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<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/CAL_en.jpg" width="110" height="50"/>
The ICEM’s Contract and Agency Labour (CAL) Regional Seminar for Sub-Saharan Africa took place in Accra, Ghana, on 8-9 November. The seminar brought together ICEM affiliates from Senegal, Guinea, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, Namibia, Nigeria, Mauritius, Ghana, and Togo to discuss CAL developments in their countries. 
 
Representatives from SASK, the international arm of the Finnish national labour centre, which supports the Sub-Saharan Africa CAL project, and the ICEM CAL global and African coordinators also participated in the seminar. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1012.cal.joseph toe ghana.png" width="117" height="166"/>
Joseph Toe, CAL Sub-Saharan Africa Project Coordinator, at the Ghana seminar
Affiliates exchanged information on what steps they had taken in respect to their specific action plans developed during previous workshops. Many participants reported that dealing with the issue of short-term contract work or agency labour was becoming more and more challenging. This was the case expressed by those coming from Nigeria, where management attitudes are increasingly favouring the use of precarious employment. 
 
Although unions in Nigeria have been demanding that remuneration of contract staff should be determined by the industry in which the contract operates, so that workers receive equal pay for equal work, they have not managed to achieve this yet. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1012.cal. ghana group.png" width="240" height="135"/>
Matti Koskinen, from the Finnish Union of Salaried Employees, Toimihenkilöunioni (TU), made a presentation on how CAL is dealt with in Finland, and said that collective agreements mostly regulate the use of short-term labour. Matti also drew attention to the European Metalworkers’ Federation’s second common demand for more secure employment, against precarious work. Joseph Toe, the Sub-Saharan Africa CAL Project Coordinator, presented a paper on membership recruitment, which participants said would prove to be very helpful in their CAL organising campaigns. 
 
Looking to the future, affiliates proposed that they should concentrate more on collecting facts and figures relating to CAL, and that they should prioritise the organising of CAL workers. Affiliates also suggested that dedicated funds should be raised for CAL workers, and that there should be more capacity building for dealing with CAL workers.

Africa Regional CAL Seminar Takes Place in Ghana 

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/CAL_en.jpg" width="110" height="50"/>
The ICEM Contract and Agency Labour (CAL) Campaign has released a new country report focusing on CAL use in the Netherlands. The report, which was developed with the assistance of FNV Bondgenoten, highlights the fact that 1.9 million people in the Netherlands work for temporary employment agencies, are employed by fixed-term or on-call contracts, or are bogusly referred to as self-employed. 
 
See the full report <a href="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1012.cal_netherlands.country%20report.pdf" type="internal">here</a>. 
 
The Netherlands was deeply affected by the global economic crisis, and the economy shrunk by 4% in 2009. In 2010, the country has seen a weak recovery, with many of the jobs that are being created, for example in the chemical industry, are precarious jobs. 
 
As is the case in many countries, CAL workers in the Netherlands receive lower wages, fewer benefits, and have less social security than permanent, directly-employed workers. In the Netherlands, companies may only hire a worker on three fixed-term contracts of up to one year each before the worker must be offered a permanent position. This regulation is often circumvented by allowing a one month period of unemployment before rehiring the worker on a further fixed-term contract. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1012.cal.netherlands report.2.jpg" width="110" height="101"/>
The report details how Dutch trade unions have been active in challenging CAL, particularly the abuse common to workers hired through temporary employment agencies. This year alone, 12 new collective agreements have been negotiated by the national labour centre FNV, which include provisions that temporary workers may only be deployed in busy times and to cover for absences of other workers in case of illness, and that if they work longer than nine months in one year, they should be awarded permanency. There were also 34 new agreements signed which state that only certified employment agencies can be used. 
 
Dutch unions have also been active in bargaining for improvements for CAL workers at the sectoral level, and this year new collective agreements were signed with the two employers’ organizations representing temp agencies in the Netherlands: the ABU (ABU (Algemene Bond Uitzendondernemingen) and the NBBU (Nederlandse Bond van Bemiddelings-en Uitzendondernemingen). The most significant improvement in both collective agreements is that the training possibilities of people working through temp agencies have been expanded. Under the ABU collective agreement, workers are entitled to the same wages as employees of the hiring company after 26 weeks of employment. In the NBBU, the agreement states that workers receive equal pay for equal work from day one. 
 
