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<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100" height="39" alt=""/>
Some 300 members of Australia’s Construction, Forestry, Mine and Energy Union (CFMEU) are locked in a fierce battle with the American door and window-maker Jeld-Wen. Woodworkers of the CFMEU’s Forestry, Furnishing and Timber Building Products Division have been on strike – and locked out five days – at factories in four Australian states. 
 
The central issue is pay. CFMEU has been negotiating with Jeld-Wen subsidiaries Corinthian, William Russell Doors, and Stegbar since June over a new enterprise agreement, but the meagre wage increases offered over a three-year proposal would mean actual pay cuts for workers. In recent talks, the company reshuffled its pay offer but it still fell far short of Australia’s 4.5% cost-of-living rise. 
 
Workers at six factories – including St. Mary’s near Sydney, New South Wales; Dandenong, Cambellfield and Scoresby in Victoria; Regency Park near Adelaide, South Australia; and Canningvale, Perth, Western Australia – took 48-hour strike actions on 6 September. They then were hit by the five-day lockout on 8 September. Workers immediately undertook further and varying strike actions over the last two weeks at the six worksites. 
<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1109.cfmeu jeld wen.jpg" width="242" height="161" alt=""/>
Photo: The Western Weekender
Global labour leaders attending the CFMEU’s National Construction Conference in Canberra recently visited the St Mary’s picket line on 16 September, and the Building and Wood Workers’ International (BWI) has picked up the cause and is actively supporting CFMEU members. BWI has launched a protest campaign through its website. Please join that protest <a href="http://www.bwint.org/default.asp?Index=3685&Language=EN">here</a>.  
 
CFMEU National lead Negotiator Phil Davies said the revised pay offer given after the company’s lockout ended on 13 September is worse than Jeld-Wen’s original “non-negotiable” pay proposal. If accepted, one-third of all job classifications would actually see a further decline in real wages compared to inflation. “All our members want is fair and reasonable pay and conditions,” he said. 
 
The company is seeking to abolish an attendance-based bonus scheme as well. Meanwhile, the employer has sent letters to workers warning of future lockouts. 
 
Family-run and closely-held Jeld-Wen, started in 1960 by Richard Wendt, purchased the Corinthian factories in Australia and Asia on the cheap during the Asian financial crisis in the mid-1990s, and in 1999 bought Stegbar from a UK-based company. In North America, Oregon-based Jeld-Wen overextended itself in recent years with diversification into ski resorts and holiday properties at the exact time housing and real estate markets crashed. 
 
Next month, Canadian private equity company Onex is expected to close on a US$860 million infusion into Jeld-Wen, giving it 58% ownership of a company that operates 60 manufacturing and distribution sites in 22 countries. The deceased Wendt’s son, Roderick, will cease heading one of the world’s biggest door- and window-makers in exchange for an Onex selectee.

US Firm Slams Door on CFMEU Members Trying to Catch Inflation

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On 14 September 14, the ICEM held an education and awareness-raising event on ILO Convention 176, the Health and Safety in Mines Convention, at XIX World Congress on Safety and Health at Work (WCSHW), an important global occupational health and safety gathering. It took place at the Haliç Congress Center in Istanbul. 
 
The ICEM forum had the presence of two of the leaders of ICEM-affiliated mining unions, which indicated the commitment from them to get Turkey to ratify and implement the standards contained in Convention 176. Nurettin Akçul, President of Türkiye Maden-İş, the Mine Workers’ Union of Turkey, and President Eyüp Alabaş of Genel Maden-İş, the General Mine Workers’ Union of Turkey, participated and expressed the necessity of improved mine safety through adoption of global standards. 
 
ICEM Industry and Corporate Affairs Director Kemal Özkan introduced the panellists. He noted that the ICEM has made mine safety a top priority, and will vigilantly work to get more countries to ratify ILO Convention 176. 
 
The first panellist was Dr. Fikret Sazak, Director of Education Department for Maden-İş. He reviewed the deplorable occupational health and safety conditions in Turkey's mining sector, as well as generally. 
<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1109.c176 istanbul.jpg" width="230" height="160" alt=""/>
From left to right: Brian Kohler, Glen Mpufane, Eyüp Alabaş, Kemal Özkan, Nurettin Akçul, Fikret Sazak, Turhan Oral
Neo-liberal policies of deregulation, privatization, and globalization are devastating the sector, he said. There is a large informal sector within the Turkish economy. Even within the formal sector, there is high unemployment, low union density, and therefore a big problem with contract labour, flexible labour arrangements, and other forms of precarious work. 
 
