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Industrial action that was to begin today at a pulp and paper mill in the UK has been cancelled because progress was made in redundancy consultation talks last Friday, 11 December. Paperworkers who are members of Unite the Union voted 226 to 30 for industrial action, after Iggesund Paper &ndash; a wholly-owned subsidiary of Swedish Holmen Paper &ndash; announced unilateral job cuts in early November. 
 
Iggesund, operating a softwood pulp mill and paperboard mill in Cumbria, sought to cut 99 of 480 jobs at the facility. Following the announcement, local managers said there was no need for consultation. UK law states that redundancies of less that100 workers must be preceded by a 30-day union-management consultation period, while jobs cuts totaling over 100 workers must see a 90-day consultation. 

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External pressure and the overwhelming vote for industrial action convinced management to discuss its reasons for the redundancies. Peter Ellis, a Unite the Union National Secretary, reported that Friday&rsquo;s talks between the union and Iggesund reduced the number of job cuts by five, with the potential for possibly saving more jobs to occur in coming consultation sessions. 
 
In the lead-up to the industrial ballot, the ICEM delivered nearly 100 messages of support from global pulp and paper unions to Unite the Union, messages that were distributed on the shop floor of the paper company.

Industrial Action at Iggesund Paper Mill in UK Suspended

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As part of the monitoring of implementation of their global framework agreement, ICEM and central management of French-based chemicals multinational Rhodia carried out a joint mission in the USA from 6-11 December. A similar joint mission occurred first in China in 2007 and in Brasil last year. The principal objective was to ensure that the global agreement is properly implemented at specific workplaces. 
ICEM was represented by its General Secretary Manfred Warda and Chemicals and Rubber Officer Kemal &Ouml;zkan, while Group Vice-President, Human Resources, Yolene Coppin and Vice President, Sustainable Development, Jacques Kheliff from Rhodia were present. 
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ICEM delegation with plant management
At the first day of the meeting at the headquarters of the North American zone, headed by Jim Harton, Rhodia&rsquo;s North American business was introduced to the mission. Following ICEM&rsquo;s presentation on its general activities and particular efforts on global agreements, there was a special discussion on the US economic and legal situation. Employing around 1600 workers in 18 manufacturing units, the North American section of Rhodia has four categories of operations which are Novacare, Eco Services, Silcea and Polyamide. The majority of the production workers of Rhodia in North America are organised by ICEM-affiliated trade unions, USW, IBT and LIUNA. 
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ICEM delegation with plant union reps
The mission visited the headquarters of the USW at Pittsburgh and met International President Leo Gerard and his Assistant Jerry Fernandez. President Gerard introduced USW and its activities, particularly the drives to secure manufacturing and industrial employment in the US. The mission later travelled to Houston where Rhodia has a plant of Eco Services, organised by the USW. After the meeting with the factory union committee and local officers of the USW, the local management team briefed the group on the plant&rsquo;s activities and labour relations, followed by a site tour. The Rhodia North American team also informed the ICEM about the company&rsquo;s policies and programmes on human resources, employee benefits, and community relations. 
&ldquo;Between 2007 and 2009, in the framework of our global agreement, we have realised various missions in all the zones where Rhodia has business. This clearly demonstrates our engagement with a multinational company at a global scale, and it works very well,&rdquo; commented ICEM General Secretary Warda. &ldquo;We believe that that global agreements can and should play a meaningful and constructive role in labour relations, and our recent visit has shown this.&rdquo;

ICEM and Rhodia in joint mission of monitoring in the USA

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The International Textiles, Garment, and Leather Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITGLWF) held its Tenth World Congress in Frankfurt, Germany, from 2-4 December. The ITGLWF adopted several major decisions regarding the coming work re-organization. The theme of this Tenth Congress was &ldquo;Organise = Decent Work = Decent Life,&rdquo; and it brought together 214 delegates from 97 trade unions in 68 countries. 
 
