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A mass rally is scheduled for Saturday, 21 January, in London, Ontario, to support locked out members of a bargaining unit of Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) Local 27. Sponsored by the Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL), the Day of Action against Caterpillar Inc. will begin at 11h in the southwestern Ontario city of 40,000. 
 
CAW Local 27 members were locked out late in the evening on New Year&rsquo;s Eve by Caterpillar&rsquo;s Electro-Motive Diesel (EMD) in a callous display of corporate might. The 650 CAW members voted by 98% on 30 December for strike action and 24 hours later &ndash; just as they were returning to jobs following a holiday shutdown &ndash; they were locked out. 
 
&ldquo;We see this fight as being central to the entire labour movement and we are going to dig in our heels and fight Caterpillar with everything we&rsquo;ve got,&rdquo; said OFL President Sid Ryan. 
 
Caterpillar&rsquo;s EMD &ndash; run as part of the company&rsquo;s Progress Rail Services Corp. &ndash; lockout followed workers&rsquo; total rejection of unreasonable wage and benefit concessions sought by the US-based company. There is little doubt that the company is trying to knock back wage and benefit levels of Canadian workers as a ploy to shift production of electric-powered diesel engines and associated railroad components to a start-up and lower wage plant in Muncie, Indiana, in the US. 
 
EMD began operations in Muncie in October 2011. Until the New Year&rsquo;s Eve lockout, CAW and EMD had bargained under a seven-month contract extension. However, EMD never once wavered from an initial, hostile and family-wrecking proposal that demanded wage cuts from C$35-per hour to C$16.50, health benefits cut in half, and elimination of a pension scheme. 
<img alt="" src="" width="107" height="155" />
CAW President Ken Lewenza
At the same time, EMD was advertising for a Human Resources manager in Muncie with the stipulation that he/she have &ldquo;experience with providing union-free culture and union avoidance.&rdquo; 
 
EMD is paying average salaries between US$12-16-per hour in Muncie. Caterpillar and its wholly-owned Progress Rail Services is seeking to dislodge General Electric&rsquo;s (GE) Transportation Division as the US&rsquo;s premiere supplier of train locomotives at a time when government stimulus funds are available for infrastructure and transport needs. GE operates three major rail division plants that are unionised and it pays average salaries of US$30-per hour or more. 
 
EMD&rsquo;s London, Ontario, plant was purchased by Caterpillar in August 2010 for US$820 million from Greenbriar Equity Group and Berkshire Partners. The two capital companies in turn bought the manufacturing plant in 2005 for a quarter of that amount from General Motors when GM was shedding its non-auto making businesses. 
 
Then, Caterpillar was interested in buying the southwestern Ontario plant but CAW opposed the deal because of Caterpillar&rsquo;s horrid labour relations record in the US. Now, with Caterpillar in control and the company displaying obvious whipsawing of CAW members against non-union Muncie workers that will swell to 650 this year, Unit 2 of CAW Local 27 is forced to blockade the London plant to prevent equipment from leaving for the Indiana city 350 miles to the south. 
 
CAW President Ken Lewenza called the lockout &ldquo;a serious attack on working people, their families and the greater community of London. 
 
&ldquo;If (Caterpillar) is not going to do business in Canada, this wage cut is designed as a mechanism to blame workers,&rdquo; said Lewenza, referring to production flight and a possible plant closing. In mid-December, the CAW lodged a formal complaint with the government over Caterpillar&rsquo;s violation of the Investment Canada Act. 
 
The company has benefitted by tax breaks given the predecessor equity firms in 2008. In fact, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper used the plant as a backdrop in March 2008 to tout the federal government&rsquo;s corporate tax breaks. The enterprise&rsquo;s buyers received a C$5 million tax break then and a wider C$1 billion tax break on industrial capital investment. 
 
EMD has other railroad manufacturing facilities in Sete Lagoas, Minas Gerais state, Brazil, and Sahag&uacute;n, Hidalgo state, Mexico, a facility it operates jointly with Bombardier. It also operates a unionised facility in LaGrange, US state of Illinois. EMD sells locomotives, replacement parts, and diesel powered engines for marine propulsion, oil drilling and power generation in 130 countries, and currently has major contracts with companies providing equipment for state railways in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and South Africa. 
 
Caterpillar&rsquo;s deep contract concession proposals, the lockout, matched with lucrative incentives from Indiana&rsquo;s anti-union state government for the Muncie start-up are a cause of great concern, particularly for two countries that each lack worker-friendly industrial policies in the wake of a financial crisis.

