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Swiss trade union UNIA is fighting across the country to reverse the decision of Novartis to &ldquo;restructure,&rdquo; meaning close plants and dismiss 1,100 workers. Mass mobilisation campaigns to fight the decision are gathering momentum and wide support from regional communities, politicians, and international trade unions. 
 
The ICEM marched with 300 Novartis workers of Nyon on 4 November. The march, led by regional UNIA Industry Secretary Yves Defferrard, received extremely strong support from Nyon residents as it passed through the town centre. 
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Yves Defferrard
Many local businesses depend on the wages generated at Novartis. It is predicted 2,000 jobs in Nyon will go if the company closes the plant, ending over 90 years of drug production in Nyon. 
 
What leaves a particular sour taste is the company&rsquo;s long standing emphasis on a positive social impact, portraying itself as a &ldquo;carer&rdquo; and &ldquo;healer.&rdquo; But the restructuring comes at a time of considerable profit for the firm. Novartis workers in Nyon are proud of their work, proud of the products they have discovered, developed, and produced. 
 
Management&rsquo;s shock decision, announced 25 October, to close significant sections of the Nyon and Basle plants came only weeks after Novartis posted third quarter net sales up 18% to US$14.84 billion from US$12.58 billion in the same period in 2010, with net income increasing 7% to US$2.49 billion, from US$2.32 billion in 2010. 
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Novartis plans to cut 2,000 jobs internationally, with 760 at its Basle headquarters and 320 in Nyon. 
 
The ICEM Global Pharmaceutical Unions&rsquo; Network, meeting in Geneva 28 October, conveyed solidarity and support to the UNIA members at Novartis, and this message was announced at the 4 November rally. ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda wrote to company CEO Joseph Jimenez communicating the anger of ICEM affiliates at the decision, and demanding good faith dialogue with UNIA. 
 
The role of local and federal politicians in the process is vital, especially as it is speculated that a major factor in management&rsquo;s decision to close is an angry retort at Swiss authorities&rsquo; price cutting of pharmaceutical drugs. Even though the Swiss market represents only 1.15% of turnover for Novartis, the company management had reacted angrily to the persistence of Swiss federal councillors in this regard. 
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UNIA achieved a small victory on 3 November in bargaining by pressuring management to publish a detailed audit report for the Nyon site, as figures put forward by the company are questionable. Novartis moved immediately to bring in a high level financial expert from the US to present the numbers. 
 
The next major mobilisation is planned for 12 November in Nyon, if the company continues to pursue its irresponsible redundancy plan. 
 
Novartis Chief Executive Daniel Vasella is the highest paid person in Switzerland, with an annual salary of CHF 40 million. 
 
Sign <a href="http://www.unia.ch/Novartis.6010.0.html?&amp;L=1">UNIA&rsquo;s petition</a> against the Novartis job cuts here.

Swiss Pharma Workers Mobilise Against Novartis Plant Closings

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Press Advisory 
 
Press Conference 
 
When: 2 November 2011 
10h30 
 
What: 
SP KEP SPSI PT Freeport 
Indonesia Trade Union 
 
Status of Strike at Grasberg 
Mine 
 
Where: SPSI Offices 
Jl. Raya Pasar Minggu Km 
17 
No. 9 Jakarta Selatan 
12740 
 
With: International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Union (ICEM) 
 
Construction, Forestry, Mine and Energy Union (CFMEU) of Australia 
 
Contact: Dick Blin, ICEM Information Officer, <a href="mailto:dick.blin@icem.org">dick.blin@icem.org</a>; +41 79 734 8994 
 
<a href="http://www.icem.org">www.icem.org</a>

Press Advisory - Press Conference, Grasberg Mine Strike

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A historical achievement happened in Indonesia late on Friday night, 28 October, when the country&rsquo;s Parliament passed the Social Security Providers Bill (BPJS), thus clearing the way for long-awaited pension, medical, job-related accident, unemployment and other benefits to millions of ordinary Indonesians. 
 
The House of Representatives gave approval to the new law through consensus in a plenary session when the six-party ruling coalition, which had worked to delay the legislation, was pressured by a mass rally outside Parliament to reach terms with the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P). 
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25,000 Manifested 28 October at Indonesian Parliament
That rally, organized by the trade union/civil society coalition, Action Committee for National Social Security (KAJS), saw 25,000 Indonesians engage in a boisterous sit-in demanding once and for all passage of the populist bill. BPJS means that the government must now implement compulsory social services mandated by the National Security System Law of 2004. 
 
