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French unions will begin mass protests and strikes today across the country over the government&rsquo;s broken promise, made a short 18 months ago, that Gaz de France (GDF) would remain at last 70% state held. The actions are due to a proposal made public a week ago to merge GDF with the French-Belgian publicly-traded water/power group, Suez. 
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The French government stands in the middle of the deal, which would effectively privatise GDF, with France&rsquo;s stake only 34%. The government currently holds 80% of GDF. 
 
The merger would have a detrimental effect on Electricit&eacute; de France, costing mass job losses since Suez and its subsidiaries would supply power to GDF. CFDT Chimie Energie said the proposed merger lacks transparency in that no analysis of the combined industrial plan was presented, and the social aspects of such a Suez-GDF merger had not been studied adequately. 
The deal is an attempt to block Italian energy company Enel&rsquo;s hostile takeover bid of Suez.

French Unions Strike over Gaz de France Merger Plan

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Even as German affiliate IGBCE came to acceptable terms with Continental Tyre over a plant downsizing in Hannover, two other ICEM-affiliated trade unions face difficulties with the company. In the US, United Steelworkers (USW) is fully engaged in achieving job protection measures in negotiations at a tyre plant in Charlotte, North Carolina. 
 
Continental North America announced last year that it would make redundant 510 of the plant&rsquo;s 1,083 jobs this year, and then dropped a concession-ridden proposal on the union seeking US$32 million in costs savings that includes across-the-board 15% pay cuts. 
USW has criticized the &ldquo;slash and burn proposal.&rdquo; Union Executive Vice President Ron Hoover said, &ldquo;There are absolutely zero job security provisions to maintain future productivity&rdquo; in Continental&rsquo;s proposal, a deviation from the master rubber contracts that Goodyear, Bridgestone-Firestone and BF Goodrich/Michelin operate under in the US. A labour agreement in place since 1999 at the Charlotte plant expires on 30 April 2006. 
 
The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA), meanwhile, has condemned Continental for failing to abide by a labour court ruling to reinstate workers at its Port Elizabeth plant. The workers were sacked after the company unilaterally changed working hours without consultations with NUMSA. The union has taken legal action, and is threatening a strike and a boycott of Conti products through its affiliation with COSATU, a South African national labour centre.

Continental Tyre Creating Problems in US, South Africa

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The ICEM learned today that one of the two top leaders of the Nepalese trade union federation GEFONT was released from police custody in Kathmandu. 
<img height="129" alt="" src="" width="100" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <img height="127" alt="" src="" width="111" /> 
Left: Chairman Mukunda Neupane (released) 
Right: Gefont's Secretary General Binod Shrestha 
(still&nbsp;under arrest) 
Chairman Mukanda Neupane was released Tuesday evening, 24 January, but GEFONT Secretary-General Binod Shrestha was still being detained. Both had been arrested early on 19 January. Also released were two trade union leaders of another trade union federation, NTUC, as well as a number of pro-democracy political leaders. 
 
Upon his release, Brother Neupane thanked the international community&mdash;particularly the global trade union family&mdash;for its strong support, and urged the people of Nepal to continue efforts to bring democracy to the Himalayan country. Neupane, however, also expressed dismay that other detainees, including Brother Shrestha, are still being held. 
 
Further information can be found at the GEFONT website: <a href="http://www.gefont.org">http://www.gefont.org</a>.

GEFONT Chairman Mukanda Neupane Released in Nepal

Another mining disaster happened 10 January in South Africa at AngloGold Ashanti&rsquo;s TauTona gold mine near Carletonville, just outside of Johannesburg.
A rock slide caused by an earth tremor killed three workers, and injured five others, two of them seriously. An investigation into the accident is being jointly conducted by the Ministry of Minerals and Energy, ICEM affiliate National Union of Mineworkers, and AngloGold Ashanti South African Mines. 
<img height="103" src="" width="100" alt="" />
A similar earth tremor at the TauTona Mine last July killed two miners, while a rock fall at AngloGold&rsquo;s Mponeny Mine in South Africa in October also killed two miners.

