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	Chemical Workers&rsquo; Unions from the Trans-Caucasus region voiced their concerns and expectations through a sub-regional workshop entitled &ldquo;Union Organising, Social Dialogue and Multinational Investments.&rdquo; Held Tbilisi, Georgia, on 2-3 February, the workshop was jointly organized by the ICEM and its project partner, German-based Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES). 
	 
	It was attended by 30 trade union representatives from Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Turkey and Russia. The meeting also welcomed ICEM and Norway&rsquo;s IndustriEnergi (IE). 
	 
	The Eastern European chemical industry has been experiencing important growth over the last several years. However, this trend has not extended to the Trans-Caucasus region and the chemical industry loses importance in countries&rsquo; industrial outputs. This situation leads to a non-sustainable future for the sector and for workers of the sector.

	<img alt="" height="160" src="" width="278" />

	In Armenia, for example, a company called Nairit is the only chemicals concern with meaningful employment, and the future of Nairit is unclear due to bankruptcy. In Azerbaijan, through the Chemical Industry Improvement decree of 2 April 2010, by which the chemicals company Azerikimya was incorporated into the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR). 
	 
	In Georgia, a company by the name of Azoti in the city of Rustavi remains the largest chemical enterprise in Georgia but the situation in both Georgia and Azerbaijan presents repercussions to unions, since in both countries unions have become part of bigger unions. This is likely to occur in Armenia, as well. 
	 
	&ldquo;International solidarity and cooperation is the only way for securing the future of members of our unions&rdquo; said Irakli Petriashvili, President of Georgian Trade Union Confederation (GTUC) during an opening speech. Petriashvili was given the Elisabeth Velasquez Award of the Netherlands&rsquo; FNV Confederation for 2011 for the defense of trade union rights during World Day for Decent Work in October 2011.

	&ldquo;Union solidarity is needed in Georgia at this time when the government exerts systematic attacks on trade union rights,&rdquo; said Matthias Jobelius, FES Regional Director for the South Caucasus, based in Tbilisi. 
	 
	Following an analysis of the global chemicals industry through an ICEM presentation, trade union representatives delivered country reports. The main issue in all countries of the sub-region is organising new members and establishing a mature and productive industrial relationship based on social dialogue. Another key problem in the region is the issue of how to cope with multinational investments. Trade unions often have difficulties in acquiring the necessary competences in this area of work. 
	 
	Union representatives from Turkey, Russia and Norway shared their experiences with participants. 
	 
	The workshop gave clear lines on how to give a boost to union organising and to develop social dialogue, particularly with and within multinational companies. Along with this, the meeting opened a way for continuous cooperation among the unions of the sub-region. 
	 
	&ldquo;This workshop addressed the needs of our members in the chemical industry in the region,&rdquo; said Kemal &Ouml;zkan, ICEM&rsquo;s Director of Industry and Corporate Affairs. &ldquo;Our focus to support the unions of the Trans-Caucasus region will remain a priority for the ICEM.&rdquo;

Chemical Unions in Trans-Caucasus Region Push for Decent Work, Union Rights

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Tuluy Kalyoncu, the President of ICEM affiliate Turkish Electricity Authority of Cyprus Workers&rsquo; Trade Union, or EL-SEN, easily admits it: without the ironclad clenched collective fist of each and every one of his union&rsquo;s 600 members, the state-run electric company, KIB-TEK, would be on unimpeded course straight into the hands of a private-sector generating company favorable to Ankara. 
 
And with that, so would a number of other state-owned enterprises in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus become pawns to the profiteers. EL-SEN, together with its national labour centre, T&Uuml;RK-SEN, deploying both fortitude and strategic vision, are clearly leading a growing mass movement in Northern Cyprus that includes opposition political parties, NGOs and most other unions. 
 
