English

Español

Français

Aerospace

Automotive

Base metals

Chemical, pharmaceutical and bio-science

Energy

Glass, cement, ceramic and associated industries

ICT, electrical and electronics

Mechanical Engineering

Mining and DGOJP

Pulp and paper

Rubber

Shipbuilding and shipbreaking

Textile, garment, shoes, leather and textile services

Sectors

Action Plan 2025-2029

Action on textile and garment industry

Clean up shipbreaking

Ratify ILO C176

United for a just future - time to pay up!

Disinvest from Myanmar

Campaigns

Global Framework Agreements

Union building

White-collar workers

Health & safety

Industry 4.0

Women

Youth

LGBTQI+

Gender, equality, diversity and inclusion (GEDI)

Just Transition

Organizing with industriALL

What we do

Affiliates

Statutes

Elected Officials

Executive Committee

Geneva head office

South East Asia

Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Caucasus

Latin America and the Caribbean

Middle East and North Africa

South Asia

Regional offices

About us

Global worker No1 2022

Global worker No2 2022

Publications

Resources

Press

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
Negotiations between United Steelworkers (USW) Local 9508 and Brazilian mining company Vale broke off late last night, 24 January, in St. John, Newfoundland, in failed efforts to end the 25-week strike by 250 union members at Goose Bay and Voiseys Bay, Labrador. Three days of steady talks over the weekend, guided by a provincial mediator from Newfoundland/Labrador, failed to bring the two sides any closer to terms. 
 
Meanwhile, 3,100 striking Steelworkers marked six months on picket lines opposite Vale in Sudbury and Port Colborne, Ontario, a fortnight ago. The company, on 19 January, upheld its promise to re-start the Copper Cliff nickel smelter using managers and replacement workers to fire one of two furnaces. 
 
In eastern Canada, an announcement a week ago that the first full round of negotiations since February 2009 would begin on 22 January brought hope that copper, nickel, and cobalt mining in Goose Bay, as well as operations at a slurry facility in Voiseys Bay would resume. Vale had submitted the framework of an agreement ten days ago, but this past weekend&rsquo;s bargaining proved Vale is seeking the same set of concessions. 

<img alt="" src="" width="257" height="233" />
Hong Kong flagged ship operators receive Voiseys Bay Petition, 9 October 2009
&ldquo;The company here still insists on removing the nickel bonus and they didn&rsquo;t deal at all with our issues,&rdquo; lead negotiator and USW District 6 Representative Boyd Bussey told the ICEM Sunday evening. &ldquo;If Vale thought they were picking off a weak link in this strike, they were wrong. We&rsquo;ll be on picket lines until we get a good deal.&rdquo; 
 
The key item that separated the two sides in talks remains Vale&rsquo;s insistence on removing the nickel bonus, a wage supplement that is tied to the rise and fall of the market price of nickel. Contract language, monetary issues, and a company demand to give it more latitude on use of temporary workers also separates the two sides. Local 9508 is an amalgamated USW branch union with five units, three &ndash; miners, catering staff, and security &ndash; that have been on strike against Vale since 1 August 2009. Another unit, a Vale sub-contracted group of port workers employed by an Aboriginal-owned company called TSI, has a separate labour agreement expiring early in 2010. 

<img alt="" src="" width="290" height="218" />
The focus will now be on whether or not Vale will restart copper and nickel mining in Goose Bay using replacement workers. The speculation is that Vale needs nickel concentrates to feed its smelting operations in Thompson, Manitoba, as well as nickel for the re-start of Copper Cliff, where USW Local 6500 is on strike. The company might also be expected to capitalize on high copper prices, with the high-grade red metal mined and processed in the maritime province moved to market. In 2008, the company produced 77,500 tonnes of contained nickel and 55,400 tonnes of high-grade copper concentrates from its Vale-Inco Newfoundland and Labrador operations. 
 
The start-up of the Copper Cliff smelter was long advertised by the company. Operation of one of two furnaces at Copper Cliff, however, is not expected to give Vale anywhere near 50% of smelting capacity from the Sudbury-area facility. Vale is getting minimal production from two of six mines in northern Ontario, as well as token output from its Claribelle refining operation. 
 
