English

Español

Français

Aerospace

Automotive

Base metals

Chemical, pharmaceutical and bio-science

Energy

Glass, cement, ceramic and associated industries

ICT, electrical and electronics

Mechanical Engineering

Mining and DGOJP

Pulp and paper

Rubber

Shipbuilding and shipbreaking

Textile, garment, shoes, leather and textile services

Sectors

Action Plan 2025-2029

Action on textile and garment industry

Clean up shipbreaking

Ratify ILO C176

United for a just future - time to pay up!

Disinvest from Myanmar

Campaigns

Global Framework Agreements

Union building

White-collar workers

Health & safety

Industry 4.0

Women

Youth

LGBTQI+

Gender, equality, diversity and inclusion (GEDI)

Just Transition

Organizing with industriALL

What we do

Affiliates

Statutes

Elected Officials

Executive Committee

Geneva head office

South East Asia

Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Caucasus

Latin America and the Caribbean

Middle East and North Africa

South Asia

Sub-Saharan Africa

Regional offices

About us

Global worker No1 2022

Global worker No2 2022

Publications

Resources

Press

The International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine &amp; General Workers&rsquo; Unions (ICEM) yesterday called on the Government of Chile to radically change the procedural methodology it uses on mine safety once the imminent rescue of 33 miners at the San Jos&eacute; mine near Copiap&oacute; in northern Chile is complete. 
 
In a letter to Minister of Mining Laurence Golborne Riveros, the 20-million-member global union federation called on the government to streamline workplace safety and health enforcement, now contained in several different ministries, into a single, autonomous agency &ldquo;that has full powers and full technical capabilities to inspect and correct workplace deficiencies before accidents happen.&rdquo; 
 
The ICEM is also calling on the government of Chile to begin the process toward ratification of International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention 176, the 1995 Safety and Health in Mines Convention. By adopting the global principles contained in Convention 176, Chile ensures that workers and their trade unions have a voice on safety matters and the ability to take action to prevent mine accidents. (The full letter can be seen <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/116.ICEM.Chile.MiningMinister.4Oct.pdf">here</a>.) 
 
&ldquo;In a mine, when a trade union safety committee is engaged with the respective company and government representatives, the risks in that mine gets reduced dramatically,&rdquo; said ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda. &ldquo;This is basic to Convention 176 but, unfortunately, is woefully lacking inside Chile&rsquo;s mining industry.&rdquo; 
 
The ICEM called on Chile&rsquo;s government to consolidate ministerial safety investigatory bodies into a fully-staffed independent rule-making agency that has judicial and other powers to ensure safe and healthy workplaces. In the letter, the ICEM states that creation of such an agency can also serve as the mechanism to implement and enforce the global mine safety standards contained in Convention 176. 
 
The ICEM commended Chile&rsquo;s government for the intensive rescue to save the lives of the 33 San Jos&eacute; miners, but reminded that massive work awaits both politically and administratively to prevent such disasters from happening in the future. 
 
The Geneva-based ICEM, composed of 467 trade union affiliates in 132 countries, is the representative global body for some 70 national mining unions in as many countries. The ICEM has a global campaign underway pressing on governments of resource-rich nations to ratify ILO Convention 176. 
 
For further information, contact Dick Blin, ICEM Information Officer, <a href="mailto:dick.blin@icem.org">dick.blin@icem.org</a>; telephone: +41 22 304 1842 (direct) or +41 79 734 8994 (mobile).

Mine Safety Culture in Chile Must Change, Asserts ICEM

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
The annual Regional Conference for the Eastern Europe/Central Asia Region of the ICEM was conducted in Moscow on 23 September. Participating affiliated trade unions came from Azerbaijan, Moldova, Ukraine, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Belarus. 
 
The meeting was chaired by ROSUGLEPROF &ndash; the Russian Independent Coal Employees&rsquo; Union &ndash; President and ICEM Vice President Ivan Mokhnachuk. Each delegation briefed participants on today's situation in their respective country and union. ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda spoke on the process of building joint structures with the International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF) and the International Textile, Garment, and Leather Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITGLWF). The idea of creating a new Global Union Federation was supported by Mikhail Tarasenko, President of the Russian Mining Trade Union, a union invited as a guest to the meeting. 
<img alt="" src="" width="298" height="197" />
The ICEM&rsquo;s Regional Contact Person for the Eastern Europe/Central Asia Region and the Central Europe Region, Anatoly Surin, gave a report on the activities in the region since the last regional Council in September 2009, in Kiev, Ukraine. The participants of the meeting adopted a resolution of support to the miners of the enterprise &ldquo;STRATEX&rdquo; of Moldova in a struggle for fair wages. 
 
