGLWF) have a common interest in becoming a stronger voice for industrial workers. 
 
A joint IMF-ICEM-ITGLWF task force met in Japan in February to continue its examination of how to unify the world's industrial workers into one global union federation. 
 
Task force members of the three Global Union Federations (GUFs) from five continents confirmed the rationale of creating a united voice of the industrial workers of the world, and a strong counter-power to major transnational corporations. Unions want to underline the role of manufacturing industry as the locomotive of national economies and as a creator of good quality jobs with decent working conditions and trade union rights. 
 
The task force heard the reports from the working groups on statutes and finances, and discussed in detail the decision-making, regional and sectoral structures of a possible new GUF. The task force decided to meet again on May 5 in Frankfurt, Germany, to finalize a proposal to the Executive Committees of the three organizations at the end of May. 
 
Already the three GUFs work together on a number of joint areas and through joint initiatives in trade union rights and campaigns, precarious work, climate change, sustainable trade and development, networking and union building, and have demonstrated the advantages of greater unity. 
 
By creating a new International and combining our strengths we believe we can do more to mobilize workers, defend trade union rights, and organize unorganized workers throughout supply chains into strong and self-reliant unions. Together we can create a powerful counterpart to transnational corporations and fight more forcefully for good quality industrial jobs and against precarious forms of employment. 
 
By combining resources we can achieve greater visibility and impact, better service to affiliates, and find synergies through a reduction of overlapping activities. 
 
In this and future issues of our joint newsletter in 2011, we hope to show just how industrial workers around the world are Stronger Together! 
 
Jyrki Raina 
Manfred Warda 
Patrick Itschert

IMF, ICEM, ITGLWF Move Towards Creating a New International

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Global tools help solve local problems. That was the motto at a recent joint mission by ICEM and IMF to ease labour relations at Umicore’s operations in South Africa. This mission was part of activities done in connection with the Global Framework Agreement (GFA) between the Belgium-based company and ICEM and IMF. Umicore is a chemicals, metal technology, and catalyst systems company. 
 
The South African visit was the third such joint mission since the GFA was signed in September 2007. The two previous ones were to China in 2009 and Brazil in 2010. The main objective of the missions, as a regular exercise in accord with the relevant provisions of the agreement, is to monitor compliance. 
 
Umicore’s two South African plants are located in the city of Port Elizabeth and are called UACSA and UCPE. They are part of the company’s automotive catalysts business segment, one of four business units of Umicore. The area is a leading producer for automobiles and auto parts. 
 
Representatives from the Chemical, Energy, Paper, Printing, Wood, and Allied Workers Union (CEPPWAWU) from both Umicore plants participated in the mission, as did the Regional Secretary and an Educator from ICEM- and IMF-affiliated National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA). 
 
The CEPPWAWU representatives included Skhumbuzo Phakathi, Clement Chitja, David Nzanzeka, Khaya Mkefe, Lindelwa Gxavu, Ncedile Boyce, Sindiswa Silotile, Xola Dlova, and Camagu Mzinyati. NUMSA participants were Vuyo Bikitsha and Mziyanda Twani. 
 
Considering recent issues between local management and trade unions in the Port Elizabeth plants, the visit by ICEM and IMF representatives resulted in positive and constructive evaluations. The plant visits also assisted workers in resolving some outstanding local issues. 
 
The mission resulted in a number of concrete results, including a conclusion to improve local communication on a number of issues, including recruitment procedures, structure of employment, integration of both plants, and training and education. It was agreed that the latter would benefit from greater engagement by both parties. In doing this, the mission’s results are in line with objectives of the GFA to create mutually beneficial relations and dialogue between the partners. 
 
The ICEM and IMF representatives were impressed by the excellent work of the local trade union representatives, and also recognized that local and corporate managers play a crucial role in creating better social dialogue throughout the company. This visit will be evaluated in April 2011 at the next GFA Monitoring Committee with management.

ICEM, IMF Complete Third Umicore Mission

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Showcasing unions fighting back against austerity cuts will be featured in the line-up for the Global Labour Film Shorts in 2011. Affiliates are invited to submit their films for possible inclusion in the one hour line-up of the best short films from around the world by April 1. 
 
