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Four days of difficult talks between United Steelworkers (USW) Locals 6500 and 6200 and Brazilian mining company Vale in Canada were adjourned on 7 June,&nbsp;because the schedule of mediator Kevin Burkett could not permit a continuance. A settlement in&nbsp;the now 11-month strike at nickel and copper mines, a smelter, and production facilities in Sudbury and Port Colborne, Ontario, rest in resumption of talks that will take place 19 June in Toronto. 
 
Burkett issued a statement following adjournment on 7 June stating &ldquo;progress was made&rdquo; and the USW and Vale &ldquo;have agreed to continue two party negotiations on certain issues&rdquo; until formal and mediated talks resume this Saturday. 
 
Burkett statement said the 4-7 June time frame &ldquo;set aside to complete the task of negotiating a renewal collective agreement was insufficient.&rdquo; A news blackout has been honoured by both sides regarding negotiations. The early June re-start of bargaining was the third time since late February that the USW and Vale had engaged in talks with Burkett in the middle.
<img alt="" src="" width="315" height="125" />
Meanwhile, in the Canadian province of Labrador/Newfoundland, where 250 steelworkers have been on strike against Vale since 1 August 2010, talks between the company and Local 9508 resumed in late May. Negotiations there also adjourned in order for respective bargaining committees to review issues. 
 
Since many of the same issues are common to both Ontario and the Goose Bay and Voiseys Bay workers in Labrador, it is thought that settlement will come first in Sudbury/Port Colborne. 
 
Pressure did come to bear on Vale when, on 1 June, 50 workers of Ushitou Maintenance in Voiseys Bay downed tools when their contract expired. The company is a contract provider for Vale and workers are members of another bargaining unit of Local 9508. Vale announced that the contractor will use replacements workers during the work stoppage. 
 
In Ontario, the road to a negotiated agreement was made somewhat easier in a 17 May decision rendered by the Ontario Labour Relations Board. The provincial labour board directed the two sides to return to bargaining, but ordered an issue over the reinstatement of nine fired strikers to be set aside in mediated talks. Vale has been steadfast in insisting that even with agreement, the nine &ndash; including two bargaining committee members are not welcome back &ndash; while the USW is insisting that reinstatement must be part of thee settlement. 
 
In Sudbury and Port Colborne, some 3,500 members of USW Locals 6500 and 6200 began strike actions on 13 July 2009 over Vale&rsquo;s efforts seeking a two-tier pension scheme, sharp reductions in a production bonus, and company prerogatives on outsourcing, which threaten job security.

Difficult USW, Vale Canadian Mine Talks to Continue This Week

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The ICEM and the International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF) will jointly hold the &ldquo;Triple Crisis of Sustainability&rdquo; Conference this week, 18-19 June, in Toronto, Canada, to give a full workers&rsquo; airing to the economic, environment, and social consequences brought on by global financial crisis. The Conference&rsquo;s aim is to prepare a worldwide workers&rsquo; and communities&rsquo; declaration for the G8 and G20 summits, also to be held in Toronto the following week. 
 
As of today, 14 June, 270 trade union and other leaders from over 50 countries are registered to attend. The conference runs from 9h00 to 17h30 on both 18 and 19 June at the Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel, 123 Queen Street West.
&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="86" />&nbsp;&nbsp; <img alt="" src="" width="90" height="88" />
Both ICEM and IMF share the belief that the crises of failing economies, environmental inaction, and social disorder have occurred due to lack of financial and environmental regulations, as well as inept financial governance of markets. The conference will ensure that the voices of global workers are heard on these issues before the G8 and G20 summits convene, and then presented to financial and political leaders in a common declaration. 
 
Jobs, workers&rsquo; rights, social protections, quality public services, and sustainability &ndash; both on environmental stewardship and in providing decent work &ndash; is expected to serve as the core of the declaration. 
 
Keynote speakers will include United Steelworkers (USW) President Leo Gerard, David Donnelly, a leading environmental attorney connected with Canada&rsquo;s Blue-Green Alliance, and John Evans, the General-Secretary of the Trade Union Advisory Committee (TUAC) to the OECD 
 
Specific panels will address the economic crisis, sustainable development and climate change, and corporate governance. The conference&rsquo;s programme has been built to allow for maximum comments from all those wishing to be heard on the effects of the social, environmental, and economic crises.

