English

Español

Français

Aerospace

Automotive

Base metals

Chemical, pharmaceutical and bio-science

Energy

Glass, cement, ceramic and associated industries

ICT, electrical and electronics

Mechanical Engineering

Mining and DGOJP

Pulp and paper

Rubber

Shipbuilding and shipbreaking

Textile, garment, shoes, leather and textile services

Sectors

Action Plan 2025-2029

Action on textile and garment industry

Clean up shipbreaking

Ratify ILO C176

United for a just future - time to pay up!

Disinvest from Myanmar

Campaigns

Global Framework Agreements

Union building

White-collar workers

Health & safety

Industry 4.0

Women

Youth

LGBTQI+

Gender, equality, diversity and inclusion (GEDI)

Just Transition

Organizing with industriALL

What we do

Affiliates

Statutes

Elected Officials

Executive Committee

Geneva head office

South East Asia

Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Caucasus

Latin America and the Caribbean

Middle East and North Africa

South Asia

Sub-Saharan Africa

Regional offices

About us

Global worker No1 2022

Global worker No2 2022

Publications

Resources

Press

<img alt="" height="59" src="" width="120" />

	Just over a year after a People&rsquo;s Revolution shook Egypt, a glimmer of legislative light regarding trade union freedoms and formation of independent unions has come to the country. On 8 February, the Draft Law on Trade Union Freedoms was submitted to the People&rsquo;s Assembly, the lower house of Egypt&rsquo;s Parliament.

	After months of promises to leaders of the Egyptian Democratic Labour Congress (EDLC) and the Centre for Trade Union and Worker Services (CTUWS) for such legislation, it was introduced just over two weeks from the time the People&rsquo;s Assembly opened its session following elections.

	If enacted, the law would codify many of the core ILO Labour Conventions that Egypt has ratified over the years, but has failed to implement due to draconian laws and decrees by the Mubarak regime, and more recently the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF). Continuing Revolution Party Parliamentarian Aboul Ezz Al-Hariry is said to be championing the new law, and the EDLC and CTUWS &ndash; as well as the newly formed Independent Union of Workers in Electricity and Energy&mdash;are hopeful some provisions of it can still be strengthened.

	The draft law was prepared by Minister of Labour and Migration Ahmed Hassan El-Borai and had been discussed in eight tri-partite meetings of Egypt&rsquo;s Manpower Committee before it was submitted to SCAF, which was silent on it.

	Now officially in Parliament, it will go before the Committee for Suggestions and Complaints and then to special Committees on Manpower and Legislative in public sessions.

	Foremost, the law would guarantee the right of freedom of association and encourage free and independent trade unions to thrive. It is hoped that other debate in Egypt will also occur on adopting an effective minimum wage policy, giving permanent contracts to temporary employees, and lifting bans and penalties on sit-ins, demonstrations and other forms of freedom of expression.

	&ldquo;A year has gone by since the people of Egypt &ndash; most specifically workers&rsquo; groups &ndash; have stood and demanded their freedoms,&rdquo; said ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda. &ldquo;We are encouraged by the Trade Union Freedoms draft law and fully intend to support an Egyptian labour law that is in full compliance with global labour standards.&rdquo;

ICEM Encouraged by Draft Labour Law in Egypt

&nbsp;

	Meeting in Johannesburg, South Africa, on 9 February, the ICEM&rsquo;s Sub-Saharan African Regional Organisation (SSARO) adopted a moving statement that denounces violence against women in the workplace, most specifically a rape and murder earlier this week inside Anglo American Platinum Ltd.&rsquo;s (Amplats) Khomanani Mine in Rustenburg, North West Province.

	ICEM affiliate National Mine Workers (NUM) of South Africa has given North West police until the end of this week to arrest those responsible for this horrific act of violence. The SSARO statement follows:

	&ldquo;On the morning of 6 February, a 28- year-old female worker was violated and murdered underground at Khomanani Mine, which is owned by Amplats, a wholly owned subsidiary of Anglo American.

