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Actions around the world have begun, marking the Global Days of Action for trade union rights in Mexico, 14-19 February. Support the campaign now by writing to the Mexican government through the <a href="http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/solidarityforever/show_campaign.cgi?c=863">LabourStart campaign</a> here.&nbsp; 
 
Today, an international trade union delegation met with the Ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, Mr. Gomez Camacho, to deliver the demands of the global campaign. Some 60 labour activists turned out. 
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Adriana Rosenzvaig, Manfred Warda, Fernando Lopes
Manfred Warda, ICEM General Secretary, Fernando Lopes, Assistant General Secretary of the International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF), and Adriana Rosenzvaig, SCORE Director at UNI, met inside with the Ambassador while a demonstration continued outside the Mission. 
Warda said the one-hour-and-twenty-minute meeting proved that Camacho had been briefed on the manifestation's purpose. &quot;The only issue he was not familiar with is protection contracts in Mexico,&quot; said Warda. &quot;We had to explain how these contracts infringe on genuine trade union&nbsp;rights.&quot;
A 50,000 strong march in Mexico City on 31 January saw trade unionists protest shoulder to shoulder against the repressive policies of the Calder&oacute;n regime. The National Union of Miners marched with the Electricians Union, Pilots&rsquo;, Teachers&rsquo;, and farmers&rsquo; organisations, calling for social, political, and economic change. 
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Geneva police question ICEM's Tom Grinter and UNIA's Luis Blanco over rally permit
The Calder&oacute;n government must heed the warnings of this global movement, and end abuses of trade union rights in Mexico. 
 
Rallies and meetings with Mexican Ambassadors will be conducted simultaneously in over 30 countries this week, in a coordinated effort by unions affiliated to the ICEM, IMF, UNI, the International Transport Workers&rsquo; Federation, and the ITUC. 
Where demonstrations are not possible, unions are sending written protests and demands to the Mexican government from around the world. 
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Mexico City
Australia: The global campaign will hold a launch event with the support of Australian trade unions on 15 February. Co-ordinated by the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), with support from the Construction, Forestry, Mining, and Energy Union (CFMEU), the Australian Manufacturing Workers&rsquo; Union (AMWU), the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA), the Australian Workers&rsquo; Union (AWU), and others, a rally and meeting with the Mexican ambassador is planned for 18 February. At the biennial delegates&rsquo; conference of the AWU tomorrow, IMF General Secretary Jyrki Raina will address the global campaign on Mexico. 
 
Canada: With coordinating support from the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC), the Communications, Energy, Paperworkers (CEP) Union of Canada, the Canadian Auto Workers Union (CAW), Transport Workers&rsquo; Union (TWU), and the United Steelworkers (USW), leading actions will occur in Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver. These will include a meeting with the Mexican ambassador in Canada, and demonstrations, depending on the local circumstances. 
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Toronto, Canada
France: Unions in France are organizing for a delegation to visit the Mexican Embassy in Paris. In addition, through their existing relationship with managers, French unions are also contacting French transnationals on situations of companies&rsquo; production plants in Mexico regarding unions, collective bargaining, and wage and working conditions. 
 
Mexico: Unions in Mexico are planning to take action over the entire week, including a press conference in the capital, rallies at embassies of countries where others are taking action, and a march and seminar on 19 February. The Mexican Miners&rsquo; Union is also planning a series of events in Pasta de Conchos, Puebla, and elsewhere where the union has strong presences. 
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Jakarta, Indonesia
The Netherlands: FNV Bondgenoten will continue its trade union freedom campaign during the global week of action, including media work and asking five Dutch multinationals with protection contracts in Mexico to start dialogue with the trade union. Those companies are AkzoNobel, Heineken, ING, Philips, and Unilever. For more go to: <a href="http://tradeunionfreedom.fnvcompanymonitor.nl/">http://tradeunionfreedom.fnvcompanymonitor.nl/</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;
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Brussels, Belgium
Russia: Unions in Russia were awarded the right to protest at the Mexican Embassy and are preparing a letter to give to the Mexican ambassador and articles and press coverage on the issue. 
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Moscow, Russia, -25&deg;C
Turkey: Unions in Turkey will mobilize members to visit the Mexican embassy, present a protest letter, and take picket action in front of the embassy. 
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Geneva, Switzerland
US: AFL-CIO and affiliates, including USW are holding events in 14 cities. The ICEM-affiliated United Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers of America (UE) is organising actions also in many cities. The priority is to meet with Mexican embassy/consulate officials, supplemented by demonstrations and press work where appropriate. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usyexGRbDgI&amp;feature=autoplay&amp;list=ULOqVyVe-7Clo&amp;index=2&amp;playnext=2">Washington D.C. picket</a>. 
 
