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In efforts to hold the government of Álvaro Uribe responsible for prosecuting the real perpetrators behind the murders of trade union activists before a US-Colombia Free Trade Agreement is enacted, the US House of Representatives Education and Labor Committee heard vivid testimony last month on several murders. 
 
One was the 2001 assassination of Jorge Darío Hoyos, who was once the Colombian coordinator for the Miners’ International Federation (MIF), one of the predecessor trade union federations of the ICEM. 

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Yessika Hoyos
Testifying in Washington, DC, was his daughter, 25-year-old Yessika Hoyos. She said that despite police arresting two individuals who actually committed the crime, no effort has been made to apprehend and prosecute those who ordered the assassination. 
 
“We know there is evidence of other perpetrators, including members of the national army,” she said. “The investigation remains open, but with no follow-up of the evidence as requested, and no identification of other possible perpetrators.” 
 
Darío Hoyos, then 61, was gunned down in his home town of Fusagasuga, in central Colombia near Bogotá, on 3 March 2001.At the time, a paramilitary group called the Block Centaurs was thought to have carried out the killing. He was MIF’s national coordinator from 1984 to 1991, and then served as an organiser and collective bargaining advisor to unions representing teachers, bank workers, and telecommunications staff. 
 
At the February 2009 US Congress hearing, the House Education and Labour Committee stated, “The Colombian government has not done enough to stem the rising violence against trade union leaders or address the backlog of labor union leader killings.” A representative from Colombia’s National Labour School testified that 60% of all murders of trade union activists throughout the world occur in Colombia.

US Congressional Committee Hears Testimony of Slain Colombian Mine Union Activist

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The Global Unions’ message was made with great effect, 30 March, When the Council of Global Unions (CGU) released an attractive publication, giving a unified response to the global economic crisis. This is the first time Global Union Federations (GUFs), who together with the ITUC and TUAC of the OECD comprise the CGU, have come together in a unified voice, from different perspectives, to produce concrete statements on the crisis. 
 
The magazine, edited by International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) General Secretary Aidan White, also supplies sector specific views on the crisis, with several GUF General Secretaries calling for enhanced roles for government in the management of the economy. 
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Aidan White 
ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda focused a chapter in the publication, entitled “Getting the World to WORK – Global Union Strategies for Recovery,” on issues of “Future Fuel,” discussing the worrying effects of the economic crisis on global fuel supplies and the necessity for sustainable development in meeting those supplies. 
 
The full publication, in pdf format, can be found at the Global Unions’ website <a href="http://www.global-unions.org/spip.php?article253">here</a>. 
 
John Evans, General Secretary of TUAC, discusses the Global Unions’ London Declaration and its proposals for economic recovery. Guy Ryder, General Secretary of the ITUC also joins the GUFs in calling for fresh approaches to governing the global economy, only in a far fairer and more sustainable fashion than in the period before last year’s downturn. 
 
Each of the chapters can be individually downloaded off the Global Unions’ website. The publication is an important tool for trade unionists, a vital and refreshing road map for the way forward, and a valuable source of information on each of the 13 GUFs, in which the publication cements further cooperation efforts.

Global Labour Responds to the Economic Crisis with Insightful, New Publication

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A six-day occupation of a factory in the US by ICEM affiliate United Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers Union of America (UE) in Chicago served notice that American workers will take militant action to protect their interests, specifically against the US banking industry, which ultimately was responsible for the Chicago dispute. 
 
The occupation at Republic Windows and Doors ended on 11 December when a negotiated settlement came together between UE and a consortium of capital entities. The plant takeover started on 5 December when 200 workers occupied the Chicago factory after being given only three days notice of Republic closing the plant.
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American law requires 60 days pay for workers victimized by plant closures that are the size of Republic. UE Local 1110 members were denied this in the liquidation of their factory, and they were denied accrued and unused vacation time as well. The employer, Republic, pleaded it could not pay because Bank of America had cut off the company’s line of credit, while the credit-troubled bank claimed it was the company’s responsibility to pay workers. 
 