A new foundation (the SNCU) was also established to monitor compliance with these collective agreements. The foundation - a partnership between employer and employee organisations in the temporary work sector – has the power to decertify temporary employment agencies which fail to respect the terms of the relevant labour agreement. 
 
The report also details the heroic efforts of CAL cleaners, who joined forces this year to assert their rights. Many cleaners in the Netherlands, including those contracted to work for companies such as Shell and Akzo Nobel, went on strike and organised protests for nine weeks. Their efforts ultimately resulted in a new collective agreement that provides better wages and more educational opportunities.

ICEM CAL Campaign Releases Country Report on the Netherlands 

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100" height="39"/>
Roquette Frères is a family-controlled transnational based in Lestrem, France, that in September 2009 signed the ten principles of the UN Global Compact. One year later, the company submitted over 70 regressive contract proposals to the US union, Local 48-G of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco, and Grain Millers (BCTGM) Union at a corn wet milling plant in Keokuk, Iowa. 
 
When union members rejected the drastic cuts to their living and work standards on 28 September 2010, Roquette America locked its 240-member workforce in Keokuk off their jobs. 
 
That move has now produced an official protest to George Kell, head of the Global Compact. The recommendation to de-list Roquette from the voluntary body comes from the International Union of Food, Agricultural Workers' Association (IUF), the BCTGM’s Global Union Federation, the ICEM, and the American labour centre, AFL-CIO. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1012.RoquetteBanner.jpg" width="328" height="89"/>
“We believe that Roquette Frères actions undermine the legitimacy of the Global Company,” stated IUF General Secretary Ron Oswald, ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda, and AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka in a 3 December letter to Kell. “The company should not be able to claim that it supports the Global Compact when in reality it is systematically violating fundamental human rights.” 
 
(The entire letter can be viewed <a href="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1012.Roquette.global%20compact%20letter$.pdf " type="internal">here</a>.) 
The company’s collective bargaining agenda in a proposed four-year renewal agreement is especially egregious. It seeks unlimited rights to employ temporary workers at the corn starch plant in America’s heartland; it wants a two-tier wage scheme in which new hires will receive 47% less than other workers; it desires big increases in worker co-payments on their health care; an end to the company’s defined benefit pension scheme, to be replaced by a pension savings plan; elimination of sick leave, maternity leave, and personal days; and Roquette America is seeking an end to workplace seniority on layoffs and job bidding. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1012.Roquette.jpg" width="116" height="210"/>
The company also wants a wage freeze for the four years. 
 
A week into the lockout, Roquette hired scab workers to run the plant. It has brought in management personnel from a plant it owns in Gurnee, Illinois, and is using replacement workers from temporary labour agencies and an enterprise in the state of Ohio that specializes in providing contingency workers when staff of a company strike or are locked out. 
 
In a further rebuke to the principles of the Global Compact, earlier this year Roquette’s Keokuk plant was hit with a US$1 million fine as a civil penalty regarding air pollution violations. The penalty was part of a consent order by a local district court judge in agreement with the state of Iowa and Roquette, in which the company admitted wrongdoing.
(The IUF's campaign on Roquette can be viewed <a href="http://www.iuf.org/cgi-bin/campaigns/show_campaign.cgi?c=539">here</a>.)  
 
Roquette Frères operates in 12 countries and manufactures different corn starches in Keokuk, including starch derivatives and polyols, or sugar alcohols, from the corn wet milling process for use in food and pharmaceutical grade dextrose, corn syrup, and other products.

ICEM Joins IUF in Global Compact Protest of French Firm’s US Lockout

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The ICEM and the International Metalworkers' Federation (IMF) jointly held a discussion panel entitled “Cutting Emissions - Transforming Jobs," exploring the links between the economic, environmental, and social crises. The 7 December panel was part of a trade union-sponsored side event at COP16 and was held at the Universidad del Sur in Cancún, Mexico, under the general banner "World of Work." 
 
