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Upwards of 30,000 trade unionists manifested in the streets of Switzerland&rsquo;s capital, Bern, Saturday, 19 September, in what the national general workers&rsquo; union, Unia, billed as a day in which workers declare, &ldquo;We Will Not Pay for the Crisis. The manifestation, sponsored by all Swiss trade unions, was intended to serve notice to a Parliament that it must adopt new policies to secure work, wages, and pensions in the face of the global economic crisis. 
 
The manifestation, in terms of sheer numbers, exceeded the expectations of Unia organisers. The union made plans for 20,000 demonstrators. Marches began in three different locations in Berne, and then converged at the Parliament House.
<img alt="" src="" width="330" height="220" />
&copy;Thierry Porchot&nbsp; 

The battle cry heard throughout the afternoon was the Swiss working class will not double-pay on a crisis it did not cause; meaning job reductions and the dismantling of social safety nets will not be tolerated. Speaker after speaker said the economic crisis was caused by greed and a blind faith that markets could regulate themselves. Speakers called for an end to erosion of social security systems and instead called on the government to restore safety nets to all people living in Switzerland. 
 
We are against a policy in which CHF 68 billion in government money is invested in UBS,&rdquo; said Paul Rechsteiner, President of the Swiss Trade Union Confederation (SGB), adding that the bank last week refused to implement effective measures against the crisis. 
 
The unemployment rate in Switzerland has now climbed over the 4% mark, which is considered high by Swiss standards.
<img alt="" src="" width="260" height="173" />
&nbsp;&copy;Thierry Porchot
Now is the time, asserts Unia, that effective measures must be undertaken to inject money into jobs and training, including programmes on youth employment, and extending options for shortened work hours at full pay. Unia also calls for adequate wage increases across Switzerland in 2010 in order to spur purchasing power. 
 
The manifestation culminated a week of action aimed at instituting a Swiss social order that focuses on people, not profits and greed. On Monday, 14 September, Rechsteiner told a press conference that Swiss workers demand decent wages and decent conditions of work, as well as a functioning system of social security.

30,000 Take to Streets in Bern Demanding Fairness in Economic Crisis

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Some 3,000 people crowded into the Sudbury, Ontario, ice hockey arena on 19 September and enthusiastically greeted global trade union leaders in what was billed as an &ldquo;International and Community Rally in Support of Sudbury&rsquo;s Strikers.&rdquo; 
 
International union leaders, including ICEM&rsquo;s Manfred Warda, Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF) General Secretary Jyrki Raina, Sharan Burrow, President of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), and Ken Georgetti, President of the Canadian Labour Congress, joined others to tell striking miners of the United Steelworkers (USW) that their nine-week strike against Vale has gained worldwide attention, and brought trade union pressure on Vale in all its global operations. 
 
&ldquo;Your struggle has now got the support and attention of the entire global union movement,&rdquo; said the ICEM&rsquo;s Warda. &ldquo;This conflict now has a global dimension, from nickel miners in Indonesia to mining communities in Africa and, of course, to miners and metalworkers in Brazil, this fight is now our fight, and we will assist in every way possible for a sustainable future for you and your families here in northern Ontario.&rdquo;
<img alt="" src="" width="320" height="240" />
USW Local 6500 President John Fera, with rally speakers behind him&nbsp;
The strike started on 13 July after USW Locals 6500 in Sudbury and Local 6200 in Port Colborne, joined in a common labour contract, gave the world&rsquo;s number two nickel producer a ten-week extension back in May. But instead of reaching agreement, based on Vale&rsquo;s vast profit margins despite the global downturn, managers of nickel entity Vale-Inco pressed ahead with concession-ridden proposals that would deflate the livelihoods of 3,500 workers and their families in Sudbury and in Port Colborne, 400 kilometres south on Lake Erie. 
 
Those concessionary proposals, still on the table, include retirement reductions, a two-tiered pension scheme, steep downgrades to a production bonus, and loss of value in cost-of-living adjustments. As well, Vale-Inco is seeking greater flexibility on outsourcing, standing as a serious affront to job security. 
 
