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Two sharp-edged coal disputes in Queensland and New South Wales are concluding, with branches of ICEM Australian affiliate Construction, Forestry, Mining, and Energy Union (CFMEU) gaining the best possible terms for some combined 570 mineworkers. 
 
In northern Queensland, 233 miners employed by mining contractor Theiss of Leighton Holdings at the Collinsville mine reached terms within an enterprise agreement with Theiss in early September that provides them wage increases, improved housing allowances, and job security. 
 
The two-year-long dispute erupted late in July 2010 when miners launched a continuous strike. The 16-day strike was heroically marked by miners, spouses, and partners blocking tracks and turning back trains loaded with coal. The Collinsville mine is majority-held by Xstrata but Theiss and Leighton, a subsidiary of German construction giant Hochtief, operate the mine exclusively.
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CFMEU Members at the Tahmoor Mine&nbsp;
The other long dispute coming to conclusion is with Swiss-based Xstrata at the Tahmoor mine in New South Wales. Some 240 miners likely will vote approvingly for the company&rsquo;s last offer this week. If approved, the CFMEU will retain enterprise labour agreements under Fair Work Australia, something that Xstrata was resisting in attempting to roll back union-protected work rules to the days of former Tory Prime Minister John Howard. 
 
The 22-month dispute at Tahmoor was marked by lockouts and strikes, the latest a 19-day lockout that ended 7 September. During that lockout, a Fair Work Australia judge turned back Xstrata Coal&rsquo;s application to scrub the enterprise agreements at Tahmoor, basically stating that CFMEU had the legitimate workplace right to protect job security. 
 
Xstrata was seeking broad flexibility over workplace policies and procedures, without union involvement, while the union sought assurances against job replacements by contractors and greater roles in rosters and other on-the-job work rules.

Coal Strikes in Australia Wrapping to Conclusions

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Despite two full days of bargaining between ICEM affiliate, the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA), and the New Tyre Manufacturing Employers&rsquo; Industry Association (NTMEIA) on 16-17 September, no accord was reached to end the three-week old strike. Some 6,000 rubber workers have been on strike at six tyre factories operated by four employers since 29 August. 
 
Today in Port Elizabeth, 4,000 NUMSA members from tyre plants in the Eastern Cape will march in protest of rapt division among employers in this year&rsquo;s wage talks. They will present a petition to management at the plant gates of Bridgestone-Firestone in Port Elizabeth this afternoon.
In last week&rsquo;s talks guided by an independent mediator in Port Elizabeth, management of the Japanese-based company continued to deviate widely from the wage offers put forth by other tyre companies associated with the NTMEIA. While Continental, Goodyear, and Apollo-Dunlop of India placed on the table a three-year package containing wage increases of 9%, 7.5%, and 7.5%, Bridgestone-Firestone&rsquo;s offer was 7%, 5%, and 5%. 
 
Rubber workers of NUMSA are willing to accept a three-year pact, but their wage expectations are 9% in each of the three years. In addition, they seek a modernized wage module that will lift the salaries of workers who have been stuck at minimum levels for as long as 10 to 15 years. 
 
Another key issue at the bargaining table revolves around the use of labour brokers. Although the NTMEIA will not agree to a ban, it has conceded to pay contributions for short-term and temporary workers into the Provident Fund, as well as make retirement and medical payments for them. The South African tyre industry employs about 1,000 such workers.
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Also last week in South Africa, 70,000 NUMSA members across the country returned to their jobs at fuel retail outlets and auto component shops. On 14 September, NUMSA convened a special National Executive Committee meeting, where eight of nine regional structures of the union agreed to accept terms of the Retail Industry Motor Association and the Fuel Retailers&rsquo; Association, ending strikes that began on 1 September. 
 
The three-year contract for filling station attendants includes wage gains of 10%, 9%, and 8%, while auto-parts workers will receive 9%, 8%, and 8%. NUMSA did achieve a solid breakthrough regarding labour brokers, particularly in these sectors in which several employers are totally reliant on staff provided by outside hire firms. 
 
