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A vote by two UK unions for industrial action against Imerys has moved the French materials company back to the negotiations table over a contentious pension issue. Union members of ICEM affiliates Transport &amp; General (T&amp;G) and GMB voted to take industrial action at Imerys&rsquo; English China Clay at several southwestern UK worksites. Rather than face an angry 2,500 workers ready to disrupt operations over pensions being chopped, Imerys agreed to negotiate after a meeting between T&amp;G General Secretary Tony Woodley and corporate managers of the company. 
Imerys previously had refused any dialogue over its plan to close the pension scheme to new workers and cut anywhere from 33-40% in pension benefits to existing workers. In the US, Imerys workers in Dry Branch, Georgia, represented by another ICEM affiliate, USW, ratified a three-year agreement with the company, but fellow USW union members in Sylacauga, Alabama, still seek a commitment from management that it cease union-busting.

UK Unions, Imerys Agree to Re-start Pension Talks

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Paperiliitto in Finland rejected a second federal mediator&rsquo;s proposal last week that again falls far short of preserving the continuity of family-sustaining papermaking jobs. 
The paper employers&rsquo; association last week extended a lockout on 25,000 workers that began 18 May to a seventh week, or until 15 July. The mediator&rsquo;s proposal, if it had been accepted, would have given paper companies the unlimited right to outsource work, thus transferring all maintenance, security and cleaning work to non-regular employees. The proposal again rejects Paperiliitto&rsquo;s compromise on for continuous operation of paper mills. In paper converting, companies could schedule 12-hour work-shifts without overtime compensation. 
Global support among workers remains strong for Paperiliitto, with French affiliate FILPAC-CGT issuing a powerful statement of solidarity. In North America, union members of seven unions&mdash;including ICEM affiliates USW in US and CEP in Canada&mdash;demonstrated in support of the Finnish union at mills of Stora Enso and UPM Kymmene, two leading Finnish companies behind the employers&rsquo; association. In the UK, Amicus also voiced strong support at UK paper mills on behalf of Paperiliitto. 
And EMCEF&rsquo;s presidium, meeting in Greece 14 June, issued a communiqu&eacute; fully supportive of Finnish workers in its &ldquo;fight to fend off the harsh concessionary demands put forward by the Finnish Forest Industries. The demands are totally unacceptable and the EMCEF presidium is shocked by the behaviour of the Finnish employers in this conflict.&rdquo;

Finnish Paper Union Again Rejects Mediator&#039;s Proposal

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Both South Korea&rsquo;s national centers are ready for a general strike in early July if the ruling Uri Party pushes through a non-regular workers&rsquo; bill, aimed at undermining workplace rights and union protections. Members of the Democratic Labor Party, backed by trade unions, have staged sit-ins in the Assembly to block the measure, which would give companies in 26 business sectors the right to extend contract or agency labour for up to three years. 
The FKTU is joined by the larger and generally more conservative Korean Federation of Trade Unions in calling for the general strike. &ldquo;The Parliamentary committee on labor and environmental issues is poised to railroad the bill as drafted by government regardless of the argument made during the three-party negotiations. We will not hesitate to launch a general strike,&rdquo; FKTU said in a statement.

South Korea Braces for General Strike over Irregular Workers&#039; Bill

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A branch leader of the Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU) was run over and killed by a cement mixing truck 14 June while striking with ICEM-affiliated FKTU-Chemical Workers Union. Kim Tae-hwan, leader of the Chungju branch of FKTU, was killed when police ordered a replacement driver through a picket line at cement company Sajo Remicon. 
Drivers are seeking to unionise with FKTU-Chemical Workers Union and gain permanent work status, as well as qualify for full rights under Korea&rsquo;s Labor Standards Act. They have been on recognition strikes since 8 June at three cement companies. The drivers are considered selfemployed contract workers, contrary to union beliefs. On 18 June, 6,000 workers together with other activists rallied at the city hall of Chungju demanding accountability for Kim&rsquo;s murder, including accountability of ten police officers that were at the picket line scene on 14 June.

