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With the end of a 42-day strike on 22 November by miners at BHP Billiton&rsquo;s Spence copper mine, labour peace appears at hand in the copper mines of Chile, the world&rsquo;s largest supplier of the red metal. Leading up to the close of November, future labour agreements are in place for most copper producers now, including at one of the three sets of mines owned by the Chilean state-run government, Codelco. 
 
The Spence strike will go down in this round of Chilean copper talks as the most contentious. With an expiration of 30 September, it was the second set of negotiations between BHP Billiton and the union at the open cast mine in the Atacama Dessert of Region II of northern Chile. 
 
On 13 October, the 560 miners at the three-year-old facility downed tools. The strike was resolved eight days ago when workers accepted a 4% wage increase, a bonus of US$14,000 per miner, and a loan guarantee from the company of US$4,060. The agreement runs for 41 months. 

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Two days earlier, on 20 November, in less acrimonious bargaining, BHP Billiton workers at the smaller Cerro Colorado copper mine ratified a separate 41-month deal with BHP, the world&rsquo;s biggest mining house. That deal, to take effect 1 February, gives miners a 4.8% pay increase and a US$15,000 bonus. 
 
Also settling early were miners at the globe&rsquo;s largest copper mine, Escondida, which is 57.5% owned by BHP Billiton, 30% by Rio Tinto, and supplies five percent of the world&rsquo;s copper. That settlement came even before the official start date of negotiations. In mid-October, mine management and the union representing 3,400 miners agreed to a pay deal of 5%, with a US$28,000 bonus. 
 
Talks continue, but appear headed to a peaceful resolve between Xstrata and the mining union representing workers at its Altonorte mine and smelter in the Tarapac&aacute; region near the city of Antofagasta. An agreement there expires 18 December. 

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At Xstrata&rsquo;s nearby Lomas Bayas mine, where copper ore is processed at the Altonorte smelter, miners walked off jobs last May for a week to ensure a fair pay package. Xstrata also has a 44% stake in the Collahuasi mine, Chile&rsquo;s third largest copper mining operation. 
 
Talks are also underway at the copper and gold Candelaria mine, operated by US-based Freeport-McMoRan. 
 
The agreement at state-run Codelco&rsquo;s Andina mining complex in central Chile came on 21 November, nine days before contract expiration. The wage package was not immediately made known. Three unions are bargaining jointly at Codelco&rsquo;s Chuguicamata mine, part of Codelco Norte, which has a 31 December expiry. 
 
It is expected that the government, similarly as it has done at the Andean division mines, will extend fair wage offers to other workers of Codelco, which the supplies the world with 11% of its copper.

Copper Contracts Being Settled in Chile’s Mining Industry

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ICEM led a workshop for women from ICEM affiliates in Erbil, Iraq, from 17 to 19 November. The workshop was supported entirely by the US Solidarity Center. Hashmeya Muhssin from the Basra Electricity Workers&rsquo; Union and ICEM Executive Member was instrumental in organizing the meeting. The women who participated in the meeting were all highly educated. 

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The meeting focused on violence issues, since that was felt to be the most crucial issue facing women today in Iraq. Self-esteem is one critical area in building women&rsquo;s confidence to participate in trade unions. Women need to build their self-esteem and confidence in order to become better leaders. Violence in all its forms was condemned &ndash; violence against women is not cultural. It is criminal. The women acted out role plays on violence in the family, at work, and in society. Women in armed conflict is another issue that has to be looked at, as women bear arms and are victims of those bearing arms. The women brought examples of Iraqi women role models that they admire. These included Dr Naziha Al-Dulaimy who was the first government minister in the Middle East in the 50&rsquo;s. When it is said that Iraqi women are not participating recently as much as they used to, the explanation can be found in the Iraq-Iran war and the sanctions imposed on the country until 2003, followed by war since then. The problem is that without security, women cannot prosper. It was agreed that women need to go out to work in order to be financially independent and to take their own decisions. 
 
Examples were given of women&rsquo;s organizations, in particular Kurdish women&rsquo;s associations, who fight for legal reforms, provide shelter for the homeless and threatened, train the jobless and help the poor and ill. 
 
Hashmeya has been standing up for women as well as for men in Basra and is working to launch a campaign for social security. A lot of work still needs to be done to clean up the remains from the Iran-Iraq war, as well as provide environmental and community sanitation. This work will continue in connection with the elections scheduled in Iraq for 2010. 
 
