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Soaring gas and electricity prices, coupled with Britain&rsquo;s pension funding crisis, has caused the closure of a recycled paper mill in Fife, Scotland. Smith, Anderson &amp; Co. Ltd. announced closure of its Fettykill Mills operation, resulting in the loss of 106 jobs. 
 
ICEM affiliate Amicus has been working with the owners of the 146-year-old mill to get the government to address high energy prices, rates which have risen 50% since last year when a restructuring plan was implemented in efforts to save the mill.
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&nbsp;&ldquo;Once again, high energy prices and the pension crisis in the UK have contributed towards the decision to close another mill,&rdquo; stated Amicus Assistant General Secretary Tony Burke. &ldquo;This is a devastating blow to the paper industry in the UK and manufacturing in Scotland,&rdquo; said Burke, adding the union&rsquo;s priority now is to work with staff in order that they find other jobs. 
 
Smith, Anderson &amp; Co. will continue to run paper converting operations for the manufacture of paper bags from two Scottish plants, employing 245 staff, but the company&rsquo;s recycling collection company, Securecycle, will likely be sold. 
In Scotland over the past eight years, 11 paper mills have been closed, leaving only six in operation. In the past two years alone, 800 Scottish paperworkers have faced redundancies.

Energy Prices, UK’s Pension Crisis Leads to Closure of Scottish Paper Mill

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Locked-out members of Communications, Energy, Paperworkers (CEP) of Canada Local 972 ratified a collective agreement with Stora Enso on 20 June, thus ending a five-month labour dispute and ensuring that the paper mill in Port Hawkesbury, Nova Scotia, remains open. 
 
The 600 paper mill workers ratified the contract by the narrowest of margins, 54%, while a separate clerical unit gave approval by an even slimmer margin. The coated paper and newsprint mill was threatened with shutdown by Stora Enso unless a new labour agreement was not ratified by 24 June.
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&nbsp; 
The mill is plagued by Stora&rsquo;s insistence on cutting paper capacity, and the current high value of the Canadian dollar in relation to the US dollar. Stora Enso has now petitioned the province&rsquo;s utility commission in order to gain a power rate reduction before it re-starts the mill.
The province of Nova Scotia has already given preliminary approval to a C$65 million, seven-year property tax decrease so that the company would continue to operate the mill. 
 
Throughout the 23-week lockout, CEP Local 972 received vast support from several sources. 
In a letter announcing the ratification, Local 972 stated, &ldquo;This support came from other CEP Locals across the country, other unions across Canada and many other countries, numerous other unions, associations, affiliates, local businesses, local individuals, and our own members who also cared and looked out for one another. This tremendous show of support will be long remembered.&rdquo;

Stora Enso Lockout in Canada Ends with Ratification Vote

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ICEM affiliate in Germany, IGBCE, has taken deep exception to a report published by a research institute that all energy supplies be left to market forces.
The RWI, an economic research think tank supported by the Ministry of Economic Affairs for the state of North Rhine/Westphalia, proposes that all state subsidies for coal and other energy sources be removed.
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&ldquo;Those who claim that energy supplies are not the state&rsquo;s responsibility and should be left to markets, have lost all sense of reality,&rdquo; said IGBCE President Hubertus Schmoldt. He added that the risks associated with an energy crisis is the concern of the entire Germany economy, stating that it is easy for those &ldquo;in an ivory tower that is 80% funded by public monies&rdquo; to preach such free market ideas. 
 
The IGBCE believes German policy for safe and secure energy supply cannot be left alone to markets.

IGBCE Disputes Research Institute’s Energy Supply Thesis

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Colombian mining union Sintramienerg&eacute;tica ended two coal strikes recently that had begun to impact markets. On 22 June, the union agreed to a two-year agreement with US-based Drummond that ended a month-long strike at the La Loma mines in Cesar state. 
 
Sintramienerg&eacute;tica, in addition to winning social benefits, achieved an 8% wage increase for this year, and will receive 1.5% above the inflation rate in 2007. Strike-ending mediations took place under the guidance of the Ministry of Social Protection.
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Some 2,000 miners struck Drummond on 22 May, and the walkout directly affected another 1,000 contract workers, as well as some 5,000 employees of transport, terminal and other service companies connected to Drummond&rsquo;s coal export business. The company exports some 22 million tonnes of coal annually from its Puerto Drummond, Colombia, deep-water port. 
 
