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&nbsp;The ICEM has filed a stern protest with the Iranian government over its use of harsh and unnecessary force to break up a tyre strike at Kian Tyre, near Chahardangeh just west of Tehran. The police force occurred 12 April when troops smashed factory gates and climbed walls to get at strikers. 
 
Some 100 workers were brutalised with electric batons, and hauled off in police buses to incarceration, reportedly at Ahmad Abaad Mostofi police station. For the first 36 hours of detention, workers&rsquo; families had no news on those who were arrested.
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&nbsp; 
Eventually, most of the 100 were released conditionally, but only after police interrogated them to determine the strike&rsquo;s leaders. Reports say that at least ten are still being held, as are six firefighters who refused to disperse the strikers with hot-water cannons. 
 
Workers at the factory employing 1,200 took strike action on 9 April because of non-payment of wages. They had not been paid since autumn 2007, with the exception of one month&rsquo;s pay plus a US$120 New Year&rsquo;s bonus. 
 
Kian Tyre was established in 1958 as a joint venture with the American company B.F. Goodrich. In 1979, the enterprise became part of state-owned National Iranian Industries, and in 1994 it was sold to private Iranian owners. The plant had previously gone under the name Alborz Tire Mfg. Co.

ICEM Protests Iran’s Brutal Use of Force to Break Up Tyre Strike

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Following a precedent-setting master labour agreement achieved last year between ICEM affiliate United Steelworkers (USW) and International Paper Co. covering workers at 14 US pulp and paper mills, 2,800 USW members at paper converting plants of the US-based firm ratified a similar four-year agreement late in April.
&quot;Never before have we had a single agreement covering so many converter locations,&quot; said USW President Leo Gerard. Added USW Vice President Jon Geenen, who heads the union's paper industry bargaining, &quot;Our members' ratification of this new master agreement is an indicator of the qaulity of the agreement and a sign of progress in our relationship with International Paper.&quot;
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USW President Leo Gerard
The agreement covers workers at 32 paper converting facilities in 18 US states.
Wages will increase 8% over the term, and the pension scheme will see increases throughout the contract's four years. The new agreement contains a successorship clause, a vital contractual measure that ensures that if the company sells any one facility, the new owner must, as part of the sale agreement, retain all workers, recognise the USW as bargaining representative, and honour the collective agreement.
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Also contained in the master pact is a pledge by International Paper that it will not change the medical insurance plan, unless the union agrees to it. Local issues and non-economic bargaining will continue to be handled at local branch level bargaining tables, and local unions will still retain their own contract expiration dates.
Separately, in another matter involving International paper in the US, an explosion at a company pulp and paper mill in the state of Mississippi killed one contract worker, and seriously injured four others. A total of 17 contract workers were injured in the 3 May blast of a recovery boiler at the company's Vicksburg mill. The explostion occurred when a boiler inside the pulp mill was restarted following a maintenance shutdown.
&nbsp;

USW’s Converting Workers at International Paper Ratify Master Contract

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Last week proved to be a deadly for South African mining company Gold Fields Ltd. Fourteen miners were killed, including nine on 1 May at the firm&rsquo;s South Deep Mine near Randfontein, in the northeast province of Gauteng. 
 
Those nine were killed in an inexcusable safety breach that saw a chain attached to an elevator cage snap, causing death when the cage plummeted 60 metres inside a mine shaft. Eight of the nine were contract workers, including one woman. Those eight were employed by the subcontracting firm, Murray and Roberts.
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Two days earlier, on 29 April, three miners were killed and one seriously injured, this time inside another shaft of the South Deep complex. They were killed and injured by a rock fall caused by a seismic event. Also on a same day, a driller&rsquo;s assistant employed by Gold Fields was killed at the Twin Shafts mine from a rock slide. 
 
The week&rsquo;s spate of accidents caused South Africa&rsquo;s second largest gold producer to suspend mining operations in the country, a move mandated by the Department of Energy and Minerals in order to secure a full review of safety procedures. 
 
