English

Español

Français

Aerospace

Automotive

Base metals

Chemical, pharmaceutical and bio-science

Energy

Glass, cement, ceramic and associated industries

ICT, electrical and electronics

Mechanical Engineering

Mining and DGOJP

Pulp and paper

Rubber

Shipbuilding and shipbreaking

Textile, garment, shoes, leather and textile services

Sectors

Action Plan 2025-2029

Action on textile and garment industry

Clean up shipbreaking

Ratify ILO C176

United for a just future - time to pay up!

Disinvest from Myanmar

Campaigns

Global Framework Agreements

Union building

White-collar workers

Health & safety

Industry 4.0

Women

Youth

LGBTQI+

Gender, equality, diversity and inclusion (GEDI)

Just Transition

Organizing with industriALL

What we do

Affiliates

Statutes

Elected Officials

Executive Committee

Geneva head office

South East Asia

Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Caucasus

Latin America and the Caribbean

Middle East and North Africa

South Asia

Sub-Saharan Africa

Regional offices

About us

Global worker No1 2022

Global worker No2 2022

Publications

Resources

Press

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
Successful bargaining between the ICEM affiliated Argentine Trade Union of Tyre Workers (SUTNA), Argentina&rsquo;s Chamber of Commerce, and the Ministry of Labour culminated in agreement on 23 August, in Buenos Aires. A new collective agreement for the sector, covering the period July 2010 to June 2011, provides a salary increase of 27.5 percent, plus improved conditions and a lump sum for members. 
 
The agreement lays out a reclassification of jobs in the sector which improves social benefits by an average of 12 percent. All workers will also receive a lump sum of 1,000 pesos (US$250) and a further payment of 500 pesos in January. 
<img alt="" src="" width="149" height="164" />
SUTNA General Secretary Pedro Wasiejko
Of the 27.5 percent pay rise, 22.2 percent will be retroactive to 1 July 2010, with the remaining 5.3 percent increase coming on 1 January 2011. SUTNA General Secretary Pedro Wasiejko commended the corporate commitment to negotiate in good faith, with talks to reopen in the first half of 2011, &ldquo;there will be further improvements to these gains&rdquo; stated Wasiejko. 
 
The collective agreement was accepted by 75.5 percent of workers balloted, with a turnout of over 80 percent. 
 
The ICEM salutes SUTNA and its General Secretary Pedro Wasiejko for achieving such significant advances for its members. 
 
Argentina was hard hit by the global economic crisis.

Argentina’s Rubber Workers Achieve Significant Wage Gains

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
Meeting under the banner Med Dig, F&ouml;r Dig, N&auml;ra Dig (With You, For You, Close to You), Pappers, Sweden&rsquo;s Paperworkers Union, held its 23rd Congress from 3-5 September in Norrk&ouml;pping. The weekend Congress came two weeks before national elections in Sweden, elections that quite likely will determine whether or not the modern Swedish social model will survive. 
 
That point was driven home by Pappers President Jan-Henrik Sandberg, Swedish Trade Union Confederation (LO) President Wanja Lundby-Wedin, and Mona Sahlin, the leader of the Social Democrats and the desired Prime Minister-to-be in the 19 September elections. 
<img alt="" src="" width="205" height="154" />
Pappers President Jan-Henrik Sandberg
Sandberg told delegates in his opening remarks that the socialistic and democratic ideals of the party of Olof Palme had traditionally prioritized and delivered policies good for all people, not just a few people. He also reminded delegates that after four years of a conservative governing alliance masquerading as a party of the people, all that has occurred is a shredded social safety net, a spike in unemployment, and fewer opportunities for the young people of Sweden. 
 
Sandberg also endorsed the platform of the red-green alliance that was put forward on 31 August. The alliance of the Social Democrats with the Left Party and the Green Party stands as the best chance, he said, for return to fair taxation and security of income. Improvement to the platform could occur, Sandberg added, if it were to include an energy policy that prioritized replacement of outdated nuclear reactors. 
 
Lundby-Wedin said that four years of a right-wing government has not destroyed Sweden&rsquo;s social model, but cautioned regional and section leaders of the 18,000-member union that four more years of conservative rule will indeed destroy the model. 
<img alt="" src="" width="168" height="146" />
The leader of Sweden&rsquo;s Social Democrats, Mona Sahlin 
Sahlin, speaking on day two of the Congress, said she was &ldquo;provoked and angry&rdquo; that the right-wing alliance of four parties has defined itself as the new workers&rsquo; party. She said a true workers&rsquo; party does not eliminate welfare schemes for those sick and disabled; it does not disqualify 500,000 from an unemployment fund; and it does not allow one in four young people to go without jobs. 
 