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

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The Asia-Pacific Regional Materials Union Network of the ICEM held its third meeting in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, on 10-11 October. The meeting was attended by 34 trade unionists from 14 unions in the cement, glass, and ceramics industries of Japan, Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, India, and the Philippines. 
 
This meeting agreed to set up a Saint Gobain Network in the Asia-Pacific Region, with affiliates in Korea, Indonesia, Thailand, India, Vietnam, Australia, and New Zealand joining the network. Unions in the region are currently running networks at Lafarge and Holcim in India, Korea, Philippines, Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Indonesia, and Vietnam. 
<img src="" width="372" height="144" alt="" />
The meeting was also joined by union leadership from Nippon Sheet Glass (NSG) and Taiheiyo Cement of Japan, who expressed support for networking in their subsidiaries. 
 
The Vietnamese General Confederation of Labour (VGCL) and the Vietnam National Union of Building Workers (VNUBW) hosted this meeting of the Network, supported by the German Friedrich-Ebert Foundation (FES). The meeting also welcomed the ICEM Secretariat and the Japanese Affiliates&rsquo; Federation (ICEM-JAF). 
 
&ldquo;I am very impressed with the young and talented union representatives with research capacity and language skills in the region,&rdquo; said ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda. &ldquo;This participation guarantees a positive future for the trade union movement.&rdquo; 
<img src="" width="214" height="160" alt="" />
ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda
ICEM Materials Industries&rsquo; Officer Phee Jungsun presented major developments and challenges in the global materials industries and profiles on multinational companies. 
 
Participants then gave country reports with pre-arranged survey details on working conditions and occupational safety and health. For the cement unions of Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia, performance of union activities is still difficult due to weak labour legislation. It was reported that both Lafarge and Holcim hire an increasing number of contract workers &ndash; averaging about 60% &ndash; with offers of voluntary retirement schemes to reduce permanent workers with long seniority. 
 
The meeting adopted a resolution to support contract workers at Swiss-based Holcim in India, who fight constantly for freedom of association rights. Also, support was extended to workers and unions at Lafarge in India, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Malaysia. The establishment of a Saint Gobain Network on the national and regional level is seen to coordinate with French trade union affiliate CFDT-FCE, which heads the Saint Gobain European Works Council. This Asia-Pacific network will work alongside a newly-planned North America Saint Gobain Network and hopefully build toward creation of a global network. 
 
The meeting also received a detailed report from ICEM-JAF General Secretary Yoshio Sato on the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. Sato thanked all ICEM affiliates who showed solidarity to Japanese unions by sending messages and donations.

ICEM’s Asia-Pacific Materials Sector Network Meeting Held in Vietnam

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	From the International Metalworkers&#039; Federation

	Trade unionists around the world will mobilize during the week of February 19-25, calling on the Mexican government to stop its attack on workers and implement steps to allow for workers to organize independent democratic trade unions of their choosing. 
	 
	Last year more than 50,000 union members, students and human rights activists from some 40 countries participated in the Global Days of Action, launched on February 14 in Mexico and Australia simultaneously. For six days union members came together in an unprecedented show of solidarity. Thousands of letters were sent to the Mexican government, more than 50 meetings were held at Mexican Embassies throughout the world, and massive demonstrations throughout the week, inside and outside of Mexico, marked the strength and urgency of our message: STOP the attack on workers, we demand Trade Union Rights in Mexico, NOW! 
	 
	The impact of our global actions were felt around the world. On February 24, just weeks after Global Action Days launched, political prisoner Juan Linares of the National Miners&rsquo; and Metalworkers&rsquo; Union of Mexico was released from jail after being unjustly imprisoned for more than two years. Building on our 2011 actions, independent unions in Mexico, together with their respective global union partners, have come together as a movement of force, challenging retrogressive labour legislation, Mexico&rsquo;s scandalous &ldquo;Protection Contract&rdquo; system, and exposing corporate and political corruption.