Rally Set for Locked Out Caterpillar Workers in Canada on 21 January

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Around 35 trade union representatives from various rubber companies, namely Goodyear, MRF, JK Tyres, Birla Tyres, Apollo Tyres, and Ajanta Rubber formed the Indian Rubber Unions National Network in a workshop entitled &ldquo;ILO/ICEM Workshop on International Labour Standards and Social Dialogue in Indian Rubber Industry.&rdquo; The forum was held on 14-15 December 2011 in Mumbai with the support of the ILO. 
 
India is becoming one of the world's fastest-growing rubber producing countries due to the emerging automotive industry, as well as availability and closeness of raw materials such as natural rubber. The tyre market attracts global manufacturers due to high growth figures, while India itself has its own multinational companies that also invest elsewhere. 
 
&ldquo;This is the first time that Indian rubber unions have come together, which is promising for the future,&rdquo; said Ravindra Ghoshalkar, General Secretary of ICEM-affiliated Chemical Mazdoor Federation (CMFI), the union that inaugurated the ILO/ICEM Workshop in Mumbai. Opening speakers included Pradeep Kokas, Education Secretary of the ICEM affiliate Indian National Mineworkers&rsquo; Federation (INMF) and Sayeed Ahmed, Secretary of the Maharashtra State of the Indian national labour federation, the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU). 
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The workshop received detailed presentations from keynote speakers. Kemal &Ouml;zkan, ICEM&rsquo;s Director of Industry and Corporate Affairs, briefed the participants on the global situation of the rubber industry with economic, employment, and trade union angles. 
 
An ILO Industrialist Specialist, Yasuhiko Kamakura, presented core labour standards of the organization as well as instruments of occupational health and safety worldwide. ICEM&rsquo;s Asia Multinational Companies&rsquo; and Social Dialogue Project Coordinator Yoon Hyowon informed the participants about international labour standards, such as the OECD Guidelines and the UN Global Compact, while Ashutosh Bhattacharya, ICEM&rsquo;s Multinational Indian Project Coordinator, presented the issue of the Right to Information Act and Workers Participation in India. 
 
The workshop participants were divided into various groups to discuss matters affecting the Indian rubber industry, working conditions, and health and safety situations at various workplaces. Following ICEM&rsquo;s input on union networking in the rubber industry at global and regional levels, Indian rubber workers&rsquo; representatives discussed how to improve cooperation, solidarity, and networking inside the country. 
 
In final discussions, the workshop produced concrete actions for the future. This included regular information and experience exchanges between rubber unions, as well as contant solidarity during collective bargaining negotiations or any other dispute. While forming the India National Rubber Industry Network, the workshop also aimed at developing close relations among the unions of the same company. 
 
Indian union represetatives strongly underlined the improtance of international solidarity. In this sense, it was agreed to establish close relations with union representatives outside of the country that represent workers at Indian-based rubber companies such as Apollo and JK Tyres. It was also decided to organize the next network meeting within a year with the participation of more unions.

Indian Rubber Unions Form National Network

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Negotiations concluded in December between five Swedish unions, representing 540,000 industrial workers, and employers&rsquo; associations. The 14-month national agreements contain general 3% wage rises and run from next month, on 1 February, to 31 March 2013. 
 
The sector-wide pacts cover industrial workers in paper, chemicals, wood, graphics, iron, steel, engineering, food, and other manufacturing workers. In coming months, talks in the Swedish federal and local governmental sectors, retail, retail food, commercial, construction, and transportation sectors will get underway. 
 
The unions involved in late 2011 industrial talks include Pappers, IF Metall, Unionen, GS, the wood and graphics union, and the Swedish Food Workers&rsquo; Union (LIVS). 
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In general, the 3%, 14-month agreements represent fairness factoring in Sweden&rsquo;s jump in GDP last year, and the fact that technology exports grew by 21%. Many of the agreements contain work groups and funds to establish further staff training and development. 
 
IF Metall, representing some 170,000 workers in several sectors, approved agreements on 15 December, and Pappers did the same two days later. Unionen, representing 120,000 workers in many sectors, negotiated 0.2% on top of the 3% for professional development. The union represents white-collar, technical, engineering, administration, and other staff. 
 
Pappers took a major step closer to a June deadline in finalizing industry-wide language banning all social dumping concerning agency and precarious work. The other unions also made strides in limiting and regulating temporary and short-term work. 
 