She also outlined six policy initiatives in which the red-green alliance will prioritise job creation, including keeping the energy provider Vattenfall a state-owned company, an entity the &ldquo;arrogance alliance&rdquo; seeks to fully privatize over the next four years if it remains in power. 
<img alt="" src="" width="193" height="124" />
The Congress featured a series of break-outs, as well as an interesting pair of workshops involving managing directors from three Swedish forest products companies (Holmen, SCA, and S&ouml;dra) speaking frankly on future sustainability initiatives inside the paper industry. The other workshop produced frank discussion on whether or not a small union can survive in the new industrial age, or if a merger might become a matter of necessity. That issue likely will be revisited by Pappers after its new four-year Congress period. 
 
Sandberg was re-elected President, while Bengt Sj&ouml;holm was re-elected Secretary and Henry Heini&ouml; was re-elected Treasurer. The six other members of Pappers&rsquo; nine-member governing board also won re-election. They include Lars-Olof Pettersson, Carina Magnusson-Fernlund, Lars-G&ouml;ran Johansson, Pelle Eriksson, Mikael Lilja, and Nils-Erik Andersson. 
 
A total of 149 delegates from the union&rsquo;s 60 sections attended the Congress.

Pappers Conducts Congress at Crucial Political Juncture in Sweden

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
A lockout of 230 steelworkers by the American-based electronics firm Honeywell continues into month four at the company&rsquo;s uranium hexaflouride (UF6) plant in the state of Illinois. Honeywell locked out members of United Steelworkers (USW) Local 7-669 on 28 June over workers&rsquo; refusal to accept steep out-of-pocket increases to their health care plan, as well as complete elimination of retiree health care coverage. 
 
The company&rsquo;s demands are a slap in the face to workers who must toil inside an industry rife with hazards and long-term health risks. The plant in Metropolis, Illinois, on the Ohio River, is America&rsquo;s only facility that mills &ldquo;yellow cake&rdquo; uranium into frozen fluid UF6 for enrichment use in nuclear reactors. 
 
The health risks to the community have become even more pronounced because Honeywell seeks to regain lost production by using temporary replacement workers, a draconian American management practice used in employer-imposed lockouts. Although the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission has not as yet authorized untrained scab workers to operate the Metropolis facility, Honeywell has retained a nuclear contracting firm called the Shaw Group to supply replacement workers. 
<img alt="" src="" width="128" height="192" />
The mayor of Metropolis, Billy McDaniel, expressed concern over community safety in a report in the St. Louis (Missouri) Post-Dispatch newspaper last month. With trained union workers represented by the former Oil, Chemical, Atomic Workers Union (OCAW) operating the facility dating back 46 years before that union&rsquo;s 2005 merger with the USW, McDaniel said, &ldquo;I never went to bed at night worried about the men being trained and capable of doing their jobs. I want to do that every night.&rdquo; 
 
Added Chief Sheriff&rsquo;s Department Deputy Ted Holder of Massac County, the governmental unit responsible for evacuation and emergency response in the event of a disaster, the use of non-regular employees to restart the facility is &ldquo;a little concerning.&rdquo; 
 
USW Local 7-669 offered to continue working under a prior three-year labour agreement that expired on 21 June 2010. The union is seeking no salary adjustments, but seeks to retain current health coverage. When the USW did not concede to granting management a 24-hour strike notice prior to any potential strike, Honeywell locked workers off their jobs. 
 
Under Honeywell&rsquo;s proposal, out-of-pocket health coverage will increase to US$8,500 per worker each year. And besides eliminating company-paid health coverage for current retirees, Honeywell&rsquo;s regressive proposals include establishing a two-tier pension scheme with future hires relegated to an inferior plan. 
<img alt="" src="" width="123" height="148" />
On 7 August, 3,000 union supporters traveled from across the American Midwest to Metropolis to lend support to Local 7-669. Earlier, and directly in front of the uranium enrichment facility, the Steelworker local branch erected 42 Christian crosses in memory of former workers who have died over the years from cancer. They erected another 27 smaller crosses as symbols of workers currently diagnosed with cancer. 
 
