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from the International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF) 
 
The meeting is the first joint activity on the organization of trade union networks in Latin American companies organized by the International Metalworkers' Federation (IMF), the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM) and the Building and Woodworkers' International (BWI) to develop new strategies together with their affiliates. 
 
On 23-24 September, an international seminar on forming union networks in Latin American trans-national companies (TNCs) took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, representatives of the International Metalworkers' Federation (IMF), the Building and Woodworkers' International (BWI), and the ICEM representing workers in metallurgical, chemical, construction and wood sectors took part. 
 
Supported by the Friedrich-Ebert Foundation (FES), the aim of the meeting was to exchange experiences on existing networking activities and joint planning of actions in these companies. GUFs and unions provided information on several companies, as well as on the relationship (or lack thereof) that currently exists between companies and unions. 
<img src="" width="331" height="189" alt="" />
Photo: IMF 
 
The companies reviewed were Vale, WEG, Votorantim, Petrobras, and Arauco Odebrecht. All of the companies are involved in more than one sector, and some engage in unacceptable anti-union practices. 
 
&ldquo;Unfortunately, we have suffered so much abuse by foreign TNCs. But today we see that the Latin American TNCs are no different. Our experience also shows that the anti-union practices and disregard of workers' rights by some companies are even fiercer in the countries where the company has opened new operations than in their home countries,&rdquo; said IMF Assistant General Secretary Fernando Lopes. 
 
During the meeting, all participants decided to support the workers struggle at Brazilian Vale's operations in Voiseys Bay, Canada, where 230 workers have been on strike since 1 August 2009, after the company would only accept to renew the collective agreement if the workers represented by USW agreed to a drastic reduction in conditions and increased job insecurity. 
 
The IMF Regional Representative for Latin America and Caribbean, Jorge Almeida said, &quot;This meeting was also a first step in the region. In a few years, we will work on a global scale with the merger of three confederations overall: IMF (metalworkers), ICEM (chemical) and ITGLWF (textiles).&rdquo; 
 
The meeting included affiliates from Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Peru affiliated to IMF, ICEM, and BWI, and also included were representatives from IG Metall, Germany, and the US Solidarity Center, AFL-CIO.

FES Sponsors Tri-GUF Multinationals Seminar in Brazil

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A new slate of officers won election at the Congress of ICEM-affiliated Mineworkers&rsquo; Union of Namibia (MUN), held 17-19 September in Swakopmund, Namibia. The Congress met under the banner of stronger enforcement of safety and health regulations in all workplaces. 
 
Elected to the position of General Secretary was Jonas Lumbu, who replaces Joseph Hengari. Elected President was John Ndawedapo, replacing Andres Eiseb. The Congress elected Michael Heita as Vice President, Eben Zarondo as Assistant General Secretary, Eliphas Iita as National Secretary, Gerson Max as Vice National Secretary, Paul Rooi as Treasurer, and Phillip Muninguni as Vice Treasurer. 
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The theme of the Congress comes at a time when the Namibian mining sector is experiencing its worst fatal and serious injury accident rate in ten years. The MUN has witnessed mass retrenchments due to the financial crisis, but delegates to the Congress said a recovery is underway. The MUN has been frustrated by an American company that holds uranium mining rights because the company hinders union representation rights. 
 
Debate at the Congress also took place over a recurring issue inside Namibia&rsquo;s trade unions, that of union leaders holding decision-making positions inside enterprises or on boards. This issue has spawned conflict-of-interest charges inside many unions affiliated to the National Unions of Namibian Workers (NUNW).

Mineworkers in Namibia Elect New Leaders

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The ICEM affiliated oil and gas workers&rsquo; trade unions in Nigeria, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) and the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), are threatening mass strike action if the Nigerian government continues efforts to pass a new legislation without their consultation that will deregulate the sector. 
 
NUPENG and PENGASSAN have the power to shut down all oil and gas installations in the West African country, and are threatening to do so if the government continues unwise implementation of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB). 
 
Workers have been frustrated at being excluded from the drafting process, while global oil corporations have been at the centre of negotiations. Nigeria, the most populous nation in Africa, relies heavily on its oil resources. Although the predominately state-owned company is guilty of inefficiency, NUPENG and PENGASSAN oppose the sell-off of the industry to foreign investors without proper protections for the Nigerian economy and for protection of labour rights in this sector. 
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NUPENG and PENGASSAN has issued appeals and demands to the Joint Committee on Petroleum, the Inter-Governmental Committee, the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), the Petroleum and Labour Ministers, and also in writing to President Goodluck Jonathan. These appeals call attention to the ambiguity in areas of the legislation that could easily be exploited by corporations. 
 
The new legislation stands to cancel existing protections set up to rollback casualisation and the outsourcing of labour, already a dramatically growing problem in the sector. 
 
