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<img src="" width="100" height="39" alt="" />
Rio Tinto Zimbabwe Ltd. (RioZim), operator of the Renco Gold Mine in Zimbabwe&rsquo;s Masvingo province, has maliciously taken revenge on members of the Associated Mine Workers&rsquo; of Zimbabwe (AMWZ) immediately after the end of a five-day national mine strike in mid-May. The company has discharged 70 miners, suspended 370, and given a total of 760 of Renco&rsquo;s 1,000 workers final warnings for taking part in the strike. 
 
Management&rsquo;s disciplinary actions come despite the fact that all strikers at Renco returned to work within the mandatory 24-hour period after Zimbabwe&rsquo;s Labour Ministry stopped the strike with a &ldquo;show-cause&rdquo; order on 14 May. 
 
&ldquo;Our concern now is that other mining enterprises will use this as a precedent to fire workers who took strike action,&rdquo; said AMWZ President Tinago Ruzive. &ldquo;In fact, as soon as we received the order, we informed all strikers to return to their jobs and we were successful in communicating this.&rdquo; 
<img alt="" src="" width="250" height="115" />
(A 17 May ICEM briefing on the strike&rsquo;s end can be found <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/3779-Zimbabwe-Mine-Strike-Suspended-by-Decree-of-Labour-Ministry">here</a>.) Ruzive and the AMWZ attempted to meet with Renco management over the unfair disciplinary measures, but management refused the meeting. The union must now take the matter to a labour court. 
 
The &ldquo;show-cause&rdquo; order called for a 20 May hearing on the pay strike in Harare. But the Labour Ministry cancelled that hearing and no new date has been scheduled. Some 20,000 miners struck 45 different mining companies affiliated to the Chamber of Mines in mid-May over non-payment of wage adjustments made in an arbitration award last year. 
 
Mining companies affiliated to the chamber have also neglected to remit contributions to the Mining Industry Pension Fund, monies owed to the National Employment Council for the Mining Industry, and to the AMWZ for subscriptions, a further cause of miners taking legal strike action after the AMWZ issued the mandatory 14-day strike notice in late April. 
 
RioZim is the country&rsquo;s largest resource company listed on Zimbabwe&rsquo;s bourse. Besides the Zenco Gold Mine, its assets include 22% of the Murowa diamond mine (with Rio Tinto Group holding 78%), the Empress nickel refinery in Kadoma, which processes matte from Botswana, and 50% of the Senga coal fields in Gokwe North.

Rio Tinto Sacks 70, Suspends 370 Following Zimbabwe Mine Strike

<img alt="" src="" style="width: 100px;height: 39px" width="390">

	Some 200 delegates and international guests gathered 11 May in the Serbian city of Kragujevac for the founding Congress of Industrija, Energija, Rudarstvo, or IER Nezavisnost, the new 35,000-member industrial front of UGS Nezavisnost that brings together the ICEM-affiliated Chemicals, Non-Metals and Mining Trade Union, or GSHNER Nezavisnost, with the federation&rsquo;s metalworking union (GSM Nezavisnost), and the Trade Union of Textile, Leather and Shoe Industries (GSTKO Nezavisnost), an affiliate of the International Federation of Textile, Garment and Leather Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITGLWF).

	The merger marked the first time in Serbia that trade unions combined to gain greater strength, rather than past trends of pulling apart.

	<img alt="" src="" style="width: 221px;height: 79px" width="390">

	Guest speaker, ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda, made note of this fact and drew the parallel of this historic achievement to what is now occurring on the global level with the creation of IndustriALL.

	The founding Congress was held in Serbia&rsquo;s fourth largest city, a community now gearing up with production of a 2,500-worker Fiat automotive plant in which union recruitment will be essential. The Congress saw guests come from the International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF), the European Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (EMF), IndustriEnergi (IE) of Norway, FIM-CISL of Italy, FNME-CGT of France, Petrom of Romania, EKN of Croatia and KNG of Slovenia.

	Also in attendance were several representatives from regional-based companies, which signal realistic expectations that tri-partite and bi-lateral social dialogue is on the horizon.

