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Metalliliitto, Finland&rsquo;s Metalworkers&rsquo; Union, has reached a tentative agreement with KMW Engineering, preventing for now a blockade on construction of the nuclear power reactor Olkiluoto III. On 13 April, the Polish air-conditioning subcontractor agreed to compensate workers for shortfalls in pay required under the Finnish labour standards. 
 
Under the agreement, KMW Engineering did give an accounting that showed arrears in Sunday and overtime pay. It agreed to compensate back wages and pledged to uphold Finnish terms of employment in the future. It also agreed to correct its deficient safety and health standards on the 1.6 gigawatt (1,600 megawatt) nuclear plant.
&nbsp;<img alt="" src="" width="337" height="190" />
Construction of Olkiluoto III 
Photo: YLE/Termonen Tapio&nbsp; 

Metalliliitto had given the subcontractor until 15 April to comply with Finnish social standards, or face a construction-wide blockade that would have halted all work on Finland&rsquo;s fifth nuclear reactor. (See <a href="http:// /en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4343-Finland’s-Metalworkers-close-in-on-Blockade-of-Nuclear-Plant-Work">ICEM report</a> from 28 March.) A Metalworkers&rsquo; blockade had endorsement and would have been honoured by Finland&rsquo;s Construction Trades Union, the Electrical Workers&rsquo; Union, and Proliitto, the union for salaried workers of Finland. 
 
A regional state labour agency of Finland&rsquo;s South-West found in late March that KMW did not keep overtime records as required under the working hours act. It also determined that payment of wages for Sunday and overtime work varied. Failure to comply could have brought state sanctions to the nuclear construction site, which would have affected other contractors. 
 
Metalliliitto Compliance Officer Jyrki Virtanen said the union will now fully monitor future social conduct by KMW Engineering. The Olkiluoto III nuclear power station is owned by private-sector energy concern Teollisuuden Voima Oy (TVO), and has as general contractor Areva of France. Olkiluoto III, a &euro;3.95 billion project that is now &euro;1.5 billion over budget, is the biggest investment in the history of Finnish industry.

Polish Engineering Firm Concedes to Finland’s Metalliliitto at Nuclear Plant

The International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers&rsquo; Union (ICEM), a Geneva, Switzerland-based global union federation represented rubber workers across the world, announced today that it would lend its full support to the National Union of Metalworkers&rsquo; of South Africa (NUMSA) in its fight to keep Bridgestone South Africa compelled to wage terms negotiated in the New Tyre Manufacturing Employers&rsquo; Industry Association (NTMEIA). 
 
South African management of the Japanese-based company locked out 1,200 members of NUMSA at two former Firestone tyre producing plants, Brits and Port Elizabeth, on 22 March. At issue is Bridgestone South Africa&rsquo;s defiance of a private&nbsp;arbitrator's award that the tyre manufacturer is bound to certain wage terms contained in a three-year collective agreement that was negotiated between NUMSA and NTMEIA that ended a 30-day strike against four tyre producers on 29 September 2010. 
 
In a 31 March letter to Bridgestone South Africa CEO Kenji Shoda, ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda said, &ldquo;Please know that the current situation in Brits and Port Elizabeth will be communicated to all Bridgestone facilities throughout the world and if your current labour relations conduct is not halted, we will begin to mobilise within these facilities.&rdquo; 
 
The ICEM will support NUMSA as it ramps up a campaign against Bridgestone inside South Africa. And it will take that campaign into Bridgestone tyre plants from Japan and throughout Asia, to Europe and in North and South America. The ICEM is adamant that wage rates negotiated by the NTMEIA for 4,000 other rubber workers at Continental, Goodyear, and Apollo-Dunlop factories in South Africa also be instituted at Bridgestone&rsquo;s two factories. 
 
The ICEM is the global union federation for 20 million workers in the energy, chemical, rubber, mining, and other industrial sectors. It is composed of 467 trade unions in 132 countries. 
 
For further information, contact ICEM Information Officer Dick Blin, <a href="mailto:dick.blin@icem.org">dick.blin@icem.org</a>, +41 22 304 1842, +41 79 734 8994.

