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The ICEM has intervened in a retaliatory dispute by French-based Michelin at a large tyre factory called Laem Chabang in Chonburi Province, Thailand. The Global Union Federation, together with French trade union affiliate CFDT, brought the matter before Michelin&rsquo;s European Works Council (EWC) and Michelin Group Manager Jean-Dominique Senard at a EWC meeting in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain, on 31 March. 
 
The situation in Thailand is serious. On 25 March, local management locked 383 workers off their jobs after they refused to withdraw their names from a petition submitted two weeks earlier. The petition called on management not to unilaterally impose 13% wage cuts, and to engage in consultation with workers&rsquo; representatives over effects of a downturn in the tyre market. 
 
The petition also called on the company to jointly identify solutions with workers, not to unilaterally dictate terms and conditions. It also asked Michelin&rsquo;s Laem Chabang managers to stop forcing workers to sign acceptance forms on the wage cuts, and to quit victimising workers who did not sign the forms. 
 
Michelin managers responded by suspending eight worker representatives, and imposing a 35% pay cut on workers who refused to disavow the petition. They also reduced their yearly allotment of holidays to six. They then &ndash; on 25 March &ndash; locked out 383 of 458 workers who signed the petition. 
 
&ldquo;This is extreme and harsh behaviour against loyal workers from a company that expects to recover from the global economic crisis,&rdquo; said ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda. &ldquo;We have no choice but to demand that the EWC take action. We also call on rubber workers worldwide to take notice, and demand that Michelin rescind this retaliatory punishment.&rdquo; 
 
The tyre workers have been trying to organise with ICEM affiliate Petroleum and Chemical Workers&rsquo; Federation (PCFT) since February, the second time in ten years that staff at Laem Chabang have attempted to unionise. 
 
The plant employs 1,500 staff and produces auto and light truck tyres. Michelin has two other tyre manufacturing plants in Thailand, the Nong Khae plant in Saraburi, employing 1,300 workers, and the Phra Padaeng factory in Samut Prakarn, where 1,500 Thai workers are employed. The latter is unionised by PCFT, with strong union membership. The three plants are 90% owned by Michelin, with the Siam Cement Group holding the remaining 10% stake. 
 
For further information, contact Dick Blin, ICEM Information Officer, +41 22 304 1842, or dick.blin@icem.org.

ICEM Condemns Lockout of Thai Workers by Michelin

<img height="39" src="" width="100" alt="" />
Some 65,000 miners at Europe&rsquo;s largest coal company, Poland&rsquo;s Kompania Weglowa, will not take a 24-hour strike action tomorrow, 7 April, following an agreement on wages last week, 2 April. State-owned Kompania Weglowa and most of the 12 unions representing miners, led by ICEM affiliates NSZZ Solidarność and Kadra, as well as the Polish Miners&rsquo; Trade Union, reached accord for significant 2009 wage increases. 
The settlement came just before Poland&rsquo;s Minister of Economy froze the salaries of board members of all state-owned and operated coal concerns, as well as cutting the salaries of top executives at Kompania Weglowa. Reportedly, the decision freed up money to increase miners&rsquo; salaries. 
<img height="94" src="" width="150" alt="" />
Miners at Kompania Weglowa voted by a 92% margin to launch a day-long strike during the week of 23 March, after government ministry mediators failed to bring the two sides together. On 12 March, workers at Kompania Weglowa&rsquo;s 16 mines staged a two-hour protest strike over their wage demands. 
But last week, just prior to the Economy Ministry&rsquo;s 3 April decision, the company&rsquo;s supervisory board agreed to increase salaries by PLN 900 per month (&euro;200), or about 5%. Kompania Weglowa mining unions had been seeking an 8% increase, but had lowered demands to 6% in mid-March mediation efforts. 
Meanwhile, a total of 40,000 other coal miners at two other state-operated coal production and servicing concerns, Jastrzebska Spolka Weglowa (JSW) and Katowicki Holding Weglowy (KHW), are still seeking fair wage settlements. Both companies say they will stick to a wage freeze for 2009, while Polish miners at JSW and KHW seek parity with Kompania Weglowa miners. Both JSW and KHW have planned extraction investments in coal mining that will come on line in the next several months. 
 
