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Miners of Mexico&rsquo;s National Miners&rsquo; and Metalworkers&rsquo; Union (SNTMMSRM), or Los Mineros, have rejected a severance package put forward by Grupo M&eacute;xico at the strike-hit Cananea copper mine. Some 1,200 workers at Cananea in northern Sonora state have been on strike since July 2007, a strike the company and the Mexican government have tried unsuccessfully to end through administrative edict and by formally dissolving the union&rsquo;s collective agreement. 
 
Since last year, Mexico&rsquo;s Federal Conciliation and Arbitration Board has declared the strike illegal three times, but each time a court has reversed the rulings. Last month, Grupo M&eacute;xico tried to break miners&rsquo; resolve by offering a US$13,000 payment per worker to sever with the company. Reports indicated that only 20 miners accepted the buy-out. 

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&ldquo;The company is offering workers leftovers and calling it liquidation,&rdquo; stated SNTMMSRM Section 65 leader Mario Garc&iacute;a. Grupo M&eacute;xico is attempting to break the union, and then restructure and re-start Cananea, a mining complex capable of producing 48% of Mexico&rsquo;s copper output. 
 
The company has also lodged lawsuits against striking workers and strike leaders for alleged damage at the mine. The union has asked Grupo M&eacute;xico to withdraw those actions, and instead negotiate a revised collective agreement with Los Mineros that will raise salaries and benefits, and improve safety and hygiene, chief among reasons why miners struck in the first place. 
 
Grupo M&eacute;xico has stated that is has lost US$1.5 billion in sales due to the mine being shut. Cananea has capacity to produce 190,000 tonnes per year of copper, with 70% of that in copper concentrates and the remainder in copper cathode. 
 
The ICEM continue to support and campaign on behalf of Los Mineros in its fight for justice against the Mexican government and the ruthless affront posed by Grupo M&eacute;xico throughout the country.

Cananea Miners Reject Grupo México Severance; Strike Continues

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ICEM North American affiliate Power Workers Union (PWU) was one of several hosts for the 50th Canadian Nuclear Association&rsquo;s (CNA) annual meeting, held 24-26 February in Canada&rsquo;s capital city, Ottawa. The PWU is a proud promoter of Canada&rsquo;s nuclear power industry, and uses the forum to generate policy discussion with industry leaders, company officials, and human resource people. 
 
PWU also hosted several international guests, including guests from the CGT of France and AWU of Australia. PWU President Don MacKinnon also hosted former PWU President Kealy Cummings, a pioneer in Canada&rsquo;s nuclear sector and a former Canadian labour attach&eacute; to the UK, who was at many of the early CAN annual gatherings. 

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PWU President Don MacKinnon and CGT-F&eacute;d&eacute;ration Mines Energie&rsquo;s Alain Vassaux. Seated, at left: former PWU President Kealy Cummings
The Canadian Nuclear Workers&rsquo; Council was also represented at the forum, as was the ICEM. Some 700 people participated in the conference. The nuclear sector is a C$6.6 billion industry in Canada, employing 21,000 people directly, and responsible for another 40,000 indirect jobs. 
 
&ldquo;This conference has become much more than a typical annual industry gathering,&rdquo; said new CAN President and CEO Denise Carpenter. It has evolved into &ldquo;a fully integrated and interactive trade show, career fair, and education symposium.&rdquo;

Canadian PWU Involved in Nation’s Nuclear Sector

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ICEM&rsquo;s three Italian affiliates, FILCEM&ndash;CGIL, FEMCA&ndash;CISL, UILCEM&ndash;UIL, are campaigning together against a recent decision by British multinational Glaxo Smith Kline to close its research centre in Verona, and put 550 employees out of work. 
 
A joint trade union delegation met four government ministers from the Ministries of Economic Development, and of Welfare and Health. The trade union leaders argued that the plant is profitable and also contributes to the profitability and growth of the company worldwide. Government Ministers were in agreement with the trade union arguments, and rejected the explanation of the company that the closure is part of the overall restructuring of the company. 
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The Italian Government Ministers Scaiola, Sacconi, Fazio, and Martini, have announced the establishing of an arbitration committee, which will seek to analyse in detail the reasons for Glaxo&rsquo;s decision to close its Verona facility, and hope to find a solution that will reverse their decision. The arbitration committee will be formed next month. 
 
The Verona employees of Glaxo who are set to lose their jobs have taken to the street in protest of the decision. See a slideshow of photos of the demonstrations <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cgilnazionale/sets/72157623383165437/show/">here</a>.&nbsp;

Italian Pharmaceutical Workers Protest Plant Closure, 550 Jobs Lost

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The methane gas explosion on 23 February that killed 13 Turkish coal miners in northwest Balikesir Province could have prevented, according to the ICEM and its affiliate, Maden-Iş. The private mine, owned by Erhan Ortakoylu and his Şentaş Mining Company, had experienced a similar gas blast on 2 June 2006 killing 17 miners, and indications this time reveal that warning safeguards used to detect methane accumulation was inadequate. 
 