Non-ICEM-affiliated Sintramienerg&eacute;tica also came to terms on 6 June with Swiss-based Glencore International at the Carbones de la Jagua mining operation. About 1,000 miners there began a strike on 17 May. 
 
The settlement gives workers a 7.5% salary increase, and the new agreement also grants social benefits to both Glencore workers and contract employees. Glencore mines some 12 million tonnes annually from this Jagua de Ibirico location in Cesar state.

Colombian Mine Union Ends Coal Strikes at Drummond, Glencore

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ICEM affiliate United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) issued a detailed safety report on the gas explosion at International Coal Group&rsquo;s (ICG) Sago mine in the state of West Virginia. The report states unequivocally that the tragedy that killed 12 on 2 January 2006 at ICG&rsquo;s non-union mine was preventable, and never should have occurred. 
 
The 68-page report, which also contained 20 appendices, was released at a Washington, D.C., press conference in the US Capitol Building on 15 March. The press conference was attended by the two US senators from West Virginia, as well as a US congressman from the coal-producing state. 
 
&ldquo;Twelve men are dead who should not be,&rdquo; stated UMWA President Cecil Roberts. &ldquo;Their deaths came as the result of a series of bad decisions made by the company and the federal mine safety regulatory agency.
&nbsp;&ldquo;Had the government done its job and (IGC&rsquo;s) Sago mining done their job, all of these miners would be alive.&rdquo;
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UMWA President Cecil Roberts
The tragedy was the worst US mining disaster in years, and captured the attention of the American public in the early days of 2006. IGC&rsquo;s management first reported that all the trapped miners were safe, bringing joyous relief to family members gathered at the mine site. Only hours later, the company admitted that the news was premature. It then took 41 hours to reach the miners. Only one miner was found alive, and he had suffered brain damage due to high levels of carbon monoxide. 
 
Stated the daughter of one Sago miner at the UMWA&rsquo;s press conference, &ldquo;It breaks my heart to have to think that those men barricaded, wondering and waiting when they were going to be rescued, knowing now that they did not have to die. It&rsquo;s not fair.&rdquo;
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The UMWA report cited several conditions that led to the deaths. It said the company&rsquo;s substandard mine seals, the mine&rsquo;s ventilation system, the lack of adequate oxygen devices inside mine shafts, no safety chambers, no two-way communications, no tracking devices, and no onsite, experienced mine rescue teams all played roles in the tragedy. 
 
The union alleged the US Mine Safety and Health Administration allowed Sago&rsquo;s owners to build coal mine seals using lightweight Oemga Blocks, rather than sturdier and explosion-proof mine seals, as specified under the US&rsquo;s Mine Safety Act. The report also provides dozens of recommendations for tougher standards aimed at preventing such needless mine deaths in the future.
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UMWA Sec.-Treas. Dan Kane
&ldquo;We cannot afford to wait,&rdquo; said UMWA Sec.-Treas. Dan Kane at the press conference. &ldquo;The sooner we implement these recommendations, either as law or regulations, the more secure miners will be in the knowledge that their jobs are as safe as possible. As this report indicates, we&rsquo;ve got a long way to go before we reach that point.&rdquo; 
 
Six days after the UMWA was released, ICG temporarily closed the Sago mine doe to a downturn in coal prices. IGC, owned by New York-based investor Wilbur L. Ross, is a seven-year-old coal company that has specialised in buying abandoned coal operations from bankruptcy proceedings, and then mining them. The company now operates 11 coal mines in the eastern US, all of them using non-union miners.

UMWA Says Sago Mine Tragedy in US Could Have Been Prevented

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On the eve of critical Nigerian national and state elections, the country&rsquo;s two national labour centers elected the two presidents of both ICEM&rsquo;s oil workers&rsquo; unions to key positions. 
 
Comrade Peter Esele, president of white-collar PENGASSAN Union, was elected President-General of the Trade Union Congress (TUC) of Nigeria on 3 March in Lagos. The TUC is a newly-formed association of 22 unions, representing some 2.5 million senior staff in varying services and industries. 
 
