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WOMEN’S BULLETIN

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	Some 250 European trade union militants turned out today at Unilever&#039;s Rotterdam headquarters in the Netherlands to protest the world&#039;s third largest consumer products company&#039;s unrelenting shut-off of a final salary pension scheme for 5,200 UK workers. 
	 
	The manifestation, under the banner &ldquo;Unilever, Don&rsquo;t Make Workers Pay for Your Profits&rdquo;, saw representatives from no less than 23 European trade union organisations, as well as from the ICEM and the International Union of Food and Agriculture Workers&#039; Association (IUF). 
	 
	For three months now, Unilever has been trying to bully UK&#039;s Unite the Union, GMB, and the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (USDAW) into conceding a final salary pension scheme, to replace it with an average career earnings pension plan effective 1 July 2012. Unilever CEO Paul Polman&rsquo;s 2010-11 salary and bonus pay-out equaled &euro;8 million, while Unilever&rsquo;s UK employees face a slash of between 20-40% on their pension earnings.

	<img alt="" src="" style="width: 208px;height: 150px" width="390" />

	At today&#039;s manifestation, led by Unilever&#039;s European Works Council (EWC), the European Mine, Chemical, Energy Federation (EMCEF), and the European Federation of Food, Agriculture, Tourism Trade Unions (EFFAT), rally leaders presented Unilever executive Rupert Chatwin with a declaration. 
	 
	In part, it read: &quot;We are very concerned that Unilever has been pursuing an approach of uncompromising unilateralism in the UK, which may be indicative of a change for the worse in Unilever&#039;s corporate culture. 
	 
	&quot;We believe that Unilever workers in Europe and around the world have good reason to fear for their futures. We have noted (CEO) Paul Polman&#039;s pledge to double Unilever revenue over the next ten years while promoting &#039;sustainable living&#039; but that he says nothing about sustainable employment.&quot;

	<img alt="" src="" style="width: 200px;height: 150px" width="390" />

	Rally leaders present Declaration 
	From left, Michael Wolters, Simon Cox, Unilever&#039;s Rupert Chatwin

	Unilever EWC Chairman Hermann Soggeberg told the gathering, including scores of the company&#039;s UK staff, that on behalf of 30,000 European workers, &quot;We stand by your side in this dispute. You are on the front lines of what is just the beginning of bigger problems facing workers in Western Europe. 
	 
	&quot;The struggle you face in the UK is a struggle we must all tie into.&quot; 
	 
	Other speakers included EMCEF General Secretary Michael Wolters, EFFAT EWC and Transnational Companies&#039; Coordinator Simon Cox, as well as Unite Convenor Bill Hodgson from Unilever&#039;s Port Sunlight plant. 
	 
	Among some of the unions taking part: FNV Bondgenoten of the Netherlands, IGBCE of Germany, PRO-GE of Austria, FGA-CFDT of France, NGG of Germany, Petrol-Is of Turkey, FGTA-FO of France, FITAG-UGT of Spain, CGT of France, FLAI-CGIL, FAI-CISL and UILA-UIL, all of Italy, CNV of the Netherlands, and FGTB/ABVV of Belgium.

	&nbsp;&nbsp;<img alt="" src="" style="width: 95px;height: 160px" width="390" />&nbsp;&nbsp;

	The Rotterdam manifestation comes just days two weeks after Unilever posted a strong set of financial numbers in its latest results and three weeks after UK workers from several Unilever sites descended on Davos, Switzerland, where Polman served as one of the co-chairs at the World Economic Forum.

	Unilever UK management did finally agree to meet with the unions on 9 February with the assistance of UK&rsquo;s Advisory, Conciliation and Mediation Services (ACAS), but the company is still adamant on closing the final salary pension scheme effective 1 July 2012.

Spirited Rotterdam Rally Calls on Unilever to Save UK Pensions

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	The 20 February shooting at strikers &ndash; mainly women &ndash; of the KaoWay Sports Ltd. footwear factory in Bavet, Svey Rieng province, Cambodia, appears to have been committed by the governor of Bavet region, Chhouk Bandith. Three women were shot and seriously wounded after a man dressed in police-style khakis got out of a vehicle and began firing at people.