Several high-profile trade unionists gave their perspectives on how to preserve and create decent, sustainable jobs, and the role of trade unions in fighting climate change. 
 
Shoichiro Kaneko, IMF-JC/JBU of Japan, emphasized the progress that nation has made in controlling carbon emissions through technological advances, and the support offered to the proposed climate fund. However, he expressed concern about the potential for carbon leakage if a new accord does not include all the major emitters and is not enforceable. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1012.BrianKohler_MichaelOConnor_JamesHoward_ShoichiroKaneko_Interpretor.JPG" width="233" height="166"/>
Left to right: ICEM's Brian Kohler, CFMEU's Michael O'Conner, ITUC's James Howard, IMF-JC/JBU's Shoichiro Kaneko
Michael O'Connor, National Secretary-elect of Australia’s Construction, Forestry, Mining, and Energy Union (CFMEU) told of how his union had forged a working relationship with environmental groups to unlock the economic potential for a new pulp and paper mill in Tasmania. 
 
He said the key was to remember that a trade union represents workers, and to ensure that their voice is heard. 
 
James Howard of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) elaborated on ITUC's policy of Just Transition. Far from simple, a Just Transition will only be achieved through research, dialogue, union-employer agreements, strong social programmes, investments in industry, and training and education of workers. 
 
The keynote speaker was Izura Kobayashi of Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI), part of the Japanese official negotiating team in Cancún. He presented a very frank resume of the ongoing climate talks.
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1012.IzuruKobayashi_MichaelOConnor.JPG" width="220" height="128"/>
Izura Kobayashi of Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry, and CFMEU's Michael O'Connor
Besides explaining Japan's position (Japan believes that the Kyoto process does not have sufficient country support to prevent carbon leakage) he also explained the status of many of the important main track and subsidiary body discussions. As of 7 December, the unusual situation has evolved of the high-level talks commencing while the ad-hoc working groups have not completed their tasks. 
 
What this means for the final outcome is difficult to guess, but progress has been made on some important issues. Japan, of course, believes that efficient energy use in its manufacturing industries and investment in new technologies is one of the key paths forward. 
 
Brian Kohler of the ICEM and Kan Matusuzaki of IMF presented ICEM and IMF policies, the outcomes of the World Conference on Sustainability held in June along with the International Textile, Garment, and Leather Workers' Federation (ITGLWF), and a discussion paper on "Anticipating Change" that examines how the proposed climate fund could be a starting point for discussions on industrial policies and worker participation in such areas as training. 
 
The ICEM-IMF World of Work event was well attended, and feedback following the event was extremely positive.

ICEM, IMF Forum at Climate Conference Presents Industrial Perspectives

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In the 19 days since 29 miners were pronounced dead in New Zealand’s worst mine disaster in 114 years, recovery of the remains of those that perished is still far off, and Pike River Coal Ltd. has given redundancy notices to 90 full-time workers. 
 
That happened on 8 December. 
 
Pike River has already severed its relationship with 70 contract workers at the coking coal mine near Atarua on the west coast of the South Island. 
 
Meanwhile, police and Labour Ministry interviews of Pike River workers over mine safety became contentious when the company insisted on having its lawyers sit in on the interviews. The Engineering, Printing, and Manufacturing Union (EPMU) objected to that, saying it might inhibit the investigation into criminal liability. 
 
“We have objected – it’s a clear conflict of interest,” said EPMU National Secretary Andrew Little. “Police are looking for criminal liability among workers or management – or both. It’s improper for the company to be represented by lawyers in those interviews.” 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/EPMU Andrew Little.jpg" width="130" height="124"/>
EPMU National Secretary Andrew Little
Pike River issued the mandatory four-week layoff notices to its permanent staff last week, meaning that 90 miners will not get paid beyond mid-January. Pike River Coal Ltd. has already launched a commercial feasibility study assessing whether or not it will continue mining the rich Brunner coal seam, but investors say it will take NZ$200 million to re-start the mine. 
 
But it’s estimated that it could still take several weeks – or months – before the remains of the dead miners are recovered. A local coroner has visited relatives of the deceased to get DNA samples, indicating the difficulty that lies ahead to identify the 29. 
 
