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<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100" height="39" alt=""/>
The ICEM Turkish affiliate ÇIMSE-İş, the Cement, Ceramics, Pottery and Glass Industry Workers’ Union, announced the successful conclusion of a sector-wide labour agreement in the cement industry for 5,800 workers at 45 cement plants. 
 
The new two-year collective agreement will run from 1 January 2011 to 31 December 2012 and averts a strike called by the union’s presidential committee on 2 June. The agreement calls for a 7% increase in salaries plus an added YTL 25, as well as an increase in social benefits ranging from 7.6% to 27.81%. ÇIMSE-İş also managed to achieve a 100% extra payment for work performed on weekends. 
<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1106.cimse is bargaining.png" width="250" height="112" alt=""/>
The union negotiated the agreement with the Cement Industry Employers’ Federation (CEIS) for which it had been bargaining with since 7 January. 
 
ÇIMSE-İş also reported that it had concluded talks in the ceramics industry, which it had been negotiating with the Soil Industry Employers’ Association of Turkey. The employers grouping covers such Turkish companies as Eczacıbaşı Yapı Gereçleri Sanayi ve Ticaret AŞ, Vitra Karo Sanayi AŞ, Matel Hammadde (Serel Seramik) Sanayi ve Ticaret AŞ, Tütk Ytong Sanayi AŞ, Ege Seramik Sanayi ve Ticaret AŞ, and Ege Vitrifiye Sağlık Gereçleri Sanayi ve Ticaret AŞ. 
 
This agreement covers 3,200 workers and is union members and is also valid from 1 January 2011 to 31 December 2012. Wages will increase by 7% with an added YTL 30, while social benefit increases will average about 20%. 
 
“The ICEM salutes the achievement of ÇIMSE-İş,” said General Secretary Manfred Warda. “After a severe period in the materials industries brought on by the financial crisis, these two sector-wide agreements bring important improvements to Turkish workers and serve as excellent examples of mature industrial relations and social dialogue.”

Cement Agreement Reached in Turkey, Strike Averted

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Delegates to the 26th Congress of ICEM Turkish affiliate Lastik-İş, the Rubber, Chemical, Petroleum Workers’ Union belonging to DISK national labour centre, unanimously re-elected Abdullah Karacan as President for the upcoming four-year period. The Congress was held from 18-19 June in Istanbul, with 300 delegates and 150 guests attending, including ICEM Director of Industry and Corporate Affairs Kemal Özkan and European Mine, Chemical, Energy Federation (EMCEF) Political Secretary Sylvain Lefebvre. 
 
The Congress also welcomed two prominent ex-officials of DISK, former President Süleyman Çelebi and former General Secretary Musa Çam, who were elected to the Turkey National Assembly as deputies during recent 12 June general elections. 
 
The Congress opened with a 40-minute documentary on 62-year-old Lastik-İş and then discussion occurred on activities of the union over the last four years with the challenges and successes. 
<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1106.lastik is exco.png" width="214" height="160" alt=""/>
Lastik-İş Executive Committee, from left, Muharrem Özen, Alaaddin Sarı, Abdullah Karacan, İhsan Malkoç, Nejdet Ulusoy
“The Turkish trade union movement has been facing very difficult changes in terms of trade union rights and freedoms and as a result, the number of workers covered by collective agreements has dropped below 700,000 across the entire country,” said Karacan in his opening address. “Turkey does not deserve this picture and we need to reverse the trend.” 
 
Abdullah Karacan added, “According to the international statistics, Turkey, together with Mexico and Chile, are the top countries globally where income equality is the worst.” 
 
Turkey’s poor record on health and safety was also underscored, with statistics revealing that three workers are killed on average each day in work-related accidents. Lastik-İş delegates also voiced their intense struggle to limit precarious employment which shows a rising trend. The Congress applauded the Executive Committee with its performance in recruiting new members in existing and new plants, some of which are multinational companies such as Henkel from Germany, KCC from South Korea, as well as financial management and the performance of the union with new projects establishing social facilities that serve union members. The delegates also announced strong support for creation of new industrial union federations at global and European levels. 
 
