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In 2009, according to the annual survey of the International Trade Union Confederation&rsquo;s (ITUC), 101 murders of trade unionists occurred worldwide. Colombia again was the leader among countries with 48. Despite the gruesome repeat, the ILO&rsquo;s Committee on the Application of Standards, on 5 June, excluded Colombia from the list of 25 countries sanctioned for trade union rights abuses. 
 
The ICEM expresses disbelief over the omitting of Colombia, and itself sanctions employers&rsquo; representatives at the ILO for manipulating the exclusion. The ICEM also calls attention to the fact that President &Aacute;lvaro Uribe V&eacute;lez immediately used Colombia&rsquo;s elimination to promote free trade agreements with North American nations and the European Union. 
 
It was the first time in 20 years that Colombia, far and away the most dangerous country in the world for trade unionists to carry out their activities, was left off the list. The ITUC reports that over the last decade, 63% of all trade union murders occurred in Colombia. It counts at least 10,887 acts of violence against unionists, and over the past 24 years, 2,832 murders occurred. 
 
&ldquo;The ICEM is appalled at the political power play by employers&rsquo; representatives, both from Colombia and elsewhere, to exclude Colombia from the list of 25,&rdquo; said ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda. &ldquo;Not only do murders, telephone threats, physical assaults continue there on a regular basis, but despite government rhetoric, impunity for such crimes is nearly always certain.&rdquo; 
 
The exclusion, at the 99th Session of ILO&rsquo;s International Labour Conference in Geneva, came days before Colombia hosted the US Secretary of State in another effort to get America to implement its end of the 2006 United States-Colombia Trade Promotion Act. The US Congress has held up a vote over implementing it because of Colombia&rsquo;s horrid labour and human rights record. 
 
Uribe welcomed the US foreign minister to Colombia by stating the ILO&rsquo;s move was a &ldquo;harbinger of your visit&rdquo; to the Latin nation. 
 
Similar free trade agreements are also currently pending between Colombia and both Canada and the European Union. Resistance by constituencies, including labour unions, against such foreign trade deals also hinge on human and union rights abuses. 

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Colombia&rsquo;s murder rate speaks for itself. In the first five months of 2010, 17 Colombian trade union activists were murdered. And on 5 June, the same day the ILO&rsquo;s tripartite committee excluded the country, Hern&aacute;n Abdiel Ordo&ntilde;ez Dorado, treasurer of the prison workers&rsquo; union ASEINPEC, was shot dead by unknown assailants on motorbikes in Cali. The number of assassinated trade unionists in Colombia in 2010 is 18. 
 
In 2009, 22 of Colombia&rsquo;s 48 killings were made against senior trade union leaders, with five of those being women. 
 
Overall, again according to the ITUC statistics, murders of trade unionists jumped 30% in 2009 over 2008, when 76 killings were recorded. But it is a known fact that many murders, and other abusive violations aimed at trade unionists, go unreported. 
 
Compared to Colombia&rsquo;s 48 trade union murders in 2009, 16 happened in Guatemala, 12 in Honduras, six each in Mexico and Bangladesh, four in Brazil, and three each in the Dominican Republic and the Philippines. 
 
The ITUC survey provides detailed documentation of harassment, intimidation, and other measures on anti-union persecution in 140 countries. The survey can be found <a href="http://survey.ituc-csi.org/+-Whole-World-+.html?lang=en">here</a>.

Home to Half of World’s Union Murders, Colombia Excluded from ILO’s Sanctions List

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Four days of difficult talks between United Steelworkers (USW) Locals 6500 and 6200 and Brazilian mining company Vale in Canada were adjourned on 7 June,&nbsp;because the schedule of mediator Kevin Burkett could not permit a continuance. A settlement in&nbsp;the now 11-month strike at nickel and copper mines, a smelter, and production facilities in Sudbury and Port Colborne, Ontario, rest in resumption of talks that will take place 19 June in Toronto. 
 
Burkett issued a statement following adjournment on 7 June stating &ldquo;progress was made&rdquo; and the USW and Vale &ldquo;have agreed to continue two party negotiations on certain issues&rdquo; until formal and mediated talks resume this Saturday. 
 