It also paid moving tribute to the necessary humanitarian contributions made by the late ITGLWF General Secretary, Neil Kearney. Kearney&rsquo;s daughters were at the Congress and told of their father. 
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Neal Kearney&rsquo;s daughters, Nicole and Caroline
The Congress was hosted by IG Metall at its Frankfurt headquarters. 
The Congress took place just two weeks after General Secretary Neil Kearney died from a heart attack while doing important ITGLWF work in Bangladesh. The global trade union movement was shocked and saddened. Kearney, the ITGLWF General Secretary for the past 21 years, performed some of the toughest and most meaningful work in the world. 

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The Frankfurt Congress confirmed the appointment of Patrick Itschert as the new General Secretary. Itschert has led the European regional organization of ETUC:TCL, for nearly two decades. He will continue in both roles. 
 
Congress unanimously elected Hisanobu Shimada of Japan as the organisation&rsquo;s new president. Hisanobu Shimada is the General Secretary of ITGLWF affiliate UI Zensen. Outgoing president Manfred Schallmeyer of IG Metall received a special message of appreciation from Congress, for his work during the past five years as president. 
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Manfred Schallmeyer hands over the presidency to Hisanobu Shimada 
The ITGLWF&rsquo;s Congress elected fifteen Vice-Presidents, eight of whom are women, and formally approved the membership of the Executive Committee. 
 
The future of the ITGLWF was a major issue on the agenda. Congress recognised the need for a powerful trade union force across manufacturing industries, in response to corporate restructuring and obvious synergies created within the continual overlaps of the world&rsquo;s manufacturing sectors. The ITGLWF Congress resolved that the Global Union Federation make all necessary efforts to ensure the creation of a new GUF for manufacturing, and that it be concluded no later than 2011.&nbsp;

Memories, Accomplishments of Neil Kearney Cited at ITGLWF Congress

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The multinational pharmaceutical company Menarini was put on notice 15 January by Italian unions to improve its social contract with workers, or face a first eight-hour strike on 30 January. In a statement by the tri-union Coordinating Committee of the Menarini Group, FILCEM-CGIL, FEMCA-CISL, and UILCEM-UIL jointly gave warning that pay and profit-sharing increases must be made to Italian workers, and greater participation in corporate strategies must be granted workers. 

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The unions are attempting to secure a four-year social compact with the privately-held, Florence-based company, which specialises in development and manufacture of cardiovascular, respiratory, and other drugs. The three unions are still in search of a satisfactory contract with a term stretching from 2008 to 2011. 
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The statement, issued after a 14 January meeting of the Coordinating Committee in Florence, demands a profit-sharing scheme using a different measure and one weighted more heavily on productivity. The three unions also seek wage quotas that meet the industry medium. 
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In addition, the unions demand working conditions, job classifications, and job re-organisation which will give workers more say in decision-making. Menarini, Europe&rsquo;s 19th largest pharmaceutical company, employs 3,850 of its global workforce of 12,500 in Italy. Besides several other Italian worksites, it operates a large bio-technical centre in Pomezia. 
 
In March 2007, the ICEM intervened on behalf of Turkish affiliate Lastik-İş when Menarini&rsquo;s subsidiary in Istanbul, İbrahim Ethan İla&ccedil;lari A.S., sacked union leaders who were seeking Lastik-İş representation. The company&rsquo;s refusal to abide by a court decree recognising the union caused a plant occupation by workers.

Italian Unions Put Demands on Gruppo Menarini, Plan 30 January Manifestation

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French trade unions will mobilise in Paris on 29 January, the result of failed social talks within the public electric and gas companies. The issues are job retention, re-training, and fair pay, and failure thus far to meet social accord is the fault of the federal government and Medef, the employers&rsquo; council in France, say the unions. 
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Eight unions, including federations CGT, CFDT, FO, CFE-CGC, and CFTC, decided in early January to set the mobilisation date, with resumption of social talks scheduled early in February. The three-page declaration is described as a compromise among workers&rsquo; representatives at several French gas and electric worksites over the pay issue. The declaration calls for urgent measures to prioritise job retention, remunerations, and economic revival, beginning first at the workplace. 
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The declaration also said now is the time to increase low wages, social minimums, and to enhance re-training opportunities, an area of general agreement between the three parties. But the unions forcefully denounce French federal government plans to fire 30,000 people from civil service jobs. 
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The French trade union federations&rsquo; call for mass participation on 29 January is urgent, and it is a legitimate &ldquo;workers&rsquo; awakening&rdquo; in the resistance of the neo-liberal agenda.