	The factory produces shoes primarily for the German apparel company Puma. According to ITGLWF&nbsp; affiliate, the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers&rsquo; Democratic Union (C.CAWDU), thousands of the 6,000 employed at the factory engaged in strike action on 17-18 February. When strikes resumed on 20 February, Chhouk Bandith allegedly jumped out of a Lexus 470 with a bodyguard and a policeman after exiting the factory and fired shots from a high-power gun equipped with silencer.

	After firing, he fled in a Toyota Camry and truckloads of police moved in to quell disbelieving and angry strikers. Police have questioned Chhouk Bandith, and C.CAWDU believes he was held for three days, but has since been released.

	&nbsp;<img alt="" src="" style="width: 130px;height: 160px" width="390" />&nbsp;

	Choukk Bandith

	The entire incident, occurring about 09h00, was captured by a KaoWay factory security camera. Puma has been conducting its own investigation since the outset, together with an NGO.

	Buot Chinda, 21, was shot through the chest with bullets that narrowly missed her heart and severely punctured her lung. She was near death, but now is in stable but serious condition at a Phnom Penh hospital. The two other women who were shot and injured are Keo Neth, 18, and Nuth Sakhorn, 23.

	A senior ILO official who monitors a programme called Better Factories Cambodia, said in press comments, &ldquo;It doesn&rsquo;t look good for Cambodia when this type of violence is concerned.&rdquo;

	Puma&rsquo;s shoe workers, employed by Taiwanese-based KaoWay, were striking over better transport and food allowances, and better pay and conditions overall. Due to the industrial action &ndash; and Puma&rsquo;s rapid response to the random violence &ndash; the strike has ended and all workers&rsquo; demands have been met in full.

	The strike and shootings had a different scenario at a separate Cambodian dispute, this one at Singapore-based Medtecs, a health textiles and apparel maker located in Kampong Siem district, some 125 kilometres from Bavet. While 2,000 strikers pelted the factory with rocks, police at the scene were unarmed and at stand-down because of the KaoWay shootings.

	The Medtecs strike was over the company failing to live up to decisions handed down by a binding Arbitration Council. It has been resolved due to the strike action.

Local Governor Accused in Shooting of Cambodian Footwear Strikers

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	The third phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry&rsquo;s investigation of the Pike River mine explosions of November 2010 that killed 29 concluded in mid-February in Greymouth, New Zealand, and several experts testified to the inherent weak safety mechanisms in place by Pike River Coal Ltd.

	The latest set of hearings also reveal a company that was 18 months behind on orders to deliver &nbsp;premium metallurgical coal, and in the words of a technical services manager who resigned just days before the first explosion, &ldquo;There was no way the company would delay coal production&rdquo; because of safety concerns.

	The manager, Pieter Van Rooyen, testified that workers had given him notice of inadequate methane drainage pipes, requesting that drilling cease until rectified. Despite passing that on in writing to senior operational managers, nothing was done. Van Rooyen said the decision to begin hydro-mining deep within the shaft without constructing a second exit &ndash; and in areas of high methane gas build-up &ndash; was strictly for &ldquo;cash-flow purposes.&rdquo;

	An electrical engineer who investigated New Zealand&rsquo;s worst mining accident in 100 years said the faulty Pike River electrical systems multiplied chances for disaster since stray currents in many mechanical instruments produced sparks. Pike River&rsquo;s main exhaust fan was located underground, an anomaly to modern mining.

	In late October 2010, the company was warned by a regulatory agency that the stability of an expanded roof in an underground area was worrisome, and again nothing was done. A mine safety expert from Australia testified that the blast was caused by a roof collapse deep inside the mine, causing a massive release of gas. When the underground fan failed, the gas could have ignited from a small spark.

	For 16 months now, the bodies of the 29 have remained entombed inside the South Island mine, despite efforts by families to recover their loved ones. In this inquiry round, photos of two miners who were sighted dead near self-rescue units were shown. The photos indicate that the miners might have survived the initial blast on 19 November 2010. In the following days, five more major explosions occurred.

	Pike River Coal Ltd. killed 29 miners, including 26 New Zealanders, a miner from South Africa, one from the UK, and another miner who was an Australian national. The mother of this Australian miner named Josh Ufer is currently speaking out in Australia on the necessity to maintain full trade union involvement in all mine safety matters.

	As the Single Bargaining Unit led by the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) wages a battle against BHP Billiton and Mitsubishi to retain union-mandated safety deputies and open cut examiners inside Queensland collieries, Joanne Ufer is versing the dangers inherent in unilateral management control of safety matters in union advertisements.