Pappers also gained flexibility to allot 50% of the wage increase to the local level, with a set of criteria guiding local social dialogue in disbursing the funds, including promotions. The union and paper companies also agreed to press government over insufficient state aid for early intervention of occupational health risks, a force driving long-term illnesses. 
 
IF Metall and employer groups agreed in principle to begin work on contract language halting termination of workers during an economic downturn and rather providing re-training opportunities within the enterprise. 
 
IF Metall President Stefan L&ouml;fven said the agreements in his union&rsquo;s sectors &ldquo;provide opportunities for real wage increases in 2012 as well as maintaining the competiveness of Swedish industry.&rdquo; 
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Unionen President Cecilia Fahlberg
Unionen President Cecilia Fahlberg said, &ldquo;Each member is guaranteed a salary increase that allows for increased purchasing power.&rdquo;

Sweden’s Industrial Unions Negotiate 3% Pay Hikes for 540,000 Workers

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The European Works Council (EWC) of Rio Tinto last week condemned the global minerals and metal producer for its unwarranted lockout of 780 Canadian members of Syndicat des M&eacute;tallos d&rsquo;Alma, an affiliate of the United Steelworkers (USW) in Alma, Qu&eacute;bec. 
 
The intervention made by Rio&rsquo;s EWC Secretary V&eacute;ronique Roche from Paris comes at a time when the USW along with the ICEM and the International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF) are ramping up a campaign. Actions have been launched to bring attention and pressure on the multinational in support of aluminium smelter workers of Rio Tinto subsidiary Alcan, who were unjustly locked off their jobs on 1 January in the Saguenay-lac-Saint-Jean region of Qu&eacute;bec. 
 
A mass protest of Canadian and global trade unionists will take place in Alma &ndash; some 380 kilometres north of Alcan&rsquo;s headquarters in Montr&eacute;al &ndash; on 31 March. That will come a day after the ICEM North America Region holds its committee meeting in the region as a show of support for the victimised members of Syndicat des M&eacute;tallos d&rsquo;Alma, USW Local 9490. 
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photo: lapresse.ca
An initial thrust 11 days ago by ICEM and IMF global affiliates in the form of protest letters to Rio Tinto&rsquo;s President and CEO Tom Albanese saw a company response a day into the action: the company turned off its fax machines to avoid a deluge of written protests. 
 
The EWC intervention, however, is sure to resonate. Roche said the EWC has found that Rio Tinto Alcan management failed to even consider proposals made by the union, a &ldquo;destructive and socially irresponsible position.&rdquo; 
 
The 2 February letter added to Albanese: &ldquo;Please know that our European forum will stand alongside the United Steelworkers in all organised efforts in Europe and elsewhere, and we will participate in actions deemed necessary by the USW to repel this anti-social attack.&rdquo; 
 
The EWC then demanded that Rio Tinto end the lockout and order local management back to the bargaining table to negotiate a fair, equitable and acceptable labour agreement with workers that does not decimate the economic well-being of the community. (The <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/lettre%20TOM%20ALBANESE%20ALMA%20FEV%202012%20engx.pdf ">full letter</a> can be read here.) 
 
The chief issue behind the lockout is Rio Tinto Alcan&rsquo;s desire to have unlimited outsourcing rights, something that would eventually half the wage base of the Saguenay-lac-Saint-Jean region. Since Rio Tinto purchased Alcan in 2007 for US$39 billion, Alma management has replaced each worker taking retirement, or in other reductions in force, by outsourcing to sub-contractors who use low-wage staff without full social benefits. 
 
Syndicat des M&eacute;tallos d&rsquo;Alma tried to set a floor on full-time, direct employees in collective negotiations. Alcan refused and immediately locked out the unionised workforce on expiration of a prior five-year agreement. There is mounting proof that Rio Tinto Alcan is partially operating the 438,000-tonne facility with the use of scabs during the lockout, a prohibition under provincial Qu&eacute;bec labour statute and something the USW is pursuing through the legal system.

Rio Tinto’s Euro Works Council Irate over Québec Aluminium Lockout

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A 40-day strike in the US state of Massachusetts has ended. Ninety brave members of the ICEM-affiliated Teamsters Union (IBT) backed Saint-Gobain&rsquo;s CertainTeed subsidiary away from severe cuts to their health care plan, and ratified a five-year labour agreement by a 69-0 vote on 29 January. 
 
The workers, who make asphalt roofing shingles, gypsum wallboard and fiberglass products at a plant outside Boston in Norwood, Massachusetts, returned to their jobs on 31 January with their heads held high, their pride intact, and most importantly their premium benefits package unsevered. 
 