At the country&rsquo;s multinational copper company, KGHM, a breakthrough appears imminent following management&rsquo;s initial proposal for a 2009 wage freeze. Trade unions Solidarność and the Association of Copper Industry Employees (ZZPPM) expect 2009 wage increases to be on the bargaining table later in April. Publicly-listed KGHM is 41.8% held by the Polish state.

Polish Miners at Kompania Weglowa Agree to Wage Terms

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ICEM affiliate the United Steelworkers (USW) hosted the North American ICEM meeting in Burnaby, British Colombia, last month. Among central topics discussed were the conflict with LaFarge, concrete efforts around the energy issue in Canada, the U.S., and Mexico, responses to the financial crisis, climate change, and solidarity with Mexico&rsquo;s National Miners&rsquo; and Metalworkers&rsquo; Union (SNTMMSRM). 
 
Ken Neumann of USW-Canada and Dave Coles of the Communications, Energy, Paperworkers (CEP) Union of Canada serve as ICEM Vice Presidents for North America. 
<img height="135" alt="" src="" width="120" />&nbsp;&nbsp; <img height="120" alt="" src="" width="179" />
Ken Neumann &amp; Dave Coles
Napoleon Gomez, the exiled leader of SNTMMSRM, attended the meeting and provided new insights into the trade union situation in Mexico. ICEM North America affiliates unanimously voted to recommend to the ICEM Executive Committee acceptance&nbsp;of the union, also called Los Mineros, as an ICEM affiliate. The union has 250,000 members. 
 
Following this regional meeting, the third Tri-National Meeting of Energy Workers of North America was held from 16-18 March in Mexico City. Several unions, along with networks and social movement organizations, sought solutions to the major challenges facing the sector throughout the region. Workers in the energy sector in the three countries have been hard hit by the global financial crisis, with the loss of jobs en masse and the disappearance of social support. 
 
ICEM affiliates CEP of Canada, the USW, and the Utility Workers Union of America (UWUA) all attended, showing clear intent to reach out to Mexican energy workers. The ICEM coordinated a meeting between Los Mineros and Fellesforbundet of Norway as well. This meeting saw the message passed to the highest level of government in Mexico that repression of labour rights has a negative impact on potential trade. Important elements of the delegation were the Prince of Norway, Fellesforbundet, and representatives from StatoilHydro of Norway. 
 
Los Mineros General Secretary Napoleon Gomez is forced to conduct his union&rsquo;s negotiations from Canada.&nbsp; His success in achieving better wages and working conditions for Los Mineros members makes him a targeted figure by the mining concern Grupo Mex&iacute;co and the Mexican government. 
 
The ICEM thanks Atle H&oslash;ie, International Secretary of Fellesforbundet, for his work in facilitating the meetings with Los Mineros and the Mexican government. 
 
The ICEM calls on its North American affiliates in particular to publicise the repression of trade union rights in Mexico and the efforts made to destroy Los Mineros. 
 
An example last week of the anti-union alliance between Grupo Mex&iacute;co and the Mexican government was the announced closure of the Cananea copper mine, one of the largest copper mines in the world. The company sought government approval to fire the miners who have been on strike since July 2007 over contracts and safety issues at the mine. 
 
&quot;The cause is force majeure (due to) the damage caused to the mine ... Federal labor legislation includes the possibility that the company can terminate labour relations when this occurs,&quot; claimed Grupo Mex&iacute;co spokesman Juan Rebolledo. The case against the workers was bolstered last month when the government published a report stating that the mine was inoperable, due to the damage caused by the striking workers.

