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UK Trade unionists of Amicus at International Paper Co.&rsquo;s Inverurie mill in Scotland will extend industrial actions into next week, giving notice to the US-based company that another four-hour strike will occur on Monday, 10 April, and then an eight-hour downing of tools on Thursday, 13 April. It will be the fifth time since 23 March that the 231-strong workforce will have struck, and the 13 April action will mark the first eight-hour strike. 
<img height="82" alt="" src="" width="160" />
The two sides met on 4 April. The union was heartened that company negotiators moved off a pay freeze for 2006, but the company attached unacceptable conditions to the sub-standard, two-year pay offer. It sought not to make the pay offer retroactive to 1 January, and the company also wants to make the first two days of January mandatory work days each year. 
 
Amicus union officials consulted with union members, and informed management today that their offer was unacceptable. &ldquo;We will keep the door open to further bargaining,&rdquo; said Amicus Asst. Branch Secretary Willie Wallace. &ldquo;We have suggested that ACAS get involved and we sincerely wish to resolve this dispute,&rdquo; he added. ACAS is the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service of the UK, an independent but public-funded mediation service with a longstanding reputation. 
 
Amicus branch leaders and trade unionists at the Inverurie mill are perplexed by the company&rsquo;s bargaining posture. Absent in bargaining is good-faith and a fair exchange of ideas and proposals. Instead, managers come to talks with &ldquo;take-it-or-leave-it&rdquo; proposals, void of any desire or willingness for dialogue, according to Wallace. International Paper has presented three &ldquo;last, best and final offers&rdquo; in recent bargaining sessions, a fact not lost on Inverurie paperworkers as they&rsquo;ve united more through this dispute than ever before. 
 
This week&rsquo;s bargaining is a case in point. Amicus members know the company has never had a problem operating paper machines on 1 and 2 January. The voluntary system of working those days has never failed in the past. Considering also the company&rsquo;s demand that any wage increase for first quarter of 2006 is lost, this week&rsquo;s restructured &ldquo;last, best and final offer&rdquo; was easy to reject. 
 
&ldquo;The mood among members is hardening,&rdquo; said Amicus Asst. General Secretary Tony Burke. &ldquo;The company does not understand that they cannot keep rehashing previous offers which have found no favour amongst our members.&rdquo;

Eight-Hour Strike Next Week at International Paper’s Scottish Mill

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A decision on 23 March by Thailand&rsquo;s Supreme Administrative Court to nullify two 2005 royal decrees calling for partial privatisation of the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) was heralded by ICEM affiliate EGAT-LU as a national turning point against the corrupt practices of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. 
The country&rsquo;s highest court ruled the process, which led to the Thaksin government float of 25% of EGAT on the Stock Exchange of Thailand, as lacking transparency in that public hearings were incomplete. The court also said that if the partial privatisation had gone ahead, unfair competitive advantages would have been created. 
EGAT-LU Chairman Sirichai Mai-ngam said the union will now team up with consumer groups and others to roll back privatisations of the Metropolitan Electric Authority, the Metropolitan Waterworks Authority, the Provincial Electric Authority and the Provincial Waterworks. 
The union has also called on EGAT&rsquo;s board of directors to resign. They ask the same of Thaksin himself and of Energy Minister Viset Choopiban. 
EGAT-LU is meeting with top managers of the state-run power company today. The union will seek refunds plus interest for the shares purchased by EGAT staff, reimbursement of taxes levied, and for directors and government officials to take responsibility for the millions in advisory fees paid in preparation for last November&rsquo;s initial public offering. 
&ldquo;We are uncertain whether the next government will try to privatise EGAT,&rdquo; said Mai-ngam. &ldquo;However, we will continue to cooperate with civil groups in the fight to maintain the state enterprise status of the power utility.&rdquo;

High Court in Thailand Nullifies EGAT Privatisation

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Turkish ICEM affiliate Cimse-Is (Cement, Ceramics, Pottery and Glass industry Workers' Union) announced this week its plan to start a series of strikes at 43 different cement plants throughout Turkey. 
The decision by the union&rsquo;s Executive Board follows the failure of negotiations with the Turkish employers&rsquo; organisation, which had started on March 17. Both parties were unable to reach a consensus, despite various efforts by the union. Actions will start at 23 plants on May Day, with an additional 20 plants being struck as of May 8.

Strikes Announced at 43 Different Cement Plants in Turkey

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Amicus representatives were successful in their latest round of talks with International Paper (IP) management in Scotland on Tuesday, held to resolve the ongoing dispute at the IP mill in Inverurie, Scotland. 
After a long day of discussions, which saw the involvement of the UK Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS), a deal was reached that forms the basis for an agreement for two years. According to Willie Wallace, Amicus Assistant Branch Secretary, the agreement will now be presented to the union members, with a recommendation to accept the offer, a process which may take some time. All announced strike actions are suspended. 
The renewed negotiations came after weeks of actions by the ICEM affiliate, who had been applying pressure on the company through a series of consecutive four-hour strikes. At the origin of the dispute was a company suggested pay freeze for 2006.

