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I n years past, Tian Chua was a valued and highly-respected labour activist who held close ties and worked intimately with ICEM on several projects. Such work was halted in April 2001 when Tian Chua and others were jailed under the country's Internal Security Act (ISA), a controversial law in Malaysia that among other things allows for indefinite detention without trial. 
 
Twice, in December 2002 and again in May 2003, the ISA Review Board recommended the release of Tian Chua and the others, but the government of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamed refused. The matter has now escalated and evidence from a 9 May assault and beating of Tian Chua at the Kemunting detention centre in Perak state indicates the government has no plans to release him. 
 
Tian Chua and the others were detained under the ISA and no evidence has ever been made public. In September 2002, a Malaysian Federal Court panel ruled that three of the detainees, including Tian Chua, had been unlawfully held since their April 2001 arrests. Chief Justice Mohamded Dzaiddin said their detention was merely for intelligence gathering with no link to national security. "... they were not interrogated on the militant actions and neither were they questioned about getting explosives and weapons. I find that there is much force ... that the detentions were for the ulterior purpose and unconnected with national security," wrote the chief justice. 
 
The ICEM Executive Committee in June 2002 called on the Malaysian goverment to relase Tian Chua and the others, and to abolish the draconian ISA. That pronouncement was reinforced with stronger language at the ICEM Executive on 23 May 2003. 
 
"The ICEM Executive Committee ... calls on the Malaysian government of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamed to immediately release Tian Chua and the other detainees without any conditions, and to allow an investigation by the special representative of the Untied Nations General Secretary on Human Rights over their detention and physical abuse while incarcerated. 
 
"The ICEM also calls on the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) to raise the detention of Tian Chua at the 91st Session of the International Labour Conference in Geneva from the 2nd - 19th June 2003. 
 
"The ICEM calls on the Malaysian government not to interfere with Tian Chua's pursuit of his Doctorate Degree." 
 
Tian Chua was handcuffed and then beaten on 9 May after security guards confiscated a laptop computer from his barracks at the Kemunting detention center where he is now being held.

Demand Malaysian Release of Tian Chua

Two British unions have promised more industrial actions against French-based chemical producer Rhodia unless the firm drops its proposal to exclude new workers from a pension plan. Some 625 workers at two UK Rhodia plants - members of ICEM affiliates GMB and Amicus - struck late 17 July and 18 July at Oldbury, West Midlands, and Widnes, Chesire. 
 

<img height="264" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/rhodia2b.jpg" width="350" alt=""/>
GMB General Secretary Kevin Curran (fourth from left) joined GMB and Amicus members on picket lines at Widnes on 18 July in their one-day industrial action against Rhodia. In foreground, at right, with sign is GMB Convenor Chris Wright. 
The two 24-hour walkouts are the first time British workers have struck to defend their pensions. Talks broke off 1 July when the specialty chemicals maker refused to address its pension curtailments on new employees. The company then failed to respond 11 July to a letter from the unions inviting the firm back to negotiations. GMB and Amicus members then immediately voted to take industrial action at the two plants. 
 
"GMB members know that closing the scheme to new members puts the long term viability of the scheme at risk," stated GMB General Secretary Kevin Curran. "Their security in retirement is being put in jeopardy by the decisions being made by the company now. 
 
"Rhodia have refused to have a proper debate on our members' pensions and have left us with no option but to strike so their united voice can be heard." 
 
Amicus Joint General Secretary Derek Simpson added, "This will be the first in a wave of strike actions that will gather pace as more and more workers realize that they face an old age of poverty. The workers at Rhodia are not just fighting for the future of the scheme, it is for the future of their children and their communities." 
 
By 21 July, the unions were again attempting to re-start talks with Rhodia to address the pension issue. Rhodia has been alerted that another 24-hour work stoppage at the Widnes plant is set for 15 August, while the Oldbury plant will be struck for a full day on 5 September. And intermittent, shift-long actions will occur every few days until then at both sites to protest the pension cuts. 
 
Companies have used dismal stock market performances by funds holding pension assets as an excuse to attack the sanctity of workers' pensions. And Rhodia's decision to restrict new workers from the pension plan and push them instead into a money-purchase scheme comes after years of the firm underfunding the pension plan. Rhodia has dropped its contributions from 18% to 14% over the past three years. 
 
Roger Lyons, Joint General Secretary of Amicus, said, "The willingness to take action by Rhodia employees is the first rumblings of the groundswell of public opinion which will drown us all in old age unless we deal with the pension crises today." 
 
GMB's Curran added, "Our members recognise that closing the scheme to new workers is just the first step to eventually stripping current workers of their hard-earned pensions. Employers need to get the clear message that they cannot back off from their duty." 
 
GMB represents process workers at the two plants in which industrial action occurred 17-18 July, while Amicus represents engineering staff. The Oldbury plant, employing 500, makes flame-retardants, water treatment products, food ingredients and various industrial chemicals. The Widnes plans employs 125 union members and manufactures food ingredients and industrial phosphate chemicals. 
 
