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ICEM Central European affiliate, the Independent Trade Union of Chemistry and Non-Metal Workers of Bosnia-Herzegovina (SSHN-FBIH), held its Congress is Sarajevo on 8 December 2010, and high on the agenda was ICEM involvement in a bitter backpay dispute last year with one of the union&rsquo;s major employers. 
 
ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda spoke at the Congress. The union re-elected the woman who fought selflessly to bring a successful conclusion to the backpay and health and safety dispute. SSHN-FBIH President Kata Iveljic was enthusiastically acclaimed again as leader of the trade union. 
<img src="" width="220" height="141" alt="" />
The dispute involved 1,250 workers employed by Global Ispat Koksana Industtrija Lukavac (GIKIL), a sodium carbonate plant that produces coking coke for steelmaking. The enterprise is a unit of the nefarious Global Infrastructure Holdings, owned by Pramod Mittal of the Indian steel-making family. 
 
Management of GIKIL, which is operated by the Indian company but jointly owned with the Canton of Tuzla, had unilaterally rolled back wages 55% to 2003 levels, failed to pay wages during the last quarter of 2009, and neglected to heed SSHN-FBIH&rsquo;s call for proper safety and health attention around coke ovens that had caused numerous cases of cancer. 
 
At last month&rsquo;s Congress, Warda congratulated the union for mobilizing support beyond the borders of Bosnia-Herzegovina, as well as for two successful strikes in late 2009 and early 2010 which forced the absentee Mittal brother to respond to workers&rsquo; grievances. Warda also praised the government of the Canton of Tuzla for stepping into the fray and forcing Global Infrastructure Holdings to react. The 2009 pay arrears were fully paid in February 2010 through the joint ICEM/SSHN-FBIH campaign. 
<img src="" width="170" height="128" alt="" />
ICEM Central European Project Coordinator Mato Lalic
Warda also told SSHN-FBIH delegates in Sarajevo that the ICEM will continue to monitor GIKIL&rsquo;s social conduct and health and safety inside the factory, located in the northern city of Lukavac. 
 
Other guests at the Congress included ICEM Central European Project Coordinator Mato Lalic and representatives from trade unions of Serbia, Croatia, and Slovenia.

Chemistry, Non-Metal Workers’ Union Holds Congress in Sarajevo, Bosnia

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For the second straight year, trade unions representing over a quarter of the 10,500 UK workers in publicly-traded electric and gas company National Grid have voted to take industrial action. Some 3,000 union members of Unite, Prospect, and Unison balloted overwhelmingly to take action short of a strike due to an inferior 2010 pay offer by National Grid. 
 
Following talks last week that saw the London-based company only reduce from three years to two its wage offerings, industrial action that would include work-to-rule and a ban on overtime could begin by month&rsquo;s end. The current dispute is the second year running that profitable National Grid has proposed wage hikes below UK&rsquo;s retail price increase. 
 
In 2009 pay talks, unionised National Grid workers balloted affirmatively for strike action, but labour and management agreed to a 1.3% increase before the industrial activity could begin. In talks this time, National Grid initially put forth a three-year pay offer of 2.5%, 2.25%, and 2.25%, still below inflation. 
<img src="" width="92" height="108" alt="" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <img src="" width="150" height="62" alt="" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <img src="" width="83" height="82" alt="" />
On 12 January, the company revised its pay proposal by offering a two-year deal of 2.5% and 2.25%, but continues to insist on certain conditions attached to the increases. The unions are seeking a one-year wage deal from 2010. 
 
In early January, the 750 mainly electrical transmissions workers that are represented by Unite the Union voted by 94% for industrial action. Grid system engineers, gas operations engineers, and field engineers, represented by Prospect and numbering 1,000, then voted by 95% for the overtime ban and work-to-rule, which means performing only the minimum level of work as specified in contracts. The 1,200 Unison members, mostly gas workers, also voted by a wide margin for industrial action. 
 
National Grid posted a 12% increase in pre-tax profits and shareholders saw an 8% increase in dividends in the first half of 2010. About the same period that unions were voting for industrial action, on 6 January UK energy regulator Ofgem levied a &pound;8 million fine on National Grid for reporting completion of gas pipe maintenance work that was imposed by the government&rsquo;s Health and Safety Executive (HSE). In fact, that maintenance work had never been done. 
 
It was the second big fine in two years by Ofgem against in National Grid. In 2009, the company agreed to pay a reduced a fine of &pound;15 million for misreporting maintenance work.

Three UK Unions on Verge of Industrial Action at National Grid

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In Australia on 5 January, the Tasmanian Supreme Court struck a blow to mining and metals giant Rio Tinto&rsquo;s and delivered a victory to workplace safety and health compliance. The court denied Rio&rsquo;s appeal to block a trade union from entering a worksite to meet with staff over health and safety issues. 
 