On 13 January, the six-month mark of the strike in Sudbury and Port Colborne, the USW filed a bad-faith bargaining complaint with the Ontario Labour Relations Board in Toronto on Vale-Inco&rsquo;s entrenched negotiations stand. Included in that complaint is an internal June 2009 Vale document that the company intends to pare mining jobs in northern Ontario, as well as strategically mine only high-grade ore from the region, thus reducing life expectancy of nickel reserves. The USW believes this indicates Vale is not managing the province&rsquo;s reserves in the long-term best interests of workers and rural communities. 
 
On the six-month anniversary of the Ontario mining strike, over 1,000 miners and their families marched and manifested in Sudbury. The event included an environmentally-friendly balloon release, with each balloon set aloft representing C$4 million of Vale&rsquo;s profits that has fled from Canada. 
 
The ICEM, together with the International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF), will continue ratcheting up pressure on the Brazilian company so that Vale returns to bargaining tables both in Labrador/Newfoundland and Ontario with fair contract offers. The USW Local 6500 strike website can be found here <a href="http://www.fairdealnow.ca">www.fairdealnow.ca</a>.

Talks Prove Futile in Ending Vale’s Eastern Canada Mine Strike

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
The ICEM is demanding that the government of Bosnia-Herzegovina intervene on behalf of 1,250 workers in the northern city of Lukavac. The workers have had their pay slashed and are owed wage arrears by India-based Global Infrastructure Holdings Ltd., a subsidiary of the Ispat Group, owned by the Mittal steel-making family. 
 
The company is the minority owner but manages a coke-chemicals enterprise called Global Ispat Koksana Industtrija Lukavac (GIKIL), which sells to steel mills throughout Central Europe, Turkey, and in India. The local government of the Canton of Tuzla is majority stakeholder. 
 
In a 21 January letter (see <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/3%20ICEM-IMF.Bosnia.pdf ">here</a>) to Bosnia-Herzegovina Prime Minister Mustafa Mujezinovic and to Canton of Tuzla Prime Minister Enes Mujić, ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda &ndash; together with International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF) General Secretary Jyrki Raina &ndash; called on both the federal government and regional government to ensure that restoration of previous pay levels dating to 2003 are restored, that wage arrears are paid, and that the governments be more vigilant on potentially serious health risks existing inside GIKIL. 

<img alt="" src="" width="200" height="92" />
The ICEM is pursuing justice for Lukavac workers on behalf of one of those affiliates, the Independent Trade Union of Chemistry and Non-Metal Workers of Bosnia-Herzegovina. 
 
&ldquo;The ICEM has probed Global Infrastructure Holdings, its parent, the steel-maker Ispat Group, and Pramod Mittal himself.&rdquo; said Warda. &ldquo;What we find is a history of depraved conduct placed on people in many countries and total disregard for global social standards, as well as statutes enshrined in European law.&rdquo; 
 
In Lukavac, workers have carried out lawful strikes twice in six months, laying claims to salaries owed them. Despite all workers taking membership in the union, GIKIL&rsquo;s Indian managing director, Guttupalli Jagannadham, has bypassed the union in slashing pay to 55% of previous earnings. That level is below the minimum wage standard contained in the national collective agreement for chemistry and non-metals, and amounts to just above &euro;200 per month (400 marka), putting it well under the minimum wage threshold for the sector in Bosnia-Herzegovina. 
 
Workers staged a strike from 6 January to 14 January after salaries had not been paid in October, November, and December 2009. During the strike, the October and November pay was made, but December salaries are still in remiss. A mediated agreement that ended a three-day strike in July 2009 called on GIKIL management to honour the collective agreement, and pay all wages due by 31 December 2009. 
 