Korean Labour Leader Killed on the Picket Line

ICEM affiliate National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) is in dispute with German rubber producer Continental Tyre over shift changes and restructuring at a Port Elizabeth factory. Up to 200 of the plant&rsquo;s 1,400 workers could be retrenched under a company plan to cut weekend shift operations and manpower in various departments. Because management imposed the restructuring without consultation with NUMSA&mdash;a violation of the tyre industry agreement&mdash;over 300 workers staged spontaneous stop-work actions last week.

NUMSA Takes Issue with Continental Tyre&#039;s Restructuring

A proposal that would have undermined workers' right to a global say on workplace health and safety has been rejected by members of the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO). 
 
Taking part in the poll were national standards organisations affiliated to the ISO. The proposal before them would have declared the ISO competent to set global standards in the field of occupational health and safety management. 
 
Any ISO efforts on this would have cut across work already well under way within the UN's International Labour Organisation (ILO). And the ISO, unlike the ILO, excludes organised labour. 
 
The ILO sets ratifiable and binding international standards on a wide range of labour-related matters. Worker, employer and government representatives from all over the world meet on equal terms within this &quot;tripartite&quot; UN agency. All three groups draw up and adopt the ILO's standards, and all three monitor national governments' compliance with them once they are in force. 
 
Occupational health and safety is a major focus of these ILO norms, and organised labour has been one of the main driving forces behind the adoption and application of the standards. 
 
No such labour representation exists within the ISO, where strong corporate influence is brought to bear. 
 
For this reason - and because the explicit aim of the ISO bid was &quot;a faster response to market needs&quot; in health and safety management - the world trade union movement had campaigned against the proposal. Labour internationals that spoke out included the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM). 
 
Following the ISO vote, responsibility for global standards on occupational health and safety management systems will rest with the ILO. 
 
The ILO has already drafted non-mandatory guidelines on occupational health and safety management systems, drawing on a detailed review of standards and codes of practice worldwide. These guidelines are due to be tested this year. 
 
&quot;We greatly welcome the outcome of the ISO vote,&quot; said ICEM General Secretary Fred Higgs, &quot;and we look forward to the setting of binding and effective ILO standards on occupational health and safety management, with the full participation of workers and their trade unions.&quot;

ISO Health And Safety Grab Voted Down

Chemicals and pharmaceuticals multinational Novartis stands accused of anti-unionism and bad faith bargaining in Korea. 
 
Local subsidiary Novartis Agro Korea (NAK) has an &quot;anti-labour business system and philosophy,&quot; says the Korean Chemical and Textile Workers' Federation (KCTF). At the global level, the KCTF is affiliated to the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM). 
 
Last October, the KCTF organised a company-level union at NAK. The management responded by transferring all union activists away from the company's headquarters to remote branch offices. By the use of threats, it also forced 20 of the new union's original 76 members to withdraw from the union. 
 
Management then ignored all collective bargaining requests by the company-level union, which therefore mandated the KCTF to negotiate on its behalf. 
 
After a campaign which included protests from the company's customers, as represented by the Korean Farmers' Association, NAK reluctantly agreed to open negotiations with the KCTF. However, it still refused to recognise the company-level union. 
 
So union members in the sales department launched a strike on 6 March, and three days later this industrial action spread to the company's Iksan factory. After 14 days, NAK promised to bargain in good faith, and the strikers returned to work. 
 
In fact, though, the company tabled an offer below what it had proposed to the KCTF before the strike. The union reports that its members are now &quot;getting angry&quot; over the company's bad faith. 
 
Novartis Agro Korea's opposition to wage bargaining is in breach of Korean law, the KCTF says. 
 