National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) General Secretary Frans Baleni said branch unions at Gold Fields will observe a full day of mourning over the tragedies. NUM Regional Chairperson Thamsanqa Joko said the company is not doing enough to protect workers. &ldquo;We feel that more should have been done to improve safety conditions,&rdquo; he said in a South African newspaper.
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&nbsp;NUM General Secretary Frans Baleni 
 

And the country&rsquo;s Minister of Minerals and Energy, Buyelwa Sonjica, who met with NUM leaders and management at South Deep following the elevator collapse, was sharp with her criticism of the company. &ldquo;I see it as gross negligence, which can only be due to lack of maintenance.&rdquo; She called it &ldquo;inexcusable&rdquo; and promised those responsible will be held accountable, even if it means prosecution. 
 
Following the near tragedy of 3,200 miners who were trapped at Harmony Gold&rsquo;s Elandsrand Mine last October, the South Africa government ordered a full safety audit of all the country&rsquo;s mines. That audit is expected to be complete by the end of May 2008.

14 Killed in Gold Fields’ South African Mines Last Week

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Negotiations today in Baku, Azerbaijan, between ICEM affiliate Oil and Gas Industry Workers&rsquo; of Azerbaijan (OGWUA), Agip Azerbaijan BV, and Keppel FELS of Singapore will attempt to resolve issues surrounding a strike by 1,000 contractors of Agip that occurred on Wednesday, 11 June.
Agip, a subsidiary of Italy-based Eni, is constructing offshore oil rigs at Caspian Shipyards Co. Ltd., owned and operated by Keppel.
The contractors, mostly Azeri citizens, seek salaries that match those paid foreign workers and corrections to their labour agreements, according to OGWUA Chairman Jahangir Aliyev. The workers also seek improvements in food allowances, and they seek to have their salaries paid in the national currency of Azerbaijan.
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OGWUA Chairman Jahangir Aliyev
The ICEM supports the demands made by the workers, and states that they made the correct decision in turning to OGWUA for help in negotiations.
In late 2005, workers constructing rigs for US-based McDermott International struck for union recognition, and OGWUA stepped in to win important gains. Since, the union which once only represented workers of Azeri state company Socar, has aptly represented 20,000 oil and gas workers in the western Caspian region, workers employed by many oil and gas service companies.

Contract Workers of Agip in the Caspian Strike for Equal Pay

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&nbsp;The European Mine, Chemical, Energy Federation (EMCEF) conducted its Fourth Congress 11-13 June in Prague, Czech Republic. The Congress was attended by over 300 delegates from 29 countries, with participants re-electing President Hubertus Schmoldt and Reinhard Reibsch as General Secretary. 

Schmoldt is the President of ICEM and EMCEF affiliate IGBCE of Germany. Reibsch has served as head of the European federation since the year 2000.
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In his keynote speech, Schmoldt stressed that the interests of European workers cannot fall victim to unbridled market forces. &ldquo;We must ensure that European trade unions move a social dimension to the center of all European policy,&rdquo; he said. 

Schmoldt also emphasized the need for close cooperation and collaboration between European trade union federations in the chemicals, energy, mining, metals, leathers, and textile sectors. EMCEF&rsquo;s General Assembly adopted such a resolution in 2006 in Istanbul, Turkey. 

The Congress heard thorough reports on the Secretariat, as well from EMCEF&rsquo;s four standing committees &ndash; Collective Bargaining, Works Councils, Industrial Relations (including environment, health and safety), and Social Dialogue. 
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Main speakers included John Monks, Secretary General for the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), and Manfred Warda, General Secretary of ICEM, who attended the EMCEF Congress with ICEM President Senzeni Zokwana.
Warda credited the many European trade unions, which play such vital roles in creating global solidarity with ICEM affiliates worldwide. &ldquo;For us in ICEM, the link with EMCEF is of the highest value and of top priority,&rdquo; said Warda. &ldquo;A united, strong and successful EMCEF is an essential base for all that ICEM does.&rdquo; 

The 2.5-million-member EMCEF was created in 1996 with the merger of separate chemicals and mining federations. The federation now has 128 affiliated unions in 35 countries.

EMCEF Congress Concludes in Prague with Re-election of Schmoldt and Reibsch

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The aftermath of the early morning, 8 June, coal mine explosion inside the Karl Marx Mine near Yenakiyevo in the Ukraine is remarkable in that only 12 miners perished. The blast was so powerful that it ripped cable couplings on an elevator shaft to metal shreds, causing sparks, thus enhancing the explosion. 
 