North American ICEM Meeting Leads to Solidarity for Mexican Miners

<img height="39" alt="" src="" width="100" />
From the American Solidarity Center Website 
 
The 12 Iraqi union women arrived in Istanbul on 7 March for a four-day visit. They hailed from Erbil, Baghdad, Dohuk, and Basra, and represented oil, chemical, electrical, and petrochemical unions from all of the Iraqi labour federations. The visit was supported by the Solidarity Center and hosted by ICEM&rsquo;s 13 Turkish union affiliates, led by Petrol-İş, whose headquarters are in Istanbul. 

<img height="160" alt="" src="" width="353" />
On their first day, the Iraqi women attended a special union cultural festival featuring music, songs, and dance. A special theatrical presentation depicted workplace violations and demonstrated how unions can be the best worker rights monitors. On their second day, the delegation marched in a glorious 10,000-person-strong parade to mark International Women&rsquo;s Day 2009. The women held banners lettered with greetings from Iraqi working women and their unions. 
 
During the remaining two days, Turkish and Iraqi union women participated in a workshop focusing on working women&rsquo;s situations in Turkey and Iraq, gender concepts and health concerns, introduction to collective bargaining, and the Turkish experience from the case study of Novamed &ndash; a good example of successful women&rsquo;s organising. 

<img height="160" alt="" src="" width="287" />
&ldquo;This was a truly historic meeting,&rdquo; said Solidarity Center Middle East and North Africa Director Heba El-Shazli. &ldquo;It was the first time Iraqi women unionists visited Turkey to exchange views and share experiences with their Turkish sisters.&rdquo; 
 
The Solidarity Center was honoured to support this programme, which could not have happened without the strong support and efforts led by ICEM officers and senior staff: Women&rsquo;s Officer Carol Bruce; Rubber Industry Officer Kemal &Ouml;zkan; Director and Regional Contact Person, Middle East and North Africa, and Energy Officer, Jim Catterson; and General Secretary Manfred Warda.

Iraqi Women Join Their Turkish Sisters for Historic International Women’s Day

<img height="39" alt="" src="" width="100" />
The ICEM has intervened in a retaliatory dispute by French-based Michelin at a large tyre factory called Laem Chabang in Chonburi Province, Thailand. The Global Union Federation, together with French trade union affiliate CFDT, brought the matter before Michelin&rsquo;s European Works Council (EWC) and Michelin Group Manager Jean-Dominique Senard at a EWC meeting in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain, on 31 March. 
 
The situation in Thailand is serious. On 25 March, local management locked 383 workers off their jobs after they refused to withdraw their names from a petition submitted two weeks earlier. The petition called on management not to unilaterally impose 13% wage cuts, and to engage in consultation with workers&rsquo; representatives over effects of a downturn in the tyre market. 
 
The petition also called on the company to jointly identify solutions with workers, not to unilaterally dictate terms and conditions. It also asked Michelin&rsquo;s Laem Chabang managers to stop forcing workers to sign acceptance forms on the wage cuts, and to quit victimising workers who did not sign the forms. 
<img height="130" alt="" src="" width="350" />
Thai Michelin Unions in Protest 
<img height="180" alt="" src="" width="240" />
Michelin managers responded by suspending eight worker representatives, and imposing a 35% pay cut on workers who refused to disavow the petition. They also reduced their yearly allotment of holidays to six. They then &ndash; on 25 March &ndash; locked out 383 of 458 workers who signed the petition. 
 
&ldquo;This is extreme and harsh behaviour against loyal workers from a company that expects to recover from the global economic crisis,&rdquo; said ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda. &ldquo;We have no choice but to demand that the EWC take action. We also call on rubber workers worldwide to take notice, and demand that Michelin rescind this retaliatory punishment.&rdquo; 
 
The tyre workers have been trying to organise with ICEM affiliate Petroleum and Chemical Workers&rsquo; Federation (PCFT) since February, the second time in ten years that staff at Laem Chabang have attempted to unionise. 
 