A sampling of that mass movement took place when many of those groups held a first-step manifestation in Lefkoşa on 30 January. This action was tame, but unless the ruling government retreats from Turkey&rsquo;s neo-liberal agenda, upcoming street actions will be powerful and ever more demanding. 
<img alt="" src="" width="224" height="161" />
EL-SEN Leaders at 30 January Manifestation
The EL-SEN and T&Uuml;RK-SEN leadership of this movement was vividly seen in a series of events that began 19 January with a paralyzing strike that shut the electric grid, except for parts that the union and its members deemed life-essential. And that was then reflected in government&rsquo;s retreat, albeit temporarily, when it published in its official gazette a union-submitted restructuring plan for KIB-TEK. 
 
That restructuring calls for a board of directors that is fully autonomous from the government, and one that will take decisive action to make KIB-TEK feasibly sound. EL-SEN objects to all government departments, agencies, and quasi-public institutions receiving free electrical power from KIB-TEK, for instance. 
 
The government&rsquo;s publication of the union&rsquo;s restructuring plan came five days after it declared the strike illegal and four days after EL-SEN did quit the strike, but continued a work stoppage through civil disobedience. (See <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4849-Northern-Cyprus-Imports-Scabs-to-Break-Electric-Utility-Work-Stoppage">ICEM news article</a> here.) It also came after the union received broad support, including remarkable solidarity from the Free Pancyprian Union of Electricity Authority Employees (FPUEAE) on the Greek side of the island, who made sure no power from the south was exported northward. 
 
But the struggle is far from over. The ruling government still has a draft bill before the Northern Cypriot Parliament to push ahead with privatisation. EL-SEN has put forth a different legislative proposal that would keep the utility in state hands and restructure it into a viable, low-cost energy provider that benefits all citizens of Northern Cyprus. 
 
EL-SEN leadership and Prime Minister İrsen K&uuml;&ccedil;&uuml;k and his team will meet this week to discuss this alternative legislation. Most importantly, a plan must come forward to make the ill-managed company solvent. 
 
&ldquo;Our struggle is now with the strength of our membership,&rdquo; said EL-SEN President Kalyoncu. &ldquo;We have proven that 600 workers can stand and resist a political decision,&rdquo; adding that resilient vigilance has now taken hold by El-SEN union members and it must resonate with all citizens of Northern Cyprus.

EL-SEN Draws Cypriot Government into Electric Privatisation Stalemate

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A 40-day strike in the US state of Massachusetts ended a week ago. Ninety brave members of the ICEM-affiliated Teamsters Union (IBT) backed Saint-Gobain&rsquo;s CertainTeed subsidiary away from severe cuts to their health care plan, and ratified a five-year labour agreement by a 69-0 vote on 29 January. 
 
The workers, who make asphalt roofing shingles, gypsum wallboard and fiberglass products at a plant outside Boston in Norwood, Massachusetts, returned to their jobs on 31 January with their heads held high, their pride intact, and most importantly their premium benefits&rsquo; package unsevered. 
 
CertainTeed management came at the members of IBT Local 25 late last year with a proposal to abandon the union&rsquo;s Health and Welfare Fund and replace it with an inferior company-managed plan. Such a plan would have left the workers with far fewer health care benefits, leaving them largely unprotected from illness or injury. 
<img alt="" src="" width="154" height="160" />
Workers took strike action on 19 December and when the company refused to move from its regressive proposals in US federal mediation on 13 January, Norwood Teamsters expanded their strike. Besides working with the ICEM and French union CFDT to take the dispute directly to executives of Saint-Gobain in Paris, they began handbilling other non-Teamster and non-represented CertainTeed and Saint-Gobain plants in the US. 
 
&ldquo;Our members would not accept the company plan and made that loud and clear to us,&rdquo; said Local 25 Business Representative George Slicis. &ldquo;We were on the picket line for 40 days, 24/7, through the holidays and in bad weather, and we were not going back unless the Teamster health care plan went back with us.&rdquo; 
 
The 69-0 vote last Sunday made that an affirmative. In bargaining again supervised by the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) on 26 January, CertainTeed backed off the takeaways. Although there will be a very slight increase in workers&rsquo; out-of-pocket costs for continuation of the premium health coverage of US$6-per-week, that will be more than offset with the union negotiating a US$500 bonus each in years one through four of the labour agreement. 
 
