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Swedish affiliate Sif held its Congress in G&ouml;teberg on 15-18 November and used a novel working method to discuss issues that replaced lengthy plenary sessions common to many congresses. The 180 delegates attending participated in 11 detailed consultative sessions that were aided by networked computers. The system, first introduced at the 2000 Congress but further refined at last week&rsquo;s event, facilitated much greater delegate participation in producing consultative documents and summaries of spontaneous discussions. These were then put to a final plenary for approval. Delegates also re-elected President Mari-Ann Krantz and elected two new Vice Presidents, Peter Hellberg and Stefan Carlsson.

Sif of Sweden Holds Congress

ICEM Belgian affiliate la Centrale G&eacute;n&eacute;rale FGTB held its Congress in Blankenberge 17-20 November with a theme entitled &ldquo;Delegates Without Borders for More Social Justice.&rdquo; The theme was a call to union activists to go beyond the &ldquo;borders&rdquo; of enterprises and conduct union work on international and European levels. The Congress debated global and European issues with emphasis on creating trade union networks. The Congress also marked the retirement of five members of FGTB&rsquo;s Federal Secretariat with Alain Clauwaert elected new President and Jacques Michiels as General Secretary. Other members of the Secretariat include Werner Van Heetvelde, Paul Lootens, Rik Desmet, Bruno Bachely, Herman Baele and Eric Neuprez.

Belgian Affiliate la Centrale Generale FGTB Holds Congress

ICEM sectoral conferences on Mining and on Diamonds, Gems, Ornaments &amp; Jewellery production are being held this week in Benoni, South Africa. The Diamonds/Gems conference is being held today with 130 global trade unionists attending. A joint session of the two sectors will be held tomorrow with the Mining Conference and its 190 registrants meeting on 24-25 November. The conference will develop a four-year ICEM work plan on Mining.

ICEM’s Mining, Diamonds and Gems Sectors to Merge

ICEM affiliate Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU) won a round against global paper and packaging firm Visy Industries when the firm backed off forcing single-site labour agreements at 13 of its corrugated packaging plants in Australia. Visy had offered workers A$1,000 cash payment to accept the stand-alone labour agreements, but AMWU unity and resistance defeated the measure. The two sides agreed on a three-year, 14.25% wage hike covering some 600 paper-converting workers that preserves a system-wide agreement.

AMWU Wins Master Contract for Paperworkers in Australia

US affiliate United Steelworkers of America (USWA) and Bridgestone/Firestone will return to negotiations 16-17 November in St. Louis, Missouri, after a yearlong recess. The union halted talks in November 2003 and instead reached agreements with other global tyremakers in the US and Canada. USWA represents 5,000 rubber workers at seven Bridgestone/Firestone factories in the US.

Bridgestone and USWA Return to Bargaining Table in US

Brazilian affiliate FUB-CNQ will conclude voting on a new collective agreement with state-run Petrobras tomorrow, thus preventing unions from striking operations of the oil and gas major by 40,000 workers. Workers stand ready to approve a 12.1% pay hike plus additional benefits for retired workers. Petrobras will also create a special body to study workers&rsquo; retirement plans.

Oil Union in Brazil Gains Deal with Petrobras

The ICEM is central to global protests against the Colombian government&rsquo;s expulsion of four international trade unionists on 31 October. ICEM, along with representatives from the Textile, Education and Journalists GUFs, as well as ICFTU and Human Rights activists, met with Colombian Ambassador to Belgium Nicol&aacute;s Echavarr&iacute;a on 5 November in Brussels over the expulsions. Colombia has officially apologized for the trade union breaches, blaming the incident on immigration officials and &ldquo;erroneous interpretation&rdquo; of decrees. The four were due to attend a regional trade union coordination meeting. About the same time, union leaders from the UK, Ireland and Spain who were in Colombia at a women&rsquo;s trade union meeting had their 60-day visas cancelled and were permitted inside the country for only three days.

ICEM Protests Expulsions of Trade Unionists to Colombia

ICEM Netherlands affiliate FNV Bondgenoten has temporarily suspended talks with the Social Economic Council over policies of the right-wing government. Those include deterioration of social benefits for the unemployed and those sick, and a proposed block on workers seeking to take early retirement. On 20 September, a mass union rally in Rotterdam entitled &ldquo;This Government Policy is a Bridge Too Far&rdquo; will occur spanning the Erasmusbridge and Willemsbridge into the center of Coolsingel. And then on 2 October at 12:00 noon, a mass strike expected to draw hundreds of thousands of citizens is set for Amsterdam at Museumplein prior to Parliament&rsquo;s debate over taxes.

Unions in Netherlands Gear Up to Protect Social System

Some 1,450 US tyre workers at General Tire's Charlotte plant yesterday (Sunday) voted overwhelmingly to approve a new labour agreement. 
 