Earth Tremor Kills Three at AngloGold South African Mine

The worst Romanian mining catastrophe in 20 years occurred on 14 January when a methane gas explosion occurred at the Anina Mine in the southwestern part of the country.
Seven miners were killed and five seriously injured by the blast at the 200-year-old mine owned by state-run Benat Mining Co. The mine was scheduled to be closed in October 2006, but Romanian President Traian Basescu&mdash;upon visiting the site a day after the disaster&mdash;ordered immediate closure.
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Records show that some 1,000 miners have died at the Anina Mine since it opened in 1792, with the worst tragedy happening in 1920 when 270 miners perished from an underground explosion.

Gas Blast in Romanian Colliery Closes 214-Year-Old Mine

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A 17-day strike by some 28,000 contract workers of Chilean state-run copper producer Codelco ended over the weekend.
Contract workers did not receive the bonus payment they were seeking, but did achieve a pre-agreement to end the strike for alternative financial compensation and improvements in working conditions. Codelco&rsquo;s contract workers are unionised and are members of divisional unions aligned with the Copper Workers Federation (FTC). 
The non-ICEM-affiliated FTC&rsquo;s strike actions centered at Codelco&rsquo;s El Teniente mining area and at the company&rsquo;s Andina Division. Codelco is the world&rsquo;s largest producer of copper. The strike caused copper prices to hit a record high on 19 January.

Contract Workers End Strike at Chile’s Codelco Mines

Miners at a uranium mine in Namibia won a 2006 salary agreement from R&ouml;ssing Uranium after interrupting work for four hours on 10 January to deliver a petition to company management.
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Some 450 miners of the R&ouml;ssing Branch of ICEM affiliate Mineworkers&rsquo; Union of Namibia won an 8% pay hike from the mining concern that is 68.6% owned by Rio Tinto, plus a one-off bonus of N$1,000 and substantial housing allowances. When senior managers at the mine where unavailable to accept the petition at the mine&rsquo;s main entrance, miners boarded buses to Swakopmund, some 70 kilometers away, to present the petition to senior management.
Rio Tinto announced in December that it was investing US$112 million in R&ouml;ssing Uranium, a move that would extend the life of the mine from 2009 to 2016.

Rio Tinto Miners in Namibia Win Pay Gains

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Five subcontractors at a Taiyo Oil Co. refinery in Imabari, Japan were burned to death 17 January inside a 100,000 kiloliter oil storage tank. An explosion and fire occurred when two contractors were preparing the tank for cleaning.
Investigators are looking at safety management practices of the two contractors, Taiyo Techno Service and Fukasaki-Gumi, and suspicion of negligence on their part.
The Taiyo Oil Workers&rsquo; Union, affiliated with JEC Rengo, is monitoring in the investigation. The union represents refinery workers at the 120,000 barrel-per-day Taiyo refinery, but not contract workers. Two other contract workers were injured in the blast and subsequent fire.

Contract Workers Killed at Japanese Oil Refinery

French affiliate FCE-CFDT has condemned Swiss chemicals and pharmaceutical company Novartis for installing a special telephone line in plants so workers can whistle-blow on one another.
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The union said such a practice abuses the company&rsquo;s own code of conduct, and creates a sour climate for employee morale. The central committee of workers for Novartis&rsquo;s French enterprises, along with the FCE-CFDT and CGT-FO, have taken legal action in the city of Nanterre.
In spite of laws and regulations preventing such practices, certain multinationals, including Novartis, do no hesitate to transgress these laws and regulations in order to arrive at methods that are perceived to be accountability measures, stated the FCE-CFDT.

French Affiliate Protests Novartis’ Whistle-Blowing Tactics

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CEP members at a Stora Enso paper mill in Port Hawkesbury, Nova Scotia, will vote tomorrow and Wednesday, 24 and 25 January, on a company contract proposal. Rejection likely will mean 660 members of CEP Local 972 will face a lockout effective 26 January. 
Following eight days of non-stop bargaining that ended late on 18 January, Local 972 members met with union leaders on 21 January to review proposed terms, which includes job losses, contracting out provisions and changes in seniority procedures.
Stora Enso issued the mandatory 48-hour lockout notice on 30 December, and has had its only Canadian pulp and paper mill closed since 23 December, with nearly all workers on layoff status

Canadian Stora Enso Workers to Vote on Contract

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