The ICEM&rsquo;s Regional Conference in 2011 will take place in Uzbekistan.

ICEM Holds Eastern Europe/Central Asia Regional Conference

<img src="" width="100" height="39" alt="" />
The pharmaceutical industry has been one of the few industries which did not suffer a severe negative impact during the global financial crisis. In 2009, the market grew 7% to US$837 billion, compared with a 4.8% growth rate in 2008. Sales of the sector are expected to grow 4 to 6% this year. The size of the global market for pharmaceuticals is expected to grow nearly US$300 billion over the next five years, reaching US$1.1 trillion in 2014. 
 
But with this growth, global pharmaceuticals are experiencing a significant shift. The Asia-Pacific region is emerging as the fastest growing market. The reason attributed for this is lower costs and lack of stringent regulatory requirements. 
 
Pharmaceutical sales are growing rapidly in India, China, Malaysia, South Korea, and Indonesia due to rising disposable incomes and several health insurance schemes. China&rsquo;s pharmaceutical market will continue to grow at over 20% annually, and will contribute 21% of overall global growth through 2013, while the Indian market is expected to grow by 10% this year. 
<img src="" width="370" height="159" alt="" />
For South East Asia, Association of Southeast Asian Nation (ASEAN) harmonization is a hot topic among pharmaceutical companies, as it will liberalize a number of highly regulated markets (ASETUC). 
 
Considering all these developments in pharmaceuticals and demands from affiliates, the ICEM, with the support of Germany&rsquo;s Friedrich-Ebert Foundation (FES), organized a workshop for pharma industry unions in Jakarta, Indonesia, on 28-29 September. Attended by 30 trade union representatives from Indonesia, South Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Pakistan, Singapore, Nepal, and Thailand, the workshop was hosted by Indonesian Pharmaceutical Industry and Health Services Union (FARKES), led by Djufnie Ashary. 
 
The ICEM was represented by Chemical and Rubber Industries&rsquo; Officer Kemal &Ouml;zkan, and Asia-Pacific Regional Contact Person Phee Jungsun, who ran the workshop. 
 
Following the opening speeches by Erwin Schweisshelm, Indonesian Director of the FES, Sjaiful DP, President of ICEM affiliated union of FSP KEP and Chairman of ICEM Indonesian Council, and Djufnie Ashary of FARKES, the workshop got a detailed presentation from &Ouml;zkan on both the global and Asian pharmaceutical markets, with recent figures, developments, and challenges set forth. Participants provided country and company information at the workshop. 
 
In Indonesia, pharmaceutical industry volume turns over at about US$2.7 billion each year. Pharma growth in Indonesia is about 10% annually. In 1991, multinationals controlled over 70% of market share, but now that figure has dropped to 25%. 
<img src="" width="370" height="157" alt="" />
Norihiro Tokunaga, Assistant General Secretary of ICEM-JAF, shared basic data on Japanese health care. According to Tokunaga, in Japan, with its low birthrate, society is rapidly aging. It is estimated that one-fifth of the population will be older than 75 by the year 2030, and that will extend to a full quarter by 2055. 
 
This development, said Tokunaga, has already made a huge impact on the cost of the social security system. If this trend continues further, naturally, expenditures on pension schemes and the national health system will increase, pressuring the country&rsquo;s finances. Therefore, Japanese public health care systems must respond urgently. Tokunaga explained that social dialogue in the pharmaceutical industry is considered the proper way for sustainable development of the sector and is the norm on how pharmaceutical unions must organize in Japan. 
 
For South Korea, representatives of the Federation of Korean Chemical Workers&rsquo; Unions (FKCU) described the challenges of pharmaceutical workers as job security, particularly with mergers or closures of production lines, and restructuring caused by multinational company mergers occurs. A further challenge is a change of pharmaceutical policies by the government, which includes an incentive system for low-price purchases and the crime of dual punishment in case of rebate or kickback. 
 