	<img alt="" height="160" src="" width="113" />

	Despite an escalation in action and outcry from unions in Mexico and at the international level, workers continue to be denied fundamental rights, independent unions face violent and political attack, and corporate impunity is at an all time high. 
	 
	During the week of February 19-25, 2012, in honour of the Pasta de Conchos miners who died in a mine blast on February 19, 2006, members of the international labour movement are again asked to take action. 
	 
	POSSIBLE ACTIONS INCLUDE:

	Request a meeting with Mexican Embassy/Consulate representatives to discuss trade union rights in Mexico.
<ul>
	<li>
		<div align="justify">
			Organize a small delegation to deliver a statement or letter to your local Mexican Embassy/Consulate.</div>
	</li>
	<li>
		<div align="justify">
			Send a letter to your local Mexican Embassy/Consulate.</div>
	</li>
	<li>
		<div align="justify">
			Engage national policy makers to join meetings with</div>
	</li>
	<li>
		<div align="justify">
			Embassy representatives or to send similar letters to the Government of Mexico.</div>
	</li>
	<li>
		<div align="justify">
			Publicize actions taken in defense of trade union rights in Mexico on your union&rsquo;s website and in its publications.</div>
	</li>
</ul>

	Print-ready posters and model letters are available to be used for actions and mobilizations. Posters are available in English, French, Spanish and Russian. The original In design artwork file is also available upon request if you wish to add logos or additional information, contact: <a href="mailto:unionrights@imfmetal.org">unionrights@imfmetal.org</a>. Model letters are available in English, Spanish, French, Russian and German. 
	 
	Please be sure to keep us informed of all actions taken, send photos, letters, and reports to: <a href="mailto:unionrights@imfmetal.org">unionrights@imfmetal.org</a> and <a href="mailto:tom.grinter@icem.org">tom.grinter@icem.org</a>.

Mexico Days of Action 2012, February 19-25

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ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda, Latin America/Caribbean Regional Vice-President Sergio Novais, and Regional Contact Person Carol Bruce conducted a mission to Ecuador, Colombia, and Costa Rica from 13 to 20 January 2010 to visit affiliates, make new contacts and attend a Social Dialogue conference in Colombia. 
 
The ICEM mission started the round in Ecuador on 13 January and the next day the Electricity Workers&rsquo; Union was visited. This union was instrumental in creating the new confederation of public sector workers, which is made up of 70,000 members in the electricity sector, as well as in health, the oil industry, national telephone, public workers, education and transport. It took three years to build the confederation. 
<img alt="" src="" width="253" height="160" />
The most innovative factor about the confederation is a new approach, moving from protest to proposal. In the meantime, the realization has arisen that tripartite dialogue is necessary. The idea is to develop the state with workers&rsquo; participation. The confederation supports the process of the citizens&rsquo; revolution. It broadcasts a radio program to educate and inform workers. Steps are being taken to limit outsourcing according to the recent legislation. 
 
ICEM can expect to receive an application for affiliation from the Electricity Workers&rsquo; Union of Ecuador in the near future. 
 
The delegation arrived in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, on 15 January. The social dialogue conference was held the next day and the only employer that attended were two managers from the Carbones del Cerrej&oacute;n mine, who praised the cooperation with ICEM which has enabled the mine to enjoy labor peace. The unions who participated were Sintraelecol, Sintragasquimed, Sintracarb&oacute;n, Sintravidricol, Sintracarcol, Fenaltec and USO, as well as the IMF affiliate, Sintracerramotoso. 
 
These conferences have been going on since 2004. One recurring theme is sub-contracting. The question is to know whether conflicts are solvable on the basis of dialogue and whether dialogue has contributed to collective bargaining. Social dialogue is an innovative process in a country marked by entrenched violence. The idea is to contribute to peace in Colombia. 
 
Warda explained some of the Congress resolutions, especially concerning the creation of the new Global Union Federation. He stressed that Colombia would continue to be a priority. 
 
Novais clarified that the value of social dialogue is to continue to speak and negotiate regularly with the other side, and not just during wage negotiations. He explained that ICEM is working on multi-Latinas in the region to get workers organized in those companies. One priority in the region is networks, and 12 networks are up and running. It will be up to ICEM to pass our values and experience on to the new organisation. 
 