CertainTeed management came at the members of IBT Local 25 late last year with a proposal to abandon the union&rsquo;s Health and Welfare Fund and replace it with an inferior company-managed plan. Such a plan would have left the workers with far fewer health care benefits, leaving them largely unprotected from illness or injury.
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Workers took strike action on 19 December and when the company refused to move from its regressive proposals in US federal mediation on 13 January, Norwood Teamsters expanded their strike. Besides working with the ICEM and French union CFDT to take the dispute directly to executives of Saint-Gobain in Paris, they began handbilling other non-Teamster and non-represented CertainTeed and Saint-Gobain plants in the US. 
 
&ldquo;Our members would not accept the company plan and made that loud and clear to us,&rdquo; said Local 25 Business Representative George Slicis. &ldquo;We were on the picket line for 40 days, 24/7, through the holidays and in bad weather, and we were not going back unless the Teamster health care plan went back with us.&rdquo; 
 
The 69-0 vote last Sunday made that an affirmative. In bargaining again supervised by the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) on 26 January, CertainTeed backed off the takeaways. Although there will be a very slight increase in workers&rsquo; out-of-pocket costs for continuation of the premium health coverage of US$6-per-week, that will be more than offset with the union negotiating a US$500 bonus each in years one through four of the labour agreement. 
 
In addition, starting in year two, or late in 2012, and continuing in 2013, 2014 and 2015, workers will receive a 2% wage increase. Local 25 also won company-paid increases to the New England Teamsters Pension Fund of 10% in years one and two, and 6% each in the remaining years. 
 
The ICEM congratulates Local 25 members at CertainTeed for their resolve in maintaining their earned benefits package and also commends Jean-Francois Renucci of CFDT, who took the case to preserve the US workers&rsquo; health and welfare insurance to top Saint-Gobain leaders.

US Teamsters at Saint-Gobain Succeed in Retaining Premium Health Care

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A joint Executive Committee meeting of three European trade union federations on 31 January put the final touches on statutes, a political programme, and nominated candidates for leadership in what is to become a united eight-million-member industrial workers&rsquo; federation. The meeting, held near Mechelen, Belgium, was attended by 150 national union leaders from 25 nations. 
 
The European Mine, Chemical and Energy Workers&rsquo; Federation (EMCEF), European Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (EMF) and the European Trade Union Federation for textiles, Clothing, Leather and Footwear (ETUF-TCL) are now geared to formally merge on 16 May 2012 in Brussels, with dissolution Congresses coming a day earlier. 
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The joint Executive decreed that the new federation will strive to become a fighting force for a dynamic economic framework that allows industry to thrive as the motor for jobs and sustainable growth across Europe. The three current federations vowed that &ldquo;social progress and the European social model cannot be sacrificed at the altar of ultra-liberal dogma.&rdquo; 
 
Although the new grouping has yet to formally adopt a name, its temporary moniker is the European Industrial Workers&rsquo; Federation (EIWF). 
 
Michael Vassiliadis, President of Germany&rsquo;s IGBCE, was nominated to serve as President, while current EMF General Secretary Ulrich Eckelmann was nominated to be General Secretary. Anders Ferbe of IF Metall, Sweden, Renzo Ambrosetti, UNIA, Switzerland, and Valeria Fedeli, CGIL FILCTEM, Italy, were nominated as Vice Presidents, while Sylvain Lefebvre, EMCEF, Bart Samyn, EMF, and Luc Triangle, ETUF-TCL, were nominated as Deputy General Secretaries. 
<img alt="" src="" width="165" height="140" />
Michael Vassiliadis
The new federation will consist of four policy committees &ndash; Collective Bargaining and Social Policy, Company Policy Committee, Industrial Policy Committee, and Social Dialogue Policy Committee. It will also be composed of eight regions: South, Benelux, Central, South-East, Eastern, British, Nordic/Baltic, and South-West.

Trade Union Industrial Federation Takes Shape for Europe

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ICEM&rsquo;s Swiss affiliate UNIA is celebrating a great success in its campaign to save the 320 jobs at the pharmaceutical giant Novartis. The decision to reverse a plant closure at the Prangin production site near Nyon was announced on 17 January, following an extremely strong campaign effort that dated to last November. 
 
The 17 January announcement included a pledge to protect jobs at the site in the long term. Job cuts at Novartis in neighbouring Nyon have also been reversed. 
 