Turkish mines are poorly regulated, and there are not enough government inspectors to adequately enforce even those regulations that do exist. 
 
Sazak concluded that the solution lies in enacting effective and enforceable occupational health and safety laws, much more education and training, and worker participation through joint Health and Safety Committees. ILO Convention 176 sets out a minimum standard for all of these things, therefore it should be a high priority for the government of Turkey to ratify it. This will not happen without strong unions. 
 
ICEM Mining Officer Glen Mpufane entitled his presentation “First Aid Needed for Safety and Health in the Mining Industry.” He focused on various incentive systems used to compensate miners – both workers and managers. This creates a race to the bottom where all standards are sacrificed to the altar of profit. 
 
Surveying recent mining disasters, in Pakistan, New Zealand, the US, China, Russia, Mexico and other countries, Mpufane concluded that the role of trade unions was crucial. The ICEM predecessor, the Miners’ International Federation (MIF), played a major role in drafting and adopting ILO Convention 176 in 1995, and now the ICEM is the major organization campaigning for country to country ratification. 
 
Brian Kohler, ICEM Officer for Health, Safety and Sustainability, reviewed some of the provisions contained in ILO Convention 176, and the associated Recommendation 183. 
 
The main features include recommendations for a strong national legislative and regulatory framework, including inspection, required accident investigation, and reporting and record-keeping; employers' responsibilities to provide adequate training and supervision; hazard control following the principle of eliminating or controlling the hazard as close to the source of the hazard as possible and relying on personal protective equipment only as a last resort, and a recognition of workers rights to participate in health and safety policy-making at the workplace level and to remove themselves from danger. 
 
Other important provisions include topics such as risk assessment and control, health surveillance, and risk communication. Good engineering design is a starting point for a safe mine, stated Kohler. Effective emergency response procedures and equipment are also necessary. 
 
Kohler concluded by saying when it comes to occupational health and safety, governments and employers have responsibilities – workers have rights.

ICEM Holds Forum on ILO C. 176 at Safety Congress in Turkey

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Loyal to the organisation’s motto “an injury to one is an injury to all,” 10,000 members of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) marched to the Chamber of Mines in Johannesburg in early October demanding safer working conditions. 
 
Deadly mine accidents continue to take the lives of some around 100 South African miners each year. The 4 October demonstrators also used the occasion to remember comrades killed at work. 
 
Several thousand mine, construction and energy sector employees downed their tools to mark the day of mourning and protest. The central business district of Johannesburg was brought to a standstill by the march to state-run electricity provider Eskom, the South African Federation of Civil Engineering Contractors, and the government departments of labour and mineral resources. 
<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1110.num rally Johannesburg.jpg" width="214" height="161" alt=""/>
The Marchers were addressed by the Leadership of the National Union of Mineworkers, The President of the NUM and the ICEM, The General Secretary of the ICEM and the Chairman of the ICEM Mining and DGJOP Sector. 
 
The Chamber of Mines, incidentally, joined the strike to improve national awareness over mine health and safety. 
 
The NUM showed its might in July with a widely celebrated victory, blocking Brazilian mining group Vale’s efforts to invest in the country and to operate 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” and an employer not welcome in South Africa. 
 
Vale had long targeted base-metals mining company Metorex for its extensive copper and cobalt mining operations, and prospective growth projects, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and in Zambia. But strong NUM opposition forced Vale to withdraw their bid for Metorex on 12 July.

NUM Strikes for South African Mine Safety Improvements

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100" height="39"/>
Over 200 Global Mining and Maritime trade unions representing millions of workers around the world met in Durban, South Africa at the fourth International Mining and Maritime Conference. The conference has previously been held in Australia and the USA and was being held for the first time in Africa. The conference was hosted by the South African Trade Unions participating in the initiative. These Trade Unions are NUM, SATAWU, and CEPPWAWU. Most of the National Unions participating in the Mining and Maritime initiative are affiliates of the ICEM and participate in their individual capacities. The Mining and Maritime initiative is an independent loose alliance of national trade unions across the globe in the Mining and Maritime value chain, committed to global solidarity across the value chain of the Mining and Maritime industries. 
 