The workshop was participated by a number of union representatives from such pharmaceutical multinationals as Sanofi Aventis, Merck, GlaxoSmithKline, Bayer Schering, Takeda, Meiji, Tanabe, Hisamitsu, and Kawasumi. 
 
One country which has recently opened for international investments &ndash; Vietnam &ndash; has 39 registered foreign pharmaceutical companies with 6,500 employees. But only 14 of these are unionized with a total membership of 2,300, and just four collective agreements are in this sector in Vietnam. 
 
The workshop also received reports from the ICEM&rsquo;s &Ouml;zkan on &ldquo;Global Dimension of Industrial Relations: International Mechanisms, Social Dialogue, Global Framework Agreements, and Global/Regional Networks,&rdquo; and the &ldquo;Rising New Threat Against Working Conditions: Precarious Employment.&rdquo; 
 
After the discussions, workshop delegates unanimously decided to form the ICEM Asia-Pacific Regional Pharmaceutical Industry Network. For using electronic technology, a list of e-mails was prepared and immediate exchange of information will begin very soon. 
 
&ldquo;Just prior to the ICEM&rsquo;s World Conference for the Chemical Industries, to be held on 27-28 October 2010 in Istanbul, Turkey, the creation of this regional network is very promising,&rdquo; said &Ouml;zkan. &ldquo;It has shown us the opportunities and challenges within pharmaceuticals, and trade unions should be able to take further initiatives.&rdquo;

ICEM Asia-Pacific Pharma Workers’ Network Formed at Workshops in Indonesia

<img src="" width="100" height="39" alt="" />
Over 3,300 garment workers in Kandal province, southern Cambodia, have been sacked after they took strike action in protest of the new monthly minimum wage for the sector. That wage, set in July, is for US$61 a month. 
 
There is also widespread discontent among workers in the sector over poor working conditions and unemployment. The main cause of anger now is the retaliatory sacking of strikers, and especially of the trade union activists for their roles in the strikes. 
 
Workers had demanded a raise of the minimum monthly wage from US$50 to US$93. The new minimum of US$61 does not constitute a living wage in Cambodia. Unions began a four-day strike on 13 September. The strike did not become an issue for employers until the third day, at which time an estimated 200,000 workers had joined the walk-out. It was stopped on 16 September so talks could resume. 
<img src="" width="180" height="146" alt="" />
ITGLWF General Secretary Patrick Itschert
But then further strike action was carried out by 10,000 workers on 17 September, calling for the reinstatement of 200 suspended union representatives, blocked from returning to work in blatant breach of their rights to organize, bargain, and strike. 
 
Social Affairs Minister Ith Sam Heng called for the reinstatement of all sacked workers, and pleaded with unions not to strike. His call was followed by three factories in Kandal province employing 3,300 workers who announced their refusal to comply with the Minister&rsquo;s request. 
 
While it was the promise of more negotiations that stopped the strike, neither the government nor employers have indicated any likelihood of significant concessions. The government did call employers and unions back together on 27 September for talks. 
 
The International Textile, Garment, and Leather Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITGLWF) welcomed the meeting on September 27 brokered by the government, but criticised the strike-breaking tactics of Prime Minister Hun Sen&rsquo;s government. 
 
&ldquo;[The government] filed law suits against union leaders on charges of &lsquo;incitement,&rsquo; and appealed to the police to collaborate with the industry association GMAC in cracking down on the strike and in seizing materials which could be used in legal action against the strikers,&rdquo; said ITGLWF General Secretary Patrick Itschert. 
 
Clothing brands and retailers including Adidas, Gap, H&amp;M, and Levi&rsquo;s wrote to employers and unions to express their &ldquo;great concern&rdquo; at the unrest, but have expressed no concern over the poverty wages paid to those workers making their products. 
 
Global retailers must take responsibility for the social damage caused by the &ldquo;race to the bottom.&rdquo; It is impossible for workers to receive anything higher than poverty wages unless global retailers pay suppliers reasonable prices. Instead, suppliers are forced year on year to produce larger orders at lower costs. 
 
Kandal province, where the affected factories are located, completely surrounds but does not include the national capital Phnom Penh.