The elevator, with nine miners aboard, plummeted down a mine shaft. Those nine and another three miners, who were buried by debris, died. Twenty-four miners were rescued some 36 hours after the explosion. The explosion was so potent that it injured five workers on the surface. 
 
The mine, owned by the state company Ordzhonikidzevuhillia, is a small producer of anthracite coal, with production of only 250 tonnes per day. It is also a high-cost operation. Had the mine been a major producer, meaning hundreds more miners would have been at work, the death toll would have been much higher.
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The government&rsquo;s State Committee of Health and Safety at Work, as well as a Mining Oversight Committee, has put the blame on management. They said mining at this colliery, 40 kilometres east of the regional capital of Donetsk, had been banned two days earlier due to high methane levels. 
 
In fact, according to ICEM affiliate Coal Mining Workers&rsquo; Union of Ukraine (PRUPU), production had officially stopped, but a skip hoist was in use at the time of the explosion, lifting some 700 tonnes of coal to the surface. The coal had already been mined and was in storage at one of the colliery&rsquo;s levels. 
 
Regarding overall safety, the Karl Marx Mine should not have been in operation. But it should be noted that there are few employment opportunities in this area of the central Donbass region, and coal mining provides livelihoods for thousands of families. The 8 June explosion at Yenakiyevo cries out for state-of-the-art mining technology, enhanced safety methods, as well as other, sustainable forms of employment for the region&rsquo;s citizens. 
 
Early Saturday, 14 June, in the community of Gorlovka, Ukraine, just 20 kilometres from Yenakiyevo, 15 miners were hospitalized with sulfur poisoning. The accident occurred when a sulfuric acid cloud was released from a chemical operation adjacent to a coal mine. The factory is owned by JSC Concern Stirol, a make of chemicals and fertilizers. The incident happened when the chemicals producer was re-start of a sulfuric acid plant.

12 Dead, 24 Rescued in Last Week’s Coal Mine Explosion in Eastern Ukraine

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ICEM Turkish affiliate Kristal-İş and the country&rsquo;s Glass, Cement, and Soil Industry Employers&rsquo; Association came to terms on a 2008-2009 sector-wide collective agreement, covering 6,000 glass workers. The settlement occurred on 2 June, a day prior to the strike date set by the union&rsquo;s Executive Committee. 
 
The new contract gives workers a 13% pay increase in 2008, with a 2009 wage hike to equal the Turkish rate of inflation in 2008. Additionally, all social benefits will be adjusted upward, ranging from 15% to 66%.
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The new wage adjustment means the base average salaries for glass workers in Turkey rises to YTL 1,678-per-month, or &euro;890 or US$1,364. Kristal-İş also won a new wage system in which the minimum salary for new hires was dramatically improved. 
 
The new two-year labour agreement covers workers at 11 plant sites operated by glassware companies Paşabah&ccedil;e, Trakya Cam, Anadolu Cam, and Cam Elyaf. All are entities of the Siscam Group, the fast-growing glasswares multinational that has factories in Turkey, Bulgaria, Russia, and Georgia. 
 
The Kristal-İş Executive Committee decided on 9 May to take strike action and later in May, set a 3 June date for a sector-wide glass strike.

Turkish Glass Workers Reach Two-year Accord on Eve of Strike

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A 14-day tyre strike by 4,000 members of ICEM affiliate Lastik-İş in Turkey ended Friday night, 13 June, and workers at three multinational rubber companies were back on their jobs for the afternoon shift on 14 June. 
 
The strike ended when a two-year accord was reached between the union and the three employers, who jointly represent the tyre industry in talks. The companies include Goodyear Tire &amp; Rubber Co., Bridgestone Brisa Sabanci, and Pirelli.
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The 13 June bargaining was the first set of negotiations since the strike began on 31 May. Talks first began on a renewal labour agreement for 2008-2009 at the four tyre factories in September 2007. 
 
The two sides agreed to a 14% pay increase for the year 2008, and an increase equaling the Turkish rate of inflation for 2009. In 2007, the Turkish rate of inflation was 8.39% and is expected to rise above that this year. Lastik-İş had sought a 12% wage hike for the first six months of 2008, with increases matching the inflation rate in each six-month period through 2009. 
 
