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The International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, a key ICEM global affiliate in the Materials Sector, held its quadrennial Convention in Las Vegas, US, from 25-28 July, and re-elected their top office-bearers with unanimous voice approval. The nine officers stood as the Proven Leadership Team. 
 
The convention marked the 32nd Convention of the US-Canadian union that has united boilermakers, cement workers, ship builders, forgers, and blacksmiths for the past 131 years in North America. 
 
Re-elected President was Newton B. Jones; Secretary-Treasurer, William Creeden; and Vice Presidents: Warren Fairley, US Southeast; James Pressley, Industrial Sector; Lawrence McManamon, US Great Lakes Region; Joseph Maloney, Western Canada; Edward Power, Eastern Canada; J. Tom Baca, Western US States; and David Haggerty, US Northeast. 
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Speaking on the closing day of the Convention, ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda sincerely thanked Jones for accepting global responsibilities with the ICEM as a member of the Executive Committee and as Chairman of the ICEM Materials Sector. He also cited the importance of specific sector work, citing ICEM and European trade union influence in blocking Lafarge&rsquo;s attacks on retiree health insurance of IBB Local D-27 members in Sugar Creek, Missouri, in 2008 and 2009. 
 
&ldquo;I assure you the ICEM will always be prepared to mobilise global support and solidarity whenever you call and tell us of the need,&rdquo; said Warda. 
 
The ICEM leader also told of trade union repression by governments in Colombia, Iraq, and Mexico, and he reminded IBB delegates of the shameful deeds by US right-wing politicians in camouflaging deficit-reduction measures as direct attacks on trade unions. 
 
&ldquo;Wisconsin must be stopped before it becomes a virus spreading all around the world,&rdquo; said Warda to standing applause. 
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UMWA President Cecil Roberts
United Mine Workers&rsquo; of America (UMWA) President Cecil Roberts spoke on the convention&rsquo;s opening day and praised the leadership of the IBB. &ldquo;These people are the blood of your blood, the flesh of your flesh, and the soul of your soul,&rdquo; Roberts told delegates. &ldquo;They have shown the way for all of us.&rdquo;

US Boilermakers Hold 32nd Convention

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from International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation 
 
Miners at Cananea, Sonora, Taxco, Guerrero and Sombrerete, Zacatecas, have now been on strike for four heroic years in defence of their labour and trade union rights. On 30 July and the following days, the miners will hold rallies to reaffirm their continued support for the strikes and the struggle of the Mexican Miners' Union. 
 
The National Miners' and Metalworkers' Union of Mexico (SNTMMSRM), or Los Mineros, affiliated to the ICEM and the International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF) says it is willing &quot;to negotiate legal arrangements necessary to end the strikes, if a solution can be found that will respect the workers, recognize their collective agreements, definitively establish adequate health and safety conditions, and respect the miners' union led by Napole&oacute;n G&oacute;mez Urrutia.&quot; 
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The three strikes continue because there has been no legal ruling to determine a definitive end to the strikes, explained the union. The union added that, throughout this period, the company has stubbornly refused to act peacefully and resolve the strikes in accordance with the law. 
 
During these years, the workers on strike have been persecuted and some judges have ruled that the strikes were invalid. However, the courts have ruled in the union's favour in response to union requests for legal protection. Workers have been subjected to repression in these four years, for example on 6 June 2010 at the Cananea mine, which was occupied by 4,000 armed men who maintained a climate of terror against the miners. 
 
In addition to the rallies that will take place on July 30 to commemorate four years on strike, the union will hold meetings to discuss how to strengthen the strikes and to call on the local communities to continue their support for the miners. 
 
The miners and the local communities are deeply concerned that neither the government nor Grupo M&eacute;xico has taken any steps to resolve the disputes, recognise the collective agreements, and respect the National Miners' Union.

Los Mineros Commemorates Four Years on Strike Against Mexican Mine Companies

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A two-year campaign by the Building &amp; Wood Workers&rsquo; International (BWI), it&rsquo;s North American affiliate, the International Association of Machinists (IAM), and BWI affiliate GS of Sweden paid off on 27 July when union representation was won at IKEA&rsquo;s only Swedwood manufacturing plant in the US. 
 
