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The Japanese Trade Union Confederation, Rengo, continues to post solid gains for part-time workers in this spring&rsquo;s set of wage negotiations. The labour federation has targeted raises for temporary workers as a priority in this spring&rsquo;s shunto, or spring wage offensive, as well as delivering improved working conditions for part-timers. 
 
Rengo is also encouraging part-time workers to file lawsuits against enterprises which are not in compliance with a court ruling that says they must not receive less than 80% of full-time pay. Speaking at a meeting of representatives from local chapters on 16 June, Rengo President Tsuyoshi Takagi said the labour umbrella group would assist part-time workers to pursue such lawsuits.

Rengo Continues Spring Offensive on Behalf of Part-Time Workers

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In Peru, 800 iron ore miners, members of Sindicato de Obreros Mineros, an affiliate of Federaci&oacute;n Nacional de Trabajadores Mineros, Metalurgicos y Siderurgicos del Peru (FNTMMSP) began a strike 19 June against Chinese state-run Shouda Iron and Steel Group (Shougang). 
 
The strike at Peru&rsquo;s only iron ore mine at Marcona, 350 kilometres south of Lima, was caused when managers of Shougang Hierro Peru failed to meet wage demands of miners, who are among the lowest paid in the country&rsquo;s mining industry.
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The mine union, connected with ICEM affiliate FNTMMSP, is seeking wage increases equivalent of US$1.69-a-day, while Shougang offered only the equivalent of US$0.42-a-day. Shougang&rsquo;s miners earn a salary of only US$13-a-day, far below the average Peruvian mining salary of US$33-a-day, according to Peru&rsquo;s National Society of Mining, Petroleum and Energy. 
 
Union members at the mine last week blocked the entrance, preventing the company from using contract work to continue the work. Meanwhile, Peru&rsquo;s government has declared the strike a legal one, meaning the company must continue negotiating with the union and the Labour Ministry can impose an increase to workers&rsquo; salaries if work is to be re-started. 
 
Shougang declared force majeure on all iron ore exported from Peru, the majority of which is destined for Japan and China. The Chinese state company bought the mine in 1992 from a state-run Peruvian company for US$118 million, and has increased production since 2002 by an average of 20% per annum. 
The increased production has caused numerous safety concerns, which have not been addressed, and Peru&rsquo;s Energy and Mines Ministry says the company has not met investment commitments tied to the sale.

Miners Strike Chinese Iron Ore Operations in Peru

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The European Mine, Chemical, and Energy Workers&rsquo; Federation (EMCEF) held its 7th General Assembly in Istanbul, Turkey, 15-16 June under the banner &ldquo;The Future of European Integration.&rdquo; Attended by 200 delegates, the assembly notably adopted a motion on trade union rights and freedoms in Turkey that included support of the country in its negotiations with the EU for accession. 
 
In a letter to Turkish social policy ministers and to Turkey&rsquo;s chief negotiator with the EU, EMCEF noted the &ldquo;significant progress&rdquo; in accession talks, but &ldquo;that from a trade union perspective a lot remains to be done in terms of collective bargaining and trade union rights and freedoms. Full democratization is the only way towards integration.&rdquo;
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The motion on the subject states that EMCEF &ldquo;supports membership negotiations between Turkey and the EU, (and) should end up with full membership of Turkey with all requirements being fulfilled. Additionally, (EMCEF) calls upon the government of the Republic of Turkey to take radical steps towards securing fundamental rights and freedoms within the framework of trade union rights and freedoms.&rdquo; 
 
The General Assembly also included a panel and plenary session on &ldquo;Perspective of European Integration in Light of Global Challenges.&rdquo; The discussion focussed on the future of EMCEF activities that could strengthen the social dimension of European integration. EMCEF intends to get trade unions at both national and European levels to inject more initiatives on this most important issue.

EMCEF’s General Assembly Addresses Turkey’s Accession, Social Dimensions to Integration

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ICEM Costa Rican affiliate Sindicato de Trabajadores Petroleros, Qu&iacute;micos y Afines (SITRAPEQUIA) has criticised the government of Dr Oscar Arias S&aacute;nchez for continuing rhetoric favouring privatisation of state oil company RECOPE. 
In a 15 June circular, the union points out that the company has operated effectively and efficiently since it was nationalised in 1974, a fact that finds other Central American governments attempting to replicate such management. 
 
