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<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100" height="39" alt=""/>
The ICEM-Lukoil Global Framework Agreement, first negotiated in May 2004, was updated and extended last week for a further year at a meeting at Lukoil’s headquarters in Moscow. 
 
By signing the document, OAO Lukoil confirms its adherence to the principles of the UNO Global Initiative, as well as to the basic labor and environmental principles specified in the conventions of the UNO and the ILO. Under the agreement, Lukoil intends to keep its employees’ lives and their health protection as a top priority in relation to production performance. 
 
Signing the agreement were ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda, Lukoil President Vagit Alekperov, Russian Oil, Gas, and Construction Workers’ Union (ROGWU) Chairman Lev Mironov, and Georgy Kiradiev, Chairman of the Council for the International Association of Lukoil Trade Union Organizations (OAO LUKOIL IATUO). 

<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1005.lukoilsigning2010.jpg" width="225" height="156" alt=""/>
From left, Georgy Kiradiev, Vagit Alekperov, Manfred Warda, Lev Mironov 
Photo: Lukoil
Following the signature ceremony, the parties engaged in a detailed question and answer session, outlining each other’s views of the present situation in the global oil and gas industry, as well as forthcoming activities. Lukoil also presented an overview of recent investment decisions and challenges posed by the world economic crisis. 
 
Both the ICEM and company and ICEM concentrated at first on the major oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, a disaster so serious it was already impacting on both production and further exploration decisions in deep and ultra-deep water deposits worldwide. 
 
ICEM discussed its program of social dialog in the Caspian Sea region, where Lukoil had recently brought on-stream the Yu Korchagin field in the Russian offshore of the Caspian Sea. The field was discovered by Lukoil in 2000 and the maximum expected output is 2.5 million tons of oil and 1 billion cubic meters of gas annually. 

<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/lukoil.gif" width="149" height="43" alt=""/>
Between 2004 and 2009, LUKOIL invested a total of RUR 34.4 billion into field development. The company expects to extract 343,000 tons of oil by the end of the year. 
 
There was also a discussion on the company's recent investment in Iraq, as well as the ICEM World Energy Conference, slated for Stavanger, Norway, from 6-8 September 2010. 
 
Lukoil, ICEM, and the Russian trade unions present agreed that there should be further detailed discussions on all of the issues raised.

ICEM, Lukoil Renew Global Agreement for Another Year

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A wage agreement will likely will be signed today giving 5,800 miners and metalworkers in Georgia a minimum 15% pay increase, backdated to 1 May. For those working shifts at the Zestafoni Ferroalloys plant and Georgian Manganese mines, a further 7% was won on top of the 15%. 
 
That was assured on Friday, 28 May, when one of the Georgian shareholders of the two enterprises signed off on the increase. The managing directors of the manganese processing plant and mines are expected to sign the wage portion of the contract today in Zestafoni with leaders of the ICEM affiliate, Metallurgical, Mining, and Chemical Workers’ Trade Union of Georgia, Imereti Region branch. 
 
A further agreement covering paid holiday leave, sick leave, a joint contributory pension plan, and other workplace conditions is expected to be consummated in the very near future. The union, with valuable assistance from the national labour centre, Georgian Trade Unions Confederation (GTUC), as well through ICEM intervention, won recognition in mid-May after strikes and public activities in the previous weeks. (See earlier ICEM report <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/3777-Free-Trade-Union-Recognised-for-Miners-Metalworkers-of-Georgia" type="internal">here</a>.) 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1005.georgia.2.JPG" width="280" height="210"/>
The boost to salaries is fair and just, since pay at the Zestafoni Ferroalloys plant and manganese mines in Chiatura is extremely low. Miners had earned an average monthly wage of GEL (lari) 450, or US$238, €192. The average monthly salary inside the ferroalloy plant, where 2,200 of the 5,800 workers are employed, is GEL 562, or US$298, €240. 
 