The agreement calls for all labour brokers to be registered by one of two certifying agencies, and all staff of labour brokers must receive minimum rates of pay inside the two industries as well as getting the same benefits and condition of employment. In addition, the negotiated settlement calls for the gradual phase-out of labour brokers, with a cut to 35% of current levels by the year 2013.

South African Tyre Strike Continues; Mass March Slated Today Against Bridgestone

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Coal-mining unions from Germany, Hungary, Poland, and Spain agreed last week in unity to ask the European Commission to extend its deadline for the elimination of state subsidies on the production of coal. Last spring, the Commission moved to eliminate completely any Member State from granting coal subsidies to coal-fired generating plants after 31 December 2010, but that was amended slightly in July to give a very limited extension of certain subsidies until 2014. 
 
German union IGBCE last week conducted a unity tour together with Works Council leaders of the country&rsquo;s coal producer, RAG, to Hungary, Poland, and Spain. What they found was undivided consensus that the sudden curtailment of state subsidies at year end will create social conflicts, much like what is now occurring in Spain.
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Hungarian Mining &amp; Energy Union, BDSZ&nbsp;
 
The trade unions of the coal-producing countries, IGBCE, NSZZ Solidarność of Poland, the Mining and Energy Workers&rsquo; Union BDSZ of Hungary, and mining and energy unions of both Spanish federations, UGT and CC.OO, pledged to work through their respective governments to change the Commission&rsquo;s current policy. 
 
&ldquo;The regulation proposal helps neither the coal-producing countries of Germany, Poland, Spain, and Hungary, nor the non coal-producing countries of the European Union,&rdquo; stated IGBCE President Michael Vassiliadas, who led the travel delegation. &ldquo;The subsidies do not create unfair competition in the EU. In comparison to the little that is gained in environmental protection, more (social costs) will be lost due to imported coal replaced domestic coal,&rdquo; said Vassiliadas.
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IGBCE President Michael Vassiliadas&nbsp;
Further, the unions claim that revoking the subsidies is counter-production to jobs creation coming out of the financial crisis. Coal accounts for 30% of European electricity generation, and 17% of total energy consumption in the EU.

European Mining Unions Reject Commission’s Coal Subsidies Policy

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The ICEM affiliate, Turkish Electricity Authority of Cyprus Workers&rsquo; Trade Union (EL-SEN), conducted its General Assembly on 10 July 2010. The assembly was convened under the banner of anti-privatisation in the capital city Nicosia in central Cyprus. 
 
President Tuluy Kalyoncu was re-elected to continue as head of the trade union, with 171 votes, while a second candidate received 24 votes. 
 
The only candidate for General Secretary of EL-SEN, Huseyin Sonmezoglu, was re-elected to that position. The newly elected Executive Board will consist of Turgut Evlat, Ozan Alciner, Subhi Ozpasa, Ercan Koseoglu, Orhan Gurgoze, Ozgur Uzuner, Caglayan Cesurer, Toprak Altay, and Kamil Ozinal. 
<img height="159" src="" width="320" alt="" />
Bulent Erzeybek was elected as Assistant Secretary General, while Suphi Ozpasa was elected Financial Secretary, Ercan Koseoglu Education Secretary, Saffet Asiksoy Foreign Relations Secretary, Huseyin Korkmaz Organizing Secretary, Ozgur Uzuner Social Affairs Secretary, and Serhan Kayar was elected as Secretary of Propaganda. 
 
The General Assembly adopted four resolutions. Delegates resolved to struggle for peace and a solution to the Cyprus problem. Also prioritised was the need to continue education programmes for members. 
 
Delegates adopted a strong resolution against the government&rsquo;s moves toward privatisation of the Turkish Electricity Authority of Cyprus (KIB-TEK). Congress accused the government of misleading the public on the financial condition of the company. 
 
ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda wrote to congratulate EL-SEN on its successful Congress.

Turkish-Cypriot Electricity Workers’ Take Stand Against Privatisation

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The ICEM-affiliated Mongolian union, the Federation of Energy, Geology and Mining Workers' Trade Unions (MEGM), hosted ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda and Asia-Pacific Regional Contact Person Phee Jung-sun recently. 
 
Warda commended accelerated development in Mongolia over recent years, noting significantly improved infrastructure in the country. It is positive for the country that foreign investment has increased rapidly, and resource-rich Mongolia can benefit from such investment through exploration and development of gold mines and construction of power plants. Major investors are from Canada, China, and the US. 
 
MEGM President Gambold indicated that union members are facing new challenges through this period of foreign investment. Government and employers are attempting to change current labour laws toward creating a more &ldquo;flexible&rdquo; labour market in order to &ldquo;adapt to the global economy.&rdquo; 
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This means fewer restrictions on temporary work agencies, increasing the numbers of precarious jobs in the country. This is being countered by trade unions of Mongolia, which have created a new working group that will submit a counter proposal to the proposed legislation. 
 
The government is introducing a programme of privatisation of state-owned enterprises in the telecommunication and energy sectors. A number of major investment contracts with foreign companies are due to be signed during the second half of 2010. 
 
The ICEM, working with the local ILO office, the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), and other Global Union Federations, will be supplying technical assistance for these critical issues to be addressed, so as to build a firm foundation for sustainable development in Mongolia, in line with ILO international labour standards. 
 
The experiences in many Asian countries, notably Korea and Vietnam, on business contracts with foreign companies are that these foreign companies often demand long-term contracts that are unacceptable with respect to labour protections and profit sharing. 
 
&ldquo;It is my sincere hope and firm belief that Mongolian government should listen to opinions of social partners. Through social dialogue and consensus, the government can build the confidence and mutual faith,&rdquo; stated Warda.

ICEM Shores Up Support to Mongolian Affiliate to Combat Privatisation, Contract Labour

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Thailand&rsquo;s Tripartite Industrial Relations Committee (IRC) ruled that French-based Michelin has violated provisions of the Industrial Relations Act 1975, and ordered that management at the Laem Chabang tyre factory reinstate 12 activists &ndash; members of ICEM-affiliated Petroleum and Chemical Workers&rsquo; Federation (PCFT) &ndash; to their rightful jobs. 
 
The ruling was given on 24 June, but notification and official documentation of the unfair labour practices complaint did not come to the PCFT until 20 July. The12 had been unfairly discriminated against by Michelin since leading a two-month dispute and company lockout at the plant in March and April 2009. 
 
The 12 had been kept on Michelin&rsquo;s payroll, but were assigned to a government-run skills centre in efforts to keep them away from the 1,800-member workforce. They refused the assignments, citing violations of their rights. 
<img alt="" src="" width="200" height="181" />
Standing, center, Michelin plant-level PCFT President Thanakorn Somsin (fist raised) and Secretary Sommoi Prawai (on his left), together with founders of the PCFT branch union 
The IRC ruling orders Michelin to provide work inside the factory to the 12 in positions not lower than their previous postings, and to do so within ten days. 
 
The dispute started when Michelin, in March 2009, attempted to institute 35% wage cut to everyone at the Chonburi Province plant. A petition surfaced protesting the unilateral cuts and managers then punished workers who refused to remove their names from the petition by locking them out of the factory. After unionists blockaded the plant, some were jailed, while Michelin supervisors filed criminal complaints against the union organisers. 
 
Even though tri-partite negotiations produced a partial resolve on 28 April, including recognition of the newly-formed plant union as part of PCFT, Michelin continued to discriminate against union leaders. The recent IRC ruling means that all union activists should be legally reinstated. 
 
