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An ICEM affiliate in Sri Lanka, the Free Trade Zone &amp; General Services Employees&rsquo; Union, is celebrating a successful outcome in its campaign for higher wages in the country&rsquo;s private sector. Until now, wages in the private sector have been governed by the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka (BOI), but with no dialogue or input from workers&rsquo; representatives. The pay gap between private sector and public sector workers has grown considerably in recent years. 
 
An unskilled public-sector employee can expect a monthly salary of Rs.11,630 (&euro;78), whereas an unskilled private sector employee&rsquo;s minimum wage is Rs. 6,700 (&euro;43). The trade union pressure placed on national government by the campaign moved the Ministry of Labour to raise private-sector minimum wages up by Rs. 2,500. 

<img src="" width="278" height="209" alt="" />
Workers turn out in white to protest low wages
The announcement by Labour Secretary Mahinda Madihahewa signals the government&rsquo;s intent to raise minimum wage across all of the country&rsquo;s trading zones, thus angering business leaders which have grown accustomed to nominal raises each year, or outright restrictions on increases in certain regions. 
 
There was no adjustment to salaries in 2009 as employers rejected BOI recommendations, citing the financial crisis. The BOI withdrew its recommendation in 2009 in the face of an adamant employer response against any increase. In 2009, there was no involvement from workers&rsquo; representatives in the process. 

<img src="" width="250" height="188" alt="" />
The handing over of a 20,000-strong petition
The BOI&rsquo;s recommendation for salary adjustments in 2010 was for a raise of Rs. 500, limited to factories in a small geographical region. The campaign put forth by the Free Trade Zone &amp; General Services Employees&rsquo; Union distributed this information widely and mobilised workers against the low and limited salary. Twenty-thousand signatures were collected protesting the salary revision. These signatures were presented to the office of the Minister of Labour. 
 
The Free Trade Zone &amp; General Services Employees&rsquo; Union campaign focused on educating workers throughout Sri Lanka on the issue, and it included a &ldquo;white dress&rdquo; protest in which workers came to work dressed in white. Media attention to the protest highlighted the workers&rsquo; message and increased pressure on government. The campaign has succeeded with the significant salary hikes, across all private sectors and all regions, and the ICEM congratulates the Sri Lankan union on the campaign.

Campaign for Higher Private Sector Salaries in Sri Lanka Succeeds

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The workers&rsquo; trade union of Cosmos Petroleum Services, Peru, has begun an indefinite strike action following two years of unsuccessful attempts to halt abuses of labour rights in the country. Cosmos is an outsource contractor to Brazilian oil and gas multinational Petrobras. Petrobras Peru&rsquo;s centre of operations is located at Lote X in the El Alto Province, where the conflict is now occurring with workers calling on Petrobras to take responsibility for the conduct of its contractor. 
 
The minimum monthly wage for a Peruvian Petrobras employee is 950 soles, or US$330, and workers of Cosmos are demanding an increase to receive at least that minimum. 
 
Union General Secretary Julio Rigoberto Alarc&oacute;n Fiestas points to the contract agreed between Petrobras and Cosmos on 28 February 2008, that sets forth the extremely low for contract workers. He said that service contract did not account for overtime or bonuses, and in fact was in breach of Peruvian national legislation. 

<img src="" width="140" height="142" alt="" />
He added that even the minimal contractual responsibilities of Cosmos to its staff have not been respected and the union cites numerous abuses, including wage and social benefits below the contractual minimum and information not being made available to workers. 
 
The workers&rsquo; union of Cosmos Petroleum Services asks for support in getting their employer to meet its contractual obligations on wages, and on where and how withheld money is used. 
 
The strike is a brave step for the union, as Cosmos management previously had illustrated its contempt toward union activists in the third quarter of 2008 by suspending workers. The company said financial concerns as the reason, despite that period being a boom in the industry. The suspensions were followed by the cancelling of the workers&rsquo; reemployment, along with cancellation of all redundancy payments. 
 
These actions were then endorsed by Petrobras but were later met by rulings from Peruvian labour authorities that opposed the unilateral actions. These rulings were ignored by Cosmos management. 
 
Union officials at Cosmos also criticize management for refusing to seek a solution during collective bargaining when the previous agreement ended last year. 
 