The company was created in 1998 when Rhone-Poulenc S.A. spun off two major divisions, Chemicals & Fibers and Polymers, to create publicly-traded Rhodia.

UK Unions Take Industrial Action at Rhodia

T he 20-million-member ICEM has demanded that Rhodia corporate executives in France step in to resolve an escalating pension dispute in the United Kingdom between the company and affiliates, two of which -Amicus and GMB-have engaged in industrial actions. The dispute rapidly deteriorated following talks 6 August before an independent conciliation service when UK managers failed to budge from its position. 
 
 
At issue is the French multinational's insistence that new employees be dropped from a defined benefit pension scheme and placed instead in a money-purchase plan. Amicus and GMB members at two plants-Widnes, Chesire, and Oldbury, West Midlands-have begun a series of rolling, 24- hour walkouts. 
 
On 21 August, ICEM General Secretary Fred Higgs wrote to Rhodia Chairman and CEO Jean-Pierre Tirouflet: "As you must be aware, two ICEM affiliated unions … have already exercised their lawful right to take industrial action over the issue, and more is sure to follow if this dispute is not resolved amicably. The ICEM stands staunchly behind the efforts of our affiliates to retain the pension scheme currently in place for both new and existing Rhodia employees. The ICEM is also prepared to bring this dispute to the attention of Rhodia employees worldwide, as well as to out many affiliated unions in the chemical sector throughout the world. 
 
"Therefore, I call on you and Rhodia executives in France to intervene to create a constructive atmosphere that will ensure an acceptable settlement to the parties involved." 
 
GMB National Secretary Gerry Veart earlier this week had written to Tirouflet, stating, "It is my view that this dispute will increasingly become more and more bitter if an acceptable solution cannot be found. I am therefore writing to you to suggest that a meeting be arranged with executives from your office with a view to reaching a settlement acceptable to all parties." 
 
The 625 union members at the two plants voted per UK law in early July to commence industrial actions despite management inundating them with letters and explanations on why they shouldn't. Then on 17-18 July, workers walked out for 24-hour periods. Again on 15 August, the Widnes workers struck, and Oldbury workers have issued notice that they will withhold their services 5 September and again 19 September. 
 
Rhodia operates five chemical plants in the UK with the Widnes and Oldbury sites former Albright and Wilson plants that have seen pension contribution levels rise steadily to 8% over recent years.

ICEM Demands Rhodia Corporate Involvement

In the mining industry in Canada, 1,300 members of two locals of the United Steelworkers (USW) began a strike 19 July in Trail, British Columbia, against Vancouver-based Teck Cominco Ltd. Workers are seeking to re-gain wage and pension ground given to the company when it was in financial trouble in the 1990s. Teck Cominco operates a refinery for zinc, lead and other metals in Trail. The mine and processing plant provides 3% of the world’s zinc production. The company declared force majeure on all metal and chemical products sales due to the strike. Meanwhile, in the southwestern US, 1,550 USW members continue strikes in two states that began 2 July and 6 July that has crippled cooper production of Asarco, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Grupo Mexico.

Steelworkers Strike Teck Cominco Refinery in Canada

UK affiliate Amicus won an important court case over the EU’s Work Time Directive for North Sea offshore oil workers. A Scottish employment tribunal ruled 26 July that offshore contractors and oil companies cannot deny annual leave to workers because of the irregular pattern of work on offshore rigs. The European Commission had previously upheld Amicus’ claim to the four-week leave provision, and last month’s court decision from Aberdeen—considered a precedent-setting test case—negates employers’ arguments that the Work Time Directive does not apply to worksites beyond the 12-mile limit of UK’s territorial waters.

UK Union Wins North Sea Work-time Directive

Just two years past a bitter 84-day strike, New Zealand paperworkers of ICEM affiliate Engineering Printing and Manufacturing Union (EPMU) and Carter Holt Harvey (CHH) are again locked in a bargaining dispute at the Kinleith mill. CHH, majority owned by US-based International Paper Co., has refused to meet EPMU’s pay demands for over 500 workers at the market pulp and containerboard mill. The union has campaigned since February in all NZ bargaining renewals for “5% in ‘05” but Australia and New Zealand’s biggest paper company has offered only 4% this year and 3% in 2006. EPMU members at Kinleith have threatened industrial action if the dispute over pay and a pay parity issue with workers at another CHH pulp mill is not resolved. At a plywood mill next door to the Kinleith mill near Tokoroa, North Island, EPMU is in consultation with CHH to save and cushion job losses. The company announced it would cut 55 of 250 woodsector jobs at this mill effective 23 August. The US parent of CHH, meanwhile, has also announced that the entirety of the firm’s assets in New Zealand and Australia are now for sale.