	The Congress elected former GSHNER Nezavisnost President Milorad Panović as President and Dragon Vesić of that former union as General Secretary. Elected as Vice Presidents were former GSM Nezavisnost President Nenard Matić and former GSHNER Nezavisnost Vice President Zoran Pantelić. GSTKO Nezavisnost is represented on the eight-member Executive Committee by Bo&scaron;ko Karalić.

Serbian Branches of UGS Nezavisnost Merge Into Single Industry, Energy, Mine Union

<img alt="" src="" style="width: 100px;height: 39px" width="390">

	A strike by ICEM Indonesian affiliate KSP2KI at one of the world&rsquo;s largest paper mills last week produced sizeable salary increases for over 13,000 workers. With strike support from nearly all workers at Asia Pulp and Paper&rsquo;s (APP) PT Pindo Deli&rsquo;s twin mills in Karawang, West Java, the union achieved substantially more than the minimum government-mandated increase that APP was at first willing to distribute.

	As well, KSP2KI won substantial increases for the lowest paid paperworkers and an APP pledge that it would engage in continuous social dialogue with the union.

	<img alt="" src="" style="width: 212px;height: 159px" width="390">

	FSP2KI Strike Leaders

	The two-year accord became retroactive to 1 April and grants workers, in some cases, a doubling of the provincial government minimum. KSP2KI, or&nbsp; Federasi Serikat Pekerja Pulp Dan Kertas, the Pulp and Paper Union of Indonesia, announced a three-day strike on 7 May but because of the large strike turnout, management resumed talks and agreed to the across-the-board increases on the day the strike started.

	In March, managers of the 900,000-metric-tonnes-per-year paperboard, writing papers and tissue mills had unilaterally decided on the minimum increase while still in bargaining. The strike and immediate return to the table saw wages lifted from 9.14% to 18% for most workers at low-end classifications, with increases to 14.14% and 11.14% in medium- and top-level classifications.

	That translates to an average IDR (Indonesia Rupiah) monthly increase of 139,363 (US$15.12). The minimum monthly pay at PT Pindo Deli in Karawang had been IDR 1,450,000 (US$157), so the pay grid for most workers will climb to above US$180-per-month.

	&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<img alt="" src="" style="width: 225px;height: 169px" width="390">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

	The ICEM commends the KSP2KI &ndash; a union with 7,650 members at the twin Karawang mills &ndash; for the well-organised strike action and subsequent result, and encourages all workers at Karawang, including workers of outsource companies operating inside the mills, to take up union membership.

	APP is part of Indonesian Sinar Mas Group and operates some ten paper machines and 14 paper-coating machines in the Karawang No. 1 and No. 2 mills in West Java. It also operates wholly-owned or majority-controlled pulp and paper mills &ndash; some nine in total &ndash; in other parts of Indonesia.&nbsp;

Indonesian Paperworkers Win Big Pay Gains in Short Strike

<img alt="" src="" style="width: 100px;height: 39px" width="390" />

	The two unions representing 43,000 Austrian chemical workers &ndash; ICEM affiliate PRO-GE and GPA-djp &ndash; reached 2012-13 wage terms with Fachverband der Chemischen Industrie (FCIO), the Chemical Industry Association on 11 May. The deal came following four difficult rounds of bargaining, and also came after public protests and authorisation for warning strikes late last week by PRO-GE&rsquo;s General Board.

	The result was an increase in minimum salaries of 4.5%, effective 1 May, and actual increases for all workers of 4.35%, or at least a monthly minimum increase of &euro;90 that, in essence, will lift the pay for lower salaried workers to over 5%.

	The agreement is for 12 months and covers some 270 chemical companies represented by FCIO.

	The unions won a 4.5% pay increase for apprentices, 4.5% added to shift and night shift premiums, and a 3.2% hike to work allowance benefits.

	<img alt="" src="" style="width: 180px;height: 120px" width="390" />

	3 May Manifestation in Schwechat

	But perhaps most notable in the new collective agreement is improved maternal leave language whereby women can spend up to two years at home, with 16 months of that credited in calculation of wage increases and retirement benefits. The unions also won for chemical workers added bereavement leave in cases of death of children, either those living at home or away from home.

