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Materials giant Imerys is using a self-proclaimed &quot;goon squad&quot; to oppose union recognition at one of its US plants. 
 
This is shown by a photo taken yesterday morning at the multinational's Sylacauga site in Alabama. 
 
An election is to be held at Sylacauga on 22 June to decide whether workers there should be represented by the Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical &amp; Energy Workers' Union (PACE). 
 
But the US management's tactics are bringing French-based Imerys into serious disrepute. 
 
The new photo features a man carrying the company's anti-union leaflets. He is wearing a teeshirt with &quot;Goon Squad&quot; printed on the back. &quot;Goon&quot; is a slang word for &quot;thug&quot;. 
 
So the teeshirt is an implied threat of physical attack. Goon squads often played a violently anti-union role in past US labour disputes. 
 
PACE reports that some of the company's other leafleters were wearing the same shirts. The union believes that they were provided by Imerys. 
 
This latest union-busting attempt at Sylacauga has been roundly condemned by the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM). PACE is one of the ICEM's American affiliates. 
 
The goon squad photo coincides with the ICEM's receipt of a letter from Imerys CEO Patrick Kron, in which he admits that the company is allowing its Sylacauga management to pursue an anti-union line. 
 
Dated 9 June, Kron's letter is in response to a recent protest from ICEM General Secretary Fred Higgs. 
 
&quot;Local management,&quot; Kron replied, &quot;has said from the beginning that a third party representation is not an advantage for the plant or our employees in Sylacauga and that a direct relationship between management and employees works well at Sylacauga. There is obviously no reason to prohibit the local management to express and explain this view to our employees and no commitment to refrain from doing so has been taken by anyone.&quot; 
 
Kron's words will shock Imerys employees in Europe, where the company has emphasised &quot;social partnership&quot; with unions. But unions in Europe, too, are now questioning the company's two-faced approach to industrial relations. Can it really cuddle up to unions on one side of the Atlantic and use goons on the other? 
 
Higgs had told Kron of three current anti-union activities by the Sylacauga local management: 
 
(a) Supervisors at Sylacauga are wearing &quot;Vote NO&quot; stickers on their hardhats and posting the same stickers around the plant. 
 
(b) The supervisors, sometimes two together, are also taking workers one at a time into offices, telling them that unionisation would mean a loss of wages and benefits, and urging them to vote against the union. 
 
(c) The company is still using the union-busting lawyer Frank Parker to train its local managers. 
 
In response, Kron wrote that the ICEM had been &quot;misinformed&quot; about points (b) and (c). He made no comment on point (a). 
 
Higgs had also urged Kron to &quot;confirm in writing to all workers in Sylacauga what you told your shareholders about the free choice of the workers.&quot; This was a reference to the commitment given by Kron, at last month's annual shareholder meeting in Paris, that the company would not campaign against the union. Both PACE and the ICEM asked questions during the Paris assembly, and discussed Sylacauga with Kron and his colleagues afterwards. 
 
In his reply to Higgs' letter, Kron made no comment on the suggestion that he should write to the Sylacauga workers. 
 
Today, Higgs again wrote to Kron. 
 
Kron had argued that Imerys is &quot;committed to respect the laws in all the countries where we operate and to conduct our industrial relations and business in an ethical manner.&quot; 
 
Higgs' reply: &quot;My experience tells me that a blind reliance on domestic legislation in many countries would certainly not deliver acceptable ethical business behaviour.&quot; 
 
Imerys employees in Europe should view the company's anti-union preference in Sylacauga with concern, Higgs stated - &quot;as I am sure they will when it is brought to their attention.&quot; 
 
And he signed off with the hope that &quot;even at this late stage, you will reflect on the inconsistency in the application of Imerys' declared corporate ethics, by ensuring your US management respect trade unions as legitimate social partners who, as in the European Union, should be welcomed rather than resisted.&quot;

Imerys: &#039;Goon Squad&#039; Photographed At US Site

Materials giant Imerys was today accused of acting in bad faith over an upcoming union recognition vote at one of its US sites. 
 
&quot;Imerys headquarters management in France had assured us that the company would not campaign against the union in the US,&quot; said Fred Higgs in Brussels today. &quot;They have broken their word.&quot; 
<img height="263" src="" width="350" alt="" />
UNDER PRESSURE 
Imerys supervisors are pushing US workers to vote against the union. 
(photo: PACE)&nbsp;
Higgs is General Secretary of the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM). 
 