In addition, starting in year two, or late in 2012, and continuing in 2013, 2014 and 2015, workers will receive a 2% wage increase each year. Local 25 also won company-paid increases to the New England Teamsters Pension Fund of 10% in years one and two, and 6% each in the remaining years. 
 
The ICEM congratulates Local 25 members at CertainTeed for their resolve in maintaining their earned benefits package and also commends Jean-Francois Renucci of CFDT, who took the case to preserve the US workers&rsquo; health and welfare insurance to top Saint-Gobain leaders.

Workers of CertainTeed, a Saint-Gobain Unit, Retain Premium Health Care in USA

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A joint Executive Committee meeting of three European trade union federations on 31 January put the final touches on statutes, a political programme, and also nominated candidates for leadership in what is to become a united eight-million-member industrial workers&rsquo; federation. The meeting, held near Mechelen, Belgium, was attended by 150 national union leaders from 25 nations. 
 
The European Mine, Chemical and Energy Workers&rsquo; Federation (EMCEF), European Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (EMF) and the European Trade Union Federation for textiles, Clothing, Leather and Footwear (ETUF-TCL) are now geared to formally merge on 16 May 2012 in Brussels, with dissolution Congresses coming a day earlier. 
<img alt="" src="" width="200" height="74" />
The joint Executive decreed that the new federation will strive to become a fighting force for a dynamic economic framework that allows industry to thrive as the motor for jobs and sustainable growth across Europe. The three current federations vowed that &ldquo;social progress and the European social model cannot be sacrificed at the altar of ultra-liberal dogma.&rdquo; 
 
Although the new grouping has yet to formally adopt a name, its temporary moniker is the European Industrial Workers&rsquo; Federation (EIWF). 
 
Michael Vassiliadis, President of Germany&rsquo;s IGBCE, was nominated to serve as President, while current EMF General Secretary Ulrich Eckelmann was nominated to be General Secretary. Anders Ferbe of IF Metall, Sweden, Renzo Ambrosetti, UNIA, Switzerland, and Valeria Fedeli, CGIL FILCTEM, Italy, were nominated as Vice Presidents, while Sylvain Lefebvre, EMCEF, Bart Samyn, EMF, and Luc Triangle, ETUF-TCL, were nominated as Deputy General Secretaries. 
<img alt="" src="" width="165" height="140" />
Michael Vassiliadis
The new federation will consist of four policy committees &ndash; Collective Bargaining and Social Policy, Company Policy Committee, Industrial Policy Committee, and Social Dialogue Policy Committee. It will also be composed of eight regions: South, Benelux, Central, South-East, Eastern, British, Nordic/Baltic, and South-West.

Curtain Up on Europe’s New Trade Union Industrial Federation

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	Coalminers represented by three Australian unions under the grouping Single Bargaining Unit (SBU) voted late last week to resume strike action against the BMA, the BHP Billiton/Mitsubishi metallurgical coal alliance that operates seven rich mines in the Bowen Basin of central Queensland. 
	 
	After six days of futile bargaining between 16 and 23 January, the SBU held a series of mass meetings on 2-3 February in which workers again decidedly rejected the employer&rsquo;s proposal by better than 1,600 to 2 to turn the clock to the former Howard government&rsquo;s WorkChoices set of laws. 
	 
	Mineworkers will soon stage a simultaneous set of seven-day strikes at dates to be decided. Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) Queensland District President Stephen Smyth said, &ldquo;We&rsquo;ll be choosing a time which has the least impact on our members and the most impact on the company.&rdquo;

	<img alt="" height="131" src="" width="260" />

	July Picket at Goonyella Riverside Mine

	The SBU is led by the ICEM-affiliated CFMEU and also includes ICEM affiliates Australian Manufacturing Workers&rsquo; Union (AMWU) and the Communications, Electrical, Plumbing Union (CEPU). It represents 3,500 Bowen Basin coalminers. 
	 
	The two sides have been negotiating for 15 months and a prior enterprise labour agreement expired in May 2011. SBU undertook a series of strikes throughout the second half of 2011, and BMA&rsquo;s opportunity to conduct a vote among miners under the new Fair Work Australia law failed with a 92% rejection in October. 
	 
