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

	Mining conglomerate Rio Tinto is destroying the community of Alma, Qu&eacute;bec, by the continued lockout of 780 workers, members of the United Steelworkers (USW). The lockout since 30 December 2011 is an economic move in order to increase profits at an aluminium smelter of subsidiary Alcan in Alma.

	Tomorrow in London, protests will occur outside and in the Annual General Meeting of Rio Tinto by USW Canadian members and their ally in the UK, Unite the Union. The protest will be supported by three Global Union Federations, the ICEM, the International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF), and the International Transport Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITF).

	Shamefully, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has contracted with Rio Tinto to produce gold, silver, and bronze medals for this summer&rsquo;s Olympics and Paralympics Games in London. Active protests are currently underway against IOC, stating that the Games are tainted and achievements of the world&rsquo;s best athletes are flawed by a company with a long track record of economic and environmental destruction on the communities where it operates. (Join the <a href="http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/solidarityforever/show_campaign.cgi?c=1365">Labour Start campaign</a> to kick Rio Tinto &ldquo;Off the Podium&rdquo; with a message to the IOC here, and view the USW&rsquo;s <a href="http://www.offthepodium.org/">Off the Podium</a> website.)

	&nbsp;<img alt="" src="" style="width: 370px;height: 130px" width="390" />&nbsp;

	At tomorrow&#039;s protest, Unite will distribute replica Olympic medals to be passed out to the public at the shareholders&#039; venue, the Queen Elizabeth II conference centre. Unite also has arranged for union-friendly Members of Parliament to submit an Early Day Motion in the UK Parliament.

	Rio Tinto has posted profits of US$20 billion over the past two years and despite the fact that the Alcan aluminium smelter in Alma is one of the most efficient and profitable in the world, it has used a lockout to reap even more profit. Alcan management of late has refused to engage the USW in meaningful negotiations to end the lock-out, predicated on the company&rsquo;s desire to force mass outsourcing by eliminating and full and direct employment

	Alcan seeks to replace each retiring worker with a subcontract worker that will see 50% less than the current average union wage of C$34-an-hour. USW negotiators in early April submitted a proposal in bargaining to end the lockout, but Alcan management walked from the table still seeking the unlimited right to subcontract.

	Alcan has continued to receive special assistance from the province of Qu&eacute;bec in a generous agreement whereby Hydro-Qu&eacute;bec buys back unused electricity from the company while the lockout is ongoing.

	The lockout by Rio Tinto Alcan in Alma has triggered a global campaign against Rio Tinto that took on further dimensions early this week at a special Mines and Metals Networking meeting in Sydney, Australia, as well as at the 17-19 April ICEM World Mining Conference, also in Sydney. Trade unionists resolved to build a long-term global campaign against the world&rsquo;s second largest resource company.

Global Unions, USW Bring Rio Tinto Alcan Canadian Dispute to Shareholders

The ICEM&rsquo;s Japanese Affiliates Federation (JAF) has been using many of its own resources, and nearly all of its time and energy to deal with the horrible after effects of last Friday&rsquo;s earthquake and tsunami. The ICEM has been in contact with JAF several times daily in order to determine the federation&rsquo;s needs. What follows is a Circular Letter from General Secretary Manfred Warda to all ICEM affiliates alerting them on how they can help:
Please Contribute: Japanese Earthquake/Tsunami Relief 

Dear ICEM Affiliated Unions, 
 
Many of you have inquired over the past several days the best means to contribute to Relief Funds handling the horrible disaster in Japan. You should know that we have been in constant touch with JAF, the ICEM&rsquo;s Japanese Affiliates Federation, and they have been doing the very best they can, under unimaginable circumstances, to come to the assistance of their electric energy, oil and gas, and other union members in North-east Japan, as well as in other areas. 
 
As is ICEM policy in such natural disasters, we ask that you consider contributions to your local or national Red Cross or UNICEF agencies, with the earmark of Japanese Earthquake/Tsunami Fund. 
 
But we also have been informed by JAF General Secretary Yoshio Sato that JAF has set up an account in its Tokyo Bank to handle relief efforts undertaken by the unions. The bank transfer coordinates there: 
 
Bank Name: Mizuho Bank, Ltd. 
Swift Code: MHBKJPJT 
Branch name: Shiba Branch 
Branch Address: 5-34-7, Shiba, Minato-Ku, Tokyo 108-0014, Japan 
Account Name: Nihon Kagaku Enerugi-Kouzan Roudoukumiai Kyougikai 
Account Number: 054-3316103 
 
Please state in the transfer &ldquo;Earthquake.&rdquo; 
 
Obviously, ICEM and ICEM JAF are very grateful for any and all contributions. And messages of Support and Solidarity can still be sent, addressed to <a href="mailto:icemjaf@blue.ocn.ne.jaf">Yoshio Sato</a>.
Lastly, please take a moment to reflect on the safety and health of the courageous workers, members of JAF affiliate Denryoku Soren, who are working non-stop on the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant. These and other JAF members who are working around the clock on Japanese security, relief efforts, and tending in so many ways to abate this disaster are the real heroes in the world today. They deserve our Support and Solidarity. 
 