	The final phase of the Pike River Royal Commission of Inquiry will convene next month, with the commission&rsquo;s report and findings to be issued in September.&nbsp; See <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4681-Pike-River-s-Royal-Inquiry-Sees-Troubling-Safety-Issues-Inside-NZ-Mine-Disaster">ICEM report </a>following the commission&rsquo;s second phase hearings.

New Zealand: Pike River Mine Inquiry Hears ‘Disaster Waiting to Happen’

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	In calling attention to jobs creation as equivalent economic growth, working people across Europe today led by the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) are in a Day of Action in opposition to the European Council&rsquo;s adoption of a budget discipline treaty.

	The decentralised mobilisations are occurring in scores of cities and worksites with a common theme pointed at EU governments and decision-makers: &ldquo;Enough is enough! There are alternatives to austerity. Employment and social justice are the number one priorities.&rdquo;

	Today&rsquo;s ETUC Day of Action is taking the form of demonstrations, work stoppages and information postings inside workplaces and government institutions stating that the European summit&rsquo;s Treaty on Stability, Co-ordination and Governance is a straightjacket that will plunge the Eurozone into free-fall recession.

	The actions include two demonstrations in Brussels, site of the European Council&rsquo;s 1-2 March summit where the misguided treaty will intrinsically slash wages and social protections, restrict collective bargaining, and provide even more neo-liberal policies, hardly the remedies for economic growth to assure a sustainable future.

	Union leaders, led by ETUC General Secretary Bernadette S&eacute;gol, meet with Council President Herman Van Rompuy and European Parliament President Martin Schulz at the European Council Building, while a mass rally takes place outside. Meanwhile, members of all Belgian trade unions will protest today outside the Belgian National Bank.

	A sampling of other actions today includes a mass demonstration organised by the Romanian national trade union centres between 14h and 16h at Victoria Square in Bucharest. In Rome, Italian labour federations CGIL, CISL and UIL will demonstrate at Pantheon Place at 16h, while Hungarian trade unions will hold a press conference and manifestation.

	In Greece, trade unions will take a three-hour work stoppage from 12h to 5h, while even in Georgia trade unions will protest Trade Union Action Day with a rally at Parliament in Tbilisi against their government&rsquo;s one-sided labour code and the economic harm it brings.

	&ldquo;In mobilising on the same day everywhere in Europe for the first time,&rdquo; said S&eacute;gol, &ldquo;European trade unions are reacting with anger and exasperation.&rdquo;

	In the UK, British trade unions used the day to gear up their defence of the National Health Service (NHS), which will happen across the UK massively on 7 March. Both the ETUC and Trades Union Congress (TUC) denounced austerity measures that always &ldquo;fall hardest on the shoulders of the weakest&rdquo; when public services are cut.

Europe’s Unions Protest ‘Straitjacket’ Treaty

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	Patience is running thin for a trade union alliance demanding proper labour rights for Holcim Cement workers in India. Management at both Indian subsidiaries of Holcim are flouting Indian law by employing contract workers in the core production process.

	Contract workers there receive only one-third of the salary paid to permanent employees, and efforts to organise and bargain collectively are met by intimidation, a yellow union&rsquo;s corruption, and bribery of local officials.&nbsp; During the struggle for recognition, three union members have been shot dead by police while protesting for the legitimate rights of Contract and Agency Labour (CAL) workers.

	The contract workers are organising into the ICEM-affiliated Pragatisheel Cement Shramik Sangh (PCSS) but after 16 years of existence, the union only achieved dialogue with management following victory in a six-year-long court case.

	&nbsp;<img alt="" src="" style="width: 115px;height: 183px" width="390" />&nbsp;

	Global pressure has forced Holcim to pay attention to the violations of contract workers in India, but when Holcim Executive Paul Hugentobler visited ACC Jamul recently, contract workers were all moved to a different shift and workers&rsquo; representatives were banned from taking part in the meeting with him. Instead, representatives of the sham company union, OP Banchore, were involved.

	The leader of this yellow union is the brother of the president of the local municipal authority, Rekhram Banchore. Together they have built a loathsome alliance, including allegedly settling local community violations by out of court settlements for issues such as failure to pay full taxes to the local Nagar Panchayat Jamul body, and encroachment onto government land.