At the end of the Congress, the new Executive Committee was introduced following re-election of President Karacan. The Executive is composed of Alaaddin Sarı, General Secretary; Nejdet Ulusoy, Head of Education, Press, Publication and Legal Affairs; Muharrem Özen, Head of Collective Bargaining and Organizing; and İhsan Malkoç, Head of Financial Affairs.

Turkish Lastik-İş Re-elects Abdullah Karacan President

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100" height="39"/>
From International Metalworkers' Federation 
Indonesian unions yesterday criticized their government for not ensuring comprehensive social security for all Indonesian people as mandated in the Global Jobs Pact that was adopted by the International Labour Organization in 2009 and supported by the Indonesian government. 
 
The unions' criticism was in response to an address given by the President of Indonesia, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, to a special session of the 100th International Labour Conference (ILC) on June 14, 2011 on the effects of the global economic crisis. 
 
In a statement submitted to the ILC by Indonesian trade unions and supported by the International Metalworkers' Federation (IMF), the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM) and the International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers' Federation (ITGLWF), the unions demanded that the Indonesian government comply with the Global Jobs Pact by providing comprehensive social security for all Indonesian people. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1106.indonesia imf.jpg" width="220" height="147"/>
9 May Indonesian Worker Demonstration
The statement points out that, "the people of Indonesia continue to face problems of low wages which are not comparable with the needs of a decent standard of living, unsafe working conditions with the expansion of contract work and outsourcing and the absence of comprehensive social security for all people." 
 
"In the context of social welfare, Indonesia is the most backward country in Southeast Asia in terms of delivering comprehensive social security for their people, in contradiction to the second portfolio of the Global Jobs Pact itself to "build a social protection system"," continues the statement. 
 
The unions argue that the existing Constitution of Indonesia and supporting legislation provides the basis for providing five social insurance programs covering health and accident insurance, pensions, retirement security and life insurance, but require the government to re-orientate the responsible state agencies to function on a not for profit basis. 
 
The statement, signed by nine Indonesian trade union organizations including IMF affiliated Indonesia Federation of Metal Workers' Unions (FSPMI), are members of the Action Committee for Social Security ( KAJS ) which is actively campaigning in Indonesia for improved social security, particularly health insurance for life and a mandatory pension fund for all. 
 
Adequate provision for social security particularly for the ever expanding number of workers in precarious forms of employment is one of the issues that will be discussed at the IMF Central Committee taking place in Jakarta, Indonesia in December 2011.

Indonesian Workers Demand Social Security for all

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South African ICEM affiliate, the Chemical, Energy, Paper, Printing, Wood and Allied Workers Union (CEPPWAWU) representing over 70,000 workers begins strike action today in the petroleum, pharmaceutical, industrial chemicals, tissue and allied industries, and plastics industries, as employers continue to stone-wall negotiations for the period 2011-2012. 
 
The Strategic Committee of CEPPWAWU met on 23 June and decided unanimously to strike during the week of 4 July 2011. CEPPWAWU members today, 4 July 2011 are joining NUMSA in the national strike in the MEIBC (Metal and Engineering) sectors. 
 
Negotiations have been deadlocked with employers on wages and conditions in three national bargaining councils - the National Bargaining Council for Chemical Industries, National Bargaining Council for the Wood and Paper Sectors and the Metal Engineering Industries Bargaining Councils. 
<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/ICEM.Solidarity.JPG" width="150" height="146" alt=""/>
CEPPWAWU’s demands include a wage rise of 11-13 per cent across the board, a minimum wage of R6 000 (615 Euros) monthly, annual wage discussions, outsourced and temporary workers to become permanently employed, plus various sector specific social demands including on housing, transport, and maternity benefits. 
 
Employers are offering 4 per cent and 7 per cent, an offer that CEPPWAWU describes as an “insult” to workers. Union negotiators point to discrepancies between the official rate of inflation, 4.6 per cent, and the real inflation of living costs, as the price of basic items has risen dramatically over the last two years. 
 
In last year’s negotiations workers made sacrifices as the country was badly affected by the global recession. This year some employers are seeking to extend those concessions. 
 
CEPPWAWU has asked the South African public to be patient during the strike, as it will result in shortages of drugs in hospitals, of fuel, paper, chemicals. CEPPWAWU remains committed to dialogue towards a solution. 
 
The strike was able to be legally launched today after an attempt by employers of the Plastics Converters Association (PCA) failed in the Gauteng Labour Court, with the judge ruling the strike legal and ordering the PCA to pay legal costs. 
 