On 1 August, 450 workers of USW Local 9508 in Voiseys Bay, Labrador, struck. Miners and smelter workers there, employed at Vale&rsquo;s nickel, copper, and cobalt mines and a processing enterprise, are under a separate labour agreement than the one in Ontario, but Vale&rsquo;s income-wrecking proposals are the same. 
 
Saturday&rsquo;s rally by the USW was meant to show strikers &ndash; as well as the rest of Canada and the world&rsquo;s mining industry &ndash; that global labour will stand together to prevent a prosperous mining house from boosting its profit sheet at the expense of workers.
<img alt="" src="" width="340" height="255" />
From left: USW's Leo Gerard; Carolyn Kazdin, USW rep in Brazil; Eduardo Fernando Jardim Pinto (STEFEM-Brazil); and Ken Neumann, USW Canadian Director&nbsp;and ICEM Vice President&nbsp; 

Those attending the rally were energized and excited to hear speakers from across the globe come to northern Ontario to address their issues. 
 
USW President Leo Gerard, who opened the rally, said the Brazilian company picked the wrong group of workers to start a fight with. &ldquo;This strike will determine what kind of future we&rsquo;ll have, and what kind of future our kids and grandkids will have,&rdquo; said Gerard, a native of Sudbury and a member of USW Local 6500. 
 
Following Gerard, Burrow, who also heads the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), told those assembled, &ldquo;You are standing up to the biggest corporate bully in the world. Congratulations &hellip; you are standing up for yourselves, for your children, and for your community.&rdquo; 
 
Another trade union leader, Artur Henrique da Silva Santos, President of Brazil&rsquo;s Central &Uacute;nica dos Trabalhadores (CUT), said Vale is not living up to the &ldquo;big deal it makes about corporate social responsibilities&rdquo; by its assault on workers in Canada, and vowed that Brazilian workers will stand with the USW throughout and beyond this fight.
<img alt="" src="" width="260" height="195" />
Jack Layton, national leader of the Canadian NDP party, brought striking steelworkers and their families to their feet when he said, &ldquo;You&rsquo;re going to win this battle, my friends.&rdquo; This company &ldquo;cannot take away what working people have built over generations in this country and this town.&rdquo; 
 
Other speakers included General Secretary Jorge Campos of the Brazilian mining union Sindimina-RJ (CNTSM), who is secretary of the Vale Union Network of Workers, and Paul Talbot, Assistant General Secretary of Unite the Union from the Amicus Section in the UK. 
 
USW National Canadian Director Ken Neumann said, &ldquo;We recognise that the only way we&rsquo;re going to win this strike is we&rsquo;re going to need the support from our allies around the world.&rdquo; With Saturday&rsquo;s showing of international union leaders, there is little question that global support for the Canadian strikers is alive, with trade union pressure worldwide beginning to mount against Vale. 
 
More coverage on the strike can be found at <a href="http://www.fairdealnow.ca">www.fairdealnow.ca</a>.

Canadian Nickel Strikers Receive Global Union Leaders in Sudbury, Ontario

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Meeting in Lagos, Nigeria, on 15 September, ICEM&rsquo;s Sub-Sahara African Regional Organisation (SSARO) called for greater security measures to be taken to protect energy workers in the Niger Delta. With representatives from ICEM&rsquo;s two Nigerian affiliates, NUPENG and PENGASSAN present and hosting the meeting, the committee noted that the region has not known peace since oil reserves were first extracted 50 years ago. 
 
The committee differentiated between community and labour groups genuinely seeking career opportunities for the indigenous people of the region and a stop to environmental degradation, and gangs of thugs using kidnappings and ransoms to enrich themselves. SSARO acknowledged that Nigeria President Umaru Yar&rsquo;Adua is correct in calling on global energy companies to halt purchases of bunkered oil from unsavory types, whose only interest is trading cash for weaponry. 
 
