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UPM Kymmene in Canada has heightened the discord in a five-week strike at a kraft pulp mill and coated papers mill in Miramichi, New Brunswick. The Finnish company sought and won a court order in a New Brunswick court to limit the number of picketers at the mill’s five gates. The 700 members of Communications, Energy and Paperworkers (CEP) Local 689 are holding strong in this threat to their livelihoods with strike pay from the national CEP, plus a supplement derived from contributions from other paper-sector members of the CEP. The strike was caused when UPM Kymmene refused to table the paper industry’s pattern agreement for eastern Canada. No bargaining has been held since the 16 December strike began.

UPM Kymmene Intensifying Paper Strike in Canada

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Both South Korea’s national centers are ready for a general strike in early July if the ruling Uri Party pushes through a non-regular workers’ bill, aimed at undermining workplace rights and union protections. Members of the Democratic Labor Party, backed by trade unions, have staged sit-ins in the Assembly to block the measure, which would give companies in 26 business sectors the right to extend contract or agency labour for up to three years. 
The FKTU is joined by the larger and generally more conservative Korean Federation of Trade Unions in calling for the general strike. “The Parliamentary committee on labor and environmental issues is poised to railroad the bill as drafted by government regardless of the argument made during the three-party negotiations. We will not hesitate to launch a general strike,” FKTU said in a statement.

South Korea Braces for General Strike over Irregular Workers' Bill

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Paperiliitto in Finland rejected a second federal mediator’s proposal last week that again falls far short of preserving the continuity of family-sustaining papermaking jobs. 
The paper employers’ association last week extended a lockout on 25,000 workers that began 18 May to a seventh week, or until 15 July. The mediator’s proposal, if it had been accepted, would have given paper companies the unlimited right to outsource work, thus transferring all maintenance, security and cleaning work to non-regular employees. The proposal again rejects Paperiliitto’s compromise on for continuous operation of paper mills. In paper converting, companies could schedule 12-hour work-shifts without overtime compensation. 
Global support among workers remains strong for Paperiliitto, with French affiliate FILPAC-CGT issuing a powerful statement of solidarity. In North America, union members of seven unions—including ICEM affiliates USW in US and CEP in Canada—demonstrated in support of the Finnish union at mills of Stora Enso and UPM Kymmene, two leading Finnish companies behind the employers’ association. In the UK, Amicus also voiced strong support at UK paper mills on behalf of Paperiliitto. 
And EMCEF’s presidium, meeting in Greece 14 June, issued a communiqué fully supportive of Finnish workers in its “fight to fend off the harsh concessionary demands put forward by the Finnish Forest Industries. The demands are totally unacceptable and the EMCEF presidium is shocked by the behaviour of the Finnish employers in this conflict.”

Finnish Paper Union Again Rejects Mediator's Proposal

ICEM’s Global Framework Agreement with Statoil was renewed last week for a further two years. The agreement was reviewed by representatives from ICEM, Norwegian oil and gas union NOPEF, and management of Statoil in Stavanger, Norway. 
The agreement now includes a specific commitment by Statoil to provide a clear and supportive policy on HIV/AIDS, and also includes an enhanced commitment on equality of opportunity and treatment of workers. Lars Myhre, chairman of ICEM’s Energy Sector, hailed the renewed agreement as a further positive step in labour relations between ICEM, NOPEF, and Statoil.

ICEM's Global Agreement with Statoil Renewed

In Bolivia, a short gold strike ended last week between 200 miners and Canada’s Orvana Minerals Corp., of which Bolivia’s largest mining house Cia Minera del Sur (Comsur) owns just over one-half. The company’s Don Mario mine began full-scale operations in 2003 after Comsur put major capitalization into the southeastern Bolivian mine in exchange for 50% plus one share ownership. Production at the mine has been ramped up since without adequate compensation. The one-year wage settlement is said to be consistent with other agreements reached in the Bolivian mining industry this year.

Brief Bolivian Gold Strike Ends

CEP members ratified by 95% the master paper-mill collective agreement for eastern Canada with Bowater late last week. The agreement follows one with Abitibi-Consolidated last year, and covers 2,400 paperworkers at five mills. The CEP won an unreduced early retirement provision, and 11% pay increases over five years. “With this strong ratification vote, our members have achieved the wage and pension improvements in the pattern agreement, and the company has secured five years of labour stability,” said CEP President Brian Payne. It was the first bargain between the CEP and Bowater, a US-based newsprint firm that took over the Canadian mills only a few years ago.

Paperworkers in Canada Ratify Bowater Contract

Binda Pandey, ICEM vice president and leader in affiliate Nepal Independent Chemical and Iron Workers’ Union and national labour center GEFONT, is part of a collective nomination of 1,000 women worldwide nominated for the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize. This year marks the 100th anniversary of the first woman recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, Bertha von Suttner. The single entry nomination of 1,000 women is meant to mark women’s contributions to counter injustice, discrimination, oppression, and violence. Binda Pandey is a trade union leader committed to non-violent means to reverse the Nepalese monarchy’s autocratic rule, and she has proven to be a tireless fighter for a return to democracy in the Himalayan country.

Binda Pandey Among Women Nominated for Nobel Peace Prize

The ICEM has signed yet another Global Framework Agreement. Together with Swedish affiliate Svenska Papersindustriarbetareförbundet, the ICEM on 15 April became signatory with Svenska Cellulosa Aktiebolaget (SCA) to maintain high health, safety, environment and workers’ rights standards. SCA will formally launch the agreement in June with a public campaign, and will follow that by distributing the agreement in respective languages to all its global worksites.

ICEM, Swedish Pappers Union Sign Global Agreement with SCA

The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) has put in play an A$8 million advertising campaign against the Howard government’s sweeping industrial relations reforms. 
The radio and television campaign began 19 June and runs intensely this week, a National Week of Action in which 30 June—a day before testy conservatives take hold of the Australian Senate—is designated a national strike day. On Thursday, hundreds of thousands of workers will strike by massing in major cities, despite threats by the Howard labour ministry that steep fines will be given to those workers that strike illegally. Howard’s agenda is to limit collective bargaining by expanding the use of individual contracts with workers, reduce minimum wage levels, and abolish the federal states’ industrial relations systems. He’s needlessly agitated trade unions by making the country’s 38-hour workweek now open for discussion. 
Trade unions behind the ACTU now have an important ally on their side, academia. Industrial relations experts at Australian universities have formally banded to disparage Howard’s reforms, predicting they will weaken workplace fairness and not have a positive effect on economic productivity or job growth.

Australian Unions Go on Offensive over Labour Reform

PACE, as lead union in ICEM’s ExxonMobil Network, has an excellent website containing topical and informative data and news articles on the world’s largest energy concern. It can be found at www.exxonmobil-solidarity.org.

PACE in US Establishes ExxonMobil Network Website

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