Burkett statement said the 4-7 June time frame &ldquo;set aside to complete the task of negotiating a renewal collective agreement was insufficient.&rdquo; A news blackout has been honoured by both sides regarding negotiations. The early June re-start of bargaining was the third time since late February that the USW and Vale had engaged in talks with Burkett in the middle.
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Meanwhile, in the Canadian province of Labrador/Newfoundland, where 250 steelworkers have been on strike against Vale since 1 August 2010, talks between the company and Local 9508 resumed in late May. Negotiations there also adjourned in order for respective bargaining committees to review issues. 
 
Since many of the same issues are common to both Ontario and the Goose Bay and Voiseys Bay workers in Labrador, it is thought that settlement will come first in Sudbury/Port Colborne. 
 
Pressure did come to bear on Vale when, on 1 June, 50 workers of Ushitou Maintenance in Voiseys Bay downed tools when their contract expired. The company is a contract provider for Vale and workers are members of another bargaining unit of Local 9508. Vale announced that the contractor will use replacements workers during the work stoppage. 
 
In Ontario, the road to a negotiated agreement was made somewhat easier in a 17 May decision rendered by the Ontario Labour Relations Board. The provincial labour board directed the two sides to return to bargaining, but ordered an issue over the reinstatement of nine fired strikers to be set aside in mediated talks. Vale has been steadfast in insisting that even with agreement, the nine &ndash; including two bargaining committee members are not welcome back &ndash; while the USW is insisting that reinstatement must be part of thee settlement. 
 
In Sudbury and Port Colborne, some 3,500 members of USW Locals 6500 and 6200 began strike actions on 13 July 2009 over Vale&rsquo;s efforts seeking a two-tier pension scheme, sharp reductions in a production bonus, and company prerogatives on outsourcing, which threaten job security.

Difficult USW, Vale Canadian Mine Talks to Continue This Week

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The ICEM and the International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF) will jointly hold the &ldquo;Triple Crisis of Sustainability&rdquo; Conference this week, 18-19 June, in Toronto, Canada, to give a full workers&rsquo; airing to the economic, environment, and social consequences brought on by global financial crisis. The Conference&rsquo;s aim is to prepare a worldwide workers&rsquo; and communities&rsquo; declaration for the G8 and G20 summits, also to be held in Toronto the following week. 
 
As of today, 14 June, 270 trade union and other leaders from over 50 countries are registered to attend. The conference runs from 9h00 to 17h30 on both 18 and 19 June at the Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel, 123 Queen Street West.
&nbsp;
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Both ICEM and IMF share the belief that the crises of failing economies, environmental inaction, and social disorder have occurred due to lack of financial and environmental regulations, as well as inept financial governance of markets. The conference will ensure that the voices of global workers are heard on these issues before the G8 and G20 summits convene, and then presented to financial and political leaders in a common declaration. 
 
Jobs, workers&rsquo; rights, social protections, quality public services, and sustainability &ndash; both on environmental stewardship and in providing decent work &ndash; is expected to serve as the core of the declaration. 
 
Keynote speakers will include United Steelworkers (USW) President Leo Gerard, David Donnelly, a leading environmental attorney connected with Canada&rsquo;s Blue-Green Alliance, and John Evans, the General-Secretary of the Trade Union Advisory Committee (TUAC) to the OECD 
 
Specific panels will address the economic crisis, sustainable development and climate change, and corporate governance. The conference&rsquo;s programme has been built to allow for maximum comments from all those wishing to be heard on the effects of the social, environmental, and economic crises.

Toronto’s Sustainable Jobs, Environment Confab a Precursor for G8/G20 Meetings

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Started in 2009 with the support of the Dutch national labour centre FNV, ICEM&rsquo;s Organising and Social Dialogue Project continued its seminars in Turkey last month. Regional seminars involving local union officials and militants in April were held in Thrace and Gebze, both areas considered to be emerging industrial zones that surround Istanbul. 
 
There are a number of multinational companies within ICEM sectors in both cities, some of which are organised by ICEM-affiliated trade unions. There are also a number of organsing efforts by the unions. 
 
With the overall objective to build Turkish trade union ability to recruit new members, as well as to discuss the establishment of a base to create a functioning industrial relations system, prioritizing human and trade union rights, and to promote healthy social dialogue, the seminar in Thrace was attended by 64 local trade union leaders, shop stewards, and militants from ICEM-affiliated unions, while those attending in Gebze numbered 68. 