The ICEM salutes a spirited campaign of strikes, mass mobilisations and mass support from the local public and area politicians in Canton Vaud, which culminated in bad press and huge pressure on Novartis management to reverse its decision. The planned closures were undeniably based on corporate greed as profits were huge, and the facilities were widely regarded as top quality. 
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ICEM marched with UNIA colleagues on several demonstrations, with the Nyon-based UNI Global Union. 
 
Staff at the Prangins facility took the concession of increasing weekly work hours from 37.5 to 40 in negotiations. 
 
Management&rsquo;s shock decision to close &ndash; announced at a 25 October press conference &ndash; significant sections of the Nyon and Basle plants came only weeks after Novartis showed third quarter net sales up 18% to US$14.84 billion from US$12.58 billion in the same period in 2010. Net income increased 7% to US$2.49 billion, third quarter 2011, from US$2.32 billion in the quarter, 2010. 
 
Novartis had planned to cut 2,000 jobs internationally, with 760 at its Basle headquarters and 320 in Nyon. Job cuts were greatly reduced at Basle as well, with only a third of the initially planned job cuts in Basle to now occur. 
 
It was predicted 2,000 related jobs in Nyon would go if the company closed the plant, ending over 90 years of drug production in Nyon. 
 
UNIA&rsquo;s role in mobilising the support of local and federal politicians in the process was important, especially since a major factor in the decision to cut Swiss jobs was a retort at Swiss authorities&rsquo; price-cutting of pharmaceutical drugs. 
 
Novartis Chief Executive Daniel Vasella is the highest paid person in Switzerland, with an annual salary of CHF 40 million.

UNIA Jobs Saved at Novartis Pharmaceuticals in Switzerland

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With company after company in the UK private sector seeking to shut off workers&rsquo; final pension schemes, it comes as a relief that one company heeded a union&rsquo;s concerns and cancelled such a plan for now. 
 
ICEM affiliate Unite the Union on 12 January convinced German luxury auto maker BMW to back away from closing its final pension salary scheme to new workers, and to retreat from implementing a loophole in Britain&rsquo;s new Agency Workers&rsquo; Regulation (AWR) that would allow BMW to directly employ agency workers on contracts that pay as much as 20% less than permanent workers of the company. 
 
The loophole, Regulation 10 of the AWR and also known as the &ldquo;Swedish Derogation&rdquo; language, would allow an employer to take workers employed by labour hire firms onto their payrolls, but to avoid the equal-pay for equal-work principal of the AWR. 
<img src="" width="103" height="160" alt="" />
In December when BMW announced its intention to move ahead with the two regressive changes, Unite responded that it would consult workplace leaders towards an industrial ballot. If voted and approved, such possible strike action would have occurred for 7,000 Unite members at four BMW plants, including Swindon, Cowley, Hams Hall near Birmingham, and the Rolls Royce factory in Goodwood. 
 
But talks between Unite, its BMW shop stewards and management two weeks ago convinced UK management to forego closing off the pension scheme to new hires and not to use the &ldquo;Swedish Derogation&rdquo; model. Instead, BMW agreed to engage Unite and its shop-floor leaders from all four plants in dialogue on a positive path forward without the harsh workplace changes. 
 
Unite National Officer Roger Madisson commented, &ldquo;As always we are prepared to have meaningful discussions with companies in the car industry. Unite is determined to protect all the terms and conditions of our members and ensure that agency workers are treated fairly, in the true spirit of the agency workers&rsquo; legislation.&rdquo; 
 
Unite&rsquo;s Cowley plant Convenor Chris Bond told the Oxford Mail, &ldquo;I am over the moon about it. The company has listened to our concerns. (Industrial action) has been averted for now.&rdquo; 
 
As for UK BMW management, it said in a statement, &ldquo;The company and Unite, the union, have jointly agreed to enter into discussions relating to the use of agency staff. We agreed to go back into discussions with the union on the pensions scheme and the AWR.&rdquo;

In UK, BMW Backs Off Closing Pension Scheme, Implementing Temp Work Exception

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A month-long strike by the ICEM-affiliated Teamsters Union (IBT) in the US continues, despite a union proposal put forward in a US Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) session on 13 January that would save the company pension costs, while preserving workers&rsquo; health care benefits &ndash; the key issue in the strike. 
 
The work stoppage by 90 members of IBT Local 25 in Massachusetts against Paris-based Saint-Gobain&rsquo;s wholly-owned CertainTeed subsidiary began on 19 December over unreasonable demands to reduce workers&rsquo; health insurance benefits. In the FMCS session, the union showed how CertainTeed could save costs by taking advantage of a new programme offered by the New England Teamsters Pension Fund in exchange for remaining in a joint union-management health care fund. 
 