Again, thank you for your efforts. 
 
In Solidarity, 
 
Manfred Warda 
General Secretary

ICEM’s Japanese Affiliates Identify Earthquake Relief

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
A wage strike broke out last week in Argentina&rsquo;s Zarate-Campana petrochemical complex when members of the Zarate branch of the Federation of Chemical and Petrochemical Workers&rsquo; Unions (FESTIQyPRA) walked out at six companies. Workers and their unions are seeking 2011 wage hikes over a series of instalments that will keep pace with the country&rsquo;s high inflation rate. 
 
The companies affected include Petrobras, Bunge, Rohm and Haas, Lanxess, Atanor, and Dow. At the Petrobras petrochemical plant, production stopped on 5 March due to the company seeking a safe and orderly shutdown. FESTIQyPRA Zarate is negotiating with the Chamber of the Chemical and Petrochemical Industry (CIQyP), and the sides are now in mediation that is being conducted by the Argentina&rsquo;s Ministry of Work. 
<img alt="" src="" width="120" height="117" />
FESTIQyPRA&rsquo;s Nelson Palacios said workers are justified in asking for a general 25% pay rise, with minimum wage workers expected to gain more. FESTIQyPRA Zarate also seeks a fixed remuneration sum of ARS 2,463 (&euro;437, US$611) added to the base wage between May 2011 and February 2012. 
 
Palacios said the union&rsquo;s proposal calls for 30% of the total to be awarded in May 2011, with other increments to follow in October, December, and in February 2012. Several collective agreements in Argentina are on the brink of dispute, including ones in metals, oil and gas, and in service industries. CGT General Secretary Hugo Moyano has stated that a 2011 increase of 28% is in line for workers to meet the rampant run-up in Argentina&rsquo;s inflation rate. 
 
FESTIQyPRA is affiliated to CGT. The Zarate-Campana petrochemical plants are in northeast Argentina, in Buenos Aires province and situated on the Paran&aacute; River.

FESTIQyPRA Zarate Branch in Argentina Strikes 6 Chemical Companies

The International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers&rsquo; Union (ICEM), a Geneva, Switzerland-based global union federation represented rubber workers across the world, announced today that it would lend its full support to the National Union of Metalworkers&rsquo; of South Africa (NUMSA) in its fight to keep Bridgestone South Africa compelled to wage terms negotiated in the New Tyre Manufacturing Employers&rsquo; Industry Association (NTMEIA). 
 
South African management of the Japanese-based company locked out 1,200 members of NUMSA at two former Firestone tyre producing plants, Brits and Port Elizabeth, on 22 March. At issue is Bridgestone South Africa&rsquo;s defiance of a private&nbsp;arbitrator's award that the tyre manufacturer is bound to certain wage terms contained in a three-year collective agreement that was negotiated between NUMSA and NTMEIA that ended a 30-day strike against four tyre producers on 29 September 2010. 
 
In a 31 March letter to Bridgestone South Africa CEO Kenji Shoda, ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda said, &ldquo;Please know that the current situation in Brits and Port Elizabeth will be communicated to all Bridgestone facilities throughout the world and if your current labour relations conduct is not halted, we will begin to mobilise within these facilities.&rdquo; 
 
The ICEM will support NUMSA as it ramps up a campaign against Bridgestone inside South Africa. And it will take that campaign into Bridgestone tyre plants from Japan and throughout Asia, to Europe and in North and South America. The ICEM is adamant that wage rates negotiated by the NTMEIA for 4,000 other rubber workers at Continental, Goodyear, and Apollo-Dunlop factories in South Africa also be instituted at Bridgestone&rsquo;s two factories. 
 
The ICEM is the global union federation for 20 million workers in the energy, chemical, rubber, mining, and other industrial sectors. It is composed of 467 trade unions in 132 countries. 
 
For further information, contact ICEM Information Officer Dick Blin, <a href="mailto:dick.blin@icem.org">dick.blin@icem.org</a>, +41 22 304 1842, +41 79 734 8994.