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Participants at the Thrace, Turkey, workshop 
The Thrace seminar welcomed several international trade union leaders from the Netherlands, France, Germany, and Spain. Celil &Ccedil;oban and Mail &Uuml;rker of FNV Bondgenoten in the Netherlands, Sylvain Lefebvre and Jacques Caltot of French FCE-CFDT, Michael Wolters of IGBCE of Germany, and Isidor Boix of Spain&rsquo;s FITEQA-CC.OO exchanged the experiences and trade union knowledge from their countries. 
 
ICEM Health, Safety, Sustainability Officer Brian Kohler also shared his trade union experiences from Canada. During the seminar, a solidarity visit was made by the French delegation to the plant of Zentiva, a part of the multinational Sanofi-Aventis. The Zentiva plant is organised by ICEM Turkish affiliate Petrol-İş. At the time of the visit, there was a collective bargaining conflict. The French delegation met with company managers as well as workers, and it was decided to put the dispute on to the agenda of the European Works Council through the help of FCE-CFDT. 
 
The seminar in Gebze in May hosted international trade union leaders from the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, and Sweden. Celil &Ccedil;oban and Mail &Uuml;rker of FNV Bondgenoten and Michael Wolters of IGBCE again participated, as did Mats Svensson from Sweden&rsquo;s IF Metall and Jorgen Juul Rasmussen of Dansk-El F&ouml;rbund of Denmark. 

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Participants at the Gebze, Turkey, workshop 
ICEM Central and Eastern European Coordinator Anatoly Surin shared his trade union experiences from Russia, as well. As a prompt practical result of the seminar, IGBCE&rsquo;s Wolters visited the plants of two German-based multinationals, Bayer and BASF, where he met with union officials and company managers with a view to enhancing social dialogue at local levels. It was decided to develop this particular agenda in the upcoming period. 
 
Both seminars got presentations from Turkish trade union expert &Uuml;zeyir Ataman, Director of Education and Collective Bargaining of Lastik-İş, on union history and the current labour relations situation in Turkey. Later, the seminar focused on Power and Weak Points, Challenges and Opportunities, and Concrete Organising Targets inside Turkey, with contributions and inputs by participants from different towns around both Thrace and Gebze. 
 
&ldquo;Both seminars in Thrace and Gebze created a good environment for international solidarity after many militants did get together with their comrades from different countries,&rdquo; said ICEM Rubber and Chemicals Industries Officer Kemal &Ouml;zkan, coordinator of the two-year project. &Ouml;zkan also made a presentation on globalisation and labour relations. 
 
The project will continue with similar seminars in the second half of 2010. One such session will occur in September in the city of Bursa, said to be the &ldquo;Detroit&rdquo; of Turkey for its auto industry, as well as being known as the capital of the textile and garment industry. The other will be devoted to youth organising in the Eagean region. That will occur in October. The project will close with a conference at the end of October in Ankara.

ICEM’s Turkish FNV Mondiaal Project Continues in Thrace, Gebze

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ICEM has traditionally been very active in Central Asia and the Caucasus region since the sectors it has membership in are major economic drivers in these countries. Within this framework, ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda and Rubber and Chemicals Industries Officer Kemal &Ouml;zkan visited Armenia and Georgia in early May. 
 
In Armenia, Warda and &Ouml;zkan met Eduard Tumasyan, President of the Confederation of Trade Unions of Armenia and Levon Khachatryan, Executive Secretary and Head of the Education-Research Centre of the confederation. Warda stressed the importance of boosting the role of trade unions in shaping civil society, and said the Armenia trilateral agreement that was signed by the government, Trade Union Confederation and Employers&rsquo; Association on 27 April 2009, establishing extra guarantees regulating labour relations and requiring parties to engage in joint actions was a major step in this direction. 
 
Thanking the ICEM for the visit, Tumasyan stated the need to introduce new tools for developing labour relations in order to combat high unemployment through social partnering. 
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In Armenia, Levon Khachatryan; the Deputy Chair of the Textile and Light Industry Workers&rsquo; Union; Hrach Tadevosyan; the ICEM&rsquo;s Manfred Warda; Karine Aloyan; Anastas Pahlevanyan; and ICEM&rsquo;s Kemal &Ouml;zkan
A recent report issued by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) on core labour standards in Armenia stated that the right to strike is limited, and most work rights for public-sector workers is banned. The report also says collective bargaining and tripartite agreements at the national level have been virtually non-existent until 2009. 
 