As well, it is suspected that a ventilation system failed to clear the deadly methane gas. 
 
The explosion injured 33 miners. Five of the 13 victims died in a hospital after rescue due to severe burns. The tragedy occurred 250 metres deep in the Odakoy mine, some 20 kilometres from the city of Dursunbey. 

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Maden-Iş stated that the mine had undergone insufficient safety audits. Even though the government claimed an audit had occurred in the weeks prior to the explosion, the union said that infractions detected were not corrected. Oftentimes in Turkey, safety audits of mines by the Labour and Social Security Ministry are not done on-site, but rather through queries to mine owners from afar. Nizamettin Tiryaki, a mining engineer for Maden-Iş, said that it is also not uncommon for mine inspectors to be paid off by private mine operators. 
 
The ICEM believes that expenditures on modern and efficient safety equipment by private miners are also sacrificed in order to maximize profits. At the time of the explosion, the ICEM, together with the ILO, was leading a symposium in Ankara on the necessity for Turkey to ratify ILO Convention 176, the Safety and Health in Mines Convention. 
 
In a letter of condolence to Maden-Iş Presidnt Ismail Aslan, ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda said, &ldquo;The explosion illustrates the importance of our shared work in improving safety standards in Turkey&rsquo;s mines, and moving the Turkish Government towards ratification and proper implementation of ILO Convention 176.&rdquo; The complete letter can be found <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/19.Maden-Is.Condolences.24Feb.pdf">here</a>.

Gas Blast in Turkey, Killing 13, Needs Thorough Investigation

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Swiss specialty chemical company Clariant has announced a further 400 job cuts at the Muttenz site, near Basel, as the company seeks to move production and increase profits. Clariant CEO, Hariolf Kottmann, oversaw the cutting of 137 jobs last year. Clariant turnover is around $8 billion and the company is a world leader in the supply of chemicals and colors for the textile, leather, paper, packaging, plastics, and printing. The proposed further job cuts will be made between now and 2012, as the company seeks to relocate production to Asia, where production costs are lower. 
 
The mass job cuts would be in breach of the collective agreement and of Swiss labour law. Workers are legally entitled to a period of consultation where alternative employment opportunities can be examined, before any jobs can be cut. 

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ICEM Swiss affiliate UNIA, together with the Clariant Workers Council, is pressing the company to first preserve these jobs, or at least provide acceptable redundancy packages. Demands include replacement jobs for every worker affected by the cuts, practical training and education programs, and no further cuts at the Schweizerhalle pharmaceuticals site. 
 
UNIA and the Clariant workers are organising a demonstration at Clariant headquarters on Thursday 11 March, starting at 5.15am. From there the demonstration will move to Liestal, meeting at the train station at 9am, before marching to the local government building &lsquo;Landratsgeb&auml;ude&rsquo; to call on district councilors to step in to preserve local jobs. 
 
The protesting Clariant workers have a Facebook page with more information.

Swiss Chemical Workers Protest Job Cuts

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The negotiations towards a new national collective agreement for the manufacturing industry in Denmark had been deadlocked, see ICEM report <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/3634-Danish-Contract-Negotiations-Deadlocked-on-National-Level">here</a>, but the renewal of the agreement was signed on Monday 22 February by the ICEM-affiliated general union, Central Organization of Industrial Employees in Denmark (CO-industri) and the Confederation of Danish Industry (DI). However the HK private trade union rejected the agreement. 
 
Gains for workers across the sector include two additional weeks for parental leave, improved redundancy pay, improved monitoring of health and safety for night-shift workers, improved working conditions for shift workers, and newly created authority on equal pay. 
 
The collective bargaining round directly affects 240,000 workers in the manufacturing industry. But it also indirectly affects an additional 350,000 workers in the private sector. As previously reported by ICEM, historically, the manufacturing agreement is used as a blueprint for other negotiations. 

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Both Hans Christensen, the negotiator for DI business, and Co-industri President Thorkild E. Jensen, were content with the renewed agreement, after negotiators worked through the night to beat a deadline which would have moved negotiations to a tribunal. Jensen described the agreement as &ldquo;balanced and guaranteed our members&rsquo; jobs&rdquo;. The agreement is valid for the period 1 March 2010 to 1 March 2012. 
 
Night workers were a priority for trade union negotiators in the talks, with free health exams provided every two years and for those employees who are advised against night work, their employer must find them another job. Night workers will also be eligible for up to ten extra days off annually. Changes to the rules on pension contributions will discourage employers from moving to precarious contracts. Apprentices see a 4.5% pay increase over the two years. 
 
