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The traditional British image of a trade unionist is a militant figure, someone more interested in threats than in dialogue. Peter couldn't be further away from the stereotype. In fact, his union activities brought him to the attention of management in a positive way: his skills at negotiation saw him elected as co-chair to Astrium's European Works Council. He subsequently became co-chair of Astrium's European Committee for Space and gave up technical work in order to concentrate on his committee and union work. Peter believes that the union has played a role in keeping Astrium at the cutting edge of technology. When the union fights for better pay and conditions, it's helping the company to recruit and retain the best people in the industry. EADS management clearly agrees: he is paid by the company for the time he spends on union work, as are the two other shop stewards at Astrium. Peter also sees the satellites themselves as tools for negotiation and communication. On a basic level, a satellite is a switchboard in the sky, designed to send information back and forth. At a human level, satellites provide information that could help to solve international arguments. The example Peter gives is of competition for water supplies, a situation likely to get worse as the Earth's climate becomes drier. If people in one area of the world try to steal the water supply from another area by diverting a river, it will be obvious from space what's going on. Peter believes that satellites can help with arbitration of water disputes, because they provide neutral evidence of what's going on. It's just one example of how the technology created at Astrium can help us to deal with the effects of climate change.But on a national level Peter's union, Unite, struggles to communicate a coherent policy on environmental issues. As a relatively new union, it still doesn't have an official policy on climate change, let alone a strategy for how members can work together to fight it. Bernie Hamilton, Unite's national officer for the aerospace and shipbuilding sectors, expects the union to finalize its policies on the environment and other issues at its policy conference early next year. Since Amicus and T&amp;G, the two unions which merged to form Unite in 2007, were both very aware of climate change issues, Bernie believes that the new union will come up with a robust policy on tackling climate change. However, there are signs that the picture may be more complicated than that. Many of the workers represented by Unite are in high-carbon sectors such as vehicle manufacturing, passenger air travel, offshore drilling (for oil and gas) and shipbuilding.Perhaps the most problematic sector is aviation. Per capita, British people emit more emissions from flying than any other nation in the world. If aviation expansion in the UK is allowed to continue as predicted, the British government will find it almost impossible to achieve its own targets for cutting emissions. Aviation will gobble up half, perhaps more, of the total emissions allotted to the whole country.That's why most of the UK's big workers' unions opposed recent plans to build a third runway at London's Heathrow Airport. The unions joined with environmental groups last year to take out an advertisement in The Times that called on the government to scrap Heathrow expansion. Unite was the only British workers' union to come out in support of the Heathrow plans. How does this square with a commitment to protect the environment? &quot;The fact that the union supported the third runway is not incompatible with fighting climate change,&quot; says Bernie. &quot;There is undoubtedly going to be more air travel and there are going to be airports throughout Europe which are aiming to be hub airports, and a hub airport is a big airport. We have to acknowledge the inevitability of increased air travel, or Britain could be left out.<table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="1" align="center"><tbody><tr><td><a href="../index.cfm?c=21570&amp;mwId=21566&amp;l=2">&lt;&lt; back</a></td><td> </td><td><a href="../index.cfm?c=21567&amp;mwId=21566&amp;l=2">beginning</a></td><td> </td><td align="center" valign="middle"><a href="../index.cfm?c=21572&amp;mwId=21566&amp;l=2">forward &gt;&gt;</a></td></tr></tbody></table>