	Deputy PRO-GE Chairman Alfred Artm&auml;uer and GPA-djp Secretary Roman Krenn, who jointly led the unions&rsquo; bargaining efforts, credited shop stewards across the Alpine nation for conducting meetings and mobilising chemical workers for the favourable agreement after the third round of talks failed on 27 April.

	Indicative of the mobilisations was a 3 May one in Schwechat near Vienna where 800 workers manifested at a Borealis polyolefin plant.

After Testy Talks, Austrian Chemical Workers Agree to 4.35% Wage Hikes

<img alt="" src="" style="width: 100px;height: 39px" width="390" />

	The Steering Committee of ICEM&rsquo;s Bridgestone Global Union Network met in Osaka, Japan, on 14-15 April, following a year-long break in activities due to the severe effects of last year&rsquo;s devastating natural disasters in the company&rsquo;s home country.

	The 11th meeting of the committee was hosted by the ICEM Japanese affiliate, the Japanese Confederation of Rubber Workers&rsquo; Union Affiliates (GOMU-RENGO, in coordination with the coordinating organisation of the network, the Bridgestone Union (BSU).

	Chaired by GOMU-RENGO&rsquo;s new President, Susumu Seo, the meeting was attended by representatives from different countries, Akihiro Nagasawa, President, Daisuke Shintani, Board member, and Kazutaka Nishihira, Vice-President, BSU; Terezinho DaMartins, President, Daniel Demetrio, Regional Vice-President, and Joao Batista Goncalves, Assistant to the President, Sao Paulo Rubber Workers&rsquo; Federation of &nbsp;Brazil; Pedro Wasiejko, President, Argentina Rubber Workers&rsquo; Union (SUTNA); Jesus Delgado, Secretary of the European Works Council of Bridgestone, and Jos&eacute; Ignacio Fernandez, Burgos, Spain, shop steward, of the Spanish FIA-UGT; Yoshio Sato, General Secretary, and Norihiro Tokunaga, Assistant General Secretary, ICEM&rsquo;s Japanese Affiliates Federation (ICEM-JAF); and Kemal &Ouml;zkan, ICEM Director of Industry and Corporate Affairs, who also heads up the Chemicals and Rubber sectors.

	<img alt="" src="" style="width: 274px;height: 159px" width="390">

	The meeting also welcomed Masahiko Ichinowatari, Shinya Iwai, Masaki Andoh, and Masayuki Aso from Japanese Council of Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF-JC) as observers.

	&ldquo;Continuity and the firm commitment of participants have been the major features of our Bridgestone Network,&rdquo; said Susumu Seo in opening of the meeting. &ldquo;Attendance of our colleagues from IMF-JC gives us great hope and opportunity as our new global union, IndustriALL, takes shape in combining efforts in the automotive and related supply chains that includes the tyre industry.&rdquo;

	The participants received a report from &Ouml;zkan on the general trends and challenges in global tyre and rubber sectors, and the effects these have had on employees. He noted that the economic recession of 2008 and 2009 has seen some recovery through mid-year 2011, with a gaggle of the world&rsquo;s largest tyre-makers reporting 25% revenue growth collectively through the middle of last year.

	Sales of the ten largest tyre manufacturers&nbsp; have collectively topped US$100 billion for the first time, and &Ouml;zkan&rsquo;s report noted Chinese made tyres account for about one-quarter of the world&#039;s total. China is now the largest manufacturer, exporter, and consumer of tyres in the world.

	This ICEM report was followed by individual country reports from participants.

	As a regular exercise to the Bridgestone Network, the meeting contained a lengthy discussion on occupational health and safety conditions inside the company&rsquo;s plants, including accidents and diseases registered over the last year. The Japanese and Brazilian delegates presented individual accident cases with the remedies taken and involvement of trade unions.

	The cases presented brought the meeting to a discussion on the role of unions in preventing and handling similar industrial accidents.

	The next meeting of the Steering Committee is scheduled to take place in June 2013 in Brazil.

