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	Members of the Swiss trade union UNIA are fighting against the proposed site closure in Geneva of pharmaceuticals giant Merck Serono which threatens 1,500 jobs. Today the workers took their protest to the company headquarters in Darmstadt, Germany, and conveyed the message to management that their threat of strike action is only postponed and can be activated if the consultation period that ends 4 June fails to reach real settlement. The clear expectation is for the multinational to admit the economic viability of the Geneva site and maintain the jobs through negotiating on the proposals submitted by the union.

	The fight against closure of the Geneva site will determine the future of 2,500 jobs in Germany, and 450 in France, as the group plans massive relocation of its operations abroad. The widespread international anger at the company proposals are compounded by the excellent profit margins posted and the recent 20% increase in dividend payments to shareholders. The Merck group announced on 15 May profits of &euro;152 million in the first quarter of 2012. The ICEM strongly supports UNIA&rsquo;s calls for Merck to put &ldquo;Workers before Shareholders!&rdquo;

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	Photo: Unia/Julien Fabr&egrave;gue<img alt="" border="0" class="spacer-gif" height="5" src="" style="margin-top: 10px" title="" width="1" />

	Today in Darmstadt, UNIA militants rallied together with 1,000 members of the German IGBCE at the Merck Serono site, in loud demonstrations with whistles and cowbells and dressed in white overalls. With protests continuing outside the Geneva UNIA delegation of Alessandro Pelizzari and Hubert Godinot, IGBCE representative and European Works Council vice-president Iris G&uuml;rtler met with Dietmar Eidens and Kai Beckmann of the general management, and the chairman of the board Fran&ccedil;ois Naef. Continued disappointing attitude of management now makes renewed conflict after 4 June a real possibility, as the Geneva workforce is even prepared to make concessions on conditions and pay the company looks likely to ignore them.&nbsp;

	A key proposal of Geneva Regional Secretary of UNIA, Alessandro Pelizzari, and the members, is for a centre for biotechnology research is maintained by the company in the region, protecting at least 300 of the jobs threatened with relocation abroad.&nbsp;<a href="http://lolitaoutfits.com/Lolita-Skirts_l95">goth skirt </a>&nbsp;

	Messages of solidarity can be sent to&nbsp;<a href="mailto:info@ms-employees.org">info@ms-employees.org</a>.

Workers Across Europe Unite to Save Jobs at Merck Serono

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	Strikes, road blockades, and mine sit-ins will continue through tomorrow, 31 May, as 8,000 mineworkers at over 40 coal mines in northern Spain continue their protests against government action to cut coal subsidies.

	Backed by mining unions within both of Spain&rsquo;s major labour federations -- Confederaci&oacute;n Sindical de Comisiones Obreras (CCOO) and Uni&oacute;n General de Trabajadores (UGT) &ndash; strikes that began last week will re-start today and tomorrow following the break-off of tripartite talks yesterday, 29 May.

	The unions had hoped those negotiations would at least partially rescind the 64% subsidy cuts contained in the government&rsquo;s budget.

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	Spanish Coal Miners on Strike Last Week

	The strikes began last week, 23-24 May, and saw 100% participation by coal miners. They were halted in order to give a tripartite monitoring committee on coal an opportunity to scale back the subsidies. But after six hours of futile negotiations that lasted into yesterday evening, mineworkers&rsquo; unions of both federations announced resumption of strikes today and tomorrow in and around the cities of Aragon, Asturias, and Castilla y Le&oacute;n, with a major demonstration planed in Madrid.

	Even before talks started yesterday, miners began blocking major road arteries linking northern cities, and ten miners began sit-ins late Monday evening after their shifts ended at the Cand&iacute;n mine in Oviedo. The premature strikes were spontaneous and not authorised by the unions, but the protests depicted the deep frustration felt by Spanish miners to the proposed subsidy curtailments.&nbsp;<a href="http://lolitaoutfits.com/Lolita-Corset_l166">corset for sale</a>

	The Spanish government of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy is adamant to enforce the 64% subsidy reduction in order to reduce the public deficit. But miners and their unions feel such a drastic cutback will be the death knell to coal-mining in Spain, a country that has shed 40,000 jobs over the past 20 year due to pit closures.