The women left the meeting feeling empowered. &ldquo;A bird cannot fly with one wing.&rdquo;

ICEM Iraqi Women&#039;s Workshop Meets in Erbil

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Negotiations between United Steelworkers (USW) Local 9508 and Brazilian mining company Vale broke off late last night, 24 January, in St. John, Newfoundland, in failed efforts to end the 25-week strike by 250 union members at Goose Bay and Voiseys Bay, Labrador. Three days of steady talks over the weekend, guided by a provincial mediator from Newfoundland/Labrador, failed to bring the two sides any closer to terms. 
 
Meanwhile, 3,100 striking Steelworkers marked six months on picket lines opposite Vale in Sudbury and Port Colborne, Ontario, a fortnight ago. The company, on 19 January, upheld its promise to re-start the Copper Cliff nickel smelter using managers and replacement workers to fire one of two furnaces. 
 
In eastern Canada, an announcement a week ago that the first full round of negotiations since February 2009 would begin on 22 January brought hope that copper, nickel, and cobalt mining in Goose Bay, as well as operations at a slurry facility in Voiseys Bay would resume. Vale had submitted the framework of an agreement ten days ago, but this past weekend&rsquo;s bargaining proved Vale is seeking the same set of concessions. 

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Hong Kong flagged ship operators receive Voiseys Bay Petition, 9 October 2009
&ldquo;The company here still insists on removing the nickel bonus and they didn&rsquo;t deal at all with our issues,&rdquo; lead negotiator and USW District 6 Representative Boyd Bussey told the ICEM Sunday evening. &ldquo;If Vale thought they were picking off a weak link in this strike, they were wrong. We&rsquo;ll be on picket lines until we get a good deal.&rdquo; 
 
The key item that separated the two sides in talks remains Vale&rsquo;s insistence on removing the nickel bonus, a wage supplement that is tied to the rise and fall of the market price of nickel. Contract language, monetary issues, and a company demand to give it more latitude on use of temporary workers also separates the two sides. Local 9508 is an amalgamated USW branch union with five units, three &ndash; miners, catering staff, and security &ndash; that have been on strike against Vale since 1 August 2009. Another unit, a Vale sub-contracted group of port workers employed by an Aboriginal-owned company called TSI, has a separate labour agreement expiring early in 2010. 

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The focus will now be on whether or not Vale will restart copper and nickel mining in Goose Bay using replacement workers. The speculation is that Vale needs nickel concentrates to feed its smelting operations in Thompson, Manitoba, as well as nickel for the re-start of Copper Cliff, where USW Local 6500 is on strike. The company might also be expected to capitalize on high copper prices, with the high-grade red metal mined and processed in the maritime province moved to market. In 2008, the company produced 77,500 tonnes of contained nickel and 55,400 tonnes of high-grade copper concentrates from its Vale-Inco Newfoundland and Labrador operations. 
 
The start-up of the Copper Cliff smelter was long advertised by the company. Operation of one of two furnaces at Copper Cliff, however, is not expected to give Vale anywhere near 50% of smelting capacity from the Sudbury-area facility. Vale is getting minimal production from two of six mines in northern Ontario, as well as token output from its Claribelle refining operation. 
 
On 13 January, the six-month mark of the strike in Sudbury and Port Colborne, the USW filed a bad-faith bargaining complaint with the Ontario Labour Relations Board in Toronto on Vale-Inco&rsquo;s entrenched negotiations stand. Included in that complaint is an internal June 2009 Vale document that the company intends to pare mining jobs in northern Ontario, as well as strategically mine only high-grade ore from the region, thus reducing life expectancy of nickel reserves. The USW believes this indicates Vale is not managing the province&rsquo;s reserves in the long-term best interests of workers and rural communities. 
 
On the six-month anniversary of the Ontario mining strike, over 1,000 miners and their families marched and manifested in Sudbury. The event included an environmentally-friendly balloon release, with each balloon set aloft representing C$4 million of Vale&rsquo;s profits that has fled from Canada. 
 
The ICEM, together with the International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF), will continue ratcheting up pressure on the Brazilian company so that Vale returns to bargaining tables both in Labrador/Newfoundland and Ontario with fair contract offers. The USW Local 6500 strike website can be found here <a href="http://www.fairdealnow.ca">www.fairdealnow.ca</a>.

Talks Prove Futile in Ending Vale’s Eastern Canada Mine Strike

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The ICEM is demanding that the government of Bosnia-Herzegovina intervene on behalf of 1,250 workers in the northern city of Lukavac. The workers have had their pay slashed and are owed wage arrears by India-based Global Infrastructure Holdings Ltd., a subsidiary of the Ispat Group, owned by the Mittal steel-making family. 
 
