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	Following a second failed effort by the BHP Billiton-Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA) to force an unwanted enterprise labour agreement on 4,000 Queensland, Australia, coal miners, the tri-union Single Bargaining Unit (SBU) called a seven-day strike starting 23 May at six of the company&rsquo;s rich coking coal mines of the Bowen Basin.

	That strike, one in nearly ten inside a bitter 18-month dispute that has become the bellwether for trade union rights under the Labour government&rsquo;s Fair Work law, will end tomorrow but an end to the long-festering contract battle appears nowhere in sight.

	At issue is managing partner BHP Billiton&rsquo;s longing to block union involvement over safety, work shifts, housing criteria for fly-in, fly-out miners, and equal work rights for contract staff. The SBU is composed on the majority union, the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU), the Australian Manufacturing Workers&rsquo; Union (AMWU), and the Electrical Trades Union of the Communications, Electrical, Plumbing Union (CEPU).

	<img alt="" src="" style="width: 145px;height: 160px" width="390" />

	Last October, BMA used its Fair Work right to directly ballot miners on its regressive proposals. Then, 92% rejected an offer containing substantial pay gains but gutting union work rights. On 22 May, just four days after counting of a second company ballot that saw 82.7% rejection, BMA and SBU met in Brisbane to avert this latest strike.

	But the company came to the table unwilling to amend its demands.

	&ldquo;With the same arrogant attitude and obviously on the back of two overwhelming &lsquo;no&rsquo; votes,&rdquo; CFMEU Queensland District President Stephen Smyth said, &ldquo;it doesn&rsquo;t seem to register with BHP that what they are selling, our members aren&rsquo;t buying.&rdquo;

	Not only has BMA attempted to circumvent the intent of the Fair Work law over 18 months of futile bargaining, but it also was reprimanded by Fair Work Australia early this month in a failure to communicate legally with the SBU over closure and redundancies at a seventh BMA Bowen Basin mine, the 340-worker Norwich Park mine.

	Also this month, the Congress of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) condemned BHP Billiton&rsquo;s bad-faith bargaining in a formal resolution calling attention to a leaked e-mail in March stating the company&rsquo;s terms &ldquo;are not negotiable, not now, now next month, not next year.&rdquo; The resolution also declared the company&rsquo;s pursuit of safety deregulation &ldquo;from qualified workers on the job to management&rdquo; away from mine sites as the key factor leading to the Pike River mine disaster in new Zealand.

	Past ICEM coverage of the BMA-SBU dispute, including the origins of the above cited e-mail, can be found <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4971-Intentional-BHP-Billiton-Strife-in-Australian-Coal-Dispute-Continues">here</a>, <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4731-Australian-Miners-Reject-BMAa-s-Contract-Proposal-by-9225">here</a> and <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4679-Coal-Boss-Conceit3A-BMA-Tries-to-Bully-Aussie-Labour-Law-Back-to-Howard-Era">here</a>.

Queensland Coal Miners End 7-day Strike after BHP Billiton Ballot Fails

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	ICEM Colombia Coordinator Carlos Bustos reports that a two-day seminar of young trade unionists from the three Global Union Federations (GUFs) that next month will form IndustriALL came to important conclusions last week. The participation of 20 trade unionists under the age of 30 brought young men and women together from throughout Colombia on 10-11 May.

	Participating unions included International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF)affiliates Utramicol and Fetramecol, and Martina Sanguinetti of the Uruguayan Metalworkers (UNTMRA). Also participating were representatives of ICEM, and CUT and CTC national labour centres.

	The meeting sought to find ways to increase the active participation of youth. A key issue for participants was not for them to be consulted more, but to be centrally involved in decision-making and to be involved and represented at all levels inside unions. This includes deciding the politics and the future of the Colombian trade union movement.

	&nbsp;<img alt="" height="146" src="" width="180" />&nbsp;

	Carlos Bustos

	A commitment was reached to establish a permanent network for communication and information.

	The joint youth project of the three GUFs that also included the International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITGLWF) and was funded by the Finnish Solidarity Organisation, SASK. This project will connect similar processes that are ongoing in Brazil, Mexico, Uruguay, and Nicaragua with that in Colombia.

	ICEM project coordinator Patricio Sambonino evaluated the two-day Colombian seminar, saluting the important contribution and participation of the young trade unionists, moving towards generational change for the movement.

Young Colombian Trade Unionists of ICEM, ITGLWF, IMF Connect

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	The ICEM-affiliated Peruvian Federation of Mine and Metal Workers, FNTMMSP, achieved a significant legislative victory on 12 May that creates a pension fund for miners, funded by corporate profits and worker contributions.