The cutting edge of tackling climate change

A global view

Advance warning

Protecting pensions

Negotiating solutions

Technology & investment

Feature: Download pdf file with illustrations >>

With climate change comes the increased incidence of hurricanes and other extreme weather events, and weather satellites can give countries the advance warning necessary to prepare for such events. Gordon Larkins, engineer and fellow shop steward, tells me that Thailand signed up to satellite disaster monitoring shortly after the December 2004 tsunami. Satellite technology is also a lifeline after a disaster strikes. Peter explains that extreme weather events often knock out phone lines on the ground. &quot;How do you communicate then? Someone turns up with a box of satellite cellphones.&quot; When the immediate emergency is over, satellites still have a role to play, providing the reconstruction planners with important information about the extent and nature of the damage.Astrium's next weather satellite, AEOLUS, will be even more sophisticated than ENVISAT. Alistair Scott, the plant's communications manager, describes it as &quot;the next generation of everything&quot;. The stereoradar used by AEOLUS is so sensitive that it can tell the difference between corn and wheat, between tarmac and concrete. Named after the keeper of winds in classical mythology, AEOLUS specializes in monitoring wind speed and direction throughout the whole height of the Earth's atmosphere.AEOLUS will also be able to spot human activity that contributes to climate change. It is sensitive enough to pinpoint areas of deforestation, recording evidence of climate-wrecking behaviour by individuals, companies or governments. Peter explains that such fine-grained detail is also very useful for managing resources on a smaller scale, even at the level of telling a farmer that there's something wrong with the crops in one field.Peter is a Midlander with a gift for translating complex engineering concepts into plain English and making them interesting into the bargain. But he didn't always plan to become an engineer. His first job after leaving school was in the Warwickshire constabulary, but left the police force after a motorcycle accident. After that he briefly studied chemistry. Perhaps it was a fluke of geography that led Peter to a career in engineering: his family home in the East Midlands was near a nuclear power plant, so he took a job at the plant, discovered his flair for engineering and gained professional qualifications there. His move to his current workplace was a matter of circumstances too. The company that ran the East Midlands plant began discussing a move to the north of England just as Peter and his wife-to-be were planning a wedding and a life together in the south. So Peter took a job at BAE Space &amp; Communications, at the Stevenage site now known as Astrium. 1981 marked the beginning of both his marriage and his career at the plant.<table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="1" align="center"><tbody><tr><td><a href="../index.cfm?c=21568&amp;mwId=21566&amp;l=2">&lt;&lt; back</a></td><td> </td><td><a href="../index.cfm?c=21567&amp;mwId=21566&amp;l=2">beginning</a></td><td> </td><td align="center" valign="middle"><a href="../index.cfm?c=21570&amp;mwId=21566&amp;l=2">forward &gt;&gt;</a></td></tr></tbody></table>

JAPAN:  Fifty high level government, employer and trade union representatives from Japan, Republic of Korea, India, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Australia, and Philippines  examined the employment relationship and rights at work in the automotive industry at the Asian Regional Workshop for the Automotive Industry, held on 7-9th December in Tokyo (Japan). According to a background paper prepared for the workshop &quot;A substantial element of automotive industry employment since the recovery from the economic downturn of the early 1990´s has taken the form of temporary contract work, with labour recruited via employment agencies.&quot; Reports from the eight countries revealed interesting similarities but also differences, however in all of the countries the automotive industry is a cornerstone of industrial production and employment. Industrial relations however turn out to be different in all eight countries.&quot;The workshop was part of an action programme for the automotive industry. It was planned before the global economic crisis began but adapted in a way to better respond to the crisis.&quot; said Mr. George Dragnich, ILO Executive Director, and Social Dialogue, who organized the workshop.Acting in his role as elected spokesperson for the trade unions Mr  Nishihara President of the IMF-JC and JAW stated that &quot;For many workers in the industry the last year has been a difficult one that has been filled with uncertainty due to structural changes. Where ever possible we have been able to lessen the impact on workers  by negotiating measures to keep plants open often at a cost to our members terms and conditions of employment.&quot;&quot;We firmly believe that the involvement of workers in strategic decision making is a responsible and desirable approach for both employees and employers. Union involvement guarantees that employees are recognized as stakeholders with a long term interest in the success of the company, and also helps drive through changes with employee support which improve productivity and profitability&quot;, said Nishihara.In a subsequent discussion about the need for social dialogue in the industry the employers group outlined the belief that it should not undermine the ability of managers to manage. The example given was the difficulties arising from sharing information on issues such as mergers, acquisitions and takeovers.The trade unions however took a different view that if anything the current crisis had shown the need for all parties to work together to build a sustainable future. In addition the unions felt that they had a legitimate right to have a say in significant decisions which could affect the long term viability of a company. The role of the unions was not just to manage decline but should also be an equal partner in the decision making process. A formal report of the meeting will shortly be available from the ILO.

Governments, employers and trade unions discussed the impact of the global economic and job crisis within the automotive industry in the Asia-Pacific.