Spain’s Coal Miners’ Strike to Block State Aid Cuts to Industry

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	Following a second failed effort by the BHP Billiton-Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA) to force an unwanted enterprise labour agreement on 4,000 Queensland, Australia, coal miners, the tri-union Single Bargaining Unit (SBU) called a seven-day strike starting 23 May at six of the company&rsquo;s rich coking coal mines of the Bowen Basin.

	That strike, one in nearly ten inside a bitter 18-month dispute that has become the bellwether for trade union rights under the Labour government&rsquo;s Fair Work law, will end tomorrow but an end to the long-festering contract battle appears nowhere in sight.

	At issue is managing partner BHP Billiton&rsquo;s longing to block union involvement over safety, work shifts, housing criteria for fly-in, fly-out miners, and equal work rights for contract staff. The SBU is composed on the majority union, the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU), the Australian Manufacturing Workers&rsquo; Union (AMWU), and the Electrical Trades Union of the Communications, Electrical, Plumbing Union (CEPU).

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	Last October, BMA used its Fair Work right to directly ballot miners on its regressive proposals. Then, 92% rejected an offer containing substantial pay gains but gutting union work rights. On 22 May, just four days after counting of a second company ballot that saw 82.7% rejection, BMA and SBU met in Brisbane to avert this latest strike.

	But the company came to the table unwilling to amend its demands.

	&ldquo;With the same arrogant attitude and obviously on the back of two overwhelming &lsquo;no&rsquo; votes,&rdquo; CFMEU Queensland District President Stephen Smyth said, &ldquo;it doesn&rsquo;t seem to register with BHP that what they are selling, our members aren&rsquo;t buying.&rdquo;

	Not only has BMA attempted to circumvent the intent of the Fair Work law over 18 months of futile bargaining, but it also was reprimanded by Fair Work Australia early this month in a failure to communicate legally with the SBU over closure and redundancies at a seventh BMA Bowen Basin mine, the 340-worker Norwich Park mine.

	Also this month, the Congress of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) condemned BHP Billiton&rsquo;s bad-faith bargaining in a formal resolution calling attention to a leaked e-mail in March stating the company&rsquo;s terms &ldquo;are not negotiable, not now, now next month, not next year.&rdquo; The resolution also declared the company&rsquo;s pursuit of safety deregulation &ldquo;from qualified workers on the job to management&rdquo; away from mine sites as the key factor leading to the Pike River mine disaster in new Zealand.

	Past ICEM coverage of the BMA-SBU dispute, including the origins of the above cited e-mail, can be found <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4971-Intentional-BHP-Billiton-Strife-in-Australian-Coal-Dispute-Continues">here</a>, <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4731-Australian-Miners-Reject-BMAa-s-Contract-Proposal-by-9225">here</a> and <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4679-Coal-Boss-Conceit3A-BMA-Tries-to-Bully-Aussie-Labour-Law-Back-to-Howard-Era">here</a>.

Queensland Coal Miners End 7-day Strike after BHP Billiton Ballot Fails

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A 2.9-magnitude earthquake in Henan province, central China, caused a rock slide on 3 November claiming the lives of eight miners and trapping 59 others. Fourteen of the miners were rescued immediately, and 45 other trapped miners found freedom some 30 hours later on Saturday, 5 November, from 480 metres underground. This occurred at the Qianqiu colliery, operated by the large state-run Yina Coal Group. 
 
The earthquake near the city of Sanmenxia collapsed the walls inside shaft. The eight mine deaths in Henan province come just six days after 29 perished in a methane gas explosion in Hunan province, the worse Chinese mine tragedy in recent months. Two days earlier, on 27 October, seven miners died in another gas explosion in Henan province. 
The Hunan tragedy happened in a mine operated by the city of Hengyang called Xialiuchong Coal Mine. The mine was legally registered but provincial authorities had suspended its production license earlier this year for inadequate safety measures regarding methane gas build-up. The blast reportedly occurred when sparks from machinery ignited gas. Six miners were rescued. 
 
The 27 October gas blast occurred at the Jiulishan Coal Mine in Jiaozuo, Henan province. Eighteen managed to escape. The mine was operating legally and is owned by state-owned Henan Coal Chemical Industry Group, a Fortune 500 company. 
 