	The law had been passed by the country&rsquo;s Senate nine months ago, but the government had not approved regulations for its implementation until now, two days prior to a planned two-day national strike.

	FNTMMSP General Secretary Luis Castillo announced the victory and called off the strike. The 75,000-member FNTMMSP had led the campaign for the last four years, against strong conservative forces in government and industry. The four-year campaign has included numerous mobilisations, marches, and three national strikes.

	<img alt="" src="" style="width: 342px;height: 154px" width="390">

	Supreme Decree DS 006-2012-TR sets out that the fund will be funded with 0.5% of the corporate annual income of the mining, metal, steel industries, plus 0.5% workers&rsquo; monthly gross salaries. The benefits cannot be used for any other benefit than miners&rsquo; pensions.

	FNTMMSP reports that the primary beneficiaries of the new law will be mine and metal workers from both primary employers and outsourced contractors.

	The mineworkers&rsquo; struggle now continues in other areas, including modification of the legislation on utilities.

	Peru is the world&rsquo;s second largest producer of copper and silver, and is a major producer of gold, zinc, and tin. A massive 60% of the country&rsquo;s export revenue comes from mining.

Peru’s Mineworkers Achieve Legislative Victory on Pensions, Avoid Strike

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	By the slimmest of vote margins, 2,000 UK petrol-tanker drivers represented by Unite the Union voted to accept a conciliation service&rsquo;s proposal, ending a months-long dispute between drivers and seven contract carriers involving work terms and conditions, including safety and subcontracting.

	The dispute, dating back to February, drove motorists into fuel-hoarding and panic-buying hysteria, mostly triggered by the over-reaction of Prime Minister David Cameron&rsquo;s government. The hysteria included a declaration that 1,400 British military personnel were being trained to deliver fuel oil to retail outlets as a strike precaution.

	An accumulated consultative ballot that was counted on 11 May found that 51% of the 69% of drivers who voted accepted the mediated proposal by UK&rsquo;s Advisory, Conciliation, and Mediation Services (ACAS) after eight days of non-stop bargaining. The vote was a re-ballot of one taken in March following concerns that some drivers were unable to vote.

	<img alt="" src="" style="width: 130px;height: 130px" width="390" />

	The ACAS-brokered agreement did introduce an industry-wide accreditation system called &ldquo;Passport,&rdquo; which must promptly be implemented to cover health, safety and training. One major concern to drivers was companies using sub-contract workers to deliver fuel, so creation of minimum industry-wide standards is expected to serve as deterrent.

	Unite warned that the overall narrow &ldquo;yes&rdquo; vote left no room for employer complacency. The union said the dispute uncovered deep-seated problems in UK&rsquo;s petrol supply, exacerbated by a mantra of &ldquo;profits before stability.&rdquo;

	&ldquo;This narrow vote in favour lifts the threat of strike action,&rdquo; said Unite Assistant General Secretary Diana Holland, &ldquo;but leaves the companies with no room for complacency. We look forward to the rapid implementation of the ACAS proposals which include an industry-wide &lsquo;Passport&rsquo;.&rdquo;

	Now, Unite, the seven oil companies, UK&rsquo;s Health and Safety Executive (HSE), and the Department for Energy, Environment and Climate Change &ndash; the government entity that threatened to break a strike with the military &ndash; must begin implementation of the &ldquo;Passport&rdquo; scheme by 1 June.

	The seven fuel distribution companies involved include the largest Hoyer, with 500 drivers, and Wincanton, DHL, BP, Norbert Dentressangle, JW Sucklings and Turners. Majorities of drivers at DHL, Wincanton, Hoyer, and Turners voted against the proposals, while those at BP, Norbert Dentressangle, and JW Sucklings voted in favour. The accumulated vote was 737 for, 711 against.

	The 2,000 drivers deliver 90% of UK&rsquo;s refined fuel oil products to thousands of retail petrol stations.

UK Truck Drivers Agree to Terms with Seven Fuel Distributing Companies

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	The 26th World Congress of the International Union of Food and Agricultural Workers&rsquo; Association (IUF) is now being held in Geneva 15-18 May. A major focus of the Congress is a united condemnation of the appalling behaviour of Swiss-based Nestl&eacute;, the largest food company in the world.

	The IUF has a longstanding campaign for the rights of workers throughout Nestl&eacute;&rsquo;s global facilities. Great victories have been won in Pakistan and Indonesia, but serious rights abuses of Nestl&eacute; workers in those countries continue, as they do other countries.