Intensive deliberations were held over three days of the conference on a wide range of issues across the mining and maritime value chain. A declaration was adopted at the end of the conference that commits the initiative to a plan of action in the next three years before the next conference. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1003.mining.maritime.logo.png" width="360" height="73"/>
Unlike previous conferences, the Durban conference reflected the influence and articulation of African Trade Union issues and agenda and this was extensively covered in the Declaration. Noteworthy in the declaration was the establishment of a truest fund to support the SATAWU initiative to recognize, albeit posthumously, Akhona Geveza, a victim of sexual assault and murder in the workplace, while on a Maritime scholarship in Australia 
 
The ICEM President, Senzeni Zokwana opened the conference and ICEM General Secretary, Manfred Warda, was one of the key note speakers at the conference. Both leaders gave the assurance of the ICEM’s support for the initiative’s solidarity campaigns and programmes. 
 
The ICEM’s Mining Officer, Glen Mpufane gave a presentation on the State of the Current Global Extractive Resources Industries, which was well received by the conference delegates. The Chairperson of the Initiative, Mick Doleman, recognized the presentation as an invaluable resource material for the Mining and Maritime. 
 
Conference delegates declared continued support for the global campaign for Los Mineros in Mexico, development of a global network of unions at mining multinational Vale, and to reenergise the Rio Tinto global network. The declaration prioritised the fight for women’s rights and participation. Specific support was pledged to the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Local 21 in their fight for good jobs at EGT Development’s grain terminal in the Port of Longview, Washington, USA. EGT Development is a joint venture of Japan-based Itochu Corp, South Korea’s STX Pan Ocean and Bunge North America. The ILWU President Robert McEllrath surrendered himself on 26 September to authorities, as police abuse their powers to harass the Longview strikers. McEllrath was arrested on the same day as another ICEM North American trade union leader, Dave Coles of the CEP in Canada was arrested on Parliament Hill, Ottawa during a protest against the Keystone XL pipeline.

Mining and Maritime: Durban, South Africa 5-7 October 2011

<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100" height="39" alt=""/>
With the United Steelworkers (USW) currently voting local-by-local on adoption of a US National Oil Bargaining Policy, one thing is certain when talks with oil refiners get underway early in 2012: union-initiated process safety improvements will lead the agenda. 
 
Some 300 local USW leaders convened in Dallas, Texas, in late September and adopted a bargaining policy. That policy is now up for ratification by USW branch unions representing oil workers and once 75% of local unions agree, the agenda will be tabled when bargaining begins early in 2012. A current three-year labour agreement between USW and a majority of US downstream oil and petrochemical employers expires 1 February 2012. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/0811GaryBeeversUSW.jpg" width="110" height="159"/>
Gary Beevers
USW Vice President Gary Beevers, who heads the sector, said achieving process safety will be the main issue in this round of talks. “We must have meaningful and enforceable safety provisions if we are going to save lives, and we are prepared to strike, if necessary, to get that,” said Beevers, an ICEM Executive Committee member. 
 
Process safety refers to a safe and functioning engineering and management controls system that prevents explosions, fires, and toxic releases caused by the highly hazardous chemicals used in refining. USW will strive to get a union-trained safety specialist in each of the 69 refineries where it represents workers as part of that process safety system. 
 
The USW reports that during the term of the current labour agreement, up through early September 2011, there were 131 reported fires in US refineries, about one per week. The USW lost seven union members, including some who were Local 12-591 leaders, in the deadly 2 April 2010 explosion at Tesoro Corp.’s Anacortes, Washington, refinery. 
 
The Tesoro explosion was caused by a heat exchanger in a naphtha unit that blew apart due to cracks in a welded area, an obvious flaw in process safety. The Washington State Department of Labour and Industry determined that the Texas-based company failed to test equipment for cracks and fined Tesoro US$2.39 million, a fine the company appealed. 
 
The USW represents 30,000 workers at a total of 168 production, refining, marketing, transportation, and pipeline installations, and its membership in the US’s 69 oil and petrochemical refineries gives it representation covering 64% of all workers in the US downstream sector. 
 
Oil bargaining in the US is termed pattern bargaining in which USW selects a lead company to negotiate with and then those terms are presented and expected to be accepted by other companies. Traditionally, the USW and its predecessor unions have selected Royal Dutch Shell as the lead company.