	This yellow union at the plant repeatedly certifies management violations of contract workers who attempt to organise into the PCSS union. Management has forced a total of 200 contract workers into &ldquo;voluntary&rdquo; retirement by denying them wages and work during litigation processes for the regularisation process.

	This is illegal under Indian national law, but legitimised by the company union that signed these workers&rsquo; voluntary retirement scheme documents.

	Every contract worker active in the union is currently facing five-to-eight phoney criminal cases registered by management. PCSS leader Bhagwati Sahu has been in jail for ten months on spurious charges.

	Holcim&rsquo;s international management has undisputedly been aware of these abuses since 2008. One worker found guilty of informing Holcim&rsquo;s international management of violations was punished with a forced relocation to a different worksite hundreds of miles away.

	India is the second largest cement manufacturer in the world with capacity predicted to continue growing and Holcim is the largest producer of cement in India.

	Solidarity for the PCSS Holcim workers is being led by ICEM and the Building and Wood Workers&rsquo; International (BWI), Swiss union affiliate UNIA, and continues to grow throughout the world. Thai affiliates of the two Global Union Federations plan a solidarity picket at Holcim in Thailand in early April.

	PCSS activists will visit Switzerland 10-18 April and hold a series of meetings and demonstrations.

	See more on the <a href="http://blogs.bwint.org/mnc/">BWI Company Monitor</a> page here or the ICEM&rsquo;s Report &ldquo;<a href="http://cal.icem.org/images/documents/Cement%20Report.pdf">Contract and Agency Labour in Asia&rsquo;s Cement Industry</a>&rdquo; here.

ICEM Again Calls on Holcim Cement to Stop Exploiting Indian CAL Workers

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	The ornate conference room of the Seranada Hotel in the Hamra district of central Beirut was the venue for the ICEM Middle East-North Africa (MENA) Regional Conference and Seminar from 14-16 March. Affiliated unions from throughout the region including Algeria, Morocco, Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine, and Yemen attended, and were joined by potential affiliates from Bahrain, Tunisia, and Egypt.

	From Egypt came a delegation of new independent trade unions from workplace levels representing both of the new structures of independent unions in that country. Delegations also came from Canada, Norway, Germany, and South Africa. It was very pleasing to see that there was a particularly large delegation from Turkey, a country often promoted since last year&rsquo;s Arab Spring as a model to follow&nbsp;and a country that is economically active throughout the region, and a major trading bridge between Europe, Asia, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East.

	Local representatives of the ILO, US Solidarity Center, and Public Services International (PSI) were also present as guests during the conference opening.

	&nbsp;<img alt="" src="" style="width: 283px;height: 159px" width="390" />&nbsp;

	The conference was generously supported by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES) of Germany, which also played an active role in the proceedings jointly chaired by ICEM President Senzeni Zokwana and Soliman Hemdan, President of the host union, the Professional Union of Syndicates for Workers &amp; Employees of Chemical Materials and Similar Products of Lebanon.

	In attendance were ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda and International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF) General Secretary Jyrki Raina. A key area of discussions was the creation of the new Global Union Federation (GUF) that will bring together ICEM, IMF, and the International Textile, Garment, Leather Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITGLWF). Discussion centered on the future role of MENA in the new organization.

	Another major focus of discussions was the Arab Spring and the fundamental political changes that are taking place in the region. The growth of new independent trade unions in a number of countries was considered and discussed as was the need for ILO compliant labour legislation throughout the region, particularly in Egypt and Iraq.

	&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<img alt="" src="" style="width: 155px;height: 159px" width="390" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

	Mohammed Abuadwan of Palestine

	Various international instruments were examined, including ILO Core Conventions, the OECD Guidelines for MNCs, the UN&rsquo;s Global Compact, and Global Framework Agreements. There was a focus on the importance of building regional networks within industries and where applicable, company levels, both to strengthen trade unions in the region, as well as to improve input into global discussions and networks and the new GUF, to be named IndustriALL.

	Over two-and-a- half days, with a mixture of presentations followed by detailed question and answer sessions, panel discussions, and group works, the participants enthusiastically debated their local situations, examined the past activities of the ICEM, a resolution on the MENA region passed by the ICEM Congress in Argentina, and laid down solid plans for the future &ndash; especially regarding network building.