&ldquo;What we do is a very, very dangerous job,&rdquo; stated Local 7-669 President Darrell Lillie. &ldquo;We deal with the worse acids known to man.&rdquo;

Lockout of USW-represented Uranium Processing Plant in US Continues

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
Day eight of the strike by 6,000 members of the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) against four global tyre producers begins today with negotiations continuing. NUMSA and the New Tyre Manufacturing Employers&rsquo; Industry Association (NTMEIA) have been locked in a dispute since mid-August over pay, term of agreement, labour brokers and short-term contract workers, and other conditions of work. 
 
The four tyre companies affected include Bridgestone/Firestone, Continental, Goodyear, and Apollo-Dunlop. Bridgestone/Firestone and Continental had served notices of lockout to NUMSA prior to the strike. 
 
The employers&rsquo; association is seeking a three-year agreement, while NUMSA prefers a one-year deal. The two sides remain far apart on wages. NUMSA is seeking an 11% initial year increase while bosses have offered 8.5%, with the exception of Bridgestone which is offering 7%. Employers are offering a second-and third-year increase pegged at the consumer price index (CPI) plus 1%, or 5%, whichever is higher. 
 
If it is to agree on a three-year pact, NUMSA is insistent on year two containing either a 12% increase or CPI plus 2%, whichever is greater, and a third year increase of 14% or CPI plus 3%, whichever is higher. 
 
The union seeks consultation over all short-term or temporary employment contracts, as well as abolishment of all labour brokers in the South African tyre industry. It also wants direct temporary workers to be made permanent, full-time staff at six months of service. Other contentious issues include a 70% local content requirement regarding sourcing, premium pay for work on Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays, and an adequate training pool and training to occur during work-time hours. 
<img alt="" src="" width="189" height="128" />
(Photo: International Metalworkers' Federation)
NUMSA and the NTMEIA have been negotiating since April 2010 on a renewal agreement to a three-year pact that expired on 30 June. 
 
On 1 September, NUMSA also launched a strike against both the Retail Industry Motor Association and the Fuel Retailers&rsquo; Association. Carrying out those strikes are 70,000 NUMSA members at garages, auto component shops, petrol stations, and various workshops and retail outlets that make auto components. 
 
Besides a 40-hour work-week, the union is seeking 15% across-the-board increases for notoriously low-paid workers in these areas, while the associations are offering only 6.6%. Already, one auto assembly plant, Volkswagen in Utinhage, has had to shut operations and send workers home due to a shortage of auto components. 
 
On 2 September, the ICEM sent affiliated NUMSA and its General Secretary, Irvin Jim (photo on site), a message of solidarity, stating, &ldquo;We have learned that your 6,000 members in the tyre industry, overwhelmingly at the multinational companies namely Bridgestone, Continental, Apollo-Dunlop, and Goodyear, as well as 50,000 members in the auto-supplier industries, are now striking following the failure of collective negotiations due to your rightful demands not being accepted by employers. 
 
&ldquo;On behalf of the whole ICEM family, I cordially salute the heroic strikes engaged by NUMSA and its members in both industries. I am also proud to announce our heartfelt solidarity and support to you. We have already alarmed our affiliated unions in those sectors throughout the world who are shoulder-to-shoulder with you.&rdquo; 
 
The strikes in all three South African auto-related industries come just two weeks after 31,000 NUMSA auto workers struck seven car makers affiliated to the Automobile Manufacturers Employers&rsquo; Association. That strike lasted eight days, until 19 August.

South Africa Tyre Strike Continues into Week Two

Mine workers are backing a shareholders revolt against Xstrata Chief&rsquo;s 41 % pay increase from last year, at the AGM of Swiss mining giant Xstrata on 5 May. 
 
A delegation of four coal miners from New South Wales and Queensland will travel to the AGM in remote Zug Switzerland, where Xstrata has its headquarters. 
 
CFMEU Mining and Energy Vice President and delegation leader Wayne McAndrew said the mining giant had spent the last year fighting a 3 % pay rise for mine workers, while Mick Davis earned $US7.75 million last year, a payrise of 41 % compared with the $US5.5 million he picked up in 2008. 
 
&ldquo;Xstrata&rsquo;s Australian coal operations are the most profitable parts of the company&rsquo;s extensive global operations. Yet one quarter of Xstrata&rsquo;s Australian coal mining operations currently face industrial disputes or unrest because of the company&rsquo;s anti worker stance&rdquo; 
 
&ldquo;The union is able to work constructively with mining companies across Australia, but Xstrata has continually and consistently refused to work with us to gain the best results for everyone concerned in the mining industry, and most importantly the mine workers,&rdquo; said Wayne McAndrew. 
 