The ICEM calls on Petrobras to take responsibility for its outsourced workers at Cosmos Peru, and encourages the Brazilian company to step in and settle this conflict. 
 
Petrobras is the largest company in Latin America and the largest company headquartered in the Southern Hemisphere, with output of more than two million barrels of oil equivalent per day. It is also a major distributor of oil products.

Workers of Petrobras Contractor in Peru Take Strike Action

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For third time since management shut the copper, lead, and zinc mining and smelting operations of Doe Run Per&uacute; at La Oroya in June 2009, members of a branch of ICEM affiliate National Miners&rsquo; and Metalworkers&rsquo; Union (FNTMMSP), along with two other unions, agreed to extend the shutdown until 29 April, only this time the 3,200 mines and metalworkers will receive 70% of their salaries and labour benefits. 
 
That agreement was reached late last week and extends an enforced vacation agreement that first went into effect in August 2009. The shutdown then lasted three months with workers receiving 63% of pay, and an extended 90-day negotiated vacation shutdown took effect in November 2009, which saw workers receive 65% of their standard pay. That expired at the end of January. 

<img alt="" src="" width="160" height="120" />
FNTMMSP Gen. Sec. Luis Castillo Carlos
FNTMMSP General Secretary Luis Castillo Carlos said the union&rsquo;s number one priority is to reopen the La Oroyo complex in Yauli Province, 175 kilometres east of Lima, with all workers receiving full pay and full benefits. Castillo said the company also agreed to meet weekly with unions to apprise them of financial developments in regard to re-opening. 
 
Doe Run Per&uacute; has been hard hit by debt, including money owed ore suppliers and financiers. The Peruvian Congress has given the company until 27 July 2010 to restart, a deadline that also saw the government give a 30-month extension to the American company for environmental clean-up that will cost US$156 million. 

<img alt="" src="" width="175" height="125" />
The company&rsquo;s troubles were also compounded early this month when it was expelled from Peru&rsquo;s National Society of Mining, Oil, and Energy (SNMPE) for violations of three codes of conduct: negligent health and safety conditions for workers, disregard for the environment, and mining exploration that fails to comply with Peruvian legislation. The smelter is known to have caused serious lead poisoning along the River Mantaro. 
 
Doe Run is owned by privately-held Renco Group, a New York-based holding company controlled by industrialist Ira Rennart. Renco also owns AM General, a maker of armored vehicles for military use, and US Magnesium. Its Doe Run affiliate also has lead recycling and processing operations in the US states of Arizona, Missouri, and Washington. 
 
In Peru in 2008, Doe Run&rsquo;s La Oroya smelter produced 114,259 tonnes of lead, 53,831 tonnes of cooper, and 43,440 tonnes of zinc. The polymetallic smelter also produced a host of minor metals as well.

Peruvian Miners Give Doe Run Management until 29 April to Reopen

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Difficult talks in the Netherlands between Akzo Nobel and trade unions climaxed in late January when the Dutch chemicals company came to social terms with 5,000 workers. Negotiations had dragged on since last autumn, but talks on 26 January quickly produced results following 24-hour strike actions a day earlier. 
 
Those results are favourable to workers thanks to the four unions: FNV Bondgenoten, CNV Vakmensen, De Unie, and VHP AkzoNobel. The new labour accord will now extend through the end of 2011. 

<img alt="" src="" width="161" height="88" />
The highlights include the existing social plan stays in force, incentives are realized for workers between ages 57 and 60 are in place, and there&rsquo;s an improved sickness benefit. In addition, workers will receive a 1.25% wage increase over 15 months, and the unions negotiated added severance benefits and more financial assistance in job help for workers made redundant. Some 150 Dutch jobs have been cut by the company. 
 
A commitment to examine and improve the pension scheme in separate, upcoming talks was also a result of the 26 January settlement. The wage increases include a retroactive 0.5% hike to April 2009, 0.75 in January 2010, and a one-off raise of 0.5% in January 2011. 
 
On 25 January, union members conducted a highly successful strike at 12 Akzo Nobel worksites in the Netherlands, actions that proved pivotal in the company acceding to workers&rsquo; demands.