The initial 19 November methane gas blast at the Paparoa Range mine most likely killed all 29 miners. Following a subsequent explosion on 24 November, the miners were declared dead. In the days that followed, two further explosions occurred, with coal-stoked fires raging deep in the horizontal shafts of the mine until the middle of last week. 
 
On 29 November, New Zealand Prime Minister John Key announced formation of a three-member Royal Commission of Inquiry to determine causes of the tragedy. That Commission, headed by High Court Justice Graham Panckhurst, with two international mine safety experts on it, will be given broad latitude and it could take up to two years to assemble findings. In the meantime, area police, the Labour Ministry, and the EPMU will conduct separate investigations. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1012.epmu.memorial.jpg" width="250" height="157"/>
NZ Congress of Trade Unions President Helen Kelly with Ian Murray and Tim Whyte, CFMEU Australia at the 2 December Memorial Service
Police ended supervision of the mine-site last week and turned recovery procedures back to the company. A Polish-designed Górbniczy Agregat Gaśniczy (GAG) jet engine inertisation unit was brought in from the Queensland, Australia, Mine Rescue Unit and on 2 December began to suppress the fires and neutralize combustible gases with inert gases, such as nitrogen. 
 
While this continued over this weekend, a metal cap was placed over the main shaft to allow back pressure in the mine and to further inert deadly gases inside the mine. Early speculation to the cause of the initial explosion was a power outage to a ventilation fan that was some 100 metres into the mine. Methane quickly built-up, followed by a massive explosion. 
 
When an electrician went inside to check the outage during the fateful afternoon of 19 November, the explosion deeper in the mine blew him off his feet. He did manage to rescue an equipment operator who was thrown from a machine, and the two escaped 108 metres up a ladder in a ventilation shaft. Whether or not the giant ventilation fan had been topside, making it easier to re-start, will surely be one of the many issues in upcoming investigations, including the Royal Commission Inquiry. 
 
Several disaster relief funds have been established, and the ICEM is recommending donation be sent to EPMU’s “Pike River Miners’ Family Support Trust.” The ICEM’s New Zealand affiliate said half of everything contributed will go to the Grey District Labour Council community fund, with the other half used to establish a dedicated fund for the education of the children of those miners killed. 
 
Bank transfers can be made to Kiwibank in New Zealand. Account number 38-9011-0165987-00, with checks written to: EPMU Pike River Miners’ Family Support Trust, c/o PO Box 14-277, Kilbirnie, Wellington, NZ 6241. 
 
Several labour organisations across the globe have already contributed, including A$100,000 by the Australian Construction, Forestry, Mining, and Construction Union (CFMEU) and C$10,000 by the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) Union.

Pike River Aftermath: Layoffs, Lawyers and Long Investigations

<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100" height="39" alt=""/>
Workers mining coal in a sealed-off coal shaft in Henan Province, China, died on 7 December when a methane gas explosion ripped through the mine. Twenty-six miners perished inside a colliery that was operating without authorization following a transfer of assets from a private mining company to a state-owned one. 
 
To make matters worse, the owner of the private company, Suzhuang Coal Mine Co., concealed the number of miners working the illegal operation following the late afternoon blast on 7 December. He first reported 13 miners were killed and actually hid the bodies of a number of miners to lessen the casualty toll. 
 
Regional police arrested seven people in total that were responsible for the falsification, including a local work-safety official charged with concealing the number of victims from investigators. The tragedy and cover-up occurred in Mianchi County, near Sanmenxia city in central Henan Province, at the Juyuan Coal Mine that was supposedly closed and under a safety review while the asset transfer was underway. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/04miningsafety.jpg" width="200" height="146"/>
Bur the prior owner, Suo Younggang, continued to operate parts of the mine after his licensing had been revoked. The mine was being transferred to the state-owned Yi Ma Coal Industry Group, which operates in five Chinese provinces and employs 50,000 workers. 
 
“The mining boss had profits all over his mind and has no regard whatsoever for miners’ lives,” said Niu Senying of the investigatory team in the Chinese sate press. “Where are the supervising officials? How could the mine be allowed to operate illegally for such a long time?” 
 