The ITUC adds that most workers are unable to exercise the right to unionise and bargain collectively due to flexibilisation in the labour code and the government&rsquo;s tolerance of a high level of informal employment relationships. 
 
The ICEM delegation also met with Anastas Pahlevanyan, President of the Mining and Metallurgical Workers&rsquo; Union, ICEM&rsquo;s lone affiliate in Armenia, Karine Aloyan, President of Energy Workers&rsquo; Union, and Hrach Tadevosyan, President of the Chemical Workers&rsquo; Union in a meeting arranged by the confederation. Mining is one of the important economic forces in Armenia, and a major portion of the state budget is financed by taxes yielded from mining. 
 
But the negative effects from the global economic crisis have been felt in the mines, where there are several multinational companies that have investments. In the city of Kapan, for example, Deno Gold Mining Co. was shut down for three months during the crisis, while more than 1,000 employees of Armenian Copper Program Co., located in Alaverdi, were also laid off. 
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This also holds true for the chemicals sector, where the biggest company, Nairit employing some 3,000 workers that produce rubber, laid off more than half its staff for over four months. In the energy industry, nuclear power takes an important position in generation and the unions raise major concerns on health and safety. 
 
Following a presentation by Warda, the parties decided to continue cooperation in the near future with training activities. 
 
The ICEM delegation then passed to neighbouring Georgia, where a first meeting was held with Irakli Petriashvili and Gocha Aleksandria, President and Vice President, respectively, of the Georgian Trade Union Confederation (GTUC). Petriahvili explained GTUC efforts to reform the trade union movement in Georgia, but admitted a number of challenges. 
 
He said changing the mentality of government, workers, and society as a whole is difficult, mainly because Georgia is considered a &ldquo;champion&rdquo; in adopting and practicing the prescriptions of global financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank. 
 
This puts the trade union movement in a more precarious position, and carrying out union activities is next to impossible. The legal landscape tends to restrict union organising and collective bargaining. &ldquo;The existing labour law, in our view, is a declaration of rights of employers,&rdquo; stated Gocha Aleksandria. Warda conveyed the full support of the ICEM toward the struggle of trade unions in Georgia. 
 
According to last year&rsquo;s ITUC report, Georgia&rsquo;s Labour Code of 2006 severely reduced workers&rsquo; basic trade union rights through limitations on freedom of association and the right to organise, namely the threshold for establishing a trade union, which is excessively high. 
 
There are severe restrictions on the right to strike. Solidarity strikes are prohibited and in practice, trade unionists get threats and intimidations and face dismissals without explanations. The labour code and government authorities provide insufficient protection against anti-union discrimination, and the law grants a de facto green light to union busting and a marginalisation of collective bargaining. 
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ICEM's Manfred Warda, at Georgian Press Conference
The ICEM delegation then attended a press conference in which support was conveyed to the public over changing these positions. There was also a television interview of Warda with a national channel, and all ICEM messages were well covered by the national media. 
 
The ICEM delegation also met with Gocha Kvitatiani, President of Oil, Coal, and Gas Industry Workers&rsquo; Union, an ICEM affiliate, representing around 4,000 members; Naumi Nebieridze, President of the Energy Workers&rsquo; Union, representing 5,000 members: and Amiran Zeniashvili, Vice-President of the same union; and Tamaz Dolaberidze, President of the Mining, Metallurgical and Chemical Workers&rsquo; Union, which represents some 11,000 workers. 
 
All the union officials explained the difficulties in their respective sectors in carrying out union activities. Warda presented the ICEM and its activities to a group composed of 25 union leaders from the three unions and the GTUC. It was then decided to deepen solidarity and cooperation. 
 
Warda and &Ouml;zkan then travelled to Zestafoni for a meeting with workers engaged in a conflict with the Zestafoni Ferroalloys Plant and Georgian Manganese Mines. 
 
Commenting on the mission to the nations of the Caucasus, Warda, said, &ldquo;Our overall programme in Armenia and Georgia, and in general in the Trans-Caucasus, was intensive and very successful. The ICEM will continue its support of trade unions in both countries through various means.&rdquo;

ICEM Boosts Presence in the Caucasus

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Corporate leaders of US-based Massey Energy Co., including CEO Don Blankenship, came under harsh fire in Richmond, Virginia, on 18 May at the company&rsquo;s Annual General Meeting (AGM). The meeting came just six weeks after a methane gas explosion at Massey&rsquo;s non-union Upper Big Branch mine in the state of West Virginia killed 29 miners, the worst mining tragedy in 40 years in the US. 
 