French Unions Unite in Gas, Electric Sectors for Jobs, Training, Fair Wages

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Leaders of Nigerian ICEM oil and gas affiliates NUPENG and PENGASSAN are mobilising workers as a 21-day ultimatum to the national government draws near demanding revocation to a contract with US-based Cobalt International covering pre-shipment services on oil exports. 
 
If the government does not, strikes will occur. 
 
NUPENG last week sent a petition to the Minister of Petroleum, Rilwan Lukman, clarifying that the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) is statutorily required to carry out the work of pre-shipment services, and that instead of hiring an outside firm at great cost, the government should allow Nigerians and DPR workers to do the work. 
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NUPENG said the contract with Cobalt &ldquo;should be abrogated with immediate effect,&rdquo; and demands the Nigerian state use its oil and gas revenues to acquire the necessary equipment &ldquo;to enhance its supervisory role in the oil and gas industry. 
 
&ldquo;The contract with Cobalt International Ltd. should not be allowed to stand because it serves as a conduit pipe for siphoning money by agents of multinationals from our national treasury,&rdquo; stated NUPENG. 
 
Elsewhere in Nigerian labour, the Minister of Labour and Productivity, Adetokumbo Kayode, called for increased levels of dialogue between labour and the federal government during these times of economic difficulty. This positive move by the new minister for closer cooperation encouraged trade union leaders in Nigeria. &ldquo;Government, in order to move the country forward, will engage labour in a constructive dialogue on labour matters,&rdquo; said Kayode. 
 
This occurred while NUPENG was endorsing an electronic loading system, to be introduced across the energy-rich country by the Petroleum Equalization Fund. The system will monitor diversion of petroleum products, track information, and assure accurate billing and payment of products both at loading and receiving terminals. Some of the most dangerous work in Nigeria&rsquo;s oil patch is done by tank-truck drivers, who are members of NUPENG. 
 
Both NUPENG and PENGASSAN again addressed the security problem facing their union members in the Niger Delta region. The two unions issued a joint statement demanding further government intervention to ensure workers&rsquo; security at work.

Nigerian Oil Workers’ Move Closer to Strike Action on Outsourcing

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Thursday, 15 January, saw Brazil&rsquo;s five major labour unions come together, pledging to follow a united path through the current economic crisis. The meeting held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil&rsquo;s centre for business and largest city, created the &ldquo;Union Action Pact,&rdquo; which outlines the labour movement&rsquo;s determination to protect jobs during the economic downturn. The pact will now be presented to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and to several state governors. 
 
The newly unified force of the five unions represents tens of millions of workers throughout Brazil, the largest and most important of the Latin American economies. The weight given by these numbers to demands laid out in the accord is considerable. One important clause decided on by the unions is that loans and benefits from the Brazilian government to companies be linked to commitments by them not to cut jobs. 

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Other demands laid out in the accord are to do with the national economy. Organised labour asks the central bank to lower the national interest rate from its currant 13.75%, and also puts demands on private banks to correct the current imbalance between the interest they charge borrowers and the rates they pay for deposits. 
 
The labour groups are asking Lula, himself a former union leader, to boost unemployment insurance and to increase the amount of money going to the national worker-training fund. They are planning a manifestation this Wednesday, 28 January, in S&atilde;o Paulo to coincide with a central bank meeting related to interest rates. 
 
A current example of the problems facing Brazilian workers is at the powerful S&atilde;o Paulo state industrial federation, or FIESP. While asking workers to accept a 25% pay cut, FIESP is unwilling to offer a no-layoff pledge.

Brazilian Labour Unions work together to fight challenging economic times

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The ICEM has taken up a call for support to 430 paperworkers in Argentina, represented by affiliate Federation of Workers&rsquo; of the Paper, Carton, and Chemical (FOEIPCyQ) Unions. 
 
Employed by the Argentine company, Massuh SA, the workers did not receive wage payments in January and the second half of December 2008. The company is also guilty of non-payment of social benefits last year, in which cheques to public entities failed due to insufficient funds. 
 