As often happens when such struggles for democratic trade union representation and workplace improvements become public and are successful, industrial workers in other Georgian enterprises also are seeking representation. Both GTUC and the Metallurgical, Mining, and Chemical Workers’ Trade Union of Georgia are currently working with employees in steel and other industrial enterprises for recognition, wage improvements, and workplace rights. 
 
The ICEM congratulates the federation and its Georgian trade union affiliate on its accomplishments at Zestafoni and Chiatura, and pledges continued resources and a global presence as the unions better the working lives of all Georgian industrial workers.

Georgian Miners, Metalworkers Get Long Overdue Pay Rises

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The Guyana Bauxite & General Workers’ Union (GB&GWU) is seeking corrective measures by the government of the South American nation in order to continue representing 500 miners of the Bauxite Co. of Guyana Inc. (BCGI), which is 90% controlled by the Russian metals company RusAl. 
 
Following six months of intense struggle, which crested in December 2009 when RusAl unilaterally withdrew recognition of the union at the Aroaima and Kwakwani bauxite mines in contradiction to Guyanese labour law, GB&GWU finally got a hearing last week, on 25 May, before Guyana’s Trade Union Recognition and Certification Board. 
 
But that hearing proved inconclusive, with the union seeking remedial action by the Labour Ministry before a ballot is put before miners on whether or not they want to retain the longstanding union. Fifty-seven GB&GWU activists remain sacked after they led a strike on 22 November 2009. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1002.guyana.JPG" width="256" height="192"/>
GB&GWU picketed the offices of Labour Minister Mansoor Nadir on 4 and 5 February 
The union wants redress for the Labour Minister refusing to act or to conduct an investigation that followed the end of the strike. BCGI prepared a de-authorization petition and coerced workers into signing it, denouncing the GB&GWU. In April, it surfaced that BCGI management at both Aroaima and Kwakwani conspired to organise a workers’ committee for a rival union, one connected with the ruling People’s Progressive Party (PPP) in Guyana. (The GB&GWU has been traditionally aligned with the opposition People’s National Congress Reform, PNCR). 
 
“What we are asking,” said GB&GWU Secretary-General Lincoln Lewis, “is that the laws of the country be upheld before any ballot at BCGI is held. That means that BCGI’s one-sided de-authorization be addressed, victimization of union leaders be addressed, the illegal firings be heard, and its blatant interference over freedom of association rights be addressed. 
 
“Now, that has not happened. We cannot enter a ballot until these complaints are answered. If we do, it opens an unwanted precedent for any union in Guyana – no matter the political alignment – for both national laws and international labour standards to be ignored in undermining a legitimate union.” 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/People/lincoln.lewis.guyana.jpg" width="120" height="198"/>
GB&GWU Secretary-General Lincoln Lewis 
The dispute is now highly politically charged with PNCR representatives in the National Assembly bringing a no-confidence motion on Labour, Human Services, and Social Security Minister Mansoor Nadir inside the Legislature. The Caribbean Guyana Institute for Democracy has called for his resignation. 
 
The labour dispute initially started in wage negotiations last November. BCGI submitted three proposals and asked miners to vote and accept one. When they accepted the one least desirable to BCGI, managers began meeting with groups of workers to convince them to change their position. For those who stood by the democratic vote, management made it known they would be the first terminated. 
 
Management’s bullishness, thus, caused the strike, a strike in which BCGI terminated union leaders, withdrew recognition, and subsequently has tried to introduce another union. The ICEM did intervene with the Guyanese government, but received only a curt reply that all laws and procedures are being adhered to. The ICEM will continue to stand by the GB&GWU until full justice prevails.

Guyana Bauxite Union Still Seeking Justice from RusAl, Government

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ICEM affiliates FCE-CFDT of France, FIA-UGT of Spain, and FEMCA-CISL of Italy established a joint entity called Association Pour L’Europe Solidaire et Pour la Coopération Mediterranean, or the Association of Solidarity Europe and Mediterranean Cooperation (AESCOOMED). The new organization has an aim to develop a common European vision, and an information exchange between trade unions regarding economic, social issues, environmental matters, collective bargaining, industrial relations, and common social dialogue platforms. 
 