The company is the minority owner but manages a coke-chemicals enterprise called Global Ispat Koksana Industtrija Lukavac (GIKIL), which sells to steel mills throughout Central Europe, Turkey, and in India. The local government of the Canton of Tuzla is majority stakeholder. 
 
In a 21 January letter (see <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/3%20ICEM-IMF.Bosnia.pdf ">here</a>) to Bosnia-Herzegovina Prime Minister Mustafa Mujezinovic and to Canton of Tuzla Prime Minister Enes Mujić, ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda &ndash; together with International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF) General Secretary Jyrki Raina &ndash; called on both the federal government and regional government to ensure that restoration of previous pay levels dating to 2003 are restored, that wage arrears are paid, and that the governments be more vigilant on potentially serious health risks existing inside GIKIL. 

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The ICEM is pursuing justice for Lukavac workers on behalf of one of those affiliates, the Independent Trade Union of Chemistry and Non-Metal Workers of Bosnia-Herzegovina. 
 
&ldquo;The ICEM has probed Global Infrastructure Holdings, its parent, the steel-maker Ispat Group, and Pramod Mittal himself.&rdquo; said Warda. &ldquo;What we find is a history of depraved conduct placed on people in many countries and total disregard for global social standards, as well as statutes enshrined in European law.&rdquo; 
 
In Lukavac, workers have carried out lawful strikes twice in six months, laying claims to salaries owed them. Despite all workers taking membership in the union, GIKIL&rsquo;s Indian managing director, Guttupalli Jagannadham, has bypassed the union in slashing pay to 55% of previous earnings. That level is below the minimum wage standard contained in the national collective agreement for chemistry and non-metals, and amounts to just above &euro;200 per month (400 marka), putting it well under the minimum wage threshold for the sector in Bosnia-Herzegovina. 
 
Workers staged a strike from 6 January to 14 January after salaries had not been paid in October, November, and December 2009. During the strike, the October and November pay was made, but December salaries are still in remiss. A mediated agreement that ended a three-day strike in July 2009 called on GIKIL management to honour the collective agreement, and pay all wages due by 31 December 2009. 
 
The ICEM and IMF also stated concern for workers&rsquo; health at GIKIL in the letter to the Bosnia-Herzegovina government. The Independent Trade Union of Chemistry and Non-Metal Workers believes a number of workers have acute cases of cancer due to lack of safeguards around coke ovens. 
<img alt="" src="" width="102" height="140" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <img alt="" src="" width="99" height="140" />
ICEM and IMF General Secretaries, Manfred Warda, Jyrki Raina
In the joint letter, the combined 45-million-member ICEM and IMF cautioned the government not to lose oversight over labour-management relations at GIKIL. &ldquo;We think this a mistake, considering the recent history of wage arrears, asset stripping, and general social depravation brought by Global Infrastructure Holdings.&rdquo; 
 
In Nigeria in 2008, Kogi state steelworkers, over 500 Indian nationals, and many Ukrainian expatriate workers protested due to ten months of non-payment of wages. The Iron and Steel Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ISSSAN) counted 60 deaths among workers because of the lengthy pay arrears, including 21 suicides. In April 2008, the Nigerian government revoked a privatisation contract it had with Global Infrastructure Holdings to operate the Ajaokuto Steel mills and Nigerian Iron Ore Mining Co., as well as Delta Steel, when it discovered the Indian company was cannibalizing equipment and then exporting it. 
 
Also in 2008 in Libya, where Global Infrastructure Holdings had a contract to manage Libya Iron and Steel Co. Ltd., workers &ndash; including 120 Indian nationals in high-skilled jobs &ndash; went as long as seven months without pay. In Bulgaria, Pramod Mittal and Ispat&rsquo;s Global Steel Holdings bought 71% of the country&rsquo;s largest steel mill, Kremikovtsi Steel, in 2005, renamed it Finmetals Holdings, and the enterprise was declared insolvent in August 2008. Lack of promised investment was the cause. 
 
Mittal, the younger brother of ArcelorMittal Chairman Lakshmi N. Mittal, left a debt trail that included bondholders and huge sums owed Bulgarian state utility NEC, gas company Bulgargaz, and railway operator BDZ. 
 
Some 5,000 Bulgarian steelworkers also were not paid their wages on time throughout the latter half of 2008. 
 