Workers at the three-year-old plant in Danville, Virginia, voted by an astonishing 76% affirmation, 221-69, to have IAM represent them in a US government-supervised election. The vote brings relief to an agonising and frustrating period for BWI, IAM and GS, which sought to make IKEA live up to commitments in a Global Framework Agreement (GFA) that calls for voluntary recognition and good faith-dialogue when workers indicate a desire for a union. 
 
Swedwood is 100% owned by IKEA and exclusively provides home furnishings to the retailer. The Danville factory provides many of the furnishings to IKEA&rsquo;s 37 US stores. 
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Senior managers at IKEA rebuffed BWI at several junctures in the Global union Federation&rsquo;s efforts to get the company to acknowledge and correct anti-social practices at Swedwood in Danville. That included health and safety deficiencies, mandatory overtime at risk of punishment &ndash; something that is contrary to IKEA&rsquo;s written code of conduct &ndash; and failure to allow shop-flow freedom of association as outlined in the GFA. The only choice left was the government-mandated union certification process through the US National Labor Relations Board. 
 
Swedwood workers at Danville, to their credit, responded resoundingly last week. 
 
&ldquo;Despite the &lsquo;persuasive&rsquo; tactics and intervention strategies that the Swedwood management installed throughout the entire union election process, and to be frank, prior to that, the workers at Swedwood have emphatically said yes to the union,&rdquo; stated BWI General Secretary Ambet Yuson. 
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BWI General Secretary Ambet Yuson
Swedwood must now reach a first collective labour agreement in Danville, one that must come without stalling and through honest negotiating that meets the social needs of workers. 
 
The Director of IAM&rsquo;s Woodworking Department, Bill Street, said it best: &ldquo;IKEA, you have a choice to make. You can recognise what we&rsquo;ve been saying over the past is in fact true and then begin bargaining with us in good faith, or you can continue this fight.&rdquo; 
 
The ICEM congratulates BWI, IAM, and GS for actively working with Swedwood workers in America to ensure they have a voice at work.

BWI, Machinists Succeed in Bringing Union to Swedwood’s US Plant

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In South Africa, the 18-day petroleum strike by 70,000 union members mostly from the Chemical, Energy, Paper, Wood and Allied Workers&rsquo; Union (CEPPWAWU) ended on 28 July, two days after the South African Petroleum Industry Association (SAPIA) presented satisfactory wage and other terms. 
 
But strikes in three other bargaining councils aligned with the chemical industries continue with some hint that issues in the Pharmaceutical sector will get resolved today when CEPPWAWU and that industry association meet in government mediation. In the Glass sector, the employers&rsquo; association and unions representing 6,000 workers came to terms late on 28 July in a one-year settlement similar to the petroleum industry. 
 
In two other sectors of the National Bargaining Council for the Chemical Industry, Industrial Chemicals and Fast-Moving Consumer Goods, the union still awaits dates for mediation as strikes continue. CEPPWAWU represents some 40,000 workers in total in Pharmaceutical, Industrial Chemicals, and the consumer goods sector. Some of the companies affected included Sasol, Adcock Ingram, Aspen Pharmaceutical, Pharmacare, Revlon and Colgate. 
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CEPPWAWU Members March in Johannesburg, 11 July
In the Wood, Pulp, and Paper sector, where workers employed by Sappi, Mondi, and others have been on strike since 14 July, talks mediated by the government&rsquo;s Commission for Conciliation, Mediation, and Arbitration (CCMA) will take place this afternoon and an accord is expected. Settlement did come in Timber and Sawmilling on Friday, 29 July, where a nationwide strike began on 18 July. That agreement is now going to membership for their approval. 
 
In Fibreboard and Particleboard, negotiations have yet to be scheduled. A walkout there began on 11 July. 
 