The plant employs 1,500 staff and produces auto and light truck tyres. Michelin has two other tyre manufacturing plants in Thailand, the Nong Khae plant in Saraburi, employing 1,300 workers, and the Phra Padaeng factory in Samut Prakarn, where 1,500 Thai workers are employed. The latter is unionised by PCFT, with strong union membership. The three plants are 90% owned by Michelin, with the Siam Cement Group holding the remaining 10% stake.

Lockout: Thai Michelin Workers Victimised for Unionising

<img height="39" alt="" src="" width="100" />
On 1 April, five activists of the Federation of Trade Unions of Burma (FTUB) were arrested in their homes in Rangoon, Burma, after attending the first National Congress of the FTUB as delegates. Without explanation and without being formally charged, the five were then released on 11 April following strong protests from the International Trade Union Federation (ITUC) and several other unions. 
 
In a statement, the ITUC said it understands that the ILO was involved in the release. 
 
The five included: Zaw Myint Aung, a teacher from South Okkalapa, Rangoon; Soe Oo, a textile factory worker from Shwe Pyi Thar, Rangoon; Maung Tun Nyein, another textile factory worker from Hlaing Thayar, Rangoon; Khine Lin Myat, a female worker at the UMH Textile factory; and Shwe Yi Nyunt, a nurse&rsquo;s aide and law student, who is a member of FTUB&rsquo;s Women&rsquo;s Committee. 

<img height="126" alt="" src="" width="98" />
FTUB General Secretary Maung Maung
The ITUC&rsquo;s appeal to global labour expressed the concern that the five may have been tortured while being detained. In its letter to Burmese military junta leader, General Than Shwe, the ITUC called FTUB a legitimate labour organization and said, &ldquo;This latest act demonstrates once again the determination of the junta to block any form of democratic activity and to clamp down on any form type of dissent from its iron rule.&rdquo; 
 
FTUB General Secretary Maung Maung said: &ldquo;The fact that our members were arrested just after returning from participating in the 1st National Congress of the FTUB&rdquo; speaks for itself. The historic three-day FTUB Congress was held in a border area inside Burma, and the fact that courageous Burmese trade unionists conducted democratic proceedings inside highly repressive Burma is exemplary, the ICEM believes.

Burmese FTUB Delegates Freed after six days concern over conditions of detainment

<img height="39" alt="" src="" width="100" />
Three and a half thousand workers took to the streets on 23 April, in Hanover,&nbsp;Germany, to demonstrate for site preservation. Continental AG&nbsp;workers from across Germany, France, and Mexico turned out in solidarity for their IGBCE, IG Metall, and Verdi colleagues. The 3,500 demonstrated in front of the Conti-Shareholders' Annual General Meeting, for the preservation of the nearly 2000 jobs threatened. 
Several delegations of the European Forum of Continental AG (European Works Council), from Regensburg, Frankfurt, and Berlin, demonstrated alongside trade unionists. 
Werner Bischoff, a senior leader of the ICEM affiliate IGBCE, announced that the Corporate Executive Board can not make decisions alone, on matters of site closure. 
<img height="166" alt="" src="" width="125" />
Werner Bischoff 
As reported in InBrief No. 128, both factories recorded excellent financial figures for the year 2008. The ICEM supports the common declaration of the 2-3 April meeting of Continental AG workers&rsquo; representatives, in describing the proposed job cuts as &ldquo;morally despicable.&rdquo; 
 
One German trade unionist at the protest stated, &ldquo;It's the first time that French union members and German members of the BCE union have come together against the shareholders, who, as we have already said, are talking just about money, whereas we are talking about our families and our hearts&rdquo; 

<img height="116" alt="" src="" width="154" />
German labour representatives read a statement to shareholders that said &quot;we do not accept that the life of thousands of families, when suppliers are included, are sacrificed to your boundless appetite.&quot; 
Continental management has said that no definitive decision has yet been taken on the closure of the Clairoix plant. French workers have staged repeated protests over previous weeks, including the ransacking of administrative offices at the plant. The company had previously pledged to keep the French factory open until 2012 at least. 
<img height="105" alt="" src="" width="140" />
Workers are unanimous that if closure does occur, Continental will have to guarantee solid compensation packages for its employees. 
 