ICEM Bridgestone Global Workers’ Network Meets in Japan

<img alt="" src="" style="width: 100px;height: 39px" width="390" />

	The four-month dispute by consumer products company Unilever to scrap a final salary pension scheme for 5,200 UK workers ended in march when unions members of two of the three unions involved voted to accept a compromise.

	Members of Unite the Union and the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (USDAW) accepted a revised deal that does close off the scheme, but grants important protections regarding indexing of a new career averaging plan, built-in consultations with the unions, and a moratorium on any further changes until the year 2018.

	A ballot by the third union involved, the GMB, is currently underway. Union members of Unite, the largest labour organisation representing Unilever workers at the 12 food and consumer products factories, voted by a two-to-one margin to accept the compromise. In March, USDAW members &ndash; in a vote with a low turn-out &ndash; rejected the proposal, but the union conducted a second ballot early this month that passed.

	&nbsp;<img alt="" height="159" src="" width="221" />&nbsp;

	Unite&#039;s Battle Bus

	According to Unite National officer Jennie Formby, the company retreated in some of its harshest proposals contained in the new pension scheme, including unilateral ability to implement annual indexing below UK&rsquo;s Retail Price Index (RPI) and eliminating any consultations with the social partners.

	In the compromise, negotiated with the help of UK&rsquo;s Advisory, Conciliation, and Mediation Services (ACAS), indexing of the new scheme to take effect 1 July will be at RPI plus one percent and Unilever is obligated to discuss aspects of the new scheme twice annually with the three unions.

	The Anglo-Dutch company&rsquo;s hard stance in eliminating a final salary pension plan in the UK produced the first strikes ever at Unilever plants there, with workers taking industrial action in December and again in 11 days of rolling strikes in late January.

Unilever Pension Dispute Ends in UK in Brokered Compromise

<img alt="" src="" style="width: 100px;height: 39px" width="390" />

	The International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITGLWF), the International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF), and ICEM have written Peruvian President Ollanta Humala protesting a newly-imposed decree allowing non-traditional industrial producers to hire workers under short-term contracts to fill specific export orders.

	Under Decree 22342 governing non-traditional exports, manufacturers such as garment companies now are allowed to hire precarious workers on short-term contracts to fill specific&nbsp; orders, meaning a worker employed this month to fill a production order for a multinational garment brand has no guarantee of working next month to fill a similar order for the same buyer.

	The <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/Carta%20FITTVC%20FITIM%20ICEM%20a%20Ollanta%20Humala.pdf">letter</a> by the ICEM, ITGLWF and IMF calls the legislation &ldquo;unconstitutional, in breach of international labour standards &hellip; totally out of date in today&rsquo;s global markets and is just downright wrong.&rdquo;

	Said ITGLWF General Secretary Klaus Priegnitz, &ldquo;This level of flexibility in a thriving industry is frankly obscene. In reality, the term &lsquo;non-traditional&rsquo; is a complete misnomer.

	&ldquo;Thirty years ago, when orders were irregular and exporting companies were just finding their feet, &lsquo;non-traditional&rsquo; might have been an apt description of the emerging garment export sector.&nbsp; But today, the situation could not be more different.&nbsp; The sector has grown exponentially as a result of the free trade agreement with the US, making textiles and clothing one of the most dynamic sectors of the economy.&rdquo;

	Priegnitz added: &ldquo;The average wages of workers in the largest and most profitable textile companies in the sector are among the lowest in Peru. Wages are so low that workers and their families are often forced to live with relatives, and when they can&rsquo;t work double shifts many have to supplement their income by working as street vendors.&rdquo;

	The companies in question are fully integrated operations that do everything from weaving to sewing to finishing. For the most part, the largest companies are the worst offenders, in some cases, employing 100% of the workforce on short-term contracts even though those workers perform permanent functions in the factory. Some workers have worked for the same employer for nearly 20 years on a succession of one- to six-month contracts.