Last week&rsquo;s earthquake caused a settling of earth that crushed against mine walls, causing a sudden and deadly release of stored energy one-half kilometre underground. Fortunately, enough air was squeezed in through the mine shaft for ventilation and then rescue. It took 200 workers to dig a rescue tunnel 750 metres in length to reach the 45 trapped miners, and serves as a stark reminder on the necessity of a second egress as mandated in ILO Convention 176, the Safety and Health in Mines Convention.

Chinese Earthquake Kills 8 Coal Miners, Bringing Recent Fatality Toll to 44

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The ICEM North American affiliate, United Mine Workers of America (UMWA), issued a report on 25 October accusing Massey Energy and its managers of &ldquo;industrial homicide&rdquo; in the 5 April 2010 explosion that killed 29 non-union miners at Upper Big Branch in the state of West Virginia. 
 
In the 90-page report, the UMWA said that Massey management &ldquo;deliberately flouted&rdquo; well-established safety and health laws in the US even after the mine was cited multiple times for violations by state and federal agencies. 
 
The union cites many factors throughout the report that led to the deadly explosion, but concludes in stating &ldquo;there is only one source for all of them: a rogue corporation, acting without real regard for mine safety and health laws and regulations, that established a physical working environment that can only be described as a bomb waiting to go off.&rdquo; 
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The full UMWA report, called &ldquo;<a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/134334-Upper-Big-Branch.pdf">Industrial Homicide</a>,&rdquo; can be accessed here.&nbsp; 
 
The UMWA demands criminal prosecution for some 18 Massey Energy managers, including CEO Don Blankenship, who retired in December 2010, two months before the thermal coal company was sold to Alpha Natural Resources for US$8.5 billion. The report also recommends over a dozen changes in both state and US federal mine safety laws, mainly concerning tougher penalties on deviant mine operators and stronger protections for whistleblowers who report safety infractions. 
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Dan Kane
&ldquo;Don Blankenship knew exactly what was going on at that mine,&rdquo; said UMWA President Cecil Roberts. &ldquo;He got production reports several times a day. He saw the levels of safety citations and (safety) orders going up. But instead of taking the needed steps to correct the problems, they just kept on running coal.&rdquo; 
 
Added UMWA Secretary-Treasurer and ICEM Executive Committee Member Dan Kane: &ldquo;It is unconscionable in the 21st Century for a mine to be operated in the manner that Upper Big Branch was.&rdquo; 
 
A <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/UMW%20UBB%20Fact%20Sheet.pdf ">fact sheet</a> on the Massey&rsquo;s horrid Upper Big Branch mine disaster of April 2010 is here.

Massey US Coal Mine Deaths Termed ‘Industrial Homicide’ by UMWA

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With Singapore&rsquo;s Retirement and Re-Employment Act (RRA) set to take effect on 1 January 2012, two of ICEM&rsquo;s affiliated unions in the city-state have successfully entered into Memorandums of Agreement with employers and employer organisations stating that salary decreases will not happen once companies are mandated to offer jobs to workers when they reach age 62. 
 
The United Workers of Petroleum Industry (UWPI) and the Singapore Shell Employees&rsquo; Union (SSEU) announced last week that the agreements go beyond what will be required in the new law by guaranteeing that salaries and bonus payments will be maintained for workers between the ages of 62 and 65. 
 
The RRA amends a 1999 law that mandates retirement at age 62. The new Act requires employers to offer re-employment to a worker who reaches age 62 after January 2012, but a provision allows bosses to make &ldquo;reasonable&rdquo; adjustments in salaries, employment terms, and job assignments. 
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Last week, the UWPI got 13 employers to agree to the memorandum stating no lowering of salaries or elimination of bonus payments for oil or petrochemical workers choosing to continue to work after age 62. SSEU reached a similar deal with the Royal Dutch Shell subsidiary in Singapore two months ago. UWPI must now convince 13 other companies to do the same, and the precedent created by the Shell memorandum and last week&rsquo;s deal is expected to convince most to sign such accords with UWPI. 
 