Safety Central Issue in Upcoming US Downstream Oil Talks

<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100" height="39" alt=""/>
Following the disaster at the BP-operated Deepwater Horizon oil well in the Gulf of Mexico the ICEM-affiliated trade union in Norway, Industri Energi (IE), appointed a reference task force to: 
<ul>
 <li>
 <div align="justify">Review reports and data on the accident </div>
 </li>
 <li>
 <div align="justify">Draw lessons and how to implement these lessons in their Health and Safety work both nationally and internationally </div>
 </li>
 <li>
 <div align="justify">Evaluate the consequences of the accident for the offshore business in Norway and elsewhere around the world </div>
 </li>
 <li>
 <div align="justify">Advise the trade union’s decision-making body concerning the accident and the consequences of it. </div>
 </li>
</ul>
<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/NorwayIE.jpg" width="90" height="121" alt=""/>
The taskforce had its first meeting on 16 February 2011 to discuss the mandate and working methods as well to review the material at hand. Since then they have conducted 6 meetings and submitted their report at the beginning of September 2011. 
 
The <a href="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1110.IE%20deepwater%20Eng_Rapport_Deepwater_s.pdf" type="internal">report</a>, dedicated to the “11 offshore workers who lost their lives on the altar of greed” is now available in English here.  
 
It has been produced by a team from the union who have examined in detail the relevant official reports available on the disaster and made comparisons with the legislative and industrial situation on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. As can be seen from the report the authors have a depth of knowledge and experience of the offshore oil industry which makes their conclusions particularly important. The report also highlights the lack of trade union membership and representation as a significant factor in the series of events which led to the disaster. 
 
If you have any questions on the report please contact <a href="mailto:lars.a.myhre@industrienergi.no">Lars Myhre</a>, ICEM Energy Industries Section Chairperson.

Industri Energi Publishes Report into Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Disaster

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBriefAlert.jpg" width="120" height="59"/>
Broad strike activity accelerated a positive wage agreement in the Austrian metal sector. In the early morning hours today, 18 October, Austrian trade unions PRO-GE and GPA djp, the Salaried Employees, Print, Journalism, Paper Union, emerged from bargaining on behalf on 170,000 metal and industrial workers with positive results. 
The 2011 pay awards will range from 4.2% to 4.4%, with the minimum wage in the sector increasing by €80-per-month, or a sizeable 5.3%. The ICEM commends these wage gains as a sterling European example in creating consumer power to offset the dire financial climate of the Eurozone. PRO-GE and GPA djp are to be congratulated for negotiating €300 million into the Austrian economy in this single set of talks. 
<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1110.austria pro ge.jpg" width="180" height="120" alt=""/>
This was made possible by strategic and early strikes last week that moved third-round bargaining up to yesterday, and forced the employers’ hand in raising their wage offers to above 4%. (See <a href="/en/5-Mining-DGOJP/4719-Wage-Shame-Drives-Austrian-Metalworkers-into-Warning-Strikes" type="internal">ICEM report</a> on Austrian coordinated strikes last week here.) 
“We have met our main demands of sustainable wage and salary increases, particularly for the lowest paid workers,” said Rainer Wimmer, PRO-GE’s chief negotiator. “I thank the stewards, members, and supporters who made this deal possible. Without the 800 workplace actions and the pressure generated by the strikes, this would not have been possible.” 
Those strikes happened last Thursday and Friday, and were about to carry into Monday, 17 October, except that employers recognised the growing momentum among workers for fair wage gains and they reached settlement on union terms. That recognition came in hastily called exploratory talks held on Sunday, 16 October, that included ÖGB national labour centre President Erich Foglar and the leader of the chief employers’ association, the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber (WKÖ). 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1110.pro%20ge%20reiner.jpg" width="105" height="160"/>
Rainer Wimmer
Third-round bargaining was moved up from 20 October to yesterday to avoid further work stoppages, and the two sides reached accord early today after a 14-hour bargaining session. 
The agreement grants a 1 November pay rise of 4.4% to bottom rung workers, 4.3 to mid-level, 4.2% to senior staff, and 4% to top level people. In addition, pay for apprentices increases by 4.3% and all benefit indemnifications increase by the same amount. 
Perhaps the crowning achievement was hiking the minimum wage by 5.3%, or up to €1,584-per-month. The wage agreement positively affects the buying power for 25,000 autoworkers, 16,000 who work in basic steel and iron, 5,000 in non-ferrous metals, 5,000 in utility work, and tens of thousands more in machinery, metal goods, and other industrial production. 
Austria’s metal sector agreement now sets a template for 450,000 retail sector workers. Unions representing those workers and retail employers begin talks on 19 October.

