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

<img src="" width="80" height="97" alt="" />
In mid-December, the First Collegiate Tribunal for Criminal Matters in Mexico City cleared National Miners&rsquo; and Metalworkers&rsquo; Union (SNTMMSRM) General Secretary Napole&oacute;n G&oacute;mez Urrutia of money laundering, meaning of eight charges filed against him over the past four years, only one remains. 
 
That charge relates to a bogus one that the democratically elected general secretary of SNTMMSRM, or Los Mineros, violated Article 113 of Mexico&rsquo;s Credit Institutions Act, which criminalizes the improper transfer of funds deposited in banks. A federal arrest warrant for him on this charge is still part of the extradition request that Mexico has filed with Canada.
<img src="" width="190" height="127" alt="" />
Napole&oacute;n G&oacute;mez Urrutia&nbsp;
The First Collegiate Tribunal&rsquo;s 15 December decision, which cannot be appealed by federal prosecutors, dismissed vast evidence presented by the Attorney General&rsquo;s office that Napole&oacute;n G&oacute;mez and union Treasurer Hector F&egrave;lix Estrella laundered US$55 million contained in a union trust through an intermediary into stocks, currencies, and real estate. 
 
One of the attorneys for G&oacute;mez in Mexico, Marco Antonio del Toro, told Le Jornada newspaper that the court&rsquo;s determination thus removes the accusation that the miners&rsquo; leader illicitly handled union funds.
G&oacute;mez has been leading Los Mineros from exile in Canada, where he has been since 2006. In February 2006, he was highly critical of the Mexican government and Grupo M&eacute;xico&rsquo;s response to the deadly coal mine explosion at the Pasta de Conchos coal mine in Coahuila. From 14-19 February 2011, on the five-year anniversary of Pasta de Conchos, four Global Union Federations &ndash; the ICEM, International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF), International Transport Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITF), and UNI Global Union &ndash; will conduct global days of action, calling for an end to the Mexican government&rsquo;s attacks on democratic trade unions inside the Latin American country.

Napoleón Gómez Cleared of Money Laundering in Mexico

<img alt="" src="" width="120" height="59" />
Bargaining in UK&rsquo;s corrugated paperboard industry concluded this week, with negotiators for Unite the Union and GMB coming to 2010 wage terms with the Confederation of Paper Industries (CPI). The CPI, representing major corrugated boxboard and packaging employers at some 50 plants mainly belonging to D.S. Smith, SmurfitKappa, and SAICA, agreed to raise their wage offer from 2.1% to 2.5%. 
 
The offer, if accepted by paperworkers from the two unions in January, will be retroactive to 1 September 2010, the date a prior one-year accord expired. Unite National Officer Peter Ellis said the tentative settlement falls into the upper level of median pay awards in all industries in the UK this year, and Unite&rsquo;s bargaining panel will strongly recommend acceptance.
<img alt="" src="" width="140" height="109" />
Unite National Officer Peter Ellis
The settlement averts a vote for industrial action, a ballot both Unite and GMB members were about to file for&nbsp;on 10 January. Unite represents 2,500 workers in the corrugated industry, while GMB covers some 800 workers in the industry. 
 
Contract talks began in July, but became bogged down in October when CPI offered a pay hike of less than half of the retail price index. 
 
Meanwhile, Unite and Kimberly Clark reached an early accord recently for 2011, covering 500 workers at two towel and tissue mills, the Northfleet mill in Kent and the Barrow-in-Furness mill in Cumbria. The 2011 pay award, effective 1 February, will be 1.5%, with Unite also winning a lump sum bonus of &pound;1,450. That lump sum will also be calculated into the pension contribution, thus raising the benefit level.

UK’s Unite, GMB Settle Corrugated Paper Talks; Vote to Come in January

<img alt="" src="" width="160" height="78" />
The ICEM expressed deep condolences to the families of 29 miners declared dead yesterday at the Pike River coal mine disaster in New Zealand, as well as to their trade union &ndash; affiliate Engineering, Printing, and Manufacturing Union (EPMU). 
 
In a letter to EPMU National Secretary Andrew Little, ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda said, &ldquo;It is with great sadness that the ICEM has learned of the deaths of 29 miners. Please accept my heartfelt condolences. 
 