Labour leaders, however, realize that the BPJS time frame for full implementation of the different social components leaves too much political maneuvering room, especially with federal elections coming in 2014. BPBJS I, or the scheme for heath care for all citizens, must come into effect by January 2014, while BPJS II &ndash; social benefits related to occupational accidents, pensions, old-age benefits, and death benefit schemes &ndash; must be implemented by July 2015. 
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D. Patombong Sjaiful
&ldquo;Yes, it was a momentous day,&rdquo; said ICEM Indonesian Affiliates&rsquo; Union Chairman D. Patombong Sjaiful, the leader of FSP-KEP, the Chemical, Energy, Mines, Oil &amp; Gas General Workers&rsquo; Union of confederation KSPI. 
 
&ldquo;But now it becomes a process to guard the intent of this new law and not let it get sidetracked by the political system.&rdquo; 
 
Said Iqbal, the KAJS General Secretary and President of the Federation of Indonesian Metal Workers&rsquo; Unions (FSPMI), agreed, stating that the process must be closely monitored on formulating and calculating sufficient costs for the different benefits. 
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Said Iqbal
&ldquo;This marks a fundamental change in Indonesian social security,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Now we are assured there will be a minimum level of pension benefits for all, that discrimination against the poor regarding health care will end, and that all working people will have some level of social benefits. 
 
&ldquo;We must now be vigilant that government and employers adequately fund these programmes.&rdquo; 
 
Said Iqbal led the KAJS coalition that included some 69 organisations, included 40 trade unions. The coalition, including farm organizations, fishery groups, and many more, included three of the country&rsquo;s main national labour centres, KSPI, KSBSI, and KSPSI. The coalition is expected now to be transformed into &ldquo;BPJS Watch.&rdquo; 
 
The new BPJS law re-makes the four state-owned insurance companies (PT Askes, PT Jamsostek, PT Taspen, and PT Asabari) into two non-profit public companies under the auspices of the President&rsquo;s office. PT Askes will function for the health care scheme, while PT Jamsostek will administer occupational accidents, pensions, old-age risks, and death benefits.

Indonesia Passes Provisions to Implement Social Security Law

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Actrav&rsquo;s biennial symposium was held from 4-7 October 2011 at the ILO in Geneva, and was devoted to exploring Contract and Agency Labour (CAL) and other forms of precarious work. Over 100 unions from around the world participated in the symposium, including ICEM affiliates and experts from Asia, Africa, Latin America, and Africa. 
 
Participants analysed the use of CAL around the world, the impact of the degeneration of permanent employment on the rights of workers, and what steps must be taken to mitigate these impacts. 
 
Participants agreed that combating precarious work requires a comprehensive policy response that includes economic, fiscal, and social policies geared towards full employment and income equality, a regulatory framework to reduce and ultimately eradicate precarious work, and greater efforts to empower workers by promoting the extension of collective bargaining. This will ensure that all workers can access and exercise their right to associate and to bargaining collectively, freely, and without fear. 
 
Basic income security through a universal social protection floor and minimum wages globally are indispensable to limit precarious and indecent employment and living conditions, as well as policies to combat the erosion of the employment relationship. 
 
The symposium drew attention to the vital role the ILO must play in providing a regulatory framework to stop the growing circumvention of labour and social protections through precarious employment arrangements. The conclusions call on the ILO to produce a Law and Practice Report and convene an ILO expert meeting on obstacles to collective bargaining for precarious workers. They also recommend increasing efforts to implement the Employment Relationship Recommendation 198 and other relevant ILO standards. 
 
A copy of the <a href="http://www.ilo.org/actrav/what/events/lang--en/WCMS_153972/index.htm ">Symposium&rsquo;s conclusions</a> as well as all documents relating to the Symposium can be found here.

Unions from Around the World Ask ILO to Take Action on CAL

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The union representing permanent and contract workers at PT Cussons in Tangerang, Indonesia, has managed to negotiate permanent positions for 110 contract workers. 
 
Since the beginning of 2011, the union has been active in training contract workers and, out of a total of 200 contract workers, 118 joined the union. PT Cussons management refused to extend the check-off system to contract workers, so these workers pay their dues manually. 
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Union Chairman Sasmita
On August 2011, the company announced it would end the contracts of 200 fixed term workers without making any severance payments. The union challenged the company decision, drawing attention to the fact that the contracts contravened Indonesia law by explicitly stating that during a fixed-term contract it was forbidden to be married or to become pregnant, and those workers who did so would be deemed to have resigned without severance pay. 
 