The ICEM and IMF also stated concern for workers&rsquo; health at GIKIL in the letter to the Bosnia-Herzegovina government. The Independent Trade Union of Chemistry and Non-Metal Workers believes a number of workers have acute cases of cancer due to lack of safeguards around coke ovens. 
<img alt="" src="" width="102" height="140" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <img alt="" src="" width="99" height="140" />
ICEM and IMF General Secretaries, Manfred Warda, Jyrki Raina
In the joint letter, the combined 45-million-member ICEM and IMF cautioned the government not to lose oversight over labour-management relations at GIKIL. &ldquo;We think this a mistake, considering the recent history of wage arrears, asset stripping, and general social depravation brought by Global Infrastructure Holdings.&rdquo; 
 
In Nigeria in 2008, Kogi state steelworkers, over 500 Indian nationals, and many Ukrainian expatriate workers protested due to ten months of non-payment of wages. The Iron and Steel Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ISSSAN) counted 60 deaths among workers because of the lengthy pay arrears, including 21 suicides. In April 2008, the Nigerian government revoked a privatisation contract it had with Global Infrastructure Holdings to operate the Ajaokuto Steel mills and Nigerian Iron Ore Mining Co., as well as Delta Steel, when it discovered the Indian company was cannibalizing equipment and then exporting it. 
 
Also in 2008 in Libya, where Global Infrastructure Holdings had a contract to manage Libya Iron and Steel Co. Ltd., workers &ndash; including 120 Indian nationals in high-skilled jobs &ndash; went as long as seven months without pay. In Bulgaria, Pramod Mittal and Ispat&rsquo;s Global Steel Holdings bought 71% of the country&rsquo;s largest steel mill, Kremikovtsi Steel, in 2005, renamed it Finmetals Holdings, and the enterprise was declared insolvent in August 2008. Lack of promised investment was the cause. 
 
Mittal, the younger brother of ArcelorMittal Chairman Lakshmi N. Mittal, left a debt trail that included bondholders and huge sums owed Bulgarian state utility NEC, gas company Bulgargaz, and railway operator BDZ. 
 
Some 5,000 Bulgarian steelworkers also were not paid their wages on time throughout the latter half of 2008. 
 
&ldquo;We take the breach of contract, failure to engage the union in social talks, and wage issues very seriously,&rdquo; said Warda of the current Lukavac dispute. &ldquo;Either the government of Bosnia-Herzegovina corrects the wrongs imposed on workers, or we carry this dispute to different levels.&rdquo;

ICEM, IMF Decry Mittal’s Pay Delinquencies in Bosnia-Herzegovina

<img src="" width="100" height="39" alt="" />
A 1 March deadline looms for applicants seeking admission to ILO&rsquo;s coming Global Labour University (GLU) Masters Degree programmes in Germany and India. The year-long course work is through the University of Kassel and Berlin School of Economics and Law in Germany, and Tata Institute of Social Sciences in Mumbai, India. 
 
In India, course work will be categorized under &ldquo;Globalisation and Labour&rdquo; and will critically evaluate the social, economic, and political processes that influence labour under globalisation. In Germany, where the first semester is at Kassel and the second at Berlin, the programme is called &ldquo;Labour Policies &amp; Globalisation&rdquo; and focuses on global challenges to labour, international labour rights, economics, and processes of globalisation. 

<img src="" width="92" height="87" alt="" />
The application (in six languages) can be found at the bottom of this page <a href="http://www.global-labour-university.org/ on the left hand side">http://www.global-labour-university.org/ on the left hand side</a>. 
 
Courses are offered in English, women are strongly encouraged to participate, applicants should, as a rule, not be over age 40, and the endorsement of a trade union is a requirement for a scholarship. The scholarship is combined with a &euro;1,500 contribution made by a trade union or other donor. 
 
The nearly six-year-old GLU has trained trade unionists in economics and in social sciences from 49 countries in its short existence. The GLU has also developed and is initiating this year a shorter, six-month programme intended for trade union workers and others around a targeted and specific curriculum. 
 