Two weeks earlier, Peter Akpatason, president of blue-collar NUPENG, was elected Trustee of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC). 
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For the first time since 1999, the 38 affiliates of the NLC have new leadership. Comrade Adams Oshiomhole was given a rousing send-off as a dynamic trade union leader. Abdul Waheed Omar, president of the Nigerian Union of Teachers, won election as President of NLC on 17 February. Oshiomhole has left his trade union post to seek election as governor of Edo State from a multi-party alliance that includes the Labor Party and the Action Congress Party. 
 
In a message to the NLC&rsquo;s 9th National Delegates&rsquo; Conference at Abuja, Oshiomhole commended the role the four-million-member NLC has played in the enhancement of the welfare of workers, the consolidation of democracy inside Nigeria, and the war against corruption. 
 
He said that democracy with all its imperfections was better than the most benign dictatorship. Oshiomhole added that the NLC has become a democratic, independent, socially responsible, and effective organisation that commanded the confidence of workers, trusted by the public, and respected by the government and employers. 
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The national and state elections in April will be held at a time when security for oil and other workers in Nigeria is seriously threatened, and when corruption among public officials is rampant. Lack of development and job opportunities for local people in the oil-rich Niger Delta has spawned scores of ransom kidnappings, while theft, or bunkering, of petrol from pipelines has jeopardized public security.
Last week, for instance, a communiqu&eacute; issued by NUPENG typifies what workers face in Nigeria. The union issued a 21-day ultimatum to police in the Port Harcourt zone to halt the &ldquo;illegal extortion of money from tanker drivers by the police.&rdquo; The statement added that on most occasions, tanker drivers are &ldquo;unnecessarily delayed to the point of breaking their resistance, to offer money as ransom before they are eventually released to continue with their journey.&rdquo; 
 
NUPENG contends that such extortion by police occurs under the guise of law enforcement fighting pipeline vandalism, when, in fact, NUPENG&rsquo;s Port Harcourt zonal branch has evidence of police complicity in pipeline vandalism. 
 
The two oil workers&rsquo; unions, NUPENG and PENGASSAN, have also warned against election rigging as the coming presidential and state governorships balloting draws near.

Nigerian Oil Workers’ Leaders Elected to Posts in National Union Centres

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Power Workers&rsquo; Union of Canada (PWU) has called the government&rsquo;s plan to close all coal-fired electric generation plants by 2014 &ldquo;unrealistic and risky.&rdquo; The ICEM affiliate reiterated this stand in a statement welcoming the federal government&rsquo;s ecoTrust plan, an investment vehicle to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. 
 
PWU states that energy needs are growing rapidly across Canada. Advocating electric supply in the province of Ontario from many sources, the union is urging the province to use its share of ecoTrust monies to clean up carbon emissions by investing in better and cleaner technologies. 
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&ldquo;Ontario needs affordable electricity for its growing needs and the existing coal-fuelled plants are a necessary part of the mix,&rdquo; said PWU President Don MacKinnon. &ldquo;The technology to dramatically reduce air pollution from these plants is readily available, and the PWU believes it should be installed.&rdquo; 
 
The PWU also believes the best way to lessen the risk over electric supply &ndash; besides clean-coal methods &ndash; is new and refurbished nuclear plant capacity. &ldquo;This is an affordable way to immediately reduce pollution, while the province makes investments in conservation and demand management, viable new energy sources, and new transmissions lines,&rdquo; said the PWU statement. 
 
PWU, an affiliate of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), is the largest electric workers&rsquo; union in Ontario, representing employees in generation, transmission, distribution, regulations, and research and development.

PWU in Canada Calls for Cleaner Coal-Fuel Technologies

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Union members of ICEM affiliate Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Union (LHMU) of Australia began industrial action 8 March at a tyre factory in Salisbury, South Australia. The 500-member workforce voted on 2 March for strike action due to wide differences in future wage increases. LHMU began four-hour work stoppages last Thursday. 
 
Bridgestone responded by issuing temporary suspensions to some workers, claiming the suspensions were necessary due to production cuts. Management issued the suspensions without consultation with the union. LHMU has informed the company that an overtime ban is in effect all this week, and that a 24-hour strike will begin on 19 March. 
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Bridgestone had initially offered either a three-year contract with wage hikes of 4% over the entire contract, or a 6% increase over four years. That was modified to 6% over three years, with a bonus payment of A$2,000 per worker and productivity bonuses that could total A$3,000. Workers are seeking a 4% increase for each year of the renewal agreement. Talks have been ongoing for nearly a year. 
 