The mine owner and his collaborators first reported 33 miners were underground, and only 13 had died. Following the initial investigation, it was revealed that 46 workers had been in the mine, with 26 dying and 20 making it to safety. 
 
Also on 7 December, a roof in a shaft at a coal mine in China’s Liaoning Province collapsed, killing four miners. The mine was operated by the state-controlled Caitun Coal Mine Co., located in Benxi city. And a week earlier, on 30 November, seven miners drowned 90 metres deep in the Yide Coal Mine in Hunan Province when shafts were flooded. Managers of privately-held Yide had been warned both orally and in writing of safety hazards inside the Xiangtan County mine. They, along with shareholders of the company, are in police custody.

Methane Gas Blast Kills 26 in China’s Henan Province; Bosses Held

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An ICEM affiliate in Finland, the Salaried Workers’ Union, or Toimihenkilöunioni (TU), completed a merger on Saturday, 11 December, with Suora and effective 1 January will become the 130,000-member union called Pro, a union for salaried workers in the private sector. 
 
TU covers some 250 member associations across Finland, and negotiates 47 collective agreements, while Suora represents workers in the finance and insurance industries, as well as white-collar workers in the gaming business and alcohol trades. 
<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1012.pro finland.jpg" width="256" height="163" alt=""/>
Antti Rinne and Riitta Suonpää Sign the Merger Document, Creating Pro
Rank-and-file members work in a multitude of sectors as salaried employees, hourly paid employees, foremen or supervisors, and in expert jobs. The new union will organize self-employed professionals as well. 
 
Antti Rinne, the President of the TU, was unanimously elected President of Pro. A 48-year-old lawyer, Rinne describes the current situation among Finnish trade unions as “the most critical period in history.” 
 
Suora’s President, Riitta Suonpää, will become the new union’s First Vice President, while Juha Kivistö was elected Second Vice President. 
 
The new union’s website can be found <a href="http://www.proliitto.fi ">here</a>.

Finnish Unions, TU and Suora, Merge to Become Pro

<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100" height="39" alt=""/>
The Council of Global Unions (CGU) sponsored the ‘Quality Public Services’ Conference in Geneva 12-14 October, bringing together leaders of trade unions, municipal governments, and civil society, to take a strong stand in unity against further cuts to public services. 
 
Public services are under threat throughout the world as many governments look to cut spending and follow austerity measures encouraged by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The members of the CGU, who represent 176 million working men and women, reject this and last week pledged to work together with civil society to promote investment in quality public services as the key solution to the global economic crisis. 
<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/globalunions.gif" width="100" height="100" alt=""/>
The 400 conference delegates announced a global campaign, guided by a charter and action plan. 
 
CGU chair Aidan White said, “This is a call to the trade union movement to advance its historic responsibility to work in broad social coalitions and act as a force for social change that improves the quality of life for all citizens. We don’t have time to lose.” 
 
Susan Hopgood, president of Education International, said, “We are conveying a powerful message in uniting as advocates for strong schools, decent health services and social services, clean water and proper sanitation, effective fire and security services, affordable housing and utilities, accessible communications and transport, public media and culture, and good public administration and municipal services. Quality public services provide the foundation for sustainable growth, equitable redistribution of wealth, and the means for justice, good governance, and the exercise of democracy.” 
 
Kumi Naidoo, executive director of Greenpeace International and council member of Global Call to Action Against Poverty, called for “a new activism” to back demands for quality public services as the foundation for social justice policies. 
 
Visit <a href="http://www.RadioLabour.org">www.RadioLabour.org</a> for audio links to daily and summary reports of the conference.

Quality Public Services Conference Offers Alternative to Austerity

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While the world’s euphoria was centered on the successful rescue of 33 Chilean miners, 26 Chinese miners were killed and another 11 remain missing today following a gas rush that suffocated miners just metres beneath the surface through a massive coal dust cloud. The accident happened on 16 October at the Henan mine of Pingyu Coal and Electric Co. in Yuzhou, Henan province. 
 