The deal has been described as a &ldquo;crisis agreement&rdquo; and sees trade unions agreeing to only a small pay increase and for the first time since 1991, no increase in pension contributions.

Danish Manufacturing Collective Agreement in Place

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More and more, multinational companies, as well as the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and its subsidiaries, are using non-direct and contract workers to perform key functions in Nigeria&rsquo;s oil and gas industries. That is the assessment of both ICEM affiliates in the country, the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN). 
 
The proliferation of such employment &ndash; referred to as casualisation in Nigeria &ndash; in fact, has meant that many companies have completely done away with full-time junior staff, or blue-collar workers, in their employ. One example is Mobil Producing Nigeria, a subsidiary of the world&rsquo;s largest energy concern, ExxonMobil, which has completely phased out NUPENG members in favour of contract staffing. 
<img alt="" src="" width="90" height="95" />&nbsp;&nbsp; <img alt="" src="" width="100" height="103" />
Casualisation in Nigeria is synonymous with cheap labour and maximisation of profits. The common fact is that when companies phase out full-time staff, they re-surface as short-term contract workers where rights to Freedom of Association are limited, their social entitlements are curtailed, and career paths become vague or non-existent. 
 
In early February, the two unions combined to wage a two-day strike against Mobil Producing&rsquo;s downstream operations across several states along the Niger Delta. The root cause of the strike was that several contractors serving Mobil Producing had sacked Nigerian nationals from full-time positions, replacing them disposable, casual workers. Those sackings were not just to junior staff, but also came among the ranks of highly skilled, professional, and experienced nationals in technical, engineering, administrative, and commercial positions. 
 
Despite several conventions between the unions and employers to address casualisation, Mobil Producing refused to address the issue. This led the ICEM to bring the matter to the attention of the US-based parent company. That letter can be found <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/15.exxonmobil.ceo.16Feb.pdf">here</a>. 

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Pengassan and Nupeng leaders at ICEM Headquarters
At one subsidiary of NNPC, the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas Company (NLNG), it is estimated that a full 60% of all workers are hired through labour brokers. They have no registered terms or conditions of work, are without social welfare benefits, and can be fired at will. It is equivalent to a modern form of slavery. 
 
NLNG and other companies operating in Nigeria&rsquo;s energy sector claim it is essential to their viability to outsource work not related to their core activities. But the question of what constitutes a company&rsquo;s core business remains open. Is it exploration and drilling, marketing and transportation, catering and cleaning, clerical and administrative? Companies operating in Nigeria&rsquo;s oil and gas patches make the argument that all are non-core. But in reality, all workers in these areas are oil and gas workers, and all deserve a minimum set of social benefits and job security measures, as set by national law and international labour standards. 
 
NUPENG&rsquo;s newly elected President Igwe Achese said there is ample evidence that &ldquo;multinational companies and their indigenous collaborators collude in reducing direct employees in efforts to de-unionise, create disaffection among workers, and to evade responsible employment practices. 
 
&ldquo;All workers, whether full-time workers or those employed by contractors performing tasks for primary employers, deserve set conditions of work, rights and privileges, and certainty in career paths in order that they know they have secure futures.&rdquo; 
 
The ICEM will continue to champion NUPENG and PENGASSAN in the unions&rsquo; initiatives to combat the menace that casualisation brings to quality work life in Nigeria.

Casualisation Eroding Decent Work Doctrine in Nigeria’s Oil, Gas Sectors

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ICEM&rsquo;s Colombian affiliate the National Oil Workers Union (USO) called for international solidarity in their conflict with British Petroleum (BP). Workers at the BP plant at Tauramena, part of the Cusiana oil field in Casanare, Eastern Colombia, have been striking since 22 January for improved wages. On 15 February the notorious ESMAD, Colombia's notorioius riot police, were sent in to attack the strikers&rsquo; picket line. Three USO members are still in hospital with injuries sustained from the police attack. 
 
View a union video of the attack <a href="http://www.usofrenteobrero.org/index.php?option=com_content&amp;view=article&amp;id=519:trabajadores-petroleros-de-tauramena-agredidos-por-el-emad-video&amp;catid=60:tauramena&amp;Itemid=100">here</a>.&nbsp; 
 
Last week BP attempted to bring in scabs to the central processing plant, but they were stopped by strikers who chained themselves to the entrance gates. This sparked local BP management to come to an agreement with the USO Bargaining Committee; however the outsourced contractors, SAR Energy, operating at Tauramena refused to recognize the agreement. Negotiations have been ongoing since then, through five negotiating committees: labour problems, social investment, goods and services, environment, and human rights, these temporary committees are working toward a deadline of 16 April, when agreement must be reached. 