&ldquo;We take the breach of contract, failure to engage the union in social talks, and wage issues very seriously,&rdquo; said Warda of the current Lukavac dispute. &ldquo;Either the government of Bosnia-Herzegovina corrects the wrongs imposed on workers, or we carry this dispute to different levels.&rdquo;

ICEM, IMF Decry Mittal’s Pay Delinquencies in Bosnia-Herzegovina

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The ICEM supports the ITUC-led trade union appeal for victims of the earthquake disaster in Haiti. The trade union relief work is being carried out primarily by ITUC&rsquo;s affiliates in the Dominican Republic, in cooperation with Haitian colleagues across the border. 
 
We urge ICEM affiliates to support this Appeal. 
 
Funds for the appeal can be transferred to the following ITUC bank account: 
No. 375-1008200-61 
Banque ING, Brussels Branch Institutionals, 1 rue du Trone, B-1000 Brussels 
Code IBAN: BE 62375100820061 
Code BIC/Swift: BBRUBEBB 

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The ITUC requests that the words &ldquo;SOS Solidarity &ndash; Haiti&rdquo; are included with each transfer to this account. 
 
ITUC General Secretary Guy Ryder has called for the cancellation of Haiti&rsquo;s debt, in the aftermath of the disaster, to increase the country&rsquo;s chances of reconstruction. 
 
As has been widely reported in the mainstream media, the huge earthquake hit Haiti on 12 January, and was followed by a number of aftershocks. Along with the reported death toll of over 100,000, Haiti&rsquo;s infrastructure has been severely damaged, with many buildings and roads completely destroyed. The humanitarian situation is desperate and aid is needed. 
 
Once the immediate humanitarian effort passes, the solidarity campaign will continue to use funds raised to help Haitians in their recovery from this natural disaster.

ICEM Urges Haitian Relief Funds through ITUC

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Leaders of mining and metal workers&rsquo; unions from around the world on 13 July condemned the Mexican government&rsquo;s failure to bring justice to the families of the 65 mineworkers who died in an explosion at the Pasta de Conchos mine on 19 February 2006. 
 
&ldquo;The Mexican labour authorities are guilty of a triple failure,&rdquo; said Jyrki Raina, General Secretary of the International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF), in Nueva Rosita, Coahuila. &ldquo;They failed to prevent the disaster at Pasta de Conchos, they have failed to accomplish justice for the families of the victims, and they have failed to take the necessary measures to prevent future disasters.&rdquo; 
 
A special committee of the ILO, in a report issued in April, concluded: &ldquo;the Government of Mexico did not do all that was reasonably expected of it to avoid or minimize the effects of the Accident which had such devastating effects with the loss of life of as many as 65 miners.&rdquo; 

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The union leaders from Argentina, Canada, Peru, South Africa, and the US met with family members of the victims and with the rescue team that is working to recover the 63 bodies that remain entombed in the mine. At the entrance to the mine, they placed wreaths in memory of the workers who died. 
 
&ldquo;Mineworkers around the world are one family,&rdquo; said Tim Baker, an occupational health and safety specialist for ICEM-affiliated United Mineworkers of America (UMWA). &ldquo;We mourn the deaths of our brothers at Pasta de Conchos and we are outraged that Grupo Mexico and the labour authorities who are responsible for their deaths have gone unpunished, while the government continues to attack the Mineworkers&rsquo; Union.&rdquo; 
 
United Steelworkers (USW) District 3 Director Steve Hunt pledged his union&rsquo;s support for the families&rsquo; effort to recover the bodies of the victims, and challenged other unions to commit their resources to the cause. 
 
The delegation was organized by the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM), the IMF, and the United Steelworkers.&nbsp; This was the last of the six-day series of events, which included a rally over the weekend.
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Joe Drexler, ICEM Director of Industry and Corporate Affairs, who also met with family members, commented, &quot;we believe that the refusal of the government and Grupo Mexico to recover the bodies is an effort to cover up the real causes of the mining disaster and the inadequacy of rescue efforts.&quot;
In addition to the USW and UMWA, the other ICEM affiliates to meet with the widows were the National Union of Mineworkers, South Africa&nbsp;(NUM), the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA), the Chemical, Energy, Paper, Printing, Wood and Allied Workers Union, South Africa&nbsp;(CEPPWAWU), and the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada (CEP), alongside ICEM affiliate Los Mineros.

Global Union Leaders Demand Justice for Mexican Families at Pasta de Conchos Mine

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A unified strike by members of three unions at Saint-Gobain glass plants in Belgium ended Friday, 10 July. But not before Auvelais workers at the French multinational made a defining stand in this industrial action: no company will be allowed to use the financial crisis as a pretext to implement common restructuring! 
 