More on that programme, with the next application deadline coming 1 November 2010, can be found <a href="http://www.global-labour-university.org/216.html">here</a>.&nbsp;

1 March Deadline for Global Labour University Courses in Germany, India

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
The Guyana Bauxite &amp; General Workers&rsquo; Union (GB&amp;GWU) ramped up protests on the deaf ear its government is giving a pitched labour dispute it has with Russian metals company RusAL by picketing last week the offices of the Minister of Labour, Human Services, and Social Security, as well as the company&rsquo;s offices in Georgetown. 
 
Some 60 union members and supporters staged the manifestations on 4-5 February, and picketing is expected to continue this week. The GB&amp;GWU has broad support across the northern South American country for reinstatement of 57 union activists that were sacked following a spontaneous strike action in late November. The strike was conducted by some 200 of 500 miners employed at the Aroraima bauxite operations in the central portion of the country. 

<img alt="" src="" width="256" height="192" />
GB&amp;GWU picketed the offices of Labour Minister Mansoor Nadir on 4 and 5 February
The strike occurred following an exchange of contract proposals in efforts to reach a renewal collective agreement. 
 
Immediately after the strike and sackings, the Bauxite Co. of Guyana Inc. (BCGI), 90% owned by RusAl, made the unilateral announcement that it no longer recognised the GB&amp;GWU, a violation &ndash; the ICEM believes &ndash; this runs against international labour standards, as well as Guyana&rsquo;s Trade Union Recognition Act. 
 
Despite numerous attempts by the union to involve Guyana Prime Minister Samuel Hinds and Labour, Human Services, and Social Security Minister Mansoor Nadir in efforts to resolve or mediate the dispute, those initiatives have gone unheard. 

<img alt="" src="" width="320" height="159" />
On 5 February, union pickets the Georgetown offices of RusAl
Thus lacking a formal avenue to remedy the dispute, the GB&amp;GWU took the matter to the Ethnic Relations Commission, since all 57 discharged miners were of African descent. In an early January hearing, the GB&amp;GWU asked the commission to convene a full public inquiry into the sackings but instead, the commission&rsquo;s chairman went to the worksite to interview bosses and workers without the union present. 
 
The ICEM is concerned that for the past two months BCGI management is coercing and intimidating miners to sign statements abandoning the union, a contradiction to Guyanese law and global freedom of association standards. The ICEM has written to the Russian mining and metals multinational in hopes that it will correct the unfair decisions of its BCGI managers regarding the terminations and abrogation of the collective bargaining relationship and that letter can be found <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/5.rusal.letter.29jan.pdf">here</a>.

Guyana Bauxite Workers’ Union Pickets Government, RusAl Offices in Georgetown

<img src="" width="100" height="39" alt="" />
Miners of Mexico&rsquo;s National Miners&rsquo; and Metalworkers&rsquo; Union (SNTMMSRM), or Los Mineros, have rejected a severance package put forward by Grupo M&eacute;xico at the strike-hit Cananea copper mine. Some 1,200 workers at Cananea in northern Sonora state have been on strike since July 2007, a strike the company and the Mexican government have tried unsuccessfully to end through administrative edict and by formally dissolving the union&rsquo;s collective agreement. 
 
Since last year, Mexico&rsquo;s Federal Conciliation and Arbitration Board has declared the strike illegal three times, but each time a court has reversed the rulings. Last month, Grupo M&eacute;xico tried to break miners&rsquo; resolve by offering a US$13,000 payment per worker to sever with the company. Reports indicated that only 20 miners accepted the buy-out. 

<img src="" width="300" height="219" alt="" />
&ldquo;The company is offering workers leftovers and calling it liquidation,&rdquo; stated SNTMMSRM Section 65 leader Mario Garc&iacute;a. Grupo M&eacute;xico is attempting to break the union, and then restructure and re-start Cananea, a mining complex capable of producing 48% of Mexico&rsquo;s copper output. 
 
The company has also lodged lawsuits against striking workers and strike leaders for alleged damage at the mine. The union has asked Grupo M&eacute;xico to withdraw those actions, and instead negotiate a revised collective agreement with Los Mineros that will raise salaries and benefits, and improve safety and hygiene, chief among reasons why miners struck in the first place. 
 