Download the <a href="/en/5-Mining-DGOJP">campaign materials</a> here.

Mexico Days of Action Begin

Action Needed/ Votre intervention est souhaitée/ Se requiere acción urgente

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The ICEM was saddened to hear of the death on 10 September of Mahjoub Ben Seddik, the Secretary-General of the Union Marocaine du Travail (UMT), who died in Paris at the age of 88. He was buried in the &ldquo;cimitiere des chouhadas,&rdquo; the martyrs cemetery in Casablanca, Morocco. 
 
In attendance at the funeral were the entire political class of Morocco, encompassing leaders of political parties, past and present government ministers, trade union centres, as well as numerous Moroccan intellectuals and wider civil society. All had gathered to pay homage to a great trade union leader who had been of massive importance in the trade union world, and the Moroccan struggle for independence. 
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Mahjoub Ben Seddik, the late Secretary-General of the Union Marocaine du Travail (UMT) 
In a message of condolences, Manfred Warda, ICEM General Secretary, echoed the words of UMT national official, Milourdi Moukharik, in stating: &ldquo;Moroccan workers, their trade union movement, as well as the Arab trade union world, and indeed the international trade union movement, have lost a great leader and fighter for trade union independence and struggle. 
 
&ldquo;He founded and continued to lead a vibrant and independent trade union structure firmly grounded in the workplace. The ICEM and the whole international trade union movement have lost a good friend and colleague. His passing really seems to be the end of an era.&rdquo; 
 
Mahjoub Ben Seddik spent his entire life defending the interests of the Moroccan workers. He never deviated from his conviction that the trade union movement should be independent of political parties, but at the same time was immensely political. He played a major role in the struggle for Moroccan independence and was imprisoned for two years in 1952 and again in 1954 before independence was achieved in 1956. 
 
He remained an active leader of UMT until his death and was a key supporter of wider international trade union, and the work of the ICEM in particular. UMT has been an active ICEM member for many years and has played an important role in the Global Union Federation&rsquo;s recent increased activities throughout the Middle East/North Africa Region (MENA), with Abdesalam Mansour being the MENA member of the ICEM Executive Committee.

ICEM Mourns Moroccan Trade Union Leader Mahjoub Ben Seddik

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Some 90 members of Unite the Union in the UK, employed at the Saxon Way, Corby, warehouse of Oxford University Press, will begin a second round of strike actions this week over the publishing house&rsquo;s inferior 2010 wage offer. Members of the GPM Section of Unite staged an initial 24-hour strike on 12-13 October, following a lawful strike ballot and formal rejection of a 2.5% increase. 
 
Last year, warehouse workers accepted a wage freeze in recognition of the financial crisis, only to learn after signing that managers, call centre workers, and admin staff of Oxford University Press had been awarded 2% increases. The 90 workers, who will soon be moved to new warehouse space at Prologis Park, Ketterling, are seeking a 2010 increase of 4.2% to offset last year&rsquo;s loss. 
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&ldquo;The company is doing well. It recorded an 8% increase in profit last year, on the back of a &pound;500 million turnover, so our members believe they are well within their rights to ask for 4.2%,&rdquo; Unite National Officer Steve Sibbald told the industry publication Printweek. 
 