AESCOOMED’s vision is to develop common work on European Works Councils, and promote the consultation and participation of workers within the member unions, as well as enhance cooperation with countries in the Mediterranean region. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/FranceFCE-CFDT-NEW100.jpg" width="100" height="93"/>   <img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Italy.FEMCA.CISL.jpg" width="100" height="85"/>   <img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/SpainFIAUGT.jpg" width="90" height="90"/>
The newly-formed organization held its first conference in Barcelona on 8-9 March 2010 under the banner “Energy, Industrial Policy, and Social Dialogue in the Mediterranean Region.” Trade unions from seven countries, including Belgium, France, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Tunisia, and Turkey, together with the presence of the ICEM, debated industrial and energy issues in the region during the initial meetings. 
 
Issues of energy supply security, energy conditions in industrial development, and the environmental impact in Mediterranean countries were discussed. Acknowledging the fact that the environment is fragile and deteriorating, protecting and improving eco-systems has become a key issue in the Euro-Mediterranean region, especially in view of new industrial dynamics. This Euro-Mediterranean cooperation includes issues of water scarcity and water quality, the reform of environmental standards, improving infrastructure, and preserving the environment. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1004.aescoomed.png" width="226" height="79"/>
The place and role of social dialogue in all countries of the Mediterranean was also highlighted. Common challenges were defined as population growth, aging population, job creation, modernization of labor markets, maintaining high levels of social protection, and dissemination of knowledge and innovation. All participants were convinced of the need to strengthen cooperation between the union organisations from countries bordering the Mediterranean basin. 
 
The ICEM was invited to the two-day conference and was represented by Rubber and Chemicals Kemal Özkan. He made a presentation on ICEM’s activities regarding social dialogue on the global level and union building and union-support activities in the Middle East/North African Region (MENA). 
In conclusion, all participants welcomed the AESCOOMED initiative and measured the importance of international solidarity between workers.

Trade Unions Form Euro-Mediterranean Cooperative Organisation 

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ICEM Presidium member Angeline Chitambo was re-elected President of the Zimbabwe Energy Workers' Union (ZEWU) in a fractious Congress recently in Masvingo, Zimbabwe. After two tied ballots, she bested ZEWU Vice President Joseph Sibanda in a third ballot, 36-30. 
 
Chitambo now begins her second three-year term as leader of ZEWU. She is credited with giving an international profile to the union, as well as bringing financial stability to a union operating inside a troubled country with an unenviable and unfavourable economic environment. 
 
"For the first time in many years, (ZEWU) has managed to acquire assets and this is commendable," said one of the union's founders, Misheck Kanyarare. 

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/0711women1.jpg" width="260" height="195"/>
Angeline Chitambo, right
Angeline Chitambo was elected as an ICEM Vice President in 2007 as one of two women representatives to the Presidium. 
 
ICEM President Senzeni Zokwana, also President of South Africa's National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), attended the ZEWU Congress, as did NUM Health and Safety Chairman Peter Bailey. Also in attendance was Rayford Mbulu, ICEM Sub-Saharan Africa Regional Vice President, who leads the Mineworkers' Union of Zambia (MUZ). 
 
ZEWU, one of the strongest trade union affiliates inside the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions, has several important bargains ongoing in 2010, including the Zimbabwe Electric Service Authority, other electric power operators, and a petroleum company called Petrozimline.

Angeline Chitambo Wins Contested Election in Zimbabwe

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Colombian mining union Sintramienergetica are opposing the purchase of one of Colombia’s most valuable gold properties, by Canadian company Medoro Resources Ltd. The three Frontino gold mines were left to the workers by the previous owner, with the decision to sell being taken with no consultation of the union. 
 