&ldquo;We don&rsquo;t understand how our government can pretend to imitate the way these Central American governments have operated, meaning handing this important activity into the hands of multinational oil companies,&rdquo; the statement read. 
SITRAPEQUIA&rsquo;s strong rebuke comes as Arias is using political measures to ratify the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) with the US, an agreement which could lead to the sell-off of successful and highly-profitable state companies. The Costa Rican president made such overtures before an ILO audience in Geneva, Switzerland, on 7 June. 
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The union contends RECOPE has fulfilled its role on national development over the past decades, and that the oil company can serve to reduce poverty and as a means toward better redistribution of wealth. It also says that privatisation proposals of basic industries have consistently failed at the legislative level due to legitimate rejection by the public. 
 
SITRAPEQUIA union members massed with other Costa Rican trade unions affiliated to national centre Confederaci&oacute;n de Trabajadores Rerum Novarum (CTRN) in a march and demonstration in the capital city of San Jose. 
The 7 June mass demonstration, numbering 10,000, was over both Arias&rsquo;s intended remarks at the ILO, as well as over a constitutional court ruling that weakens union protections for public sector workers, an adjustment in accordance with CAFTA.

SITRAPEQUIA Out to Protect State-run, Costa Rican Oil Company

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The ICEM&rsquo;s joint project with affiliate General Union of Petroleum, Mining and Chemical Workers of Palestine (GUPMCWP) to develop leadership of women began 10-12 June in Amman, Jordan. Heavily supported by NOPEF, Norway&rsquo;s dominant oil union, the seminar was attended by 23 women from GUPMCWP.
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Workshops dealt with collective bargaining and health issues, and were led by ICEM Women&rsquo;s Officer Carol Bruce and Turid &Oslash;ygard of NOPEF. ICEM&rsquo;s two Jordanian affiliates, General Union of Petrol and Chemical Workers Union, and the General Trade Union of Workers in Mining and Metal Industries, cooperated in developing the workshops. 
 
Union-building work with GUPMCWP, as well as work in support of unions in Iraq, has been identified as a priority by the ICEM&rsquo;s Middle East/North Africa Region, and the initial women&rsquo;s project with ICEM&rsquo;s Palestinian affiliate was agreed to in 2005 by the ICEM&rsquo;s Secretariat and GUPMCWP leadership.
A report of the meeting can be found in <a href="/index.php?id=71&amp;doc=1967&amp;la=AR">Arabic here</a> and in <a href="/index.php?id=71&amp;doc=1967&amp;la=EN">English here</a>.

ICEM’s Palestinian Women’s Project Begins with Training Workshops

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The Thai subsidiary of French-based public relations giant Publicis Groupe has withdrawn its ill-brought libel lawsuit against Junya Lek Timprasert and the Thai Labour Campaign (TLC). Lawyers for the company dropped the suit, which was before Bangkok&rsquo;s Southern Criminal Court, on 20 June. 
 
The TLC, with Lek as coordinator, has received strong support from the ICEM over the years in its efforts to reveal human rights and labour rights violations in Thailand. Their &ldquo;crime&rdquo; in the Publicis Thailand case was to republish an article from CSR Asia Weekly on the TLC website regarding an unfair dismissal case brought forward by five women workers of the public relations subsidiary.
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The company, in 2005, had charged TLC and Lek with &ldquo;defamation by propagation&rdquo; in the Thai court. Lek faced jail time, while TLC might have had to pay monetary damages and seen limitations to its valuable work, had global pressure not been brought against the French public relations company to drop the lawsuit. 
 
&ldquo;It is frustrating that we, who are directly in contact with workers that produce for the world and witness many rights violations, cannot bring situations to the attention of the world without the risk of being sued,&rdquo; said Lek. &ldquo;Furthermore, workers who report to us, of course, face all kinds of pressures and risk being dismissed.&rdquo;

Lawsuit Dropped by French PR Firm Against Thai Labour Campaign

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The refusal by oil service companies doing business in Norway&rsquo;s oil patch to harmonise a national agreement with other collective agreements in the oil industry has caused selective strikes. The strikes began on 21 June by ICEM affiliate NOPEF, and threaten to disrupt North Sea oil production, as well as impacting development and well maintenance work. 
 