The closed and highly-secured meeting saw hundreds of protesters from US trade unions, environmental groups, and health and safety advocates march from Monroe Park to the historic and posh Jefferson Hotel, the venue for the AGM. They sang songs, waved placards, and chanted slogans that Blankenship belonged in jail, not running a publicly-traded company for his arrogant abuse of mine safety and environmental stewardship in America&rsquo;s Appalachia Mountains. 

<img alt="" src="" width="288" height="216" />
Utility Workers Union of America (UWUA) West Virginia Local 69 officers Charlie Rittenhouse and Bryan Ash joined AGM protests against Massey Energy
A corporate governance proposal put before Massey shareholders by a US labour federation&rsquo;s investment arm called for three of the Richmond-based company&rsquo;s directors to be dropped from the board. Despite the fact that there were no alternative candidates, the three &ndash; Richard Gabrys, Dan Moore, and Massey President Baxter Phillips Jr. &ndash; won with just over 50% of the vote. 
 
That constituted a near majority of institutional shareholders who have no-confidence in these directors, and caused United Mine Workers&rsquo; of America (UMWA) President Cecil Roberts to say to a news outlet, &ldquo;They got clobbered, considering the fact that they didn&rsquo;t have anybody running against them. They ran unopposed and almost lost.&rdquo; 
 
The AGM was brief and over with in less than one hour. Reporters were sequestered in another room of the hotel and when the question-and-answer period came, the video and audio feed into that room was cut off. Two protesters were arrested inside the hotel&rsquo;s ballroom, after unfurling a banner that read, &ldquo;Massey: Stop Putting Profits Over People.&rdquo; 

<img alt="" src="" width="120" height="167" />
UMWA President Cecil Roberts
The Upper Big Branch tragedy of 5 April has caused the US Congress to conduct an unprecedented number of hearings. There have been three since the tragedy. At a US Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee hearing on 20 May, Roberts said Massey has seen 52 miners die inside its mines in the past ten years. Blankenship testified at the same hearing that federal mine safety recommendations on ventilation upgrades actually make mines less safe. 
 
&ldquo;We opposed the changes because our engineers believed they made the ventilation less effective,&rdquo; he said, adding the company does not know if ventilation played a role in the 5 April blast. Blankenship said he thought Massey&rsquo;s safety and casualty rate in the US was &ldquo;about average,&rdquo; to which Roberts, who had both his grandfathers killed in mine accidents, said, &ldquo;I can&rsquo;t come up with another coal company that&rsquo;s had 23 miners in ten years die.&rdquo; 
 
At a subsequent US House Education and labor Committee hearing that was held near Upper Big Branch in Beckley, West Virginia, on 24 May, one miner who was fortunate to escape stated, &ldquo;we never had proper air on that longwall.&rdquo; Relatives of the deceased called Upper Big Branch &ldquo;a ticking time bomb.&rdquo; 

<img alt="" src="" width="280" height="203" />
Environmentalists from Rising Tide delivered a message from inside the meeting
The father of a 21-year-old victim, Adam Morgan, testified: &ldquo; &hellip; about every shift he had to do some kind of ventilation repairs and some &hellip; he had to do on his own.&rdquo; Steve Morgan said that when his son complained to supervisors on ventilation problems, he was told to find a different line of work if he was &ldquo;scared.&rdquo; 
 
An uncle of Adam Morgan also testified. Eddie Cook, a miner at a UMWA-represented colliery in West Virginia, made the point that with a union, you have the right to refuse unsafe work. At Massey, he said, &ldquo;if you refuse, they tell you to get your bucket and go home. They know if they were union that these people wouldn&rsquo;t work like they wanted them to.&rdquo; 
 
According to Massey&rsquo;s US federal regulatory filings, just 1.3% of its 6,000 US employees are members of the UMWA. And of that small portion, all work in coal preparation plants, not in underground mines.