Some 700 workers at Laem Chabang have taken up PCFT membership. Michelin has a 90% stake in three Thai tyre plants, the PCFT-represented Phra Padaeng factory in Samut Prakarn, the non-unionised Nong Khae plant in Sarburi, and Laem Chabang. The Siam Cement Group owns the minority shares in the three tyre plants.

Thai Labour Court Orders 12 Michelin Union Activists Back to Work

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US public criticism against a CEO and against his company in the wake of the deadly West Virginia coal mine explosion on 5 April has triggered measures for better and tighter overall workplace safety standards in the US Congress. The proposals stand as the first significant overhaul to the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) in its 40-year history. 
 
A panel of the US House of Representatives&rsquo; Education and Labor Committee gave approval, with a 30-17 vote on 21 July, to HR 5663, the Miner Safety and Health Act. The proposed legislation would finally put teeth into America&rsquo;s federal safety and health statute, and comes at a time when the US public is angry over the arrogance and power exhibited by companies following job-place deaths and ecological disasters, like BP&rsquo;s Deepwater Horizon explosion and deaths in the Gulf of Mexico. 
 
The lightning rod for the tougher safety standards in the US continues to be Massey Energy and its CEO, Don Blankenship. It was at Massey&rsquo;s Upper Big Branch mine near Montcoal, West Virginia, on 5 April, that a methane gas blast killed 29 non-union miners in a colliery where workers were ignored when they spoke up against poor air quality. Blankenship has used the deaths, contemptibly, to argue for less oversight by the US Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) and more reliance on business instincts in order to improve safety. 
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The proposed legislation is sweeping, and would lift the US statute to the level of some of the best safety laws in the world. OSHA violators could be charged with felony crimes, carrying heavy jail sentences and fines. It would grant expedited hearing, review, and protection in all-important whistle-blower cases, and it would give the US Labor Department&rsquo;s safety agency heightened power to shut unsafe workplaces. 
 
An existing but non-functioning &ldquo;pattern of violation&rdquo; status in the existing law would be given tougher enforcement mechanisms with strong penalties attached, and families and relatives of victims would receive more rights in the proposed legislation. 
 
Also in mining, workers would be given the undeniable right to refuse unsafe work and MSHA would have the power to shut down a mine without waiting for a company&rsquo;s appeals to exhaust, a common tactic used by Massey to continue production after safety violations are issued. At Upper Big Branch, Massey had been repeatedly cited for dust and ventilation problems, but the company&rsquo;s appeals caused penalties to be reduced and safety deficiencies to continue. 
 
Business and industry interests at the committee hearings in Washington, DC, opposed an updated OSHA, saying the proposed revisions are too much, too fast. 
 
That caused United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) President Cecil Roberts to say, &ldquo;If we&rsquo;re asking ourselves, &lsquo;Are we moving too fast?&rsquo; maybe we should ask ourselves if we&rsquo;re moving too slow, because miners keep dyin&rsquo; in our nation&rsquo;s coal mines.&rdquo; 
<img src="" width="100" height="139" alt="" />
UMWA President Cecil Roberts
The increase in US mining deaths to date in 2010 is markedly up, and on a pace not seen since the 1980s when US mining employment was half what it is now. So far in 2010, 40 miners have been killed, nearing the most recent record of 47 in 2006. 
 
Thirty-one of the 40 deaths have occurred at Massey collieries. On 1 July, an electrician was crushed to death by a coal-laden shuttle car inside Massey&rsquo;s non-union White Buck Coal Co. mine in West Virginia. And on 10 May, another miner was crushed between machinery and a longwall at Massey&rsquo;s non-union Ruby Energy mine, also in West Virginia. He died a week later in a hospital. 
 
Besides the BP disaster that occurred in American waters in the Gulf of Mexico on 20 April, killing 11 workers, the updated safety legislation is spurred by the 3 April explosion at Tesoro&rsquo;s oil refinery in the state of Washington that killed seven &ndash; all members of the United Steelworkers (USW) &ndash; and another explosion at a power station of Kleen Energy Systems in the state of Connecticut in February, killing six. These accidents raise among Americans a late-to-arrive consciousness that perhaps the cost of profits over people in a free society has come at too steep a price. 
 