In the Tissue and Allied Products sector, Kimberly Clark has been particularly troublesome. The American company has refused now to bargain. Many weeks ago, Kimberly Clark tabled a measly 4% wage increase for its 400 workers at two paper towel and tissue mills, nearly half the accurate inflation rate in South Africa. 
 
CEPPWAWU National Policy Coordinator John Appolis told the ICEM that Kimberly Clark is firmly set on driving down wages and work standards for competition reasons. The company had bargained jointly with Nampak as part of an employers&rsquo; association in the Tissue and Allied Products sector in years past, but Nampak broke from the multi-employer talks due to Kimberly Clark&rsquo;s bargaining-table recalcitrance. 
 
Nampak settled with CEPPWAWU and other unions early in July for an 8% raise without workers striking. 
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In the Timber and Sawmilling settlement, CEPPWAWU successfully negotiating a first-ever maternity leave. That will see women get four months of protected leave, in addition to 12% of their salaries to supplement their mandated unemployment compensation. Also, the minimum wage rate in Timber and Sawmilling will increase from ZAR 1,500 (US$225) to ZAR 1,775 (US$266). 
 
All wage settlements will be backdated to 1 July, including the much-publicized petroleum strike where some fuel shortages and panic buying brought wide, albeit over-stated South African press coverage. 
 
In petroleum, the unions and SAPIA agreed to an 8.5% increase, with a 10% hike gained for lower-waged workers. For them, the minimum salary increases from ZAR 4,000 (US$600) per month to 4,400 (US$660), while the unions maintained a 40-hour work-week. Women in the petroleum sector will receive a first-ever two days of leave for pre-natal maternity care. 
 
&ldquo;On the wage front,&rdquo; said Appolis, &ldquo;our improvements are slightly ahead of current buying power in South Africa, and we showed progress in several other areas.&rdquo; Besides the majority CEPPWAWU, others unions in these sector talks include the South African Chemical Workers&rsquo; Union (SACWU), the General Industrial Workers&rsquo; Union of south Africa (GIWUSA), and Solidarity.

CEPPWAWU’s Petrol Strike Ends; Chemical Sectors Close, Kimberly Clark Recalcitrant

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Issues in the eight-day strike involving 150,000 members of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) in the coal industry, as well as a five-day strike covering the same number of NUM gold miners might be resolved when the union and Chamber of Mines meet today in mediation conducted by South Africa&rsquo;s Commission for Conciliation, Mediation, and Arbitration (CCMA). 
 
The NUM and Chamber are close on wage terms, with coal and gold mining houses said to be in agreement on finally awarding double- digit wage increases for 2011. The central issue today will be the new length of the collective agreement &ndash; either one or two years. Coal talks are scheduled for 10h00, while the gold negotiations commence at 14h00. 
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Lesiba Seshoka
NUM spokesman Lesiba Seshoka said past CBA durations have generally been two years, but this year could be different. In mediated bargaining with the CCMA on 28 July, the NUM and Chamber seemed in agreement on a retroactive 1 July pay rise of a double-digit figure. Seshoka said if a second year is agreed to, the 2012 increase would likely add up to inflation plus a certain percentage higher. 
 
NUM members at AngloCoal SA, Exxaro, Xstrata Coal, Delmas Coal, Optimum, Springlake and others shut down the country&rsquo;s coal industry on 24 July. That strike was followed four days later &ndash; on 28 July &ndash; by 150,000 NUM gold miners striking AngloGold Ashanti, Harmony Gold, Goldfields, and Rand Uranium operations. 
 
Gold mining talks failed down on that day between the union and Chamber, two days after the NUM issued the mandatory 48-hour strike notice upon receiving CCMA certification of non-resolution. In coal, in meeting again with the Chamber on Friday, 29 July, labour and management narrowed their 2011 wage differences. 
 
In platinum mining, the NUM bargains individually with the three major producers, AngloPlatinum, Impala, and Northam. Although a dispute has been declared, the combined 8,000 miners have yet to down tools. But that could change this week. After 28 July talks with the world&rsquo;s number one producer, AngloPlatinum, the company and NUM remained far apart, AngloPlatinum offering 6-7% while NUM seeks 15%. Negotiations are slated for today with Impala and on Wednesday, 3 August, with Northam. 
 