CertainTeed refused the offer. On 13 January, ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda wrote to Local 25 President Sean O&rsquo;Brien and IBT President James Hoffa, stating that the dispute would receive the ICEM&rsquo;s highest priority and would be brought to the attention of French trade unions and senior executives at Saint-Gobain in Paris. That <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/1.ICEM.Teamsters%20Local%2025.US.pdf ">ICEM letter</a> can be seen here. 
<img alt="" src="" width="154" height="160" />
Now with the company turning away from a common sense resolve to the dispute, IBT Local 25 will broaden the Norwood, Massachusetts, strike within the US and has begun handbilling workers at other CertainTeed factories there. The company manufactures asphalt roofing shingles, gypsum wallboard, and insulated fiberglass products. 
 
The strike started when CertainTeed, based in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, sought to remove itself from the joint health care plan and opting for an inferior company-controlled plan that contains far fewer benefits. The cost to the company would be less, but workers would have far fewer health benefits, leaving them largely unprotected financially from illness or injury. 
 
&ldquo;The company has become the epitome of greed, treating its workforce unfairly without regard for health and welfare and job security,&rdquo; said O&rsquo;Brien, the principal officer of 11,000-member IBT Local 25. 
 
At this point in the strike, CertainTeed workers would be without health insurance of any kind. But at a strike manifestation rally in front of plant gates on 5 January, O&rsquo;Brien announced that Local 25&rsquo;s Health and Welfare Fund would continue to provide health insurance at a cost to the union. The ICEM commends Local 25 for this social responsibility. 
 
Saint-Gobain increased its stake in CertainTeed from 32% to 57% in 1976, and then gained total ownership in 1988. In 1998, CertainTeed bought the Norwood plant from Bird &amp; Sons. Local 25&rsquo;s so-called Taft-Hartley health care plan &ndash; the union-management plan administered by the union &ndash; pre-dates CertainTeed&rsquo;s ownership of the Norwood plant and Local 25 and CertainTeed&rsquo;s Massachusetts workers are adamant that it be retained.

Saint-Gobain’s CertainTeed Balks at ‘Common Sense’ End to US Teamster Strike

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The major trade union at KGHM Polska Miedź SA, the ICEM-affiliated Miners&rsquo; and Energy Workers&rsquo; Section of NSZZ Solidarność, announced last week it would protest against the Polish government&rsquo;s draft legislation to impose an unusually high minerals tax on the partially state-owned copper and silver company. 
 
The union, along with one of the smaller unions at KGHM, the ZZ Copper Industry Workers&rsquo; Association (ZZPPM), are now conducting procedural measures among workers at some 30 enterprises, including KGHM&rsquo;s three mines, two refineries and smelters, a rolling mill, wire rod plant, and other workplaces in order to lawfully carry out the protests. Manifestations could come as early as this week. 
 
The actions are in response to the 17 January draft bill put forward by Poland&rsquo;s Finance Ministry to the Parliament to place a high minerals tax on KGHM. The proposed tax, only on copper and silver, would impose a minimum of 0.5% on the average price of copper, up to a maximum of ZL16,000-per-tonne (&euro;4,000). 
 
The government is looking at the tax as a means to patch deficits in the country&rsquo;s budget. 
<img alt="" src="" width="160" height="159" />
J&oacute;sef Czyzcerski
&ldquo;The tax is extremely high compared to taxes in other copper extracting companies,&rdquo; said NSZZ Solidarność in a statement. The union&rsquo;s leader at KGHM, J&oacute;sef Czyzcerski, said the tax would drain the company of its profitability, thus severely restricting investment and development, and ultimately costing jobs. He said the tax could eat away a full 90% of the company&rsquo;s profits. 
 
The unions at KGHM also oppose the fact that the minerals tax is singly aimed at KGHM. Czyzcerski said the Finance Ministry failed to conduct proper public consultations before approving the draft bill and submitting it to Parliament. 
 
KGHM is 32% owned by the Poland&rsquo;s Treasury Ministry and the unions fought bitterly in the recent past as the government gradually reduced its stake in the company. KGHM employs 18,000 workers and is the world&rsquo;s ninth largest copper company and third biggest producer of silver. The company is based in Lubin, Poland, in the country&rsquo;s copper basin of Lower Silesia.

Miners of Polish Solidarność Oppose Minerals Tax on KGHM Copper

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