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BELGIUM/EUROPE: In solidarity with Belgian workers affected by the closure of Arcelor's "hot phase" division in the Liege region, the European Metalworkers' Federation is calling for a European Action Day on April 25, 2003. Arcelor announced its decision to shut down this division two months ago, without proper consultation with the workforce involved. 

The EMF says the closure will result in approximately 3,300 direct job losses in the region and an expected total of 6,000, when including jobs lost in supplier companies and indirect employment in Liege. An EMF spokesperson stated that a loss of employment on this scale would be "a direct threat to the complete socio-economic structure of the region and will have catastrophic consequences in many fields."

The closure of the "hot phase" division in the Liege region is part of an overall strategy of the steelmaker which will affect both the flat carbon and inox sectors in Belgium, France and Germany.

Arcelor was formed in 2002 with the merger of Luxembourg's Arbed, Spain's Aceralia and France's Usinor and is now the world's largest steelmaking group.

Protests continue since the steel group announced its restructuring plans in January.

Background news item

Call for action day on Arcelor

KOREA, REP: After a long, bitter dispute, and following government arbitration, the Korean Metal Workers' Federation and Doosan Heavy Industries and Construction reached a settlement on March 12. 

Among the main issues which have been resolved, the company has agreed to:
<ul>
<li>rehire five of the 18 workers dismissed for taking part in the Doosan Workers' Trade Union strike of May 22-July 7, 2002, and continue to negotiate the reinstatement of the other 13;
<li>provide 50 per cent of the wages withheld by the company during the strike;
<li>drop demands for damage compensation and seizure of assets of individual trade union members for plant losses incurred during the strike, and reduce demands to 40 per cent (from 100 per cent) for provisional seizure of the union's property.</ul>

On January 9, 2003, Bae Dal-ho, a 50-year-old Doosan worker and trade union activist, who had participated in the strike, committed suicide by self-immolation after the company had had his property assets and wage compensation provisionally seized.

In the 62-day standoff which followed Bae's death, a number of actions were taken in protest at the company's harsh, anti-union stance. Members of the KMWF and the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions held daily vigils outside Doosan headquarters. On January 16, 20,000 KMWF metalworkers went on a 4-hour strike; on January 21, the KCTU announced a boycott of Doosan products; a march on Doosan had been planned for March 12, and 72.91 per cent of the KMWF's membership of 160,000 had voted for a general strike on March 20.

Since January, there has also been an international action alert on LabourStart to protest Doosan's anti-union repression.

Labour-management agreement points to victory for the trade union.

Earlier news items on Doosan dispute

Doosan dispute                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

Doosan conflict ends

CANADA: One-thousand USWA members at Ispat-Sidbec in Montreal and Contrecoeur -- representing both production workers and office staff - have ratified a new collective agreement worth C$304 million (US$207.5 million). The union says it is "one of the most generous monetary packages ever obtained without surrendering anything to the employer."

Negotiations centred on three main priorities: pensions, contracting out and seniority.

Pensions were improved to meet the industry standard and, over the next seven years, more than 1,200 of the approximately 1,600 workers in the chain will be eligible for retirement. Jobs have been protected through a tightened contracting out clause, which guarantees the practice will be kept to a minimum. The new contract will also benefit new hires at the Montreal pipe mill. Full salary will now be reached in 36 months rather than 72 months.

Ispat-Sidbec is Canada's fourth largest steel producer, with an annual steelmaking capacity of 1.6 million tonnes. It is owned by Ispat International N.V.

The union's main concerns in the negotiations dealt with pensions, contracting out and seniority.

Workers at Ispat-Sidbec ratify settlement

TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO: The Steel Workers' Union of Trinidad and Tobago (SWUTT), an affiliate of the IMF, has reported the worsening of health and safety conditions in the steel plant of Caribbean Ispat Ltd, a member of the LNM Group, Ispat International. The union says that safety deficiency has reached crisis level throughout the plant. In 2002, due to the lack of health and safety measures and the absence of budgeting for health and safety provisions, there were over 80 serious workplace accidents, plus an increasing number of workers obliged to retire because of workplace injuries or other health problems contracted in the plant. Contract workers are also being allowed in the plant without proper safety orientation, and when accidents occur, little or no investigations are made which could allow for corrective actions to be taken to prevent reoccurrences. All this, says the union, confirms the clear violation of standards established at international level by the ILO, and although laws concerning health and safety are on the books in Trinidad and Tobago, they are being ignored. The IMF has written to all its affiliates requesting strong protest letters be written to the company. In its own letter to Caribbean Ispat&#039;s CEO and to the country&#039;s minister of labour, the IMF has urged that the company respond positively to union demands on health and safety and called on the government to ensure international rules on health and safety are respected in Trinidad and Tobago. The IMF is informing the ILO of the situation in the Ispat plant.