	This Congress will see affiliates, representing a combined 2.6 million trade union members, formulate a new plan of action to move Nestl&eacute; to act responsibly. The IUF Nespressure Campaign highlights the fast-growing profits of the market leader, CHF 110 billion in sales in 2011, with Nespresso one of the most profitable parts of the company. But even as profits soar for the company, management increases the pressure on its workers everywhere. Wages, conditions, and rights of Nestl&eacute; employees are constantly squeezed.

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

	A new part of the global campaign will be launched at this week&rsquo;s Ccongress, and serves as a clear example of Nestl&eacute;&rsquo;s disregard for workers&rsquo; core labour rights. The &ldquo;We are the 53!&rdquo; campaign focuses on the vindictive mass-dismissal of 53 workers at a Nescaf&eacute; factory in Panjang, Indonesia. Those workers were sacked because they organised and attempted to assert their rights.

	The 53 are members of IUF affiliate SBNIP there and the union itself have struggled for years for the right to bargain collectively. When the bargaining deadlock forced workers to strike last year, management signed an agreement with the SBNIP to end the strike and subsequently promptly sacked the 53 key union activists.

	Congress will establish a Nestl&eacute; Panjang Justice Fund to assist the workers and their families who now face hardship because of Nestl&eacute;&rsquo;s disturbing actions.

	See more information, and support the online campaign at <a href="http://www.iuf.org/nespressure/en/">IUF&rsquo;s Nespressure website</a>&nbsp;here.

IUF Congress in Geneva Condemns Nestlé

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	From International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITGLWF)

	Workers making Olympic sportswear for London 2012 for top brands and high street names including adidas and Next are being paid poverty wages, forced to work excessive overtime and threatened with instant dismissal if they complain about working conditions, according to a recently released report Play Fair 2012 campaign.

	The report, <a href="http://www.itglwf.org/documents/Workers_in_Olympics_Supply_Factories_Human_Rights_25412.pdf">Fair Games? Human Rights of Workers in Olympic 2012 Supplier Factories</a>, uncovers a range of abuses, providing more evidence to increase the pressure on the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to act to improve the working conditions in Olympic supply chains in the run up to Rio 2016, says Play Fair.

	Last autumn, researchers working on behalf of Play Fair campaign, which includes the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), the International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITGLWF) and the Clean Clothes Campaign, visited ten factories &ndash; eight of which were producing Olympic goods &ndash; in China, the Philippines and Sri Lanka. Across the three countries they talked to 175 workers about their working conditions.

	<img alt="" src="" style="width: 129px;height: 186px" width="390">

	The &ldquo;Fair Games?&rdquo; report contains many examples where workers making Olympic goods have been badly treated, including:

	&bull; In China, workers at a factory in the Guangdong Province which produces sportswear for Adidas were contracted to work in two separate locations 200km apart so lived in fear of suddenly being sent miles from home for their jobs.

	&bull; Workers at the same Amerseas Enterprises Factory also complained of regularly having to do overtime in excess of the legal minimum (with working hours from 8am to 10pm not uncommon even at less busy times) and of not being able to wear the necessary safety masks to protect against dust because of unrealistic production targets.

	&bull; In the Philippines, workers complained of pay rates so low that they were forced to pawn their ATM cards to loan sharks for &lsquo;pay day loans&rsquo; to see them through the month. Workers in the factories producing for Adidas said they were also told when they started that overtime was compulsory.

	&bull; In Sri Lanka, workers also said that their pay was not enough to meet their basic needs &ndash; those questioned said they earned a maximum of LKR 25,000 a month (&pound;122), little more than half the country&rsquo;s living wage of LKR 45,000 (&pound;220).

	&bull; Workers at the Next Manufacturing factory in Sri Lanka reported how the company used an external agent to hire short-term temporary workers. The agent made the workers do double shifts each day &ndash; after completing a full shift plus overtime at Next, they were transferred to another factory where they had to work until 2.30am. The next morning they had to report for their 8am shift at Next.

	&bull; There were no unions permitted in any of the factories and in China, workers said that anyone talking to colleagues about the need to improve factory conditions would be dismissed instantly.

	Research undertaken by Play Fair camping earlier this year &ndash; which found evidence of child labour, excessive hours, poverty pay and dangerous working conditions in Chinese factories producing pin badges and London 2012 mascots &ndash; the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) agreed to get tougher with the factories in its various supply chains.