The tragedy occurred when a hole was being drilled to release pressure caused by a methane gas build-up. The miners were buried when an estimated 173,000 cubic metres of gas rushed out, resulting in miners’ being buried in a coal dust concentration totaling 2,500 tonnes. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/04miningsafety.jpg" width="180" height="132"/>
Rescue attempts were still ongoing early today for the missing 11, but hopes that they were alive were slim. They were only 50 metres beneath the surface. Some 239 miners did escape. 
 
The gas level inside the mine was detected at 40% just prior to the accident, far above normal levels that average one percent. 
 
Pingyu Coal and Electric Co. is owned by a consortium of four enterprises, including the China Power Investment Corp. and Zhong Ping Energy Chemical Group. In 2008, 23 miners perished in the same colliery from a methane gas explosion. 
 
On 15 October, a day before the Chinese tragedy and less than 30 hours after the last of the 33 Chilean miners were pulled to the surface, three of four miners died following a tunnel collapse inside the Casa Negra gold and silver mine of Minesadco in El Oro province, Ecuador. The mine employs 100 workers and the accident happened when workers were digging a short distance from where the collapse occurred. Rescue efforts continued today to local the fourth miner, believed either trapped deeper inside the mine or killed by the rock collapse.

37 Chinese Coal Miners Feared Dead in Henan Province Coal Dust Tragedy

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Negotiations between the United Steelworkers Local 7-669 and Honeywell Inc. failed 11-12 October to resolve a company-imposed lockout on 228 union members at a uranium conversion plant in the US. The failure to resolve the 17-week lockout in Metropolis, Illinois, means scab workers will continue to mix dangerous chemicals in a process that mills yellow-cake uranium into uranium hexafluoride (UF6), and then is sold to nuclear enrichment facilities. 
 
The talks last week were the third set of bi-lateral negotiations since the lockout began on 28 June. Progress was made on the first day on one of the major issues – health coverage and retiree medical insurance – but talks broke down on 12 October over retirement benefits and Honeywell’s demand to create a two-tier pension scheme. Talks could re-start within the next few weeks. 
 
Other issues separating USW and Honeywell are the transnational’s insistence on gaining broad contracting-out rights, a weakening of workers’ seniority rights, and hours of work. The company is offering a 3% wage increase, but its other demands are so detrimental to workers’ interests that the union has countered with a wage freeze and continuance of the current entitlement terms. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1009.usw.superman.jpg" width="128" height="192"/>
Metropolis, the fictional home of Superman, is now a US nuclear safety risk 
Honeywell, together with subcontracting agent the Shaw Group, has used US political leverage to gain certification from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), allowing the use of 200 replacement workers to perform dangerous tasks inside the nuclear supply chain. 
 
After initially signaling to USW Local 7-669 that it would not operate the plant during the lockout, Honeywell in July began staffing the conversion plant with scabs provided by the Shaw Group, and moved Honeywell supervisors from other areas to Metropolis. On 3 September, the NRC granted approval to Honeywell to re-start the final two steps of a four-step converting process. 
 
On 5 September, the town of Metropolis in southern Illinois along the Ohio River was shook by a loud boom that could be heard two kilometers away. Inside the plant, accumulated hydrogen reacted with fluorine gas during a venting process, causing the boom. NRC inspectors were on site at the time, and local police came to the scene. A NRC spokesman said the accident occurred in a non-regulated area of operation, meaning away from the handling of yellow cake uranium. Honeywell and the NRC jointly stated no damage to assets occurred and no one was injured. 
 
The Honeywell plant in Metropolis is the only such uranium conversion plant in the US and takes yellow cake uranium from Canada, Russia, and Australia and transforms it into UF6 through the four-stage process. That process includes ore preparation, through green salt preparation, to fluorination and distillation, before frozen and shipped to nuclear enrichment sites in US sites of Portsmouth, Ohio, and Paducah, Kentucky, as well as to plants in Russia and some Asian countries. 
 
A previous ICEM report on this US lockout is <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/3977-Lockout-of-USW-represented-Uranium-Processing-Plant-in-US-Continues " type="internal">here</a>.

Talks Fail Between USW, Honeywell in US Uranium Lockout

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