Talks at International Paper Mill in Scotland Successful

After six weeks of intense demonstrations and strikes, through which millions of workers and students voiced their aversion of a new French law aimed, at least according to the government, at getting more young people working, the French Prime Minister decided on Monday that enough was enough. 
Dominique De Villepin announced that the &ldquo;first job contract law&rdquo; (contrat premi&egrave;re embauche &ndash; CPE) will be replaced, after it had become apparent that earlier attempts by the government to scale it down were just as firmly rejected by the protesters. 
<img height="67" alt="" src="" width="100" />
The French trade unions, who, together with French student organisations, had successfully managed to stage a few of the largest demonstrations the country has seen for decades, said they were pleased with the result. The proposed CPE would have made it possible to dismiss workers under 26 in their first two years of employment without any reason given. 
Several demonstrations were held in a number of major French cities this week after the announcement on Monday, as the organisations want to keep the pressure on the government to make sure the suggested replacement proposition is of a higher quality. 
Yesterday, the French National Assembly (the lower house of parliament) adopted a compromise to replace the CPE. The focal point would now be on providing assistance for young people that face the most difficulties in gaining access to the job market, through measures such as more training, internships and subsidies for hiring youths with lower qualifications.

French Prime Minister Gives in to Trade Unions and Students

This past week has seen the largest demonstrations against the authoritarian rule of King Gyanendra since he dissolved the government and took absolute power in February 2005. What started last Thursday as a four day strike, led by the 7-party opposition coalition, and supported by the Nepalese independent trade unions and many others, has grown into an indefinite strike since, aimed at ending the absolute rule of King Gyanendra. The organisers call for the parliament to be reinstated. 
<img height="94" alt="" src="" width="100" />
According to the General Federation of Nepalese Trade Unions (GEFONT), the regime in Nepal has lost all control and launched brutal and bloody attacks on peaceful demonstrators. In addition to beating and shooting at ordinary trade union members, including at a security guard at the GEFONT headquarters, the regime has also arrested at least 43 GEFONT leaders since the beginning of April. All of them have been handed a detention order ranging from 90 days to indefinite periods. Three were released yesterday. Many other GEFONT leaders find themselves under heavy surveillance. 
Fate is not much different for the other trade union federations in Nepal. According to the Nepal Trade Union Congress (NTUC), at least ten of their representatives have been arrested since April 6. In total, many hundreds of protesters have been detained in Nepal last week. One source puts the total number of arrested people at 2,300 for Tuesday alone, with at least another 1,300 still held in detention since Monday. 
<img height="93" alt="" src="" width="70" />
The general strike, which is in its eighth day today, is nationwide, with large demonstrations taking place in several cities throughout Nepal. The king has reacted to the strikes, in addition to the many arrests, by declaring a number of curfews. These have, in a few cases, quickly turned into shoot-on-sight curfews. Only this morning, police opened fire on a demonstration of around 500 lawyers, with many of them ending up in hospital. Over the course of the last few days, at least four people were killed and a large number of demonstrators has been injured. 
In spite of the violence, there appears to be more and more public support for the democratic movement by the day. Protests have not only gained the support of professional organisations and of the FNCCI (the body of employers and business), there are also more and more people from all walks of life reported to take part, without or without the curfews. 
In addition to sending a <a href="/?id=7&amp;doc=1758&amp;la=EN">protest letter to the king</a>, the ICEM also sent a <a href="/?id=7&amp;doc=1757&amp;la=EN">letter of support to its Nepalese affiliates</a>.

Strike in Nepal, Aimed at Ending Nepal’s Autocratic rule, Enters its 8th Day.

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Bargaining will occur for the first time on 14-15 April since, on 26 January, a lockout was initiated by paper company Stora Enso against 600 members of ICEM affiliate Communications, Energy, Paperworkers (CEP) Union of Canada. 
CEP Local 972 and management were close to a settlement in mid-January, but the Swedish-Finnish company was insistent on changes in contracting-out rules, changes that would break from the pattern already established on that issue for the paper sector of Eastern Canada. 
<img height="50" alt="" src="" width="100" />
Besides addressing the issue of contract labour, the two sides must also come to terms on local terms and conditions at the newsprint and coated papers mills in Port Hawkesbury, Nova Scotia. The company did call union leaders to a meeting in March, but only to tell them that it needed lower power rates and a reduction in both provincial and municipal taxes in order to continue to operate the mill. 
Political leaders said there would be no discussions on those subjects until a new collective agreement is in place. CEP Local 972 members have not worked inside the mill since 23 December 2005, the date Stora Enso began an indefinite shutdown to reduce paper inventories.