	Yet, management has refused to yield on issues that would compromise work-life balance in terms of shift schedules and mine safety. This includes BMA&rsquo;s refusal to provide fatigue crib breaks for miners working 12-hour shifts on consecutive nights and contract language which permits managers to permanently replace workers performing safety-critical open cut examiner and mine deputy roles. 
	 
	Their proposal, said Smyth, &ldquo;seeks to take mine safety out of the pit and into the office.&rdquo; 
	 
	The SBU is also seeking restoration of rights and pay taken from labour hire workers and sub-contractors during the WorkChoices era. &ldquo;Australia has moved on from WorkChoices, but it appears BHP hasn&rsquo;t,&rdquo; said Smyth. 
	 
	The ICEM will continue to track this critical Australian labour struggle that has become a bellwether for restoration of trade union rights under the two-and-a-half-year-old Fair Work Australia law. ICEM reports from 2011 can found <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4731-Australian-Miners-Reject-BMA-s-Contract-Proposal-by-92">here</a> and <a href="-BMA-Tries-to-Bully-Aussie-Labour-Law-Back-to-Howard-Era">here</a>.&nbsp;

Queensland Coal Strikes to Resume against BHP Billiton-Mitsubishi Alliance

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	The Australian High Court recently refused to hear an appeal by Rio Tinto over the company&rsquo;s illegal non-union collective agreements imposed on iron ore miners in West Australia. The denial is a victory for ICEM affiliate Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU), which took the case forward, and a victory for legitimate collective bargaining rights.

	It also stands as a rebuke to Rio Tinto in its efforts to avoid 2009 changes in Australian labour law.

	The 10 February ruling not to hear Rio&rsquo;s appeal to a 25 July 2011 determination by the full bench of the country&rsquo;s Federal Court means Rio&rsquo;s sham labour agreement from July 2008 is not a genuine collective agreement. (See <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4571-Australia-s-CFMEU-Wins-Major-Bargaining-Ruling-Against-Rio-Tinto">ICEM report</a> on Federal Court decision from 1 August 2011.)

	&nbsp;<img alt="" src="" style="width: 145px;height: 160px" width="390" />&nbsp;

	It also serves as an invitation for iron ore miners &ndash; and others &ndash; in West Australia&rsquo;s rich Pilbara region to take membership in the CFMEU, with the aim to negotiate real enterprise labour agreements through the union.&nbsp; The High Court ruling will also negate other mining firms such as BHP Billiton, which also converted individual work agreements into non-union labour agreements that were intended to keep trade unions away from workers and workers without a union voice.

	In Rio Tinto&rsquo;s case, it brought ten new hires of its Pilbara Iron Company Pty. Ltd. subsidiary into a bogus Pilbara Iron Employee Agreement for a five-year duration that was meant to include all other new hires during that time. The ploy was done to avoid changes in law that took effect with the July 2009 effective date of the Fair Work Australia law.

	Some 20 such delusionary labour agreements are said to have been put in place to avoid the Fair Work law, and Rio Tinto&rsquo;s legal failure last week is expected to strike the ones that are still in effect null and void.

	&ldquo;Rio Tinto made a cynical attempt to circumvent their obligations under the Fair Work laws,&rdquo; said CFMEU Mining General Secretary Andrew Vickers. &ldquo;It has tried to dodge its obligation to recognise the rights of its workers to genuinely collectively bargain for future pay increases and improved conditions.

	&ldquo;It has been a long legal battle, but it&rsquo;s been worth it to safeguard the rights of our members in the Pilbara and demonstrate that Rio Tinto is not above the law,&rdquo; added Vickers.

Australian High Court Denies Rio Tinto’s Appeal to Evade Union Contracts

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The two-week strike by 120,000 members of the National Union of Metalworkers&rsquo; of South Africa (NUMSA) ended over the weekend when union members accepted a three-year contract from the Steel and Engineering Federation of South Africa (SEIFSA), the main metal employers&rsquo; federation in South Africa. 
 