Annual Massey Energy Meeting in US Brings Protest, Discontent

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Members of one of ICEM&rsquo;s Turkish mining affiliates, Genel Maden-İş, staged one-hour strikes across several collieries in the coal-rich Zonguldak region on 26 March in protest to government inaction over unsafe conditions in mining, as well as to government treatment of 12,000 of TEKEL, the former state tobacco company that was privatised. 
 
The one-hour strike actions, more specifically, were aimed at the horrid working conditions that caused the tragedy inside the Karadon mine, where 30 contract workers were killed on 17 May. The mine is owned by the Turkish Anthracite Coal Foundation and operated by Yapitek Construction. 
 
Genel Maden-İş, or the General Mine Workers&rsquo; Union of Turkey, which represents miners in the Zonguldak region, carried out stop-work actions for one-hour periods in each of three shifts on 26 May in scores of collieries in the Black Sea region of Zonguldak. Some 10,000 miners participated. The ICEM Executive Committee, meeting in Geneva, endorsed the strikes, calling the downing of tools a fitting response to the government of Turkey&rsquo;s non-response to repeated calls to ratify ILO Convention 176, the Safety and Health in Mines Convention. 

<img alt="" src="" width="216" height="143" />
Announcing the 26 May strikes, (center) T&Uuml;RK-İŞ President Mustafa Kumlu and Genel Maden-İş President Rasim Muslu 
Mustafa Kumlu, President of the Confederation of Turkish Trade Unions (T&Uuml;RK-İŞ) and an ICEM Executive Committee member, said the mining industry is indispensible in Turkey, and it is the responsibility of employers and the government to reduce the risks to a very low minimum. 
 
Genel Maden-İş General President Rasim Muslu said adoption of the 2004 Mining Law in Turkey set safety in mines back, since the law opened up the mining sector to increased privaitisation. Introduction of flexible work conditions has led to inadequate training of unskilled workers, and lax safety inspections, many of which are never done on-site. The law also has brought an increase in temporary and part-time contract miners. 
 
At the ICEM&rsquo;s Executive Committee meeting, the president of another Turkish mining affiliate, T&uuml;rkiye Maden-İş President Ismail Aslan, a substitute ICEM Executive member, said obstacles inside Turkey to effectively organise workers into unions also contribute to unsafe conditions inside mines. He said it is unheard of for sub-contract employees to be affiliated to a union. 
 
The explosion at the Karadon mine, a colliery whose operations were privatised in 2006, could have been caused by dynamiting new sectors some 540 metres underground. The blast collapsed walls and support structures. Rescue efforts did manage to free eight miners. 
 
Emotions in the mining community were set aflame upon the visit on 19 May by Turkey Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Speaking at the mine gates, Erdogan callously declared that mine deaths had become the &ldquo;fate&rdquo; of mining communities, with people of the Zonguldak region &ldquo;quite used to events like these.&rdquo; 
 
The remarks triggered clashes between distraught relatives, protesters, and police.

Turkish Miners Conduct Hour-Long Strikes in Wake of Zonguldak Mine Catastrophe

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Following 168 days of bargaining, management at the Pampilla refinery, in the Ventanilla district on the Western edge of capital Lima, continues to refuse to bargain in good faith. 
 
The refinery is a subsidiary of the Spanish multinational Repsol. With a daily capacity of 102,000 barrels, La Pampilla is responsible for over half the refining capacity of Peru. 
 
Fenupetrol, the Oil Workers&rsquo; Union in Peru, has found Repsol to behave very differently than the image that the company portrays &ndash; one of being an ethical company, with high regard for corporate social responsibility. 
 
Moises Ochoa, National Secretary of International Relations at Fenupetrol, reports that following management&rsquo;s failure to offer anything reasonable to the bargaining committee since negotiations began on 15 December 2009, the union has moved to request legal arbitration for bargaining. 

<img alt="" src="" width="300" height="139" />
As collective bargaining at the company enters its second stage, Fenupetrol reiterate its demands in light of recent large company profits and following five years with no increase in workers&rsquo; salaries. The Pampilla employees now earn 33% less than oil workers elsewhere in the country, for instance at Petroperu. Sales for the rest of 2010 are projected to be very high. The bargaining committee now seeks 25-30% rise in base salaries, improvements in the profit bonus and shift bonus, as well as a significant increase in the food allowance for workers. 
 
The Pampilla refinery reported revenues of US$802 million during the first quarter of 2010, an increase of 68.4% over last year. 
 