&ldquo;We will now support your call for a full and thorough investigation into the causes of this terrible accident, and for all of the bodies to be returned as soon as possible to their families. The explosion illustrates the importance of our shared work in improving safety standards in mines, and moving the New Zealand Government toward ratification and proper implementation of ILO Convention 176, on safety and health in mines.&rdquo; (Full letter <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/145.ICEM.EPMU.New%20Zealand.24Nov.pdf">here</a>.) 
<img alt="" src="" width="208" height="161" />
Inside Pike River mine, before accident, Photo: NZPA
The miners, trapped since 19 November by a horrid methane gas explosion at Pike River Coal Ltd.&rsquo;s coking coal mine inside the Paparoa Range on the South Island, were declared dead yesterday by police charged with rescue. (See ICEM&rsquo;s initial report <a href="/en/5-Mining-DGOJP/4115-Hope-Still-Alive-for-29-Trapped-Inside-Pike-River’s-New-Zealand-Coal-Mine">here</a>.) The police announcement came minutes after a second massive explosion that lasted 30 seconds occurred inside the company&rsquo;s mine of the Brunner coal seam at 14h37, local time, Wednesday. The Pike River mine is located 50 kilometres from Greymouth. 
 
Rescue attempts proved prohibitive for six days because of high levels of methane gas and carbon monoxide that were registered inside. News of the secondary explosion&nbsp;yesterday and improbability that the 29 could have survived was brought to grief-stricken family members at 16h00 in Greymouth by Pike River CEO Peter Whittal. &ldquo;Exactly what we said would happen happened,&rdquo; he told reporters in explaining why rescuers had not been sent into the mine. Some 90 skilled mine rescuers, many flown in from Australia, were on standby for those five days. 
<img alt="" src="" width="182" height="173" />
EPMU National Secretary Andrew Little
EPMU National Secretary Little said: &ldquo;News of this second devastating explosion means there is now no prospect of a successful rescue and the lives of the 29 men trapped inside have been lost. It is time to let the families and the community grieve. 
 
&ldquo;Most of the miners killed were our comrades in the union, including Blair Sims who was an EPMU delegate at the Pike River mine,&rdquo; Little said. &ldquo;The EPMU will now make the practical arrangements to establish a fund to assist the families of the men whose lives have been lost.&rdquo; 
Little added the EPMU now calls on the government &ldquo;to establish an independent inquiry to investigate the circumstances of the explosion, including a public hearing in front of a senior judge and leading technical experts,&rdquo; adding the union will do everything possible to assist the investigation. 
<img alt="" src="" width="175" height="175" />
EPMU Delegate Blair Sims 
Sims was a 28-year-old loving husband and father of two small children. He was an exceptional rugby player who for the past two seasons was New Zealand West Coast player of the year. Eleven of the 29 miners were EPMU members. Those perishing included 16 full-time workers of Pike River Coal Ltd., owned 31% owned by New Zealand Oil &amp; Gas Ltd., and 13 contract employees. 
 
Little, who received the news 90 minutes after the blast yesterday, told New Zealand media that &ldquo;miners are special people. They are the foundation rock that much of New Zealand was built on. When you lose special people like that, 29 all in one go, it is a hard thing. I don&rsquo;t think any of us can imagine what the families will be going through tonight.&rdquo; 
The EPMU is assisting by setting up the &ldquo;EPMU Pike River Miners Family Support Trust&rdquo; to collect donations to support the 29 families.&nbsp;See more information on how to give financial support to the families of the dead miners <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/1011.EPMU%20Pike%20River%20Miners%20Family%20Support%20Trust%20-%20flyer.pdf">here</a>.
&quot;Miners around the world are grieving their fallen comrades,&quot; said ICEM and South Africa's NUM President Senzeni Zokwana, &quot;our struggle continues to enure our members&nbsp;safety at work.&quot; 
 
New Zealand Prime Minister John Key said at a press conference a special commission will be established and that the country&rsquo;s Cabinet, to meet on 29 November, will establish the perimeters of that inquiry.
See photos of all the lost Pike River miners <a href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/pike-river-miners/news/headlines.cfm?c_id=1503001">here</a>.&nbsp;

Together with EPMU, ICEM Mourns Deaths of 29 Miners in New Zealand

By a vote of 521 to 398 on 6 December, members of Sindicato de los Trabajadores de Collahuasi voted to end a 32-day strike against the world&rsquo;s third largest copper miner, located in Chile. The Union of Workers of the Collahuasi Copper Mine and Do&ntilde;a Ines de Collahuasi, owned jointly through 44% stakes each by AngloAmerican and Xstrata, resumed talks early last week with help from Roman Catholic Prelate Marco Antonio &Oacute;rdenes, Bishop of Iquique. 
 