	&ldquo;This barbaric and neanderthal act against an innocent young worker is the most glaring case of gender-based discrimination against women and abuse of power. Sexual assault is cruel, inhuman, horrible. A mineworker underground on a daily basis has to deal with death or injury that can come from a rock fall or machines. Having to deal with death and violation against your person sexually and otherwise compounds the insecurity of a human being. A fellow worker who was supposed to act as a fellow human being acted as an animal.

	&ldquo;The National Union of Mineworkers has been fighting to enable women to work in mines. This and similar incidents should not be misconstrued to undo the progress that women have made to achieve equal employment rights.&rdquo;

	He who does not love a woman, who does not respect a woman, despises his own mother having come out of a kind womb of a woman.

	&ldquo;As the ICEM African Executive Committee and the ICEM African Women&#039;s Structure, we strongly condemn this atrocious act of barbarism.

	&ldquo;Mines and all workplaces must be safe environments for women and men. It is up to the employer to ensure that the workplace is safe for all. We will be holding the employer accountable for this tragedy.

	&ldquo;We call for a speedy and thorough investigation into these crimes. We are confident that the perpetrators will be brought to justice, whoever they are. We call on the police to do a thorough investigation as the mine has records of who works what shift. We call on them to use all the forensic technology at their disposal to find out who the perpetrator is. We will be following up on this case and checking that justice is done. We also call for a tough sentence for the perpetrator or perpetrators once found.

	&ldquo;This young woman was only 28 years old and had one child, and her future and dreams were destroyed by a barbaric act of violence by a male counterpart. This is the triple oppression that we need to continue to fight against to attain true liberation for African women.

	&ldquo;We call on comrades to rally around this slogan: Not Another Woman Must Be Reaped, Not Another Woman Must Be Murdered.

	&ldquo;We call upon affiliates and sister organisations of ICEM to post this statement on their websites and to disseminate it widely to the press.&rdquo;

ICEM SSARO Condemns Grisly Rape, Murder of Woman inside Amplats Mine

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

	On 7 March, the US National Mediation Board (NMB) announced that the International Association of Machinists (IAM) won exclusive bargaining status for 16,720 United Airlines employees, staff who work as passenger service, gate agents and reservation workers for the Chicago-based airline.

	In a mail ballot over the preceding seven weeks, 8,305 of the airline&rsquo;s ground workers chose IAM, while 5,865 voted for no union. The ballot, conducted through the auspices of the US Rail Labor Act, became necessary following the December 2010 merger of United with Continental Airlines, the latter a predominately non-union airline.

	The IAM had represented United&rsquo;s passenger services staff since 1998 but with the Continental merger, a new certification election became necessary. The union now represents 31,500 workers at the world&rsquo;s largest airline, including ramp service, baggage handlers, and stock and store workers. The election also included passenger service employees of Continental Micronesia Airlines, which operates between the state of Hawaii and some Asia-Pacific nations and previously had another union.

	The election was marked by fierce resistance by United. Airline management tried to exclude 1,000 fleet service workers from voting but the NMB ruled that those workers have the right to join a union.

	IAM Transportation Vice President Sito Pantoja said the election &ldquo;preserves IAM representation rights for pre-merger United employees and extends that benefit to their new co-workers from Continental and Continental Micronesia.

	&ldquo;The win provides all IAM members at United with the advantages of size and strength that airlines themselves are seeking through consolidation.&rdquo;

US Machinists Win Bargaining Status for 17,000 United Airlines Workers

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

	Dave Oliver, National Secretary of the ICEM affiliate Australian Manufacturing Workers&rsquo; Union (AMWU), this month accepted the nomination of Secretary of the national labour centre, the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU). He will succeed Jeff Lawrence at May&rsquo;s triennial Congress of the ACTU in Sydney.

	Lawrence, from United Voice, which prior to March 2011 was the Liquor, Hospitality &amp; Miscellaneous Union (LHMU), said on 8 March he would not seek another term at ACTU. Oliver, 48, has headed AMWU since May 2007, and is credited with driving Australia&rsquo;s manufacturing policies since the financial crisis with an agenda of job preservation and job creation.