Global Union Federation Supports Besieged Tyre Workers in South Africa

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Labour strife broke out late last week at Kumho tyre plants Korea. Members of the Kumho Tyre Workers&rsquo; Union, affiliated to the Korean Metal Workers&rsquo; Union (KMWU) and the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), staged a one-day warning strike on 25 March at two of three Kumho plants in Korea &ndash; Gwungju and Gokseong. 
 
Management immediately retaliated that day and on 26 March with a lockout. When some 3,400 workers at the two plants in southwestern Korea tried to return to their jobs, Kumho managers insisted they sign individual agreements pledging not to strike. 
 
The KMWU branch unit issued a statement calling on Kumho to negotiate over a set of disputed issues, and said, &ldquo;The company forced union workers to confirm that they would not take part in (further) strikes.&rdquo; The Kumho Tyre Workers&rsquo; Union is strongly encouraging workers not to sign the statement and not to return to work while the lockout is in force. 
<img src="" width="252" height="189" alt="" />
Kumho&rsquo;s Gwungju Tyre Plant, 25 March
By a 72% vote count, rubber workers on 10 March voted to launch the warning strike. Central among issues is management&rsquo;s refusal to negotiate paid time-off inside the factories for KMWU branch leaders to handle grievances and perform other union business. The union also seeks labour-management dialogue in order to cut excessive noise pollution in the factories, and wants revisions to severance packages. 
 
Kumho, a subsidiary of the Kumho Asiana Group, has shed a great number of jobs over the past two years due to a heavy debt burden and shifting of work to start-up plants in China. Earlier last week, Kumho was hit by a massive recall of tyres made in those Chinese plants because recycled content exceeded the allowable requirements. 
 
Kumho is Korea&rsquo;s second largest tyre manufacturer and the world&rsquo;s tenth biggest. Workers at the company&rsquo;s third tyre plant in Korea, in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi province, where the KMWU also represents staff, are not affected by the current labour strife.

Warning Strike Leads to Lockout at Kumho Tyre Factories in Korea

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The United Steelworkers (USW) in North America has created a Unity Council around the Evraz Group, the world&rsquo;s tenth largest steel producer that is controlled by holding companies connected to Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich. The steelworkers&rsquo; network was formed last week at meetings in the US, and initially will include USW local unions representing 2,600 workers in the western US and western Canada. 
 
The Unity Council is expected to expand globally with the help of ICEM and its coal-mining affiliate in Russia, trade unions in South Africa, and the assistance of the International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF) and its affiliates at steel and related mills in Russia, Ukraine, Italy, and the Czech Republic. The company is also expanding in Kazakhstan. 
<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="132" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <img alt="" src="" width="100" height="132" />
Steve Hunt, Robert LaVenture
Formation of the council &ldquo;is an important step in bringing workers together across borders to share information, strategies, and plans with respect to a common employer,&rdquo; said Unity Council Chairman and USW Region 12 Director Robert LaVenture. &ldquo;Workers across international boundaries know that they need to work together to balance our interests against powerful global companies like Evraz.&rdquo; 
 
The USW represents workers at steel pipe and tubing mills in Pueblo, Colorado, and in Calgary, Alberta, and Regina, Saskatchewan. 
 
&ldquo;Ultimately, we would like to see a worldwide group of Evraz workers that is able to meet regularly and work to ensure that the company&rsquo;s workforce, regardless of country or nationality, is treated fairly and has strong union representation,&rdquo; added USW Western Canadian Region Director Steve Hunt. 
 
Luxembourg-based Evraz has nine steel mills, five iron ore operations, several coal deposits, and other mine and mill operations, including Highveld Steel and Vanadium in South Africa. 
 