The union's Second Director, Carlos Daniel Rojas, told the ICEM early today that Bishop &Oacute;rdenes succeeded &quot;in opening the door&quot; with the company when there appeared little hope that talks would resume, and the union took it from there to work out a settlement. 
 
The final resolve came in negotiations over the weekend and early Monday, 6 December, with an acceptable compromise. 
 
The vote Monday night ends the longest private-sector Chilean copper strike, surpassing one of 26 days in 2006 at the Escondida mine, owned 57.5% by BHP Billiton and 30% by Rio Tinto. 
 
Terms of the settlement will give the 1,551 miners of Collahuasi a wage increase of 16.3% over a 42-month period, and a bonus payment of 14 million pesos (US$28,733). Other key issues in the strike, which began on 5 November, were company-paid health care and education costs for miners&rsquo; children. The union did make advances in both these areas from prior levels paid by the company. 
 
The strike was marked by a united workforce led by President Manuel Mu&ntilde;oz and Second Director Rojas. The miners of Collahuasi took up residency in the Santa Mar&iacute;a School in Iquique, and staged peaceful and near-daily manifestations in that city. Those demonstrations were strategic in order to draw attention to their cause of gaining adequate health coverage and educational stipends from an employer that posted net profits in 2009 of US$1.56 billion due to high copper pricing. 
 
Last night&rsquo;s vote took place inside the Santa Mar&iacute;a School. Collahuasi miners were scheduled to return to work high in the Atacama desert of Chile&rsquo;s northern Region I, some 285 kilometres from the port city of Iquique, today, 7 December. 
 
&quot;The Collahuasi miners and their families showed strength and fortitude in a dignified and peaceful way against an enterprise intent on maintaining production and turning profits,&quot; said ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda. &quot;For that, they have earned the pride and admiration of the world's mining unions.&quot; 
 
Coverage of this heroic strike, taken from the ICEM website, can be found <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4117-Chile’s-Collahuasi-Copper-Strike-Now-in-Crucial-Stage">here</a> and <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4102-Miners-Dig-In-at-Chile’s-Collahuasi-Copper-Strike">here</a>.

Strike Ends at Collahuasi Copper Mine in Chile

<img alt="" src="" width="289" height="62" />
By a vote of 521 to 398 on 6 December, members of Sindicato de los Trabajadores de Collahuasi voted to end a 32-day strike against the world&rsquo;s third largest copper&nbsp;miner, located in Chile. The Union of Workers of the Collahuasi Copper Mine and Do&ntilde;a Ines de Collahuasi, owned jointly through 44% stakes each by AngloAmerican and Xstrata, resumed talks early last week with help from Roman Catholic Prelate Marco Antonio &Oacute;rdenes, Bishop of Iquique.
The union's Second Director, Carlos Daniel Rojas, told the ICEM early today that Bishop &Oacute;rdenes succeeded &quot;in opening the door&quot; with the company when there appeared little hope&nbsp;that talks would resume, and the union took it from there to work out a settlement.
The final resolve came in negotiations over the weekend and early Monday, 6 December, with an acceptable compromise. 
The vote Monday night&nbsp;ends the longest private-sector Chilean copper strike, surpassing one of 26 days in 2006 at the Escondida mine, owned 57.5% by BHP Billiton and 30% by Rio Tinto.
<img alt="" src="" width="190" height="142" />
&nbsp;Collahuasi Miners Vote on the Evening of 6 December 
Terms of the settlement will give&nbsp;the 1,551 miners of Collahuasi&nbsp;a wage increase of 16.3% over a 42-month period, and a bonus payment of 14 million pesos (US$28,733). Other key issues in the strike, which began on 5 November, were company-paid health care and education costs for miners&rsquo; children. The union did make advances in both these areas from&nbsp;prior levels&nbsp;paid by the company.&nbsp;
The strike was marked by a united workforce led by President Manuel Mu&ntilde;oz and Second Director&nbsp;Rojas. The miners of Collahuasi took up residency in the Santa Mar&iacute;a School in Iquique, and staged peaceful and near-daily manifestations in that city. Those demonstrations were strategic in order to draw attention to their cause of gaining adequate health coverage and educational stipends from an employer that posted net profits in 2009 of US$1.56 billion due to high&nbsp;copper pricing. 
Last night&rsquo;s vote took place inside the Santa Mar&iacute;a School. Collahuasi miners were scheduled to return to work high in the Atacama desert of Chile&rsquo;s northern Region I, some 285 kilometres from the port city of Iquique, today, 7 December.
&quot;The Collahuasi miners and their families showed strength and fortitude in&nbsp;a dignified and peaceful&nbsp;way against an enterprise intent on maintaining&nbsp;production&nbsp;and turning profits,&quot; said ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda. &quot;For that, they have earned the pride and admiration of the world's mining unions.&quot;
Coverage of this heroic strike, taken from the ICEM website, can be found <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4117-Chile’s-Collahuasi-Copper-Strike-Now-in-Crucial-Stage">here</a> and <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4102-Miners-Dig-In-at-Chile’s-Collahuasi-Copper-Strike">here</a>.