&ldquo;Xstrata is a company that is engaging in activities that are harming the future profits of the company and has the potential to affect its overseas mergers and acquisitions.&rdquo; 
 
The miners union is representing its members in their pursuit of three basic conditions: job security, equal pay for equal work and a legally enforceable avenue for arbitration. In 2009, 37 percent of operating profit for the entire business came from Australian coal. Australian coal also has the highest profit margin of any part of the business, at 27 percent. 
 
Lee Webb a miner at the Tahmoor Colliery in Sydney&rsquo;s south-west is travelling to Switzerland for the first time. 
 
&ldquo;I am going to Zug to show the shareholders that it is the rank-and-file workers like me who suffer when Xstrata will not work with the Union,&rdquo; he said. 
 
&ldquo;I want the shareholders to know that we are not asking for much, just to be treated fairly and decently and to have job security and a little bit of respect for the dangerous job we do for the company.&rdquo; 
 
The delegation will be led by Wayne McAndrew, CFMEU Vice President, Mining and Energy Division. He will be joined by coal miners from Newlands open cut mine in Queensland and Tahmoor Colliery in NSW.
The Geneva-based International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine, and General Workers&rsquo; Union (ICEM) is supporting its Australian affiliate, the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) in its protest against Xstrata. The ICEM is a global union federation consisting of 467 trade union affiliates in 132 countries.
Spokesperson: Wayne McAndrew will be available for interviews from Switzerland on +61 417 230 441(CFMEU); Please contact Dick Blin, ICEM Information Office, 079 734 8994 (mobile) for media assistance inside Switzerland.
ENDS 
 
The Xstrata AGM will be held in Zug, Switzerland on Wednesday 5 May at 11:00 am local time. (- 8 hours Australian EST) 
 
Media: For photos of miners at the AGM and to arrange interviews contact Angela Cuming (EMC) 0439 411 774

Australian miners flex industrial muscle in support of Xstrata shareholders revolt

<img src="" width="100" height="39" alt="" />
Next week, on 12 May, Don MacKinnon, President of the Power Workers&rsquo; Union (PWU), an ICEM affiliate, will be one of two honorees at Toronto&rsquo;s Tribute Award Dinner. MacKinnon will be feated for his involvement and fundraising on behalf of Easter Deals Ontario, an advocacy organisation for children with physical disabilities. 
 
Proceeds from the dinner help the organization meet the cost of mobility equipment, communication devices, and summer camp activities for children with disabilities. Bruce Power, one of the PWU&rsquo;s major employers, is the title sponsor of the event. 

<img alt="" src="" width="231" height="190" />
PWU President Don MacKinnon with CGT-F&eacute;d&eacute;ration Mines Energie&rsquo;s Alain Vassaux
The other honoree is Ontario Provincial Minister of Finance Dwight Duncan. 
 
MacKinnon began his career in the electric utility sector in 1971 as a lineman for Ontario Hydro. He became a key safety innovator for the power company, something that paralleled his rise in the union ranks. In 1989, he was elected Vice President of the PWU, and won election as President of the union in the year 2000.

Canada’s PWU President, Don MacKinnon, to Receive Toronto Tribute Award

<img src="" width="100" height="39" alt="" />
Representatives of the Australian Manufacturing Workers&rsquo; Union (AMWU) say it has not been uncommon for Alcan, the steel and aluminum subsidiary of Rio Tinto, to lose alumina hydrate into coastal waters while loading ships in the Northern Territory. 
 
But on 13 April, something more grievous occurred. While loading a ship near Alcan&rsquo;s bauxite Gove refinery in Nhulunbuy, workers were ordered by a manager to dump a ship-loading conveyer containing 80 tonnes of alumina into Melville Bay after the load became contaminated with water. The AMWU-represented workers protested the decision, but the manager called the lead supervisor who ordered it dumped into the harbour. 
 
The incident went unreported for two weeks until a whistle-blower informed the news media. Alcan management then responded by saying the 80-tonne figure was wrong &ndash; that it was only 30 tonnes. 
 
Rio Tinto Alcan could face a maximum A$1 million fined by the Northern Territory Environmental Ministry if the company is found to have illegally dumped harmful substances. Alumina hydrate contains caustic soda, which can cause severe burns. 
 