Cambodian Garment Workers Sacked for Striking

<img src="" width="100" height="39" alt="" />
Last week, the ICEM was involved in meetings in Ecuador to get acquainted with unions whose interests coincide with the Global Union Federation. These meetings were unfortunately overshadowed by events on Thursday, 30 September, in which a small band of disgruntled police officers attempted a futile coup. 
 
The Ecuador meetings were sponsored by the FNV, the Dutch trade union national centre, which also supported a study on Chinese investment in Latin America, carried out by social research organisations of the Red Lat network. The study was presented on 28 September, also in the presence of the Chinese ambassador to Ecuador. 
 
China portrays itself as a soft power, a promoter of development, but the harder side of Chinese investment is its quest for natural resources. Brazil, Chile, Argentina, and Peru are the countries that are the most attractive to China. Mining, oil, gas, and the accompanying infrastructure are the targets of Chinese investment. 
 
Unfortunately, China concentrates investments in areas that do not generate great employment. And even then, worker participation and decision-making in the production process are not considered. The sectors in which China invests primarily entail greater risks for precarious work, that is, mining and energy. For example, practices in the mining industry in Peru worsened after the arrival of Chinese investors. 
<img src="" width="187" height="76" alt="" />
One further concern involves Chinese workers who accompany the investments. If there were more Chinese workers, most likely their presence would lead to a serious decline in labor standards. 
 
In general, trade unions expect an employment boost from foreign investment, and if the investment is not followed by greater employment, then the country could be even worse off. 
 
What needs to be considered is the balance between environmental, labor, economic, social, and even gender aspects. The investments must be followed by decent work and decent pay. What has to be prevented is the replication of the bad practices on the part of most European and North American multinationals in connection with labor relations. 
 
Trade unions have learned that they must be involved in the design of industrial policies as well as demanding a commitment to their implementation. Trade unions in Latin America must increase their exchanges in order to track the investments, since effects may prove to be similar. The best way to face the onslaught may be increase regional coordination. What is at stake is ultimately the Latin American model of development which provides for national sovereignty, followed by job creation and social inclusion. 
On 29 September, a study was presented on a Friedrich-Ebert Foundation (FES) commissioned on post-subcontracting. It concerns mining, the oil industry, and electric power, and is the only study to date to deal with the effects of Ecuadorean legislation on the issue. 
<img src="" width="200" height="92" alt="" />
Ecuador is the only country to pass a law banning subcontracting. Chile, moreover, has a law from 2006 that intends to regulate subcontracting, and legislation is still pending in Brazil, but Ecuador's law prohibits it. 
 
Trade unions in Ecuador had been suffering from flexibilization of labor, but there had not been any analysis of it, there were no proposals to combat it, and no strikes had been called to fight it. 
 
The mining industry in Ecuador is geographically dispersed with little organizational capacity. Ninety percent of mining in Ecuador is informal. Thus, there is no need to make the miners any more precarious. 
 
Subcontracting has vital effects on health and the environment. 
 
Mandate 8, as the legislation is called, is not likely to have much effect in mining because there are no strong unions to implement the measure. In the oil sector, it is a state enterprise was responsible for subcontracting. Companies have found ways to circumvent the legislation. When they were required to reinstate the regular workers, they were reinstated at lower salaries with no seniority. 
 
The electric power industry was dismantled and many workers left. Very few were left over from the previous regime, others again came back as contract workers, with new and younger workers hired. What is certain is concern on the part of trade union for contract workers. The union also created a branch for contract workers. 
 
What the legislation shows is that it is possible to fight subcontracting successfully. Nevertheless, the effects can be reversed, and the problem may reoccur under another name. That is why strong trade unions are necessary more than ever to monitor and ensure implementation of legislation. 
 
The study will be revised with information from the unions and presented soon to the government.

Coup Attempt in Ecuador Does Not Derail ICEM Project

<img src="" width="100" height="39" alt="" />
ICEM&rsquo;s ongoing Turkey Organising and Social Dialogue Project, through the support of the Dutch national labour centre FNV, organised its seventh regional workshop in Bursa on 15-16 September 2010. 
 
Located in northwestern Turkey, Bursa is the country&rsquo;s fourth largest city with a population of 1.86 million. The city is an industrial and culturally charged one, once serving as one of the ex-capitals of the Ottoman Empire. Bursa is also referred to as Turkey&rsquo;s &ldquo;Detroit&rdquo; because it is the centre of Turkish auto and auto-component industries. 
 