The full US House of Representatives must now take up the safety bill, while the US Senate is standing back awaiting House action before it takes up the legislation.

Massey Arrogance Fuels Tougher Workplace Safety Standards for US

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Thanks to dogged persistence by ICEM affiliate Communications, Energy, Paperworkers (CEP) Union of Canada, the fate of the 133,000 barrel-per-day oil refinery Shell refinery in Montr&eacute;al is still open and subject to sale. Last week, following a second court injunction prohibiting dismantling of the refinery until 10 September, Shell announced it again would negotiate with the Delek Group of Israel over purchase of the refinery. 
 
At stake are the jobs of 500 workers represented by the CEP. In January 2010, Shell announced plans to radically restructure its global downstream operations, including closure of the Montr&eacute;al East refinery by 1 June. 
 
The Anglo-Dutch multinational said it would continue operating part of the site as a terminal and distribution centre for scores of Shell retail outlets scattered across Qu&eacute;bec and Canada&rsquo;s Maritime Provinces. Such continuance, however, would require only 30 workers. 
<img alt="" src="" width="120" height="120" />
The CEP and its Montr&eacute;al branch union, Local 121, has battled relentlessly to find a buyer, as well as to press provincial and federal authorities to keep the refinery operating. Shell rejected bids by potential operators last spring and union members believe Shell wants the refinery shut, with imported petroleum products distributed through the terminal. 
 
On 8 July, a Qu&eacute;bec Superior Court granted the union a ten-day injunction preventing any cannibalizing of the refinery. &ldquo;We believe that maintaining the equipment in good condition until we get satisfactory answers to our questions about offers to but the facility&rdquo; is in everybody&rsquo;s best interests, said Local 121 President Jean-Claude Rocheleau. 
 
On 16 July, that injunction was extended into September. Meanwhile, last week on 20 July, Shell stated at a federal parliamentary hearing of the House of Commons that it re-open talks with Delek, a holding company in which its wholly-owned subsidiary, US Holdings Inc., operates a crude pipeline, refinery, and hundreds of gasoline retail outlets in the southern US. 
 
Delek had been an earlier bidder for the refinery, but Shell rejected the bid as too low. The ICEM remains hopeful that CEP will succeed in achieving sale of the refinery, preserving jobs for the union&rsquo;s energy workers. Shell operates two smaller Canadian refineries, in Sarnia, Ontario, and in Edmonton, Alberta.

CEP Fights to Keep Shell’s Montréal Oil Refinery Operating

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The ICEM&rsquo;s Sub-Sahara Africa Regional Organisation (SSARO), at its Executive Committee Meeting in Mauritius, 27-28 September, adopted a resolution affirming continued commitment to challenge mining multinational Vale in Africa. &ldquo;SSARO affiliates will oppose all Vale investments in Africa and those of its surrogates until Vale demonstrates a willingness to drop its anti-union behaviour,&rdquo; states the resolution. 
 
The resolution was adopted unanimously by the ICEM African affiliates, building on their commitment of 6 April during the &lsquo;Week of Action on Vale&rsquo; when SSARO&rsquo;s Executive Committee denounced Vale&rsquo;s attacks on workers in Canada and throughout the world, and resolved to oppose the investment of Vale in Africa. 
 
Vale continues hostile demands on workers at Voisey&rsquo;s Bay, Newfoundland, Canada, to accept large concessions and worse terms than those agreed in settling the bitter disputes at Sudbury and Port Colborne. The corporate management of Vale maintains the unacceptable position that they cannot intervene in the dispute, instead settlement must be reached by local management and workers. 
 
The ICEM and the International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF) have been fighting a global campaign against Vale&rsquo;s anti-union practices and efforts to spread their intolerable treatment of workers to Africa and throughout the world. 
 