AMWU members working at Alcan at Gove say it is common for two percent of loads to be lost due to wind or negligence. The AMWU is standing behind Gove workers as they provide evidence to the territory&rsquo;s Environment Department. A union representative said it was the company&rsquo;s inaction over a number of years that caused workers to go to the media over the April incident.

AMWU Members Say Rio Tinto’s Alcan Alumina Spills Not Uncommon

<img src="" width="100" height="39" alt="" />
The month of May has been designated by United Steelworkers Local 6500 in Canada as &ldquo;anti-scab&rdquo; month, a reference to the strikebreakers that the Brazilian mining company Vale is using in efforts to break a ten-month strike in the provinces of Ontario and Labrador/Newfoundland. 
 
Some 200 steelworkers and other supporters rallied in Queen&rsquo;s Park, Toronto, on 29 April to support introduction of legislation in the Ontario Parliament that would outlaw the use of striker replacements during economic strikes or lockouts. Many of the steelworkers arrived after long bus rides from Sudbury, Ontario, where they experience first-hand the family hardships and community strife brought on by the bargaining intransigence of a company content to use scabs to regain partial production. 

<img src="" width="205" height="154" alt="" />
ICEM Vice President, Ken Neumann
On 29 April, the Private Member&rsquo;s Bill that again would prohibit companies operating in Ontario from using scabs passed a first reading in Parliament by a 32-3 vote. The bill was introduced by New Democratic Party legislators France Gelinas and Peter Kormos. 
 
Somewhat surprisingly, 21 members of the ruling Liberal Party joined with eight New Democrats and three Progressive Conservatives to pass this first reading. The bill must proceed through two more hearings before becoming law, and that could happen by year&rsquo;s end. In Canada, most labour code is enacted at the provincial level. 
 
Quebec and British Colombia are currently the only two provinces that prohibit the use of replacement workers during strikes or lockouts. In Ontario, such a prohibition was on the books from 1992 to 1995, but was repealed in 1995 when Liberals took control of the Parliament. Gelinas presented proof that legislation banning companies from using replacement workers leads to shorter strikes, less volatile picket-line scenes, less family and community stress, and overall, better labour-management relations. 

<img src="" width="154" height="205" alt="" />
Andrea Horvath, NDP Ontario Chair Person
The 3,100 victimised miners and nickel and copper smelter workers at Sudbury and Port Colborne, Ontario, as well as another 250 workers that are on strike against Vale in Voiseys Bay and Goose Bay, Labrador, are current examples on why the ban is needed. Their lives have been turned upside down by a profitable employer demanding deep cuts in their collective agreements. 
 
In Sudbury on 28 April, the City Council firmly sided with the interests of the community by passing a resolution condemning Vale for using replacement workers. The resolution also calls on the provincial legislative body to enact the ban and urges Vale and the USW to return to the bargaining table. Previously, the city has charged Vale with violating zoning bylaws by housing scab workers inside an industrial complex. 
 
In Voiseys Bay last month, USW Local 9508 aligned with the Nunatsiavit First Nations People to prevent a Vale vessel from entering a port to collect copper ore concentrates. Union leaders also met with the Labrador/Newfoundland Minister of Natural Resources to express safety concerns over replacement workers utilizing mining and other equipment without the proper training.

Canadian Nickel Strikers Rally for Renew Anti-Scab Law in Ontario Province

<img src="" width="100" height="39" alt="" />
A relentless, two-year campaign by ICEM US affiliate, the Utility Workers Union of America (UWUA), against Covanta gave 140 workers in the state of Massachusetts their first labour agreement effective 15 April. The collective agreement, actually two contracts with one giving workers huge retroactive backpay and bonus awards, punctuates a capitulation by the American waste-to-energy company in resisting full workers&rsquo; rights following a successful organizing drive. 
 
That recruitment drive by UWUA Local 369 at an incinerator in Rochester, Massachusetts, that burns solid waste for conversion to electricity occurred in May 2008. Following the union vote, conducted by the US labour board, Covanta did what so many American companies do following union certification: they engage in &ldquo;surface bargaining,&rdquo; never intending to reach a first labour agreement, and they punish workers for voting union by withholding scheduled pay gains. 

<img alt="" src="" width="216" height="160" />
Under US labour statute, after a one-year period has elapsed from the certification vote, workers have an option to de-authorise the union as bargaining representative. 
 