Continental slashed around 8,000 jobs worldwide last year, and 6,000 more in the first three months of 2009.

Hanover Demonstration to Preserve Continental Jobs

<img height="39" src="" width="100" alt="" />
ABD ile Kolombiya arasında yapılacak bir Serbest Ticaret Anlaşması &ouml;ncesinde, sendika aktivistlerine y&ouml;nelik cinayetlerin soruşturulmasında &Aacute;lvaro Uribe h&uuml;k&uuml;metinin sorumluluğunu tespite y&ouml;nelik &ccedil;alışmalar &ccedil;er&ccedil;evesinde, ABD Temsilciler Meclisi Eğitim ve Sendika Komitesi, ge&ccedil;en ay cinayetlerle ilgili olarak tanık ifadesine başvurdu. 
 
Soruşturulan olaylardan biri, ICEM'den &ouml;nce maden sekt&ouml;r&uuml;nde faaliyet g&ouml;steren Uluslararası Madenciler Federasyonu'nun (MIF) Kolombiya'daki koordinat&ouml;rl&uuml;ğ&uuml;n&uuml; y&uuml;r&uuml;ten Jorge Dar&iacute;o Hoyos'un 2001'de katledilmesiydi. 

<img height="111" alt="" src="" width="100" />
Yessika Hoyos
Soruşturma sırasında, Washington'da, Jorge Dar&iacute;o Hoyos'un 25 yaşındaki kızı Yessika Hoyos tanıklık yaptı. Yessika Hoyos, polisin su&ccedil;un ger&ccedil;ek faillerinden iki kişiyi tutuklamasına rağmen, &ouml;ld&uuml;rme emrini verenlerin tutuklanıp kovuşturulması i&ccedil;in hi&ccedil;bir &ccedil;aba harcanmadığını s&ouml;yledi ve şunları vurguladı: &ldquo;Aralarında ordu mensuplarının da yer aldığı diğer faillerle ilgili kanıtlar bulunduğunu biliyoruz. Kanıtların &uuml;zerine gerektiği gibi gidilmiyor ve diğer failler saptanmıyor.&rdquo; 
 
O sıralar 61 yaşında olan Dar&iacute;o Hoyos 3 Mart 2001 g&uuml;n&uuml; Bogot&aacute; yakınlarında yaşadığı kent olan Fusagasuga'da paramiliter bir grubun a&ccedil;tığı ateş sonucunda &ouml;ld&uuml;r&uuml;lm&uuml;şt&uuml;. Hoyos 1984-1991 d&ouml;neminde MIF Kolombiya koordinat&ouml;r&uuml;yd&uuml;. Daha sonraki yıllarda &ouml;ğretmenlerin, banka emek&ccedil;ilerinin ve telekom&uuml;nikasyon emek&ccedil;ilerinin sendikalarında &ouml;rg&uuml;t&ccedil;&uuml; ve toplu s&ouml;zleşme danışmanı olarak &ccedil;alıştı. 
 
Şubat 2009'daki ABD Kongresi oturumunda, Temsilciler Meclisi Eğitim ve Sendika Komitesi şu saptamayı yapmıştı: &ldquo;Kolombiya h&uuml;k&uuml;meti sendika liderlerine karşı tırmandırılan şiddeti durdurmak ya da sendikacı cinayetlerinin &uuml;zerine gitmek i&ccedil;in yeterli &ccedil;aba harcamamıştır.&rdquo; Kolombiya Ulusal Sendika Okulu'nun bir s&ouml;zc&uuml;s&uuml; ise tanık olarak verdiği ifadede, d&uuml;nyadaki sendika aktivistlerine y&ouml;nelik t&uuml;m cinayetlerin y&uuml;zde 60'ının Kolombiya'da işlendiğini belirtti.