After six days of living and sleeping inside the plant, UE members and workers won a backpay settlement that included accrued vacation time and job benefits, and they won much more. Bank of America agreed to guarantee pay to cover the lawful plant-closing requirement, JPMorgan Chase – 40% owner of Republic Windows and Doors – agreed to contribute US$400,000, and Republic itself agreed to come up with US$114,000 to meet its payroll obligations for the week leading up to the plant takeover. 
 
Also in the negotiated settlement, workers will receive extended health insurance coverage. The victory inspired the UE to open a “Window of Opportunity” fund in order to find a way to keep the factory operating. 
 
The plant occupation sends a stark reminder regarding civil priorities in this period of bank bailouts, and the circumstances surrounding plant closures in the first place. It caught the attention of US President-elect Barack Obama, who said, workers were “right” to occupy the plant, because they “understand that what’s happening to them is reflective of what’s happening across the economy.” 
 
The UE sent a potent message on how to protect workers’ benefits during the bailout bonanza. The ICEM commends its US trade union affiliate for taking – and winning – this timely workplace action.

Chicago Plant Takeover Vivid Reminder Amidst American Banking Bailout

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A critical meeting was held in Basra at the headquarters of the Federation of Workers’ Councils and Unions in Iraq (FWCUI) on 29 November. Iraqi union leaders of FWCUI’s branches met in a general session with an emphasis on preparing for elections in the oil sector. 
 
The meeting was attended by 36 trade union leaders of the oil sector, including workers’ representatives from the northern Rumaylah fields, the southern Rumaylah fields, as well as the Birjisiya, Shiayba, and Saltt stations, the pipelines company, the petrochemical company, and the headquarters unit of the Southern Oil Co. 

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The meeting was chaired by Thair Ismaieel, coordinator of FWCUI’s preparatory committee, and was attended by Raiad Mahmoud and Haydar Abd Alilah, charged with administrative and financial affairs, for the union, and by Kareem Johi, Secretary of FWCUI’s Petro-Chemicals Branch. 
 
The meeting produced a set of recommendations intended to determine responsibilities of the union’s supreme committee regarding elections, and a call to respect the instructions issued by this committee. 
 
The recommendations also include mechanisms to empower union members to shape the federation as an independent organization, to encourage women to join unions of the federation, a call to unionists to be willing and able to support workers’ activities in all sectors, and publishing and distribution of FWCUI’s newspaper in all workplaces. 
 
The meeting took up the challenges to the 1987 Saddam-era Decree 150 – still in force –which prohibits independent trade unions in the public sector, and also explored ways to expand membership. FWCUI is focused on making its unions power tools in the hands of workers.
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A week after the meeting, on 5 December, FWCUI issued a strong statement against the so-called “Security Agreement” between the US and the government of Iraq. That statement rejects the agreement and invites other Iraqi parties that reject the agreement “to place their opposition in the political arena (in order) to widen the public discourse and to transform the rejection of this agreement to an empowerment of the people.” 
 
FWCUI members of the supreme committee for elections includes: Thaier Ismaieel, President; Mustapha Ahmed and Mahdi Bishara, Vice Presidents; Raid Abd Alqader, Secretary; Ghazi Abd Alqader, Secretary Assistant; Dhaher Auda, Administrative and Financial Affairs Officer; Nashwan Faisal, Administrative/Financial Assistant; Kareem Johi, Communications Officer; Mukhlis Faisal, Public Relations Officer; and Saffa Talib and Muayad Hamad, respective assistants in those latter areas.