<img src="" width="100" height="122" alt="" />
Media Advisory 
 
Who: 
International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF) &amp; International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine, and General Workers&rsquo; Union (ICEM) 
 
What: 
Cutting Emissions &ndash; Transforming Jobs 
 
Where: 
Room/SALAA - TRABAJO 
World of Work Pavilion 
Universidad del Sur 
S&uacute;per manzana 24, Manzana 15, Lote 10 
Av. Uxmal 
Canc&uacute;n Quintana Roo 
Mexico 
 
When: 
7 December 2010 
15h30 to 17h00 
A unique panel entitled &ldquo;The Links Between the Economic, Environmental, and Social Crises,&rdquo; presenting lessons to preserve decent jobs in green public policy through sustainability and Just Transition. Featuring: Shoichiro Kaneko, IMF-JC/JBU, Japan; Michael O&rsquo;Connor, National Secretary-elect, Construction, Forestry, Mining &amp; Energy Union (CFMEU), Australia; and Anabella Rosemberg, Policy Officer, Climate Change, Sustainable Development and Occupational Health and Safety, International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), Belgium. 
 
Keynote Address (16h20): Jun Arima, Deputy Director General, Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI), Japan &ndash; &ldquo;Importance of Sustainable Development in Manufacturing and Energy Industries: Job Creation Through Green Technology Innovation.&rdquo; 
 
Contact: Kan Matsuzaki (IMF): +41 79 947 8618, (mobile), <a href="mailto:kmatsuzaki@imfmetal.org">kmatsuzaki@imfmetal.org</a>; Brian Kohler (ICEM): +41 79 734 9178 (mobile)

Press Advisory: Global Trade Unions’ COP16 Industrial Conference, 7 December, Cancún

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
The ICEM participated in the Eastern Europe and CIS regional conference of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and its Pan-European Regional Council (PERC) on 3&ndash;4 December in Moscow. 
 
The conference brought together 150 trade union leaders from newly independent countries, to identify new challenges and search for strategies and solutions to fight the violation of workers&rsquo; and trade union rights. 
 
The conference was attended by the ITUC General Secretary Sharon Barrow; European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) General Secretary John Monks:, Mikhail Shmakov, President of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Russia and President of the PERC: and Igor Kovalchuk, President of the Confederation of Labour of Russia (FNPR). 
<img alt="" src="" width="221" height="138" />
Trade union rights was identified as a vital necessity in Russia and elsewhere in the region in order to develop civil society and democracy under new conditions of economic modernization. 
 
The conference agreed that in the current environment of the post-crisis recovery, a consolidation of the trade union movement is required in order to respond properly to the challenges common throughout the region. 
 
Speaking about the specific rights of trade unions in Russia, the FNPR&rsquo;s Shmakov drew attention to the need to liberalise the strike law. &ldquo;In our country, in contrast to Western countries, it is almost impossible to organize a legal strike, so we must strive to reduce the length of time for conciliation.&rdquo; 
 
Barrow stated that &ldquo;the attacks on the rights of the workers are a bad recipe for economic development.&rdquo; She added: &ldquo;The role of trade unions as defenders of the legitimate rights of the employees by conducting effective negotiations with the employer is extremely important for the future development of economies and societies in general.&rdquo;

ICEM Participate in Regional ITUC-PERC Conference in Moscow

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
In Moscow, the Fifth Congress of the All-Russian Elektroprofsoyuz finished its work last week. Formed 20 years ago, the ICEM affiliated union remains as one of the most important Russian trade unions over the years, protecting the interests of working people. 
 
Throughout its existence, Elektroprofsoyuz has consistently directed its efforts to preserve and strengthen trade union structures, increase employee participation in the management of organizations through creation and dissemination of social partnerships in order to increase the social responsibility of businesses. 
<img alt="" src="" width="318" height="88" />
The activities of the union that have been directed at protecting the interests of members of the trade union in the framework of cooperation with state authorities have been significant, as well as the adoption and subsequent implementation of the guidelines of the trade union for the development of social partnerships, which have been very important. 
 