	Priegnitz said, &ldquo;The decree and the way it is being applied represent a gross violation of the labour chapter of the Peru-US Free Trade Agreement and of codes of conduct of the major brands and retailers that drive the success of the country&rsquo;s garment export industry.&nbsp; Peru is in danger of killing the goose that lays the golden eggs.&rdquo;

	In the letter, the ICEM, the ITGWLF and the IMF call on Peru&rsquo;s government to vigorously support a proposal to repeal Articles 32, 33 and 34 of Decree 22342, which is currently under consideration in the Congressional Labour Commission. For as long as the decree remains in force, the three organisation have also asked the government to monitor its application more closely, intervening in cases where it is being used inappropriately to convert fixed-term employment contracts to open-ended ones.

ITGLWF, ICEM, ICEM Protest Peru Law Exploiting Short-term Contract Workers

<img alt="" src="" style="width: 100px;height: 39px" width="390" />

	French oilfields services&rsquo; giant Schlumberger is continuing to resist attempts by a genuine independent trade union in Egypt to organize workers at its operations.

	ICEM affiliates representing workers throughout the world are continuing to press the company on behalf of workers who were dismissed soon after the founding Congress of the Egyptian Federation of Independent Trade Unions (EFITU), under which a Schlumberger workers&rsquo; branch is affiliated to.

	The pressure has begun to attract the attention of senior management of the company. While Egyptian management ignored a request by ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda to meet to resolve the dispute, ICEM has now been informed that the company recently sent a &ldquo;fact-finding committee&rdquo; to Egypt consisting of the legal and recruitment managers of Schlumberger&rsquo;s regional office in Dubai.

	The two company representatives met with the President and the General Secretary of the independent local branch union, both of whom are among the dismissed workers, including some of the workers who were forced to resign from the union.

	&nbsp;<img alt="" src="" style="width: 213px;height: 160px" width="390" />&nbsp;

	Schlumberger demonstration in Cairo

	In this meeting, ICEM was informed that the managers did appear to listen carefully to the whole story, but made no promises. However, they hinted at the possibility of giving them financial compensation, claiming that is was too difficult to reinstate them since this would be seen as Schlumberger admitting its behavior was wrong.

	ICEM supports the dismissed workers who reject any financial compensation, and insist on returning to their work and activities inside the union. ICEM will continue the campaign until this issue has been resolved.

	In an earlier escalation of the dispute, Schlumberger Egypt arranged meetings with workers of subcontractors in in the operations. Numbering some 1,500 workers, they account for approximately half of the company&rsquo;s workforce in Egypt. In meetings at the Kattamia base and the head office, company representatives gave instructions to all subcontract workers that Schlumberger intended changing subcontracting companies, so they demanded that workers resign from their current contracts and then would receive new contracts under new subcontractors later.

	The new contracts would not take into account previous working periods, thus allowing companies to dismiss workers during the first three months without compensation, according to Egyptian law.

	But Egyptian Labour Law is presently uncertain and largely unusable. In theory, the old Mubarak era law, remains in force while there are at least three new proposed labour laws, drafted by different political groups, circulating in Parliament. The last trade union elections of 2007 in the former unitary government controlled trade unions, all part of ETUF, have been invalidated for corruption and the former governing structures of these unions dissolved with appointed oversight committees put in place to run the organizations until new elections take place &ndash; under a new law in the future.

	The situation allows companies such as Schlumberger to take advantage of the situation to prevent genuine trade representation of their workforces.

	Prior coverage of the Schlumberger dispute in Egypt can be found <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4946-Schlumberger-Ignores-ICEM-s-Offer-of-Dialogue">here</a> and <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4899-Oil-Services-Giant-Schlumberger-Pressured-over-Egyptian-Union-Busting">here</a>.

Schlumberger Continues Destruction of Independent Egyptian Trade Union

<img alt="" src="" style="width: 100px;height: 39px" width="390" />

	Mining conglomerate Rio Tinto is destroying the community of Alma, Qu&eacute;bec, by the continued lockout of 780 workers, members of the United Steelworkers (USW). The lockout since 30 December 2011 is an economic move in order to increase profits at an aluminium smelter of subsidiary Alcan in Alma.