ABD&#039;de Kongre Komitesi Kolombiyalı Sendikacının Öldürülmesiyle İlgili Tanıkları Dinliyor

<img height="39" src="" width="100" alt="" />
ICEM 24 Mart 2009'dan itibaren Cenevre'deki yeni yerine taşınmış olacak. Cenevre'de eski kent yakınlarındaki yeni işyerinin adresi ş&ouml;yle: 20 rue Adrien Lachenal, 1207 Geneva. 
 
İşyerinin genel telefon numarası, faks numarası ve b&uuml;t&uuml;n cep telefon numaraları aynı kalıyor. 
 
ICEM'in 570 metre karelik yeni işyeri mek&acirc;nı modern bir binanın iki katına yayılıyor. Nisan 2008'den bu yana &ccedil;alıştığımız 150 metre karelik eski işyeri mek&acirc;nına g&ouml;re yenisi daha işlevsel ve sendikal &ccedil;alışmaya daha elverişli. 
 
ICEM &uuml;yesi b&uuml;t&uuml;n sendikaları ve onların temsilcilerini Cenevre'ye geldiklerinde genel merkezimizi ziyaret etmeye &ccedil;ağırıyoruz.

ICEM 24 Mart&#039;tan İtibaren Cenevre&#039;deki Yeni Yerine Taşınıyor

<img height="39" alt="" src="" width="100" />
Miners at Europe&rsquo;s largest coal company, Poland&rsquo;s Kompania Weglowa, are now taking measures that could lead to an early April strike following a 19 March mediation session. Those talks produced little movement in efforts to resolve 2009 wage negotiations. 
 
The state-run company&rsquo;s 65,000 miners at 16 colleries are led by ICEM affiliates NSZZ Solidarność and Kadra, and the Polish Miners&rsquo; Trade Union, with some nine other smaller unions also involved. Miners engaged in a two-hour warning strike at Kompania Weglowa on 12 March. But during the 19 March talks, management&rsquo;s 4.6% wage offer still fell several percentage points short of miners&rsquo; demands. 
<img height="110" alt="" src="" width="110" />
Also locked in wage talks are 40,000 miners at two other state-owned coal servicing and production companies, Jastrzebska Spolka Weglowa (JSW) and Katowicki Holding Weglowy. Both companies are seeking to impose a wage freeze on miners this year. At JSW, a formal labour dispute was declared on 19 March. 
 
A strike is also a distinct possibility at Poland&rsquo;s copper company, KGHM, after management also proposed a 2009 wage freeze. This dispute, also led by Solidarność, is fueled by management&rsquo;s decision to ignore recommendations made by workers&rsquo; representatives on the company&rsquo;s supervisory board in a 2009-2018 business plan. 
At Kompania Weglowa, management has threatened to lay off 3,000 workers if it was forced to meet the unions&rsquo; wage demands. The two-hour warning strike 11 days ago saw the company&rsquo;s coal output drop by 8,000 metric tonnes. Kompania Weglowa&rsquo;s annual production of coal is 47 million tonnes annually.

Polish Miners Now Ready for April Strike After Mediation Fails

Archive

ICEM Condemns Lockout of Thai Workers by Michelin

Polish Miners at Kompania Weglowa Agree to Wage Terms

North American ICEM Meeting Leads to Solidarity for Mexican Miners

Iraqi Women Join Their Turkish Sisters for Historic International Women’s Day

Lockout: Thai Michelin Workers Victimised for Unionising

Burmese FTUB Delegates Freed after six days concern over conditions of detainment

Hanover Demonstration to Preserve Continental Jobs

ABD'de Kongre Komitesi Kolombiyalı Sendikacının Öldürülmesiyle İlgili Tanıkları Dinliyor

ICEM 24 Mart'tan İtibaren Cenevre'deki Yeni Yerine Taşınıyor

Polish Miners Now Ready for April Strike After Mediation Fails

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