	The conference watched a graphic film made by the Palestine General Federation of Trade Unions (PGFTU) showing the immense difficulties their members face in crossing into Israel for daily work with check-points serving as a major form of daily harassment that on occasions clearly constitutes collective punishment of the Palestinian people.

	&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<img alt="" src="" style="width: 147px;height: 160px" width="390" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

	The Iraqi Union Delegation

	The delegate present, Mohammed Abuadwan, President of the General Union of Petrochemical Workers in Palestine, thanked the ICEM for the focus on Palestine at the Argentina Congress and reaffirmed his strong support for the resolution passed there. All delegates reaffirmed their wishes that Palestine and Iraq continue to be priorities for work in the region in IndustriALL.

	Iraqi trade unions met in a work group which determined that it was essential for ICEM to revitalise its campaign and to increase pressure on the Iraqi government to introduce a new labour code fully compliant with ILO global standards. Iraqi unionists seek trade union organisations to function normally in both the public and private sectors, as well as guaranteeing the pluralistic system of trade unions that exists now on the ground in their country. Unity has to be built voluntarily by workers and their unions, and cannot be enforced by government decree.

	A wide ranging&nbsp;discussion on alterative and independent trade unions centered on the situation in Egypt where&nbsp;long-standing affiliates of ICEM in the petroleum and electric power sectors were faced across the table by new emergent independent unions in these industries.

	Of particular importance was the situation in oilfield services with Schlumberger where local management has dismissed on spurious grounds four leading activists of the new union. With the general secretary of the new union dismissed on the same day that the first Congress of the new organization elected him, it was clear to all that this was a blatant attack on the new structure and all delegates. With the exception of the old union part of Egyptian Trade Union Federation (ETUF), delegates expressed strong support to the dismissed union activists of Schlumberger Egypt, and called on ICEM to intensify the campaign on their behalf, as well as other union activists who have suffered similar dismissals.

	In general, delegates called for increased ICEM activities throughout the region and a continued special focus on both Iraq and Palestine. Calls were made for increased use of the Arabic language in the new organization as well as increased seminars and network meetings building on past work.&nbsp; Both Warda and Raina committed the new organization to play an increased role throughout MENA, and gave support to all efforts to build real and strong trade unions in the region.

ICEM Holds Middle East-North Africa Region Conference in Beirut

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

	Spain&rsquo;s two labour confederations, Confederaci&oacute;n Sindical de Comisiones Obreras (CCOO) and Uni&oacute;n General de Trabajadores (UGT), have jointly called a 24-hour strike for 29 March in response to labour law reform which is already in force by decree-law of 10 February by the Council of Ministers and is pending of Parliamentarian validation.

	On 9 March, CCOO&rsquo;s and UGT&rsquo;s executive councils, meeting jointly for the first time in history, agreed to the general strike following refusal of the ruling Popular Party to sit down and negotiate some 30 amendments to the draconian labour legislation, as proposed by the confederations.

	The calling of the strike, which CCOO General Secretary Ignacio Fern&aacute;ndez Toxo and UGT General Secretary C&aacute;ndido M&eacute;ndez termed &ldquo;fair, inevitable and necessary,&rdquo; is also aimed at planned austerity measures expected from Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy.

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

	On 30 March, the government is expected to release its 2012 budget that contains unprecedented public spending cuts of &euro;35 billion as recommended by the European Union.

	But it is the anti-social labour reforms that are chief reason behind the general strike, which was preceded by three days of action, the latest occurring on 11 March. The confederations are calling the reforms the biggest attack on labour law in Spain&rsquo;s post-fascist democratic period.

	Specifically, the legislation weakens collective bargaining on both the national and regional levels by giving precedence to company labour agreements, allows an employer to unilaterally reduce salaries for reasons of competitiveness and productivity, as well as giving bosses the liberty to unilaterally change working hours and labour terms.

	It provides employers with opportunities to use &ldquo;work-experience&rdquo; contracts under which they can dismiss workers who have been employed for less than a year without granting compensation. It also cuts jobless benefits, makes layoffs easier, and promotes other forms of precarious work.