Opening Statement from the Workers Group

Trade unions demand a bigger say in building future Auto Industry

INDIA: On December 5 - 7, 2009 the International Metalworkers' Federation, supported by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, organized a seminar for unions organizing workers in the different locations of Siemens in India. This was the first time ever that these unions belonging to different union federations and partly without a membership in national federations came together.Werner Mönius, chairman of the Siemens SEC (European Works' Council Siemens), Dieter Scheitor (IG Metall coordinator for Siemens) and Robert Steiert (IMF) informed about the company's strategy &amp; development and the necessity of networking within transnational companies.The Indian unions reported and discussed the industrial relations within Siemens India and pointed out especially tendencies to &quot;promote&quot; manual workers to &quot;officers&quot; to convince them not to join unions. Some unions complainted about increased tensions with management and a development to an outsourcing of low-wage jobs and the use of contract and precarious labour.The necessity of networking and closer cooperation was seen by the participating unions and resulted in the decision to create a structure for this cooperation nationally and to strengthen the connections to the union in the mother company.3 colleagues were nominated for developping concrete proposals for such a formal structure which shall be discussed and hopefully accepted by the unions present on the seminar. Further unions which could not take part in this years' workshop shall be integrated step by step into the upcoming network and structure.

Unions discuss closer cooperation and networking within Siemens operations in India.

Unions at Siemens in India: Need to cooperate

Mexico: On Wednesday 31 December 2008, a rock fall at the Charcas San Luis Potosí mine (gold, silver and other metals), owned by Grupo Mexico, killed Juan Rafael Escalante, 39.The incident also left another worker, Juan Carlos Aguilar Martín, seriously injured. He suffered blows and fractures that left him in serious state of health. He was taken to Social Security Clinic 50 in San Luis Potosí. The rock fall occurred at level 10 in the mine at 9.15 p.m. on 31 December.The miners&#039; union, led by Napoleón Gómez, said the accident &quot;shows once again that the companies given mining concessions by the government, in this case Grupo Mexico, must improve health and safety conditions for workers.&quot; The union went on to say that &quot;this has been one of the union&#039;s constant and important demands, but the company and federal and local labour authorities have ignored it.&quot;The miners&#039; union has focused on improving health and safety conditions in mines and factories.It called on the government and companies to accept responsibility for conditions at mining, metalworking and steelworking workplaces in order to avoid this kind of accident.

A rock fall in the Charcas San Luis de Potosí mine has left one worker dead and another seriously injured. The National Miners' and Metalworkers' Union of Mexico (SNTMMSRM) calls on the government and companies to accept responsibility for workers' safety.

Explosion at Grupo Mexico mine leaves around 65 miners trapped

Grupo Mexico linked to murder of miner

Grupo Mexico vows to close Cananea due to strike

Irregularities at the Pasta de Conchos Mine

Accident at Grupo Mexico mine leaves at least one fatality

Meeting recruitment challengesTraditionally the rate of organization has been higher among blue-collar workers than among white-collar workers and engineers. That remains the case in the manufacturing industries. But over the last 15 years the level of union membership, both for blue- and white-collar workers, has fallen from 85 to 71 per cent. The big drop in membership came right after the conservative government came to power in the autumn of 2006. The level of organization remains significantly higher in the manufacturing industries than for the rest of the economy. That goes for both blue- and white-collar workers. In Sweden, 82 per cent of blue-collar workers in manufacturing and 72 per cent of white-collar workers belong to a union. IF Metall has one of the highest rates of organization of all the union confederations, close to 92 per cent. But that rate is falling. &quot;We sat back and relaxed, and thought everything was going well, despite the fact that the decline began ten or fifteen years ago,&quot; says Inga-Lill Samuelsson, a representative at IF Metall's branch in Gothenburg. Inga-Lill is also the project leader for the union's drive to organize and recruit more members. The organising project will run for two years and began in 2008. 22,726 new members were recruited last year. But at the same time, many people have left the union. Hence overall membership in IF Metall has declined. According to the union, one in two members who left IF Metall left due to finding a new job and for that reason moved to another union. Every fourth person left the union after ceasing to pay membership dues. <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="1" align="center"><tbody><tr><td><a href="../main/index.cfm?n=103&amp;l=2&amp;c=19210&amp;mwId=19189">&lt;&lt; back</a></td><td> </td><td><a href="../main/index.cfm?n=103&amp;l=2&amp;c=19197&amp;mwId=19189">beginning</a></td><td> </td><td align="center" valign="middle"><a href="../main/index.cfm?n=103&amp;l=2&amp;c=19213&amp;mwId=19189">forward &gt;&gt;</a></td></tr></tbody></table>