Strike Action Brings Akzo Nobel to Terms with Dutch Unions

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Workers of ICEM affiliated union GMB in the UK will likely see issuance of a ballot for industrial action this week British Gas, the largest gas supplier in the country that is a part of Centrica Plc. The intended job actions are in response to an opaque but and aggressive flexibility and management performance agenda that could cost up to 5,000 jobs. 
 
In a survey of its members, GMB reported that out of 3,000 responses, by a margin of eight to one, workers say there is a &ldquo;bullying management culture&rdquo; within British Gas. The survey directly contradicts the company&rsquo;s own Employee Engagement programme, and affirms that workers are facing unnecessary pressure and feel alienated from the company due to poor planning and bad management. 
 
The situation has been exacerbated by the fact that workers have been forced to work long hours during the coldest winter in decades, all the while hearing mixed messages and getting competing demands from management. Contained in British Gas internal documents, the company is proposing that 5,000 jobs be cut, which could mean job loss for many skilled engineers who work on domestic appliances. 

<img src="" width="256" height="170" alt="" />
Gary Smith
&ldquo;Our members are starting to understand that there is a threat to the terms and conditions of employment that we have fought for over many years,&rdquo; said GMB National Secretary Gary Smith. &ldquo;Employees are sick to the back teeth of the pressure they face day to day from senior management.&rdquo; 
 
Much of the staff anger is pointed at Managing Director Phil Bentley, who has not given the union a straight answer on the job cuts and stands accused by GMB of creating a &ldquo;new macho management&rdquo; culture, with its only purpose to cut costs. This cost cutting is across the board and affects such things as the purchase of parts for boilers. Bentley&rsquo;s new work culture, for example, means creation of an arbitrary performance management process that could lead to easy discipline of employees. 
 
In an e-mail, Bentley stated that at One British Gas, the retail arm of the utility, &ldquo;the big, hairy, audacious goal I&rsquo;ve thrown down on One British Gas is to reduce our non-customer-facing full-time employment equivalent by 25%.&rdquo; The 5,000 job cuts, if they materialize, could prove devastating for British Gas and Scottish Gas workers in Manchester, Birmingham, Cardiff, Leicester, Southampton, Uddingston near Glasgow, and Edinburgh. 
 
If the industrial ballot is issued this week, it will be counted and assessed in late February. 
 
Centrica serves 15.6 million residential electricity and gas customers in the UK, largely under the British Gas name. Through its Direct Energy subsidiary, Centrica also supplies residential gas and power service in the US, Canada, Europe, Egypt, Nigeria, and Trinidad and Tobago.

GMB to Take Strike Ballot at British Gas This Week

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Nigerian workers are being victimized, while Mobil Producing Nigeria (MPN) continues to rely on expatriate workers in the Niger Delta, according to ICEM&rsquo;s two oil and gas union affiliates, PENGASSAN and NUPENG. MPN is subsidiary to the world&rsquo;s largest energy company, ExxonMobil. 
 
The two unions combined last week, 3 and 4 February, to shut down the company&rsquo;s worksites and operating facilities in a show of protest over the sacking of casual workers by Mobil&rsquo;s contractors and the company&rsquo;s failure to address those sackings with the unions. 
 
Strikes shut down MPN operations at Onne, Port Harcourt, as well at the Eket jetty and other installations in Akwa Ibom state, and protests were seen at the company&rsquo;s main export terminal, Qua Iboe, also in Akwo Ibom state. A manifestation was also made at MPN headquarters in Lagos. 

<img alt="" src="" width="300" height="151" />
Since September 2009, up to 100 Nigerian nationals have been discharged by contractors serving under MPN, which is the operating manager of oil and gas facilities along the delta in a joint venture with Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. (NNPC). The casuals were sacked because they responded to a workers&rsquo; collective voice of protest to gain fair and equitable remuneration. 
 
At PENGASSAN and NUPENG&rsquo;s joint National Executive Council meetings in mid-December, union leaders decided to take direct industrial action as reaction to unfair labour practices, illegal separation, and persistent victimization of casual workers employed in the energy sector. 
 
PENGASSAN General Secretary Bayo Olowoshile called last week&rsquo;s actions the first phase of industrial strikes against the US-based company, and promised further actions to intensify this dispute will occur if management does not stop exploitation of casual workers, as mandated under national statute and past conventions with the unions. 

