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Despite a complete and full victory by Kristal-Is at Sisecam Group glass plants in Turkey, ICEM affiliate Maden-Is&mdash;the General Mine Workers&rsquo; Union&mdash;is still in dispute with the glassmaker. Fifty-five miners at Sisecam&rsquo;s Cam-Is Quartz Mining operations in Yalikey, Istanbul, were sacked one year ago for becoming members of Maden-Is, and 16 others have been on strike at the mine since last August. Sisecam has shown no willingness to recognize the rights of the miners to join the union.

Turkish Maden-Is Union Seeks Rights for Glass Workers

The ICEM sent a letter of condolences to the families and colleagues of mineworkers who perished in an 11 April gas explosion in western Siberia. The letter was sent through the Russian Independent Coal Employees&rsquo;&rsquo; Union (Rosugleprof). The explosion trapped and killed 44 miners some 600 meters down a mine in the village of Taizhina, Osinniki, in Russia&rsquo;s Kuzbass mining region.

Explosion in Western Siberia Kills 44 Russian Miners

Organised labour is regrouping to meet new challenges. Union mergers have become an important source of strength in many countries. 
 
That process took a big step further in the USA this week with the creation of PACE, the 320,000-member Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers Intl. Union. PACE results from a merger between two major US unions, the paperworkers' UPIU and the oil, chemical and atomic workers' OCAW. 
 
PACE immediately gave top priority to organising (i.e. actively recruiting new members) and to international trade union solidarity. Like both its forerunners, the new union is affiliated at the global level to the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM). 
 
First President of PACE is Boyd Young, who until now headed the UPIU. 
 
&quot;We intend to set the pace for organising, a progressive vision and international solidarity,&quot; Young said. &quot;The members of this great new union deserve to be and are prepared to be on the cutting edge as labour advances into a new century. We must fight for our future.&quot; 
 
The Executive Vice-President of PACE is Robert Wages, up to now President of the OCAW. He will take on key responsibilities in the union's organising programme and will continue to coordinate national oil bargaining. 
 
&quot;When the merger discussions started with the UPIU, President Young and I committed to a basic premise,&quot; said Wages. &quot;We were not interested in merging for the sake of being larger; we were interested in creating a new, more powerful and progressive union prepared to do the work our membership expects.&quot; 
 
Global trade unionism was highlighted during the merger Convention in a speech by the leader of locked-out Texan oilworkers. Crown Central Petroleum has kept unionised workers shut out of its Pasadena refinery since February 1996. Oil multinational Statoil has now told Crown that its contract to refine Statoil crude for the North American market will not be renewed unless Crown establishes normal relationships with the union. This pressure from Norwegian-based Statoil follows representations by the ICEM-affiliated Norwegian oilworkers' union NOPEF. During the PACE convention, the president of the Crown workers' union local paid tribute to this effective international solidarity. 
 
PACE has members in pulp, paper, oil, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, nuclear energy, cement, automobile parts, appliance manufacturing and a wide variety of other industries. 
 
The advent of the new union was warmly welcomed by ICEM General Secretary Vic Thorpe, who attended the merger Convention. &quot;PACE represents a substantial consolidation of the ICEM's American membership,&quot; Thorpe commented. &quot;We now have a powerful new affiliate with a strong commitment to global solidarity. This is good news for workers everywhere.&quot;

Pace-setting Union Merger Boosts US And Global Labour

Andriy Volynets, son of Ukrainian Miners&rsquo; Independent Trade Union Mikhail Volynets, was released from a hospital but doctors have not permitted him to return to work. Volynets was abducted and then brutally beaten 7 March in an act the ICEM believes to be political repression against his father, a member of the opposition coalition in the Rada, Ukraine&rsquo;s Parliament.

Ukrainian Mining Leader’s Son Recovering from Brutal Beating

The National Union of Mineworkers in South Africa has joined two other unions, including affiliate CEPPWAWU, and filed a formal application under Section 77 of the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac) to investigate the strong Rand and the adverse affect it has had regarding job loss. The union seeks a tripartite summit to find an intervention strategy. &ldquo;The appreciating currency has had a negative impact in the mining industry. The mining sector has shed numerous jobs and is intent on cutting further,&rdquo; said NUM Gen. Sec. Gwede Mantashe in a South African report.

NUM and CEPPWAWU in South Africa Protest Strong Rand

IGBCE in Germany has warned employers in the chemical industry not to deviate from their social responsibilities in bargaining that begins in April for 580,000 chemical workers. Emphasizing that only some employers are stating the industry needs to &ldquo;catch its breath&rdquo; free of any wage increases, IGBCE said in a statement it would not change directions in upcoming talks. The union maintains that only through meaningful increases can the consumer economy in Germany improve.

German IGBCE Warns Chemical Industry Ahead of Bargaining

An announcement by the Canadian government to sell off its remaining 19% stake in Petro-Canada was denounced by the country&rsquo;s leading energy union, Communications, Energy, Paperworkers of Canada. The Calgary-based company was established in 1975 to promote domestic supply of oil and gas and as a counter to the US-based oil giants. Petrocan is involved in Arctic gas, oil sands in western provinces, exploration and production of eastern seacoast reserves. It also operates a chain of petrol stations across Canada. &ldquo;Canadians want and need a role in our oil and gas industry, and now is not the time to sell off Canada&rsquo;s station,&rdquo; said CEP President Brian Payne. &ldquo;There are more than six million Canadians who drive up to Petro Canada regularly, believing that this company in part belongs to them. I can&rsquo;t think of a better way to alienate Petro Canada&rsquo;s loyal customers than by selling out.&rdquo;

CEP Resisting Canadian Petro-Canada Sell-Off

Letter writing to Ukrainian embassies is the message from the ICEM to all affiliates over the repressive and violent measures taken against Mikhail Volynets and his family. Volynets is president of ICEM affiliate Miners&rsquo; Independent Trade Union of Ukraine, a founder of the national center Confederation of Free Trade Union of Ukraine, as well as a member of the country&rsquo;s parliament, the Rada. On 7 March, two men abducted his 24-year-old son and beat him to near death. Since, Volynets has noticed two members of the Secret Service of Ukraine constantly outside his residence building, as well as two men monitoring visitors to his son&rsquo;s hospital room.

ICEM Protests Against Ukrainian Repression of Mining Leader

Two US ICEM affiliates&mdash;USWA and PACE&mdash;have been jointly working on legislative and member mobilization projects for several years. The two unions have now officially consummated that bond by entering into a formal strategic alliance with each other. The cooperative bond &ldquo;recognizes that it is in each union&rsquo;s mutual interest to coordinate their activities and share with each other the knowledge, techniques and experiences each has gained in areas in which they excel.&rdquo;

US Unions USWA, PACE Form Strategic Accord

German and French unions are teaming up to block the hostile takeover of German-French pharmaceutical Aventis by French rival Sanofi-Synthelabo. Hubertus Schmoldt, president of German IGBCE and Patrick Pierron, general secretary of the French union FCE-CFDT, oppose the hostile takeover. They fear massive job cuts in both countries will result, and jointly expressed disdain over how the takeover was set up. &ldquo;A hostile takeover such as this is counter-production to the stock market. There are hardly any winners with such actions, but certainly plenty of losers,&rdquo; the two unions said.

French, German Unions Resist Aventis, Sanofi Chemical Merger

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