	Tomorrow in London, protests will occur outside and in the Annual General Meeting of Rio Tinto by USW Canadian members and their ally in the UK, Unite the Union. The protest will be supported by three Global Union Federations, the ICEM, the International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF), and the International Transport Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITF).

	Shamefully, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has contracted with Rio Tinto to produce gold, silver, and bronze medals for this summer&rsquo;s Olympics and Paralympics Games in London. Active protests are currently underway against IOC, stating that the Games are tainted and achievements of the world&rsquo;s best athletes are flawed by a company with a long track record of economic and environmental destruction on the communities where it operates. (Join the <a href="http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/solidarityforever/show_campaign.cgi?c=1365">Labour Start campaign</a> to kick Rio Tinto &ldquo;Off the Podium&rdquo; with a message to the IOC here, and view the USW&rsquo;s <a href="http://www.offthepodium.org/">Off the Podium</a> website.)

	&nbsp;<img alt="" src="" style="width: 370px;height: 130px" width="390" />&nbsp;

	At tomorrow&#039;s protest, Unite will distribute replica Olympic medals to be passed out to the public at the shareholders&#039; venue, the Queen Elizabeth II conference centre. Unite also has arranged for union-friendly Members of Parliament to submit an Early Day Motion in the UK Parliament.

	Rio Tinto has posted profits of US$20 billion over the past two years and despite the fact that the Alcan aluminium smelter in Alma is one of the most efficient and profitable in the world, it has used a lockout to reap even more profit. Alcan management of late has refused to engage the USW in meaningful negotiations to end the lock-out, predicated on the company&rsquo;s desire to force mass outsourcing by eliminating and full and direct employment

	Alcan seeks to replace each retiring worker with a subcontract worker that will see 50% less than the current average union wage of C$34-an-hour. USW negotiators in early April submitted a proposal in bargaining to end the lockout, but Alcan management walked from the table still seeking the unlimited right to subcontract.

	Alcan has continued to receive special assistance from the province of Qu&eacute;bec in a generous agreement whereby Hydro-Qu&eacute;bec buys back unused electricity from the company while the lockout is ongoing.

	The lockout by Rio Tinto Alcan in Alma has triggered a global campaign against Rio Tinto that took on further dimensions early this week at a special Mines and Metals Networking meeting in Sydney, Australia, as well as at the 17-19 April ICEM World Mining Conference, also in Sydney. Trade unionists resolved to build a long-term global campaign against the world&rsquo;s second largest resource company.

Global Unions, USW Bring Rio Tinto Alcan Canadian Dispute to Shareholders

<img alt="" src="" style="width: 110px;height: 50px" width="390" />

	In February the Play Fair campaign &ndash; a coalition of trade unions and NGOs including the ITGLWF and the International Trade Union Confederation - published a report highlighting code of conduct abuses in factories producing merchandise for the London 2012 Olympic Games. Play Fair researchers interviewed a range of workers from two factories in China &ndash; one producing pin badges and the second producing stuffed toys of the Olympic mascots.

	The organisers of the London Olympics &ndash; LOCOG &ndash; have a code of conduct which states that &ldquo;To every extent possible work performed must be on the basis of recognised employment relationship established through national law and practice&rdquo; and &ldquo;Obligations to employees under labour or social security laws and regulations arising from the regular employment relationship shall not be avoided through the use of labour-only contracting&hellip;&rdquo;.

	<img alt="" src="" style="width: 112px;height: 160px" width="390" />

	Despite the strong language in the code, Play Fair&rsquo;s researchers found that workers in one of the factories had no idea of the terms of their contract, and had never been provided with a written contract of employment. Not a single worker interviewed for the research was employed on a permanent contract.

	At a second factory researchers found that core workers were employed on five-year fixed term contracts and that during periods of high orders the factory hired about 300 temporary workers, more than doubling the workforce. These temporary workers were employed on a daily wage and received only 40 CNY rather than the statutory minimum of 50 CNY per day. Temporary workers were not provided with social security payments.

	The full report is available <a href="http://www.play-fair.org/media/wp-content/uploads/play_fair_en_final.pdf">here</a>.

Toying with Workers’ Rights

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