Global Union Federation Supports Besieged Tyre Workers in South Africa

<img src="" width="100" height="39" alt="" />
Labour strife broke out late last week at Kumho tyre plants Korea. Members of the Kumho Tyre Workers&rsquo; Union, affiliated to the Korean Metal Workers&rsquo; Union (KMWU) and the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), staged a one-day warning strike on 25 March at two of three Kumho plants in Korea &ndash; Gwungju and Gokseong. 
 
Management immediately retaliated that day and on 26 March with a lockout. When some 3,400 workers at the two plants in southwestern Korea tried to return to their jobs, Kumho managers insisted they sign individual agreements pledging not to strike. 
 
The KMWU branch unit issued a statement calling on Kumho to negotiate over a set of disputed issues, and said, &ldquo;The company forced union workers to confirm that they would not take part in (further) strikes.&rdquo; The Kumho Tyre Workers&rsquo; Union is strongly encouraging workers not to sign the statement and not to return to work while the lockout is in force. 
<img src="" width="252" height="189" alt="" />
Kumho&rsquo;s Gwungju Tyre Plant, 25 March
By a 72% vote count, rubber workers on 10 March voted to launch the warning strike. Central among issues is management&rsquo;s refusal to negotiate paid time-off inside the factories for KMWU branch leaders to handle grievances and perform other union business. The union also seeks labour-management dialogue in order to cut excessive noise pollution in the factories, and wants revisions to severance packages. 
 
Kumho, a subsidiary of the Kumho Asiana Group, has shed a great number of jobs over the past two years due to a heavy debt burden and shifting of work to start-up plants in China. Earlier last week, Kumho was hit by a massive recall of tyres made in those Chinese plants because recycled content exceeded the allowable requirements. 
 
Kumho is Korea&rsquo;s second largest tyre manufacturer and the world&rsquo;s tenth biggest. Workers at the company&rsquo;s third tyre plant in Korea, in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi province, where the KMWU also represents staff, are not affected by the current labour strife.

Warning Strike Leads to Lockout at Kumho Tyre Factories in Korea

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
The United Steelworkers (USW) in North America has created a Unity Council around the Evraz Group, the world&rsquo;s tenth largest steel producer that is controlled by holding companies connected to Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich. The steelworkers&rsquo; network was formed last week at meetings in the US, and initially will include USW local unions representing 2,600 workers in the western US and western Canada. 
 
The Unity Council is expected to expand globally with the help of ICEM and its coal-mining affiliate in Russia, trade unions in South Africa, and the assistance of the International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF) and its affiliates at steel and related mills in Russia, Ukraine, Italy, and the Czech Republic. The company is also expanding in Kazakhstan. 
<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="132" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <img alt="" src="" width="100" height="132" />
Steve Hunt, Robert LaVenture
Formation of the council &ldquo;is an important step in bringing workers together across borders to share information, strategies, and plans with respect to a common employer,&rdquo; said Unity Council Chairman and USW Region 12 Director Robert LaVenture. &ldquo;Workers across international boundaries know that they need to work together to balance our interests against powerful global companies like Evraz.&rdquo; 
 
The USW represents workers at steel pipe and tubing mills in Pueblo, Colorado, and in Calgary, Alberta, and Regina, Saskatchewan. 
 
&ldquo;Ultimately, we would like to see a worldwide group of Evraz workers that is able to meet regularly and work to ensure that the company&rsquo;s workforce, regardless of country or nationality, is treated fairly and has strong union representation,&rdquo; added USW Western Canadian Region Director Steve Hunt. 
 
Luxembourg-based Evraz has nine steel mills, five iron ore operations, several coal deposits, and other mine and mill operations, including Highveld Steel and Vanadium in South Africa. 
 
The ICEM&rsquo;s familiarity with Evraz centres on the company&rsquo;s major stakes in the Russian coking coal mines of Yuzhkuzbassugol and Raspadskaya, the latter one which saw 90 miners perish in a methane gas blast in May 2010. At Yuzhkuzbassugol, a similar explosion killed miners of ICEM affiliate Russian Independent Coal Miners&rsquo; Union (ROSUGLEPROF) in 2007. (See the <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/3781-Russian-Mine-Disaster-Restates-Immediacy-for-ILO-Convention-176 ">2010 ICEM report</a> and the <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/2273-Another-Coal-Mine-Blast-in-Russia’s-Kuzbass-Kills-39-Miners ">2007 ICEM report</a>.)

