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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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Unilever workers at UK factories are midway through 11 days of strikes, as the world&rsquo;s third largest consumer products company refuses to talk to unions about alternatives to its unacceptable and unilateral decision to close the final salary pension scheme. 
 
Workers organised by three ICEM affiliates, Unite the Union, GMB, and Union of Shop and Distributive Workers (USDAW), calculate that between 20-40% will be slashed from pensions of thousands of staff, at a time when the multinational corporation posted enormous profits of 4.6&euro; billion in 2010, and awarded CEO Paul Polman a 50% salary increase in a single year. 
 
Well known Unilever brands include PG Tips, Marmite, Pot Noodle, Dove, Comfort, and Surf. 
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Unilever was founded on positive social principles but has aggressively followed a strategy of job cuts and outsourcing of over 100,000 of its global workforce over the last ten years, removing any semblance of social responsibility over work terms in the production of food and household goods. 
 
In closing the UK final salary pension scheme, Unilever management once again prioritises profits over staff, and breaks a promise to protect pensions for long-serving workers. The UK unions are fighting back. The first ever strike ever at Unilever in the UK started on 9 December and moved management to cancel Christmas parties and bonuses for its staff. 
 
This second wave of strike actions started at 06h59 on 18 January, with 11 days of rolling strikes throughout the company&rsquo;s UK production. It runs until midnight, 28 January. 
 
All 7,000 Unilever workers in the UK will see pension earnings hit by this attack as current final scheme members are moved to the inferior Career Average Revalued Earnings (CARE) scheme from 1 July 2012, and CARE conditions will be decreased across the board. 
 
On 10 January, Unite dispatched its Battle Bus (see <a href="http://union-news.co.uk/2012/01/video-unions-load-up-battlebus-for-unilever-strikes/">Union News video</a>), taking protesting workers from Unite headquarters in Holborn to Unilever&rsquo;s London office on Victoria Embankment. 
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ICEM joined the noisy Battle Bus and protest on the front steps of the firm&rsquo;s London offices, with the company keeping union leaders from entering. Unite General Secretary Len McCluskey told demonstrators, &ldquo;How dare a company that generates massive profits attack your pensions, which you have saved for. We are not prepared to stand back and do nothing.&rdquo; 
 
The current strike action is hitting the following UK plants, with the products they produce: 
&bull; Purfleet &ndash; Hellmann&rsquo;s mayonnaise, Flora 
&bull; Trafford Park &ndash; PG Tips tea 
&bull; Burton &ndash; Marmite 
&bull; Norwich &ndash; Coleman&rsquo;s mustard and sauces 
&bull; Crumlin, Wales &ndash; Pot Noodle 
&bull; Leeds &ndash; Dove Deodorant, Lynx, Sure 
&bull; Port Sunlight &ndash; fabric &ndash; Comfort, Persil 
&bull; Warrington &ndash; Persil, Omo 
&bull; Gloucester &ndash; Wall&rsquo;s Ice Cream 
 
The other sites involved in strike action &ndash; Unilever UK (Central Resources) Ltd are: 
&bull; Port Sunlight &ndash; R&amp;D site 
&bull; St David&rsquo;s Park (Near Ewloe in Wales) &ndash; IT site 
&bull; Colworth, Bedford &ndash; R&amp;D site 
<img src="" width="251" height="159" alt="" />
Unite National Officer, Jennie Formby said, &ldquo;Unilever needs to clean up its act, get back to the table before it ruins its business&rsquo; reputation for good.&rdquo; 
 
The unions have calculated alternative business options for Unilever to make the same savings without cutting pensions. For more information on the campaign and to <a href="http://www.unitetheunion.org/campaigns/unilever_-_hands_off_our_pensi.aspx">send a message</a> to Unilever CEO Paul Polman, go to the Unite website here.&nbsp; 
 
Watch Unite&rsquo;s excellent three minute film &ldquo;<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33Theeovq1c&amp;feature=youtu.be">Unilever &ndash; not as clean as it claims</a>&rdquo; here.&nbsp;

UK Strikes at Unilever Continue; Company Refuses Talks

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The ICEM has responded with anger and outrage over the latest cold-blooded murder of a trade unionist in Colombia. Mauricio Redondo, 36, and his wife, Janeth Ord&oacute;&ntilde;ez Carlosama, were murdered in their home in the village of Tetey&eacute;, in the southern department of Putumayo, on 17 January at 19h30 by two gunmen. 
 
Mauricio Redondo was a provincial leader of ICEM Colombia affiliate Uni&oacute;n Sindical Obrera (USO) and both he and his wife were activists in a community group that advocated for better working conditions, environmental stewardship, and labour and human rights in the booming oil and natural gas fields of the Putumayo basin in southwest Colombia. 
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In fact, four days before the killings at a meeting in the municipality of Orito, at a forum called Primer Foro Petrolero por el Derecho al Trabajo, la Reivindicaci&oacute;n Social y Econ&oacute;mica de Orito, Redondo was an active speaker in talks to open public protests over these issues. According to initial reports, the two gunmen were wearing work uniforms of the local oil contracting company Empresa de Energ&iacute;a del Bajo Putumayo, EEEP (Energy Company of Lower Putumayo) and fired multiple gunshots into the couple. Redondo and Ord&oacute;&ntilde;ez are survived by five young children. 
 