NUMSA members will receive a first-year pay rise of 10% effective 1 July 2011. In the second and third years, metalworkers will receive no less than 8% in each year. If the consumer price index (CPI) is less than that percentage, the 8% increases will take hold; if it exceeds 8%, workers will receive 2% above the CPI. 
 
&ldquo;We ran a successful action,&rdquo; NUMSA General Secretary Irvin Jim said of the strike that began 4 July. &ldquo;We applied excellent pressure, workers were firm in their determination, and the timing for settling was good before the country&rsquo;s economy was bruised.&rdquo; 
<img alt="" src="" width="240" height="159" />
NUMSA Manifestation on 12 July
Jim said another fundamental issue resolved concerned labour brokers. Contract language was improved whereby labour brokers are allowed to deploy workers for only a four-month period. If a labour broker is retained for more than that period that broker&rsquo;s workers will win full-time, permanent positions with the primary employer inclusive of all social benefits. Workers will begin returning to jobs today and tomorrow, 19 July. 
 
Meanwhile, talks between the Chemical, Energy, Paper, Printing, Wood and Allied Workers&rsquo; Union (CEPPWAWU) and several employers&rsquo; federations resume today. Some 70,000 CEPPWAWU members have been striking since 11 July against scores of employers in the petroleum, pharmaceutical, glass, plastics, industrial chemicals, fast-moving consumer goods, and pulp, paper, and wood products sectors. 
 
By far the biggest impact of those strikes has been in petroleum distribution businesses. The CEPPWAWU strike there has created panic buying and fuel shortages, with the seven members of the South African Petroleum Industry Association unable to move supplies to market from the country&rsquo;s 130 fuel depots. 
<img alt="" src="" width="240" height="160" />
CEPPWAWU Members March in Johannesburg, 11 July
CEPPWAWU&rsquo;s strikes were joined last week across several sectors by 14,000 members of the South African Chemical Workers&rsquo; Union (SACWU) and 10,000 members of the General Industrial Workers&rsquo; Union of South Africa (GIWUSA). 
 
The unions are seeking wage increases ranging from 11% to 13%, while respective industries are offering only 6.5% to 7%. ICEM-affiliated CEPPWAWU seeks a complete ban on labour brokers, a minimum month wage of R6,000 (&euro;615), six months paid maternity leave, and a 40-hour work-week. 
 
The strike, specifically in regard to fuel shortages and transport, is expected to be exacerbated starting today with the start of the third trimester of school in South Africa. Some of the companies affected are petrol giants BP Southern Africa, Chevron SA, Engen Petroleum, PetroSA, Shell SA, and Total SA; pharmaceutical companies Adcock Ingram, Aspen Pharmaceutical, and Pharmacare; consumer companies Revlon and Colgate; the industrial chemicals company Sasol, as well as Nampak Glass and paper companies Sappi and Mondi. 
 
South African strikes were amplified this winter by a PricewaterhouseCoopers&rsquo; report showing that executive pay trends of the 40 top-listed companies on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange saw median pay increases of 23.3%, while executive bonuses rose 56%.

Metal Strike Ends in South Africa with Exemplary 3-Year Contract

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The 55-week lockout by US manufacturing and technology company Honeywell Inc. on 228 unionised workers appears to be over. United Steelworkers (USW) Local 7-669 in Metropolis, Illinois, and the US company came to tentative terms for a new three-year contract on 20 July, which likely sets in motion a return to work for USW members beginning on 15 August if union members ratify the tentative accord next week. 
 
The workers convert yellow-cake uranium into uranium hexafluoride (UF6), which is used in nuclear fuel enrichment. USW Local 7-669 members have been locked off their jobs since 28 June 2010 and in the weeks following, Honeywell inexplicably re-started operations at a worksite utilising dangerous chemicals with inexperienced replacement workers. 
 