Further industrial actions are scheduled for next week on 28 October and again on 3 November. Messages of support to workers can be sent to Unite Regional Officer Kathy Brooks <a href="mailto:Kathy.brooks@unitetheunion.org">here</a> who will relay all solidarity notes to striking warehouse workers.

Warehouse Workers of Oxford University Press to Strike Again

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For the first time, collective negotiations in Germany&rsquo;s paper industry will cover both the western and eastern regions of Europe&rsquo;s largest economy. Those talks between ICEM affiliate IGBCE and Deutschen Paperindustrie (VAP), the employers&rsquo; association, started 7 October in Dresden and cover 39,000 paperworkers. 
 
Led by IGBCE Chief Negotiator for the Paper Sector, Holger Nieden, the union insisted in the first round of talks that orders in the industry have picked up, productivity has vastly improved, recovery in the sector is apparent, thus wage increases are justified for both regular workers and apprentices. VAP contended in opening talks that the financial crisis is still in effect due to high raw material and high energy costs. 
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A second round of negotiations is scheduled for 12 November in Sulzbach, near Saarbr&uuml;cken, Germany. IGBCE and VAP are coming off a two-year social accord covering workers at some 220 paper mills and paper converting operations. 
 
Without specifying an exact pay gain, the union said it seeks a noticeable remuneration gain, improvements in general conditions of work, and common collective agreement time frames between enterprises in the east and in the west. The current contract in the west expired on 31 August, while in the east, the two-year agreement runs until 30 November. IGBCE is also seeking special criteria for union members in a new accord. 
 
After 20 years of gradual wage adjustments and improvements in working conditions for paperworkers in eastern Germany, it is the first time that a common agreement is being negotiated for both the western federal states and the eastern ones.

IGBCE Seeking Wage Gains as East, West Enjoined in German Paper Talks

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Negotiations between the United Steelworkers Local 7-669 and Honeywell Inc. failed 11-12 October to resolve a company-imposed lockout on 228 union members at a uranium conversion plant in the US. The failure to resolve the 17-week lockout in Metropolis, Illinois, means scab workers will continue to mix dangerous chemicals in a process that mills yellow-cake uranium into uranium hexafluoride (UF6), and then is sold to nuclear enrichment facilities. 
 
The talks last week were the third set of bi-lateral negotiations since the lockout began on 28 June. Progress was made on the first day on one of the major issues &ndash; health coverage and retiree medical insurance &ndash; but talks broke down on 12 October over retirement benefits and Honeywell&rsquo;s demand to create a two-tier pension scheme. Talks could re-start within the next few weeks. 
 
Other issues separating USW and Honeywell are the transnational&rsquo;s insistence on gaining broad contracting-out rights, a weakening of workers&rsquo; seniority rights, and hours of work. The company is offering a 3% wage increase, but its other demands are so detrimental to workers&rsquo; interests that the union has countered with a wage freeze and continuance of the current entitlement terms. 
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Metropolis, the fictional home of Superman, is now a US nuclear safety risk 
Honeywell, together with subcontracting agent the Shaw Group, has used US political leverage to gain certification from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), allowing the use of 200 replacement workers to perform dangerous tasks inside the nuclear supply chain. 
 
After initially signaling to USW Local 7-669 that it would not operate the plant during the lockout, Honeywell in July began staffing the conversion plant with scabs provided by the Shaw Group, and moved Honeywell supervisors from other areas to Metropolis. On 3 September, the NRC granted approval to Honeywell to re-start the final two steps of a four-step converting process. 
 
On 5 September, the town of Metropolis in southern Illinois along the Ohio River was shook by a loud boom that could be heard two kilometers away. Inside the plant, accumulated hydrogen reacted with fluorine gas during a venting process, causing the boom. NRC inspectors were on site at the time, and local police came to the scene. A NRC spokesman said the accident occurred in a non-regulated area of operation, meaning away from the handling of yellow cake uranium. Honeywell and the NRC jointly stated no damage to assets occurred and no one was injured. 
 