After two weeks of negotiations and pressure from union members, the company finally reversed its decision. They arranged placement tests for the 200 contract workers. Out of 200 workers, 110 have become permanent staff since August 2011. Sasmita, the Cusson Union Chairman, said, &ldquo;We were satisfied with the result, but yet we still had to struggling for all the contract workers to be permanent.&rdquo; 
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Union officers of Cussons in Union Office
According to Sasmita, the company has ceased using contracts with discriminatory language and now contract workers can marry and become pregnant without fear of being terminated. &ldquo;Those contract agreements &hellip; no longer exist, and we keep our eye (out) to make sure that the company (does) not use (them) anymore,&rdquo; he added. 
 
The 110 workers now enjoy health insurance and benefits. Tuti, one of the workers said, &ldquo;Now I am not worried again about my future, (to) become permanent workers is my dream, although still (there is) a long way to go for me together with the union to fights for the welfare of the whole workers in Cussons.&rdquo;

From Contract to Permanent Work: Victory at PT Cussons Indonesia

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The Sub-Saharan Africa arm of ICEM&rsquo;s Contract and Agency Labour (CAL) Project held its regional conference in Accra on 25-26 October 2011. Next month marks the end of the first phase of the project, which began in 2009 with the support of Finnish solidarity organisation SASK, and Finnish trade unions TEAM and PRO. This CAL Project, coordinated by Joseph Toe, has been a great success in bringing CAL to the fore of trade union work in the project countries. 
 
Participants spoke about the various approaches, challenges and successes they had experienced over the three years of the project. 
 
A number of unions participating in the project have driven the adoption of legislation and industry guidelines on the use of CAL. In Senegal, for example, an innovative campaign by ICEM affiliate Sutids led to the signing of the President Decree to regulate short-term employment. This law limits the duration of a short-term contract to two years; makes the user-enterprise responsible for working conditions, as well as for salary obligations should the agency &ldquo;fail&rdquo;; requires that CAL workers must enjoy the same working conditions as similar workers at the user enterprise; and provides for the short-term worker, at the end of his or her contract, to receive a severance pay equal to 7% of the total gross remunerations paid since the start of the contract. 
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PENGASSAN General Secretary Bayo Olowoshile 
In Nigeria, ICEM affiliates NUPENG and PENGASSAN have worked closely together to raise awareness of CAL with the government, including through a three-day warning strike. Following pressure from the unions, the Ministry of Labour and Productivity convened a technical tripartite working group to review how CAL was being used in the oil and gas industries. This engagement led to the adoption of the Nigeria Guidelines on Labour Administration issues in Contract Staffing/ Outsourcing in the Oil and Gas Sector. These guidelines, according to PENGASSAN General Secretary Bayo Olowoshile, set the minimum standard for using CAL and are the first of their kind in any sector in Nigeria. 
 
Other unions reported a reversal of declining membership figures since efforts were focused on recruiting CAL workers and achievements in gaining permanent status for CAL workers. In Mozambique, about 400 workers have moved from CAL to indefinite contracts as a result of the work of the work of ICEM SINTIQUIAF. The union has also managed to recruit 360 CAL members. In Mauritius, from 2009-2011, a total of 3,000 contract workers joined ICEM affiliate CMCTEU. With the help of the CAL campaign, the union redefined its strategy to organise and bargain on behalf of contract workers, migrant workers, and workers in the informal economy. This included a decision to reduce the union&rsquo;s membership fees from Rs 50 to Rs 1 (one symbolic rupee) for the most vulnerable CAL workers. CMCTEU demanded that the government review the Domestic Workers Remuneration Order, which had been static for 25 years. This review led to domestic workers gaining an increase of 110% in salary, as well as other gains such as holiday leave, wedding leave, and end of year bonuses. 
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In South Africa, ICEM affiliate CEPPWAWU, with the support of an international delegation organised as part of the implementation of ICEM&rsquo;s Global Framework Agreement, encouraged Umicore in South Africa to change its practices with regard to CAL. Umicore signed an agreement stating that all new work contracts will be on a permanent basis, with all ensuing social protections. Unions participating in the conference declared that targeting multinationals must be a key component of future work on CAL and committed to increasing cross border trade union cooperation in this respect.

Sub-Saharan Africa Region Conference Reviews 3 Years of CAL Work

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A three-week strike by 4,000 members of the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) spilled into the streets of Johannesburg this week, as workers at Xstrata&rsquo;s Boshoek and Wonderkop ferrochrome smelters near Rustenburg took a protest to the Swiss company&rsquo;s Alloys headquarters. NUMSA members presented a petition to company managers demanding wage parity with workers employed at the Xstrata Lion ferrochrome smelter in Tubatse, Mpumalanga province. 
 
Both operations are undergoing big expansions. Xstrata owns 79.5% of the ferrochrome complexes in South Africa, while publicly-listed Merafe Resources holds a 20.5% stake. Both companies also mine chrome in South Africa. 
 