PENGASSAN and NUPENG National Presidents, Babatunde Ogun and Achese Igwe, made a joint statement last week expressing shared concerns and demands. Also co-signing the statement were General Secretaries Bayo Olowoshile of PENGASSAN and Elijah Okougbo of NUPENG. 
 
The ICEM supports the demands of both its affiliates, that the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill should be halted at least until it is made available for scrutiny by all affected parties. The progress of such a strategically important law must be transparent. The Joint Committee of the National Assembly and the Petroleum Minister must include oil workers&rsquo; trade unions in all deliberations and all legislation drafting.

Nigerian Oil Unions Threaten Strike over PIB Implementation

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The US United Autoworkers&rsquo; Union (UAW) will divest hundreds of millions of dollars from JPMorgan Chase over the bank&rsquo;s refusal to implement a two-year moratorium on housing foreclosures in the state of Michigan. The divestiture of pension, health care, and other union-managed funds from the New York-based bank is also due to Chase&rsquo;s ties to the RJ Reynolds Group, and that company&rsquo;s treatment of low-wage farm workers in the US state of North Carolina. 
 
At a press conference on 24 September in Detroit, UAW President Bob King was joined by church and American farm-labour leaders in calling for a full citizens&rsquo; boycott of JPMorgan Chase. King and a coalition of civil society leaders from Michigan met with bank officials in June following a protest and requested a moratorium on home foreclosures of unemployed workers. 
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UAW President Bob King
At a follow up meeting, UAW and religious leaders called on Chase to join President Barack Obama&rsquo;s Hardest Hit Homeowners programme and declare a temporary freeze on foreclosures. Although the bank made a good-faith promise to continue the dialogue with the social partners, the bank &ldquo;has since failed to communicate its intentions regarding any of the issues raised,&rdquo; said the UAW. 
 
At the press conference ten days ago, US Farm Labour Organising Committee President Baldemar Velasquez detailed low wages, unsanitary conditions, and the Reynolds Group&rsquo;s hindrance of trade union organizing rights for tobacco workers. 
 
King said Americans &ldquo;have a moral responsibility to step up&rdquo; and join the boycott. &ldquo;Chase needs to help unemployed homeowners in Michigan and underpaid farm workers in the Carolinas,&rdquo; stated King. &ldquo;The bank could make a huge difference by suspending foreclosures and pressuring RJ Reynolds to do the right thing.&rdquo;

US Auto Workers’ Pull Money from Bank over Home Foreclosures

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Some 1,000 union leaders from across Canada in the energy, paper, media, and telecomms sectors met 19-23 September in Toronto for the Communications, Energy, Paperworkers (CEP) Union&rsquo;s biennial convention. Delegates denounced the Canadian federal government&rsquo;s ineptitude in handling forestry and pension crises, and they heard from noted economists that the greed of a few has caused grave financial damage to millions of workers worldwide. 
<img alt="" src="" width="249" height="187" />
CEP President Dave Coles at offices of Brookfield Asset Management 
The Convention also saw the re-election by acclamation of President Dave Coles and Secretary-Treasurer Ga&eacute;tan M&eacute;nard. Delegates to the convention also took to the streets of Toronto in protest, directing it at one culprit responsible for the financial collapse. CEPers marched on the downtown Toronto offices of Brookfield Asset Management, a US-based equity firm that took over and then led Fraser Paper into bankruptcy. 
CEP delegates passed a number of resolutions, including a continued CEP policy to press forward on a national pharmacy plan. They also heard about the structural economic flows in the existing financial system from US economist James Galbraith and Haitian economist Camille Chalmers. And the Canadian political landscape was also covered by NDP leader Jack Layton, Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) President Ken Georgetti, and Toronto Star columnist Thomas Walkom. 
<img alt="" src="" width="140" height="93" />
CEP Secretary-Treasurer Ga&eacute;tan M&eacute;nard
In opening the convention, Coles leveled harsh criticism at the federal government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper for its inaction in the face of many crises, including the forest industry one, pensions, and foreign control of traditional Canadian-owned industries. &ldquo;These idealogues have failed to lift a finger to aid forest communities, and if they win the next election, other sectors will meet the same fate,&rdquo; stated Coles. 
 
Delegates to the convention displayed their generosity by raising and donating more that C$100,000 to the union&rsquo;s Canadian charity of choice, the Spina Bifada and Hydrocephalus Association, an organization focused on spinal birth defects and abnormal brain fluids. The CEP&rsquo;s Woman of Distinction Award was given to Joy Langan, an activist, proud trade unionist, former Member of Parliament, and tireless advocate for women&rsquo;s rights who passed away on 30 July 2009. She received the award posthumously, with the CEP honouring her by changing the name of the award to the Joy Langan Women of Distinction Award.