An eleventh hour bid to interdict a strike by workers in the metals and plastics sectors failed on Friday, when the Labour Court turned down an application from the Plastics Converters Association (PCA) and ordered it to pay costs.

CEPPWAWU Downs Tools in Demand for Living Wage

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ICEM-affiliated Independent Trade Union of Miners of Ukraine has successfully launched a <a href="http://npgu.com.ua/">new website</a>.  
 
The mineworkers of Ukraine have been especially important this year, as the union forged ahead with the campaign for ratification of ILO Convention 176, setting the standard for others to follow. The Ukrainian victory was celebrated in February this year, when the union worked together with PRUPU to play a crucial role in the ratification of the Safety and Health in Mines Convention. 
 
The Convention spells out responsibilities for government, employers, and workers and their trade unions, and specifically gives miners the right to report hazards, dangerous conditions and accidents, as well as the right to refuse unsafe work. 
 
Ukraine is the first major mining country to ratify Convention 176 since Peru ratified it in June 2007.

Independent Trade Union of Miners of Ukraine Launch Website

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100" height="39"/>
The global ICEM family last week congratulated the victory by South Africa’s National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) to block Brazilian mining group Vale’s efforts to invest in the country, and to operate elsewhere in the region. Vale’s anti-union behaviour throughout the world, most notably against the United Steelworkers (USW) in Canada, led NUM General Secretary Frans Baleni to describe the company as “one of the world’s leading labour exploiters.” 
 
The base-metals mining company Metorex, listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, had been a long-term acquisition target for Vale. The South Africa-based miner has extensive copper and cobalt mining operations, and prospective growth projects, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and in Zambia. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/0610NUMFransBaleni1.jpg" width="100" height="142"/>
Frans Baleni
The announcement that Vale were pulling out of the Metorex bid, due to strong pressure from the union, was welcome news on 12 July. If the mining multinational had continued its pursuit, NUM was set to challenge the takeover in the South African Competition Commission. 
 
The alternative bidder for Metorex, the Chinese company Jinchuan, also has a negative labour relations history and is not being welcomed by the NUM. The defeat of Vale will give a stark warning to Jinchuan of the NUM’s strength. Baleni warned Jinchuan that “when in South Africa, do as South Africans do.” 
 
ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda congratulated Baleni on the victory, describing it as “another example of the strength of Africa’s predominant trade union.” 
 
Jinchuan has offered R 9.1 billion (€930 million) for Metorex, and the company’s board has recommended that shareholders accept the offer.

NUM Succeeds in Blocking Vale’s Bid for Metorex in Southern Africa

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100" height="39"/>
from International Metalworkers’ Federation 
 
Some 10,000 workers and citizens from every part of Korea participated across the night of 9-10 July in the "Hope Bus" march to the Hanjin shipyards in Korea to protest against dismissals in breach of contract and precarious work, and to make a solidarity visit to hunger-striking protester Kim Jinsuk. After a culture festival at Busan, the participants started a candlelight march to the shipyards. One kilometre from the yard riot police blocked the road and opened fire on marchers with water cannons and liquid tear gas. 
 
Kim Jinsuk has been denied access to medical treatment since 5 July, when her doctor was physically prevented from seeing her. The company has also stopped her from getting necessities and a recharged mobile phone. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1107.korea.jpg" width="252" height="161"/>
Marchers attacked with tear gas
The president of a national trade union centre, the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), planned on taking part in the hunger strike on 13 July to call on the Hanjin Corporation to bargain in good faith. 
 
The Korean Metal Workers' Union (KMWU) will hold a press conference on 14 July to announce protest letters to the Korean president Lee Myung-bak to the press. 
 
The International Metalworkers’ Federation (IMF) sent a letter to the Korean president on 4 July, calling for the Korean government to stop all violence against the workers at Hanjin Heavy Industries shipyard and Yuseong Piston Ring factories, to push the companies to start collective bargaining and lift the lock-out, stop the persecution of union officials, members and sympathizers, and to respect the ILO Conventions on freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining. 
 
The IMF, KMWU and LabourStart have launched a campaign calling on the Korean government to end the violence immediately. Join the <a href="http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/solidarityforever/show_campaign.cgi?c=1046 ">LabourStart campaign</a> through this link.