The vote, by members of Local 850 of US tyre workers' union the USWA, ends a year-long strike at the General Tire plant and delivers the largest wage and benefit increases negotiated in the US tyre industry in decades. 
 
General Tire is a subsidiary of global tyremaker Continental, and international trade union solidarity played an important part in the resolution of the dispute. 
 
The new contract for employees at the plant provides for the first general wage increases since 1989, restores full cost-of-living adjustments in wages, and includes substantial pension improvements, 100% family health insurance coverage, and a return to work for all strikers who chose to do so. 
 
The labour agreement in Charlotte ends a contentious strike that began one year ago today, on 20 September 1998, when collective bargaining between labour and management broke down because of what the union charged were unfair labour practices by the company. 
 
USWA President George Becker hailed the agreement as &quot;a victory for tyre workers throughout the industry. By bringing wages and pensions at General Tire in line with the industry pattern, we have ensured that all companies in the industry will be competing on a level playing field, instead of using lower wages and benefits to gain a competitive advantage.&quot; 
 
In addition to the settlement in Charlotte, the USWA simultaneously negotiated tentative agreements at General Tire&rsquo;s plants in Mayfield, Kentucky and Bryan, Ohio, pending resolution of local issues. Contracts at all three plants will now expire in close proximity in 2006. 
 
&quot;The men and women of our local toughed it out,&quot; said Earl Propst, President of Local 850. &quot;Only 15 crossed the picket line during this strike. Our solidarity set a standard that has seldom been matched by workers anywhere in the South.&quot; 
 
Propst said the strikers had a high degree of support from non-union as well as union workers in the Carolinas. This support was evident at the large Labor Day demonstration held in Charlotte this month, attended by some 5,000 union workers and their families. 
 
 
GLOBAL CAMPAIGN 
 
At the global level, the USWA is affiliated to the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM). The strikers' case in the year-long dispute was bolstered by a worldwide trade union campaign coordinated by the ICEM. Public information activities included a major protest at last summer&rsquo;s Continental shareholders&rsquo; meeting in Germany. The international corporate campaign also included: 
 
- a solidarity drive that galvanised support among workers at the company's plants in the US and abroad 
 
- a European tour by Charlotte strikers and their families, which generated widespread media coverage 
 
- a sympathy strike by South African tyre builders 
 
- an Australian union picket of the German consulate in Sydney 
 
- a special ICEM cybercampaign on the World Wide Web 
 
- informational protests at tyre dealerships throughout the US 
 
- a nationwide US campaign targeting Ford Motor Company dealers and their customers with information about Ford&rsquo;s purchase of tyres made by inexperienced replacement workers. 
 
 
THE AGREEMENT 
 
Key provisions of the new labour agreement include: 
 
- General wage increases in three of the six years of the agreement. 
 
- Cost-of-living provisions that, added to negotiated raises, will result in total estimated increases of $2.97 an hour. 
 
- Pension improvements that during the life of the contract increase the pension multiplier from less than US$30 per month per year of service to a minimum of $41 - more when and if industry pension levels increase. 
 
- Improved incentive pay provisions. 
 
- Preservation of a host of benefit and contract protections, including health insurance coverage, bidding rights, seniority, voluntary overtime, maintenance labour jobs, light duty pay and protection against random drug tests. 
 
- Special economic benefits for employees who want to retire early. 
 
John Sellers, Vice President of the USWA&rsquo;s rubber and plastic industry conference, said, &quot;This new contract restores Continental General Tire to the industry-wide patterns our union has worked so hard to maintain for workers in the rubber and tyre industries. And the way it was won reminds every tyre company of how strong our commitment to pattern bargaining is.&quot; 
 
&quot;This is an excellent outcome and a full vindication of the campaign by the USWA and the ICEM,&quot; commented ICEM General Secretary Vic Thorpe. &quot;International labour solidarity played an important part in achieving a just resolution to this dispute. When workers organise globally, they can prevail. Workers everywhere - and employers everywhere - should never forget that.&quot;

US Conti Dispute Settled

Some 1,450 American tyre workers who have been on strike for one year have reached a tentative contract agreement with General Tire, a subsidiary of global tyremaking giant Continental. 
 
This was announced today by the US tyre workers' union, the USWA. 
 
At the global level, the USWA is affiliated to the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM), which has been coordinating a major worldwide trade union campaign in support of the US strikers. 
 
The tentative agreement will be voted on by USWA Local 850 members on Sunday, 19 September. This local represents the strikers at General Tire's Charlotte plant. Monday, 20 September, would mark the first anniversary of the start of their strike. 
 
Tentative agreements with Continental General were simultaneously reached by USWA locals at two other US plants and will also be the subject of ratification votes by workers at these plants. Before these tentative agreements were reached, contracts at the other two plants were not due to expire until late in the year 2000. 
 
Details of the agreements, which if ratified will expire in 2006, will not be available until USWA members at the three plants have voted on them.

Continental Tyres: Tentative US Agreement

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