Frontino miners are currently owed back dates pension payments, and Medoro has offered to make these payments following the purchase of the mines. This would be insignificant for Sintramienergetica, and local people of the region who say they are the rightful owners. 

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Colombia.png" width="250" height="115"/>
"A coalition consisting of the workers, owners, and creditors of Frontino Gold Mines, along with the Segovia City Council and the people of the region, strongly and unanimously reject the attempts by Medoro Resources to take what is rightfully and legally ours, and demand that our voices be heard and that the law be respected," said Union leader Dairo Alberto Rua. 
 
A court-appointed liquidator in Colombia agreed to sell the properties to Toronto-based Medoro Resources Ltd. for about US$200-million, a fraction of the value of the mines, according to the union. The Colombian government has declared the sale legal and binding. Hernan Martinez Torres, Colombia’s Minister of Mining publically supports the sale. 
 
Workers are also furious after the union was described by former Medoro board member Serafino Iacono as a guerilla or paramilitary group. Medoro plans to sell half of Frontino to a company controlled by Mr. Iacono. 
 
Earlier this year, Medoro bought the Mineros Nacionales gold mine located in Zona Baja, in Colombia’s Marmato gold district, near Frontino. 
 
The Frontino mines, among Colombia's largest gold producers, are located in the department of Antioquia, around 200kms from department capital Medellin. The mines have been running for over 150 years. 
 
In 2009, Colombia produced 1.57 million ounces of gold with that figure predicted to double over the next year.

Colombian Gold Miners Protest Sale of Mines

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100" height="39"/>
The ICEM this week will be on-site to investigate freedom of association and trade union violations in Georgia on behalf of the ICEM affiliate, the Metallurgical, Mining, and Chemical Industry Workers’ Trade Union of the Central Asian country. The union and its national labour centre, the Georgian Trade Union Confederation (GTUC), are in a serious confrontation with managers at Zestafoni Ferroalloys Plant and the Georgian Manganese mines in nearby Chiatura. 
 
A representative majority of the 6,000 workers at the Chiatura mines and ferroalloy smelter in the western Georgian city of Zestafoni staged a three-day strike from 23-25 April. Their demands are for recognition of the free and democratic Metallurgical, Mining, and Chemical Industry Workers’ Trade Union of Imereti Region, a branch of the Tbilisi-based union, and a halt to horrid working conditions and blatant management harassment and intimidation of scores of trade union members. 
 
ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda and Chemicals and Rubber Officer Kemal Özkan will meet with union leaders on 5 May to get a listing of a multitude of work rights infractions and intervention with the parent company and Georgian government likely will follow. A majority of the stock ownership of both enterprises is held by privately-held, London-based Stemcor Holdings, a global steel-producing, marketing, and distribution firm that has its roots in the Oppenheimer family of businesses. 
 
Managers at Zestafoni Ferroalloys refused to renew labour agreements after 31 March, in part because the union has won the allegiance of an overwhelming number of miners at Georgian Manganese in Chiatura, who seek to replace a company-dominated “yellow” union. The Metallurgical, Mining, and Chemical Union was democratically established at the set of eight open cast and underground mines in October 2009. 

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1005.georgia.metalmine.strike.jpg" width="160" height="120"/>
Workers' strike, 23-25 April
In the days leading up to the warning strike, off-site meetings between smelting-plant workers and miners in both Zestaponi and Chiatura were watched over by managers, with photos taken and threats of violence made against those attending. At one meeting, attended by Metallurgical, Mining, and Chemical Union President Tamaz Dolaberidze and leaders of the GTUC, the company’s security director attempted to provoke a melee by grabbing a union activist outside the meeting hall. 
 
And at the Itkhvisi mine, manager Nugzar Jokhadze physically attacked Merab Yakobidze, one of nine strike committee leaders. Despite these blatant and cowardly acts, the involvement of workers and miners has steadily increased as the dispute escalates. 
 