Austria Metalworkers Negotiate Exemplary 2011 Wage Terms

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100" height="39"/>
Efforts to resolve the six-week Indonesian mine strike by FSP-KEP (SPSI), the Chemical, Energy and Mine Workers’ Union (CEMWU) against Freeport-McMoRan continue today on the local level, but agreement is not likely. Meanwhile, 10,000 strikers continue to block the lone access road to the world’s largest gold mine and third largest copper mine – Grasberg, operated by PT Freeport Indonesia. 
 
The company suspended all production one week ago due to the supply road being blocked and a ruptured pipeline that carries copper concentrate from the mine, 4,000 metres high in the Sudirman Range, to the port city of Timika. Production resumed on 19 October, but union sources say it has not exceeded 30%. 
 
On 21 October, dialogue did occur between the SPSI/PT Freeport union, 5 company officials, and the Tinal family, which administers the local Mimika regency, but Grasberg miners of Papua province, New Guinea Island, are no closer to a 2011-12 wage agreement than they were three weeks ago. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1110.indo ambulance.JPG" width="289" height="160"/>
Family of Petrus Ayamiseba after 10 October Killing
Talks, however, took place today at the Rimba Hotel in Timika, some 200 kilometres from the rich Grasberg gold and copper deposits. 
 
Next week the ICEM will dispatch a team to Indonesia to meet with striking SPSI members of the CEMWU and officials involved in the strike. That team will consist of mineworkers’ leaders from Australia, Africa, and Europe. 
 
Two weeks ago, on 10 October, one union member was shot and killed and another died five days later after a group of miners tried to enter a transit terminal in Gorong-Gorong at Milepost 28 to board a bus to assist the blockade. Local police shot indiscriminately into their backs as they entered the bus depot. 
 
Killed instantly was Petrus Ayamiseba, while Leo Wandagau died in his home in Timika on 15 October from a wound to his back caused by a rubber bullet. Eight other strikers were wounded. A three-member committee from Indonesia’s Human Rights Committee was sent to the area last week to investigate. 
 
There have been two other instances in which gunfire killed at least six people, but the ICEM has been unable to discern if these shootings are related to the strike. A 13-member delegation of Indonesian parliamentarians also visited Timika on 20 October in search of answers to resolve the strike. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1110.indo shooting.JPG" width="213" height="160"/>
Leo Wandagau on 10 October; he died 15 October
The ICEM is convinced that a resolve will not happen until US-based Freeport-McMoRan instructs its Grasberg managers to lift its pay proposal for 2011 and 2012. Management’s most recent offer – three weeks ago – would grant a 15% pay hike in 2011 and 10% in 2012. The company also wants the union to acknowledge that the strike is illegal and issue a formal apology to the company. 
 
FSP-KEP (SPSI) of CEMWU has lowered its demands to an average of US$7.50-an-hour. PT Freeport Indonesia has split unionised miners into non-staff and staff, with non-staff numbering 8,512 and staff 2,574. Non-staff now average earnings of US$2.13-an-hour and US$368 monthly, while staff has average wages of US$3.54-per-hour and US$613 monthly. 
 
The union is also seeking a better savings plan programme than what PT Freeport Indonesia has on the table. In addition, workers are seeking payment of their wages during the strike, which started on 15 September, payment which management made during an eight-day warning strike in July. They also seek the return of all workers to their jobs. Hundreds of miners have been either terminated or “relieved from duty” since the mid-September strike started. 
 
The ICEM will continue to support FSP-KEP (SPSI) at PT Freeport in its quest for wage justice, dignity, and a proud return to their jobs in the remote highlands of Papua province.

Indonesian Freeport-McMoRan Mine Strike Continues, Two Unionists Shot Dead

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Union members of CGT-Filpac and CFE-CGC boarded five buses early today and headed to Paris from Alizay in northern France to continue their struggle to keep an M-real paper mill operating. In Paris, paperworkers from Alizay in the Haute-Normandie region will protest at the Ministry of Agriculture where final mediation begins between French authorities, the Finnish papermaker, and two potential buyers. 
 