Philippe Potdevin from the Cerrej&oacute;n mine offered ICEM the possibility to develop an agreement along the lines of a Global Agreement based on the Global Compact. This might be an incentive for other companies in Colombia to take a greater interest in social dialogue, and he also indicated that he would urge other companies to work together with ICEM. 
<img alt="" src="" width="202" height="160" />
Manfred Warda, Rodolfo Vecino, Carlos Bustos
Two conflicts were mentioned in particular. First was the conflict with Rudolfo Vecino, President of USO, which fortunately was solved favourably with his reinstatement just before the delegation arrived in Colombia. The second is still pending and refers to the ex-President of Sintraelecol, Danuil Gomez, who is faced with death threats. His employer Gas Natural has been asked to transfer him to Bogot&aacute;, otherwise his life is in danger in C&oacute;rdoba. 
 
Marcelino Lopez, also from Sintraelecol, is also at similar risk. Some companies apparently work openly or covertly with paramilitaries in the dirty war. 
 
USO and Sintracerramatoso operate in areas that are controlled by the paramilitaries. It is very difficult for them to have access to workers. Union members are harassed and sacked and threatened and even killed, while many multinationals work with security companies that are linked to paramilitaries. The request is to organise a meeting for the unions in the energy and mining sectors to develop joint strategies to confront the government and to design a work plan. 
 
USO considers itself faced with annihilation of the union. Ecopetrol is facing privatization, and in addition, because of sub-contracting, there are six times more contract workers than direct employees, or 10,000 direct workers to 60,000 contractors. 
 
In conclusion, Warda summed up by proposing putting pressure on Endesa and Repsol to join the social dialogue process. His final comment, however, was a criticism of Colombian unions &ndash; something in their structures apparently stands in the way of women&rsquo;s participation. 
 
In the meantime, ICEM is attempting to put a forum together in Madrid where Spanish multinationals would pledge to reject violence in Colombia and to work toward eliminating the killing of trade unionists. The UGT Spanish foundation ISCOD is working with human rights lawyers in Colombia, and ICEM Colombia Coordinator Carlos Bustos will be invited to join them. 
<img alt="" src="" width="334" height="159" />
On 18 January, the delegation met with the board of Sitrapequia in San Jos&eacute;, Costa Rica. The discussion focused on the importance of public-sector unions in Costa Rica and the difficulty of organizing unions in the private sector. One possibility will be the attempt to organise the Bridgestone/Firestone plant in San Jos&eacute;, since there is an opening just now with the company manager for the Americas. This opportunity will be explored together with SUTNA, ICEM&rsquo;s rubber workers&rsquo; union affiliate from Argentina.

ICEM Mission Visits Ecuador, Colombia, Costa Rica

<img src="" width="100" height="39" alt="" />
Some 360,000 Indian miners, many of them represented by the ICEM affiliate, the Indian National Mineworkers&rsquo; Federation (INWF), have a new five-year labour agreement achieved under the National Coal Wage Agreement. The agreement with the world&rsquo;s largest coal company, state-owned Coal India Ltd. (CIL), and five unions calls for 25% wage increases over the term of the agreement. 
 
Signed on 31 January in Delhi, it is backdated to 1 July 2011. The agreement was finalised by the joint bipartite consultative committee (JBCC) on 27-28 January. 
<img src="" width="221" height="160" alt="" />
&ldquo;After discussions, the management agreed to a 25% minimum guaranteed benefits on gross wages,&rdquo; said General Secretary S Q Zama of INMF, affiliated to the Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC). Along with Brother Zama, INMF and INTUC leaders Sanjeeva Reddy, Rajendra Prassad Singh, S Panigrahi, GVR Sarma, B Venkat Rao and R Algamkar took part in the signing. 
 
An increase in all basic allowances of 88% will take effect throughout the agreement, and higher housing allowances in non-urban areas and management substitution bonuses were also won for workers filling those roles. 
 
Further gains will be made when reports are submitted and agreed to on retirees&rsquo; medical benefits, and on aspects pertaining to contract workers. 
 