NAK's reluctance to recognise the union is, the KCTF points out, partly due to the &quot;abnormal employment system&quot; in the Iksan factory. Only 69 of the workers there are on permanent contracts. The other 130 are temporary. This set-up is &quot;against Korean business culture,&quot; the union says, and &quot;reflects NAK's intention to hire and fire at will.&quot; 
 
The KCTF is continuing its campaign for real collective bargaining, and says it is confident of victory. It points out that a defeat for &quot;NAK's illegal activities&quot; would strengthen the hand of all Korean workers employed by multinationals.

Novartis&#039; Bad Faith Sparked Korean Dispute

The nationwide strike in Finland's paper industry is likely to end tomorrow afternoon, following union and employer acceptance of a mediated settlement that meets the union's main demands. 
 
Paper is one of Finland's main export industries, and the strike could have caused major disruption both to Finnish trade and to newspaper, magazine and book production in various countries. The industrial action began on 11 April, following the employers' rejection of a previous mediation bid. 
 
The Executive Committee of the paperworkers' union Paperiliitto accepted the new settlement proposal this afternoon, as did the employers. The proposal now goes to Paperiliitto's National Council for approval. The National Council is likely to end the strike tomorrow, with effect from 2.00 pm local time. 
 
The settlement provides for: 
 
 
- tighter regulation of outsourcing in the paper industry 
 
- better national-level provisions against compulsory redundancies 
 
- a start on regulating the bonus system, which was previously more or less at the employer's discretion 
 
- one extra day's holiday per year for workers on daily and weekly shift rosters 
 
- an across-the-board pay rise totalling 4 percent this year 
 
- improved workplace equality provisions. 
 
The agreement runs for three years, but the pay provisions are for one year. The union therefore has the right to lodge further pay claims in 2001 and 2002, and to strike in support of them if necessary. 
 
&quot;Today's proposal is a satisfactory outcome which significantly improves the pay and conditions of Finnish paperworkers,&quot; commented Paperiliitto's President Jarmo L&auml;hteenm&auml;ki this afternoon. 
 
An important role in the settlement had, he said, been played by international solidarity coordinated through the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM), to which Paperiliitto is affiliated. 
 
&quot;We received messages of support and offers of practical help from paperworkers' unions worldwide,&quot; L&auml;hteenm&auml;ki pointed out. &quot;This support drew considerable attention in the Finnish media - notably our sister unions' readiness to black any attempted production transfers to Sweden or other countries. We thank the ICEM and paperworkers everywhere for this effective solidarity.&quot;

Finnish Paper Strike Settled

Latin American union networks within the leading tyre and rubber multinationals were the main topic when rubber workers' leaders from nine countries in the region met in Brazil on 13-16 April. 
 
They also gave the green light for future coordinated Latin American bargaining with the main rubber and tyre companies. 
 
The structure of international union networks in Goodyear, Bridgestone-Firestone and Titan was discussed, and the conference laid the foundations for Latin American networks of unions in Pirelli, Michelin and Continental. 

<img height="183" src="" width="380" alt="" /> 
 
 
Taking part in the Brazil conference were leaders of some 70,000 Latin American tyre and rubber workers. The event was organised by the Latin American Rubber and Tyre Workers' Federation (FUTINAL), which groups 20 unions in the sector. Support came from the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM), which organises rubber and tyre workers worldwide. Also backing the conference was the ICEM-affiliated North American rubber workers' union USWA, together with the Solidarity Center of US national labour federation the AFL-CIO. 
 
The experience of ICEM-coordinated international campaigns such as those on Bridgestone and Continental featured strongly in the discussions on networking. The USWA and FUTINAL were at the heart of these campaigns. 
 
&quot;FUTINAL firmly believes that only through international action will we be able to resist the attacks of the multinational tyre corporations in the region,&quot; commented FUTINAL administrative secretary Terezinho Martins da Rocha. &quot;That is why we have a slogan - An Injury To One Is An Injury To All.&quot; 
 
The conference denounced anti-union practices by Goodyear subsidiaries in Colombia and Guatemala. It also condemned the Venezuelan government's attacks on basic union rights, and opposed a trade agreement between Chile and Korea which would damage the Chilean tyre industry. 
 