	He is also known as a proponent of union campaigning and establishing pattern bargaining throughout AMWU&rsquo;s different sectors. His toughest task will be to guide the country&rsquo;s trade unions during 2013 federal elections and retaining the Fair Work Act. Business groups, as well as Conservative and Liberal politicians, seek to roll back labour legislation to elements contained in the dead-and-gone WorkChoices law.

	&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<img alt="" src="" style="width: 110px;height: 110px" width="390">&nbsp;

	As a teenager, Oliver worked as an apprentice mechanic in the lift industry, and got his first taste of trade unionism at the age of 19 when he began work in the construction industry in Sydney. He served as Assistant National Secretary of the 130,000-member AMWU from 1996 to 2001, and from 2002 to his election in 2007 he was the Victorian Branch Secretary of the union.

	Oliver was endorsed two weeks ago by several unions, including the Australian Workers&rsquo; Union (AWU), the Transport Workers&rsquo; Union (TWU), and on 9 March, the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union&rsquo;s (CFMEU) National Executive Committee endorsed him.

	With that endorsement, CFMEU National Secretary Michael O&rsquo;Connor paid tribute to Lawrence, calling him &ldquo;a consistent advocate for working people across decades&rdquo; and thanking the 59-year-old Lawrence &ldquo;for his tireless efforts in working for the abolition of the ABCC,&rdquo; the Australian Building and Construction Commission, the body given broad anti-worker powers under the government of former Prime Minister John Howard.

	In a statement to AMWU members upon accepting the nomination as ACTU Secretary, Oliver said a prime focus of his will be &ldquo;the growing threat to jobs and the economy, particularly in those sectors impacted by the mining boom and the high Australian dollar, not only in manufacturing but in finance, tourism and the service sector.&rdquo;

AMWU’s Dave Oliver Tagged as Next Australian Council of Trade Unions Secretary

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

	Following renewal of the Global Framework Agreement (GFA) between ICEM, the International Metalworkers&#039; Federation (IMF), and the Belgian company Umicore last September, the Monitoring Committee conducted a visit to one of the company&rsquo;s US operations in Tulsa, Oklahoma. That monitoring mission occurred 6-7 March 2012.

	Umicore is a global materials and technology firm that focuses in four business areas, Catalysis, Energy Materials, Performance Materials, and Recycling. The Umicore Group has industrial operations on all continents and serves a global customer base. It generated turnover of &euro;14.5 billion (&euro;2.3 billion excluding metal) in 2011 and currently employs some 14,600 people.

	Umicore Autocat USA Inc.in Tulsa was purchased from Delphi in 2007 andis organized by the IMF affiliate Union Auto Workers (UAW) through its Local 286. Geographically close to major auto assembly plants in the US, the plant produces catalysts used in automotive emission abatement systems for both light-duty and heavy-duty vehicles.

	&nbsp;<img alt="" src="" style="width: 137px;height: 159px" width="390" />&nbsp;

	Umicore Monitoring Committee

	Along with the Umicore Monitoring Committee members, Ignace De Ruijter, Senior Vice President of Human Resources; Guy Ethier, Senior Vice President of Environment, Health and Safety; Mark Dolfyn, Director of Corporate Human Resource; Kemal &Ouml;zkan, ICEM Director of Industry and Corporate Affairs (who represented IMF as well); Peter Kamm, Umicore&rsquo;s European Works Council and member of ICEM German affiliate IGBCE, the visit was joined by local company managers and UAW local representatives.

	The Monitoring Committee followed the same pattern of work as in three previous missions to China, Brazil, and South Africa. A wide range of information regarding employment, training and education, health and safety, environmental issues, social policies and working conditions, social dialogue, and relations with the local community was delivered and discussed during the visit.

	Since the plant supplies major auto producers, the plant suffered severely during the financial crisis period starting in 2008 with a substantial decline in jobs. However when recovery in the US auto industry started in 2009, Umicore&rsquo;s Tulsa plant began seeing an uptick in business and some jobs were restored, although still far below the level of the pre-crisis period.

	&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<img alt="" src="" style="width: 227px;height: 159px" width="390" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

	Kemal Ozkan,&nbsp;UAW Representatives

	Local management and UAW local union representatives explained how the crisis period was handled through the industrial relations system at the plant. It was further reported that during collective bargaining negotiations in 2009, a more institutionalised procedure for conducting such periods was defined and agreed.