The regional committee, chaired by Rayford Mbulu, President of the Mineworkers&rsquo; Union of Zambia, also gave approval to the Nigerian government&rsquo;s offer of amnesty to militants who come forward and lay down their arms. It urged the main militant group, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), to extend its unilateral ceasefire indefinitely.
<img alt="" src="" width="180" height="169" />
&nbsp;Rayford Mbulu 

The committee concluded the Niger Delta debate by identifying the main causes of civil unrest, which has caused cutbacks in production of both oil and gas. They include: a shortage of skill-building, training, and job opportunities by multinational energy companies for people of the region; rampant use of casualisation regarding labour by both local suppliers and multinationals; uneven revenue distribution; environmental degradation; and political marginalization, both at the federal level and within some states of the Niger Delta region. 
 
In other business taken up by SSARO, trade union leaders of Africa called attention to the climate change issue, saying current widespread flooding in many parts of West Africa, including Ghana, Benin, Niger, Senegal, and Burkina Faso, is a direct result of climate change. The committee said such flooding will cause serious famine in parts of West Africa, and called on the governments of Africa to be prepared to deal with the resulting human devastation. 
 
The ICEM&rsquo;s African regional grouping resolved to bring pressure against global mining and energy giant BHP for its use of replacement workers in a legal South African dispute between the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and BHP at the company&rsquo;s Hozatel manganese mine in Northern Cape State. SSARO also took up the strike by members of the United Steelworkers (USW) in Canada against the Brazilian mining company Vale, and passed a resolution to intervene on mining investment by the Brazilian company in Africa. More on that is <a href="/en/5-Mining-DGOJP/3394-">here</a>.

ICEM’s Sub-Sahara Africa Regional Committee Addresses Niger Delta Security

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Patience by members of ICEM-affiliated Ghana Mine Workers&rsquo; Union (GMWU) has worn thin with the African nation&rsquo;s three largest gold producers, AngloGold Ashanti, Goldfields, and Newmont Mining. The union has been in wage talks with the major producers throughout the summer, focusing mainly on narrowing the wide pay gap between expatriate workers and Ghana staff. 
 
The mining houses have become difficult in talks. Despite gold being one mineral which has maintained high pricing value during the economic crisis, AngloGold and Goldfields, in particular, are cold to the GMWU&rsquo;s proposal to lift base wages of Ghanaian miners gradually over the next three years. The wage agreement for 2009 in mining expired in July. 
 
The mining companies&rsquo; intransigence has already produced GMWU industrial actions. In early August, 4,600 miners staged a two-day strike at AngloGold&rsquo;s three mines and last week, 2,100 Goldfields miners began &ldquo;go-slow&rdquo; industrial actions at the South African-based mining house&rsquo;s two mines, including Ghana&rsquo;s largest producing gold mine &ndash; Tarkwa.
<img src="" width="250" height="115" alt="" />
Talks between GMWU and Goldfields on 17-18 September again went nowhere, and GMWU General Secretary Prince William Ankrah said the union&rsquo;s executive council met over the weekend to assess the situation and plan further action. 
 
&ldquo;The situation is dire,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;There now is a very good possibility that we will conduct nationwide strikes against the entire industry.&rdquo; Such industrial actions would also involve smaller mining concerns. Since Goldfields has applied to the Ghana Labour Commission for intervention over last week&rsquo;s actions, GMWU will now file for arbitration with the commission. 
 
&ldquo;We are realistic that mining companies cannot equalize the pay disproportion between expatiates and local staff immediately,&rdquo; said Ankrah. &ldquo;But we have very clear direction from our National Executive Council that a wage review must now begin, with the disparity bridged over the next three years.&rdquo; 
 
The union is seeking a 24.5% increase over the three years, which would produce a minimum monthly salary of US$500 by 2011. The mining houses have offered an increment of only 3.5%. 
 
GMWU points out that pay of Ghana&rsquo;s AngloGold executives is 289 times that of the lowest-paid worker, while at Goldfields it is 201 times. Mid-level expat workers in the gold mines receive salaries that are above twice that of local staff doing the same jobs. Lower-tiered salary levels for Ghanaian staff are up to 30 times less than that of expat workers. 
 