A comprehensive socio-economic study of the rubber industry in Latin America will form the basis for regional-level union policies in the sector. 
 
A coordinated list of bargaining demands will be the aim of the next FUTINAL meeting, scheduled for this October. The unions then intend to propose regional-level negotiations with tyre and rubber multinationals operating in Latin America. The October meeting will also be supported by the ICEM, the USWA and the AFL-CIO.

Regional Bargaining Is Latin American Rubber Unions&#039; Aim

Finland's mighty paper industry was brought to a virtual standstill from 1.00 p.m. local time today. 
 
Some 30,000 paperworkers nationwide - almost the entire active workforce in the sector - were called out by their union Paperiliitto after mediation broke down at about 3.00 a.m. this morning. 
 
Paper is one of Finland's main exports. The indefinite strike could have a major impact both on Finnish trade figures and on newspaper, magazine and book production in other countries. 
 
The dispute is over union demands in this year's collective bargaining round. During the night, the mediator tabled a proposal on one issue - outsourcing. The suggested compromise was accepted by the union but rejected out of hand by the employers. In the circumstances, the mediator felt that there was no point in continuing the talks, so the union confirmed its strike call. 
 
Solidarity was immediately declared by the Swedish paperworkers' union Pappers. The Finnish employers had threatened to shift production to neighbouring Sweden, but Pappers has made it clear that it will black any additional paper production for companies affected by the Finnish strike. 
 
Paperiliitto and Pappers are both affiliated at the global level to the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM). 
 
______________ 
 
This afternoon, the ICEM warned paperworkers' unions worldwide that Finnish paper firms may attempt to move production abroad during the dispute. 
 
&quot;If necessary,&quot; said ICEM General Secretary Fred Higgs, &quot;we will be ready to block the transfer of paper production from Finland to any other country for as long as the dispute continues. We are asking all our paper industry unions to be on the alert.&quot; 
 
______________ 
 
 
 
Paperiliitto's main demands are for: 
 
- better job security 
 
- proper bonus system provisions within the collective agreement (at present, bonuses are paid more or less at the employer's discretion) 
 
- work time cuts totalling 8 hours this year (annual working hours are currently 1,619 - about 34.5 hours a week) 
 
- a substantial wage increase of around 4 or 5 percent (annual inflation is about 2.5 to 3 percent). 
 
 
Outsourcing, over which the employers destroyed the mediation bid, has been a bone of contention in the Finnish paper sector for some years now. In Finland, the outsourcing of jobs is in principle subject to the agreement of the industry union concerned. However, the employers have been increasingly keen to flout this provision. They want to outsource jobs such as maintenance and cleaning, although the union emphasises that this would not necessarily produce any real cost savings. 
 
The mediator's proposal, accepted by Paperiliitto, was that any employer plan for outsourcing should be negotiable in the first instance at the local level. If no agreement were reached, negotiations would shift to the national trade union level. Only after that, if there were still no agreement, would the outsourcing request be considered to have been rejected. This was the compromise that the employers turned down in the small hours of this morning. 
 
Both sides are now digging in for what could be a protracted dispute. 
 
The prospects for a union victory are good. Last month, Finland's chemical and energy workers chalked up a major success after a strike in which international solidarity played a similar role.

Finnish Paperworkers Launch Nationwide Strike

Archive

UK Unions, Imerys Agree to Re-start Pension Talks

Finnish Paper Union Again Rejects Mediator's Proposal

South Korea Braces for General Strike over Irregular Workers' Bill

Korean Labour Leader Killed on the Picket Line

NUMSA Takes Issue with Continental Tyre's Restructuring

ISO Health And Safety Grab Voted Down

Novartis' Bad Faith Sparked Korean Dispute

Finnish Paper Strike Settled

Regional Bargaining Is Latin American Rubber Unions' Aim

Finnish Paperworkers Launch Nationwide Strike

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