Grupo M&eacute;xico has stated that is has lost US$1.5 billion in sales due to the mine being shut. Cananea has capacity to produce 190,000 tonnes per year of copper, with 70% of that in copper concentrates and the remainder in copper cathode. 
 
The ICEM continue to support and campaign on behalf of Los Mineros in its fight for justice against the Mexican government and the ruthless affront posed by Grupo M&eacute;xico throughout the country.

Cananea Miners Reject Grupo México Severance; Strike Continues

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
The lockout by Rio Tinto Minerals on 560 union members of International Longshore &amp; Warehouse Union (ILWU) in Boron, California, is now eight days old, and there is no sign that management intends to engage in talks anytime soon. 
 
Instead, Rio Tinto has engaged the services of US security firm J.R. Gettier of Wilmington, Delaware, to bus replacement workers across picket lines and to give menacing, paramilitary looks to ILWU members and their families in the Mojave Desert town of Boron, 122 kilometres east of Los Angeles. 
 
Gettier advertises itself as a full-service company with strike security teams that &ldquo;comes to your site to manage a labor-management dispute.&rdquo; JRG Services, a division of J.R. Gettier, provides clients with temporary or replacement workers that &ldquo;assist in meeting your company&rsquo;s &hellip; needs.&rdquo; 

<img alt="" src="" width="248" height="165" />
The lockout will be the central focus when the International Mining and Maritime Unions meet in Palmdale, California, on 15 February, which includes the ICEM and the International Transport Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITF). The multi-union organisation, which includes the predominately maritime and dockworkers&rsquo; ILWU, based in San Francisco, has already issued a statement in support of the locked-out workers: 
 
&ldquo;Our solidarity goes to ILWU Boron miners and their families in particular who have suffered these attacks on the morning of January 31 for defending workers&rsquo; rights and refusing to capitulate to the bullying tactics of Rio whose agenda is to break the union in order to slash wages and benefits.&rdquo; 
The ICEM issued a statement on 1 February, stating that it will use its role as the leading Global Union Federation in the mining industry &ldquo;to alert trade unions around the globe, particularly those representing Rio Tinto workers, of the lockout and urge them to take action on behalf of ILWU Local 30.&rdquo; That full statement can be found <a href="/en/77-All-ICEM-News-Releases/3599-ICEM-Pledges-Support-to-Locked-Out-Rio-Tinto-Workers-in-US-State-of-California">here</a>. 
 
And the ITF, on 5 February, in a message to the ILWU, said the &ldquo;lockout can be seen as the lowest reaction of the employer to a workforce that strives for dialogue &hellip; we acknowledge you and your families&rsquo; fight, your strength and courage to stand up together against a corporation that is doing all in its power to confront the workforce and weaken the union.&rdquo; 

<img alt="" src="" width="193" height="193" />
ILWU President Bob McEllrath said, &ldquo;We are going into a big battle, and it is going to be a long and hard fought one,&rdquo; in thanking unions which have already expressed support. 
Please visit Local 30's website <a href="http://boraxminers.com/index.html">here</a>.
A previous contract for ILWU Local 30 expired on 4 November 2009. On 29 January, management presented workers with a concessionary proposal with the orders to either accept it or face a lockout. On 30 January, all 500 union members who attended a union meeting to discuss the proposal rejected it. The company seeks unprecedented changes to workers&rsquo; seniority, shift and overtime assignments, and the manner in which promotions are made, as well as seeking unilaterally changes on flexibility that will allow it greater latitude to sub-contract jobs. 
 
The global mining house Rio Tinto posted pre-tax profits on US$16 billion in 2008. Rio Tinto Minerals, which also operates globally, is based in the US state of Colorado and the borax, or sodium borate mine in California is the world&rsquo;s second largest borates mine in the world, producing 42% of the world&rsquo;s refined borates compounds. 
 