Steelworkers Form ‘Unity Council’ for Evraz Metal, Mine Workers

<img src="" width="100" height="39" alt="" />
From: International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation 
 
The 50,000 workers, students and human and labour rights activists who took part in the February Global Days of Action are gearing up for another round of mass mobilizations to fight proposed labour legislation that further strips Mexican workers of the most basic internationally recognized labour rights. 
 
News of the proposed <a href="http://www.imfmetal.org/index.cfm?c=26016&amp;l=2">regressive reforms</a> comes just weeks after unions from more than 40 countries participated in an active week of massive rallies, marches and high-level government meetings to shine a light on the Mexican government's failure to uphold international commitments to respect basic labour rights and worker protections. 
 
The proposed legislation which greatly undermines freedom of association, job security, and work conditions, fails to include any of the many changes to Mexican labour legislation that have been repeatedly called for by the ILO Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations and more recently, on 23 March, the <a href="http://www.ilo.org/gb/GBSessions/lang--en/docName--WCMS_153533/index.htm">359th Report</a> of the ILO Committee on Freedom of Association, which contains the International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation&rsquo;s (IMF) Case No. 2694 that has the Committee&rsquo;s conclusions and instructions to the Mexican government, pages 197-243. 
 
In Mexico, preparations at the national level are underway. Public events planned in Mexico include: 
&bull; A rally that was held on March 24 at 1pm; 
&bull; A forum on March 30 to debate regressive nature of reform and strategies for resistance and change; 
&bull; Educational material development and strategic meetings are being held throughout the week. 
 
To join the campaign, the IMF is urging affiliates and others to send letters to their local Mexican embassy or consulate or government representative, especially those individuals who took meetings with union groups during the February Global Days of Action. See <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/IMF-ltr-Mexico-Labor-Law-Reform.pdf ">IMF's letter</a> here to serve as model.

Proposed Mexican Labour Law Reform Opposed; Action Needed

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
The beginning of a Latin American network for Vale workers took root in Peru from 9-11 March, when 35 trade union representatives from six countries met in the city of Piura to discuss common problems and joint strategies to combat the anti-social policies of the Brazilian mining company. 
 
The meeting was sponsored by the US Solidarity Center and its Peruvian and Brazilian offices, and hosted by the ICEM Latin American/Caribbean Region and the ICEM affiliate, the Peruvian National Miners&rsquo; and Metalworkers&rsquo; Union (FNTMMSP). 
<img alt="" src="" width="220" height="143" />
The Piura department in northern Peru is where Vale intends to supply its entry into agri-business following last year&rsquo;s purchase of Bunge&rsquo;s Fosfertil subsidiary in Brazil, a manufacturer of fertiliser. Vale has recently begun production at the Bay&oacute;var mine, a phosphate development that is under its Peruvian subsidiary, Minera Miski Mayo. 
 
Union representatives from Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Peru, and the US were present, and serious discussion occurred over Vale&rsquo;s social conduct throughout the world. The Canadian representative was from United Steelworkers Local 6500 in Sudbury, Ontario, and he told of Vale&rsquo;s anti-people policies following the purchase of Inco nickel mining and smelting assets in 2006 and a subsequent 360-day strike by 3,500 steelworkers in 2009-2010. 
 
ICEM Regional Vice President Sergio Novais chaired the meeting, and besides several FNTMMSP delegates attending, participants also included Brazilian union leaders from CNQ/CUT, the chemical workers&rsquo; union; SINDIMINA, a Brazilian mineworkers&rsquo; union representing Vale miners; STEFAM, a union of railway workers at Vale mines and other workplaces; and STIQUIFAR, a chemical, pharmaceutical, and agri-chem union.

Workers’ Network Meeting of Vale Convenes in Peru

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
A thorough survey conducted by the global trade union network of AkzoNobel reveals key points inside the Dutch chemical company&rsquo;s worldwide subsidiaries, particularly related to restructuring. The <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/3883-ICEM-Affiliates-Move-to-Form-an-Akzo-Nobel-Workers’-Network">AkzoNobel Workers&rsquo; Network</a> was created only ten months ago when ICEM affiliate FNV Bondgenoten hosted the inaugural meeting in Amsterdam. 
 
The survey saw response from nearly all workplace leaders and it shows important trends regarding use of temporary labour and contractors, labour-management communication levels, pay comparisons, and health and safety compliance. A full 96.5% of trade union leaders surveyed responded. 
 
Also, for example, responses show that in AkzoNobel&rsquo;s worldwide facilities &ndash; most of which are under 500 workers &ndash; the core labour standards regarding freedom of association and collective bargaining are in question, with 17% of all workplaces not unionised. Sixty-three percent of respondents answered that overtime work is compulsory, while 63% again said one form or another of restructuring has taken place in their plants over the past three years. 
 