An election is scheduled for 22 June at Imerys' Sylacauga site in the US, to decide whether workers there should be represented by ICEM American affiliate the Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical &amp; Energy Workers' Unions (PACE). 
 
The vote follows a campaign by PACE, the ICEM and unions at other Imerys sites worldwide to secure the Sylacauga workers' right to opt for a union. 
 
Imerys corporate headquarters had promised the ICEM and PACE that the company would not campaign against the union in the run-up to the poll. 
 
On 17 May, local US manager Randy Sandrik sent all Sylacauga employees a note proclaiming the company's &quot;commitment to a fair and prompt election.&quot; 
 
But a little further into the memo, he unveiled his real agenda: &quot;In consideration of the relationship between the company and unions throughout Imerys, we will not campaign against unions in general. The focus of our communications process will only be union representation at Sylacauga.&quot; Sandrik also gave everybody the benefit of his own views: &quot;I don't think the Sylacauga employees need a third party representative to manage our relationship.&quot; 
 
The results of this duplicity are already plain. 
 
Supervisors at Sylacauga are wearing &quot;Vote NO&quot; stickers on their hardhats and posting the same stickers around the plant. 
 
The supervisors, sometimes two together, are also taking workers one at a time into offices, telling them that unionisation would mean a loss of wages and benefits, and urging them to vote against the union. 
 
And the company is still using the union-busting lawyer Frank Parker to train its local managers. 
 
&quot;One thing is clear,&quot; Higgs said today. &quot;Either the Imerys corporate management in Paris is acting in bad faith - or else it is simply being fooled by its US local managers.&quot; 
 
He urged Imerys CEO Patrick Kron to write immediately to all the Sylacauga workers, assuring them of the company's full neutrality on the issue of union representation at its US site. 
 
PACE has now brought a case against Imerys at the OECD, which has a code of conduct for multinational companies.

Imerys in &#039;Bad Faith&#039; Over US Union Vote

Lawlessness and intimidation&quot; in Zimbabwe are now impacting negatively on trade union rights there, world industrial union leaders declared in Brussels this afternoon. 
 
The Executive Committee of the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM) called on the Zimbabwean government to &quot;allow trade union activities to take place freely and without fear or intimidation.&quot; 
 
Trade union rights and human rights must be guaranteed &quot;irrespective of political tensions in the country,&quot; the ICEM said. It also called for &quot;free political activity&quot; in Zimbabwe and the &quot;creation of an environment conducive to free and fair elections.&quot;

Zimbabwe Union Rights Under Threat

The Australian Federal Court today ordered mining and materials multinational BHP to cease offering and entering into individual contracts with members of its Pilbara workforce. 
 
The decision is a stunning victory for the Australian unions and for collective bargaining, with the court upholding all three grounds in the unions' case. 
 
The unions submitted that there was a &quot;serious arguable case&quot; that BHP had breached the law through its industrial bribery in the Pilbara by: 
 
- Prejudicing employees because of their union membership 
 
- Inducing employees to leave their union 
 
- Breaching a term of the Contract of Employment which provided that BHP should honour collective bargaining and not enter into individual contracts. 
 
The court's decision is the biggest victory for the Australian trade union movement since the waterfront dispute of 1998. 
 
&quot;BHP should immediately abandon its disastrous deunionisation campaign and respect the right of Australian workers to bargain collectively through their unions,&quot; commented Australian mining and allied workers' union the CFMEU today. 
 
At the global level, the CFMEU is affiliated to the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM), which has been backing the campaign for labour rights at BHP.

BHP Must Halt Individual Job Contracts in Australia

A new website launched today highlights anti-union practices by ceramics, materials and construction multinational Imerys. 
 
American union the Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers (PACE) and the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM), jointly announced the start-up of the website on French-headquartered Imerys. PACE is an ICEM affiliate. 
 
&quot;The website allows Imerys workers and their unions throughout the world to communicate, share information and learn about the 'union-busting' practices of Imerys in the US,&quot; said PACE President Boyd Young. 
 
Imerys has been conducting a hostile campaign against union members and supporters at its plants in Georgia and Alabama. In Sylacauga, Alabama, Imerys management hired a professional &quot;union-buster', held mandatory anti-union meetings, and showed a film which implied that US unions are controlled by organised crime and that they cause plants to be closed. Imerys is also using a &quot;secret&quot; manual, uncovered by PACE, which instructs supervisors on how to conduct the anti-union campaign. 
 