FWCUI in Iraq Holds Crucial Meeting Leading Up to Elections

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ICEM leaders and senior managers of French-based chemicals multinational Rhodia travelled to Brazil from 2-5 December for a second round of monitoring the Global Framework Agreement. This kind of joint mission was first realised last year in China with a view toward making sure the agreement is properly implemented at specific workplaces. 
ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda, ICEM Latin America/Caribbean Vice-President Sérgio Novais, and Chemicals and Rubber Officer Kemal Özkan represented the ICEM, while Rhodia’s Exeuctive Vice-President Bernard Chambonö, Sustainable Development Director Jacques Kheliff, and Communications Vice President Lucia Dumas participated, as did the Brazilian team of Rhodia, headed by Latin American President Marcos De Marchi. 
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The social partners discussed the global agreement in Brazil in general, and specifically, at the regional headquarters in São Paulo. The delegation visited plants in Paulinia, Santo André, and Cubatao, and met with local trade union leaders at those worksites. 
The ICEM team was informed about products, technology, safety, health, and environmental matters, and received information on salaries, social benefits, staffing, and local community relations in the plant visits. 
In terms of trade union representation, all Rhodia workplaces are organised by six different unions, each with collective agreements. The ICEM proposed a network among these different unions so coordination can occur and a common dialogue can happen at the national level. 
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“I am pleased by the positive results of our agreement with Rhodia,” commented Warda. “The successful visit to Brazil, coordinated effectively by management, has shown us that a GFA can be a positive tool in industrial relations at the global level. 
“It also secures an understanding on how local and national level social dialogue can proceed in a cooperative manner,” Warda added. The Global Framework Agreement with Rhodia was renewed in March 2008, and now contains succinct language related to union recruitment and company neutrality.

ICEM, Rhodia Monitor Global Agreement at Brazilian Plants

The ICEM has intervened in a retaliatory dispute by French-based Michelin at a large tyre factory called Laem Chabang in Chonburi Province, Thailand. The Global Union Federation, together with French trade union affiliate CFDT, brought the matter before Michelin’s European Works Council (EWC) and Michelin Group Manager Jean-Dominique Senard at a EWC meeting in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain, on 31 March. 
 
The situation in Thailand is serious. On 25 March, local management locked 383 workers off their jobs after they refused to withdraw their names from a petition submitted two weeks earlier. The petition called on management not to unilaterally impose 13% wage cuts, and to engage in consultation with workers’ representatives over effects of a downturn in the tyre market. 
 
The petition also called on the company to jointly identify solutions with workers, not to unilaterally dictate terms and conditions. It also asked Michelin’s Laem Chabang managers to stop forcing workers to sign acceptance forms on the wage cuts, and to quit victimising workers who did not sign the forms. 
 
Michelin managers responded by suspending eight worker representatives, and imposing a 35% pay cut on workers who refused to disavow the petition. They also reduced their yearly allotment of holidays to six. They then – on 25 March – locked out 383 of 458 workers who signed the petition. 
 
“This is extreme and harsh behaviour against loyal workers from a company that expects to recover from the global economic crisis,” said ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda. “We have no choice but to demand that the EWC take action. We also call on rubber workers worldwide to take notice, and demand that Michelin rescind this retaliatory punishment.” 
 
The tyre workers have been trying to organise with ICEM affiliate Petroleum and Chemical Workers’ Federation (PCFT) since February, the second time in ten years that staff at Laem Chabang have attempted to unionise. 
 
The plant employs 1,500 staff and produces auto and light truck tyres. Michelin has two other tyre manufacturing plants in Thailand, the Nong Khae plant in Saraburi, employing 1,300 workers, and the Phra Padaeng factory in Samut Prakarn, where 1,500 Thai workers are employed. The latter is unionised by PCFT, with strong union membership. The three plants are 90% owned by Michelin, with the Siam Cement Group holding the remaining 10% stake. 
 
For further information, contact Dick Blin, ICEM Information Officer, +41 22 304 1842, or dick.blin@icem.org.

ICEM Condemns Lockout of Thai Workers by Michelin

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In a unified response to safety shortfalls that killed a contract worker at Drummond Coal’s La Loma mine, 8,000 members of Sintramienergética and other contract staff stage a four-day strike late in March that shut production of Colombia’s second largest coal mine. 
 
Dagoberto Clavijo Barranco, a one-month worker at La Loma who was put there through a labour agency, was killed on 23 March when the coal-hauling vehicle he was operating fell into an open-cast mine. 
 