The Honeywell plant in Metropolis is the only such uranium conversion plant in the US and takes yellow cake uranium from Canada, Russia, and Australia and transforms it into UF6 through the four-stage process. That process includes ore preparation, through green salt preparation, to fluorination and distillation, before frozen and shipped to nuclear enrichment sites in US sites of Portsmouth, Ohio, and Paducah, Kentucky, as well as to plants in Russia and some Asian countries. 
 
A previous ICEM report on this US lockout is <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/3977-Lockout-of-USW-represented-Uranium-Processing-Plant-in-US-Continues ">here</a>.

Talks Fail Between USW, Honeywell in US Uranium Lockout

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The ICEM Colombian affiliate Uni&oacute;n Sindical Obrera (USO) is being attacked by local management of Schlumberger Surenco, the world's largest oilfield services corporation with operations in approximately 80 countries. In an aggressive union busting campaign, the company is offering considerable benefits to those employees who cancel their union membership and to those non-unionised. 
 
Workers who do not choose to utilise their right to join the union are rewarded with increased salaries, increased holiday days, promotions, and general preferential treatment. Bullying and persecution occurs throughout the production sites in Colombia, especially in the Andina and Milenio plants in Bogot&aacute;. A common response from local managers when workers present a problem is &ldquo;disaffiliate from the union, and then we&rsquo;ll talk.&rdquo; 
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A collective agreement was reached between the workers and management in Colombia on 29 March, following months of negotiations. Now the company breaches the agreement regularly. Health and safety breached are common, with workers having to eat meals at their work posts, and in oil wells, to work continuously for months without time off, to work extra hours without overtime benefit. The company repeatedly insists on conducting disciplinary hearings at company headquarters in Bogot&aacute;, making it difficult for the correct USO representatives to travel long distances and attend, circumventing the proper industrial relations structure and process. 
 
As the ICEM has reported many times in the past, Schlumberger&rsquo;s union busting campaign is being conducted under the consent of the national government, now lead by President Juan Manuel Santos. 
 
The global oil services company has annual operating revenues of US$27.16 billion. 
 
USO asks supporters around the world to write to the company and government to demand that Schlumberger employees can freely exercise their right to organise and bargain collectively. Send those messages to the following addresses. 
 
SCHLUMBERGER &ndash; COLOMBIA 
Calle 100 No. 13-21 
Piso 4 
Edificio Megabanco 
Bogot&aacute; D.C 
 
Presidencia de la Rep&uacute;blica 
Dr. Juan Manuel Santos, 
Cra. 8 No..7-26, Palacio de Nari&ntilde;o, 
Santa fe de Bogot&aacute;. 
Fax: (+57 1) 566.20.71 
 
Vicepresidencia de la Rep&uacute;blica 
Dr. Angelino Garz&oacute;n 
Dr. Carlos Franco Programa Presidencial de Derechos Humanos y de Derecho Internacional Humanitario. Calle 7 No. 5-54 
FAX: (+571) 337.46.67 
E-mail: <a href="mailto:cefranco@presidencia.gov">cefranco@presidencia.gov</a> 
 
Programa Presidencial de Derechos Humanos y de Derecho Internacional Humanitario 
Dr. Fernando Ibarra 
E-mail: <a href="mailto:fibarra@presidencia.gov.co">fibarra@presidencia.gov.co</a> &nbsp; 
 
Comisi&oacute;n Interamericana de Derechos Humanos 
<a href="mailto:cidhoea@oas.org">cidhoea@oas.org</a> &nbsp; 
 
Representante Permanente de la OIT en Colombia 
Dr. Jos&eacute; Lu&iacute;s Daza 
E-mail: <a href="mailto:jmunoz@oit.org.pe">jmunoz@oit.org.pe</a> &nbsp; 
 