	The general strike is the second in Spain since the advent of the 2008 financial crisis, with the first occurring in 2010 and will be the sixth general strike in Spain&rsquo;s democratic period.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Spain Braced for Mass 29 March Strike over Draconian Labour Legislation

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

	For the first time since the 30 December lockout by Rio Tinto Alcan of 780 union members of Syndicat des M&eacute;tallos d&rsquo;Alma in the Canadian province of Qu&eacute;bec, bargaining got back on track this week. After a half-day delay caused by a different labour dispute at the Montr&eacute;al airport on 19 March, provincial mediators Jean Poirer and Jean Nolan travelled to Alma where United Steelworkers (USW) Local 9490 leaders and six members of Alcan&rsquo;s management met face to face that afternoon.

	Mediation continued throughout the day yesterday, with Syndicat des M&eacute;tallos d&rsquo;Alma Local 9490 President Marc Maltais stating that both sides expressed a willingness to settle the 12-week dispute at the aluminium smelter. By late yesterday, the union and company &ndash; with the help of government mediators &ndash; were establishing a speedy timetable for further talks.

	The resumption of bargaining came five days after a general union meeting and news conference where Maltais and USW Deputy District Five Director Guy Farrell reported on their two-week mission to the US West and Australia and New Zealand in order to ratchet up pressure on Rio Tinto with the company&rsquo;s militant workers and unions.

	&nbsp;<img alt="" src="" style="width: 345px;height: 161px" width="390" />&nbsp;

	Turkish Union Maden-İş Displays Solidarity with Syndicat des M&eacute;tallos d&rsquo;Alma

	Maltais said at the news conference that both sides needed to compromise on the single issue that caused the company&rsquo;s lockout, outsourcing. The union seeks to stop the continual erosion of permanent jobs by establishing limits to outsourcing, while Alcan used that issue to lock-out the entire workforce before other bargaining issues were even tabled.

	Farrell told the ICEM that pressure has mounted on the company to settle the dispute because of an escalating global campaign against Rio Tinto, and the realization across Qu&eacute;bec that Alcan is cashing in handsomely during the lockout by selling excess hydro-electric power to the province.

	Under an agreement with Qu&eacute;bec dating to 2006 when Alcan was a stand-along Canadian company, Rio Tinto is selling its unused hydro-electric power back to the province while it operates the Alma smelter at only one-third capacity. Throughout the near four-month lockout, Rio Tinto Alcan has been enriching itself by C$15 million per month at taxpayer expense while holding a community&rsquo;s top-paying jobs hostage. Meanwhile, the Saguenay-lac-Saint-Jean region economy of central Qu&eacute;bec is losing C$1.8 million per week in lost salaries and benefits.

	&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<img alt="" src="" style="width: 320px;height: 141px" width="390" /><img alt="" src="" style="width: 320px;height: 141px" width="390" />

	USW&rsquo;s Guy Farrell Speaks at Brisbane Manifestation

	Another driving force that undoubtedly has pushed the company to return to the bargaining table is the current rise of aluminium prices on the London Metals Exchange. After dropping 25% from a high of US$2,500 per tonne in spring 2011 to the end of last year, prices have since rebounded by US$400 per tonne and aluminium is selling this week at US$2,245 a tonne.

	The Alma smelter is one of the world&rsquo;s most modern, low-cost operations and with access to cheap hydro-electric power, the facility is too valuable for Rio Tinto not to run at full capacity. In Europe, Rio Tinto Alcan will permanently shutter its North East aluminium smelter in Northumberland, UK, on 29 March, sacking nearly 500 workers. It also announced on Monday that it would sell or close the Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne, Savoie, France, smelter because of inability to reach an electric-power rate deal with EDF.&nbsp;

	Maltais said this week that despite talks resuming, a mass rally in Alma slated for 31 March will go ahead. The union is expecting to draw 5,000 to 10,000 at the manifestation, which will occur a day after the ICEM&rsquo;s North America affiliates convene for its bi-annual regional meeting in Alma.

	Protestors will assemble at 13h00 at the Galeries Lac St-Jean shopping mall and march to Parc le Festiv Alma for the manifestation that begins at 15h. (See <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/RTA_CARD4ENG_high.pdf">full manifestation flyer</a> here.)

	The solidarity-building trip by Maltais and Farrell through the American West and then on to Australia and New Zealand saw them get support from Rio Tinto&rsquo;s borax miners in Southern California. International Longshore &amp; Warehouse Union (ILWU) Local 30 faced its own lockout by Rio Tinto from late 2009 to spring 2010.