&ldquo;The ICEM affiliates of Africa have shown their strength in unity by confronting the second largest mining company in the world, and refusing their anti-worker practices. We salute them for this and pledge our full continued support to the campaign,&rdquo; stated ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda. 
 
The opposition to Vale in Africa includes the 50/50 joint venture between Vale and African Rainbow Minerals (ARM), a South African mining company that acts as a gateway for Vale to Africa&rsquo;s mineral resources. 
 
Vale has begun construction of the Konkola North Project in Zambia, where the Brazilian multinational plans to invest US$400 in the copper mine. This is strongly opposed by the Mineworkers Union of Zambia (MUZ), who have questioned the legality of the mine&rsquo;s lease. 
 
ICEM affiliates in South Africa, Zambia, Liberia, and Guinea have been at the forefront of opposing Vale expansion. Unions have been informing government officials on Vale&rsquo;s global misconduct, and of their demand that Vale move to settle the dispute at Voisey&rsquo;s Bay before entry of the company is considered. 
 
&ldquo;The global campaign will benefit all mining unions. We cannot allow Vale&rsquo;s practices to be imported into Africa or any other continent for that matter,&rdquo; stated ICEM Director of Industry &amp; Corporate Affairs Joe Drexler. 
 
View the Resolution in its entirety <a href="/index.php?id=25&amp;la=EN&amp;doc=4022">here</a>. 
 
Participants at the meeting approved the joint proposal of the United Steelworkers (USW) to hold a regional meeting on Vale in Africa. In these decisions, SSARO emphasised the importance of closer contact with trade unions in Brazil and Mozambique.

ICEM SSARO Endorses Continued Campaign on Vale

In April 2010, ICEM SSARO unanimously adopted a resolution to oppose the investment in Africa by Vale, the multinational mining giant of Brazil. The purpose was to prevent a global decline in mining labour standards due to the anti-union practices of Vale, throughout the world and particularly in Canada where the company forced over 3,500 miners on strike. 
 
ICEM SSARO also took note that Vale had established a partnership with African Rainbow Minerals (ARM) of South Africa to assist Vale in developing new mines and smelters on the African continent. 
 
Despite representations to the contrary made by Vale and ARM, there is little evidence that Vale has changed its attitudes and behaviour. Even after settling two year-long strikes in Canada, when the United Steelworkers agreed to accept some significant concessions, Vale boasted that it had won a power struggle, instead of trying to rebuild the strained relationship with its employees. Vale refused to settle a third strike in Voisey&rsquo;s Bay, Canada, and is demanding that the largely aboriginal workers accept lower standards than what was agreed at the other sites. 
 
Recently, the ICEM and International Metal Workers (IMF) met with Vale officials in Geneva at the request of the company. Vale called for continued social dialogue with the two global trade union federations. The ICEM and IMF stated that social dialogue can only proceed if Vale demonstrates a willingness to change its policies and practices toward trade unions. 
 
So far, there is no evidence that Vale has changed its policies and practices. 
 
SSARO trade unions in South Africa, Zambia, Liberia and Guinea have been in the forefront of opposing Vale&rsquo;s expansion in Africa and that of its surrogate, ARM. These trade unions have stated clearly that complete respect for trade union, community and environmental rights is a fundamental condition that multinational mining companies must meet to gain access to Africa&rsquo;s riches. Vale has not met this condition. 
 
SSARO hereby reaffirms its opposition to Vale investment in Africa. SSARO affiliates will continue to educate its governments and it citizens of the dangers of allowing Vale to operate in their respective countries and will oppose all Vale investments in Africa and those of its surrogates until Vale demonstrates a willingness to drop its anti-union behaviour. 
 
ICEM SSARO also stressed the critical importance of involving and working more closely with Brazilian trade unions in the effort to stop Vale&rsquo;s export of anti-union practices and to strengthen the position of trade unions wherever Vale operates.

Vale Resolution -- SSARO

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