At AngloGold, junior staff &ndash; numbering about 4,000 workers &ndash; account for 46% of the payroll, while 675 managers account for 35% and 42 expat workers count for 18% of payroll costs. 
 
In Ghana&rsquo;s mining sector, the US dollar is used as the basis for salaries. In bargaining with Goldfields, the company said the weakness of the American dollar had already lifted salaries when converted to cedis (GHC), an argument the GMWU found insulting.

Ghana Miners’ Escalate Pay Dispute with Gold Producers

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ABD'nin en b&uuml;y&uuml;k ulusal sendikal merkezi AFL-CIO'nun Pennsylvania eyaletinin Pittsburgh kentinde yapılan 26. olağan genel kurulunda delegeler Richard Trumka'yı başkan se&ccedil;ti. ICEM &uuml;yesi ABD Birleşik Maden İş&ccedil;ileri Sendikası (UMWA) &uuml;yesi Trumka 1995'ten bu yana AFL-CIO mali sekreterliği g&ouml;revini y&uuml;r&uuml;t&uuml;yordu. 
 
Batı Pennsylvania'da madenci bir ailenin &uuml;&ccedil;&uuml;nc&uuml; kuşağından gelen Trumka, sendikaların saflarına gen&ccedil;leri kazanarak Amerikan sendikal hareketini canlandırmayı vaat ediyor. G&ouml;revi devralırken yaptığı konuşmada, Trumka, &ldquo;değişen ekonomide Amerikalıların ihtiya&ccedil;larını karşılayacak yeni bir sendikal hareket&rdquo; inşa edeceğini vurguladı. 
 
AFL-CIO'ya &uuml;&ccedil; d&ouml;nem başkanlık yapan John Sweeney'den g&ouml;revi devralan Trumka sendika avukatlığı da yaptı. 1974'te UMWA'nın Hukuk Servisi'nde &ccedil;alışmaya başladı. 1982'de maden sendikasına başkan se&ccedil;ildi. 1995'te Sweeney'nin AFL-CIO y&ouml;netim ekibinde yer alana kadar bu g&ouml;revi y&uuml;r&uuml;tt&uuml;.
<img src="" width="180" height="200" alt="" />
Arlene Holt-Baker, Richard Trumka ve Liz Shuler
56 sendikadan toplam 10 milyon &uuml;yeyi &ccedil;atısı altında toplayan federasyonun mali sekreterlik g&ouml;revini ge&ccedil;en hafta Trumka'dan devralan Liz Shuler Elektrik İş&ccedil;ileri Sendikası'ndan (IBEW) geliyor. Başkan yardımcılığı g&ouml;revine se&ccedil;ilen Arlene Holt-Baker ise kamu y&ouml;netimi &ccedil;alışanlarının sendikası AFSCME'den geliyor. 
 
Genel Kurul'da alınan 70 kadar karardan ikisi Irak'la ilgili. Kararlardan biri, Obama y&ouml;netimini, Irak'ta sendikaların meşruluğunu g&uuml;vence altına alan, ILO normlarına uygun bir iş yasası &ccedil;ıkarılması i&ccedil;in Irak y&ouml;netimi &uuml;zerindeki n&uuml;fuzunu kullanmaya &ccedil;ağırıyor. &Ouml;b&uuml;r karar ise ABD y&ouml;netiminin askeri işgale son vermesini ve askeri birliklerini bu &uuml;lkeden hızla geri &ccedil;ekmesini istiyor. 
 
Bir diğer kararda ise ABD'nin Honduras'taki askeri rejime yaptırım uygulaması isteniyor. Bu yaptırım &ccedil;er&ccedil;evesinde, Manuel Zeleya demokratik Honduras'ın meşru başkanı olarak tekrar g&ouml;revine d&ouml;nene kadar, ABD el&ccedil;isinin geri &ccedil;ekilmesi, Haziran 2009 darbesinden sorumlu kişilerin malvarlıklarının bloke edilmesi ve Honduras'la b&uuml;t&uuml;n ticari ilişkilerin askıya alınması &ouml;neriliyor.