Auto factories such as FIAT and Renault are located near Bursa, as are auto-supply factories operated by Bosch, Mako, and Contitech. In addition, textile and food industries are equally strong in the city. Traditionally, Bursa used to be famous for being the largest center of silk trade in the Byzantine and later the Ottoman empires, during the period of the lucrative Silk Road. The city is still a major center for Turkish textiles. 
<img src="" width="370" height="116" alt="" />
A number of national and multinational companies within ICEM&rsquo;s sectors have operations in Bursa. Recently, a labour conflict at French-based auto-plastics supplier Faurecia was provoked when the company sacked shop-floor leaders belonging to ICEM affiliate Petrol-İş. ICEM intervention and vigorous Petrol-İş manifestations won the jobs back. 
 
Trade unions are seeking to organise factories using new and modern tools, and the ICEM&rsquo;s Dutch project aims to provide those tools. 
 
The Bursa seminar was attended by around 70 trade union leaders, shop stewards, and militants from ICEM-affiliated unions, as well as leaders of other unions in the metals and textiles sectors. The meeting also welcomed national level union officials, namely Mustafa &Ouml;ztaşkın, President of Petrol- İş, and Alaaddin Sari, Vice-President of Lastik-İş. 
 
The Bursa seminar also hosted several international trade union leaders, including ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda, FNV Bondgenoten Trade Union Officer Celil &Ccedil;oban, Spanish FITEQA-CC.OO International Secretary Isidor Boix, and Phee Jungsun and Kemal &Ouml;zkan from the ICEM staff. All guests exchanged their knowledge and experiences with participants. 
<img src="" width="257" height="154" alt="" />
Warda gave a detailed presentation about ICEM&rsquo;s structure, policies, and agenda on the first day, and also explained the global union movement&rsquo;s position and activities on job losses brought on by the global economic crisis. He also spoke on ILO Convention 176, the Safety and Health in Mines Convention, and the necessity for Turkey to ratify this Convention. He discussed ICEM strategies regarding social dialogue, Global Framework Agreements, workers&rsquo; networks, sustainable employment, and the cooperation and integration process with other GUFs. 
 
In addition, Warda briefed the participants on labour relations, trade union structures, and social dialogue in his home country of Germany during the second day of the workshop. 
 
ICEM&rsquo;s &Ouml;zkan gave a perspective on the various parameters of globalisation, the changing structure of industrial production, global union structures and challenges, Contract and Agency Labour, and various international institutions such as ILO, OECD, Global Compact, and EU instruments. ICEM&rsquo;s Phee Jungsun shared his experiences in ICEM&rsquo;s Asia-Pacific Region on organising within multinational companies, social dialogue, and labour practices in Asian countries. 
 
Participants heard a presentation by 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 the different towns around Bursa. 
 
&ldquo;The Bursa seminar was very well attended,&rdquo; said &Ouml;zkan. &ldquo;Participants expressed hunger for these workshops, allowing them to better know international trade union instruments at hand. 
 
&ldquo;I once again realise how important this project is in Turkey,&rdquo; added &Ouml;zkan, the coordinator of the two-year project. 
 
The project will continue with an upcoming special youth organising seminar, scheduled for 21-22 October 2010 in Kusadasi in the Eagean region. The project&rsquo;s two-year run will end with a final conference at the end of November in Ankara.

ICEM’s Dutch FNV Project Conducts Workshop in Turkey

<img src="" width="100" height="39" alt="" />
ICEM&rsquo;s Danish affiliated union 3F conducted its second Congress, 11-17 September, in the Aalborg Culture and Congress Centre. There were 855 delegates to the Congress, including ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda, who attended as an international guest. 
 
3F is the largest trade union in Denmark, with 352,588 members from the following sectors: Transport, Building &amp; Construction, Manufacturing industries, Agriculture, Forestry, Horticulture/Market Gardens, Cleaning, Hotel &amp; Restaurants, Delivery and distribution of newspapers and magazines. 
<img src="" width="133" height="112" alt="" />
3F President Poul Erik Christensen
The 3F Congress sets policy and elects the union&rsquo;s leadership and Executive Committee members. The six sections of 3F held separate conferences to discuss internal affairs of the section and to elect representatives to be put forward for election to the Federation&rsquo;s Executive Committee. Also elected in the section conferences are the section leaders, and negotiation secretaries. Those six sections are: Industry, Public-Sector, Transport, Construction, Private-Sector Services, and Green. 
 