Since the beginning of the global economic crisis, trade unions internationally have denounced its fast and increasing negative impact on workers. Some of this action has been captured on film, an essential platform for communication in many union campaigns and actions today. 
 
Over the last four years, the Geneva Labour Film Shorts Festival has taken place in downtown Geneva enabling unions and working people worldwide to share their stories. This year, in order to reach a wider international audience, the festival is refocusing to an on-line and DVD presentation that will be submitted to over 36 labour related film festivals around the world. The line-up will also be available on DVD for affiliates of all Global Union Federations and the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) to use in their own events and activities. 
 
The one-hour DVD will focus on short films that are excellent examples of communicating labour stories and messages and the selection will include a range of different films from different parts of the world. The launch of the Global Labour Film Shorts 2011 will take place at the European Metalworkers' Federation (EMF) “Unions in Motion” film festival, coming up on June 10-11 at Landschaftspark Nord in Duisburg, Germany. 
 
Please send copies of your films on DVD with a short paragraph describing the film, why it was produced and how it was used. The IMF, coordinating the work, will need unfettered rights to show the film and publish it online, of course with full acknowledgement of who created the material. Due to resource constraints for interpretation, the IMF is only able to accept films in English language or with English subtitles. 
 
We need to receive copies of all possible films by April 1, 2011. 
 
Please send to: 
Cherisse Fredricks 
International Metalworkers' Federation 
Case Postale 1516 
CH1227 Geneva 
Switerland

Fight Back on Film!

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The governing body of Metalliliitto, Finland’s Metalworkers’ Union, gave leadership of the union authority to establish a blockade of construction at Olkiluoto III, the country’s long-delayed fifth nuclear power reactor now underway on the southwestern coast. The approval for industrial action was given because of wage arrears and noncompliance of Finnish social standards by a Polish subcontractor, KMW Engineering. 
 
The blockade could come as early as this week and will largely depend on an audit report by a regional state agency, and on further negotiations between the union and contractors. The blockade has the support of Finland’s Construction Trades Union, the Finnish Electrical Workers’ Union, and Pro, the union for salaried workers in Finland. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1103.finnish nuclear power plant.jpg" width="337" height="190"/>
Photo: YLE/Termonen Tapio
The Polish company is hundreds of thousands of euros in wage arrears, has failed to keep overtime pay records, and reportedly has been negligent over health and safety matters. Metalliliitto has asked for pay records for all of 2009 and 2010. The union also claims that KMW’s employment practices are substandard to those established in the national metal sector collective agreement. 
 
The French nuclear company Areva is the main contractor for Olkiluoto III , which is being built alongside two other nuclear reactors by the private-sector Finnish energy company Teollisuuden Voima Oy (TVO). Metalliliitto has attempted to negotiate with all parties connected to the 1.6 gigawatt (1,600 megawatt) nuclear project but none have been willing to hold KMW responsible for its social dumping. KMW is building cooling units at Olkiluoto III. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1103.Metalliliitto President Riku Aalto.jpg" width="96" height="128"/>
Metalliliitto President Riku Aalto
Metalliliitto President Riku Aalto said the union has consistently been denied even the bare minimum of data on its information requests. He said social dumping continues at Olkiluoto III, in part, because unions in Finland are restricted from filing legal cases to stop such practices. Aalto said that is not the case in countries such as Sweden, Norway, and Germany. 
 
Olkiluoto III is already three years behind schedule, with construction now scheduled to end late in 2012. Commissioning of the reactor would then happen late in 2013. The original €3.95 billion project is reported to be €1.5 billion over budget and has been marked by litigation among contractors and between contractors and TVO.

Finland’s Metalworkers close in on Blockade of Nuclear Plant Work

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The beginning of a Latin American network for Vale workers took root in Peru from 9-11 March, when 35 trade union representatives from six countries met in the city of Piura to discuss common problems and joint strategies to combat the anti-social policies of the Brazilian mining company. 
 
The meeting was sponsored by the US Solidarity Center and its Peruvian and Brazilian offices, and hosted by the ICEM Latin American/Caribbean Region and the ICEM affiliate, the Peruvian National Miners’ and Metalworkers’ Union (FNTMMSP). 
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The Piura department in northern Peru is where Vale intends to supply its entry into agri-business following last year’s purchase of Bunge’s Fosfertil subsidiary in Brazil, a manufacturer of fertiliser. Vale has recently begun production at the Bayóvar mine, a phosphate development that is under its Peruvian subsidiary, Minera Miski Mayo. 
 