Employers in Singapore, many of whom have begun offering re-employment ahead of the new law, have argued that pay cuts for older workers are necessary because seniority-based salary schemes inflate payrolls. Last week&rsquo;s signing was praised as a &ldquo;win-win&rdquo; result by one governmental minister who said the companies benefit from the loyalty and experience of the older workers. 
 
About half of Singapore&rsquo;s 5,000 oil and petrochemical workers are now covered by the no-cut agreements. The RAA, passed by Singapore&rsquo;s Parliament on 11 January 2011, is aimed at giving more financial security to older citizens, and these labour agreements recently signed in the ICEM sectors now go further to fulfil this.

Singapore’s Oil, Chemical Unions Blocking Pay Cuts after Age 62

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The Action Plan of the ICEM World Conference for the Chemical Industries held in October 2010 in Istanbul, Turkey, defined developing and improving company and sector global and regional network activities as a key priority. 
 
The Conference then endorsed the Secretariat to organize the first meeting of the ICEM Global Pharmaceutical Unions&rsquo; Network in consultation with the unions in the sector. As a result of this, around fifty representatives of ICEM affiliates in the pharmaceutical sector from Belgium, Brazil, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Japan, Norway, Romania, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Turkey and USA met on 28 October in Geneva to discuss current developments in the industry and possible actions in the future. 
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The meeting received a detailed report from Kemal &Ouml;zkan, ICEM Director of Industry and Corporate Affairs, on the global pharmaceutical industry, including an economic and social overview; and impacts of changing health care systems. The report showed that although patent expirations and limits on drug spending can hamper growth of drug sales in developed countries, global pharmaceutical sales are in a growth trend. A substantial rise comes from emerging markets, and the great majority of the expansion is driven by growth in China, the world&rsquo;s third-largest market in the sector. 
 
The participants shared their experiences from respective countries. &ldquo;Due to low birth rate and an ageing population, the costs of the social security system including pension, health care and welfare have been rapidly increasing, which led to a need for reform of tax and social security systems&rdquo; reported Naramato Masafumi, President of Karoken, Council of Chemical Workers&rsquo; Union of Japan, who spoke on behalf of Japanese unions.&rdquo; 
 
&ldquo;Moreover, currently Japan has many problems affecting the socio-economy such as deflation, highly appreciated yen, increased non-regular employees, and the recovery from the devastating Great Earthquake and Tsunami,&rdquo; said Naramato. In his report Ghosalkar Ravindra Govind, President of ICEM&rsquo;s India affiliate Chemical Mazdoor Federation (HMS), underlined considerable changes in his country. 
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Naramato Masafumi, President of Karoken
&ldquo;My country accounts for a relatively large share of the world&rsquo;s disease burden. And while India&rsquo;s burgeoning middle class has greater access to excellent healthcare, the vast majority of citizens still have limited access to basic care,&rdquo; Ghosalkar stated. Other participants gave similar reports about their individual countries and companies. 
 
The participants also largely discussed the current status of restructuring in the industry with mergers and acquisitions, and delocalization and closures of production and research facilities by multinational corporations. 
 
The biggest sale of a private company was Japanese Takeda&rsquo;s acquisition of Swiss pharmaceutical company Nycomed. As an immediate effect of the meeting, representatives of Takeda from Japan, Indonesia and Germany, in a side event, came together to establish a continuous cooperation and networking with each other. 
 
The participants were also shocked to hear the recent announcement of Swiss-based company Novartis with two thousand job losses and two factory closures in Switzerland and Italy, which resulted in an immediate solidarity message to employees and unions there. Fran&ccedil;oise Pierre of FCE-CFDT from France, secretary of the EWC of Sanofi Aventis, reported on a difficult situation at her company where management has announced more restructuring in research and development. 
 
In the conclusions, the ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda mentioned that the network will continue to exchange information and company-level networking drives will be strengthened. It was also agreed to provide immediate solidarity with the unions facing challenges of restructuring. The network elected a representative of the Japanese unions as chairman, while the next meeting is scheduled for the second part of 2012 in Japan.