ABD Maden İşçileri Sendikası&#039;ndan Richard Trumka AFL-CIO Başkanı

<img src="" width="100" height="39" alt="" />
ICEM Orta Avrupa ve Doğu Avrupa/Kafkaslar'da anat&uuml;z&uuml;k uyarınca b&ouml;lge toplantıları d&uuml;zenledi. 12 Eyl&uuml;l'de Orta Avrupa toplantısı Hırvatistan'ın Sibenik kentinde yapıldı. 
 
Toplantıya Bosna-Hersek, Hırvatistan, Macaristan, Makedonya, Romanya, Sırbistan, Slovakya ve Slovenya'dan sendika temsilcileri katıldı. Toplantıyı y&ouml;neten Slovakya kimya sendikasının başkanı Juraj Blah&aacute;k, tekrar b&ouml;lgeyle ilgili ICEM Başkan Yardımcısı se&ccedil;ildi. Blah&aacute;k, ayrıca, Orta Avrupa b&ouml;lge komitesinin başkanlığı g&ouml;revine de yeniden se&ccedil;ildi.
<img src="" width="340" height="255" alt="" />
Orta Avrupa toplantısındaki sekiz &uuml;lke sendikasının temsilcileri&nbsp;
Delegeler &uuml;lke raporları sundular, b&ouml;lgesel &ccedil;alışmalar &uuml;zerinde durdular ve k&uuml;resel ekonomik krizin her bir &uuml;lke &uuml;zerindeki etkilerini tartıştılar. ICEM Genel Sekreteri Manfred Warda ise ICEM'in k&uuml;resel faaliyetlerini a&ccedil;ıkladı ve Cenevre'de Haziran ayında yapılan ICEM Y&ouml;netim Kurulu toplantısında &ouml;zellikle ekonomik kriz &uuml;zerine yapılan g&ouml;r&uuml;şmeler ve alınan kararlar konusunda bilgi verdi. 
 
16 Eyl&uuml;l g&uuml;n&uuml; Ukrayna'nın başkenti Kiev'de Azerbaycan, Belorusya, Rusya, Ukrayna ve &Ouml;zbekistan sendikalarının temsilcileri Doğu Avrupa/Kafkaslar b&ouml;lge toplantısı i&ccedil;in bir araya geldiler. Toplantıyı, Rusya maden iş&ccedil;ilerinin sendikası Rusugleprof'dan, ICEM Başkan Yardımcısı ve B&ouml;lge Başkanı İvan Mohna&ccedil;uk y&ouml;netti.
<img src="" width="340" height="255" alt="" />
&nbsp;İvan Mohna&ccedil;uk (solda), &ccedil;evirmen Eugene Kuprin ve ICEM'den Manfred Warda 

ICEM &uuml;yelik aidatları konusunun da g&ouml;r&uuml;ş&uuml;ld&uuml;ğ&uuml; toplantıda, bu konunun gelecek ay yapılacak ICEM Başkanlar Kurulu toplantısına g&ouml;t&uuml;r&uuml;lmesi kararlaştırıldı. Delegelerin &uuml;lke raporlarından sonra, Manfred Warda ICEM Y&ouml;netim Kurulu toplantısı konusunda bilgi verdi. 
 
&Ouml;zbekistan Enerji, Kimya ve Jeoloji İş&ccedil;ileri Sendikası'ndan Mavcuda Halilova b&ouml;lge toplantısına Kadın Komitesi'nin raporunu sundu.

ICEM Orta Avrupa, Doğu Avrupa/Kafkaslar&#039;da Bölge Toplantıları Yaptı

<img src="" width="100" height="39" alt="" />
ABD'nin Pittsburgh kentindeki G20 toplantısıyla ilgili olarak, ICEM &uuml;yesi Birleşik Elektrik, Radyo ve Makine İş&ccedil;ileri Sendikası (UE), Pittsburgh United adlı bir sivil toplum grubuyla birlikte, bir dizi etkinliğin d&uuml;zenlenmesine &ouml;nc&uuml;l&uuml;k ediyor. Bu etkinlikler, G20 maliye bakanlarının ve k&uuml;resel ekonomik kurumların &ldquo;&ouml;nce insan&rdquo; g&uuml;ndeminin yerine &ldquo;k&acirc;r hırsı&rdquo;ndan oluşan neoliberal g&uuml;ndemi nasıl ge&ccedil;irdiklerini g&ouml;stermeyi ama&ccedil;lıyor. 
 