	This included making information about employment rights available in Chinese and establishing a Chinese language hotline so that workers could complain about ill treatment. The &ldquo;Fair Games?&rdquo; report shows that the abuse of workers in Olympic supply chains was also happening in other countries.

	To illustrate the extent of the problem and to convince the IOC that it needs to do more to improve the treatment of workers making goods for the next Games in Brazil, UK&rsquo;s Trades Union Congress (TUC) has submitted a number of complaints to LOCOG on behalf of the workers from China and the Philippines who are featured in the report.

	Klaus Priegnitz, General Secretary of the ITGLWF, which wrote the report, said: &ldquo;Prior to the Beijing Olympics Play Fair called on companies to take action to ensure the human rights of all workers in their supply chains were respected.

	&ldquo;Four years on we see that the denial of the right to freedom of association, the payment of poverty wages and the widespread use of precarious work is still the norm. Companies need to step up their game and work with unions to support the development of mature systems of industrial relations in their supplier factories.&rdquo;

ITGLWF Report Outlines Abuses of Workers Preparing Olympic 2012 Goods

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	Trade unions in the Czech Republic are mobilising for a large scale manifestation against the austerity measures of the right-wing government of Prime Minister Petr Necas, which aims to make workers pay for the crisis. The pressure is bringing the government close to collapse.

	On 22 May in Wenceslas Square in the centre of Prague, the unions will assemble tens of thousands of workers to manifest and then march through the capital. The unions are threatening a general strike if demands are not met. Top of the list of demands is for the government to postpone planned pension cuts until the economy recovers and a better assessment can occur.

	Further issues put on the table by 30 unions, united under the umbrella of International Trade Union Congress-affiliated CMKOS, include drawing money from the European Union to stimulate growth, and revision of the law on the right to strike.

	<img alt="" src="" style="width: 311px;height: 160px" width="390" />

	The enormous participation of 120,000 people at a 21 April demonstration against government reforms gave a strong mandate to organisers to continue the campaign.

	The &ldquo;STOP the Government&rdquo; platform includes 75 civil society organisations in partnership with CMKOS, and the campaign is running a permanent information tent in center Prague with public debates each evening with respected guests presenting economic alternatives to austerity.

	Protesters also plan to Occupy government ministries that are proposing damaging social cuts.

	Jaroslav Zavadil, head of CMKOS, tabled union demands in tripartite meetings with government. Employer representatives also want the government to follow EU funding and pro-growth measures. The next tripartite meeting is planned for 4 June, meetings that the unions will boycott if their demands have not been met.

	The Necas government, now half-way through its four-year term wants to introduce a second pillar pension system that will be completely privatised.

Czech Unions to Take Mass Action Against Government Austerity on 22 May

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	The 2007 Global Framework Agreement (GFA) between the International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITGLWF) and Spanish retailer Inditex Group was improved considerably on 4 May when the ITGLWF and Inditex signed a Protocol Agreement that monitors compliance and guarantees union intervention throughout Inditex&rsquo;s supply chain.

	The new accord, signed in Arteixo, Galicia, by ITGLWF General Secretary Klaus Priegnitz and Inditex Director of Corporate Social Responsibility F&eacute;lix Poza, was done in coordination with Spanish union FITEQA-CC.OO, and serves as official guideposts to a 2010 &ldquo;Protocol for Union Follow-Up&rdquo; accord that provides the specifics for involvement in the GFA by ITGLWF affiliates.

	Firstly, the addendum guarantees the ITGLWF and its affiliated unions access to all Inditex information on suppliers&rsquo; workplaces, including the annual update of company information on its production chain. And it commits Inditex to giving the unions the schedule of planned social audits and listing of suppliers to be inspected.

	&nbsp;<img alt="" src="" style="width: 239px;height: 159px" width="390" />&nbsp;

	5 October 2007 Signing of ITGLWF-Inditex GFA

	Inditex also formally recognises the vital role of union affiliates in monitoring compliance due to proximity and location of unions to textile, garment and footwear manufacturers, and grants unions the right to visit the sites of suppliers.

	It lays out a process of correction actions when violations of the GFA are found, as well as establishing and implementing training programmes among suppliers&rsquo; managers, employees and others on the content of the GFA.

	Isidor Boix of FITEQA-CC.OO, who facilitated the recent Protocol Agreement, reminded that the social responsibility process inside Inditex is constantly on-going with commitments that trade unionism, workers&rsquo; rights and fairness and dignity are upheld and respected.

	Inditex uses some 5,000 suppliers throughout the world. The company operates some 5,500 fashion retail stores in 78 countries under the names Zara, Pull &amp; Bear, Massimo Duti, Bershka, Stradivarius, Oysho, Uterque and Zara Home.