ICEM Affiliates in Pharmaceutical Sector Strengthen Networking

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The ILO Tripartite Meeting on Promoting Social Dialogue on Restructuring and its Effects on Employment in the Chemical and Pharmaceutical Industries, held from 24-27 October, ended with key conclusions. The purpose of the meeting was to examine best practices of social dialogue, which can facilitate a constructive and conducive atmosphere during restructurings, including mergers and acquisitions. 
 
It was also to adopt conclusions that include proposals for action by governments, employers, and workers&rsquo; organizations, and the ILO. 
 
The meeting was composed of interested governments, 15 employer representatives, and 15 workers&rsquo; representatives appointed by the Governing Body based on nominations submitted by the ILO Director-General after consultations with the respective groups. 
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In addition, representatives of intergovernmental organizations and observers representing certain NGOs also attended the meeting. Coordinated by the ICEM, in cooperation with International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and ILO ACTRAV, the workers&rsquo; group elected Tomas Nieber, Chairman of the ICEM Chemical Sector and Head of Department Economic and Industrial Policy for Germany&rsquo;s IGBCE as chairperson, while Alfons de Potter, Vice-President of Belgian CSC Construction, Energy and Industry was selected spokesperson and Linda McCulloch, National Officer of UK&rsquo;s Unite the Union was selected vice-chairperson. ICEM&rsquo;s Kemal &Ouml;zkan was secretary for the group. 
 
The meeting handled eight discussion points: employment changes in both qualitative and quantitative terms occurring in restructuring processes; ILO&rsquo;s Global Jobs Pact implementations; skills and qualifications, as well as vocational training and education programmes that are conducive to sustainable development; making the industries more attractive to young workers and women, and provide better opportunities for long-term career development; challenges and opportunities by contract and agency labour; best practices of social dialogue in facilitating a constructive and conducive atmosphere for better industrial relations during restructuring; role of social dialogue in improving sustainability of small and medium-sized enterprises, contributing to promoting decent work; and possible activities the ILO should take to promote social dialogue and good employer&ndash;employee relations. 
<img alt="" src="" width="216" height="161" />
from left to right: Linda McCulloch, Tomas Nieber, Kemal &Ouml;zkan, Alfons de Potter
Following long deliberations, a <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/TMCPI-conclusions-2011-En.pdf">set of conclusions</a> were unanimously adopted at the plenary session. It was agreed that &ldquo;social dialogue between worker representatives and employers is a valuable means to manage the process of restructuring in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries, thereby contributing to equitable outcomes for all concerned parties whether at global, regional, national or the enterprise levels.&rdquo; 
 
The groups also underlined that &ldquo;restructuring in the chemical and pharmaceutical sectors should not affect the principles and rights at work as defined by the 1998 ILO Declaration.&rdquo; 
 
An important step forward was achieved on Contract and Agency Labour. The conclusions state: &ldquo;Where the use of contract and agency labour becomes necessary, chemical and pharmaceutical firms should at all times ensure that national occupational safety and health laws, regulations and good practice are applied to this category of workers in accordance with the ILO&rsquo;s fundamental principles and rights at work and relevant international labour standards. Contract and agency workers should enjoy the same fundamental rights at work as the firm&rsquo;s directly recruited workers.&rdquo; 
 
At the meeting&rsquo;s end, ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda said that workers, employers, and governments worked in a constructive manner with a view to securing employment issues in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries. &ldquo;These conclusions are an important guidance tool for all of us,&rdquo; said Warda. &ldquo;It is now time to make proper follow-up activities for making sure these they have practical applications.&rdquo;

Conclusions Adopted at ILO Tripartite Chemicals, Pharmaceutical Meeting

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Following a full year of negotiations, ICEM German affiliate IGBCE and the Northeastern Chemical Employers Association, or AGV Nordostchemie, reached terms on a trendsetting work-time agreement in Germany&rsquo;s eastern states. 
 
On 2 November, the social partners announced completion of a collective agreement that reduces work-time for both younger and older staff, as well as further harmonizing pay and other remuneration with chemical workers in western Germany. The social contract covers 36,000 employees at some 130 companies operating in the five eastern states. 
 