The ICEM&rsquo;s familiarity with Evraz centres on the company&rsquo;s major stakes in the Russian coking coal mines of Yuzhkuzbassugol and Raspadskaya, the latter one which saw 90 miners perish in a methane gas blast in May 2010. At Yuzhkuzbassugol, a similar explosion killed miners of ICEM affiliate Russian Independent Coal Miners&rsquo; Union (ROSUGLEPROF) in 2007. (See the <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/3781-Russian-Mine-Disaster-Restates-Immediacy-for-ILO-Convention-176 ">2010 ICEM report</a> and the <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/2273-Another-Coal-Mine-Blast-in-Russia’s-Kuzbass-Kills-39-Miners ">2007 ICEM report</a>.)

Steelworkers Form ‘Unity Council’ for Evraz Metal, Mine Workers

<img src="" width="100" height="39" alt="" />
From: International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation 
 
The 50,000 workers, students and human and labour rights activists who took part in the February Global Days of Action are gearing up for another round of mass mobilizations to fight proposed labour legislation that further strips Mexican workers of the most basic internationally recognized labour rights. 
 
News of the proposed <a href="http://www.imfmetal.org/index.cfm?c=26016&amp;l=2">regressive reforms</a> comes just weeks after unions from more than 40 countries participated in an active week of massive rallies, marches and high-level government meetings to shine a light on the Mexican government's failure to uphold international commitments to respect basic labour rights and worker protections. 
 
The proposed legislation which greatly undermines freedom of association, job security, and work conditions, fails to include any of the many changes to Mexican labour legislation that have been repeatedly called for by the ILO Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations and more recently, on 23 March, the <a href="http://www.ilo.org/gb/GBSessions/lang--en/docName--WCMS_153533/index.htm">359th Report</a> of the ILO Committee on Freedom of Association, which contains the International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation&rsquo;s (IMF) Case No. 2694 that has the Committee&rsquo;s conclusions and instructions to the Mexican government, pages 197-243. 
 
In Mexico, preparations at the national level are underway. Public events planned in Mexico include: 
&bull; A rally that was held on March 24 at 1pm; 
&bull; A forum on March 30 to debate regressive nature of reform and strategies for resistance and change; 
&bull; Educational material development and strategic meetings are being held throughout the week. 
 
To join the campaign, the IMF is urging affiliates and others to send letters to their local Mexican embassy or consulate or government representative, especially those individuals who took meetings with union groups during the February Global Days of Action. See <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/IMF-ltr-Mexico-Labor-Law-Reform.pdf ">IMF's letter</a> here to serve as model.

Proposed Mexican Labour Law Reform Opposed; Action Needed

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Codelco, the state-owned mining company of Chile and world&rsquo;s largest copper producer, reached early terms with three of its five mining unions at El Teniente in Region VI ten days ago. The 40-month agreement will take effect on 1 July 2011 and will cover 2,500 of El Teniente&rsquo;s 4,000 miners. 
 
The branches of Federaci&oacute;n de Trabajadores del Cobre (FTC) that agreed to terms were Sindicato No. 5, Sindicato No. 7, and Sindicato de Trabajadores Caletones. One of the two other branches rejected the proposal, while the other was not included in bargaining. 
 
The package is expected to be considered by those mineworker trade union branches in the coming days. 
 
The collective agreement includes a 3.85% wage increase on 1 July and a CLP 12.3 million (&euro;17,680, US$25,324) bonus, which matches the bonus paid miners at other Codelco divisions in 2010. It also includes an optional loan of CLP 3 million, and a 10% increase in the annual bonus that comes on Chile&rsquo;s national day, 18 September.
<img alt="" src="" width="250" height="115" />
El Teniente is an underground mine that includes some 2,400 kilometres of shafts. It includes an ore processing operation producing molybdenum, and its output of copper lingots and copper anodes is 404,000 tonnes per year. In 2010, it accounted for 27.2% of Codelco&rsquo;s US$5.8 billion profit. 
 
At another Codelco copper operation, Chuquicamata, part of the El Norte division, FTC branches and management met 12 April to discuss staffing requirements. The Chuquicamata mine recently shed a number of jobs due to union-negotiated early retirements as the operation prepares for a conversion from an open-cast mine to an underground one. 
 
FTC Sindicato No. 1 Vice President H&eacute;ctor Roco said the union, and three other FTC branches at Chuquicamata, want workers to be given the opportunity to transfer to areas where retirements have lowered job rolls, and they also want a say in the planning of the transition to underground mining. 
 