With no budgeting or other provisions for health and safety, workplace accidents and job-related health problems are steadily increasing.

Safety at crisis level in Caribbean Ispat plant

INDIA: A mammoth march on Parliament by 250,000 to 300,000 workers and trade union activists was staged in New Delhi on February 26, in continuation of an unrelenting struggle against the government's new economic policies of liberalisation, globalisation and privatisation. All IMF affiliates from across India actively participated in this massive show of strength, which some described as "the best turnout ever".

Trade union leaders at the rally strongly condemned the government's anti-labour policies and growing unemployment, warning that if the government did not respond positively to their demands, a further course of action was being mapped out for the near future. 

A joint trade union declaration contains the following demands:
<ul>
<li>a halt to privatisation of profit-making, potentially viable public sector undertakings;
<li>no changes in labour laws in favour of employers and against workers' interests;
<li>an immediate enactment of comprehensive legislation for agricultural workers;
<li>no to policies leading to severe aggravation of joblessness and unemployment;
<li>the widening of comprehensive social security schemes for all, including workers in the unorganised sector;
<li>restoration of quantitative restrictions on imports;
<li>the amendment of Payment of Bonus Act by removing all ceilings;
<li>restoration of the 12 per cent interest rate on providence fund deposits.

More action will be forthcoming if government does not respond positively to demands.

Huge trade union march on India&#039;s Parliament

GENEVA: The International Labour Organisation (ILO) met to devise a new code of practice for health and safety in the iron and steel industry from February 1 to 9, 2005. The previous code was produced in 1983 and a new version was long overdue. The ILO code acts as a guide to best practice on health and safety within the sector and serves as an international instrument that trade unions can use when developing approaches to health and safety in the national arena. The meeting had participants from governments, employers and unions. The workers group comprised of IMF affiliates from the UK, Germany, South Africa, Russia, Japan, USA and Brazil. The employers group which included representatives from Canada, Australia, Spain, Mexico, Russia, Germany and Luxembourg, took a very negative approach to the whole process. Commenting on the negotiations IMF health and safety director Rob Johnson said that even at a time when there has been an increase in the number of fatalities within the sector the employers were refusing to accept text that was already established in previous codes of practice. &quot;For the employers the inclusion of international agreements, employer's duties and the environment were all contentious issues,&quot; he said. &quot;Thanks to the hard work and expertise provided by the technical experts in the workers' group, the obstacles were overcome and on the last day a new code was agreed,&quot; said Johnson. Once available, the new code will be published on the ILO website.

After seven days of tough negotiations, a new ILO code of conduct for health and safety in the iron and steel industry was agreed.

New ILO health and safety code for iron and steel

Did you know that a metalworker in Hungary, Italy or Japan has to work 10-15 minutes to be able to buy 1 kilo of rice. Whereas he or she has to work over half an hour to buy 1 kilo of rice in Latvia, Uruguay or the Philippines.
Source: The IMF publication "The Purchasing Power of Working Time - An International Comparison." Sector: Motor Vehicles.

Do you know

Did you know that a metalworker has to work 1,480 hours to be able to buy a new medium-size car if he or she is living in Spain, 1,425 hours in the USA and 1,630 hours in France, whereas he or she has to work more than 5,000 hours to buy a new medium-size car in Argentina and South Africa. He or she has to work nearly 20,000 hours to buy a new medium-size car in Indonesia.
Source: The IMF publication "The Purchasing Power of Working Time - An International Comparison." Sector: Machinery and Equipment.

Did you know that a metalworker in Germany or Norway has to work 12-15 hours to be able to buy a refrigerator (100-250 litres)? If he lives in Belgium, Italy or Great Britain he has to work about 50 hours to buy a refrigerator. In Russia, he has to work about 250 hours and in India over 400 hours.
Source: The IMF publication "The Purchasing Power of Working Time - An International Comparison." Sector: Building and repairing of ships and boats.

Did you know that a metalworker in Belgium, Canada or Great Britain has to work 3-4 minutes to be able to buy 1 litre of fresh milk? Whereas he or she has to work 25-30 minutes to buy 1 litre of fresh milk in Ecuador, Zambia or Honduras.
Source: The IMF publication "The Purchasing Power of Working Time - An International Comparison." Sector: Basic Metals.

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