Among those re-elected at the Congress were President Christensen, and Per Soerensen 3F&rsquo;s delegate to the ICEM Executive Committee. 
 
3F President Poul Erik Christensen proposed the at the union makes large financial backing to enact a change in government of Denmark, his proposal was accepted by Congress. Christensen will spend US$1million, &ldquo;The question is not whether we can afford to support this, but whether we can afford not to,&rdquo; stated President Christensen. 
 
ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda addressed an event at the Congress for international guests. Warda praised 3F for its international solidarity work.

Denmark’s 3F Conduct 2nd Congress

<img alt="" src="" width="120" height="59" />
ICEM affiliate Ammattiliitto Pro, the trade union of salaried workers in Finland, and Metalliliitto, the country&rsquo;s Metalworkers&rsquo; Union, began a first wave of strike action this morning across Finland. Some 32,000 workers &ndash; 25,000 metalworkers and 7,000 represented by Ammattiliitto Pro &ndash; are on full work stoppages at 45 targeted companies. 
 
If national conciliation again fails next week and the days that follow, metalworkers and salaried staff at another 35 companies will join the strike on 7 November. Overtime bans are now in effect across Finland&rsquo;s metal and technology sector covering 200,000 workers, including 10,000 members of the Federation of Professional and Managerial Staff (YTN). That union of top-level supervisors is expected to join the strike on 1 November if no deal is accomplished. 
 
&ldquo;The strike is running well so far,&rdquo; said Pro Vice President for the Industrial Sector Markku Polokangas, the salaried staff&rsquo;s lead negotiator. &ldquo;The amount of pressure on employers will increase in the coming days, we are certain.&rdquo; Polokangas also said the union is organising support strikes among Pro&rsquo;s membership in other sectors, such as telecommunications and chemicals. 
 
The two unions and the Federation of Finnish Technology Industries, or Teknologiateollisuus, the employers&rsquo; federation, were in marathon mediation sessions with National Conciliation Esa Lonka throughout the week. The latest session broke off last night and Metalliliitto's 38-member Council gave a near-unanimous mandate to begin the strike.
<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="102" />
Ammattiliitto Pro&rsquo;s membership had earlier given leadership of the union a mandate for strike action. 
 
Although the two sides are in general agreement with the 4.3% wage increase over two years that Finnish social partners agreed to on 13 October, major discord in metal and tech negotiations center on how that amount will be split. Finnish employers want discretion on paying some workers far less than the 4.3%, while the unions want the increase given to everyone across the board. 
 
Another difference is over a three-day yearly training and education period. Employers seek the discretionary right to award it, while the unions want it across the board. Tied to that is the manner in which workers age 55 and above will receive the three-day training allocation. 
 
Among just some of the 45 corporations that saw strike action taken against them this morning at 06h00 were ABB, Boliden, Kone elevators and Kone cranes, the mining concern Talvivaara, the Metsa set of engineering companies, iron and steel maker Rautaruukki, Sandvik Mining and Construction, Valmet Automotive, Outotec, Patria aerospace and land companies, and Ruukki Metals and Engineering. 
 
On 7 November, among 35 other companies expected to join the strike will be a large number of workers employed by the Nokia-Siemens joint venture called NS Network.

Strikes Begin in Finnish Metal, Technology Sector

<img src="" width="120" height="59" alt="" />
Local 27 members of the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) union were locked out at the New Year by Caterpillar Inc.&rsquo;s Electro-Motive Diesel (EMD) in a callous display of corporate might that could lead to corporate flight from Canada. The 650 CAW members in London, Ontario, voted by 98% on 30 December for strike action and 24 hours later &ndash; just as they were returning to jobs on New Year&rsquo;s Eve following a holiday shutdown &ndash; they were locked out. 

The lockout indignation comes on the heels of deeper indignation: Caterpillar&rsquo;s EMD &ndash; run as part of the US company&rsquo;s Progress Rail Services Corp. &ndash; attempt to extract unreasonable wage and benefit concessions from Canadian union members as excuse to shift production of electric-powered diesel engines and associated railroad components to a start-up and lower wage plant in Muncie, US state of Indiana. 