Codelco employs 17,000 miners in Chile at five divisions: El Norte, Salvador, Andina, El Teniente, and Ventaras.

Early Accord Comes to One of Codelco’s Copper Mines in Chile

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Metalliliitto, Finland&rsquo;s Metalworkers&rsquo; Union, has reached a tentative agreement with KMW Engineering, preventing for now a blockade on construction of the nuclear power reactor Olkiluoto III. On 13 April, the Polish air-conditioning subcontractor agreed to compensate workers for shortfalls in pay required under Finnish labour standards. 
 
Under the agreement, KMW Engineering did give an accounting that showed arrears in Sunday and overtime pay. It agreed to compensate back wages and pledged to uphold Finnish terms of employment in the future. It also agreed to correct its deficient safety and health standards on the 1.6 gigawatt (1,600 megawatt) nuclear plant.
<img alt="" src="" width="337" height="190" />
Construction of Olkiluoto III 
Photo: YLE/Termonen Tapio&nbsp; 
&nbsp;
Metalliliitto had given the subcontractor until 15 April to comply with Finnish social standards, or face a construction-wide blockade that would have halted all work on Finland&rsquo;s fifth nuclear reactor. (See <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4343-Finland’s-Metalworkers-close-in-on-Blockade-of-Nuclear-Plant-Work">ICEM report</a> from 28 March.) A Metalworkers&rsquo; blockade had endorsement and would have been honoured by Finland&rsquo;s Construction Trades Union, the Electrical Workers&rsquo; Union, and Proliitto, the union for salaried workers of Finland. 
 
A regional state labour agency of Finland&rsquo;s South-West found in late March that KMW did not keep overtime records as required under the working hours act. It also determined that payment of wages for Sunday and overtime work varied. Failure to comply could have brought state sanctions to the nuclear construction site, which would have affected other contractors. 
 
Metalliliitto Compliance Officer Jyrki Virtanen said the union will now fully monitor future social conduct by KMW Engineering. The Olkiluoto III nuclear power station is owned by private-sector energy concern Teollisuuden Voima Oy (TVO), and has as general contractor Areva of France. Olkiluoto III, a &euro;3.95 billion project that is now &euro;1.5 billion over budget, is the biggest investment in the history of Finnish industry.

Finnish Metalworkers, Polish Firm Agree on Backpay at Nuclear Plant

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The ICEM has joined the Swiss union Unia in a community campaign to save 550 paper mill jobs. Sappi, a global leader in the manufacture of coated papers, announced on 31 March that it intends to close its Biberist graphic papers mill, an asset it purchased late in 2008 along with three other European printing and writing papers mills from M-real. 
Unia, with membership numbering only one-tenth of the total Biberist workforce, has taken the lead to preserve jobs. Workers, managers, mill suppliers, and area businesses of Canton Soleure have joined the effort. Sappi&rsquo;s European Works Council (EWC) also has argued for retaining production. A <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/Sappi%20Fine%20Paper%20Europe.pdf">Sappi EWC resolution</a>&nbsp;can be found here.
<img alt="" src="" width="265" height="149" />
&nbsp;Biberist: A Community United to Save Jobs
Unia held a manifestation in Biberist on 16 March that was attended by hundreds of area residents. The ICEM generated some 15 letters from pulp and paper trade unions around the globe supporting Biberist workers and managers who are in the fight to keep the mill open. Those letters were read at the rally. 
Workers also placed a vivid reminder, namely heavy paper rolls, at a round-about in Biberist to remind the public of what&rsquo;s at stake. A German-language <a href="http://www.papierfabrik-biberist.ch">special website for the workers&rsquo; campaign</a> can be found here.
<img alt="" src="" width="234" height="152" />
20,000 Motorists Daily Will Get a Stark Reminder
Unia&rsquo;s campaign asks Sappi to do one of three things, with a priority being the first: maintain operations because production, productivity and sales have been buoyant since Sappi bought the mill; re-think the decision to shutter the mill completely, and sell it to an enterprise that will operate it; if layoffs occur, ensure that superior severance is paid, and job re-training and other social criteria are met to the fullest. 
Sappi will begin consultations with workers&rsquo; representatives in mid-May, with the company scheduling a first set of layoffs as early as late May. The mill could close by late summer. 
In a 14 April letter to Unia Co-Presidents Renzo Ambrosetti and Andreas Rieger, General Secretary Manfred Warda said: ICEM finds it &ldquo;disgraceful that barely two years after Sappi bought four European graphical paper mills of M-real, they intend to close down the second one. To buy enterprises with the intent to shutter them in order to limit competition and maintain high pricing on a product grade is truly despicable.&rdquo;
<img alt="" src="" width="268" height="151" />
Unia Manifestation on 16 April&nbsp;in Biberist
The Global Union Federation also intervened at a Sappi EWC meeting on 20 April that was held in Maastricht, Netherlands, and that <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/ICEMletters/33.ICEM.SAPPI.UNIA.18April.pdf">ICEM message</a> can be found in English here. At that meeting, Biberist was the main topic of discussion, with the EWC expressing dismay over Sappi&rsquo;s decision. 
The EWC argued that Sappi must try to find other paper product grades for manufacture from Biberist, or find a buyer for the mill. Sappi Europe CEO Berry Wiersum said if a good solution can be found, the company might re-consider. 
The EWC also stressed the importance of a substantial redundancy package for workers and if one is not presented, another special meeting of the EWC would be convened. The company responded that such a plan would be done in accord with Swiss law.