FOEIPCyQ&rsquo;s Executive Council has given the situation high priority. The union is pressing the Ministry of Labour, Employment, and Social Security, as well as the Buenos Aires Provincial Ministry of Work to address the situation. FOEIPCyQ is also delivering food to families, as well as providing other support. 

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The ICEM has written to the financially troubled company demanding immediate payment of back wages to workers. &ldquo;The number one priority for any company should be the payment of fair compensation to workers,&rdquo; wrote the ICEM. &ldquo;We urge you to handle this matter in a socially responsible way, as well as to use full dialogue and commitment with the legitimate workers&rsquo; representative,&rdquo; the FOEIPCyQ. 
 
The ICEM strongly encourages affiliated trade unions to take the Spanish-language Letter of Support to Massuh workers, found <a href="/index.php?id=78&amp;la=EN&amp;doc=3014">here</a>, place it on your letterhead, and e-mail to the union, at <a href="mailto:fedpapel@speedy.com.ar">fedpapel@speedy.com.ar</a>. 
 
Massuh operates a pulp and paper mill with two paper machines in Quilmes, near Argentina.

ICEM Seeks Support for Argentine Paperworkers Who Have Been Denied Wages

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ICEM affiliate Sintracarb&oacute;n in Colombia last week achieved major wage and other gains, including 180 promotions for contract workers. The two-year contract, ratified 78-6 by the union&rsquo;s Delegates Assembly on 18 January, is with Carbones del Cerrej&oacute;n, the thermal coal exporter owned by AngloAmerica, BHP Billiton, and Xstrata. As reported in December by the ICEM, miners were seeking social improvements regarding family health, education, transportation, restrictions on outsourcing, and other social responses inside several Colombian communities in la Guijara state. 
 
The renewal agreement covers some 4,000 workers at Colombia&rsquo;s largest mining operation, and successful negotiation of the contract keeps in place a social dialogue commitment between management of Carbones del Cerrej&oacute;n and Sintracarb&oacute;n that the ICEM was instrumental in forging in 2004. 
 
Talks began on 1 December toward a 31 January 2009 expiration, with the union in early January giving a 17 January deadline for negotiations to conclude. 

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The contract grants an 11% pay increase to Cerrej&oacute;n miners and workers at the company&rsquo;s Puerto Bol&iacute;var export facility on the Caribbean for 2009, some 3% to 4% higher than the average negotiated settlements in Colombia. In 2010, workers will receive a 7% increase or 1.8% above the 2009 consumer price index, whichever is higher. 
 
Besides 180 precarious workers moving to full-time employment, the employer agrees to respect the right of contract workers to affiliate with Sintracarb&oacute;n. The negotiations also yielded improvements in transportation to and from the open-cast mines, education stipends for miners&rsquo; and port workers&rsquo; children, retiree benefits, and talks also produced financial sums to Sintracarb&oacute;n to perform benevolent deeds and community services. 
 
Besides improvements to health insurance, Cerrej&oacute;n management agreed to fund a study to be undertaken by the union related to workers&rsquo; health concerns. 
 
The Colombian union requested ICEM trigger international solidarity in the form of letters to the managing director, and that call was answered by numerous unions, which had a profound effect. ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda wrote on behalf of the 20-million-member Global Union Federation supporting Sintracarb&oacute;n, warning the company that an expeditious settlement must come or strike action would result.
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Our union is grateful to all the unions, social organisations, NGOs, and community networks that exhibited national and international support that was fundamental and instrumental&rdquo; in achieving the contract, Sintracarb&oacute;n said in a statement. 
 
ICEM&rsquo;s Warda said the labour-management process of social dialogue at Carbones del Cerrej&oacute;n serves as an impressive example on what can accomplished through mutual respect and shared responsibility. 
 
The Colombian operation of the three multinationals mines a high-quality, low-sulphur thermal coal that meets stringent emissions standards in many countries. The company is embarking on a US$300 million modernisation plan this year to upgrade infrastructure, technology, and mining equipment. The mines produced 32 million tonnes of coal in 2008, with production expected to increase to 40 million tonnes by 2011.