A third and likely final round of negotiations is also scheduled for today between the NUM and state-run electricity provider Eskom. There has been no dispute declared in those talks. NUM represents 16,000 Eskom staff, while the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) covers 5,000. 
 
Maybe the most contentious NUM bargaining has occurred with the world&rsquo;s largest rough-cut diamond producer, DeBeers Consolidated Mines. Some 5,000 NUM members downed tools on 22 July at Venetia in Limpopo state, Voorspoed in the Free State, and a tailings treatment plant in Kimberly. 
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No talks have been slated. The NUM has demanded 15% while DeBeers, with record sales in the first half of 2011 of US$3.8 billion on production of 15.5 million carats, has offered a paltry 7.5%. &ldquo;We will make them move,&rdquo; stated the NUM&rsquo;s Chief Negotiator at DeBeers, Peter Bailey. 
 
&ldquo;The offer is totally unacceptable to us. Last year we settled for between 9.5% and 10%, now we are told 7.5%, plus an ex-gratia one-off payment of ZAR 2,500 (US$375). We totally reject this.&rdquo;

South African Coal, Gold Strikes Face Key Talks Today

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The ICEM condemns the cowardly assassination of Colombian mineworkers&rsquo; leader Rafael Tob&oacute;n Zea on 26 July. Tob&oacute;n was shot three times and killed by paramilitaries near his home in the city of Segovia, Antioqu&iacute;a department, about 220 kilometres north of Medell&iacute;n. 
 
Rafael Tob&oacute;n, 40, was a leader of the metal and mineworkers&rsquo; union Sintramieneg&eacute;tica, where he was a founding member of that union at Frontino Gold Mines Ltd. He worked there for 15 years and was still assisting discharged miners of Frontino after the Medell&iacute;n-based company liquidated and its underground mines were bought last year by Modoro Resources Ltd. of Canada and Gran Colombia Gold S.A. 
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He was working in a smaller gold mine in Antioqu&iacute;a department and organising workers there when he was killed last week. Sintramieneg&eacute;tica had reported threats to its leaders that were believed to be tied to the contested takeover of Frontino by Modora and Gran Colombia, and the sacking of all miners. 
 
The ICEM calls on the government of Colombia and the authorities in Segovia and Antioqu&iacute;a state to spare no resource in apprehending and bringing to justice the perpetrators of this heinous crime. Let there be no impunity for the miscreants of Colombia who take the lives of trade unionists in cold blood.

Mineworkers’ Leader, Rafael Tobón, Gunned Down in Antioquía, Colombia

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The ICEM-affiliated Teamsters Union (IBT) in the US has mounted a voracious campaign against Germany&rsquo;s BMW Group to preserve 68 auto-parts warehousing jobs in Southern California. The campaign to stop the outsourcing of family-supporting parts distribution jobs from a BMW warehouse in Ontario, California, has stretched eastward across America and now has gotten very active support from Unite the Union in the UK and IG Metall in Germany. 
 
In early June, the 7,500-member IBT Local 495 of Covina, California, was told by North American BMW that it intended to terminate a collective agreement upon expiration on 31 August and outsource the jobs of Teamster members to an un-named logistics provider. Instead of rolling over and negotiating severance packages, the union and its members fought back. 
 
They began a pressure campaign that has seen trade unionists and supporters handbilling BMW auto dealerships across the US, and Local 495 has zeroed in specifically on the Jackson Lewis LLP law firm. Jackson Lewis is a union-busting legal firm that regrettably BMW North America retained for anti-worker services in industrial relations. 
<img alt="" src="" width="368" height="121" />
The IBT has gained support and mobilisation of other American unions at BMW&rsquo;s five parts distribution depots in the US, as well as from trade unionists at BMW workplaces in Europe. 
 
The union has established a lively website entitled <a href="http://www.bmwultimatemisery.com/ ">&ldquo;BMW: The Ultimate Misery&rdquo;</a> and produced a video from a spirited 26 July protest in front of the Jackson Lewis law offices in Los Angeles. (View the <a href="http://vimeo.com/26990405 ">video</a> here.) 
 