ICEM Joins Swiss Workers’ Campaign to Keep Sappi Paper Mill Open

ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin - No. 67, April 2011

<img src="" width="100" height="39" alt="" />
Neil Reimer, National Director Emeritus of the Canada&rsquo;s Energy and Chemical Workers&rsquo; Union (ECWU) &ndash; one of the Communications, Energy, Paperworkers (CEP) Union&rsquo;s founding unions &ndash; passed away on 30 March in Edmonton, Alberta. He was 89. 
 
Neil Reimer has been described as a &quot;giant of the labour movement,&quot; and surely no one could argue with that description. 
 
For nearly 70 years, Reimer was a strong and dedicated advocate of workers&rsquo; issues. Beginning his career in 1942 as an organizer for the Oil Workers International Union (OWIU) while working at Consumers Co-operative refinery in Regina, Saskatchewan, he played a major role in organising his first energy workers&rsquo; union there. He 1951, he moved to Edmonton, where he organised oil and chemicals plants. He was also mayor of Edmonton. 
 
He helped found the New Democratic Party (NDP) of Canada in 1961, and was elected the first leader of NDP&rsquo;s Alberta branch in 1963. 
<img src="" width="133" height="190" alt="" />
Neil Reimer
He went on to become leader of the Canadian district of the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers International Union (OCAW), and ultimately founder of the independent Canadian union, the ECWU. 
 
His retirement from this position in 1984 only slowed him some, as he remained active in politics and social justice movements until his death. 
 
Canadian trade unionists and social leaders knew him as a &ldquo;visionary.&rdquo; He did not simply look toward the future, he tried to build it according to the principles he believed in. Those principles included decency, respect, and dignity for workers and their families. 
 
He understood the need to organize and he believed in the independence of the Canadian labour movement. He believed that Canada should control its own natural resources &ndash; especially energy resources &ndash; for the benefit of Canadians. Under his direction, some of the most progressive union policies of the day were produced on topics from energy and the environment, to working hours to national collective agreements, to health and safety. 
 
Neil played a big role inside the ICEM. He was a personal friend of many ICEM elected representatives and staff officers. He was an influential member of the then ICEF Executive Committee up until his retirement, and many of his ideas live on in ICEM policies. 
 
Neil led a long and active life and his accomplishments helped make the world a better place. The Canadian labour movement, the CEP, the ICEM, and indeed all workers have much to thank Neil Reimer for. He will be well remembered and sadly missed.

Canadian Energy Union Stalwart, Neil Reimer, Dies at Age 89

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