Union representatives from Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Peru, and the US were present, and serious discussion occurred over Vale’s social conduct throughout the world. The Canadian representative was from United Steelworkers Local 6500 in Sudbury, Ontario, and he told of Vale’s anti-people policies following the purchase of Inco nickel mining and smelting assets in 2006 and a subsequent 360-day strike by 3,500 steelworkers in 2009-2010. 
 
ICEM Regional Vice President Sergio Novais chaired the meeting, and besides several FNTMMSP delegates attending, participants also included Brazilian union leaders from CNQ/CUT, the chemical workers’ union; SINDIMINA, a Brazilian mineworkers’ union representing Vale miners; STEFAM, a union of railway workers at Vale mines and other workplaces; and STIQUIFAR, a chemical, pharmaceutical, and agri-chem union.

Workers’ Network Meeting of Vale Convenes in Peru

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Labour strife broke out late last week at Kumho tyre plants Korea. Members of the Kumho Tyre Workers’ Union, affiliated to the Korean Metal Workers’ Union (KMWU) and the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), staged a one-day warning strike on 25 March at two of three Kumho plants in Korea – Gwungju and Gokseong. 
 
Management immediately retaliated that day and on 26 March with a lockout. When some 3,400 workers at the two plants in southwestern Korea tried to return to their jobs, Kumho managers insisted they sign individual agreements pledging not to strike. 
 
The KMWU branch unit issued a statement calling on Kumho to negotiate over a set of disputed issues, and said, “The company forced union workers to confirm that they would not take part in (further) strikes.” The Kumho Tyre Workers’ Union is strongly encouraging workers not to sign the statement and not to return to work while the lockout is in force. 
<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1103.korea metal.jpg" width="252" height="189" alt=""/>
Kumho’s Gwungju Tyre Plant, 25 March
By a 72% vote count, rubber workers on 10 March voted to launch the warning strike. Central among issues is management’s refusal to negotiate paid time-off inside the factories for KMWU branch leaders to handle grievances and perform other union business. The union also seeks labour-management dialogue in order to cut excessive noise pollution in the factories, and wants revisions to severance packages. 
 
Kumho, a subsidiary of the Kumho Asiana Group, has shed a great number of jobs over the past two years due to a heavy debt burden and shifting of work to start-up plants in China. Earlier last week, Kumho was hit by a massive recall of tyres made in those Chinese plants because recycled content exceeded the allowable requirements. 
 
Kumho is Korea’s second largest tyre manufacturer and the world’s tenth biggest. Workers at the company’s third tyre plant in Korea, in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi province, where the KMWU also represents staff, are not affected by the current labour strife.

Warning Strike Leads to Lockout at Kumho Tyre Factories in Korea

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Some 2,000 iron ore miners and pellet-plant workers in northern Québec, members of four United Steelworkers (USW) locals, came to excellent wage, pension, and work terms with ArcelorMittal Mines Canada. 
 
The six-year agreement, ratified by 75% of union members on 3 April, came after arduous bargaining dating to last November. A prior labour agreement in Québec between the USW and the world’s largest steelmaker expired in February. 
 
The contract will give hard-rock miners and processing-plant workers a 45% pay increase over the six years, inclusive of enhanced bonuses and hefty improvements to the yearly cost-of-living adjustment. The hourly wage increase will average 4.1% per year, and 25.6% over the six years. 
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USW Region Five Director Daniel Roy
Additionally, USW Québec region and local branch negotiators withstood a management affront to create a two-tier pension scheme, with a proposal to cast new hires into a defined contribution plan. Not only did the bargaining units retain a defined benefit pension plan, but they made improvements to it as well. 
 
Workers with 30 years of service will realise a monthly increase of C$210 per month, or 18%, and the union negotiated a 3% increase for current retirees. Steelworkers under the new agreement are employed at the Mont-Wright and Firelake mines near Fermont in northern Québec, along a 400-kilometre rail link, and at an ArcelorMittal pellet plant at Port-Cartier on the Gulf of St. Lawrence. 
 