ABD'de sivil toplum grupları ile sendikalardan oluşan, &ldquo;Halkın Sesi: G20'nin Şirketlerin K&uuml;reselleşmesi G&uuml;ndeminin Sorgulanması&rdquo; adlı geniş bir ağ, Orta ve G&uuml;ney Amerika'daki benzer &ouml;rg&uuml;t ve gruplarla birlikte, 23-25 Eyl&uuml;l g&uuml;nlerinde d&ouml;rt forum d&uuml;zenleyecek. Forumlarda, d&uuml;nyanın d&ouml;rt bir yanında yoksulluğa, eşitsizliğe, işsizliğe ve &ccedil;evresel yıkıma yol a&ccedil;an G20 g&uuml;ndemi tartışılacak.
<img src="" width="130" height="76" alt="" />
&nbsp;23 Eyl&uuml;l'de ilk etkinlik olarak d&uuml;zenlenecek panelde, G20 politikaları ve toplumsal yaşam &uuml;zerindeki etkileri tartışılacak. Panele ABD Birleşik &Ccedil;elik İş&ccedil;ileri Sendikası (USW) Başkanı Leo Gerard ve Nobel &Ouml;d&uuml;ll&uuml; iktisat&ccedil;ı Joseph Stiglitz de katılacak. 
 
24 Eyl&uuml;l akşamı d&uuml;zenlenecek bir başka panel, &ldquo;Halkın Sesi: K&uuml;resel/Yerel Bir Alışveriş&rdquo; adını taşıyor. Ayrıca, aynı g&uuml;n&uuml;n gecesi d&uuml;zenlenecek bir &ldquo;Halk Mahkeme&rdquo;nde G20'nin ekonomik &ouml;ncelikler g&uuml;ndemi yargılanacak. 25 Eyl&uuml;l g&uuml;n&uuml; d&uuml;zenlenecek &ldquo;Latin Amerika'dan Sesler&rdquo; adlı oturuma ise Bolivya, Honduras, Meksika ve Peru'dan sendika ve sivil toplum aktivistleri katılacak.

ABD&#039;de Sivil Toplum Grupları Pittsburgh&#039;da Alternatif G20 Forumları Düzenliyor

<img src="" width="100" height="39" alt="" />
The ICEM-affiliated General Union of Electricity Workers and Technicians in Basra, Iraq, has been faced with a hostile new general manager of the electricity network in Southern Iraq. The union, led by President Hashmeyia Muhsin Saadawi, is attempting to gain wage arrears for power station security guards, who have been illegally refused back wages. 
 
The salary arrears are for overtime work and work that had previously been approved by management. The union has been attempting to negotiate the issue with the manager throughout September, but Hashmeyia Muhsin recently told the ICEM that she has grown frustrated with his intransigence. Of late, the new general manager admitted that &ldquo;the security guards are entitled to the allocation of extra hours, but I am not paying them, so let them complain to the Inspector-General or any other authority.&rdquo; 

<img src="" width="190" height="128" alt="" />
President Hashmeyia Muhsin Saadawi
The claim of the Basra Electricity Workers and Technicians is clear; security guards at the company are contractually allocated 154 working hours per month, distributed over morning, evening, and night shifts. However, those workers work an average of 192 hours per month, and rightfully expect overtime pay. 
 
On 21 September, a large number of the affected security guards, joined by other members of the union, assembled in front of the headquarters of the authority for Power Transmission in Southern Iraq. That action, which illustrated the level of solidarity for the security workers by all segments of workers in the union, did succeed in attracting the attention of the Department of the Inspector General, as well as the Electricity Commission of local government. 
 