	&Ouml;zkan and Kamm, together with UAW local shop stewards and James Cyr, Bargaining Chair; Warren McKinley, Co-Chair; Lance Boyd and Curtis Storey, both UAW Representatives, met in a separate union meeting to exchange information and discuss the labour situation at the plant. The union meeting examined current working conditions, the collective agreement and social dialogue at the plant, which was followed by a briefing on the nature and content of the GFA. It was agreed that communication would be continued between the UAW local union and the European Works Council.

	In evaluating the visit, the parties jointly committed to quality labour relations and social dialogue at the plant. Particular attention and appreciation was expressed for high quality health and safety practices conducted by joint union-management committee for safety inside the workplace. The Monitoring Committee will finalize its report at a meeting scheduled for the end of May.

Umicore Monitoring Committee of Global Agreement Visits US Plant in Oklahoma

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

	The ICEM is following with concern the implementation process of the new Industrial Relations law in Pakistan, a process which should include trade unions. Writing to Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gillani on 13 March, the day before the Industrial Relations Bill went before the National Assembly, ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda urged against further delays to the process

	&ldquo;The five ICEM affiliated trade unions in Pakistan have the support of an influential network of trade unions in 132 countries. These unions and all workers in Pakistan are entitled to proper legislation protecting their basic human and labour rights, legislation that provides proper industrial dispute adjudicating mechanisms, and most importantly the right for trade unions to exist,&rdquo; stated Warda. (See the full <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/27.ICEM%20Pakistan%20Labour%20Legislation.pdf">ICEM letter</a> here.)

	The urgency was due to the pending expiration of the promulgated Industrial Relations Ordinance 2011 on 17 March. In a legal vacuum following earlier expirations of labour legislations, labour issues were devolved to the provinces by the subsequent 18th Amendment to the Constitution. A 2 June 2011 ruling by the country&rsquo;s Supreme Court abolished the role of the National Industrial Relations Commission (NIRC) because the relevant federal legislation no longer existed.

	&nbsp;<img alt="" height="185" src="" width="246" />&nbsp;

	Leaders&nbsp;of ICEM&#039;s&nbsp;Pakistan Affiliates

	The legal existence of trade unions in Pakistan was thus threatened. Encouragingly, the new bill was passed by the National Assembly on 14 March without amendment, as it was by the Senate on 7 March. The Pakistani government announced the new legislation as a landmark achievement that will promote harmonious employer-employee relations and protect the rights of the labour community. Politicians across political parties agreed that mature systems of industrial relations in Pakistan will contribute to industrial and economic growth.

	The ICEM hopes that the new law will effectively rationalise the labour law in Islamabad and at the trans-provincial level with regards to formation of trade unions, trade union federations, and to regulate employer-worker relations.

	A key stipulation of the bill instructs the government to constitute a NIRC with the power to adjudicate and rule on industrial disputes in the capital and at the trans-provincial level, also on industrial disputes of national importance. Local level industrial relations will remain covered by provincial labour governance.

	Elsewhere in Pakistan, yesterday, 20 March, the Labour Appellant&nbsp;Tribunal dismissed appeals of local Syngenta management and ruled in favour of the ICEM-affiliated Pakistan Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers&rsquo; Union (PCEM) in declaring all 50 workers of a factory as permanent&nbsp;employees of Syngenta Pakistan. The ICEM salutes the PCEM in its victory in regularising these workers to permanent employee status.

	Shockingly, the Swiss-based agrichemicals multinational Syngenta has ignored past court rulings in favour of the contract workers&rsquo; right to full time employment. The Syngenta Employees Union Pakistan, belonging to PCEM, has faced serious violations, including unjustified dismissals of its leaders. See last year&rsquo;s <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4219-ICEM-Fights-for-Reinstatement-of-Union-Leader-in-Pakistan-">ICEM report</a> here.

Pakistan Enacts New Labour Legislation with Pressure from Unions

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

	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

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

	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

Archive