The other unions involved in this ninth set of National Coal Wage talks are affiliates of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), the Hind Mazdoor Sabha (HMS), the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), and the All-India Trade Union Congress (AITUC). The new accord will cost CIL US$788.6 million over the five-year period.

India’s Mine Unions, Coal India Reach 5-Year Labour Agreement

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
ICEM Nordic Region Vice President Anders Ferbe was elected 1 February by IF Metall&rsquo;s Executive Board to serve as Acting President of Sweden&rsquo;s largest industrial union, replacing Stefan L&ouml;fven who stepped down 27 January to head the Social Democratic Party of Sweden. 
 
Ferbe, 57, had been IF Metall&rsquo;s First Vice President since 2008 and has been an ICEM Presidium member since 2007 when he was elected at the Fourth Statutory Congress in Bangkok. He will head the 355,000-member IF Metall going into the union&rsquo;s 2014 Congress, a key year with federal elections slated to occur in September 2014. 
 
L&ouml;fven, President of IF Metall since the union was formed on 1 January 2006 with the merger of the Swedish Industrial Union (Industrifacket) and the Swedish Metalworkers&rsquo; Union (Metall), was elected to head the country&rsquo;s once dominant Social Democrats by the party&rsquo;s Presidium 11 days ago. 
<img alt="" src="" width="141" height="160" />
Stefan L&ouml;fven
&ldquo;I am both humbled and honoured by the trust shown me,&rdquo; Ferbe said following last week&rsquo;s Board election. &ldquo;Our job to retain and create sustainable jobs is paramount. It means training, hard work and wages that are both fair and equal.&rdquo; IF Metall&rsquo;s board elected Veli-Pekka S&auml;ikk&auml;l&auml; to replace Ferbe as First Vice President. 
 
Ferbe is a native of J&ouml;nk&ouml;ping in southern Sweden and his work in the metal industry began there as an assembler at an industrial fan manufacturer now called Svenska Fl&auml;kfabriken. 
 
He held a number of local branch positions of Metall and in 1984, after six months working inside the union&rsquo;s training center, he took a Metall training and education position in the Stockholm headquarters in environmental education. 
<img alt="" src="" width="250" height="80" />
In 1989, he began a 16-year career as the union&rsquo;s press and communications officer and upon the 2006 merger of Industrifacket and Metall, he was elected IF Metall&rsquo;s Second Vice President. A year earlier, he was elected to the ICEM Executive Committee. 
 
Both Ferbe and L&ouml;fven will work to restore the strength of the Social Democratic Party inside Sweden. The Social Democrats were beaten in consecutive elections in 2006 and 2010 and the ICEM is confident that with a trade union leader heading the party, &ldquo;the Social Democratic Party once again will not only lead Sweden, but continue to serve as the stellar social model for all the world to follow,&rdquo; said General Secretary Manfred Warda in a 26 January letter congratulating L&ouml;fven. (The full <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/9.ICEM%20Stefan%20Lofven.26Jan.pdf ">ICEM letter</a> is here.) 
 
L&ouml;fven, 55, served as Vice President of Metall from 2002 until his election as the first President of IF Metall in 2006. The 55-year-old L&ouml;fven had been employed by Metall since 1995, first as a national bargaining officer, then as Secretary, and from 1999 to 2002 as head of the Organising Department. 
 
He was born in Stockholm but grew up in &Aring;dalen, &Aring;ngermanland, Sweden. His first industrial job was at a sawmill in Domsj&ouml; in 1979, but he then went to work that same year as a welder at the military and all-terrain vehicle manufacturer H&auml;gglunds and S&ouml;ner AB, now part of UK-based BAE Systems. He started his trade union activism as a shop steward, sector president and branch president.

IF Metall’s Board Elects Anders Ferbe to Replace Stefan Löfven

The International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine &amp; General Workers&rsquo; Unions (ICEM) disagrees with a decree issued by the Government of Northern Cyprus last night that effectively blocks a legitimate strike in the electricity sector by EL-SEN, ICEM&rsquo;s affiliated Turkish Electricity Authority of Cyprus Workers&rsquo; Trade Union. 