But a settlement to the issue still has not been reached. The ICEM will continue to follow and report on this story as, hopefully, positive developments occur.

Iraqi Electricity Trade Union Faces Intransigent Manager in Southern Iraq

Tom Albanese 
Chief Executive 
Rio Tinto plc 
2 Eastbourne Terrace 
London 
W2 6LG 
United Kingdom 
 
Fax +44 20 7781 1800 
 
Geneva, 17 September 2009 
 
Dear Mr. Albanese, 
 
We have recently learned of the contract demands that Rio Tinto has made of 600 miners represented by Local 30 of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU), AFL-CIO, in Boron, California. 
 
We are deeply concerned that Rio Tinto is creating an unnecessary conflict at this mine. The company proposes to dramatically reduce worker rights provided under the current agreement; terminate the current pension plan; drastically increase costs for dental and medical benefits: eliminate leave for sick workers; take away bidding rights of older workers; and offer no wage increases over 8 years while cutting wages if productivity falls. Clearly, your management is also seeking to weaken the trade union. 
 
The demands made by your management are unjustified and draconian. Moreover, these demands contradict your own policies concerning sustainable development since you seek to punish the workers and their community which have been responsible for your success. 
 
We will be supporting the ILWU in whatever way we can. 
 
Sincerely,

Rio Tinto, Model Letter

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
Some 1,200 miners at Shougang Hierro Peru begin their second week of an indefinite strike today, with no end in sight, as the company continues to refuse to enter dialogue with the union. Shougang Hierro&rsquo;s Marcona mine in Southern Peru is the country&rsquo;s only iron ore mine, producing 7.5 million tonnes of iron ore last year, and is part of China&rsquo;s state-owned Shougang Group. 
 
Management has failed to follow through on a collective agreement reached in July this year, which was supposed to raise daily wages by US$1.91 a day. The July agreement was reached through arbitration with Peru&rsquo;s Labour Ministry, and followed a 10-day strike at the mine. 
 
Shougang Hierro is notorious for paying the lowest salaries in Peru&rsquo;s entire mining sector. 

<img alt="" src="" width="250" height="179" />
Shougang Miners
The Labour Ministry resolution last summer called on the company to raise miners&rsquo; wages, or be faced with a large fine. Mine management preferred to pay the fine rather than hike miners&rsquo; wages. The ICEM calls on the government of Peru to take more definitive action against the Chinese mining concern. 
 
Peru&rsquo;s national miners&rsquo; and metalworkers&rsquo; union, ICEM affiliate FNTMMSP, last week called on its members to carry out a nationwide sector strike 19-20 October in support of Shougang miners. 
 
The striking miners are further demanding improved health benefits, and better safety and hygiene. 
 
A union spokesman, Julian Julca, stated, &ldquo;The strike is total. We are approximately 1,200 workers on strike.&rdquo; In response to the action by 100% of Shougang Hierro miners, management made a request to the Labour Ministry to declare the strike illegal. 

<img alt="" src="" width="200" height="93" />
A US$1 billion expansion of the mine is currently underway to increase annual output by 10 million tones. Despite the global recession, Shougang Hierro Peru reported profits last year of US$145 million, a 50% increase over the previous year, and a figure almost three times the yearly profit of 2004. 
 
The national mining strike scheduled for 19-20 October is aimed at demanding compliance with the Labour Ministry resolution to raise the wages of Shougang Hierro miners, and will also demand the signing of a mining retirement bill by the government. In addition, FNTMMSP is seeking passage and enactment of mining profits legislation in Congress, which will assist all miners financially. 
 
The federated union also demands release of union leaders who were incarcerated for their involvement in a strike action at Minera Casapalca, and demands respect for the collective negotiation processes for both direct and outsourced workers. 
 
Peru is one of the world&rsquo;s top mining and metallurgical producers. The mining sector accounts for 60% of the country&rsquo;s total exports. The Marcona mine, 220 miles south of Lima, was bought by the Chinese national steel company in 1993.

Strike by Peru’s Miners Against China’s Shougang Group Hardens

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