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A pipeline project between Chad and Cameroon headed by ExxonMobil has come under scrutiny with a study detailing abuse of workers by two contractors, TCC and Subsahara Services. US affiliate PACE and NGOs the union is working with have brought the issue to the attention of the US supermajor in ongoing talks over human and trade union rights at company worksites. The study says contract workers are not paid for certain social benefits; violations of work rules exist regarding the number of working hours; non-payment to workers who are injured is prevalent; and the firms are absent of plans regarding demobilization, professional reconversion and social reinsertion.

ExxonMobil Stands Accused of Pipeline Abuses in West Africa

CEP is seeking binding arbitration for workers at offshore oil producer Hibernia, the ExxonMobil-led energy consortium that has flagrantly dodged a first union contract at the oil platform off the coast of Newfoundland. Some 420 workers voted for CEP representation in October 2001 but the company has used legal appeals and stall tactics to avoid the bargaining table. CEP is already in first contract arbitration at a similar North Atlantic oil platform called Terra Nova operated by Petro-Canada. Some 90 workers there voted for the CEP in April 2003. &ldquo;Our members at Hibernia and Terra Nova have waited far too long to get Coordinator Joe Gargiso. &ldquo;We prefer to negotiate terms but employer resistance is forcing us into following the mandatory first contract arbitration procedure.&rdquo;

Arbitration Sought to Settle Canadian Offshore Oil Dispute

Members of Canadian affiliate Communications, Energy and Paperworkers (CEP) Local 689 struck Finnish papermaker UPM Kymmene 16 December in Miramichi, New Brunswick, over the firm&rsquo;s refusal to table the paper industry&rsquo;s pattern agreement for eastern Canada. Some 790 CEP members at a kraft pulp mill and a fine papers mill are striking to gain the pattern set when CEP signed a six-year accord with Abitibi-Consolidated last July.

CEP in Canada Strikes Finnish Paper Company UPM Kymmene

Belgian affiliate CG-FGTB held a day of manifestation 21 December followed by strikes at glass plants in protest to Glaverbel&rsquo;s decision to eliminate 284 out of 840 jobs. The protests, which included the white-collar Belgian union SETCa-FGTB and FNV Bondgenoten of The Netherlands, come as Glaverbel rapidly expands in eastern Europe and Russia. Glaverbel, Europe&rsquo;s second largest flat glass maker, is owned by Japanese petrochemical producer Asahi Glass, which bought a majority stake of the firm in 1981, upped its share to 90% in 2001 and purchased the remaining 10% a year later.

Belgian Unions Protest Japanese Glass Restructuring

The NUM has settled strikes at two of the world&rsquo;s largest platinum producers, Anglo Platinum and Impala Platinum. The pay disputes were settled for increases between 7.75% and 9.5%, depending on job grades, and cycle shift workers who work on public holidays won added improvements.

NUM in South Africa Settles Two Platinum Strikes

South African affiliate NUM sees no harmony, only dishevel in the hostile takeover of Goldfields by smaller gold-mining company Harmony. In a statement, NUM said that considering the high gold price, companies should be investing in development and job growth rather than consolidation and shrinkage. Both South African companies have retrenched numerous workers this year alone. NUM is calling for dialogue between the two companies instead of hostile &ldquo;approaches that send jitters into the market and economy,&rdquo; in the words of Gen. Sec. Gwede Mantashe. NUM is also opposed to a Goldfields preferred deal with Canada&rsquo;s Imagold and said the mining industry in South Africa suffers an &ldquo;anti-patriotic spirit&rdquo; in terms of abandoning national investment.

South Africa’s NUM Chastises Harmony’s Takeover Bid

20 October will go down as a day of death in China&rsquo;s coal mines. Four disasters found 123 dead, including&mdash;at last count&mdash;77 miners of state-owned Zhengzhou Group at Xinmi, Henan province, the worst mine catastrophe in recent years. At the weekend, 71 are still missing from the 20 October gas explosion that tore through several shafts at one of Zhengzhou&rsquo;s larger coalmines. Two other gas blasts added to the death count. Five were killed, 8 still missing at a blast in the southern province of Guizhou and near the southwestern Chinese city of Chongquing, another 12 perished in a natural gas explosion. The fourth 20 October disaster occurred at the Desheng coal mine in Wu&rsquo;an, Hebei province, when flooding cased the deaths of 29 miners.

Day of Death in Chinese Coal Mines, 20 October 2004

The mission included delegates from the United Steelworkers of America and the National Union of Mineworkers in South Africa, and was accompanied by IndustriALL Global Union&rsquo;s Director of Mining, Glen Mpufane. During the three days, the mission delegates met with the management of PT Freeport Indonesia, as well as government representatives from the Ministry of Energy, Natural Resources and Minerals, and the Ministry Manpower and Transmigration.An investigation into the accident has been held, and from which CEMWU (FSPKEP-SPSI) was barred from active participation. The findings of the investigation could not be made public even though the report was not classified. This has led to a lawsuit being filed against the company by a human rights lawyer in Indonesia, although compensation has been paid to the families of the victims.&nbsp;&ldquo;We learned with horror that the cause of the accident was that the roof collapsed due to faulty lines along the rooftop and deterioration of ground support bolts, and as such no one could be held accountable,&rdquo; Andrew Vickers says.The mission&rsquo;s conclusion, supported by the CEMWU FSPKEP-SPSI, was that the cause of the accident was management negligence. No evidence of inspections or risk assessment performed before the accident could be provided.&ldquo;The mission also concluded that the accident clearly illustrates the urgent need for the ratification of ILO Convention 176 in Indonesia. IndustriALL Global Union is committed to lend our support to speed up this process,&rdquo; says Glen Mpufane.

Solidarity mission in the wake of disaster at Freeport-McMoran’s Grasberg copper mine

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. 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  provides educational programmes.  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.   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 290Police Minister Kembo Mohadi +263 712 605 424Security 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

SWAZILAND: IMF welcomes the merger of the Swaziland Federation of Labour (SFL) and the Swaziland Federation of Trade Unions (SFTU). It has also brought into the fold the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT), one of the strongest unions and most vocal in its opposition to the ruling elite.  The Trade Union Congress of Swaziland (TUCOSWA) that represents about 50,000 Swazi workers, has an important role to play in the struggle for political reform in the country. TUCOSWA takes on the challenge to maintain the mobilisations that have taken place thus far, to make concrete linkages with civil society, to strengthen links within and between urban and rural communities, between students and workers, and perhaps most importantly, not to allow the regime to divide and rule, and frighten and intimidate the people of Swaziland back into a state of submission.At the launch, Secretary General, Vincent Ncongwane said that TUCOSWA will boycott next years national elections because political parties are banned and only individuals are allowed to stand as candidates. The labour movement will only accept multi-party democratic elections.

Trade unionists in Swaziland have understood that above all else, there is strength in unity. The new federation unites workers and strengthens the labour movement's ability to build a broad based movement for democracy in Swaziland.

TUCOSWA brings unity in Swaziland

Archive

ExxonMobil Stands Accused of Pipeline Abuses in West Africa

Arbitration Sought to Settle Canadian Offshore Oil Dispute

CEP in Canada Strikes Finnish Paper Company UPM Kymmene

Belgian Unions Protest Japanese Glass Restructuring

NUM in South Africa Settles Two Platinum Strikes

South Africa’s NUM Chastises Harmony’s Takeover Bid

Day of Death in Chinese Coal Mines, 20 October 2004

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