Over the years, everyone working in the power industry, in electrical engineering, and in the peat industry has seen real wage increases. The strengthening of trade union control over state occupational health and safety has led to a marked reduction of occupational injuries. Over the last five-year Congress period, Elektroprofsoyuz has given special impetus to the work of young workers. 
 
Today, the All-Russian Elektroprofsoyuz union has 672,824 members. The average monthly salary for them in the power industry is about 32,590 rubles, or US$1,051. 
 
At last week&rsquo;s Congress, Valery Vahrushkin was elected president of the union for the next five years.

Elektroprofsoyuz Union Holds Fifth Congress in Moscow

<img src="" width="100" height="39" alt="" />
GSHNER Nezavisnost, the Serbian Trade Union of the Chemical, Non-Metal, Energy, and Mining Workers, held its Fourth Congress in Begrade yesterday, 12 December, under the banner &ldquo;With New Supply in a New Future.&rdquo; 
 
A total of 120 delegates from various branches attended as did numerous state officials, management representatives, colleagues from unions of UGS Nezavisnost, and European and global trade unions, including ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda. 
<img src="" width="180" height="135" alt="" />
ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda addresses Congress
Manfred delivered a speech in which he praised the previous work of the ICEM affiliate in Central Europe and the tremendous reform that the union has undertaken. 
 
He called on all unions in the Balkan countries to join in unity and solidarity, and to form new joint approaches to the valuable work they do for industrial workers. Only through uniting and restructuring, Warda said, can unions respond to the growing challenges ahead of them. 
<img src="" width="193" height="129" alt="" />
Other guests and speakers at the Congress included Lief Sande, President pf IndustiEnergi (IE) of Norway; Peter Sokkers of FNV Bondgenoten, Ntherlands; Michael Wolters, IGBCE, Germany; Didier Baur, CGT-FNME, France; Kata Iveljić, President of the Independent Trade union of Chemical and Mon-Metal Workers, Bosnia-Bercegovina; Ivan Tomac, President, and Daniel Spiček, Secretary, of the Autonomous Trade union in Power Industries, Chemical, and Non-Metal (EKN), Croatia; Tomaž Kumer, President, and Sonja Kos, Secretary, of the Chemical, Non-Metallic, and Rubber (KNG) Union of Slovenia; and Mato Malić, ICEM&rsquo;s South-East European Project Coordinator.

Nezavisnost Holds Fourth Congress in Belgrade

<img src="" width="100" height="39" alt="" />
An ICEM affiliate in Finland, the Salaried Workers&rsquo; Union, or Toimihenkil&ouml;unioni (TU), completed a merger on Saturday, 11 December, with Suora and effective 1 January will become the 130,000-member union called Pro, a union for salaried workers in the private sector. 
 
TU covers some 250 member associations across Finland, and negotiates 47 collective agreements, while Suora represents workers in the finance and insurance industries, as well as white-collar workers in the gaming business and alcohol trades. 
<img src="" width="256" height="163" alt="" />
Antti Rinne and Riitta Suonp&auml;&auml; Sign the Merger Document, Creating Pro
Rank-and-file members work in a multitude of sectors as salaried employees, hourly paid employees, foremen or supervisors, and in expert jobs. The new union will organize self-employed professionals as well. 
 
Antti Rinne, the President of the TU, was unanimously elected President of Pro. A 48-year-old lawyer, Rinne describes the current situation among Finnish trade unions as &ldquo;the most critical period in history.&rdquo; 
 
Suora&rsquo;s President, Riitta Suonp&auml;&auml;, will become the new union&rsquo;s First Vice President, while Juha Kivist&ouml; was elected Second Vice President. 
 
The new union&rsquo;s website can be found <a href="http://www.proliitto.fi ">here</a>.

Finnish Unions, TU and Suora, Merge to Become Pro

Archive

Napoleón Gómez Cleared of Money Laundering in Mexico

UK’s Unite, GMB Settle Corrugated Paper Talks; Vote to Come in January

Together with EPMU, ICEM Mourns Deaths of 29 Miners in New Zealand

Strike Ends at Collahuasi Copper Mine in Chile

Strike Ends at Collahuasi Copper Mine in Chile

Press Advisory: Global Trade Unions’ COP16 Industrial Conference, 7 December, Cancún

ICEM Participate in Regional ITUC-PERC Conference in Moscow

Elektroprofsoyuz Union Holds Fifth Congress in Moscow

Nezavisnost Holds Fourth Congress in Belgrade

Finnish Unions, TU and Suora, Merge to Become Pro

About IndustriALL

Follow us

Contact us