Earlier, on 21 July, a Day of Action was held in not only BMW&rsquo;s US warehouses, but also inside BMW facilities in the UK. Workers wore stickers supporting the California Teamsters and passed out leaflets demanding that BMW not destroy California jobs. Members of the International Longshoremen&rsquo;s Association (ILA) at an import distribution centre in the Port Authority of New York/New Jersey two years ago successfully fended off outsourcing, as did United Auto Workers (UAW) members at a BMW parts warehouse in Nazareth, Pennsylvania. 
Both unions now assist the California workers in resisting closure. IBT local unions in America&rsquo;s eastern states are handbilling BMW dealerships on a daily basis. The Ontario warehouse workers use weekends away from the job to draw attention to BMW&rsquo;s unfair decision by handbilling dealerships up and down the US West Coast, from Southern California to the state of Washington. 
<img alt="" src="" width="308" height="161" />
Teamsters handbilling in Seattle
In the UK, Unite Assistant General Secretary and head of Manufacturing, Tony Burke, is now spearheading a petition drive aimed at BMW&rsquo;s European Works Council (EWC). Unite members are demanding that an extraordinary meeting of the EWC meeting slated for 10 September be moved up to August in order to place the scheduled Ontario closure squarely on the agenda. They want BMW to reverse the North America decision. 
 
&ldquo;We&rsquo;ll continue to expand this campaign inside the US and internationally in the weeks to come,&rdquo; said Local 495 Secretary-Treasurer Bob Lennox. &ldquo;Working with other US unions and now with unions in Europe, we&rsquo;re convinced that we&rsquo;ll get a positive resolution for our members and that means retaining our jobs.&rdquo; 
 
The Ontario, California, warehouse handles 200,000 auto parts for just-in-time delivery to BMW car dealerships and other auto-supply outlets on the West Coast. The ICEM believes such work is best done by experienced and direct-employed BMW workers and urges the German company to retain loyal Teamster members for the good of its business and to preserve family-sustaining jobs.

US Teamsters Ardently Resist BMW’s Auto Parts Outsourcing

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The Australian Workers&rsquo; Union (AWU) won a definitive judgment from Fair Work Australia on 24 June that grants the union right of entry to lunch rooms at Rio Tinto&rsquo;s Alcan aluminum smelter in Bell Bay, Tasmania. The ruling ends months of legal wrangling and should serve as a precedent against employers from blocking legitimate union access to workers on job sites. 
 
On 1 July, marking the second anniversary of the Fair Work Act of 2009, which makes such access legitimate, AWU National Secretary Paul Howes and three AWU organizers triumphantly met with AWU members in lunch rooms at Alcan&rsquo;s Bell Bay smelter, breaking Rio Tinto&rsquo;s claim that such meetings had to in administrative areas, generally parts of worksites where surveillance and management intimidation is greater. 
 
The 550-worker Alcan smelter has been a test case in Australia over right of entry under a balanced Fair Work Act, a law that reversed many of the management rights provisions in the former Conservative government&rsquo;s WorkChoices Act. (See prior <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4314-">ICEM Bell Bay article</a> here.) It also stands as a major crossing of a threshold that will lead to full enterprise bargaining between AWU and Alcan. 
 
The AWU, which counts a majority of Alcan workers at Bell Bay as members, also used this Fair Work Australia decision to re-boot an advertising campaign aimed at recruitment of non-union Rio workers to the union fold. The ad campaign, which first ran in March, states that process operators at other, unionized Australian aluminum plants, namely Alcoa&rsquo;s, are paid up to A$20,000 per year more than operators at Bell Bay. 
 