Local 7-669 President Darrell Lillie said the union is currently in the process of sorting out job re-classifications; Honeywell has created 21 new jobs and with the union retaining its seniority provisions in the tentative new agreement, job scheduling and job bidding must take place for returning workers.
<img alt="" src="" width="154" height="169" />
USW Local 7-669 President Darrell Lillie&nbsp; 

Lillie said that should be complete today and the union will conduct an explanation meeting of the new contract early next week, with voting on the tentative agreement expected to occur by mid-week. 
 
&ldquo;Overall, we&rsquo;re not entirely happy with the proposed contract but we are glad that several of the key issues that the company was trying to take from us will remain in place,&rdquo; said Lillie. &ldquo;We preserved most provisions that are at the heart of what trade unionists value.&rdquo; 
 
Those provisions include the seniority provisions, which allow senior-most workers to accept more favourable jobs when they become open; retention of a defined benefit pension plan for existing workers; retiree medical care under that same pension scheme; and retention of overtime pay for time work after eight and 12 hours per day. Honeywell workers in Metropolis work both eight- and 12-hour work shifts. 
 
Another important provision kept by workers was time-and-a-half pay on the sixth consecutive day in a week worked, and double-time for the seventh. (See <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4538-Honeywell-Threatens-Safety-by-Extending-Lockout-of-USW-Members-">ICEM news piece</a> from earlier this month.) 
 
Regarding wages, the proposal contains no increase for the first year of the contract, 1% effective 15 August 2012, and 2% due on 15 August 2013. It should be noted that at the outset of the lockout, Local 7-669 proposed a freeze on wages and continuation of all terms and conditions from a previous three-year contract, but the company was set on gutting many benefits and union-protection provisions. 
 
In the proposed agreement, new hires will fall into an equity fund scheme rather than the defined-benefit AlliedSignal Pension Benefit Thrift Fund, and workers on leave under the US Family and Medical Leave Act must take vacation time concurrently. A handful of janitorial and laundry jobs will be contracted out, and more worrisome in such a dangerous worksite, a single safety operator job will be outsourced. That position is responsible for maintaining all safety equipment throughout the plant, such as fire extinguishers, emergency breathing devices and other safety equipment. 
 
Lillie said 150 workers will return to training and re-orientation as mandated by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission on 15 August, 40 workers two weeks later, and the remainder two weeks after that. The unionised workforce will number about 220 workers when the experienced and qualified USW members are&nbsp;fully back to work.&nbsp; 
 
&ldquo;Local 7-669 is highly appreciative of the tremendous support we have received from trade unions, those in the community and others throughout this long lockout,&rdquo; said Lillie. &ldquo;The donations, the international support, and the recognition by many here and abroad on what we were up against will never be forgotten.&rdquo;

USW Union at Honeywell Reaches Tentative Labour Agreement

<img alt="" src="" width="120" height="59" />
By the narrowest of margins on 2 August, members of United Steelworkers (USW) Local 7-669 in Metropolis, Illinois, ratified a three-year labour agreement with Honeywell, Inc., officially ending a lockout that began on 28 June 2010. The ratification vote came a full 13 days following conclusion of a negotiating settlement (see <a href="/en/3-Energy-Oil-and-Gas/4564-USW-Union-at-Honeywell-Reaches-Tentative-Labour-Agreement">ICEM 22 July report</a>), primarily because Honeywell managers at the uranium converting facility were negligent in giving explicit back-to-work assignments to locked-out workers. 

The 228 steelworkers at Honeywell convert milled uranium, known as yellow-cake uranium, into uranium hexafluoride (UF6) which is used in nuclear fuel enrichment. The lock-out was marked by Honeywell&rsquo;s decision to resume full production nine weeks into the company&rsquo; s work stoppage and then re-start operations with inexperienced scab replacement workers. Twice in the months that followed, the plant saw near-miss tragedies due to mishandling of dangerous chemicals. 

The period between the 20 July 2011 tentative agreement and yesterday&rsquo;s ratification was just as contentious as was the entire lockout. Honeywell managers told Local 7-699 that it wanted experienced workers to return to the jobs they knew best, but then submitted a back-to-work roster which saw job postings many of the locked-out workers had never worked before. 