The ICEM urges all affiliates and supporters to send protest letters to Rio Tinto, condemning the lockout. Click <a href="/index.php?id=5&amp;la=EN&amp;doc=3600">here</a> for a model, paste the text onto your letterhead, and send to Rio Tinto CEO Albanese at <a href="mailto:tom.albanese@riotinto.com">tom.albanese@riotinto.com</a>, copied to <a href="mailto:joe.drexler@icem.org">joe.drexler@icem.org</a> and <a href="mailto:info@ilwu.org">info@ilwu.org</a>.

Rio Tinto Engaged in Savage Union Busting at California Borates Mine

<img src="" width="100" height="39" alt="" />
On 21 January, ICEM Colombian affiliate Union Sindical Obrera de la Industria del Petrolero (USO) presented demands to management of Schlumberger Surenco, the world's largest oilfield services corporation with operations in approximately 80 countries. The multinational has been operating in Colombia since 2001 with the state-run petroleum company, Ecopetrol, at the Casabe site, near Barrancabermeja, the country&rsquo;s most important refinery. 
 
Schlumberger has contracts with Ecopetrol at a majority of production sites in Colombia. 

<img src="" width="130" height="130" alt="" />
The company entered into bargaining with the USO negotiating committee on 3 February. USO will be aiming to improve conditions and salaries for workers at a global oil services company that posted operating revenues in 2008 totaled US$27.16 billion. 
 
The ICEM will continue to monitor these talks, and pledges full support to USO in achieving the best terms and conditions possible. 
 
Elsewhere regarding USO, ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda last week sent a letter to Colombian President &Aacute;lvaro Uribe, calling on his government to improve security for trade unionists in Colombia. The letter follows yet another serious attack on USO President Germ&aacute;n Osman. Warda called on both the government and Ecopetrol to do more to guarantee the safety and rights of trade unionists and their families, in light of the continuing attacks by Colombian mafia groups such as the &ldquo;&Aacute;guilas Negras,&rdquo; or Black Eagles. 
 
Colombia has the reputation for being the most dangerous country in the world for trade unionists, with 49 trade union leaders murdered in 2009 and 2,712 since 1986. The ICEM and Warda&rsquo;s letter in Spanish can be viewed <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/1.ICEM.Col.Pres.Uribe..pdf">here</a>. 
 
The ICEM has a website dedicated to its work in Colombia, run by Colombia Coordinator Carlos Bustos. View that website here <a href="http://www.icemcolombia.com">www.icemcolombia.com</a>. Write to Carlos <a href="mailto:icemcol@hotmail.com">here</a>.

Colombia Oil Union USO Presents Demands to Service Provider Schlumberger

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
The ICEM&rsquo;s new global Contract and Agency Labour (CAL) Coordinator/Consultant began work in her new duties last week. Ashling Seely comes from the International Textiles, Garment, and Leather Workers Federation (ITGLWF) and will continue working for the ITGLWF part-time as coordinator for the Global Union Federation&rsquo;s Sportswear Project and as Policy Assistant to the General Secretary. 
 
Through her work as the new global Coordinator/Consultant on CAL, it is anticipated that more will be done, including support work to affiliates of ICEM, ITGLWF, and the International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF) in their daily struggles and solidarity actions on CAL and precarious work. 

<img alt="" src="" width="164" height="175" />
New ICEM Global CAL Coordinator, Ashling Seely
Other work at this level will include preparing interviews and newsletters for the ICEM&rsquo;s special CAL website, preparing country reports, assisting other ICEM staff on the issue of short-term and irregular work, and assistance in work related to the Council of Global Unions. 
 
All affiliates are encouraged to directly contact Ashling Seely with any issues they have over CAL. She can be reached <a href="mailto:aseely@itglwf.org">here</a>. View the ICEM CAL website <a href="http://cal.icem.org/">here</a>.

ICEM Welcomes New Global CAL Coordinator, Ashling Seely

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
Short strikes by copper miners in Chile have ended and new collective agreements are in place with both the state-owned copper company, Codelco, and with Anglo-Swiss multinational Xstrata. Striking mineworkers at Codelco&rsquo;s Chuquicamata complex have settled, however an agreement still needs to be reached for 280 miners at the state-owned firm&rsquo;s Codelco Norte and for 500 miners at El Teniente. 
 