“This employment contract reflects the mining boom currently underway in the north coast and Québec region,” stated USW Region Five Director Daniel Roy. “It is also the product of difficult negotiations, during which the committee showed determination and solidarity. 
 
“I invite non-unionised mine workers a take a look at what we accomplished at ArcelorMittal Mines.” 
 
The labour agreement contains new restrictions on outsourcing by strengthening the union-rostered stability list. Luxembourg-based ArcelorMittal purchased the iron ore assets in 2006 from Québec Cartier Mining Co., then owned by an investment company. ArcelorMittal produces 40% of Canada’s iron ore output.

Steelworkers Achieve Exemplary Labour Pact with ArcelorMittal in Québec

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Mobilisation in the Netherlands toward strike action won 330,000 metalworkers a 25-month labour agreement in the small metals and electric-technical sector. The pay package of 4.45% exceeds Dutch inflation and is expected to set the pace for national contracts in the coming weeks in automotive and the big metals sectors. 
 
FNV Bondgenoten, CNV Vakmensen, and De Unie reached a tentative agreement with the Metaal & Techniek industry asssociation, representing 30,000 employers, late on 6 April, which now prevents another two weeks of scheduled mobilisation that could have led to industrial actions. A prior agreement in the sector covering metal fabrication, installation, as well as plumbing, heating, and electrical installation expired 1 April.  

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FNV Bondgenoten’s Jan Berghuis 

“The employers didn’t want a fight and we were quickly mobilising toward strike action,” said Jan Berghuis, head of the sector for FNV Bondgenoten, who called the pact “trendsetting.” 
 
“With inflation expected to be less than 2%, this is a very good result and it will likely prove very important in the big metal and automotive sectors.” 
 
Some 150,000 metalworkers in basic steel and other heavy metal production resume talks through their unions on 19 April. The agreement in that sector expires 1 May. The automotive sector, where 90,000 workers are employed, has a social agreement expiring on 1 June. 
 
The accord in light metals and electric-technical provides exceptional training opportunities and investment of such for workers, a key part of the deal. Berghuis also said the unions won language regarding the use of short-term contract labour that specifies this work can only go to labour-hire firms that have collective agreements with the unions. 
 
The 4.45% pay increase will come in four steps over the next 18 months. Berghuis said the only disappointment came in not securing a higher wage or a stipend for young workers. But young workers brought into the sector during the financial crisis will benefit by the 4.45%. 
 
The three unions and Metaal & Techniek industry had been at a bargaining stalemate since late February, and only a week ago mobilisation meetings and union activity indicated there could be a rare Dutch strike in this sector. But a compromise on wages, extending the agreement into a second year, the unions gaining the necessary continuing education and training criteria, and workable language on contract labour means the agreement will be recommended for ratification by all three unions.

Dutch Unions Agree to ‘Trendsetting’ Terms in Light Metals, Electric Sector

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A three-day workshop in basic safety radiation training for workers employed around uranium and uranium mining was held in Windhoek, Namibia, from 24-26 March. The ICEM-sponsored workshop was the second such workshop, the first one held in Johannesburg, South Africa, in June 2009. 
 
The training was attended by 22 people, including 15 African mine union leaders and seven trainers. Funding came from the ILO and the Friedrich-Ebert Foundation (FES) of Germany. Besides the ICEM, the Power Workers’ Union (PWU) of Canada, the Untied Steelworkers (USW), and the Canadian Nuclear Workers’ Council committed resources. Nuclear power companies Cameco and Ontario Power generation also provided support and assistance. 
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The workshop addressed radiation sources, protection, detection measurements, as well as radioactive gases in underground, open cast, and milling workplaces. ILO Conventions 176 and 183 were also reviewed, and sessions on national legislative and regulatory frameworks were held. 
 
Instructors included Dave Shier and Bob Walker of the PWU; Nancy Hutchison of the USW; Michael Schultheiss of FES Namibia; Marko Baran of Cameco; and Brian Kohler of the ICEM. ICEM Sub-Saharan African Regional Officer Fabian Nkomo was also a facilitator and selected the 15 African trade unionists, with the aim to give them basic training in safe uranium processes in order that they carry the training back to their worksites.

Namibia: ICEM Conducts Second Uranium Training Programme

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