	From those late February meetings in both Boron and Los Angeles, California, Maltais and Farrell journeyed to the state of Utah where they met with USW local union leaders at Rio&rsquo;s Kennecott Copper mines. Some 1,000 steelworkers and members of other unions, including the International Association of Machinists (IAM), waged a bitter six-month strike there in 2002-03.

	From 4 to 9 March, the Canadians were in Australia and New Zealand. In Australia, their message was heard by hundreds of delegates at separate forums of the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) and the Australian Manufacturing Workers&rsquo; Union (AMWU) in Brisbane. On 5 March, Australian supporters including members of the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU), the MUA, AMWU and Australian Workers&rsquo; Union (AWU) joined Maltais and Farrell in a protest against Rio Tinto on Queen Street in Brisbane.

	&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<img alt="" src="" style="width: 87px;height: 155px" width="390" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

	Local 9490&rsquo;s Marc Maltais at MUA Forum

	At the mass MUA meeting there on 6 March, the two were surprised to see the MUA selling Syndicat des M&eacute;tallos d&rsquo;Alma&rsquo;s trademarked orange shirts, emblazoned &ldquo;Australia and New Zealand Mining and Maritime Union Fight War on Rio Tinto&rsquo;s Workers.&rdquo; Proceeds and other donations were given the two for Local 94990 back home, including at a stop at Rio Tinto&rsquo;s Bell Bay, Tasmania, aluminium smelter that was hosted by the AWU, the union fighting for a first enterprise agreement there.

	In New Zealand, the visit from 7-9 March sponsored by ICEM affiliate Engineering Printing &amp; Engineering Union (EPMU) and the Maritime Union of New Zealand (MUNZ), included a meeting with Rio Tinto aluminium producing workers at the Tiwai Point smelter in Invercargill. It also included another demonstration, this time on 9 March in front of Rio Tinto offices in Wellington.

	Throughout the western US trip and the Australia/New Zealand union-building visits, Maltais and Farrell had along a union banner to which trade unionists signed their names and pledged to join the Alma lockout fight. That banner was unfurled and hung in Local 9490&rsquo;s union hall last week.

	While the two were concluding their trip in New Zealand, back home in Alma, on 8 March, International Women&rsquo;s Day, women&rsquo;s-only forum was held attended by 100 spouses and women workers. The event was billed as a unique chance to share experiences of the then 68-day lockout, the hardships, the loss of income and the emotional turmoil inflicted by a rich multinational on citizens of Qu&eacute;bec&rsquo;s Saguenay-lac-Saint-Jean region.

	To read further information on this corporate attack on working families, click <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4908-Locked-out-Alcan-Workers-Take-Dispute-to-Business-Doorstep">here</a>, <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4875-Rio-Tinto-s-Euro-Works-Council-Irate-over-Québec-Aluminium-Lockout">here</a> and <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4837-USW-Affiliate-in-Québec-Locked-Out-by-Rio-Tinto-at-Aluminium-Plant">here</a>.

Negotiations Restart between USW, Rio Tinto Alcan in Canadian Lockout

The repressive Mugabe regime today found six activists guilty on fabricated charges of inciting public violence. They had been arrested a year ago, together with 39 other people for discussing the Arab Spring and viewing video footage on the popular uprising in Egypt. They had initially been charged with treason, but during the course of the court process, the charges were reduced and the other 39 people cleared.

	The six Zimbabwean activists, Munyaradzi Gwisai, Tafadzwa Choto, Tatenda Mombeyarara, Edson Chakuma, Hopewell Gumbo and Welcome Zimuto, face jail sentences of up to 10 years, to be handed down tomorrow.&nbsp;

	Three of the six, Munyaradzi, Tafadzwa and Tatenda work with the Zimbabwe Labour Centre a non profit organisation that gives legal support to unions and workers on labour matters and&nbsp; provides educational programmes.&nbsp;

	The right to meet, discuss events in the world, share ideas and speak openly and freely is a basic human right for which activists should not be victimised and vilified.&nbsp;&nbsp;

	Send your SMS text message now to the people who can limit the unfair sentence tomorrow.

	Police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena + 263 712 801 172

	Police Commissioner Augustine Chihuri + 263 712 808 290

	Police Minister Kembo Mohadi +263 712 605 424

	Security Minister Didymus Mutasa +263 0712 200 532

	Send: &quot;Do NOT send the 6 Harare activists to jail!&quot;

Urgent! Send SMS to Call for Justice in Zimbabwe NOW

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