<img alt="" src="" width="150" height="225" />
Bayo Olowoshile
&ldquo;PENGASSAN restates that management of Mobil Producing Nigeria engages in medium and long-term casualisation of highly skilled, professional, and experienced nationals in core technical, engineering, administrative, and commercial operations,&rdquo; said Olowoshile, &ldquo;and this amounts to the flagrant contravention of the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.&rdquo; 
 
Olowoshile added, &ldquo;The picketing of Mobil Nigeria last week will continue as long as the management is recalcitrant and until they yield to the demand of the union.&rdquo; 
 
Due to MNP&rsquo;s reluctance to address the issues of its contractors in negotiations with the unions, Nigeria&rsquo;s Ministry of Labour has intervened and the case is heading for arbitration. The ICEM supports the Nigerian unions in their direct action initiatives.

Nigerian Energy Unions Strike ExxonMobil over Sackings of Casuals

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	The ornate conference room of the Seranada Hotel in the Hamra district of central Beirut was the venue for the ICEM Middle East-North Africa (MENA) Regional Conference and Seminar from 14-16 March. Affiliated unions from throughout the region including Algeria, Morocco, Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine, and Yemen attended, and were joined by potential affiliates from Bahrain, Tunisia, and Egypt.

	From Egypt came a delegation of new independent trade unions from workplace levels representing both of the new structures of independent unions in that country. Delegations also came from Canada, Norway, Germany, and South Africa. It was very pleasing to see that there was a particularly large delegation from Turkey, a country often promoted since last year&rsquo;s Arab Spring as a model to follow&nbsp;and a country that is economically active throughout the region, and a major trading bridge between Europe, Asia, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East.

	Local representatives of the ILO, US Solidarity Center, and Public Services International (PSI) were also present as guests during the conference opening.

	&nbsp;<img alt="" src="" style="width: 283px;height: 159px" width="390" />&nbsp;

	The conference was generously supported by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES) of Germany, which also played an active role in the proceedings jointly chaired by ICEM President Senzeni Zokwana and Soliman Hemdan, President of the host union, the Professional Union of Syndicates for Workers &amp; Employees of Chemical Materials and Similar Products of Lebanon.

	In attendance were ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda and International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF) General Secretary Jyrki Raina. A key area of discussions was the creation of the new Global Union Federation (GUF) that will bring together ICEM, IMF, and the International Textile, Garment, Leather Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITGLWF). Discussion centered on the future role of MENA in the new organization.

	Another major focus of discussions was the Arab Spring and the fundamental political changes that are taking place in the region. The growth of new independent trade unions in a number of countries was considered and discussed as was the need for ILO compliant labour legislation throughout the region, particularly in Egypt and Iraq.

	&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<img alt="" src="" style="width: 155px;height: 159px" width="390" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

	Mohammed Abuadwan of Palestine

	Various international instruments were examined, including ILO Core Conventions, the OECD Guidelines for MNCs, the UN&rsquo;s Global Compact, and Global Framework Agreements. There was a focus on the importance of building regional networks within industries and where applicable, company levels, both to strengthen trade unions in the region, as well as to improve input into global discussions and networks and the new GUF, to be named IndustriALL.

	Over two-and-a- half days, with a mixture of presentations followed by detailed question and answer sessions, panel discussions, and group works, the participants enthusiastically debated their local situations, examined the past activities of the ICEM, a resolution on the MENA region passed by the ICEM Congress in Argentina, and laid down solid plans for the future &ndash; especially regarding network building.

	The conference watched a graphic film made by the Palestine General Federation of Trade Unions (PGFTU) showing the immense difficulties their members face in crossing into Israel for daily work with check-points serving as a major form of daily harassment that on occasions clearly constitutes collective punishment of the Palestinian people.

	&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<img alt="" src="" style="width: 147px;height: 160px" width="390" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

	The Iraqi Union Delegation

	The delegate present, Mohammed Abuadwan, President of the General Union of Petrochemical Workers in Palestine, thanked the ICEM for the focus on Palestine at the Argentina Congress and reaffirmed his strong support for the resolution passed there. All delegates reaffirmed their wishes that Palestine and Iraq continue to be priorities for work in the region in IndustriALL.