Swedish Unions revive recruitment efforts

&quot;We had already begun to commit ourselves to membership recruitment,&quot; says Kjell Johnson, who is in charge of long-term development work in Unionen. &quot;And then, I think that Unionen's image may also have attracted new members. With the merger, the new union is perceived as a stronger and more attractive force.&quot; At ABB there are many engineers. Most of them belong to Sveriges Ingenjörer (the Swedish Association of Graduate Engineers). At the ABB Corporate Research centre, union recruitment work has been quite successful. Out of 180 engineers, about 150 belong to Sveriges Ingenjörer. &quot;We don't seek out individuals to try to recruit them [into the union]. We don't believe in that model,&quot; says Shiva Sander-Tavallaey, the union representative for Sveriges Ingenjörer at ABB Corporate Research. &quot;For us the important thing is to show that we are attractive and accessible. We have to show that members can benefit from union membership.&quot;Shiva explains that the union gets good cooperation from the company. Whenever the company has an introductory meeting for new employees, the union is given an opportunity to present its work for 15-30 minutes. &quot;That is an opportunity that my union colleagues succeeded in achieving some 30-40 years ago. Over time it has become part of the corporate culture. The company is positive toward the union,&quot; says Shiva.The union activity of ABB engineers is adapted to the company. According to Shiva, &quot;ABB has an 'activity clock' to which we adapt. We make our own union 'activity clock' so our members can get the most from their union membership.&quot;Before management meets with members to discuss salary, the union makes sure that material is available to equip members before individual meetings. To help them, the union has a local database where members can obtain current pay statistics.&quot;There they can see where their salaries stand in relation to the average for comparable groups, taking into account experience and educational background,&quot; Shiva explains. <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="1" align="center"><tbody><tr><td><a href="../main/index.cfm?n=103&amp;l=2&amp;c=19207&amp;mwId=19189">&lt;&lt; back</a></td><td> </td><td><a href="../main/index.cfm?n=103&amp;l=2&amp;c=19197&amp;mwId=19189">beginning</a></td><td> </td><td align="center" valign="middle"><a href="../main/index.cfm?n=103&amp;l=2&amp;c=19210&amp;mwId=19189">forward &gt;&gt;</a></td></tr></tbody></table>

White-collar organisingSnap-On in Bollnäs is a traditional industrial factory where workers directly involved in production constitute the majority of employees. A bit further south, about an hour's drive from Stockholm is ABB, one of the world's leading high-tech companies and one which is increasingly dominated by white-collar workers and engineers.Of the 3,500 white-collar workers, 1,300 are organized in Unionen (a merger of the industrial employees' union Sif and the commercial employees' union HTF). When the government made the unemployment funds more expensive, Unionen lost members.&quot;Many older members left,&quot; recalls Krista Loiske, Unionen's branch chairman for ABB in Västerås. &quot;They thought their jobs were secure and that they could afford to be outside the union.&quot; &quot;It has become increasingly difficult to recruit,&quot; Krista says. &quot;It used to go without saying that people would stick up for each other. But society has been getting more and more individualized, and we are often confronted with the question: 'Why should I join, what do I stand to gain from the union?'&quot; Last autumn the crisis came. And that was when many people's attitude toward the union changed, says Krista. &quot;The loss of members stopped, and more people began to join. It was as if the crisis served as a warning that people have to stick together. Which is really the whole point of the union.&quot; That is precisely the point that Unionen's activists constantly try to make when they meet newly hired people, when they report on their activity, when they offer coffee and show themselves among the employees. The effect of the crisis in reversing the downward trend of membership figures has also been seen at the national level in Unionen. From September to October 2008 the number of members began to rise. <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="1" align="center"><tbody><tr><td><a href="../main/index.cfm?n=103&amp;l=2&amp;c=19199&amp;mwId=19189">&lt;&lt; back</a></td><td> </td><td><a href="../main/index.cfm?n=103&amp;l=2&amp;c=19197&amp;mwId=19189">beginning</a></td><td> </td><td align="center" valign="middle"><a href="../main/index.cfm?n=103&amp;l=2&amp;c=19208&amp;mwId=19189">forward &gt;&gt;</a></td></tr></tbody></table>

