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The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) has put in play an A$8 million advertising campaign against the Howard government&rsquo;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&mdash;a day before testy conservatives take hold of the Australian Senate&mdash;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&rsquo;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&rsquo; industrial relations systems. He&rsquo;s needlessly agitated trade unions by making the country&rsquo;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&rsquo;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

The ICEM&rsquo;s HIV/AIDS Project took another step forward in sub-Saharan African countries 7-9 June with training workshops held in Johannesburg. The team of national coordinators for African countries was present and ICEM HIV/AIDS Regional Coordinator Shirley Miller, associated with affiliate Chemical, Energy, Paper, Printing, Wood and Allied Workers Union (CEPPWAWU) of South Africa, was introduced. The team engaged in training on HIV/AIDS bargaining and negotiations, as well as participated in other workshops together with ICEM Global Coordinator Hans Schwass.

ICEM&#039;s HIV/AIDS Project Moves Forward

EPMU and Norwegian-based pulp and paper company Norske Skog signed an innovative agreement with Kewerau College for a maintenance training centre. The programme is the first of its kind in New Zealand and will provide training from apprenticeship up to and through advanced levels of skilled maintenance. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a living example of a union and employer collaborating to fix a glaring gap in our skills and training,&rdquo; stated EPMU National Secretary Andrew Little. Norske Skog operates the 600- worker Tasman paper mill, which produces newsprint and directory paper at Kawerau.

New Zealand&#039;s EPMU, Norske Skog Agree to Training Centre

Coal talks between New Zealand&rsquo;s Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union (EPMU) and Solid Energy broke down last week, and workers began renewed industrial action at three worksites by refusing to load coal trains. State-run Solid Energy responded by suspending workers without pay. By 10 June, EPMU workers were back on jobsites and further bargaining is scheduled for next week between the union, Solid Energy and five of its contractors. EPMU compromised its wage demands from 6% to 5% in line with the union&rsquo;s national &ldquo;Fair Share&mdash;Five in &lsquo;05&rdquo; campaign, but the coal company has only offered 2.8% in bargaining.

Coal Dispute in New Zealand Again Grows Tense

Three deadly mine accidents last week in China left 33 miners dead. On 8 June, an explosion at the Zijiang coal mine in Loudi, province of Hunan, killed 21 and injured 24. On the same day at an iron ore mine in Shahe, Hebei province, another gas blast killed nine and injured eight. On 7 June at the Shilongxiang coal mine near Zhaotong, Yunnan province, a methane explosion killed three. 
In a further Chinese mine safety note, it was revealed through an investigation that the owner of the illegal Xinfu coal mine in Qitaihe, Heilongjiang province, in which 18 miners died in a 14 March explosion was also a top safety official for the provincial mine supervisory bureau. The Xinfu mine was found to lack basic ventilation and gas monitoring equipment.

Three Mine Accidents in China Leave 33 Dead

Canadian offshore oil workers at Hibernia, members of Communications, Energy and Paperworkers (CEP) Union, are voting over the next few weeks on their first collective agreement. CEP organized the 450 workers in 2001, was certified by the Newfoundland provincial labour board in October 2001, but was met by union-blocking legal challenges since by Hibernia&rsquo;s lead company, ExxonMobil. &ldquo;We felt it was time for our members to have a say on what has been settled and tabled in bargaining,&rdquo; said CEP National Energy Sector Coordinator Joe Gargiso. The successful organising of the offshore oil workers by the CEP was the first of its kind in North America.

Canadian Offshore Oil Workers Near Deal at Hibernia

Australian trade union leaders are fine tuning a National Union Fightback Campaign against the conservative coalition government of Prime Minister John Howard&rsquo;s radical reforms. Such industrial relations reforms would further weaken collective bargaining. Howard&rsquo;s reforms, expected to be rushed into law after conservatives take control of the Australian Parliament&rsquo;s Senate next month, will destroy the power of the Industrial Relations Commission (IRC) to set minimum wage, job classification structures and minimum statutory employment conditions. 
It will abolish the IRC&rsquo;s ability to judge cases of unfair dismissal of workers in businesses employing less than 100, or two-thirds of all Australian workers. If enacted, approval of enterprise bargaining agreements will pass from the IRC to an agency that now regulates the Howard creation of individual contracts between employees and employers. The draconian reforms will also strip the country&rsquo;s states from employment regulation in favour of a centralized federal system. Trade unions have the support of Australian state governments in resisting the Howard plan.

Australian Unions Resist Government&#039;s Labour Reforms

In Canada, USW held a rally in the province of Ontario 26 May to keep open a copper smelting refinery employing 140 steelworkers. Toronto based Inco Ltd. has threatened to close the Copper Cliff refinery. &ldquo;This is about keeping jobs in our communities,&rdquo; said USW Ontario/Atlantic Director Wayne Fraser. &ldquo;This company has made huge profits for decades using the blood, sweat and tears of our members. Inco owes it to the community to invest in upgrading the Copper Cliff refinery.&rdquo; The USW represents over 4,000 copper and nickel miners employed by Inco in and around Sudbury in western Ontario, and another 1,500 in the province of Manitoba.

USW Seeks to Keep Inco Mining Operating Open in Canada

On June 12, the ILO will focus a day on child labour in the mining sector in celebration of its fourth World Day Against Child Labour. The ICEM and mining employers&rsquo; organisation International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM) last week signed an accord calling for an end to child labour in all mining and quarrying activity. 
The ILO&rsquo;s International Programme on Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) has found that most child miners are employed in small-scale enterprises which are unregulated and undocumented. IPEC has undertaken pilot projects on child labour in mining in Mongolia, Tanzania, Niger and the Andean countries of South America. Results show the best way to halt such practices is direct involvement in local mining communities and providing access to quality education with real prospects of meaningful employment when children leave school.

ILO’s Child Labour Focus to be on Mining Sector

Oil workers in France at Total won a major victory to preserve holidays by successfully conducting a five-day strike in mid-May. The job actions at five Total refineries saw the French supermajor back down by agreeing to keep Pentecost as a holiday even though the French government abandoned it as a national holiday this year. That means Total will assume all government payouts, giving workers the extra paid day in 2005. Total also agreed to pay workers during the 16-20 May strike. The unions involved were the CFDT, CGT and Force Ouvriere. The Total refineries that were shut: Gonfreville, in northern France; Feyzin and La Mede plants in the south; Grandpuits near Paris; and Donges in western France.

Strike at Total in France Protects Holidays

Archive

Australian Unions Go on Offensive over Labour Reform

ICEM's HIV/AIDS Project Moves Forward

New Zealand's EPMU, Norske Skog Agree to Training Centre

Coal Dispute in New Zealand Again Grows Tense

Three Mine Accidents in China Leave 33 Dead

Canadian Offshore Oil Workers Near Deal at Hibernia

Australian Unions Resist Government's Labour Reforms

USW Seeks to Keep Inco Mining Operating Open in Canada

ILO’s Child Labour Focus to be on Mining Sector

Strike at Total in France Protects Holidays

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