	Iraqi trade unions met in a work group which determined that it was essential for ICEM to revitalise its campaign and to increase pressure on the Iraqi government to introduce a new labour code fully compliant with ILO global standards. Iraqi unionists seek trade union organisations to function normally in both the public and private sectors, as well as guaranteeing the pluralistic system of trade unions that exists now on the ground in their country. Unity has to be built voluntarily by workers and their unions, and cannot be enforced by government decree.

	A wide ranging&nbsp;discussion on alterative and independent trade unions centered on the situation in Egypt where&nbsp;long-standing affiliates of ICEM in the petroleum and electric power sectors were faced across the table by new emergent independent unions in these industries.

	Of particular importance was the situation in oilfield services with Schlumberger where local management has dismissed on spurious grounds four leading activists of the new union. With the general secretary of the new union dismissed on the same day that the first Congress of the new organization elected him, it was clear to all that this was a blatant attack on the new structure and all delegates. With the exception of the old union part of Egyptian Trade Union Federation (ETUF), delegates expressed strong support to the dismissed union activists of Schlumberger Egypt, and called on ICEM to intensify the campaign on their behalf, as well as other union activists who have suffered similar dismissals.

	In general, delegates called for increased ICEM activities throughout the region and a continued special focus on both Iraq and Palestine. Calls were made for increased use of the Arabic language in the new organization as well as increased seminars and network meetings building on past work.&nbsp; Both Warda and Raina committed the new organization to play an increased role throughout MENA, and gave support to all efforts to build real and strong trade unions in the region.

ICEM Holds Middle East-North Africa Region Conference in Beirut

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	Spain&rsquo;s two labour confederations, Confederaci&oacute;n Sindical de Comisiones Obreras (CCOO) and Uni&oacute;n General de Trabajadores (UGT), have jointly called a 24-hour strike for 29 March in response to labour law reform which is already in force by decree-law of 10 February by the Council of Ministers and is pending of Parliamentarian validation.

	On 9 March, CCOO&rsquo;s and UGT&rsquo;s executive councils, meeting jointly for the first time in history, agreed to the general strike following refusal of the ruling Popular Party to sit down and negotiate some 30 amendments to the draconian labour legislation, as proposed by the confederations.

	The calling of the strike, which CCOO General Secretary Ignacio Fern&aacute;ndez Toxo and UGT General Secretary C&aacute;ndido M&eacute;ndez termed &ldquo;fair, inevitable and necessary,&rdquo; is also aimed at planned austerity measures expected from Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy.

	&nbsp;<img alt="" src="" style="width: 120px;height: 120px" width="390" />&nbsp;

	On 30 March, the government is expected to release its 2012 budget that contains unprecedented public spending cuts of &euro;35 billion as recommended by the European Union.

	But it is the anti-social labour reforms that are chief reason behind the general strike, which was preceded by three days of action, the latest occurring on 11 March. The confederations are calling the reforms the biggest attack on labour law in Spain&rsquo;s post-fascist democratic period.

	Specifically, the legislation weakens collective bargaining on both the national and regional levels by giving precedence to company labour agreements, allows an employer to unilaterally reduce salaries for reasons of competitiveness and productivity, as well as giving bosses the liberty to unilaterally change working hours and labour terms.

	It provides employers with opportunities to use &ldquo;work-experience&rdquo; contracts under which they can dismiss workers who have been employed for less than a year without granting compensation. It also cuts jobless benefits, makes layoffs easier, and promotes other forms of precarious work.

	The general strike is the second in Spain since the advent of the 2008 financial crisis, with the first occurring in 2010 and will be the sixth general strike in Spain&rsquo;s democratic period.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Spain Braced for Mass 29 March Strike over Draconian Labour Legislation

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	For the first time since the 30 December lockout by Rio Tinto Alcan of 780 union members of Syndicat des M&eacute;tallos d&rsquo;Alma in the Canadian province of Qu&eacute;bec, bargaining got back on track this week. After a half-day delay caused by a different labour dispute at the Montr&eacute;al airport on 19 March, provincial mediators Jean Poirer and Jean Nolan travelled to Alma where United Steelworkers (USW) Local 9490 leaders and six members of Alcan&rsquo;s management met face to face that afternoon.