Meanwhile, mineworkers at Xstrata&rsquo;s Altonorte copper smelter agreed to contract terms, following one week of industrial action that ended on 4 January. 
 
Some 5,600 miners at Chuquicamata, located in Chile&rsquo;s northern region, ended two days of strike action on 5 January after accepting a pay rise of 4% and a bonus totaling US$24,280. Codelco&rsquo;s Chuquicamata workers also won a US$6,000 interest-free loan. Miners voted by 2,610 to 1,203 to accept the deal. 

<img alt="" src="" width="200" height="92" />
The Chuquicamata produces around four percent of the world&rsquo;s total copper supply. The vast complex includes the Chuquicamata and Mina Sur mines, and the short strike boosted global prices to a 16-month high. Union leaders had been seeking a 7.5% salary increase and a US$28,000 bonus, claiming the cost of living in the remote region is higher than anywhere in Chile. 
 
It was the first strike at these Codelco mines since 1996. The new collective agreement will last 38 months and took effect on 1 January. 
 
The settlement at Xstrata&rsquo;s Altonorte smelter, also in Chile&rsquo;s northern Region II, includes a two percent increase to base wages, a bonus of US$5,000, and an annual production bonus of US$1,500. The new collective agreement will be in effect for a three-year period, backdated to 18 December 2009. Miners of Labour Union No. 1 at Altonorte began their strike action on 28 December. 

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="101" />
Altonorte employs 660 workers and treats raw copper and other mining by-products to obtain copper anodes. The site has the capacity to produce 290,000 tonnes per year of copper in anode form. Xstrata is the fourth largest copper producer in the world. 
 
End-of-year negotiations at both Codelco and Xstrata coincided with a big jump in global copper prices, bringing pricing levels to 130 percent of what they were in early 2009. Codelco resumes bargaining with miners at El Teniente in March. 
 
Chile, the world&rsquo;s largest copper producer, reached an output of 5.3 million tonnes in 2008, and it is estimated that the 2009 figure will be similar. This equals roughly one-third of total global production.

Strikes Bring Chilean Miners Significant Advances with Codelco, Xstrata

<img src="" width="100" height="39" alt="" />
In Hobart, Tasmania, the Construction, Forestry, Mining, And Energy Union (CFMEU) and Belgian-based lead and zinc producer Nyrstar NV agreed to a 14-day cooling down period last week following escalated industrial tensions that included the threat of a lock-out under Australian&rsquo;s Fair Act by the company. 
 
Nyrstar operates a 300-worker zinc smelter in Hobart and exports some 250,000 tonnes of zinc cathode annually from Tasmania. The two parties resume negotiations under the supervision of Fair Work Australia, the government&rsquo;s new labour dispute agency. 

<img src="" width="160" height="80" alt="" />
The dispute flared in mid-December when some workers opted to take lawful industrial actions, including work bans and other stoppages. Strikes occurred on December 19 and December 24. Nyrstar immediately responded by issuing letters to strikers stating they would face a 16-day lockout, while another letter to those not striking stated that implementation of partial work bans will be construed as refusal to do any work, thus staff will not be paid at all. 
 
The central issue in the Nyrstar Australian dispute is the company insistence to continue a performance-based pay system, while the CFMEU and another workplace representative is seeking renewal of an enterprise agreement that contains automatic and set pay increases. The current operating enterprise contract expired three years ago, with no accord reached in that time period. 
 
Nyrstar was formerly a joint venture between Belgian metals and chemicals company Umicore and Australian mining and development company Zinifex Ltd. It was spun off into a separate company in late 2007 and wholly owns GM-Metal of France and 25% of Thailand&rsquo;s Padaeng Industry Public Company Ltd. Zinifex remains Nyrstar&rsquo;s primary source for raw zinc, while Umicore is a main buyer of Nyrstar&rsquo;s processed zinc. Globally, Nyrstar also processes some copper, gold, indium, and refined silver.

CFMEU, Zinc Smelter Nyrstar Take ‘Cool Down’ Time in Australia

Archive