The Metallurgical, Mining, and Chemical Industry Workers’ Trade Union of Imereti Region demands immediate recognition, resumption of meaningful bargaining, and permanent work contracts. Strike committee Chairman Goga Bregvadze said the union’s demands also include improvements to occupational safety and health equipment and updating of medical facilities; transparent rules on hours of work, days off, public holidays; protective clothing and boots; and sanitary break areas and safe food to eat. 
 
The Metallurgical, Mining, and Chemical Union demands a sizeable salary increase, and establishment of a minimum salary at the mining complex. The union also demands reinstatement and back compensation for two union activists, Giorgi Giorgidze and Shakro Bregvadze, who were sacked for their trade union activities. 
 
Metallurgical, Mining, and Chemical Industry Workers’ Trade Union of Georgia, together with the GTUC, is prepared to launch further and extended strike actions if these demands are not met. Such a strike would receive global labour support. 
 
The GTUC has filed a complaint with the ILO Committee of Freedom of Association over the blatant violations at the Zestafoni Ferroalloys Plant and the Georgian Manganese mines, a petition supported by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC). 
 
The ICEM will join the fight for the legitimate workplace rights of staff at these two combined enterprises. Before departing for Georgia early today, Warda contacted International Metalworkers’ Federation (IMF) General Secretary Jyrki Raina to inform him of the situation. Raina extended the full support and solidarity of the IMF to the Metallurgical, Mining, and Chemical Industry Workers’ Trade Union.

Miners, Metalworkers Not Intimidated by Georgian Manganese Managers

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Grupo México’s sustained attack on the National Miners' and Metalworkers' Union of Mexico (SNTMMSRM), or Los Mineros, was set back on 23 April, when a criminal court in the Federal District of Mexico dismissed a criminal complaint filed against Napoleón Gómez Urrutia, the union’s general secretary. 
 
The company’s court case had accused the Los Mineros head of guilt in regard to financial irregularities during the creation and then dissolution of a workers’ trust. With Grupo México alleging that $US 55 million had been embezzled by Los Mineros leadership, the court found this to be not true, with no evidence of any crime committed by the union. 

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1005.napoleon.gomez.jpg" width="190" height="201"/>
Napoleón Gómez
The ICEM has repeatedly reported on Grupo México’s attempts to block the rights of its workers to organise and bargain collectively. As general secretary, Napoleón Gómez Urrutia is forced to operate the union remotely from exile in Canada, and the 23 April decision in Court Number 32 acquits him of the only valid arrest warrant against him. 
 
The court decision needs ratification from the criminal division of the country’s High Court of Justice, where the Attorney General will appeal. However, the ruling does have “Res judicata,” meaning that the decision is final and the defendant cannot be tried twice under the same charges. 
 
Since 2006, when the first criminal charges were made against him, the authorities together with Grupo México have sustained judicial pressure through numerous cases and intricate legal disputes. 

<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1005.losmineros.2.JPG" width="256" height="192" alt=""/>
The ICEM is attending the 36th Congress of Los Mineros, starting today, Monday, 3 May in Mexico. One issue high on the agenda is the struggle of workers at the Cananea mine in Sonora State, where some 1,200 workers have been on strike since July 2007. As reported, Grupo México has again teamed with the Mexican government to seek to end the strike, while the picket line has held firm. The Mexican Supreme Court recently backed Grupo México’s decision to close the mine. 
 
Los Mineros activists have refused to allow Cananea to be handed over to the company, and responded to the Supreme Court decision with a promise to destroy the mine if the authorities attempt to take it by force. “We plan to burn it, if they attempt to force us out,” stated Los Mineros spokesman Sergio Bultran. 
 
The ICEM, and the International Metalworkers’ Federation (IMF), participated in a demonstration outside the headquarters of Grupo México in Mexico City on 23 April following a regional meeting of the IMF. The demonstration by some 300 mineworkers and others called on the company to come to the bargaining table to negotiate, and to resolve strikes at Sections 65, 201, and 17 of SNTMMSRM. 