	Mediation continued throughout the day yesterday, with Syndicat des M&eacute;tallos d&rsquo;Alma Local 9490 President Marc Maltais stating that both sides expressed a willingness to settle the 12-week dispute at the aluminium smelter. By late yesterday, the union and company &ndash; with the help of government mediators &ndash; were establishing a speedy timetable for further talks.

	The resumption of bargaining came five days after a general union meeting and news conference where Maltais and USW Deputy District Five Director Guy Farrell reported on their two-week mission to the US West and Australia and New Zealand in order to ratchet up pressure on Rio Tinto with the company&rsquo;s militant workers and unions.

	&nbsp;<img alt="" src="" style="width: 345px;height: 161px" width="390" />&nbsp;

	Turkish Union Maden-İş Displays Solidarity with Syndicat des M&eacute;tallos d&rsquo;Alma

	Maltais said at the news conference that both sides needed to compromise on the single issue that caused the company&rsquo;s lockout, outsourcing. The union seeks to stop the continual erosion of permanent jobs by establishing limits to outsourcing, while Alcan used that issue to lock-out the entire workforce before other bargaining issues were even tabled.

	Farrell told the ICEM that pressure has mounted on the company to settle the dispute because of an escalating global campaign against Rio Tinto, and the realization across Qu&eacute;bec that Alcan is cashing in handsomely during the lockout by selling excess hydro-electric power to the province.

	Under an agreement with Qu&eacute;bec dating to 2006 when Alcan was a stand-along Canadian company, Rio Tinto is selling its unused hydro-electric power back to the province while it operates the Alma smelter at only one-third capacity. Throughout the near four-month lockout, Rio Tinto Alcan has been enriching itself by C$15 million per month at taxpayer expense while holding a community&rsquo;s top-paying jobs hostage. Meanwhile, the Saguenay-lac-Saint-Jean region economy of central Qu&eacute;bec is losing C$1.8 million per week in lost salaries and benefits.

	&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<img alt="" src="" style="width: 320px;height: 141px" width="390" /><img alt="" src="" style="width: 320px;height: 141px" width="390" />

	USW&rsquo;s Guy Farrell Speaks at Brisbane Manifestation

	Another driving force that undoubtedly has pushed the company to return to the bargaining table is the current rise of aluminium prices on the London Metals Exchange. After dropping 25% from a high of US$2,500 per tonne in spring 2011 to the end of last year, prices have since rebounded by US$400 per tonne and aluminium is selling this week at US$2,245 a tonne.

	The Alma smelter is one of the world&rsquo;s most modern, low-cost operations and with access to cheap hydro-electric power, the facility is too valuable for Rio Tinto not to run at full capacity. In Europe, Rio Tinto Alcan will permanently shutter its North East aluminium smelter in Northumberland, UK, on 29 March, sacking nearly 500 workers. It also announced on Monday that it would sell or close the Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne, Savoie, France, smelter because of inability to reach an electric-power rate deal with EDF.&nbsp;

	Maltais said this week that despite talks resuming, a mass rally in Alma slated for 31 March will go ahead. The union is expecting to draw 5,000 to 10,000 at the manifestation, which will occur a day after the ICEM&rsquo;s North America affiliates convene for its bi-annual regional meeting in Alma.

	Protestors will assemble at 13h00 at the Galeries Lac St-Jean shopping mall and march to Parc le Festiv Alma for the manifestation that begins at 15h. (See <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/RTA_CARD4ENG_high.pdf">full manifestation flyer</a> here.)

	The solidarity-building trip by Maltais and Farrell through the American West and then on to Australia and New Zealand saw them get support from Rio Tinto&rsquo;s borax miners in Southern California. International Longshore &amp; Warehouse Union (ILWU) Local 30 faced its own lockout by Rio Tinto from late 2009 to spring 2010.

	From those late February meetings in both Boron and Los Angeles, California, Maltais and Farrell journeyed to the state of Utah where they met with USW local union leaders at Rio&rsquo;s Kennecott Copper mines. Some 1,000 steelworkers and members of other unions, including the International Association of Machinists (IAM), waged a bitter six-month strike there in 2002-03.