Sintracarbón Miners Win Two-Year Renewal Contract at Colombia’s Biggest Coal Deposit

It was largely due to the efforts of those who suffered and their union representatives that governments, after decades of inaction, finally introduced regulations on the use of and exposure to asbestos. But asbestos is still around and there are those who continue to tout it as the &ldquo;magic mineral.&rdquo; While your brake linings and floor tiles may still contain asbestos, most of today's production is now exported to third world countries where weak regulation and enforcement allows people to be fatally exposed to the killer fibres. 
 
WHAT IS ASBESTOS? 
Asbestos is a class of silicate mineral fibre. There are three main asbestos minerals: chrysotile, crocidolite, and amosite. The most common type is chrysotile. 
 
Because of their chemical structure, they form long crystalline fibres of amazing strength and fire resistance which can be recovered from the mineral. Asbestos is used in textiles, cement products, brake linings, filters, roofing tiles, flooring, fillers for plastics and thousands of other products. 
 
While union activists in the 1970&rsquo;s and 80&rsquo;s managed to put the workplace hazards on the front burner and achieved enormous reforms on the job and legislatively, the fact is that asbestos is still in use. And the concerns initially raised by unionists 30 years ago, while still valid, have been somewhat muted by a well funded industry lobby, at times in sync with our governments. 
 
It is useful for health and safety activists to keep alert on the dangers inherent with the use of asbestos and to keep the focus where it should be: saving our members&rsquo; livelihoods and lives. 
 
There are a multitude of environmental and health related issues surrounding the use of asbestos in society. 
 
ASBESTOS RELATED ISSUES 
 
EXPOSURE LIMITS 
Even though there is no evidence that there is any &ldquo;safe&rdquo; level of exposure, most jurisdictions have enacted limits. Check what applies in your workplace. Workers need to assure themselves, when working with or near asbestos, that exposure limits are not being exceeded; that protective measures are adequate (respirators, clothing, etc.); and, that you are not endangering yourself. In many jurisdictions, you have the right to refuse unsafe work. 
 
SMOKING AND ASBESTOS 
An asbestos worker who smokes will have many times the risk of cancer than a non-smoking asbestos worker; or a non-asbestos exposed smoker, would have. But attempts to deflect the dangers of asbestos by blaming high cancer rates on smoking are irresponsible. The fact is that asbestos workers who have never smoked in their lives die of asbestos related cancers. 
 
BLUE vs WHITE 
There has been some suggestion that only &ldquo;blue&rdquo; (crocidolite) asbestos is a problem and that &ldquo;white&rdquo; (chrysotile) asbestos is relatively safe.. If true, why is asbestos related disease so widespread when crocidolite accounts for only 3% of all asbestos used? 
 
IMMOBILIZED FIBRES 
Industry makes the argument that the fibres are immobilized or bound together in such a way they cannot be released in many asbestos products. But, there are workers who must handle these fibres prior to their incorporation into such products and others who must saw, cut or fasten them in such a way that the fibres may, indeed be released. 
 
FIBRE MODIFICATION 
There is little or no evidence that chemically modifying asbestos fibres renders them safer and the only way to find out is to wait decades for workers to die or get sick. 
 
SUBSTITUTE PRODUCTS 
Fibreglass and other synthetic mineral fibres are the main asbestos substitutes. While it may be true that they are safer to work with than asbestos, the best approach for workers is to treat asbestos substitutes with suspicion and handle them with caution. The more similar the substitute is to asbestos, the more likely it is to have similar health effects. 
 
ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES 
Asbestos provides a good example of the link between occupational and environmental health and safety. Widespread environmental contamination with asbestos in asbestos producing region and near industries which use asbestos may be causing a &ldquo;cancer epidemic in slow motion.&rdquo; 
 
JUST TRANSITION 
Regrettably, the money already spent by some governments propping up this sunset industry could have been used to create a first class Just Transition programme for asbestos workers, their families and the communities that have depended on the asbestos industry. 
 