PACE has filed charges with the National Labor Relations Board alleging that Imerys management harassed, threatened and spied on union supporters. Excerpts from the &quot;secret&quot; manual, a summary of legal charges, and an interactive message board are on the website. 
 
Fred Higgs, ICEM General Secretary, stated: &quot;Imerys so far has refused to stop its anti-union practices, and we will assist US workers who are battling for union representation in whatever way we can.&quot; 
 
The ICEM held a press conference on January 20 in Brussels, together with the Belgian General Labour Federation (FGTB/ABVV) and ICEM Belgian affiliate the Centrale Generale/Algemene Centrale, calling upon the Frere family to intervene. The Frere family controls 23 percent of Imerys shares through one of its many holding companies. The ICEM set up meetings with French and British union affiliates, who also represent workers at Imerys plants, and have pledged support for the campaign.

Imerys Campaign: Unions Launch Global Website

The All Pakistan Trade Union Federation is holding a series of rallies to protest price hikes, rising unemployment, retrenchment of workers and restrictions on trade union activity. The first rally, led by Gen. Sec. Gulzar Ahmed Chaudhry, was held yesterday at the Press Club in Lahore. Further rallies are set for tomorrow in different industrial areas of the country.

Pakistan’s National Labour Centre Rallies Over Union Restrictions

A pipeline project between Chad and Cameroon headed by ExxonMobil has come under scrutiny with a study detailing abuse of workers by two contractors, TCC and Subsahara Services. US affiliate PACE and NGOs the union is working with have brought the issue to the attention of the US supermajor in ongoing talks over human and trade union rights at company worksites. The study says contract workers are not paid for certain social benefits; violations of work rules exist regarding the number of working hours; non-payment to workers who are injured is prevalent; and the firms are absent of plans regarding demobilization, professional reconversion and social reinsertion.

ExxonMobil Stands Accused of Pipeline Abuses in West Africa

CEP is seeking binding arbitration for workers at offshore oil producer Hibernia, the ExxonMobil-led energy consortium that has flagrantly dodged a first union contract at the oil platform off the coast of Newfoundland. Some 420 workers voted for CEP representation in October 2001 but the company has used legal appeals and stall tactics to avoid the bargaining table. CEP is already in first contract arbitration at a similar North Atlantic oil platform called Terra Nova operated by Petro-Canada. Some 90 workers there voted for the CEP in April 2003. &ldquo;Our members at Hibernia and Terra Nova have waited far too long to get Coordinator Joe Gargiso. &ldquo;We prefer to negotiate terms but employer resistance is forcing us into following the mandatory first contract arbitration procedure.&rdquo;

Arbitration Sought to Settle Canadian Offshore Oil Dispute

Members of Canadian affiliate Communications, Energy and Paperworkers (CEP) Local 689 struck Finnish papermaker UPM Kymmene 16 December in Miramichi, New Brunswick, over the firm&rsquo;s refusal to table the paper industry&rsquo;s pattern agreement for eastern Canada. Some 790 CEP members at a kraft pulp mill and a fine papers mill are striking to gain the pattern set when CEP signed a six-year accord with Abitibi-Consolidated last July.

CEP in Canada Strikes Finnish Paper Company UPM Kymmene

Belgian affiliate CG-FGTB held a day of manifestation 21 December followed by strikes at glass plants in protest to Glaverbel&rsquo;s decision to eliminate 284 out of 840 jobs. The protests, which included the white-collar Belgian union SETCa-FGTB and FNV Bondgenoten of The Netherlands, come as Glaverbel rapidly expands in eastern Europe and Russia. Glaverbel, Europe&rsquo;s second largest flat glass maker, is owned by Japanese petrochemical producer Asahi Glass, which bought a majority stake of the firm in 1981, upped its share to 90% in 2001 and purchased the remaining 10% a year later.

Belgian Unions Protest Japanese Glass Restructuring

Archive

Imerys: 'Goon Squad' Photographed At US Site

Imerys in 'Bad Faith' Over US Union Vote

Zimbabwe Union Rights Under Threat

BHP Must Halt Individual Job Contracts in Australia

Imerys Campaign: Unions Launch Global Website

Pakistan’s National Labour Centre Rallies Over Union Restrictions

ExxonMobil Stands Accused of Pipeline Abuses in West Africa

Arbitration Sought to Settle Canadian Offshore Oil Dispute

CEP in Canada Strikes Finnish Paper Company UPM Kymmene

Belgian Unions Protest Japanese Glass Restructuring

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