A changing political landscapeThe high rate of organization in Sweden is usually explained partly by the fact that the unemployment insurance funds are managed by the unions. The unemployment insurance funds were originally created by the unions as protection against cuts in pay. The idea behind the funds was that no one should have to be tempted to take a job at a pay rate below the contract rate. Thus, unemployed people could refrain from taking a job that paid less than what the unemployment funds gave. In addition, the unemployment funds became a form of pay insurance for those who did have a job. The funds made it more difficult to engage in wage dumping or force workers to compete with each other for jobs with poorer conditions. But when the present conservative government in Sweden came to power in 2006, they decided shortly after taking office to undermine the unemployment funds. Compensation for the unemployed was reduced. At the same time, the government also made it substantially more expensive to be a member of an unemployment fund. The unions regarded this as a way for the new government to scare members into leaving their unions. &quot;In our case, no one has left the union because the contributions to the unemployment fund have increased,&quot; says Stefan Halvarsson. &quot;We made a point of telling people that it was the government that raised [unemployment fund] contributions, not the union.&quot;Another reason for the high degree of union membership in Sweden is the position of the collective contract. &quot;Without a strong collective contract, we would be much weaker,&quot; Stefan warns.According to Stefan, the contract provides strong protection to members, including protection against pay cuts. The contract also gives local union organizations a strong negotiating position against employers. The threat to unions now is that employers - as a result of the economic crisis - are trying to hollow out the collective contract and weaken it. &quot;Such attempts have been made before, but we managed to fight back,&quot; says Stefan.<table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="1" align="center"><tbody><tr><td><a href="../main/index.cfm?n=103&amp;l=2&amp;c=19198&amp;mwId=19189">&lt;&lt; back</a></td><td> </td><td><a href="../main/index.cfm?n=103&amp;l=2&amp;c=19197&amp;mwId=19189">beginning</a></td><td> </td><td align="center" valign="middle"><a href="../main/index.cfm?n=103&amp;l=2&amp;c=19207&amp;mwId=19189">forward &gt;&gt;</a></td></tr></tbody></table>

MEXICO: A Mexico City Federal District Court decision has invalidated arrest warrants and Mexican Government extradition requests for Napoleon Gomez Urrutia, leader of IMF affiliate, the National Miners&#039; and Metalworkers&#039; Union (SNTMMSRM).Gomez is living in exile with his family in Canada after receiving death threats.Gomez, the democratically elected general secretary of the SNTMMSRM was forcefully removed from his position in 2006. Gomez spoke out against the Mexican government and Grupo Mexico mining company in response to a tragic mine accident in Pasta de Conchos that left 65 miners dead, many of them members of SNTMMSRM. The Mexican Government and Grupo Mexico have continued a campaign of harassment against Gomez, the miners&#039; union and its members.Grupo Mexico has been linked to the physical assault, kidnapping and murder of miners&#039; union members and their families. In 2006 the IMF lodged a complaint with the International Labour Organisation accusing the Mexcian Government of violating Convention 87, including illegally intervening in union activities, seizing union assets and forcing government appointments into union elected positions.IMF affiliates throughout the world have shown their solidarity to our Mexican union brothers and sisters through letter writing campaigns, public pressure, and demonstrations.&quot;The continuing legal and personal persecution of Napoleon Gomez must end,&quot; said Ken Neumann, United Steel Workers National Director for Canada. USW has helped Gomez and his wife secure work papers enabling them to remain in Canada.The attorney general of Mexico is still pursuing Gomez by trying to move the court proceeding to another district.

A panel of Mexico City Federal District Court judges has granted Napoleon Gomez Urrutia legal protection against extradition in a huge win for the Mexican Miners' Union.

IMF pledges support to Mexican miners

Mexican Miners&#039; Union leader wins injunction against arrest warrants