The ICEM calls on Repsol and the local Pampilla management to bargain in good faith, and come to terms with wages deficiencies incurred over the last five years.

Repsol Subsidiary in Peru Hinders Collective Negotiations with Oil Workers

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State-run electric power utility Eskom got a court intervention last week preventing South Africa&rsquo;s National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) from striking. The order came on the eve of a mass demonstration by NUM at the company&rsquo;s headquarters in MegaWatt Park, Johannesburg, on 26 May. 
 
The strike by NUM&rsquo;s 16,000 members at Eskom was supposed to begin that same day. The company has reneged on an agreement reached last summer that increased housing allowances would be put into effect by late in 2009. Eskom also has recanted over installing full-time safety representatives. A further demand by NUM is that shop stewards be given training and allowed to represent workers on issues before South Africa&rsquo;s Commission for Conciliation, Mediation, and Arbitration (CCMA). 
 
Meanwhile, the utility dumped salt in the wounds of utility workers in the final round of a three-session set of 2010 wage talks. On Friday, 28 May, Eskom offered workers a paltry 3.5% wage increase, far below South Africa&rsquo;s inflation index. 
<img alt="" src="" width="150" height="148" />
The proposed increase was intended as part of a three-year labour agreement. &ldquo;This is a serious insult to workers who are classified as essential but treated like dirt,&rdquo; stated NUM Energy Sector Coordinator Job Matsepe. 
 
A South African labour court ruled late on 25 May that &ldquo;Eskom is an essential service and employees of an organisation classified as such are prohibited from taking part in industrial action.&rdquo; 
 
A strike was averted last year when Eskom, the NUM, and two other unions agreed to refer the housing allowance to a task team that would meet and make the increase by 1 December 2009. That did not happen. All three unions seek a R5,000 (US$654) housing allowance. &ldquo;We have discovered that referring matters to a task team is an Eskom delay tactic,&rdquo; said Num spokesman Lesibo Seshoka. 
 
At NUM&rsquo;s National Central Committee meeting early in May, leadership came out strongly against privatisation of any portion of power generating plants or other state-owned assets.

South African Court Blocks NUM from Striking Electric Utility Eskom

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A wage agreement will likely will be signed today giving 5,800 miners and metalworkers in Georgia a minimum 15% pay increase, backdated to 1 May. For those working shifts at the Zestafoni Ferroalloys plant and Georgian Manganese mines, a further 7% was won on top of the 15%. 
 
That was assured on Friday, 28 May, when one of the Georgian shareholders of the two enterprises signed off on the increase. The managing directors of the manganese processing plant and mines are expected to sign the wage portion of the contract today in Zestafoni with leaders of the ICEM affiliate, Metallurgical, Mining, and Chemical Workers&rsquo; Trade Union of Georgia, Imereti Region branch. 
 
A further agreement covering paid holiday leave, sick leave, a joint contributory pension plan, and other workplace conditions is expected to be consummated in the very near future. The union, with valuable assistance from the national labour centre, Georgian Trade Unions Confederation (GTUC), as well through ICEM intervention, won recognition in mid-May after strikes and public activities in the previous weeks. (See earlier ICEM report <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/3777-Free-Trade-Union-Recognised-for-Miners-Metalworkers-of-Georgia">here</a>.) 
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The boost to salaries is fair and just, since pay at the Zestafoni Ferroalloys plant and manganese mines in Chiatura is extremely low. Miners had earned an average monthly wage of GEL (lari) 450, or US$238, &euro;192. The average monthly salary inside the ferroalloy plant, where 2,200 of the 5,800 workers are employed, is GEL 562, or US$298, &euro;240. 
 
As often happens when such struggles for democratic trade union representation and workplace improvements become public and are successful, industrial workers in other Georgian enterprises also are seeking representation. Both GTUC and the Metallurgical, Mining, and Chemical Workers&rsquo; Trade Union of Georgia are currently working with employees in steel and other industrial enterprises for recognition, wage improvements, and workplace rights. 
 
The ICEM congratulates the federation and its Georgian trade union affiliate on its accomplishments at Zestafoni and Chiatura, and pledges continued resources and a global presence as the unions better the working lives of all Georgian industrial workers.

Georgian Miners, Metalworkers Get Long Overdue Pay Rises

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