Procuradur&iacute;a General de la Naci&oacute;n 
Dr. Alejandro Ord&oacute;&ntilde;ez Maldonado 
E-mail: <a href="mailto:dcap@procuraduria.gov.co">dcap@procuraduria.gov.co</a>; 
<a href="mailto:anticorrupcion@presidencia.gov.co">anticorrupcion@presidencia.gov.co</a> &nbsp; 
 
Fiscal&iacute;a General de la Naci&oacute;n 
Dr. GUILLERMO MENDOZA DIAGO (E) 
E-mail: <a href="mailto:contacto@fiscalia.gov.co">contacto@fiscalia.gov.co</a>; 
<a href="mailto:denuncie@fiscalia.gov.co">denuncie@fiscalia.gov.co</a> &nbsp; 
 
Unidad de Derechos Humanos y de Derecho Internacional Humanitario 
E-mail: <a href="mailto:nayacero@fiscalia.gov.co">nayacero@fiscalia.gov.co</a> &nbsp; 
 
Defensor&iacute;a del Pueblo 
Dr. Volmar Antonio P&eacute;rez Ortiz 
E-mail: <a href="mailto:secretariaprivada@hotmail.com">secretariaprivada@hotmail.com</a> &nbsp; 
 
Central Unitaria de Trabajadores CUT 
E-mail: <a href="mailto:presidencia@cut.org.co">presidencia@cut.org.co</a> &nbsp; 
 
USO NACIONAL &ndash; Barrancabermeja 
E-mail: <a href="mailto:jdnb_uso@yahoo.com">jdnb_uso@yahoo.com</a>

Union Busting at Oilfields Services Provider Schlumberger in Colombia

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The ICEM affiliated Pakistan Central Mines Labour Federation (PCMLF) reports that the provincial government of Balochistan has passed new labour legislation which does not fulfil its requirements to protect workers in the region. 
 
Up until 30 April 2010 the Industrial Relations Act of 2008 (IRA-2008) governed labour relations throughout Pakistan. However on 30 April that legislation was suspended after its 18th amendment. The provinces of Pakistan were then empowered to pass their own laws. 
 
The Balochistan Industrial Relations Ordinance 2010 was announced after no consultation with employees, where consensus is required from all stakeholders, employers, employees, and government. 
<img src="" width="120" height="179" alt="" />
Secretary General of the PCMLF, Mr. Sultan Muhammad Khan
As trade unionists were angered by the local government&rsquo;s actions, a press conference was conducted, 8 October, in Quetta, Northern Pakistan, by the head of the All Pakistan Labour Federation (APLF) and the Secretary General of the PCMLF, Mr. Sultan Muhammad Khan. 
 
Mr. Muhammad Khan issued the following demands to local government: 
&bull; Do not pass new provincial labour legislation without consensus of the stakeholders &ndash; Employers, Employees, Government 
&bull; Improve the law and order situation in the province 
&bull; Create new Industrial Zones in the province to reduce unemployment 
&bull; Register all mine workers with the Welfare authorities 
&bull; All mine owners must be forced to pay all government welfare contributions 
&bull; Improve health and safety conditions at work in the province

Troubling Pakistan Labour Legislation Passed

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The leadership of the Coal Industry Workers&rsquo; Union of Ukraine (PRUPU) was strongly heard at a meeting of the Coal Ministry Board in Kiev on 15 October. 
 
The Coal Ministry&rsquo;s Board meeting was held under the instruction of Ukraine&rsquo;s First Vice-Premier Andrei Klyuev, who said at a Cabinet meeting on 16 September that the challenges facing the coal industry must be addressed. The Vice-Premier&rsquo;s instruction resulted from a report delivered by Victor Turmanov, PRUPU President, who vividly highlighted the most burning of the problems that besiege the industry&rsquo;s workers and mine sites today. 
 