Paper Mill Dispute Again Surfaces in New Zealand

Australian unionists protested further job cuts at two plants of Pilkington Glass in Geelong and Laverton following an announcement by General Motors Holden. The automobile manufacturer said it would discontinue its supply of windshield glass from Pilkington and begin import of the product from Thailand, thus costing 120 Pilkington jobs. Workers at the two plants, members of CFMEU, staged a three-hour stop-work protest at Holden’s Port Melbourne auto assembly plant last week. The 120 job cuts would come only four months after Pilkington made 660 workers redundant. Unionists blame both Holden and Pilkington. The glass-maker has been unwilling to make the necessary investment for continual supply to Holden, while the auto-maker is taking advantage of a free-trade agreement the Howard government put in place with Thailand.

Cuts at Glass Plants in Australia Bring Protests to General Motors

A broad workers’ movement in Nepal backed by global trade union confederations will convene next weekend, 10-12 September, in Katmandu. The conference will call for full restoration of human and trade union rights in the Himalayan kingdom and will issue a road map to that end. Some 1,500 trade union leaders from both inside and outside Nepal will attend. National trade union center GEFONT, one of four Nepalese organisations organising the event, said the conference “will declare common mechanism among all workers to fight and safeguard workers’ rights,” adding the conference will “train grassroots representatives at once on necessity of democracy for trade unions.” Even though a state of emergency issued by the monarchy was lifted last spring, trade union rights continue to be suspended and human rights violations continue to occur.

Labour, Human Rights Conference in Nepal

Negotiations between ICEM affiliate NOPEF and the Norwegian Oil Industry Association in the oil services industry broke off and will now enter mediation. The industry has refused to match increases equal to the collective salary regulation for workers on fixed installations. In 2002, oil servicing workers won a five-day strike on the same issue. The matter of wage scale disparities in the oil sector also has an upcoming court trial scheduled in Norway under the country’s Labour Code. NOPEF, meanwhile, is doing its part to rid the global oil industry of corruption. The union formally lodged a complaint with Norwegian economic crime police over bidding procedures conducted by Norway-based Sintef Petroleum Research A/S in Iran.

NOPEF, Oil Industry Enter Dispute Process for Service Workers

Rio Tinto, the world's biggest mining company, is under renewed scrutiny this week as protests by a worldwide coalition of labour, environmental, human rights and indigenous people's organisations hit home. 
 
In the build-up to the company's Annual General Meeting in Melbourne tomorrow, Australian newspapers are this week giving extensive coverage to criticisms of Rio Tinto by the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM). 
 
Due to its anti-union stance in many parts of the world, Rio Tinto is currently one of the main targets for the ICEM's global networking. ICEM Australian affiliate the CFMEU is facing one of Rio Tinto's most sustained attempts to deunionise its mines and end collective bargaining. 
 
The latest media coverage was sparked by the Australian launch today of the Rio Tinto Stakeholders' Report. Published by the ICEM, the 56-page report is entitled Rio Tinto - Tainted Titan. It takes a cool but critical look at the multinational's financial performance and prospects as well as Rio Tinto's record on human rights, health, safety and the environment and relations with indigenous peoples. 
 
The stakeholders' report had also been launched earlier this month in London to coincide with Rio Tinto's AGM there. The company is dual-listed in the UK and Australia. The London AGM witnessed sharp exchanges between union representatives and company chairman Robert Wilson - see ICEM UPDATE 45/1998. The Australian media are predicting more fireworks in Melbourne tomorrow. 
 
The report is available from the ICEM. 
 
It can also be accessed in full on this site, as part of the ICEM'S Rio Tinto cybercampaign. 
 
The cybercampaign is attracting growing attention and support worldwide. It includes a forum where everybody can exchange comments on the company's behaviour and performance. Messages posted so far include one from a Rio Tinto executive - who has not, however, so far registered for a continuing free exchange of views. 
 
 
 
MORE PARLIAMENTARY EMBARRASSMENTS FOR RIO TINTO 
 
Meanwhile, the stakeholders' report was praised in a motion tabled in Britain's House of Commons the day after the London meeting. Moved by Member of Parliament Michael Clapham and backed by many other British legislators, the motion is "That this House congratulates the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions, which represent 20 million workers in 114 countries on their lobby of Rio Tinto's Annual General Meeting on 13th May and on the publication of the Stakeholders' Report - Rio Tinto Tainted Titan, presented on the same day at the Stakeholders' Factual Meeting in the Methodist Central Hall, which examines the company's human rights record and scrutinises the environmental and health and safety performance of its operation; and calls on the company to honour the rights laid out in the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights which it claims to have adopted into its business practice." 
 
The Universal Declaration enshrines everybody's right to form and to join trade unions. 
 
The mining multinational faced further embarrassment in the House of Commons last Thursday, when a parliamentary foreign affairs committee criticised Rio Tinto, British Petroleum, Shell and Unilever for failing to adopt policies that would prevent the exploitation of child labour. Conservative Member of Parliament Sir John Stanley, himself a former Rio Tinto employee, asked representatives of the four multinationals if they had a global minimum age for the hiring of staff. When told they did not, he condemned their "thoroughly woolly" policy on child labour.

Rio Tinto: World Protests Hit Home

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