Drummond released all miners from work duties following the tragedy, but when the strike spread over the next few days because workers’ demanded improved safety, the company, in a statement, called the strike illegal. 

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A Sintramienergética leader said Drummond agreed to meet with the union to discuss safety but was “flippant” in stating that no amount of negotiations will improve safety conditions. The company, on 27 March, issued a further public statement after full production at La Loma resumed. This time Drummond said it regretted the accident and would continue its “best efforts together with the competent authorities to clear up this unfortunate incident.” 
 
Drummond has had nine mining deaths at La Loma in César state over the past decade. Another three have occurred at its port facilities near Barranquilla. 
 
In the days following the end of the safety strike, Drummond terminated 600 workers because of a strike by the transport union, Sintraime. Workers of coal-transport contractors Carbograneles and Fenoco (partially owned by Drummond) began strikes on 25 March, and these strikes were still underway late last week. Transport workers are striking for full union recognition on rail lines and at port facilities, as well as over overtime procedures. 
 
The mining union Sintramienergética is insisting that Drummond recall the 600, claiming it has no responsibility in the transport strike. 
 
Drummond directly or indirectly employs 9,000 workers at La Loma, and the American company will soon start up its El Descanso mine in César state, a US$1.8 billion investment that will increase the company’s coal production to 27 million tones annually.

Contract Worker Death Causes Safety Strike at Drummond in Colombia

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The first collective agreement between nickel miners and smelting workers of the United Steelworkers (USW) in Ontario, Canada, and Companhia Vale do Rio Dice (Vale) of Brazil expired over the weekend, but the two sides have extended the current three-year agreement until 12 July in order to give more time to resolve issues. 
 
The USW represents some 4,500 workers at Sudbury, Ontario, site of one of the world’s largest nickel processing operations, and another 180 at Vale’s Port Colborne, Ontario, facility. Both USW branches are bargaining jointly on a common labour agreement. It is the first time that the USW and Vale have negotiated in Ontario’s copper and nickel belt since the world’s biggest iron ore miner bought Inco late in 2006. 

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At that time, USW held talks with Brazilian managers and laid forward a set of social principles that the union expects the company to follow in Canada. USW also crafted a Solidarity Statement called the “Sudbury Accord” in 2006 between Canadian, Brazilian, and other trade unions, calling for global bargaining power at all Vale worksites. 
 
Speaking on the extension, a company spokesman told the Sudbury Star newspaper that it shows a “continued willingness for the two parties to keep working together to achieve an outcome, a successful outcome.” The USW is holding membership meetings today and tomorrow, 1-2 June, to inform members on the outstanding issues, and to get direct feedback. 
 
Sudbury area and Port Colborne USW members did vote overwhelmingly for a strike mandate on 21 May. The USW had another collective agreement which was earlier extended with Vale at Voisey Bay, Newfoundland. That contract expired 1 May 2009. 
 
These are the not the first set of collective negotiations in Canada between the USW and Vale. Last September, 1,300 miners in Thompson, Manitoba, ratified a three-year contract with the Brazilian mining company.