Korean Metal Workers’ Continue Struggle at Hanjin Shipyards

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100" height="39"/>
Trade unionists are encouraged to apply for the Masters programme at Witwatersrand University, South Africa. The deadline for applications is 31 July. The course on Labour Globalisation is one of the specialised Masters programmes offered by the Global Labour University (GLU). 
 
Participants of GLU courses have the unique opportunity to engage in a diploma course that puts individuals on the front lines of current labour policies in the rapid globalisation of trade and commerce. 
 
The two 14-week semesters of the course compliment an internship placement for participants at trade unions and labour research institutions, offering the chance to engage in the labour movements in different countries and at the international level. 
 
For details, including application and scholarship availability, visit the <a href="http://www.global-labour-university.org">site</a> here. <a href="http://www.global-labour-university.org/54.html">Application forms</a> can be downloaded here. Applications should be sent to <a href="mailto:engage@uni-kassel.de">engage@uni-kassel.de</a>. 
 
The GLU, part of the ILO, has trained trade unionists in economics and in social sciences from 49 countries in its short existence, giving national and local trade union staff the opportunity to pick up specific curriculums tailored to improve their skills at home. 
 
The GLU awards a limited number of scholarships for participants from developing and transition countries. Applicants need to have the endorsement of a trade union to apply for a scholarship.

Global Labour University Masters Application Deadline 31 July

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The 55-week lockout by US manufacturing and technology company Honeywell Inc. on 228 unionised workers appears to be over. United Steelworkers (USW) Local 7-669 in Metropolis, Illinois, and the US company came to tentative terms for a new three-year contract on 20 July, which likely sets in motion a return to work for USW members beginning on 15 August if union members ratify the tentative accord next week. 
 
The workers convert yellow-cake uranium into uranium hexafluoride (UF6), which is used in nuclear fuel enrichment. USW Local 7-669 members have been locked off their jobs since 28 June 2010 and in the weeks following, Honeywell inexplicably re-started operations at a worksite utilising dangerous chemicals with inexperienced replacement workers. 
 
Local 7-669 President Darrell Lillie said the union is currently in the process of sorting out job re-classifications; Honeywell has created 21 new jobs and with the union retaining its seniority provisions in the tentative new agreement, job scheduling and job bidding must take place for returning workers.
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Darrel Lillie - Honeywell USW.jpg" width="154" height="169"/>
USW Local 7-669 President Darrell Lillie  

Lillie said that should be complete today and the union will conduct an explanation meeting of the new contract early next week, with voting on the tentative agreement expected to occur by mid-week. 
 
“Overall, we’re not entirely happy with the proposed contract but we are glad that several of the key issues that the company was trying to take from us will remain in place,” said Lillie. “We preserved most provisions that are at the heart of what trade unionists value.” 
 
Those provisions include the seniority provisions, which allow senior-most workers to accept more favourable jobs when they become open; retention of a defined benefit pension plan for existing workers; retiree medical care under that same pension scheme; and retention of overtime pay for time work after eight and 12 hours per day. Honeywell workers in Metropolis work both eight- and 12-hour work shifts. 
 
Another important provision kept by workers was time-and-a-half pay on the sixth consecutive day in a week worked, and double-time for the seventh. (See <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4538-Honeywell-Threatens-Safety-by-Extending-Lockout-of-USW-Members-" type="internal">ICEM news piece</a> from earlier this month.) 
 
Regarding wages, the proposal contains no increase for the first year of the contract, 1% effective 15 August 2012, and 2% due on 15 August 2013. It should be noted that at the outset of the lockout, Local 7-669 proposed a freeze on wages and continuation of all terms and conditions from a previous three-year contract, but the company was set on gutting many benefits and union-protection provisions. 
 
In the proposed agreement, new hires will fall into an equity fund scheme rather than the defined-benefit AlliedSignal Pension Benefit Thrift Fund, and workers on leave under the US Family and Medical Leave Act must take vacation time concurrently. A handful of janitorial and laundry jobs will be contracted out, and more worrisome in such a dangerous worksite, a single safety operator job will be outsourced. That position is responsible for maintaining all safety equipment throughout the plant, such as fire extinguishers, emergency breathing devices and other safety equipment. 
 