NOPEF called 87 workers out on strike after arbitration between the union and the Oil Industry Association (OLF) failed on 20 June to achieve a new two-year pay deal. The oil service companies struck include Halliburton, Baker Hughes, Schlumberger, Weatherford and Oceaneering. The companies affected primarily maintain wells, aid new drilling exploration, and assist drilling production operations in the North Sea. 
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NOPEF's Lars Myhre
NOPEF is seeking to harmonise the oil service agreement with other national agreements covering testing, drilling, tug-piloting, catering and other operational areas, agreements that already have common working conditions. &ldquo;Oil service companies do not want staff on regular weekly schedules and regular rotations,&rdquo; said NOPEF&rsquo;s Lars Myhre, ICEM&rsquo;s Energy Section chairman, adding, &ldquo;They are only interested in their own flexibility demands.&rdquo;

NOPEF Seeks Harmonisation of Norwegian Oil Contracts by Striking Service Companies

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In the US, ICEM affiliate United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) is combating unprecedented mining accidents that have occurred this year in unorganised coal mines, with both court room action and legislative efforts. The UMWA, on 8 June, filed a federal lawsuit in Washington, D.C., against the Bush administration&rsquo;s Mine Safety &amp; Health Administration (MSHA). 
 
The lawsuit seeks to compel MSHA to begin conducting random checks of oxygen devices used in underground mine emergencies. The lawsuit also seeks to force the mine safety bureau to train miners on the use of such devices. 
 
A day before the lawsuit was filed, the US House of Representatives voted 381 to 37 to approve stricter mine safety regulations. The proposed law would mandate mine operators to provide two hours of oxygen in underground mines, and would give them three years to install communication and tracking equipment in underground mines.
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It also requires companies to report any life-threatening accident within 15 minutes of occurrence and requires all mines to have on-site rescue teams, something only UMWA-staffed mines have at present. In May, the US Senate approved the measure, strongly backed by the UMWA, and it now must go to President George Bush for his signature before becoming law. 
 
To date in 2006, 33 deaths have occurred in US coal mines, all of them in non-union worksites. The majority of those deaths have been caused from carbon monoxide poisoning following explosions, a fact compounded by faulty breathing devices and insufficient oxygen supplies in underground mines.

Mine Workers in US Take Steps to Improve Safety

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Led by ICEM affiliate Engineering, Printing &amp; Manufacturing Union (EPMU), New Zealand&rsquo;s labour movement began weekly pickets on 2 June against proposed legislation in which employers could fire workers with impunity during the first 90 days of their employment.
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The EPMU established pickets outside the electoral office of bill sponsor Wayne Mapp in Takapuna on that day. Further protests, planned for every Friday morning, will happen in Auckland and at selected targets as seen fit. A mass rally is slated for Whangerei on 21 June, and the campaign to block the amendment to the Employment Relations Act will culminate with a march and rally on Parliament in Auckland on 20 July. 
 
The legislation, if passed, would also remove all grievance rights for workers during their first 90 days of employment. The bill passed a first reading on Parliament with a narrow 63-58 vote on 15 March 2006 when Mapp&rsquo;s National Party was joined by MPs from four other political parties: New Zealand First, ACT, United Future, and the Maori Party, in which three of four MPs voted against workers&rsquo; interests. The governing Labour Party and the Green Party are standing with trade unions in opposing the measure.

New Zealand Labour Launches Protests Against 90-Day Probation Act

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ICEM German affiliate IGBCE and the country&rsquo;s chemical employers&rsquo; federation, BAVC, announced in Berlin today, 12 June, a joint declaration toward implementing family-friendly policies in the workplace. The agreement is the first of its kind in any sector in Germany.
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The initiative serves as the pioneering effort toward achieving the necessary balance between work and family life. &ldquo;This is a significant step to better compatibility between occupation and family duties,&rdquo; said IGBCE&rsquo;s Edeltraud Glaenzer. She added that the basic principles contained in the position paper will now need to be put in practice in chemical industry worksites. 
 
German Family Affairs Secretary Ursula von der Leyen, who was present for the signing, stated, &ldquo;For the trade union and employers&rsquo; organisation to declare this family-friendly personnel policy, is a decisive prerequisite for a better balance between work and family life.&rdquo;

IGBCE, Chemical Industry Announce ‘Family-Friendly’ Protocol Agreement

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