EL-SEN launched the indefinite strike on the morning of 19 January over the government&rsquo;s draft bill to privatize the Turkish Electricity Authority (KIB-TEK). According to Article 16 of Collective Agreements and Strikes of Northern Cyprus, the government can suspend any strike for a 60-day period if it deems that the strike endangers the &ldquo;essential works&rdquo; of the country. After such suspension, the strike can continue but the government then has the option to postpone it again since the law allows the government to declare the strike illegal twice in a year. 

The ICEM considers the Northern Cypriot law as running opposite to norms contained in internationally recognized standards regarding the right to strike. 

&ldquo;We are very familiar with such anti-worker, anti-trade union practices in Turkey and now the same holds true in Northern Cyprus,&rdquo; said ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda. &ldquo;Postponing a strike is in effect to ban one.&rdquo; 

Although EL-SEN abided by last night&rsquo;s decree issued by the Northern Cypriot Council of Ministers, the union and its members will stay off their jobs as democratic right of civil disobedience. The ICEM communicated its support of that decision to EL-SEN President Tuluy Kalyoncu today. A similar strike by the telecommunications union TEL-SEN that began at the same time on 19 January continues. 

EL-SEN and ICEM believe the state-owned utility KIB-TEK is sustainable and can be transformed into a viable public utility with a more efficient management. The ICEM also believes that the Northern Cypriot government must engage more fully with EL-SEN and other stakeholders before pushing forward legislation to privatize KIB-TEK. 

Before the strike, ICEM had sent a letter to Prime Minister Irsen K&uuml;&ccedil;&uuml;k urging the government to withdraw the draft privatization bill. The ICEM sent a second letter today, 20 January, to the Prime Minister protesting the Cabinet of Ministers decree last night. 

The ICEM is a Geneva-based Global Union Federation representing 20 million workers through 255 trade unions in 94 countries. 
For further information, contact ICEM Information 
Officer Dick Blin, <a href="mailto:dick.blin@icem.org">dick.blin@icem.org</a>, +41 22 304 1842, or +41 79 734 8994.

ICEM Protests Northern Cyprus Strike Ban in Energy Sector

<img alt="" src="" width="120" height="59" />
Stefan L&ouml;fven, President of Sweden&rsquo;s largest industrial union, IF Metall, was elected today by the Presidium of the Social Democratic Party as Chairman of the resurgent political party. L&ouml;fven was nominated yesterday, 26 January, by the party&rsquo;s Executive Committee to replace H&aring;kan Juholt, who resigned last weekend. 

In a congratulatory note sent by General Secretary Manfred Warda yesterday, the ICEM said, &ldquo;We cannot think of a better, more effective and progressive leader for Sweden.&rdquo; The <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/9.ICEM%20Stefan%20Lofven.26Jan.pdf">full ICEM letter</a> can be found here. 

L&ouml;fven has been President of 355,000-member IF Metall since the union was formed on 1 January 2006 with the merger of the Swedish Industrial Union (Industrifacket) and the Swedish Metalworkers&rsquo; Union (Metall). Previously, he served as Vice President of Metall from 2002. The 55-year-old L&ouml;fven had been employed by that union since 1995, first as a national bargaining officer, then as Secretary, and from 1999 to 2002 as head of the Organising Department. 

&ldquo;With his very long and solid background in the trade union movement, Stefan will be an excellent leader of the Social Democratic Party,&rdquo; said IF Metall and ICEM Vice President Anders Ferbe. &ldquo;He has the power that can give stability and strength to our party.&rdquo; 

The Social Democratic Party had long been the dominant political party in Sweden, establishing the Nordic nation as a model of social fairness and justice both inside Sweden and throughout the world. But in consecutive elections in 2006 and 2010, the leftish party was dethroned and a center-right ruling coalition government took control. 

Warda, in his letter, pledged that the ICEM &ldquo;will stand with you in order that the Social Democratic Party once again not only leads Sweden, but continues to serve as the stellar social model for all the world to follow.&rdquo;
<img src="" width="140" height="45" alt="" />
L&ouml;fven was born in Stockholm but grew up in &Aring;dalen, &Aring;ngermanland, Sweden. His first industrial job was at a sawmill in Domsj&ouml; in 1979, but he then went to work that same year as a welder at the military and all-terrain vehicle manufacturer H&auml;gglunds and S&ouml;ner AB, now part of UK-based BAE Systems. He served as shop steward, sector president and branch president. 