Some 330 workers began a strike and blockade of the Alizay paper mill on 19 October, the day M-real announced closure of the uncoated printing papers mill. M-real, 40% controlled by the Finnish forestry company Metsäliitto, terminated discussions with Thailand-based Advance Agro Ltd., known as Double A Paper, and the Paris-based investment capital company Fin’active SAS due to buy the 48-year-old paper mill. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1110.thierry%20philippot%20cgt%20paper.jpg" width="242" height="161"/>
Thierry Philippot
On 20 October, many paperworkers left the front gate of the mill and took to the A13 motorway between Normandie and Paris and gave passing motorists a “toll-free” handbill describing their plight. 
 
M-real announced on 4 May 2011 that it intended to sell printing paper mills in Alizay and Gohrsmühle, Germany, as part of a major restructuring plan to exit the fine paper industry and focus on paperboard used for packaging. 
 
“We have prepared for the possibility of closure, but we are not yet ready to accept it,” said CGT-Filpac plant representative Thierry Philippot. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1110.france pulp paper protest.jpg" width="297" height="159"/>
Paperworkers Block M-Real’s Alizay Mill
Philippot, along with fellow CGT representative Jean-Yves Lemahieu and CFE-CGC representative Eric Hogger, traveled to Helsinki on 30 September to meet with M-real CEO Mikko Helander in hopes that a deal could be consummated. 
 
M-real had put two conditions on a sale: maintain the current employment for 24 months, and pour all sales from the 310,000-tonne-per-year mill back into the operation. Although both Advance Agro and Fin’active appeared to accept those terms, the deal with favoured Advance Agro broke down when the Thai company demanded other conditions. 
 
The mediation today is with Advance Agro, a company that operates two pulp mills and three paper factories in its home country. Mediation with Fin’active, an investment firm specializing in distressed assets, will be held later this week. The talks will be headed by French Agriculture Minister Bruno Le Maire, a UPM party member and member of France‘s Parliament from the Eure department, where the Alizay mill is located.

French Paperworkers Continue Protest Today to Keep M-real Mill Operating

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100" height="39"/>
The manufacturing sector in the United Kingdom is under attack from the Tory government and its destructive policy of austerity cuts. ICEM’s UK affiliate Unite at its National Sector Conferences last week set out a new strategy to revive and rebuild the industry. 
 
The strategy document, put forward by Unite Assistant General Secretary Tony Burke, underlines the vital importance of the manufacturing sector to the British economy, a sector built on a highly skilled workforce. The strategy paper calls for investment in skills, apprenticeships and for full utilization of modern technologies, for a long-term solution. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Tony Burke Unite UK.jpg" width="117" height="161"/>
Tony Burke, Unite
The need for this investment is even greater, according to Burke, as Tory Chancellor George Osborne’s austerity cuts are crippling consumer domestic demand. Government policy which seeks to shift the bill for economic failure onto the working men and women of Britain is hitting Unite members across its sectors. At last week’s National Sector Conferences, examples were discussed from Aerospace, Shipbuilding, Engineering, Chemicals, Sciences, Print, Paper, IT, Vehicle Building, Motor Components, Steel, Servicing, Communications, Electronics and Electrical Engineering. 
 
In the document Unite proposes ten pillars upon which a manufacturing revival should be based: 
• Build a framework of policies to defend strategically important industries. 
• Continued financial support through interventionist policies. 
• Targeted support for small and medium sized enterprises. 
• Better use of government purchasing power to secure manufacturing jobs in the UK. 
• Maximising the opportunities that the low carbon revolution offers. 
• Delivery of an education and skills framework, which meets all industry’s needs. 
• Creating a university structure, which builds on the science base so necessary to secure high skilled jobs. 
• Create right investment environment for research and development. 
• Creation of a level playing field to deliver security and fair pricing for energy. 
• A framework of legislation, which promotes transparency and engagement for all stakeholders in the future of manufacturing. 
 
“Manufacturing should be driving our economy, but the government has no strategy for UK manufacturing. This Tory-led government is doing more damage to UK manufacturing than any previous Conservative government,” stated Burke, “If this government is serious about rebalancing the economy, we need to invest in the UK’s manufacturing skills base with a long-term solution.

Unite’s 2020 Vision Calls for Investment in Skills to Protect UK Manufacturing

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