EMD began operations in Muncie in October 2011. Until Saturday night&rsquo;s lockout, CAW and EMD had bargained under a seven-month contract extension, something the two sides agreed to in May 2011. However, EMD never once wavered from an initial, hostile and family-wrecking proposal demanding wage cuts from C$35-per hour to C$16.50, health benefits cut in half, and elimination of a pension scheme. 

At the same time, EMD was advertising for a Human Resources manager in Muncie with the stipulation that he/she have &ldquo;experience with providing union-free culture and union avoidance.&rdquo; 

EMD is paying average salaries between US$12-16-per hour in Muncie. Caterpillar and its wholly-owned Progress Rail Services is seeking to dislodge General Electric&rsquo;s (GE) Transportation Division as the US&rsquo;s premiere supplier of train locomotives at a time of government stimulus funding for infrastructure and transport needs. GE operates three major rail division plants that are unionised and pay average salaries of US$30-per hour or more. 

EMD&rsquo;s London, Ontario, plant was purchased by Caterpillar in August 2010 for US$820 million from Greenbriar Equity Group and Berkshire Partners. The two capital companies in turn bought the manufacturing plant in 2005 for a quarter of that amount from General Motors when GM was shedding its non-auto making businesses.
<img src="" width="130" height="188" alt="" />
CAW President Ken Lewenza&nbsp; 

Then, Caterpillar was interested in buying the southwestern Ontario plant but CAW opposed the deal because of Caterpillar&rsquo;s horrid labour relations record in the US. Now, with Caterpillar in control and deploying obvious whipsawing of CAW members against non-union Muncie workers that will number 650 this year, CAW Local 27 is forced to blockade the London plant to prevent equipment from leaving for the Indiana city 350 miles to the south. 

On Saturday, CAW President Ken Lewenza called the lockout &ldquo;a serious attack on working people, their families and the greater community of London. 

&ldquo;If (Caterpillar) is not going to do business in Canada, this wage cut is designed as a mechanism to blame workers,&rdquo; Lewenza said in a published report, referring to production flight and a possible plant closing. In mid-December, the CAW lodged a formal complaint with the government over Caterpillar&rsquo;s violation of the Investment Canada Act. 

EMD has other railroad manufacturing facilities in Sete Lagoas, Minas Gerais state, Brazil, and Sahag&uacute;n, Hidalgo state, Mexico, a facility it operates jointly with Bombardier. EMD sells locomotives, replacement parts, and diesel powered engines for marine propulsion, oil drilling and power generation in 130 countries, and currently has major contracts with companies providing equipment for state railways in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and South Africa. 

Caterpillar&rsquo;s deep contract concession proposals, the lockout, matched with lucrative incentives from Indiana&rsquo;s anti-union state government for the Muncie start-up are a cause of great concern, particularly for two countries that each lack socially-minded industrial policies in the wake of a financial crisis.

CAW Members Victimized in Lockout by Caterpillar’s Rail Division

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
The ICEM extended condolences today to its affiliate, the Russian Oil, Gas and Construction Workers&rsquo; Union (ROGWU) following this weekend&rsquo;s sinking of the Kolskaya oil rig in the Sea of Okhotsk. The Kolskaya, owned by a subsidiary of the Russian state-owned company Zarubezhneft OJSC, sank in stormy waters while being towed from off the Kamchatka Peninsula to Sakhalin Island in Russia&rsquo;s Far East. 
 
Fifty-three oil workers went down with the rig, while 14 were rescued by the icebreaker Magadan and the tow ship Neftegaz-55, which were bringing the rig to port. The rig sank in icy waters 1,042 metres deep (3,400 feet) in the Sea of Okhotsk. Only four bodies were recovered and the rig&rsquo;s four rescue boats were found, but with nobody in them. 
 
The Kolskaya had been drilling for Gazprom subsidiary Gazflot on the West Kamchatsky shelf since September before this tragedy in which it was capsized in a storm and sank in 20 minutes. 
 
The ICEM calls immediate attention to this oil rig disaster as another example of the perilous work that offshore oil workers must endure to meet world energy supplies.

ICEM Mourns Deaths of 53 Oil Workers off Russia

Archive