The company had filed the appeal with the state high court to prevent representatives of the Australian Workers&rsquo; Union (AWU) from meeting in a lunch area with aluminium workers at Rio Tinto/Alcan&rsquo;s Bell Bay smelter. The AWU represents some 600 workers at the 180,000-tonne-per-year aluminium smelter, located in Launceston in northern Tasmania. 
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In late November 2010, the AWU gave legal notification under the state&rsquo;s Workplace Health and Safety Act to Rio Tinto of its intent to enter break areas to &ldquo;discuss health and safety issues with workers during a meal or other break.&rdquo; Following the company&rsquo;s refusal, both Tasmania&rsquo;s Inspector of Workplace Standards and the state&rsquo;s Solicitor General determined that AWU had that right. 
 
But Rio Tinto appealed the Solicitor General&rsquo;s decision, only to have Tasmanian Supreme Court Justice Alan Blow deny the company&rsquo;s appeal. Within minutes of the judge&rsquo;s decision on 5 January, the AWU was on its way to meet with workers employed in an industry notoriously rife with respiratory hazards. 
 
AWU National Secretary Paul Howes criticised the company for attempting to use its power and money in its litigious way to stop independent health and safety oversight. The AWU &ldquo;has successfully fought what clearly looks like a conspiracy by (Rio Tinto) to act as if Australian workplace health laws do not exist,&rdquo; he said. 
 
The case hopefully will become a precedent for other Australian state inspectors to fulfil safety laws by allowing union representatives to discuss safety issues with workers in break room areas.

Court Tosses Rio’s Australian Appeal on Safety ‘Right-of-Access’

The ICEM is calling on Pulp and Paper Activists to take immediate action in support of 45 members of UK&rsquo;s Unite the Unite, dockworkers at the Port of Tilbury in Essex, who today are concluding their third round of strike action against Enterprise Distribution Centre and the Stora Enso parent rolls they handle in this North Sea port.

	(Stora Enso Logistics is the operator of a warehouse at the port, employs management personnel there, and from all indications is the company that is seeking rollbacks on work terms through the Port of Tilbury&rsquo;s enterprise that ultimately will affect pay.)

	Copy the message in italics below and send to <a href="mailto:Jane.jeffery@unitetheunion.org; Diana.holland@unitetheunion.org; tony.burke@unitetheunion.org; andygreen63@aol.co.uk?subject=Support%20for%20Tilbury%20Dockworkers%2C%20Represented%20by%20Unite%20the%20Unite!!&amp;body=Dear%20Tilbury%2045%2C%0D%0A%0D%0AWe%20have%20heard%20from%20the%20ICEM%20about%20your%20valiant%20struggle%20to%20retain%20your%20living%20standards%20at%20the%20Port%20of%20Tilbury%2C%20living%20standards%20that%20Enterprise%20Distribution%20Centre%20and%20Stora%20Enso%20are%20attempting%20to%20strip%20from%20you.%20Please%20know%20that%20my%20union%20is%20aware%20of%20your%20strike%20actions%2C%20we%20are%20in%20full%20support%2C%20and%20we%20will%20do%20everything%20in%20our%20power%20to%20spread%20the%20word%20of%20this%20unfair%20assault%20on%20your%20livelihoods.%0D%0A%0D%0A(Signed)%0D%0A(Name%20of%20Union)%0D%0A">Port of Tilbury Dockworkers </a>by clicking this mail link.

	The situation is this: On 1 March, without negotiating with Unite, Enterprise unilaterally changed work shifts to where the 45 dock and warehouse workers are only called when a ship loaded with paper arrives from Sweden. Previously, they worked full work shifts. The change means a reduction in pay between &pound;2,500 and &pound;5,000 per year.

	The Tilbury 45 staged a 24-hour strike action on 8 May, a 48-hour strike on 21-22 May, and a 48-hour one that ends tonight (29 May) at 22h00. Tomorrow, 30 May, the union and management will enter into the first formal set of negotiations, even though the work-time rollback occurred three months ago.

	And also today, the Swedish Dockworkers&rsquo; Union will begin the first of two 24-hour strikes at Stora&rsquo;s port in Goteborg blockading the two ships (one owned by Stora) used to ferry parent rolls from Sweden to the UK&rsquo;s Tilbury Port. Do your part, copy the following message or send one in your own hand to the dockworkers at Unite the Union.

	(Subject heding) Support for Tilbury Dockworkers, Represented by Unite the Unite!!

	Dear Tilbury 45,

	We have heard from the ICEM about your valiant struggle to retain your living standards at the Port of Tilbury, living standards that Enterprise Distribution Centre and Stora Enso are attempting to strip from you. Please know that my union is aware of your strike actions, we are in full support, and we will do everything in our power to spread the word of this unfair assault on your livelihoods.