Before his nomination was publicly announced by the Social Democrats&rsquo; Executive yesterday afternoon, he addressed staff of IF Metall, and said, &ldquo;I will keep my roots and my ideas about working life and social welfare for the benefit of all workers, not least of all the members of IF Metall.&rdquo;

IF Metall’s Löfven Takes Reigns of Sweden’s Social Democratic Party

General Prosecutor of the Republic of Kazakhstan 
 
Dear Sirs Manfred Warda and Jyrki Raina, 
 
General Prosecutor of the Republic of Kazakhstan considered your appeal regarding strikes of oil and gas companies in Mangistau region. 
 
We draw your attention to the fact that from the very beginning and to the end of the strikes to all participating parties guaranteed rights to freedom of expression, realization of peaceful assemblies, protection of their rights and freedoms, including the courts, have been granted by the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan 
 
The strikers' demands for better working conditions and increased wages with raising coefficients, which, in their opinion, were not taken into account, were the subject of proceedings in court and have been carefully, thoroughly, objectively and impartially investigated by a court with the participation of all stakeholders in the review of claim requirements of the employers to recognize strikes illegal. 
 
Court ensured full competition and equality of parties, right of the strikers (respondent) to be protected, independent election and protection of their position, qualified legal counsel, right to present evidence and participate in their study, to apply with requests and to give verbal and written explanations to the court. 
 
Upon review of the case the strikes at JSC &laquo;Ersay Caspian Contractor&raquo; (court decision of 05.18.2011), a joint-stock company &laquo;Karazhanbasmunay&raquo; (court decision of 20.05.2011), a joint-stock company &laquo;Ozenmunaygas&raquo; (court decision of 05.27.2011) and LLP &quot;Zhondeu &raquo; (court decision of 06.01.2011) have been recognized by the court illegal. 
 
Despite this, the government together with the TU representatives of the companies repeatedly, practically every day, before and after the recognition of the strikes illegal by the court, conducted outreach with the strikers on the unreasonableness of their demands. Their attention was drawn to the fact that in 2009, 2010 and 2011 the salary of the workers in these enterprises increased three times. During this period, their average salary has increased by 100 thousand tenge (or 690 U.S. dollars) and became 340 000 tenge (or 2300 U.S. dollars), which is today one of the highest in Kazakhstan. 
 
As a result of the above outreach large number of strikers returned to their jobs. 
 
Please also be advised that having sufficient legal grounds for dismissal, employment remained even for the organizers and active participants in the strike. The dismissal of some of them took place only after all measures on their return to work have been taken. 
 
Currently, the strike at these companies ceased. 
 
As part of the prosecution of A. Sokolova (Article 164, part 3, art. 334, part 2 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan), K. Sisenbaev and A. Aminov (Art. 334, part 2 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan), which were the main organizers of illegal strikes, we state that such persons are granted by the court with all procedural rights provided by law for the protection of the criminal process. 
 
The sentences in respect of such persons entered into force. K. Sisenbaev and A. Aminov fully acknowledged their guilt, and they didn&rsquo;t appeal against sentence in superior court. 
 
In addition, I draw your attention to the fact that the arguments about the frequent beatings and threats against the oil workers and their families were not confirmed. No appeals on such cases to the police of Mangistau region have been reported. 
 
The police of Mangistau region filed a suit on the facts of the murder of J. Turbaev and J. Karabalaeva under Art. 96 of the Criminal Code, under which appointed the judicial examination, interviewed relatives of the victims, residents and employees of nearby objects to the scene. Some other investigative actions aimed at the disclosure are carried out. 
 
The investigation of criminal cases is taken under control of the Prosecutor General&rsquo;s Office. 
 
Deputy Director-General 
Prosecutor of the Republic of Kazakhstan A. Kravchenko

Response to ICEM-IMF letter to Kazakhstan Government on Oilworker Strike

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