The strike by NUMSA in the North-West province began on 24 October after conciliation efforts by the country&rsquo;s Commission for Conciliation, Mediation, and Arbitration (CCMA) failed. NUMSA and Xstrata Alloys met two days earlier, but a revised pay offer by the company fell short and workers rejected it. 
 
NUMSA is seeking an immediate 10% pay increase for Boshoek and Wonderkop metalworkers and a reduction of job grading systems from eight to five. That would close the wage gap with workers at the Lion smelter and equalize the grading system. Currently, Boshoek and Wonderkop workers earn 14 to 39% less than at Lion, depending on pay grades. 
 
NUMSA is also seeking a housing allowance of R3,500.
<img alt="" src="" width="255" height="169" />
&nbsp;NUMSA President Cedric Gina (rear) has&nbsp;Xstrata's Edwin Hlatshwayo&nbsp;Sign Receipt of Petition
The petition handed to Xstrata Alloys management on 15 November states: &ldquo;(The company) has angered workers and instead of focusing on negotiations, they have decided to apply cheap apartheid-era tactics of bashing members through police intimidation of the strike. NUMSA is very angry that workers who went on a legal and protected strike have been treated like common criminals.&rdquo; 
 
NUMSA President Cedric Gina and Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) Second Deputy Vice President Zingiswi Losi led the march and handover of the petition. The petition asks the company to respond within 48 hours. 
 
Xstrata is world&rsquo;s largest producer of metal alloys, which besides ferrochrome includes vanadium and platinum, and accounts for one-third of total global production. The Boshoek smelter is currently seeing an expansion that will lift production to 240,000-tonnes-per-year by the end of next year. A second smelter, meanwhile, is now being constructed at the Lion operation that will see production double from the current 360,000 tonnes when it goes on line in the first half of 2013. 
 
The Xstrata-Merafe joint venture in South Africa will then yield 2.3 million tonnes yearly of ferrochrome, which is used in stainless steel production.

NUMSA Protests Pay Disparities at Xstrata’s Chrome Smelters

ICEM WOMEN’S BULLETIN

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The US-based International Association of Machinists &amp; Aerospace Workers (IAM) gave full proof last week that collective bargaining is value-added, and Boeing workers no doubt in South Carolina took notice of pay, pension and job security provisions won by 28,000 aircraft manufacturing workers primarily in the state of Washington. 
 
IAM District Lodge 751 reached terms in a ten-months-early labour agreement in US states Washington, Oregon and Kansas with Boeing that not only gives machinists improved work and life stability, it deflates a political flashpoint that became the biggest threat to the independent integrity of the US National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in the government agency&rsquo;s 76-year history. 
<img alt="" src="" width="176" height="129" />
The award-winning IAM contract, which will receive wide acceptance when workers vote on it on 7 December, means the IAM will withdraw a vile discrimination complaint issued by the NLRB against Boeing for public statements it made when opening a production line of the 787 Dreamliner aircraft in North Charleston, South Carolina, this year. 
 
The NLRB determined that Boeing violated US labour code by boldly stating its anti-union bias in opening a factory in union-repressive South Carolina. Boeing&rsquo;s action unleashed a political venom by Republican Party politicians both nationally and in South Carolina that turned into nothing less than a witch hunt to destroy the NLRB as the governing agency for American US labour law. 
 
The IAM agreement now closes that debate and a new discourse should begin on the benefits and values of a collective agreement, particularly for Boeing workers in South Carolina right now who do not have one and will see their numbers increase from 1,500 to 5,000 as production on the 787 Dreamliner ramps up. 
 
Pacific Northwest IAM Lodge 751 President Tom Wroblewski said the early agreement &ldquo;secure(s) thousands of jobs while raising machinists&rsquo; pay and pensions.&rdquo; The agreement preserves jobs by guaranteeing that Boeing will make the 737, 747-8, and US military aircraft tanker aircraft in IAM-represented shops in Washington and Oregon. 
<img alt="" src="" width="209" height="139" />
IAM Lodge 751 President Tom Wroblewski
In recommending the four-year contract extension to 28,000 skilled workers, IAM Local 751 said to membership: &ldquo;What has resulted is an unprecedented commitment by Boeing to Puget Sound and Portland for the 737 MAX and the related manufacturing that&rsquo;s currently being performed here. This will generate long-lasting security for our members. It also resulted in a Boeing commitment to the success and continuation of the other airplane programs where our members have shown time and again their expertise, productivity and quality, resulting in increased profits for the company.&rdquo; 
 
The agreement contains 2% yearly wage increases, and a US$5,000 ratification bonus, as well as continued cost-of-living escalators in the four years. It includes pension enhancements that will lift the monthly retirement benefit by US$91 through the life of the agreement. 
 