CEP Holds Biennial Convention in Toronto, Canada

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With the rescue of 33 trapped Chilean miners perhaps only two weeks away, early October events at the San Jos&eacute; mine near Copiap&oacute; in northern Chile centered on activity on the surface and in courtrooms. Relatives of 27 of the 33 miners filed lawsuits last week against both the government and Campa&ntilde;ia Minera San Esteban Primera seeking a total of US$12 million while in a separate court case, a Northern Region III prosecutor brought criminal charges against San Esteban&rsquo;s two owners, plus the mine manager and operations manager over a 5 July rock slide in which a miner lost a leg. 
 
Meanwhile, a group of Chilean trade unions from the mining, metals, and energy sectors, after conducting two days of meetings in Copiap&oacute; in late August, issued a terse manifesto holding the government responsible for safety lapses inside the San Jos&eacute; mine. That manifesto cites the inherent flaws inside Chile&rsquo;s diverse workplace safety system, a system that excludes participatory roles for workers and their trade unions on safety matters. 
 
The Chilean trade unions drafting the manifesto also cite a government that is unwilling to engage in tri-partite dialogue to improve mine safety conditions, including refusing initiatives to discuss ratification of ILO Convention 176, the Safety and Health in Mines Convention. That manifesto, in Spanish, can be seen <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/MANIFIESTO_DE_COPIAPO.pdf">here</a>. 
 
The ICEM today sent a second letter to Chile&rsquo;s government regarding the San Jos&eacute; tragedy, this time to Mining Minister Laurence Golborne calling on the government to revamp its preventative safety practices. That letter can be accessed <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/ICEMletters/116.ICEM.Chile.MiningMinister.4Oct.pdf">here</a>. 
<img alt="" src="" width="191" height="128" />
Scene at San Jos&eacute; on 5 August
The lawsuit filed 30 September by the relatives of the 27 calls for damages totaling US$10 million against the company, and another US$2 million against the government and a state regulatory agency, the National Geological and Mines Services, for allowing the San Jos&eacute; mine to reopen in 2008 following a fatal accident in 2007. 
 
The criminal case by a miner who had his leg amputated from a rock slide in July was brought against San Esteban owners Alejandro Bohn and Marcelo Kemeny, mine manager Pedro Simunovic, and operations manager Carlos Pinilla. The regional public prosecutor of Atacama ordered the four not to leave the country during a 90-day investigation of the incident. 
 
The 33 miners are in relatively good health and trapped 700 metres underground. The rescue by three separate drilling rigs (see prior ICEM dispatch <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4006-Rescue-of-Chilean-Miners-Hits-Stride">here</a>) continues with the Schramm T-130 drill advancing to 428 metres over the weekend in the widening of a smaller hole it made two weeks ago. 
 
That drill was idled on Saturday, 2 October, for a change in parts, but continued drilling yesterday. A larger oil drilling rig, called Rig 421, is making a single bore in hopes of coming to an area near where the miners are trapped. But Rig 421 drilling stopped over the weekend so technicians could change the directional course. The smaller mine drilling rig, a Strata 950 Riasebore drill, has been temporarily idled, but is due to restart its mission this week. 
 
Once a hole 66 centimeters across is made that reaches near where the miners are, it will take about eight days to erect a metal framing encasement &ndash; from both above and below &ndash; for a rescue capsule to fit that will take each miner to the surface. It is expected that all three holes will be fitted in the event a failure occurs in one. 
 
The miners became trapped on 5 August, following an underground explosion that caused mine shafts to collapse. Miraculously, they were discovered alive on 22 August. Thirty-two of the miners are Chileans, while one is a Bolivian national.

Story Line of Chilean Mine Rescue Shifts to the Surface

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The ILO and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are teaming &ndash; together with Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg &ndash; to jointly host a conference to explore ways to leverage job growth as a recovery stimulus to the economic crisis. The conference will be held 13 September in Oslo. 
 
Participating in the conference will be Liberian President Ellen Sirleaf Johnson, Greek Prime Minister George Papandreau, Spanish Prime Minister Jos&eacute; Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde, British Secretary of State for Labour Iain Duncan Smith, and Sharon Burrow, the new General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC). 
<img src="" width="130" height="97" alt="" />
Juan Somavia, the Director-General of the ILO, and Dominique Strauss-Kahn, IMF Managing Director, will co-chair the conference. 
 
The conference occurs at a time the outlook for global employment continues to worsen. According to current ILO estimates, recorded global unemployment is at 210 million people, an increase of 34 million since the outset of the most recent global financial crisis. 
 
Prime Minister Stoltenberg termed the conference an opportunity to explore ways to improve the quality of life and work for the millions of people affected by the financial crisis.