HOW ASBESTOS KILLS 
Asbestosis is one disease caused by asbestos in the lungs. Some scientists think that when asbestos fibres are inhaled, cells called macrophages attempt to engulf and digest them. The fibres are not easily dissolved by the digestive enzymes, however &ndash; although certain harmful chemical constituents of asbestos may be dissolved enough to be a problem in themselves. As well, the size and shape of asbestos fibres causes some of them to project through the cell wall of the macrophages, allowing these powerful enzymes to leak out and attack surrounding lung tissue. The end result is progressive scarring and damage to the lungs, resulting in loss of elasticity of the lung tissue. Damage can become severe enough to cause disability and death. 
 
Cancer is another consequence of asbestos exposure. Estimates of the number of cancer cases vary widely. Of the cancers that asbestos is known to cause, 80% are lung cancers; 10% are mesotheliomas; and 10% are others such as throat, stomach and intestinal. Although some asbestos cancers are difficult or impossible to distinguish from cancers caused by other agents; mesothelioma (cancer of the lining of the lungs or intenstines) is ONLY known to be caused in humans by asbestos. Mesothelioma is 100% fatal. 
 
IF YOU THINK THERE IS ASBESTOS IN YOUR WORKPLACE: 
Demand an immediate workplace Asbestos Survey. Your Joint Health and Safety Committee should lead the effort to identify and map all occurrences of asbestos and should be given all resources required to do the job. Once the asbestos has been identified, the JHSC should develop recommendations to control exposure. There are four generally accepted approaches. In order of preference, they are: 
 
1. Removal of the asbestos material: In all cases, this is the CEP&rsquo;s recommended solution. It is the only way to ensure the hazard is eliminated. Strict procedures must be followed and enforced which means careful planning and attention to the training of all workers and supervisors as well as to the choice of replacement materials. 
 
Of the four accepted approaches to dealing with asbestos, removal is best 
 
2. Encapsulation or sealing of the asbestos material: Coating or impregnating the asbestos material with a bonding agent immobilizes the fibres and reduces their release. Danger still exists, however, because the bonding material may deteriorate or work (cutting, grinding, repairs, etc.) may be performed on the material, creating the potential of fibres being released. Encapsulation should be considered a temporary measure with the objective of removing the asbestos material at some appropriate future date. 
 
3. Enclosure of the asbestos material: If neither removal nor encapsulation is possible within a reasonable time, the next best approach is to separate the asbestos material from the rest of the workplace by some kind of barrier (removable ceilings or walls are not acceptable). Enclosure is not a control measure and should be accepted only as a temporary means of protecting workers until removal can be completed. 
 
4. Asbestos management plan: If any materials cannot immediately be removed completely and safely, a management plan will be required. If any asbestos materials remain in the workplace, even if encapsulated or enclosed, an ongoing system is needed to: 
&bull; Maintain clear identification of the areas where exposure may take place; 
&bull; Educate people what to do if work must take place in or near these areas; 
&bull; Inspect the materials frequently for any changes; 
&bull; Formulate a complete removal strategy as quickly as possible. 
 
There are many lessons to be learned by union activists from the decades of battle which have been waged to protect ourselves and the public from asbestos hazards: 
 
&bull; Legislation and regulation on their own are not a total &ldquo;win&rdquo;. Regulatory solutions, too often, come after a problem becomes a crisis and while we need good laws, we also need better ways of identifying and controlling hazards before the death toll mounts. 
 
&bull; Our memory is too short. Having greatly reduced the uses and abuses of asbestos in the 1980&rsquo;s, too many people lowered their guard, believing the battle had been won. This has created an opportunity for the industry to rewrite history and win a rebirth. 
 
&bull; Scientists and other supposed independent authorities are just as vulnerable to undue influence as anyone when powerful economic forces are at work. 
 
&bull; Finally, the asbestos history reminds us that our best tool for building improved occupational health and safety is sold union activism at the shop floor level. 
 
DON&rsquo;T TAKE YOUR RIGHTS TO THE GRAVE 
If there is any doubt about whether the work is proceeding safely or not, remember that the regulations are a minimum standard. Compliance with regulations may not be sufficient in some cases. Remember, too, that workers in some cases have the right to refuse unsafe work. Don&rsquo;t take your rights to the grave!

ASBESTOS IS A KILLER

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