And perhaps most significantly &ndash; and especially noteworthy to newly-hired South Carolina Boeing workers &ndash; the IAM negotiated and won job and work rights&rsquo; protections at full benefit levels for all future Boeing employees. 
 
IAM and Boeing agreed to continued dialogue by creating bi-lateral committees to address opportunities and conflicts. IAM Vice President Rich Michalski predicted such an &ldquo;approach and these committees can guide the new relationship going forward.&rdquo; 
 
Boeing&rsquo;s main Puget Sound facility, in Renton, Washington, is the world&rsquo;s longest-tenured aircraft factory, and the new labour contract will ensure 737 production and associated parts work in the area for two decades to come. 
 
Boeing&rsquo;s move to South Carolina and the NLRB&rsquo;s labour law complaint saw Republican lawmakers spew unseemly rhetoric against both US trade unions and the US regulatory framework that governs labour-management relations. 
 
The Republican-dominated US House of Representatives passed in September the reactionary &ldquo;Protecting Jobs from Government Interference Act&rdquo; that if enacted would de-fund the NLRB and strip the agency of remaining powers. The IAM labour agreement effectively blocks this draconian bill from getting heard in the US Senate.

Early Boeing Accord Eases US Labour Law Tensions

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By acclamation, Senzeni Zokwana was re-elected President and Manfred Warda re-elected General Secretary of the 20-million-member International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers&rsquo; Union (ICEM) at the Global Union Federation&rsquo;s 5th Statutory Congress in Buenos Aires on 25 November. 
 
Some 800 delegates from over 200 national trade unions are attending the ICEM&rsquo;s Congress, which closes today with an address by Argentina Labour and Social Security Minister Dr. Carlos Tomada. Delegates also elected, by region, a 59-member governing Executive Committee that includes 20 Vice Presidents. 
 
The Congress postponed electing representations from the Middle East / North Africa Region due to political unrest in several countries, with statutory representation from the MENA region expected to come at the regional conference in March 2012. (The complete <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/1111.ICEM_EXCO_PRESIDIUM_LISTS_FINAL[1][1].pdf">listing of ICEM Executive / Presidium members</a> can be found here.) 
<img alt="" src="" width="141" height="140" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <img alt="" src="" width="143" height="140" />
Newly re-elected ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda, President Senzeni Zokwana
Day two of the Congress on 25 November also saw delegates adopt a forward-looking Action Plan that is meant to continue the trade union activism of the ICEM as it enters integration next year with two other GUFs &ndash; the International Textile, Garment, Leather Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITGLWF) and the International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF). The ICEM Congress today will pass a definitive resolution to dissolve the ICEM in June 2012, followed by a founding Congress of a new industrial trade union organization. That will occur from 18-20 June in Copenhagen. 
 
Zokwana, the President of the powerful National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) of South Africa, begins his second full term at the helm of the ICEM. First elected in a special election in October 2005, he began his trade union activism in 1980 in apartheid-era South Africa at the President Steyn gold mine in the Free State. 
 
He at first was a shift overseer on safety matters and in 1995 he joined the NUM staff as a Safety Officer, after proving himself a forceful advocate of modern mine safety techniques. In 2000, he was elected President of the 300,000-member NUM and besides his leading global role today on mine safety matters, he is an outspoken anti-poverty campaigner throughout Africa. 
 
Warda has served as General Secretary of ICEM since 1 January 2007, and began his trade union career in 1971 with Germany&rsquo;s Mineworkers' Union in his home city of Bochum, North Rhine Westphalia. After serving as assistant and then Head of the President&rsquo;s Office, he was head of the International Department of the country&rsquo;s Industrial Mining and Energy Union (IGBE) from 1991-1997. Following the merger of IGBE and IG Chemie in 1997, he was named head of the International Department of IGBCE. 
 
The Congress concludes today with debate on resolutions regarding furthering the ICEM&rsquo;s work in the MENA region, particularly with Iraqi and Palestinian unions; on an active response to the financial crisis and support for a Financial Transaction Tax; labour rights in Colombia; repressive postures of governments in Hungary and other European countries; European-based companies hampering trade union and human rights in Turkey; electric energy; the Trans-Pacific trade partnership agreement; and on support to the striking PT Freeport Indonesia Workers&rsquo; Union in Papua Province in their courageous struggle against the multination Freeport-McMoRan.

Zokwana, Warda Re-elected ICEM Leaders at Buenos Aires Congress

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