Lillie said 150 workers will return to training and re-orientation as mandated by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission on 15 August, 40 workers two weeks later, and the remainder two weeks after that. The unionised workforce will number about 220 workers when the experienced and qualified USW members are fully back to work.  
 
“Local 7-669 is highly appreciative of the tremendous support we have received from trade unions, those in the community and others throughout this long lockout,” said Lillie. “The donations, the international support, and the recognition by many here and abroad on what we were up against will never be forgotten.”

USW Union at Honeywell Reaches Tentative Labour Agreement

<div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"> 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100" height="39"/></div>
Members of United Steelworkers (USW) Local 7-669 in Metropolis, Illinois, ratified a three-year labour agreement with Honeywell, Inc., on 2 August, officially ending a lockout that began on 28 June 2010. The ratification vote came a full 13 days following conclusion of a negotiated settlement (see <a href="/en/3-Energy-Oil-and-Gas/4564-USW-Union-at-Honeywell-Reaches-Tentative-Labour-Agreement" type="internal">ICEM report</a> of 22 July). 
<div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify">The extraordinary long time between the tentative settlement and the ratification came because Honeywell managers at the uranium converting facility neglected to give explicit job assignments to locked-out workers in a separate back-to-work agreement. </div>
Terms of the agreement take effect today with the majority of USW members attending re-certification sessions at an area college.
The 228 steelworkers at Honeywell convert milled uranium, known as yellow-cake uranium, into uranium hexafluoride (UF6) which is used in nuclear fuel enrichment. The lock-out was marked by Honeywell’s decision to resume full production nine weeks into the company’ s work stoppage and then re-start operations with inexperienced scab replacement workers. Twice in the months that followed, the plant saw near-miss tragedies due to mishandling of dangerous chemicals.
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1106.honeywell%20safety%20matters.jpg" width="131" height="214"/>
<div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify">The period between the 20 July 2011 tentative agreement and the 2 August ratification, which occurred with a 113-75 vote, was as contentious as the entire lockout was. Honeywell managers told Local 7-699 that it wanted experienced workers to return to the jobs they knew best, but then submitted a back-to-work roster which saw job postings many of the locked-out workers had never worked before. </div>
It took Local 7-669 leaders enormous time and effort in the 13-day interval to sort out the return-to-work roster. Meanwhile, Honeywell managers publicly denounced the union for not conducting the ratification vote. “They were trying to force a vote before our people knew exactly which job they would return to,” said local union spokesman John Smith.
Local 7-669 members begin the return-to-work ritual today with training and re-certification as mandated by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Forty workers will return two weeks later for the same, and the remainder two weeks after that. The unionised workforce will number about 220 workers when the experienced and qualified USW members are fully back to work. 
The negotiated settlement preserves most of the key union-protection provisions that Honeywell was trying to strip at the start of the lockout, including seniority, job bidding, overtime, and retention of a defined benefit pension plan for existing workers, as well as retiree medical benefits that go along with that plan. 
On wages, the new three-year collective agreement calls for no increase in the first year, 1% effective 15 August 2012, and 2% on 15 August 2013. Local 7-669 proposed in bargaining over a year ago a freeze on wages and continuation of all terms and conditions of a prior three-year contract. But Honeywell seemed intent on taking away pension benefits, the accompanying health care benefits, as well as union-protection provisions. 
Honeywell abandoned most of those contract concessions, perhaps realising that it needed experienced steelworkers to effectively operate the plant safety and productively. Production had plummeted to a reported 35% of pre-lockout levels and Honeywell was not meeting its order demand for UF6. 
USW Local 7-669 waged an extraordinary campaign in preserving most of their work standards. The workers traveled to Madison, Wisconsin, to stand with public employees protesting the gutting of their collective bargaining rights by Governor Scott Walker; they journeyed to Europe and won support from major trade union federations, as well as Honeywell’s European Works Council (see that <a href="/en/3-Energy-Oil-and-Gas/4429-EMCEF-EMF-EPSU-Condemn-Honeywell-Lockout-in-US" type="internal">ICEM update</a> here); and they connected with immigrant groups in Los Angeles, California, to block Honeywell from gaining a water-services contract there.

USW Local 7-669, Honeywell Accord Takes Effect Today, Ending US Lockout

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