But at Covanta in Massachusetts, the UWUA would have none of it. The Washington, DC-based union began an unyielding campaign that blocked the publicly-traded Covanta from expanding its waste-to-energy business into Canada, Ireland, the UK, and the Netherlands. That meant engaging trade unions, civic organizations, and environmental groups as Covanta sought to gain municipal contracts to collect trash and the necessary permits to built incinerations in those countries in order to sell power to electric grids. 
 
UWUA impeded Covanta both at home and abroad by highlighting the company&rsquo;s negligent health and safety ledger, its environmental record, and its appalling labour relations conduct, which included serious and malicious breaches of US labour law (see earlier ICEM dispatches <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/3694-UWUA-Wins-US$1-Million-Judgment-for-Covanta-Workers- ">here</a>, <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/3532-US-Labour-Board-Issues-Stern-Injunctive-Relief-against-Covanta ">here</a>, and <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/3039-Covanta-Energy-Violates-US-Labour-Law ">here</a>). 
 
The end result was a three-year collective agreement, plus a separate contract granting workers sizeable backpay and bonus payments that had been withheld. Local 369 members at Covanta&rsquo;s SEMASS facility voted to accept the pair of agreements by a wide margin on 22 April. The pay and other gains are exceptional, and the working agreement now in place contains the best features of US union contracts. 
 
The backdated bonus and pay accord gives the 140 workers a retroactive wage increase of 3% to early 2009; an incentive bonus of 8.1% of total wages for 2008; an annual wage increases backdated to 1 January 2010 of 2.7%; and a further missed incentive bonus of 4.85% of total wages for 2009. Added up, these retroactive gains average US$17,000 per worker. 

<img alt="" src="" width="200" height="133" />
UWUA President D. Michael Langford
And on top of that, comes the three-year pay, bonus, and other union protection items which took effect in mid-April. That includes a 2.8% increase each year, a ratification bonus of US$1,250 per worker, additional incentive bonuses of up to 7% in each year of the contract, as well as new safety and health protections, including a medical surveillance programme to monitor workers&rsquo; blood levels from the handling of hazardous materials, and limits on sub-contracting. 
 
The ICEM considers UWUA&rsquo;s campaign and the end result of the Local 369-Covanta contract exemplary and an inspiring example inside America on how best to fight a recalcitrant employer attempting to deny its employees their lawful rights. In congratulating UWUA President D. Michael Langford, General Secretary Manfred Warda termed the initial labour agreement an excellent one that &ldquo;all UWUA members &ndash; in fact, all union members in America &ndash; can be justly proud of.&rdquo; (See the full letter <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/33%20Letter%20to%20UWUA%20Presiden%20-%20Michael%20Langford.pdf">here</a>.) 
 
In a joint release issued by UWUA Local 369 and Covanta, Local 369 President Gary Sullivan stated, &ldquo;Our UWUA Bargaining Committee has done an outstanding job pressing for a fair and just contract. We are hopeful this is the first step to a productive relationship with Covanta.&rdquo;

Utility Workers of America Gets Excellent First Labour Pact with Covanta

Noting that: 
 
Since Vale, the second largest mining company in the world, acquired nickel miner Inco in 2006, there has been a downward spiral in labor relations globally. 
 
In 2009 labor negotiations with USW, Vale claimed they needed deep concessions despite $13.2 billion (USD) net profit in 2008 and generous compensation for top execs. 
 
3,500 USW members responded by going on strike in mid-July. Since USW struck Vale, the company has hired replacement workers in an attempt to operate the facilities without the striking workers. 
 
Vale has refused to negotiate in good faith since the strike began. When they did meet with the USW, Vale has remained completely inflexible and unwilling to reach a fair and equitable settlement. 
 
The ICEM and its affiliates, working together with the IMF, have played an instrumental role in a global campaign for justice at Vale. This has included campaigning on behalf of Brazilian, Indonesian and Canadian Vale workers in their struggles for new labor agreements. 
 
ICEM affiliates in South Africa, United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, Sweden, Indonesia, Liberia, Zambia and throughout the ICEM Sub-Sahara Region have offered particularly critical support in this campaign. 
 
The global campaign has already improved conditions for workers in Brazil and Indonesia. 
 
The final outcome of this struggle will have implications throughout the global mining industry and beyond. 
 
Affiliates resolve: 
 
We condemn the actions of Vale to refuse to negotiate a fair and just settlement to the dispute in Canada. 
 
We will support the ongoing struggle for justice for workers at Vale, including the struggle for fair new labor agreements in Canada, in every way possible.

Resolution in Support for Struggle for Justice at Vale

Archive