<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1005.IMF.Mexico.2JPG.JPG" width="175" height="234" alt=""/>
Demonstrators urged the company and the government not to violently move strikers out of Cananea. IMF General Secretary Jyrki Raina was refused the right to deliver a letter to company Chairman and CEO German Larrea, or to any company official. The letter reiterating the support for joint ICEM/IMF affiliate Los Mineros, and the call for justice was finally delivered to a security guard at the front door. 
 
Raina criticised the company for refusing to meet. “We are looking to Mr. Larrea, but they tell us they do not have time. Is it because they are counting their pesos or dollars?”

Acquittal for Los Mineros General Secretary Napoleón Gómez

<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100" height="39" alt=""/>
In October 2009, Paperiliitto of Finland faced a re-opener inside a 22-month labour agreement. Then, the state of the Finnish pulp and paper industry was so depressed that employers were certain to seek deep concessions from the union’s 20,000 members. 
 
Instead, Paperiliitto opted to let the collective agreement terminate and wait until spring 2010 to renew bargaining. Even though the industry is not much better off now than it was last year, that strategy has worked. In recent weeks, the union and the Finnish Forest Industries Federation came to agreement on a two-year contract that began 8 April and runs until 31 March 2012. 
 
The new agreement contains no concessionary items. In fact, several forward-looking contract language provisions have been inserted in the agreement. Finnish paperworkers will realize a modest 2010 wage increase of 0.5%. A second-year wage increase and possible further language modifications will be negotiated before 15 March 2011. 

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/0511paperpresident1.jpg" width="180" height="151"/>
Paperiliitto President Jouko Ahonen
“Paperiliitto’s Union Council believes this new agreement creates a good foundation for Finnish employers to secure continuous production at the endangered mills and gives our members the job security they deserve,” said President Jouko Ahonen. 
 
The new agreement contains five amendments intended to protect workers in terms of job security. One major aspect of the accord is creation of six labour-management sub-groups that will engage in continuous negotiations on select items. 

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/0810PaperRollArt.jpg" width="240" height="145"/>
Paperiliitto achieved trial language in the contract that makes alternative work due to injury or sickness to be non-compulsory, with any assigned alternative work subject to the individual employee’s consent. A work-time bank was also established, thus opening flex-time scheduling at the local level through negotiations between Paperiliitto’s chief shop stewards and mill management. And a prior, tentative provision from 2008 giving workers three-day sick leave without a medical certificate was made permanent, a precedent inside Finland. 
 
In ratifying the agreement last month, Paperiliitto’s Union Council sounded warning to Finland’s government that upcoming decisions on energy supply for the pulp and paper industry must be made with job retention in mind. As well, the Council noted, “The government can secure raw material supplies to the forestry industry in a far better way than previously. Besides close cooperation between the government and social partners, timely measures are required to secure the sustainability of employment, growth, and public financing.”

Paperiliitto Ratifies Improvements to Labour Accord in Finland’s Pulp, Paper Sector

<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100" height="39" alt=""/>
The ICEM French trade union affiliate, the Federation of Chemical and Energy Workers (FCE-CFDT) Union, has launched a new section of their website that includes WebTV and online forum debates, open to all. 
 
Click <a href="http://www.fce.cfdt.fr/ ">here</a> to view. 
 
The forum, the union’s first interactive online tool, enables dialogue between its members, employees, and activists. Personal questions and queries are explained by union staffers, with the explanations open for anybody, including workers considering joining the FCE-CFDT. This level of access to debates would not be possible using traditional tools. The new communicating tool is predicted to attract new members. 

<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1005.fce.cfdt.jpg" width="240" height="221" alt=""/>
The forum was recently used by the union to conduct a poll on the union’s popular new slogan, with the slogan “Let us invent the CFDT of tomorrow!” receiving the most votes. 
 
The WebTV gives free and open access to films and interviews on the work of the union, as well as news, federal campaigns, and actions underway. The ICEM applauds our French affiliate’s initiative!

French FCE-CFDT Launches Online TV

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