ILO, Monetary Fund to Host Jobs, Sustainability Conference in Norway

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The most dangerous country for trade unionists saw yet another assassination, 12 August, when Luis German Restrepo Maldonado, President of the Colombian packers&rsquo; union Sintraempaques, was shot in the head outside a caf&eacute; in public, in the city of Medellin, by a hit man who evaded arrest. 
 
Prominent trade union leader Maldonado was 58 years old and had spent 40 years representing workers in the central Colombian district of Antioquia. 
<img alt="" src="" width="119" height="113" />
Assassinated Luis German Restrepo Maldonado
Maldonado also served the Colombian national centre CGT, as treasurer of the Antioquia region. The National Executive Committee of the CGT, led by Julio G&oacute;mez Esguerra, condemned the brutal attack, and expressed its solidarity to the family. The CGT added that it &ldquo;will not be cornered by these acts of violence&rdquo;. It has become expected in Colombia that crimes against trade unionists are not properly investigated, with the perpetrator almost never brought to justice. The CGT has demanded that this trend does not continue. 
 
This latest murder again brings into question the decision to remove Colombia from the list of 25 countries sanctioned for trade union rights abuses, by the ILO&rsquo;s Committee on the Application of Standards, in June this year. 
 
The murdered trade unionist is survived by five children, Freddy, Lisette, Veronica, Juan Carlos, and Luis Herman.

Colombian Trade Union President Assassinated

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Mexico&rsquo;s Los Mineros won a legal victory on 11 August, in their struggle at Grupo Mexico&rsquo;s Cananea copper mine, as the Ninth District Judge in the state of Sonora ruled that the strike is still in legal existence. The Cananea strike, three years old last 30 July, was attacked with police force on 6 June, forcibly evicting strikers from the installations, where 3,000 federal police remain now. The large police presence protects strikebreakers at Cananea, as Grupo Mexico seeks to reopen the mine by the end of 2010. 
 
The constitutional appeal of Los Mineros resulted in admissions of both the Mexican Attorney General&rsquo;s office, and the Federal Secretary of Public Security that police had been deployed to the mine on 6 June to carry out inspections under a ministerial order. As the mine inspection had already been completed, police had no legal right to enter the mine facilities, or remove strikers. An eviction order from the judicial authority never existed. 
<img alt="" src="" width="220" height="148" />
Federal police violently take control at Cananea, 6 June 
Photo - IMF
The United Steelworkers&rsquo; (USW) President Leo Gerard announced on 20 August solidarity action for Los Mineros in Cananea, with the USW placing a rotating team of international observers in the city to monitor the illegal police presence, who are intimidating strikers and protecting scabs. Gerard added that American volunteer workers arrived this weekend as observers. The rotating team will join the picket line, which is often 800-strong. 
 
Government support for the strikebreakers continues, with local authorities accused of cutting electric power to some of the strikers&rsquo; homes, in an effort to intimidate them. 
 
Grupo Mexico and Mexico&rsquo;s Labour Ministry have refused to accept the appeal ruling, stating that the union&rsquo;s contract remains suspended, and that the District Judge&rsquo;s decision has no effect as the eviction of the strikers has already occurred.

Pressure on Mexican Authorities as District Judge Rules Cananea Strike Legal

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European trade unions, led by the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), will stage a mobilization in central Brussels on 29 September protesting job loss and resulting service cuts due to austerity measures being imposed by governments. The date will coincide with a meeting of Europe&rsquo;s Finance Ministers in Europe&rsquo;s capital. 
 
In addition, Spanish trade union federations UGT and CC.OO have called a one-day strike across Spain on 29 September in protest to massive public-sector cuts and attacks on pension formulas and social services by the ruling Partido Socialista Obrero Espa&ntilde;ol (PSOE). 
 
The ETUC&rsquo;s Day of Action, entitled &ldquo;No to Austerity, Priority for Jobs and Growth,&rdquo; will manifest against proposed &euro;200 billion in overall cuts, which could result in 200,000 further job losses. The manifestation will take the side, for example, of Romanian trade unions which have futilely resisted pay cuts by as much as 25% on state workers. 
<img alt="" src="" width="174" height="249" />
The Day of Action is to resist European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet&rsquo;s call for an end to economic stimulus programmes and rigorous imposition of austerity measures across Europe. European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU) General Secretary Carola Fischbach-Pyttel warned that &ldquo;as governments swing the austerity axe, they risk chopping off any green shoots of recovery, leaving workers, pensioners, and communities to face the prospect of an even longer recession.&rdquo; 
 
The ICEM calls on its European affiliated trade unions to heed the ETUC&rsquo;s call and manifest on 29 September against the socially destructive austerity measures. In Brussels, some 25,000 trade unionists are expected to assemble that day at Gare Du Midi, the city&rsquo;s south railway station, at 11h30 and march to Parc du Cinquantenaire where a rally will be held beginning at 15h.

Trade Unions in Europe Plan 29 September Manifestation to Resist Austerity Measures

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