Workers returned to their jobs 11 July, after voting 58 to 48% to end the nine-day strike, a strike that saw two plants totally blockaded for most of that time. A mediated agreement was put forward on 8 July. The dispute started in February 2009, when Saint-Gobain proposed 241 job cuts. Over the ensuing months, Saint-Gobain resisted all practical alternatives put forward by social partners. 
 
Some 880 are employed at the twin plants of Saint-Gobain Sekurit and Saint-Gobain Knell near Charleroi, in southern Belgium. 
When the strike started &ndash; 2 July, after months of fruitless bargaining &ndash; the company still wanted 215 job cuts. The unions, including ICEM affiliates Centrale G&eacute;n&eacute;rale-FGTB/ABVV and the CSC/ACV, proposed constructive options to the job cuts. But these proposals were ignored. Saint-Gobain as well sought cuts to worker entitlements, such as pre-pension benefits, transfer compensation, and severance on voluntary departures. 

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&ldquo;The absence of meaningful dialogue is an insult to what is now demanded,&rdquo; said ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda. &ldquo;We know that Saint-Gobain is guilty of social dumping and we also know that this conduct is not related to the financial crisis.&rdquo; 
 
Trade union strikers blocked access to all company assets at Saint-Gobain Knell throughout the strike, and at Sekurit, a blockade was lifted partially in the sixth day of the strike. Other restructurings have occurred in these Wallonian plants. In May 2008, 100 jobs were cut. The Sekurit plant makes flat glass, while the Knell operation makes glass in building and construction products. 
 
The ICEM extended support to the strikers during the labour action. &ldquo;The ICEM questions Saint-Gobain and its motives in using the world&rsquo;s economic crisis to gain financial strength in the restructuring of the Belgian factories,&rdquo; the Global Union Federation wrote Belgian union members. &ldquo;The ICEM and its family of trade unions worldwide stand with you in Auvelais as you take justified industrial actions.&rdquo; 
 
Saint-Gobain has faced fierce resistance to job cuts in other parts of Europe, as well. Strikes in Italy and France occurred in April and May, and European trade union federations manifested at Saint-Gobain offices in Paris on 20 May. 
 
Currently, CGT in France has called for urgent talks with the company at Mers-les-Bains over 100 proposed job cuts, and social partners at Saint-Gobain Desjonqu&egrave;res in Real Sitio, Spain, began deep discussions over a proposed six-week shutdown in August and September, affecting 180 workers. 
 
In Germany, IGBCE, EWC, and Saint-Gobain completed social talks related to transfer and re-skilling at Saint-Gobain Vetrotex operations.

Financial Stress Brings Industrial Unrest to Belgian Glass Sector

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Following the ICEM&rsquo;s Executive Committee Meetings late in June in Geneva, and the two-day International Nuclear Workers&rsquo; Union Network (INWUN) conference, the ICEM held a wider Electric Power Workers&rsquo; Conference on 27 June. 
 
Under the chairmanship of Lars Myhre, ICEM Energy Industries Section Chairman, the conference saw participation of trade unions involved in the production and distribution of electric power, regardless of the method of generation used. 
 
A number of presently unaffiliated trade unions from the North America electric industry had been invited and a union representing power workers of British Colombia, Canada, Local 38 of the Canadian Office and Professional Employees&rsquo; Union, was in attendance. 
 
After an opening session where speeches of welcome preceded a detailed presentation of the global industry and recent ICEM work, made by Energy Officer Jim Catterson, a presentation on ICEM&rsquo;s Sustainable Development policy was made by Health, Safety, Sustainability Officer Brian Kohler. 

<img src="" width="343" height="142" alt="" />
Michael Langford, Lars Mhyre, Manfred Warda
The conference focused on key priorities of ICEM including Global Framework Agreements, networks, and campaigns. On global agreements, an overview by ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda was followed by a detailed presentation on the EDF agreement by Marc Ferron of French affiliate FCE-CFDT. 
 
Ferron is the secretary of the coordinating committee established within the EDF agreement, and his presentation generated much interest and discussion. A second session focused on network building with presentations on the previous two days of INWUN meetings, done by INWUN Chairman David Shier of the Canadian Power Workers&rsquo; Union, and on the Asia-Pacific Electric Power Workers&rsquo; Network, a presentation made by a colleague from Japan. 
 