	From 4 to 9 March, the Canadians were in Australia and New Zealand. In Australia, their message was heard by hundreds of delegates at separate forums of the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) and the Australian Manufacturing Workers&rsquo; Union (AMWU) in Brisbane. On 5 March, Australian supporters including members of the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU), the MUA, AMWU and Australian Workers&rsquo; Union (AWU) joined Maltais and Farrell in a protest against Rio Tinto on Queen Street in Brisbane.

	&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<img alt="" src="" style="width: 87px;height: 155px" width="390" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

	Local 9490&rsquo;s Marc Maltais at MUA Forum

	At the mass MUA meeting there on 6 March, the two were surprised to see the MUA selling Syndicat des M&eacute;tallos d&rsquo;Alma&rsquo;s trademarked orange shirts, emblazoned &ldquo;Australia and New Zealand Mining and Maritime Union Fight War on Rio Tinto&rsquo;s Workers.&rdquo; Proceeds and other donations were given the two for Local 94990 back home, including at a stop at Rio Tinto&rsquo;s Bell Bay, Tasmania, aluminium smelter that was hosted by the AWU, the union fighting for a first enterprise agreement there.

	In New Zealand, the visit from 7-9 March sponsored by ICEM affiliate Engineering Printing &amp; Engineering Union (EPMU) and the Maritime Union of New Zealand (MUNZ), included a meeting with Rio Tinto aluminium producing workers at the Tiwai Point smelter in Invercargill. It also included another demonstration, this time on 9 March in front of Rio Tinto offices in Wellington.

	Throughout the western US trip and the Australia/New Zealand union-building visits, Maltais and Farrell had along a union banner to which trade unionists signed their names and pledged to join the Alma lockout fight. That banner was unfurled and hung in Local 9490&rsquo;s union hall last week.

	While the two were concluding their trip in New Zealand, back home in Alma, on 8 March, International Women&rsquo;s Day, women&rsquo;s-only forum was held attended by 100 spouses and women workers. The event was billed as a unique chance to share experiences of the then 68-day lockout, the hardships, the loss of income and the emotional turmoil inflicted by a rich multinational on citizens of Qu&eacute;bec&rsquo;s Saguenay-lac-Saint-Jean region.

	To read further information on this corporate attack on working families, click <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4908-Locked-out-Alcan-Workers-Take-Dispute-to-Business-Doorstep">here</a>, <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4875-Rio-Tinto-s-Euro-Works-Council-Irate-over-Québec-Aluminium-Lockout">here</a> and <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4837-USW-Affiliate-in-Québec-Locked-Out-by-Rio-Tinto-at-Aluminium-Plant">here</a>.

Negotiations Restart between USW, Rio Tinto Alcan in Canadian Lockout

The repressive Mugabe regime today found six activists guilty on fabricated charges of inciting public violence. They had been arrested a year ago, together with 39 other people for discussing the Arab Spring and viewing video footage on the popular uprising in Egypt. They had initially been charged with treason, but during the course of the court process, the charges were reduced and the other 39 people cleared.

	The six Zimbabwean activists, Munyaradzi Gwisai, Tafadzwa Choto, Tatenda Mombeyarara, Edson Chakuma, Hopewell Gumbo and Welcome Zimuto, face jail sentences of up to 10 years, to be handed down tomorrow.&nbsp;

	Three of the six, Munyaradzi, Tafadzwa and Tatenda work with the Zimbabwe Labour Centre a non profit organisation that gives legal support to unions and workers on labour matters and&nbsp; provides educational programmes.&nbsp;

	The right to meet, discuss events in the world, share ideas and speak openly and freely is a basic human right for which activists should not be victimised and vilified.&nbsp;&nbsp;

	Send your SMS text message now to the people who can limit the unfair sentence tomorrow.

	Police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena + 263 712 801 172

	Police Commissioner Augustine Chihuri + 263 712 808 290

	Police Minister Kembo Mohadi +263 712 605 424

	Security Minister Didymus Mutasa +263 0712 200 532

	Send: &quot;Do NOT send the 6 Harare activists to jail!&quot;

Urgent! Send SMS to Call for Justice in Zimbabwe NOW

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