&ldquo;Once again we witness the price that dedicated trade unionists in Colombia pay when they attempt to stand up for a dignified way of life,&rdquo; said General Secretary Manfred Warda, who was in Colombia when the murders happened. 
 
&ldquo;Along with USO, we mourn the grisly deaths of Mauricio Redondo and Janeth Ord&oacute;&ntilde;ez and we call on Colombia&rsquo;s federal and provincial prosecution teams to extend all efforts in apprehending and bringing to justice those responsible.&rdquo; 
 
Mauricio Redondo was employed by Medellin-based P.E.I. Energy, an upstream oil and gas drilling company. He was a leader of the 220-member USO committee in Orito, in which 40% are employees of Ecopetrol and 60% employed by contract companies of the state-held energy company. 
 
The deaths of the couple came just days after three other USO Orito leaders &ndash; Manuel Coronado, Jos&eacute; Socimo Erazo and Julio Vargas &ndash; were threatened by calls made to their mobile telephones. It also came after a bomb threat was directed at the USO regional office in Orito. 
<img alt="" src="" width="140" height="105" />
Said Central Unitaria de Trabajadores (CUT) Human Rights Director Alberto Vanegas, the worst aspect of the 17 January heinous crimes are that &ldquo;five children were left as orphans. This is what we leave with such murders: orphans and widows throughout the country.&rdquo; 
 
The killings of Mauricio Redondo and Janeth Ord&oacute;&ntilde;ez mark the first murders of trade unionists in Colombia in 2012. In 2011, at least 29 trade union leaders were killed in calculated and cold-blooded political assassinations.

ICEM Condemns Assassinations of USO Leader, His Wife in Colombia

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Some 80 buses and numerous car caravans converged on London, Ontario, Saturday, 21 January, in boisterous disagreement to <a href="/en/27-North-America/4823-CAW-Members-Victimized-in-Lockout-by-Caterpillar-s-Rail-Division ">Caterpillar Inc.&rsquo;s hardened lockout</a> of 650 members of the Canadian Auto Workers&rsquo; (CAW) union. Fair estimates placed the number of people attending the CAW and Ontario Federation of Labour&rsquo;s (OFL) Day of Action at 15,000. 
 
Caterpillar&rsquo;s Electro-Motive Diesel (EMD), part of its Progress Rail Services Corp., makers of train locomotives, locked out members of CAW Local 27 on New Year&rsquo;s Day in an egregious exhibition of corporate might and spite to wrest C$30 million from a single workforce in collective negotiations. 
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The Day of Action at Victoria Park across from the town of the south-western Ontario saw the OFL distribute red scarves to the throng as a symbol of resistance. A rock group warmed up the protestors with Buffalo Springfield&rsquo;s Something&rsquo;s Happening Here and following a dozen or so speeches, a good portion of those assembled marched to factory gates in east London to join picketers. 
 
CAW President Ken Lewenza concluded the speeches with an impassioned oratory on the current state of collective negotiations in Canada, where multinationals hide behind a Conservative government and gouge working families of their livelihoods to booster profit sheets. 
<img alt="" src="" width="156" height="159" />
Ken Lewenza
&ldquo;This struggle started three weeks ago,&rdquo; said Lewenza. &ldquo;But in the last five years, 450,000 manufacturing workers in Canada were asked to go home and say to their young children they lost their jobs through no fault of their own.&rdquo; 
 
He demanded that EMD quit the lockout and return to the bargaining table, something the company has refused to do so far in the cold of this Canadian winter. CAW Local 27 President Tim Carrie reminded those protesting that &ldquo;Caterpillar has a history of beating down workers and getting away with it. 
 
&ldquo;Not this time!&rdquo; 
 
Another speaker was President Bruce Klipple of the ICEM-affiliated United Electrical, Radio, Machine Workers&rsquo; of America (UE), whose union also represents workers in family-supporting jobs at an EMD competitor in the US &ndash; General Electric. He said the obvious; that a downward swing in wages and benefits in electric diesel manufacturing in London cannot and will not be tolerated. 
<img alt="" src="" width="178" height="159" />
Bruce Klipple
Other speakers included Sid Ryan, OFL President, Ken Georgetti, Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) President, and CAW Local 27 Chairman of the EMD bargaining unit, Bob Scott. London Mayor Joe Fontana had sharp words for Canadian Premier Stephen Harper, who used the diesel locomotive factory as a backdrop to tout jobs and investment when Caterpillar/EMD bought it in 2010 but has been silent and absent since the lockout began. 
 
In bargaining that began in May 2011 and carried through a seven-month contract extension, the vile American company did not move once from its stand of reducing average wages of C$35-an-hour to C$16.50, and cutting all benefits by 50%.