Regarding legal compliance with local or national regulations, AkzoNobel fares extremely well since 100% responding said the company complies with legal requirements, while the same number said AkzoNobel relies almost totally on legally-binding contracts. 
<img alt="" src="" width="235" height="56" />
Ninety-six percent of the respondents stated that the specialty chemicals and paints and coatings company does abide by adequate health and safety regulations. 
 
Other results of the survey: 
 
&bull; 75% of those responding say that the workforce in their facility is composed of between 1-25% temporary workers, while 18% said there are no temporary workers and 7% said that the composition is between 50-75%; 
&bull; At 70% of the locations, there are regular meetings between trade union representatives and management; 
&bull; A good majority of unions (81%) have contacts with other unions inside or outside of their home country; 
&bull; 81% indicate that wages paid are in correlation to what is paid at respective national levels; 
&bull; 81% also say their worksites offer training possibilities; 
&bull; Regarding restructuring, in nearly all cases consultation took place between workers&rsquo; representatives and management; 
&bull; And in the restructurings, in 59% of the cases, 1-25% of the workforce was affected and in 33% of restructurings no workers were affected; 
&bull; And in 46% of AkzoNobel&rsquo;s restructurings, there were no dismissals, while in 54% there were between 1-25% of workers at the site that lost their jobs. 
 
In other AkzoNobel worker news, the Latin American Trade Union Network, held in December 2010 S&atilde;o Paulo, Brazil, created a <a href="http://IWN.AN@groups.facebook.com">group Facebook page</a> called IWN-AN International Workers Network AkzoNobel. The page has an objective to ramp up communications, and post speedy opinions, documents, and other issues that participants wish to share. The facebook group is expected to obtain support for expanding the network via inputs from participants for future communications and discussion. For those wishing to participate, a Facebook account is necessary and then just to IWN-AN International Workers Network AkzoNobel. 
 
The global network&rsquo;s next activity will be to attend and follow Akzo Nobel&rsquo;s Annual General Meeting, to take place Wednesday, 27 April, at 14h00 in Amsterdam.

AkzoNobel Network Survey Reveals Pertinent Site-to-Site Facts

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
ICEM&rsquo;s German affiliate, IGBCE, held yet another mass mobilisation on 24 March in Ludwigshafen, alongside BASF&rsquo;s massive chemicals complex there. The purpose of the manifestations are to continue to buoy support among rank-and-file chemical workers for the union&rsquo;s 7% wage demands in national bargaining with the chemical employers&rsquo; association, the BAVC. 
 
The second round of federal bargaining covering 550,000 workers in 1,900 companies is set for 30-31 March in Bad Honnef, North Rhine-Westphalia state. The first round of federal talks took place in Hanover on 15 March, with employers refusing to put forward an offer. 
 
In the fortnight since, IGBCE has deployed a &ldquo;wage truck&rdquo; and bus tour of activists to 12 chemical sites, reminding workers that they deserve good money for the hard work they&rsquo;ve performed in pulling German chemical employers through the financial crisis. Some 30,000 IGBCE members in chemicals have turned out for the rallies thus far. 
<img alt="" src="" width="240" height="134" />
A rally also was held at the Rhein Chemie Rheinau GmbH plant near Mannheim on 24 March and after one on Friday, 25 March, at Boehringer-Ingelheim&rsquo;s plant in Biberach, the manifestation tour continues today with mobilisations at Hoechst, Merck, and other companies in Frankfurt and in Darmstadt. 
 
The truck and caravan will make another stop tomorrow in Hanau, before culminating for a 30 March demonstration prior to the talks in Bad Honnef. 
<img alt="" src="" width="270" height="152" />
IGBCE Demo in Hanover
&ldquo;We expect a conclusion to come&rdquo; in Bad Honnef, said IGBCE Governing Board member Peter Hausmann, who heads the union&rsquo;s Collective Bargaining Department. &ldquo;We expect employers to put a fair offer on the table,&rdquo; something, he noted, that was absent in Hanover, or in the nine rounds of regional bargaining earlier this year. 
 
IGBCE is adamant that 7% over the next 12 months is fair compensation for workers who absorbed work-time cuts and other social curtailments to help chemical producers weather the economic crisis. The union said the industry has now overcome that crisis. With German production capacities at full levels and sales and profits gushing upward, the time for fairness and justice to the people who delivered this return to prosperity is this week in Bad Honnef.

IGBCE Mobilises for Second Federal Round of German Chemical Talks

Archive