Negotiations Restart in Canada between Stora Enso and CEP

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ICEM affiliate, the Korean Chemical and Textile Workers&rsquo; Federation (KCTF), and its national centre, KCTU, decided to launch a boycott against the products of GS Caltex (formerly LG-Caltex) in Korea. GS Caltex is a joint venture between Chevron and Korean GS Holding, operating mainly on the oil refinery sector. 
The decision to call for a boycott, which was taken earlier this month, comes after years of fruitless negotiations with the company. The origin of the dispute goes back to July 2004, when the GS Caltex union went on strike after negotiations had broken down with the company. Main issues included the union&rsquo;s demand for a five-day, 40-hour work-week and their call for the non-discrimination of contract workers. 
<img height="100" alt="" src="" width="100" />
Union demands were not only met by an unwilling employer, but also by riot police, sent in by the Korean government, which brutally suppressed the striking workers. After a 20-day strike, the company, while still refusing to give in to any of the union&rsquo;s demands, displayed its ruthlessness by retaliating against returning workers by selecting, at the gate and with police assistance, who could enter and who could not. 
The company dismissed nearly all union officials. It also harassed families of workers with warnings of dismissal. In addition, eight trade union representatives were arrested and sentenced to two or three years in prison. In total, 650 workers were disciplined with a three-month work suspension. 
In support of the boycott, Brother Bae, President of KCFT, went on hunger strike for an indefinite period on 1 April.

Korean KCTF Calls for Korean Boycott of GS Caltex

For the urgent attention of His Majesty 
King Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev 
Narayanhity Royal Palace 
Durbar Marg 
Kathmandu 
Nepal 
 
By fax: +977 14 413577 and +977 14 228235 

Brussels, 12 April 2006 
 
King Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev, 
 
I am writing, in name of the 20 million members that the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM) represents in 122 countries worldwide, to protest in the strongest possible terms against the violent response by your security forces to this week&rsquo;s many demonstrations in Nepal. I particularly object to the brutal repression against numerous trade union members and leaders in your country. 
 
Over the course of the past week, as your regime&rsquo;s oppression of the Nepalese democratization movement has become more aggressive, we have been informed of the arrests of many hundreds of protesters and democracy supporters, including scores of trade unionists. Most of these took part in protest actions against your government. Others did not even get that far as they were arrested in anticipation to prevent them from doing so. 
 
Estimates are that 2,300 people were arrested yesterday alone, with at least an additional 1,300 still held in detention since Monday. Amongst these detainees are many members and leaders of GEFONT, NTUC and DECONT, as well as of at least one of ICEM&rsquo;s affiliates in Nepal, the Nepal Independent Chemical and Iron Workers&rsquo; Union (NICIWU). 
 
Together with the wider international trade union community and hundreds of other organizations and countries from around the world, I am calling upon you to end the violence by your security forces in Nepal. In addition, all trade union leaders and members that have been arrested over the last few days, weeks and months must be released immediately. 
 
Yours sincerely, 
 
 
Fred Higgs 
General Secretary 
 
Cc: 
Mr. Ramesh Nath Pandey, Minister of Foreign Affairs 
Mr. Narayan S. Thapa, Ambassador of Nepal to the Benelux and European Countries - By Fax: 02-344.13.61

ICEM protest letter to King Gyanendra in Nepal

Se&ntilde;or Alvaro Uribe V&eacute;lez 
Presidente de la Rep&uacute;blica 
Palacio Nari&ntilde;o 
Carrera 8 No. 7-2 
Bogot&aacute; 
 
By Fax: ++57-1-337.58.90 and ++57-1-566.20.71 
 
 
Mr. President, 
 
I am writing on behalf of the 20 million workers worldwide of the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions to express our horror and disgust at the brutal murder of brother Daniel Cortez Cortez, a member of Sintraelecol, ICEM affiliate in Colombia. 
 
Brother Cortez was assassinated at night in Puerto Parra, near Barrancabermeja, on Sunday April 2nd, reportedly by a group of paramilitary members. He was shot in the face and died instantly. Brother Cortez leaves behind a wife and four children. He had been working for 16 years at the Empresa Electrificadora de Santander and had been an active&nbsp;trade union member. 
 
His death is the latest expression of the fact that the seemingly endless series of human and trade union rights violations in Colombia has far from ended. Your country remains one of the most dangerous countries in the world for trade unionists to do their work. On top of that, most murders of trade union members go uninvestigated and unpunished. 
 
As to the assassination of Daniel Cortez, a full and open investigation into this murder needs to be started as a matter of urgency. Those responsible for this hideous crime need to be brought to justice without delay. 
 
In addition to that, I repeat that it is up to the Colombian government to guarantee a safe working place for trade unionists. It is high time to deliver on earlier promises and provide effective protection for trade unionists in Colombia. 
 
Yours sincerely, 
 
Fred Higgs 
 
General Secretary 
ICEM 

CC: 
Francisco Santos, Colombian Vice-President, 
Jorge Alberto Uribe, Colombian Minister of Defence, 
Dr Carlos Franco, Head of the Presidential Human Rights Program 
Colombian Embassy in&nbsp;Brussels

ICEM letter to Colombia on murder of trade union member Daniel Cortez

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