There was no &ldquo;quiet talk&rdquo; at the 15 October meeting but rather strong words on the industry&rsquo;s problems among the close circle of the Ministry officials and the heads of state-owned enterprises attending the meeting. Klyuev&rsquo;s instruction stipulated that the Ministry Board meeting shall involve representatives of the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Labour, State Assets Fund, Ministry of Industrial Policy, Ministry of Transport, Ministry for Fuel and Energy, and the leaders of the Ukrainian coal miners&rsquo; union. 
<img alt="" src="" width="115" height="115" />
Victor Turmanov, PRUPU President
Raising wages was one of the main issues that the union raised at the meeting. In line with the effective law, the minimal wage in Ukraine has been raised to 907 hryvnas from 1 October, yet the actual wages at the operating coal mining sites are calculated using the old basic rates and salaries based on the last year&rsquo;s figure of 744 hryvnas. 
 
And the situation is even worse for the III-d category mines, mine rescue teams, coal-mine builders, and workers at coal processing plants. For workers in the sub-sectors of the coal mining industry, the basic rate of 744 hryvnas is still but a dream. 
 
In this regard, Turmanov pointed out that &ldquo;our priority task is to ensure that the wages go up for industry workers. This was one of the key issues at the Ministry Board meeting.&rdquo; 
 
Unfortunately, bringing wages up to the level prescribed by the law is far from being the only problem in the coal mining industry. 
 
In view of the 15 October Ministry Board meeting, leaders of all territorial organizations of the union met on 28 September to prepare a well-defined list of priority issues facing the industry&rsquo;s sites and workforces to be brought to the attention of the enlarged Ministry Board. 
 
Issues such as the lack of funds for the development of mining facilities or provisions for fuel for homes of coal miners also generated points of discussion. Sharp criticisms were voiced with regard to the Ministry&rsquo;s efforts reforming the regional (oblast) management structure of coal mining sites and other actions. 
 
Union President Victor Turmanov said that if the Ministry of Coal is unable to reform the industry today, the government &ndash; and the President &ndash; must be told so in so many words. If reforms contradict the interests of workers and prove harmful to the enterprises, then we should be better off without them, leaving the industry governance system in its present form. The union shall brook no mindless attempts at reorganization, no reforms for reform sake! 
 
View a video report from the 28 September territorial meeting of union leaders <a href="http://www.prupu.org/video/">here</a>. The union&rsquo;s web site is <a href="http://www.prupu.org">here</a>.&nbsp;

Ukrainian Miners’ Union Get Heard at Coal Ministry Board

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While the world&rsquo;s euphoria was centered on the successful rescue of 33 Chilean miners, 26 Chinese miners were killed and another 11 remain missing today following a gas rush that suffocated miners just metres beneath the surface through a massive coal dust cloud. The accident happened on 16 October at the Henan mine of Pingyu Coal and Electric Co. in Yuzhou, Henan province. 
 
The tragedy occurred when a hole was being drilled to release pressure caused by a methane gas build-up. The miners were buried when an estimated 173,000 cubic metres of gas rushed out, resulting in miners&rsquo; being buried in a coal dust concentration totaling 2,500 tonnes. 
<img alt="" src="" width="180" height="132" />
Rescue attempts were still ongoing early today for the missing 11, but hopes that they were alive were slim. They were only 50 metres beneath the surface. Some 239 miners did escape. 
 
The gas level inside the mine was detected at 40% just prior to the accident, far above normal levels that average one percent. 
 
Pingyu Coal and Electric Co. is owned by a consortium of four enterprises, including the China Power Investment Corp. and Zhong Ping Energy Chemical Group. In 2008, 23 miners perished in the same colliery from a methane gas explosion. 
 
On 15 October, a day before the Chinese tragedy and less than 30 hours after the last of the 33 Chilean miners were pulled to the surface, three of four miners died following a tunnel collapse inside the Casa Negra gold and silver mine of Minesadco in El Oro province, Ecuador. The mine employs 100 workers and the accident happened when workers were digging a short distance from where the collapse occurred. Rescue efforts continued today to local the fourth miner, believed either trapped deeper inside the mine or killed by the rock collapse.

37 Chinese Coal Miners Feared Dead in Henan Province Coal Dust Tragedy

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