<img alt="" src="" width="271" height="180" />
USO supporters outside BP Headquarters, London
USO&rsquo;s call for solidarity actions was answered last Friday, 5 March, when protestors demonstrated noisily opposite the BP Headquarters in London. The action was organised by the Colombia Solidarity Campaign. USO urges its supporters to continue to mobilise while the negotiations are ongoing. The ICEM supports the call on the Colombian government to insist that oil companies operating in Colombia respect the rights of workers to organise and to take strike action. USO is also calling for an official enquiry into the close links between paramilitary groups, and oil exploitation companies. 
 
Send protest messages to BP CEO, demand that the company conducts peaceful negotiations with the union, and condemns the ESMAD police repression. Send your message to Executive Director and Group Chief Executive Tony Hayward at email: <a href="mailto:tony.hayward@bp.com">tony.hayward@bp.com</a> 
 
Send messages of solidarity to the workers via USO Human Rights Commission email: <a href="mailto:usopaz@yahoo.com">usopaz@yahoo.com</a> 
 
Visit the Colombia Solidarity Campaign website <a href="http://www.colombiasolidarity.org.uk/content/view/486/">here</a>.&nbsp;

Oil Workers in Colombia Suffer Police Repression

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Today in Brazil, the Central &Uacute;nica dos Trabalhadores (CUT) will begin a 100-kilometre, 10-day march from Campinas in S&atilde;o Paulo state to the city of S&atilde;o Paulo itself in honour of International Women&rsquo;s Day. The march, celebrating 100 years of the announcement of International Women&rsquo;s Day and under the banner &ldquo;We&rsquo;ll Keep Marching Until Every Woman is Free,&rdquo; will highlight the continuing fight for common rights and public services, peace and demilitarization, economy autonomy, and an end to violence against women. 
 
A main objective of the pilgrimage will be CUT&rsquo;s drive for total wage equality between men and women. Even though Brazil has ratified ILO Convention 100, the 1951 Equal Remuneration Convention, the South American country has a long ways to go in order to achieve wage parity. 

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CUT Secretary of Working Women, Rosane Silva, said that every nation that has ratified ILO Convention 100 must speed up laws and practices to ensure that the articles of the convention are met. In Brazil, as a means to enhance subsidies to meet that goal, CUT has done a national study on wage disparities. Throughout 2010, the national labour centre will present those figures before governing bodies and employers to get them to comply with Convention 100. 
 
Also today in S&atilde;o Paulo, Sindicato Nacional dos Papeleiros (SINAP), the ICEM pulp and paper affiliate that is part of CNQ/CUT, will conduct a manifestation demanding equal rights for women in front of the Suzano paper mill.

CUT-Brazil to Conduct 100-kilometre, 10-Day Women’s March

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Toimihenkil&ouml;unioni TU, the ICEM-affiliated Salaried Workers&rsquo; Union in Finland, is calling on both the Finnish government and the chemicals company Kemira to resist cutting jobs in the company&rsquo;s recently announced cost-reduction programme. 

On 4 August, the Finnish chemicals company announced a global restructuring aimed at paring costs totaling &euro;50 million to the group's structure, organisation, and current operating models. Some &euro;20 million of that is slated to come from Kemira&rsquo;s Finnish operations.
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On 5 August, 30 salaried staff at the company&rsquo;s Vaasa plant staged a one-day walkout. The Vaasa unit is one of five of Kemira&rsquo;s 12 Finnish facilities in which job cuts are targeted. The company is looking to reduce its workforce in Finland by 300, with most of the job losses scheduled for the salaried ranks. 

TU President Antti Rinne criticised the plan because Kemira intends to transfer much of its research and development activities out of Finland. TU Industrial Sector Bargaining Secretary Markku Palokangas said the Finnish government, which holds a 16.52% stake in Kemira, must do more to preserve the chemical industry in Finland. 

ICEM Finnish affiliate Kemianliitto, the country&rsquo;s Chemical Workers&rsquo; Union, also expressed dissatisfaction with Kemira&rsquo;s 4 August announcement. &ldquo;The company has had a clear strategy,&rdquo; said President Timo Vallittu. It should place trust in that strategy and create a climate &ldquo;where investments, long-term production, and better earning capacities&rdquo; ensure stability in Finland.
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Besides Vaasa, a community in western Finland, Kemira said redundancies could occur at businesses in Oulu, Espoo, Aetsa, and Helsinki. Mandatory co-determination negotiations with the unions are scheduled to begin today, 11 August. 

Kemira operates in 40 countries and has a global workforce of 10,000. The company&rsquo;s 2007 revenues stood at &euro;2.8 billion.

Finnish Toimihenkilöunioni Protests Chemical Job Cuts at Kemira

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