The AWU said it would use the decision to meet union members in similar surroundings at Alcan worksites in Gladstone (Boyne Island) and Yarwun, Queensland. 
<img alt="" src="" width="129" height="160" />
Paul Howes
&ldquo;Make no mistake, the bullies at Rio Tinto are losing the stranglehold they once had over their workforce,&rdquo; said Howes in an Australian newspaper report. &ldquo;The decision is highly symbolic of that, and I know it will be a crushing embarrassment for the company.&rdquo; 
 
That decision, FWA Case 3878, found Alcan&rsquo;s insistence on a conference room inside an administration building was not reasonable. It stated such meetings there meant workers had to travel 8-15 minutes longer from work stations, and this was insufficient time to meet with AWU representatives during average break times. 
 
Fair Work Australia&rsquo;s ruling also rejected Alcan&rsquo;s claim that the meal rooms closer to work areas were too small for such lawful meetings under the Fair Work Act and that worker-union discussions would disrupt other workers in the break areas. 
 
Rio Tinto Alcan said it disagrees with the decision, but this time will not appeal the Bell Bay right of entry ruling. The company said the AWU had made some 20 visits to meet with union members in conference rooms, and it made note of the fact that the 24 June ruling had found that the company did not intimidate or hinder workers from meeting with the AWU in the conference rooms. 
 
Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) Secretary Jeff Lawrence said the Bell Bay decision &ldquo;sends a positive message to other employers that they must respect fundamental workers&rsquo; rights to collective bargaining and union membership.&rdquo;

Australia: AWU Wins Correct Access to Rio Tinto’s Alcan Smelter

Forty trade union leaders representing the ICEM, the International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF), and the International Textile, Garment, and Leather Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITGLWF) met on 20-21 September in Bad M&uuml;nder, Germany. This was the first meeting of a joint task force set up by the decision-making bodies of the three Global Union Federations (GUFs). 
 
The ICEM&rsquo;s task force was established at its 2007 Congress in Bangkok in order to examine a new organizational structure for the three industrial GUFs. The joint task force in Bad M&uuml;nder this week was asked to look at the political project, structures, finances, and a possible timeline for uniting the 55 million workers represented by the three organizations into a unified Global Union Federation.
<img alt="" src="" width="290" height="265" />
&nbsp;Trade union leaders of ICEM, IMF, ITGLWF in Bad M&uuml;nder 
 

Task force members from five continents acknowledged the rationale of the unifying process to create a united voice of the industrial workers of the world, and a strong counter-power to major multinational corporations. Unions want to underline the role of manufacturing industry as the locomotive of national economies and as a creator of good quality jobs with decent working conditions and trade union rights. 
 
The meeting decided to set up a working group to look at the financial questions and to start drafting the statutes for a new organization for a continued discussion on decision-making, regional, and sectoral structures. The task force will report back to the statutory bodies of the three federations, and will meet again in the beginning of December in Geneva.

ICEM, IMF, ITGLWF Bodies Meet to Shape New Industrial Global Union

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A new slate of officers won election at the Congress of ICEM-affiliated Mineworkers&rsquo; Union of Namibia (MUN), held 17-19 September in Swakopmund, Namibia. The Congress met under the banner of stronger enforcement of safety and health regulations in all workplaces. 
 
Elected to the position of General Secretary was Jonas Lumbu, who replaces Joseph Hengari. Elected President was John Ndawedapo, replacing Andres Eiseb. The Congress elected Michael Heita as Vice President, Eben Zarondo as Assistant General Secretary, Eliphas Iita as National Secretary, Gerson Max as Vice National Secretary, Paul Rooi as Treasurer, and Phillip Muninguni as Vice Treasurer. 
<img src="" width="200" height="92" alt="" />
The theme of the Congress comes at a time when the Namibian mining sector is experiencing its worst fatal and serious injury accident rate in ten years. The MUN has witnessed mass retrenchments due to the financial crisis, but delegates to the Congress said a recovery is underway. The MUN has been frustrated by an American company that holds uranium mining rights because the company hinders union representation rights. 
 
Debate at the Congress also took place over a recurring issue inside Namibia&rsquo;s trade unions, that of union leaders holding decision-making positions inside enterprises or on boards. This issue has spawned conflict-of-interest charges inside many unions affiliated to the National Unions of Namibian Workers (NUNW).

Mineworkers in Namibia Elect New Leaders

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