All levels of social benefits will also increase by the inflation rate over the life of the labour agreement. The ICEM considers the 2008-2009 Turkish rubber agreement a major achievement, considering wage and social benefit gains were stymied in the late 1990s and early years of this decade due to strike bans imposed by the Turkish government.
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Lastik-İş President Abdullah Karacan
&ldquo;We didn&rsquo;t make any concessions, we preserved our contractual and work-rule provisions, and we posted substantial economic gains,&rdquo; stated Lastik-İş President Abdullah Karacan. &ldquo;The decisiveness of our union members at these four factories was effective and ultimately proved successful in bargaining.&rdquo; 
 
The four tyre plants, which saw workers return to work at 16h00 on 14 June, include: two of US-based Goodyear in Izmit and Adapazari, and one each operated by Bridgestone Brisa Sabanci, a joint venture between Japan-based Bridgestone and the Turkish Sabanci Group, and by Italian-based Pirelli. Both of the latter two are located in the city of Izmit.

Turkey’s 14-Day Rubber Strike Ends with 14% First year Wage Gain

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A hunger strike inside one of the bauxite mines of the world&rsquo;s largest aluminium producer &ndash; United Company RusAl &ndash; again occurred last week, following the company&rsquo;s refusal to engage in meaningful talks with the Miners&rsquo; Independent Trade Union of Russia. 
 
A ten-day strike at the mine in the Sverdlovsk Region of the North Ural Mountains ended on 4 April after RusAl&rsquo;s Sevuralboksitruda (SUBR) subsidiary pledged to begin earnest talks with the union. That dispute was reported by the ICEM on 7 April.
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On 13 April, the strike flared up again, when 75 miners resumed the hunger strike inside the Krasnaya Shapochka, or Little Red Riding Hood Mine. The ICEM affiliate, Russian Trade Union of Metal Workers in Nickel, Cobalt, and Platinoids Industries, asked the ICEM to intervene on behalf of the Miners&rsquo; Independent Trade Union. A letter was then dispatched to SUBR President and General Manager Alexander Bulygin. 
 
The 40 miners who remained inside the mine at week&rsquo;s end surfaced following a 19 April meeting of 3,500 miners on the grounds of the company&rsquo;s Kalyinskaya mine. The meeting produced a set of 16 demands that are now being passed to management.

Russian Bauxite Strike Again Flares, Then Ends at RusAl’s Krasnaya Shapochka Mine

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Strikes and protests by contract workers in Chile have shut over one-half of production at the world&rsquo;s largest copper producer, Codelco. The strikes and road blockades began on 16 April and intensified over the weekend as access to the state-run company&rsquo;s second largest mine, El Tiniente, was blocked. 
 
Contract workers, some 28,000 in number that are employed by a multitude of companies providing food, transportation, and other services to Codelco&rsquo;s five mines in northern and southern Chile, are firmly behind their union, Confederaci&oacute;n de Trabajadores del Cobre (CTC), in demands that Codelco implement the agreed upon terms that ended a 37-day strike by workers last summer.
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The strike appears to have the support of the main miners&rsquo; union, Federaci&oacute;n de Trabajadores del Cobre (FTC), which has demanded that Codelco and the government halt all mining until the total security of all miners can be assured. Codelco employs about 15,000 full-time miners. 
 
At El Tiniente, the world&rsquo;s largest underground copper mine south of the capital city of Santiago, contract workers blocked roads beginning Friday evening, 18 April, preventing miners from entering the mine for two work turns. Reportedly, mining resumed yesterday afternoon. 
 
Since 16 April, copper mining and processing has been completely closed at Codelco&rsquo;s Andina and El Salvador mines in the north of the country due to road blockades. The industrial actions are the third set of strikes by contract workers of Codelco since January 2006, when they launched a 17-day strike. This round of action comes shortly after Codelco negotiated wage increases for miners of FTC and other mining unions.
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The strikes by CTC do have the support of the main national labour centre, the Central Unitaria de Trabajadores de Chile (CUT). At a forum in Santiago late last week, CUT President Arturo Mart&iacute;nez said it is Codelco and the government&rsquo;s responsibility to negotiate directly with the contract workers. He added that private companies serving Codelco take advantage of legal loopholes to avoid negotiating with the CTC, or other workers&rsquo; representatives. 
 
Codelco has maintained throughout &ndash; including again last week &ndash; that it is not responsible for negotiating with workers of subcontracting firms.

Contract Workers Again Strike Codelco’s Copper Mines in Chile for Fulfilment of Terms

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