	(Signed)

	(Name of Union)

	A copy of the <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/42.ICEM%20UK%20Enterprise%20Distribution.29May.pdf">ICEM letter</a> sent in support of the Tilbury 45 is here. Thank you for your prompt action in support of these workers!

UK Dockworkers Handling Stora Enso Parent Rolls Need Immediate Support

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	Legitimate strike action by five bargaining units comprising 600 cement workers in total, members of the ICEM affiliate Oilfields Workers&rsquo; Trade Union (OWTU) of Trinidad and Tobago, turned into a company lockout early this week as Trinidad Cement Ltd. (TCL) seeks to gain individual work agreements to break the strike.

	The OWTU began a 90-day strike action on 27 February at the company&rsquo;s two cement and ready-mix bag plants at Claxton Bay and Mayo, but the company countered that on Monday, 5 March, by issuing intent to lockout notice. That means both TCL and TCL Packaging, part of the Caribbean cement company&rsquo;s TCL Group, can now try to coerce staff into signing yellow-dogs contracts.

	The OWTU is confident cement workers will continue to man the barriers and also has expressed a desire to return to the conciliation process. The two sides, negotiating a 2009-2011 contract, are split on the wage issue, with OWTU seeking 16% while TCL is offering only 7%. The OWTU signed a contract for a total of 9% in wage increases over a similar period recently for 5,000 oil workers employed by state-held Petrotrin. (See <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4903-OWTU-Reaches-Excellent-Terms-with-Petrotrin-in-Trinidad-and-Tobago">ICEM report</a> here.)

	&nbsp;<img alt="" src="" style="width: 240px;height: 160px" width="390" />&nbsp;

	OWTU President General Ancel Roget Addresses Cement Workers

	Foto: Rishi Ragoonath/Trinidad &amp; Tobago Guardian

	The cement strike sent shock waves through the twin-island nation&rsquo;s construction industry after management announced cement inventories would only last one week. TCL immediately began importing cement and ready-mix from its Caribbean Cement subsidiary in Jamaica and its Arawak Cement in Barbados.

	The strike became tense on the evening of 28 February and morning on 29 February when police drew guns and swung batons at strikers as forces left the factory Claxton Bay. The OWTU filed a formal complaint with the police over certain officers&rsquo; use of force in confronting the strikers.

	Since that incident, calm has been maintained at picket lines, and the OWTU has kept a vigilant strike camp near TCL&rsquo;s plant in Claxton Bay. OWTU and TCL held conciliation meetings between 9 February and 23 February, but strike notice was then given when the company refused to increase its wage offer.

Trinidad Cement Declares Lockout to Coerce Individual Labour Agreements

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	Some 100,000 union workers in South Africa will march today, 7 March, for two causes &ndash; an outright ban on labour brokers and scrapping the planed e-tolling, or pay-to-drive on Gauteng freeways. Some 32 manifestations will occur today across the country today in actions sponsored by the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU).

	The strike is against a government recommendation that failed to get consensus in year-long discussions before the national Economic Development and Labour Council (NEDLAC) that would allow employers to use workers provided by labour brokers for up to six months.

	COSATU is also protesting turning the country&rsquo;s first motorways into toll roads, something that clearly turns public services into commodities. &ldquo;These roads are national assets for the use of the people of South Africa,&rdquo; said COSATU General Secretary Zwelinzima Vavi, &ldquo;not a commodity which can be used to make profits at our great expense.&rdquo;&nbsp;

	&nbsp;<img alt="" src="" style="width: 190px;height: 160px" width="390">&nbsp;

	Zwelinzima Vavi

	COSATU is intent at ending the practice of labour brokering, which it compares to human trafficking. Statistics now show that one-third of all South African workers are temporary employees without social benefits. COSATU wants the responsibility of labour brokers to be limited to matching employees for employers, and that responsibility must end at the door to the workplace.&nbsp;

	COSATU believes precarious workers can easily be intimidated into not joining a union and Vavi said that&rsquo;s why the organisation&rsquo;s Central Executive Committee is insisting &ldquo;that every effort is made to mobilise workers employed by labour brokers to join actions on 7 March.&rdquo;

	In Johannesburg, Vavi, who will stand for re-election at COSATU come the union confederation&rsquo;s congress in September, will lead marchers starting at the Library Gardens to the Gauteng premier&rsquo;s office, and then past the offices of the Chamber of Mines and the Steel and Engineering Industries Federation. Multiple marches will be held in various cities in the Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and other provinces.

South African Workers March Today to Ban Labour Brokers

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	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 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;

	&nbsp;<img alt="" height="159" src="" width="183" />&nbsp;

	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.

‘Disaster Waiting to Happen,’ Pike River 3rd Inquiry Told

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