A third focus of the conference was on campaigning and following an overview of recent ICEM campaigns in the industry by ICEM Information and Campaigns Officer Dick Blin, the meeting heard a report of the ongoing campaign for a first collective agreement at Covanta in the US state of Massachusetts by Michael Langford, President of the Utility Workers Union of America (UWUA). This presentation focussed on the international aspects of the struggle for justice, and also generated considerable interest and discussion. 
 
The electric conference then drew together the discussions under a general theme of building and strengthening trade unions throughout the industry. Iraq was clearly focused on as an immediate priority following a moving presentation of the situation there by Hashmeyia Saadawi, the President of ICEM-affiliated General Union of Electricity Workers and Technicians (GFIW) and a member of the ICEM Executive. She gave a detailed report on the daily dangers involved in trade union work in Iraq and her presentation centered on the lack of regular electric power supply service there, and on safety and health problems, which has led to an appalling rate of accidents and deaths record in the industry. 
 
Participants also congratulated Hashmeyia Saadawi on her recent award of the prestigious Febe Elisabeth Velasquez Trade Union Award presented by FNV, a Dutch national labour centre, which is given to a trade union leader who has worked under difficult circumstances, taken enormous personal risks, but has defended trade union rights in countries where such rights are routinely violated. 
 
The conference marked the first time ICEM has held a meeting devoted purely to Electric Power, and all participants considered it a very worthwhile exercise in building and organising solidarity. Delegates resolved to build a sector-wide communication network to build solidarity to conflicts and to communicate good practice and union success stories quickly and easily.

ICEM Hold First Electric Power Conference

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Just prior to US President Barack Obama&rsquo;s state visit late last week to Ghana, the country&rsquo;s Federation of Labour (GFL) teamed with the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) to hold a two-day conference on labour rights in America. 
 
The conclusion, as recited by the GFL&rsquo;s Executive Board, is that even though the US preaches democracy and human rights, and makes such principles conditional in the granting of aid to developing countries, workers in the US themselves lack fundamental human and labour rights to association, join a union, or to participate in collective bargaining. 

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A statement from the conference said, &ldquo;Violations of trade union rights occurring in Africa are influenced by the anti-union practices, especially in the USA, where workers are deprived their fundamental rights to organise and bargaining collectively. 
 
&ldquo;Strangely, the USA has not yet ratified ILO Conventions 87 and 98 concerning freedom of association and the right of workers to bargaining collectively. This is an indictment on the image of the USA as a founding member of the ILO.&rdquo; 
 
The 7-8 July conference specifically examined the hurdles US workers and trade unions are facing currently in trying to pass the Employee Free Choice Act. The EFCA is a proposed law that would give American workers the same opportunities to organise and bargain that workers in nearly all other developed countries have. Through decades of US labour law precedents, employers have coerced, intimidated, and threatened their staff from joining trade unions, and current US labour laws have allowed them to do so with impunity.

Ghana Labour Federation Lashes Out at Lack of US Work Rights

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The ICEM calls on its members to sign the petition against nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction. Go to <a href="http://www.ituc-csi.org/peace">www.ituc-csi.org/peace</a>, and pledge your support. The millions of signatures that will be collected will be presented to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon at the next Nuclear non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) review conference in May 2010. 
 
The ICEM believes that the enormous levels of funds spent on these weapons, must be redirected to the social sphere, especially during this period of global economic depression. 

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The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) provides a document for the collection of names of the petition on the link above. All paper signatures must be sent to the ITUC before February 2010. The campaign has a page on Facebook, which can be found by searching &ldquo;No to Nuclear Weapons.&rdquo; 
 
The ICEM's worldwide membership includes workers in the civilian nuclear industry, who consistently denounce nuclear weaponry.

ICEM Supports ITUC Campaign Against Nuclear Weapons

Archive

Copper Contracts Being Settled in Chile’s Mining Industry

ICEM Iraqi Women's Workshop Meets in Erbil

Talks Prove Futile in Ending Vale’s Eastern Canada Mine Strike

ICEM, IMF Decry Mittal’s Pay Delinquencies in Bosnia-Herzegovina

ICEM Urges Haitian Relief Funds through ITUC

Global Union Leaders Demand Justice for Mexican Families at Pasta de Conchos Mine

Financial Stress Brings Industrial Unrest to Belgian Glass Sector

ICEM Hold First Electric Power Conference

Ghana Labour Federation Lashes Out at Lack of US Work Rights

ICEM Supports ITUC Campaign Against Nuclear Weapons

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