USW’s Canadian Miners Extend Labour Agreement with Vale

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Seven sit-ins at rural offices of three MPs and four Ministers – including Canada’s Finance, Treasury, and Inter-Governmental Affairs Ministries – got Stephen Harper’s attention and the question now is will his government listen. Tomorrow, Communications, Energy, Paperworkers (CEP) Union will stage another manifestation on the crisis facing the forest sector, this time a protest and march that will lead to direct face-to-face talks with the Harper team in Ottawa. 
The sit-ins were carried out early last week in an escalating strategy by the CEP to spotlight the mass job and social loss that has overtaken forest-based communities across Canada. CEP is adamant that it is Harper’s responsibility to find the answers. And CEP is ready to work with government to ensure the correct measures are found. 
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March and Rally 
Tuesday, June 2
The sit-ins follow mid-May strategy meetings and a protest at AbitibiBowater’s headquarters in Montréal. That protest was directed more at the Harper government than at the bankrupt newsprint company. Last week’s sit-ins at the rural offices of key lawmakers mean this issue will stay focused on rural Canada’s very survival and way-of-life. 
Tomorrow, 2 June, at 11h30 in Ottawa, the CEP will rally first at the offices of Natural Resources Minister Lisa Riatt and then march to Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s building. They then will meet with Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, whose Ontario offices in Whitby-Oshawa were the only CEP-occupied offices not in a rural area. 
Six of the seven sit-ins across four of Canada’s provinces produced immediate results. Three sit-ins occurred in rural government offices in Québec, two in British Colombia, and one each in New Brunswick and Ontario. In British Colombia, an MP, Jay Hill, a lead Tory whip in Ottawa from Prince George/Peace River riding, was the only legislator refusing CEP’s invitation to discuss the crisis. At the other occupation in British Colombia, inside the offices of John Duncan, Vancouver Island North riding, the CEP spokesman for the occupying team, promised, “We plan to keep on making noise and do whatever we have to do” to move this government to action. 
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The CEP is demanding financial support for the industry at the federal level. The union is also demanding iron-clad protections on pensions, something that will not be compromised. And CEP will insist tomorrow that the Harper government must enact industry tax relief for companies’ converting black-liquor from the wood-pulp process to energy. That set of tax breaks exists for pulp and paper firms in the US and the CEP insists on a level playing field. 
The CEP is also demanding a national summit on the forestry crisis in which key stakeholders will decide on strict guidelines aimed at employment stabilisation and forest regeneration measures. The sit-ins made one targeted politician jump on that idea quickly. In Québec, the Minister for Inter-Governmental Affairs, said she will convene such a summit. 
ICEM affiliate CEP calculates that 55,000 jobs in the forestry sector have been lost over the past two years alone. Far more were lost in earlier years. The impact of these good-paying jobs on others in rural communities – when those jobs disappear – is immense and the ripple effects must be multiplied to get the real economic picture.

Canadian Ministry Sit-ins Awaken Stephen Harper to Jobs Crisis

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The US labour board has issued a blanket unfair labour practice complaint against Covanta Energy at more than 50 worksites across America. The charge was brought by ICEM-affiliated Utility Workers Union of America (UWUA), which organised Covanta staff at a worksite in Rochester, Massachusetts, in May 2008, but has since been unable to secure a first collective agreement because of company intransigence. 
 
Covanta is a waste-to-energy company that operates incinerators and then sells electric power generated from those incinerators to local grids. The ICEM has assisted the UWUA in its first contract fight over the past several months by tracking the company as it seeks new contracts in Ireland and the UK. The ICEM has alerted trade unions, public officials, and environmental groups of the Chicago-based company’s anti-union bias. 
 
The US labour law complaint, issued by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), cites the company with numerous illegal work rules, as outlined in its employees’ manual. Such violations include threatening to terminate workers for providing any information – such as environmental or health and safety – to government regulators, news media, or other “outside representatives.” 

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The NLRB complaint also challenges a Covanta rule prohibiting distribution of “unauthorised” material on “company property” or on “company time,” a form of anti-union bias that has been illegal in the US for 60 years. Other Covanta workplace policies ruled illegal include guidelines prohibiting workers from discussing their wages with each other, or from wearing “political slogans” while at work. 
 
The UWUA filed the charge in Massachusetts but since Covanta uses the same employees’ manual at all US worksites, the NLRB issued the nationwide complaint at all company locations. Only a handful of Covanta’s 50 plus workplaces are unionised. 
 
“We want Covanta employees everywhere to know that our union will stand up for their rights, not only in Massachusetts but at every other Covanta location,” said Gary Sullivan, President of UWUA Local 369, which represents the 130 Covanta workers in Massachusetts. 
 
As Covanta seeks to expand its trash to electric energy business globally, the ICEM will continue to alert social partners of its anti-worker policies in the US.

Covanta Energy Violates US Labour Law

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