LHMU claims workers at the auto and truck tyre plant have been struggling to win adequate wage increases just to keep pace with inflation. &ldquo;For the past six years, they&rsquo;ve received an annual raise of just 3%,&rdquo; said LHMU Organiser Jim Watson. &ldquo;Now the company wants to offer them even less.&rdquo; 
 
On the day of the 8 March job action, LHMU members at the tyre factory received the solidarity of the United Steelworkers (USW) of North America in a letter. The USW is currently engaged with Bridgestone in difficult talks in the US, covering 5,000 workers at eight factories. 
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&ldquo;The USW has a history of difficult negotiations with Bridgestone,&rdquo; wrote Executive Vice President for Rubber, Ron Hoover. &ldquo;One lesson we have learned in our dealings with Bridgestone and other companies is that union power is bolstered when unions across the globe stand together in disputes with common employers. 
 
&ldquo;We are happy to stand together with LHMU in its current effort to achieve a fair contract with Bridgestone,&rdquo; pledged Hoover. 
 
Japan-based Bridgestone Corporation is currently engaged in a share buy-back plan, totalling A$50 million, of Bridgestone Australia Ltd., which would make the company privately-held and a direct subsidiary of the Japanese parent.

Bridgestone Workers in Australia Take Industrial Action for Fair Gains

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UK paperworkers, members of the Graphical, Paper and Media Division of Amicus, voted by nearly a two-to-one margin to approve a new pay package for 2007. The agreement covers some 3,500 workers in paper mills represented by the employers association, the Confederation of Paper Industries (CPI). 
 
Year 2007 pay gains will total 3%, similar to the wage increases achieved by Amicus with CPI for the corrugated packaging sector late last year. Paper mill workers voting for the 2007 wage increase numbered 1,351, while those voting against, 777. 
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This set of wage talks follows detailed negotiations over an 18-month period between the Amicus and CPI for a new national collective agreement for the UK&rsquo;s papermaking sector. The industry has been hard hit by rising energy costs and higher raw material costs, resulting in mill and paper machine shutdowns. The latest example is M-Real&rsquo;s closure of its 350-worker Sittingbourne mill in Kent. 
 
British paperworkers are due to ballot on a joint partnership plan with CPI, called &ldquo;Work Together, Grow Together, Stay Together.&rdquo; The programme will emphasize learning and skills, work-life balances, and better safety at work practices, as well as workplace improvement methods with employee information and consultation processes.

Paperworkers of Amicus Ratify 2007 Pay Gains in UK

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Two short strikes in Zambia&rsquo;s copper belt ended early in March with assurances from managers that miners&rsquo; grievances would be addressed. On 7 March, a seven-day strike by 1,000 miners at Luanshya Copper Mines ended with the company pledging to ICEM affiliate Mineworkers Union of Zambia (MUZ) that it would rescind its threat to sack strike leaders, and engage in earnest wage talks with the union. 
 
Another strike at the Mufulira and Nkana mines of Mopani Copper, owned by Swiss Glencore International and First Quantum Minerals of Canada, started on 1 March and ended two days later when Mopani&rsquo;s 7,000 miners began returning to work. MUZ entered bargaining there with the company and secured an 18% wage increase for miners. 
At Luanshya, owned by J&amp;W Investment Group Ltd., miners marched to the offices of the company on 1 March after they received their February salaries. MUZ President Rayford Mbulo said management had threatened to dismiss strike leaders and other miners. He asserted that Luanshya managers had stated on five occasions that they were not willing to accept miners&rsquo; demands, despite workers meeting all the companies set production goals. 
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&ldquo;Management should not just be issuing threats of dismissing workers, but should take time to reflect on (workers&rsquo;) actions,&rdquo; said Mbulo to the Times of Zambia on the first day of the strike. He said the position of MUZ is that since copper prices have doubled over the past two years and the Luanshya mine was at peak production, it was only fair that miners were appropriately rewarded.
Workers at Luanshya earn as little as US$200 per month. They are seeking a fair wage increase, in part, because they now pay for basic services, including water and electricity. Previously, the Zambian state mining company paid such expenses. 
 
At Mopani, miners began returning to work on 3 March as an act of good faith that negotiations would succeed. The strike did force the company to increase its wage offer from 16% to 18%.

Two Copper Strikes in Zambia End with Assurances, Pay Gains for Miners

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