The key component is creation in 2013 of a monetary fund that employers will subsidize through 2.5% of their total annual payrolls, which will initially come to &euro;30 million. It will be used to maintain wage levels for older workers, age 60 and above, who choose to work one less day every other week. For shift workers of the same age, they have the option to work one day less per week. 
<img alt="" src="" width="175" height="132" />
IGBCE Chief Negotiator Peter Hausmann
The fund will also work for younger workers in order for them to tend to family and child care responsibilities. Their normal 40-hour work week in the east will be reduced by 3.5 hours with a minimal pay cut, but not proportional to the time off. In the chemicals sector in western states, the work week is 37.5 hours and the agreement is seen as harmonizing working hours without loss of pay. 
 
It is also seen as a means to retain skilled workers in eastern chemical enterprises, particularly with 70% of eastern workers between the ages of 44 and 59. The agreement bridges the demographic divide by rewarding older workers with sector knowledge and experience, specifically with the statutory retirement age expected to increase upwards from 65. The agreement also creates a &ldquo;work-time bank&rdquo; that allows staff to accumulate extra hours. 
 
&ldquo;We have agreed on a work-time model that provides a collective response to demographic changes,&rdquo; said IGBCE Chief Negotiator Peter Hausmann. &ldquo;For employees with children or dependents, for shift workers and for our older colleagues, this creates significant work-life opportunities.&rdquo; 
 
And IGBCE Northeast Regional Director Petra Reinhold-Knape said, &ldquo;We put in place a very innovative work-time model,&rdquo; adding the agreement will bring to parity the remaining differences between the east and west by &ldquo;putting more money in the pockets&rdquo; of eastern chemical workers. 
 
That was achieved by lifting eastern workers&rsquo; 13th month Christmas salary payment in two stages to match the 95% that western workers get by 2014. Workers in the east now receive 65% for the 13th month. 
 
As well, pay increases for job levels will be harmonised between east and west. Currently, the wage increases within each level are different, with those in the west 8% higher. Next year, that divide will be halved, with parity coming in 2014, the time when IGBCE and AGV Nordostchemie enter the next round of bargaining.

IGBCE Reaches Novel ‘Work Time’ Pact in Eastern Chemicals Sector

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Union members of Teamsters (IBT) Local 495 approved a long-term agreement with the successor employer to BMW at an auto-parts distribution warehouse in Ontario, California. Local 495 members, who waged a <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4570-US-Teamsters-Ardently-Resist-BMW-s-Auto-Parts-Outsourcing">summer-long campaign</a> to retain their jobs after BMW said it would terminate the labour agreement and outsource the operation, ratified a new accord 46-2 on 28 October. 
 
The ratification means that none of the 70 workers currently employed by BMW North America will be laid off and they will begin employment under a logistics company called the 2 AM Group on 1 January with full seniority and full union rights. The contract also contains nearly the same wage and benefit package as currently paid by BMW. 
 
The 2 AM Group is a logistics provider for BMW at assembly plants in the US states of South Carolina and Alabama, and also operates services for the luxury automaker in Munich, Germany, and Puebla, Mexico. 
<img alt="" src="" width="308" height="161" />
Teamsters handbilling in Seattle
This is the first collective agreement for 2 AM Group in the US. 
 
Although the agreement calls for a slight pay decrease from the base US$25-per-hour wage to US$23.50, the upcoming contract contains performance incentives that could lift overall pay. 
 
Local 495 and its Washington, DC-based parent union, the IBT, ran a pressure campaign against BMW in Germany, the UK, and across the US aimed at job retention and continued union representation at BMW&rsquo;s Southern California warehouse. That campaign won partial success on 9 August when the two sides agreed to extend a collective agreement expiring on 31 August for another six months. (Read <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4610-Campaign-Action-Wins-US-Teamsters-BMW-Contract-Extension">ICEM report</a> here.)&nbsp; 
 
The new accord with 2 AM completes the victory and proves that active campaigning by a trade union when confronted with workplace restructuring can reverse a company&rsquo;s intended plans. 
 
IBT Director of Global Strategies Tim Beaty expressed the appreciation of the union on behalf of General President Jim Hoffa and Local 495 Secretary-Treasurer Bob Lennox to the trade unions in Europe and the US that helped bring the message to BMW over the summer.

US Teamsters Win Job Security with BMW’s Auto Parts Successor

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