	The 2007 ITGLWF-Inditex GFA is testament to late ITGLWF General Secretary Neil Kearney who crafted the agreement covering workers throughout the multinational&rsquo;s supply chain after making interventions in factories that supply to the Spanish company when workers in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Peru and Turkey were sacked for their trade union activity.

ITGLWF, Inditex Global Agreement Improved with Specific Monitoring Devices

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	Workers in Germany&rsquo;s chemicals sector won 4.5% wage gains over the next 19 months in national talks concluded on 24 May in Sch&ouml;nefeld near Berlin. The 2012-13 negotiations between ICEM affiliate IGBCE and the chemical employers&rsquo; association, BAVC, began on 17 April.

	Perhaps more significant last week than another high round of industrial wage increases that will provide further growth to Europe&rsquo;s largest economy, the IGBCE achieved reduction in work time for older workers and more opportunities for younger ones through continuation of a &ldquo;demographic fund&rdquo; that will see even higher payments made by employers.

	The new pact, with the wage hikes to take effect between 1 July and 1 September, covers 550,000 chemical workers employed at some 1,900 companies. The 14-month 2011-12 social pact expires either at the end of May or June this year, depending on the region.

	<img alt="" src="" style="width: 285px;height: 160px" width="390" />

	The tough yet peaceful resolve to chemical sector talks came two days before IG Metall and the employers&rsquo; association Gesamtmetall reached 4.3% wage terms over 13 months for 800,000 metal and electronics workers in Baden-W&uuml;rttemberg state. That settlement set a pattern for other metal negotiations across Germany covering another two million workers.

	The IGBCE agreement continues a trend in the German chemicals industry that provides financial incentives for older workers to reduce their weekly work hours or opt to take early retirement at age 55, thus opening sustainable careers for young workers.

	IGBCE Head of Collective Bargaining Peter Hausmann said this agreement creates an even better &ldquo;age-friendly work environment.&rdquo; This is accomplished through the &ldquo;demographic fund,&rdquo; created in national talks in 2008.

	<img alt="" height="132" src="" width="175" />&nbsp;

	Peter Hausmann

	Between the years 2013 and 2015, employers will pay an additional &euro;200 per annum per worker into the fund, raising &ndash; in most cases &ndash; the yearly amount to &euro;600 and lifting the fund&rsquo;s reservoir by &euro;200 million. The fund can be tapped for early retirement at full pension benefits, reduced work week for staff over age 55 at full salary, or more workers eligible for semi-retirement, meaning a combination of reduced working hours with partial payment of pension benefits.

	In addition to the wage hikes, apprentices will realise an added &euro;50-a-month increase.

	IGBCE President Michael Vassiliadis called the 2012-13 social charter &ldquo;a good result for all workers in the chemicals industry.&rdquo; He said the union accomplished a hefty pay increase and in particular achieved more comprehensive work-time savings for older workers, adding that the agreement meets the demographic changes occurring in the industry.

IGBCE Chemical Talks: Union Stays Course of Growth, Reinforces Worker Age Transition

<img alt="" src="" style="width: 100px;height: 39px" width="390" />The world of labour is celebrating the election victory of Guy Ryder as the tenth Director-General of the International Labour Organisation, the trilateral United Nations agency charged with protecting workers around the world.The election this Monday by the ILO governing body marks the first time someone from a trade union background has been chosen to lead the organisation. Several rounds of secret-ballot voting reduced the list of candidates from 8, and appointed Ryder on a five-year term.ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda congratulated close friend Guy Ryder on behalf of the global union, looking forward to the ILO now building on past successes and collaboration, placing decent jobs and proper trade union rights at the heart of the global agenda, in the spirit of tripartitism.<img alt="" src="" style="width: 98px;height: 91px" width="390" />&quot;Our duty to the poorest and the most vulnerable must be paramount in the journey ahead,&quot; stated Ryder.The 56 titular members of the ILO Governing Body are eligible to vote in the election; half are from governments, and a quarter each from employers and workers&rsquo; groups. ICEM affiliates lobbyied their home governments to support Ryder. Ten of the government seats are permanently held by major industrialized countries. The remaining seats are filled on a rotating basis, for three-year terms. The employers and workers elect their own representatives.The outgoing Director-General Juan Somavia, a Chilean national, will leave the post on 30 September 2012 after 13 years, and Ryder will take up the post in October.

ICEM Congratulates New ILO Director General Guy Ryder

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