It took Local 7-669 leaders enormous time and effort in the 13-day interval to sort out the return-to-work roster. Meanwhile, Honeywell managers publicly denounced the union for not conducting the ratification vote. &ldquo;They were trying to force a vote before our people knew exactly which job they would return to,&rdquo; said local union spokesman John Smith.
<img alt="" src="" width="131" height="214" />
Local 7-669 members will begin returning to work on 15 August. Some 150 workers will return then to training and re-certification by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Forty workers will return two weeks later for the same, and the remainder two weeks after that. The unionised workforce will number about 220 workers when the experienced and qualified USW members are fully back to work. 

The negotiated settlement preserves most of the key union-protection provisions that Honeywell was trying to strip away at the start of the lockout, including seniority, job bidding, overtime, and retention of a defined benefit pension plan for existing workers, as well as retiree medical benefits that go along with that plan. 

On wages, the new three-year collective agreement calls for no increase in the first year, 1% effective 15 August 2012, and 2% on 15 August 2013. Local 7-669 proposed in bargaining over a year ago a freeze on wages and continuation of all terms and conditions of a prior three-year contract. But Honeywell seemed intent on taking away pension, the accompanying health care benefits, as well as union-protection provisions. 

Honeywell abandoned most of those contract concessions, perhaps realising that it needed experienced steelworkers to effectively operate the plant safety and productively. Production had plummeted to a reported 35% of pre-lockout levels and Honeywell was not meeting it order demand for UF6. 

USW Local 7-669 President Darrell Lillie told the ICEM: &ldquo;We&rsquo;re highly appreciative of the tremendous support we have received from trade unions, those in the community and others throughout this long lockout. The donations, the international support, and the recognition by many here and abroad on what we were up against will never be forgotten.&rdquo;

Troubled to End, USW Union Ratifies US Honeywell Contract

<img src="" width="100" height="39" alt="" />
The International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, a key ICEM global affiliate in the Materials Sector, held its quadrennial Convention in Las Vegas, US, from 25-28 July, and re-elected their top office-bearers with unanimous voice approval. The nine officers stood as the Proven Leadership Team. 
 
The convention marked the 32nd Convention of the US-Canadian union that has united boilermakers, cement workers, ship builders, forgers, and blacksmiths for the past 131 years in North America. 
 
Re-elected President was Newton B. Jones; Secretary-Treasurer, William Creeden; and Vice Presidents: Warren Fairley, US Southeast; James Pressley, Industrial Sector; Lawrence McManamon, US Great Lakes Region; Joseph Maloney, Western Canada; Edward Power, Eastern Canada; J. Tom Baca, Western US States; and David Haggerty, US Northeast. 
<img src="" width="358" height="144" alt="" />
Speaking on the closing day of the Convention, ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda sincerely thanked Jones for accepting global responsibilities with the ICEM as a member of the Executive Committee and as Chairman of the ICEM Materials Sector. He also cited the importance of specific sector work, citing ICEM and European trade union influence in blocking Lafarge&rsquo;s attacks on retiree health insurance of IBB Local D-27 members in Sugar Creek, Missouri, in 2008 and 2009. 
 
&ldquo;I assure you the ICEM will always be prepared to mobilise global support and solidarity whenever you call and tell us of the need,&rdquo; said Warda. 
 
The ICEM leader also told of trade union repression by governments in Colombia, Iraq, and Mexico, and he reminded IBB delegates of the shameful deeds by US right-wing politicians in camouflaging deficit-reduction measures as direct attacks on trade unions. 
 
&ldquo;Wisconsin must be stopped before it becomes a virus spreading all around the world,&rdquo; said Warda to standing applause. 
<img src="" width="327" height="161" alt="" />
UMWA President Cecil Roberts
United Mine Workers&rsquo; of America (UMWA) President Cecil Roberts spoke on the convention&rsquo;s opening day and praised the leadership of the IBB. &ldquo;These people are the blood of your blood, the flesh of your flesh, and the soul of your soul,&rdquo; Roberts told delegates. &ldquo;They have shown the way for all of us.&rdquo;

US Boilermakers Hold 32nd Convention

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