15,000 Manifests for Canadian Auto Workers in Lockout By Caterpillar

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The Ontario Labour Relations Board (OLRB) cited mining giant Vale with union interference in blocking the Vice President of United Steelworkers Local 6500 from entering work zones for representation purposes. The positive OLRB ruling came 16 months after a bitter, year-long strike between Brazil-based Vale and the USW at Sudbury and other Canadian locations. 
 
Patrick Veinot was one of nine Local 6500 members who were fired by Vale for strike activity and when he was elected following the end of the strike in July 2010, Vale refused to allow him on company property. Veinot is chairman of the Local 6500 grievance committee and his duties include meeting with shop stewards and grievants to resolve workplace differences. 
<img src="" width="172" height="160" alt="" />
Patrick Veinot
&ldquo;I think the message Vale Inco has sought to communicate is cold and hard and I conclude there has been a substantial interference both in the administration of the Union and its representation of employees,&rdquo; stated OLRB Chairman Bernard Fishbein. 
 
Veinot and the eight others were charged with criminal harassment but were acquitted of those charges by a jury trial in early 2011. But they remain sacked by Vale pending a separate proceeding lodged by the USW before the OLRB to win their jobs back. 
 
&ldquo;The Board made it quite clear,&rdquo; said USW District Director Wayne Fraser. &ldquo;Vale&rsquo;s post strike assault on the continuing determination and solidarity of our members will not be tolerated.&rdquo; 
 
Added USW Canadian National Director and ICEM Vice President Ken Neumann, &ldquo;Patrick has become a living symbol of the union&rsquo;s strength and like all discharged strikers, Patrick and his family have suffered at the hands of this autocratic employer hell bent on achieving its goals without regard to the interests of its employees.&rdquo;

Ontario Labour Board Rules Discharged USW Sudbury Leader has Worksite Access

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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). 
<img alt="" src="" width="276" height="160" />
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). 
<img alt="" src="" width="140" height="142" />
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; 
<img alt="" src="" width="249" height="140" />
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 president of the Colombian Oil Workers&rsquo; Trade Union (USO) was dismissed from his employment at 95% nationally-owned Ecopetrol on 13 December, in an attempt to remove the democratically elected leader of the union and weaken the organisation. The move was based on national legislation blocking individuals holding public office becoming involved in politics, following Vecino&rsquo;s participation at a speaking event involving a political candidate of the left wing Polo Democr&aacute;tico, the event was held to commemorate the death of Jorge Ortega, Vice President of the CUT. The law should only apply to individuals holding managerial responsibilities inside a company which president Rodolfo Vecino Acevedo does not. It is absurd to attempt to use this legislation against a union leader, who necessarily seeks to affect the politics of a company as well as of the country, in the interest of the workers s/he represents. The vast majority of USO members are supporters of the Polo Democr&aacute;tico. 
<img alt="" src="" width="163" height="159" />
USO President Rodolfo Vecino
The blatant attack on union freedom and autonomy follows a long historical trend of intimidation and harassment of ICEM&rsquo;s militant affiliate USO. In 2011 USO conducted a strong campaign for improved pay and conditions for its members at foreign multinational corporations (MNCs), especially Canadian-based Pacific Rubiales. Many see the Colombian government and authorities repeatedly prioritising the interests of foreign MNCs far above those of Colombian workers. A further pernicious reason for the arbitrary sacking of president Vecino could be the strong opposition from USO to the government attempts at privatising Ecopetrol. It is a core value of USO that oil industry operations in Colombia must be publically owned, instead of foreign companies exporting profits from their oil wealth. 
 
The ruling also blocks president Vecino from holding office for a period of 10 years. 
 
The investigation against Vecino was carried out by Ecopetrol&rsquo;s Office of Disciplinary Inspection, which is conducting a wide ranging systematic attack on the union, with the clear intention to destroy USO all together. Three other USO officials targeted by the office are General Secretary Edgardo Lozano, Jaime Rodriguez, Head of the pipeline subcommittee, and Joaqu&iacute;n Padilla in Cartegena province. There are over 1,000 investigations by the office on USO activists. 
 
During the Pacific Rubiales campaign at the end of 2011 threats from alleged paramilitaries increased, with USO leaders receiving verbal and written threats of kidnap, torture and death for their role in the strike in the eastern department of Meta. Pacific Rubiales publically condemned the threats. In his 27 years as a trade union activist, president Vecino has suffered the attempted kidnapping of his children, two attacks, and multiple threats. View a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&amp;v=x0W9F-REMNk">video of Vecino</a> describing this here. 
 
The ICEM Congress in Buenos Aires, last November, resolved to support Colombian workers, under vicious attack by employers and many aspects of the state. Write to <a href="mailto:presidencia@ecopetrol.com.co">Ecopetrol President Javier Gutierrez Pemberthy</a> here. See the Belgian <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/1201%20fgtb%20letter%20to%20ecopetrol.pdf">Centrale Generale FGTB&rsquo;s</a> letter to Pemberthy here. 
 
4,500 trade unionists have been assassinated in Colombia in the last 25 years. The trend of violence has not been stopped by new national president Juan Manuel Santos.

ICEM Affiliates Called on to Support Sacked Colombian USO President Rodolfo Vecino

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