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An American union has won a recognition vote at plastics manufacturer DSM Polymer - with the active involvement of a Dutch union. 
 
Both the American union OCAW and the Dutch union FNV Bondgenoten are affiliated to the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions. DSM Polymer is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Dutch-based multinational DSM. 
 
In fact, this was the second union election at the plastics plant in Wytheville, Virginia. Back in January 1996, the workers there had already voted for the OCAW to represent them. But management refused to recognise the result of the first election. In more than 30 negotiating sessions, the company made only minor concessions. Management offered contract [collective agreement] provisions below the existing ones in order to keep the union from securing a contract. 
 
FNV Bondgenoten, which organises DSM workers in the Netherlands, was directly involved in the second election campaign at the US plant. In December, Dutch trade unionists travelled to Wytheville to investigate OCAW charges that DSM had engaged in union-busting there. And last week, just before the vote, another Dutch delegation visited the plant to talk to the workers about the importance of trade unions. 
 
The Bondgenoten's efforts helped to clinch the US ballot, the OCAW believes. Robert Wages, OCAW President and a member of the ICEM Executive, said the direct involvement of Dutch trade unionists in the election &quot;is unprecedented and signals a growing awareness of the necessity for unions to work together in the global economy.&quot; 
 
&quot;We extend our deep and profound appreciation to our Dutch brothers and sisters and congratulate the workers in Wytheville who have waged a long and bitter struggle for economic justice and worker rights,&quot; Wages declared. 
 
And Bondgenoten representative Henk Walravens commented: &quot;Both Dutch and American workers have sent a strong message to the DSM Board of Directors in the Netherlands that it is time to settle long-standing differences and negotiate fairly with OCAW and its workers.&quot; 
 
The workers' vote &quot;has decided the question of representation,&quot; emphasised OCAW International Representative Steve Gentry, who coordinated the two-year campaign. Now, he said, &quot;we can move on to develop a constructive collective bargaining relationship benefiting both the company and the workers.&quot;

US-Dutch Union Victory At DSM

<img height="40" src="" width="100" alt="" />
Goodyear&rsquo;s neutrality is not evident in Malaysia, however, where the US firm is busy suspending union officers, violating labour rights, exploiting foreign workers and relying on rampant outsourcing. 
ICEM affiliate National Union of Employees in Companies Manufacturing Rubber Products (NUECMRP) is locked in a dispute with Goodyear Malaysia Bhd. in Selangor with the company. The union is faced with restructuring while Goodyear continues to exceed quotas on foreign workers, namely from Nepal, Burmaand Vietnam. 
The NUECMRP branch at Selangor, numbering about 500 workers, has staged a series of informational pickets to support the suspended officers, as well as nine other workers who have been dismissed or suspended.

Goodyear Violating Union Rights in Malaysia

The USWA again used union-friendly language in it&rsquo;s Goodyear tyre contract to win card-check union recognition for workers. A majority of 158 production and maintenance workers at a textile cord factory in Utica, New York, said they want USWA representation and Goodyear is now obligated to negotiate a first collective agreement. The Utica operation is a joint venture between Goodyear and Sumitomo Rubber Industries. The union has now won four card-check recognitions at Goodyear&rsquo;s US plants since the agreement took effect late last year.

Goodyear Workers in US Win Unionisation with USWA

Bridgestone/Firestone Argentina continues to stall progress toward a resolve to the 11-month dispute with affiliate SUTNA at a tyre factory near Buenos Aires. Facing further industrial action on 19 August, BS/FS agreed to a request by the Labour Minister for Buenos Aires province to continue negotiations. Only nine of 58 workers who were sacked in an illegal rationalization plan have returned to their jobs, and SUTNA continues to press for the remainder as well as meaningful negotiations toward a new collective agreement. In the absence of a better proposal from the company, SUTNA has a mandate from union members to resume the industrial actions it suspended in early July when BS/FS agreed to reinstate workers.

Dispute Between Bridgestone, Argentine Union Continues

Two iron ore strikes in eastern Canada have crippled mining production in Labrador, province of Newfoundland. On 19 July, 1,250 members of ICEM affiliate United Steelworkers of America (USWA) struck the Iron Ore Co. of Canada, 58.7% held by Rio Tinto, over company proposals to strip health care and pensions, freeze wages and install a psychological profiling programme of workers on which to base discipline. The strike affects 1,000 workers at a mine and pellet processing plant in Labrador City and 250 port workers in Sept-Iles, Quebec. Some 350 USWA members are on strike at Wabush Mine in Labrador City and an accompanying processing plant and port in Pointe Noire, Quebec. That strike began 5 July and is against a consortium of firms led by US-based Cleveland Cliffs and is over efficiency issues including contracting out bargaining unit work. The two strikes affect 60% of Canada&rsquo;s iron ore exports.

Canadian Mine Strikes Shut Rio Tinto, Wabush Mine Operations

After a one-week strike, some 300 members of ICEM affiliate Korean Chemical &amp; Textile Workers&rsquo; Federation reached a labour agreement with BASF Korea in Yeosu. The 23 July agreement calls for a base monthly salary hike of 5% and a reduction in weekly work hours from 42 to 40 without any corresponding loss of pay. 
The amiable settlement is contrasted with the harsh response of government and joint venture partners LG Group and ChevronTexaco at the nearby LG Caltex refinery.

Week-Long Strike Brings BASF Settlement in Korea

Progress was made in the 10-month dispute between Argentine affiliate SUTNA and Bridgestone/Firestone. Last October, the firm sacked 90 workers at a tyre factory near Buenos Aires when it illegally imposed a rationalization plan without bargaining with SUTNA. Following an eight-day blockade of the plant in late June and early July preventing suppliers from delivering raw materials, BS/FS agreed to talks through efforts of the provincial labour minister. A handful of the 90 workers have been so far recalled and negotiations not only continue for reinstatement of the remaining, but on a new collective agreement for which the company refused to discuss last year.

Argentine Affiliate Continuing to Pressure Bridgestone Tyre

Canadian Steelworkers will be in a position to strike Rio Tinto subsidiary Iron Ore Company of Canada in mid-July after rejecting harsh concessionary proposals at operations in Newfoundland and Quebec. Mediated negotiations broke off 25 June and following the conciliator&rsquo;s report to the Labour Ministry, three branches of the USWA representing 1,400 workers can legally strike 15 days hence. Despite peak demand and booming market for iron ore, Rio Tinto is seeking concessions that amount to C$7-an-hour per worker. A prior labour agreement expired 1 March.

USWA Members in Canada Set to Strike Rio Tinto

The ICEM has protested ExxonMobil&rsquo;s decision in C&ocirc;te d&rsquo; Ivoire to sack oil workers without dialogue and negotiations with affiliate SYNTEP-CI. The US-based firm is unilaterally moving on a plan called &ldquo;functional alignment&rdquo; that closes workstations and produces collective redundancies. Since ExxonMobil did negotiate with unions in neighbouring countries, the ICEM called it &ldquo;the highest level of discrimination,&rdquo; as well as &ldquo;violations of workers&rsquo; and union rights.&rdquo;

ICEM Calls Attention to ExxonMobil’s Harsh Côte d’ Ivoire Actions

The initial conference of ICEM&rsquo;s ExxonMobil Workers&rsquo; Global Network has been set for 3-4 November 2004 in the US city of Houston, Texas. US affiliate PACE is the lead union of the network. Unions representing ExxonMobil workforces are encouraged to attend. A call letter went out last month and trade union leaders can contact Gino Govender at ICEM or Keith Romig at PACE for further information.

First Global Meeting of ExxonMobil Network to Meet in US

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