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<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/BWI New.jpg" width="100" height="90" alt=""/>     <img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/ICEM100.jpg" width="100" height="86" alt=""/>
The ICEM joined the Building and Wood Workers' International (BWI), yesterday in launching a global campaign for equal rights of Holcim CAL workers in India.
Join the <a href="http://www.bwint.org/default.asp?Index=3442&Language=EN">campaign yourself by sending a message to the Holcim CEO</a> via the BWI website here. 
The Indian Cement Workers Federation (INCWF) an affiliate of both global union federations, has conducted a long-running campaign calling for equal rights, conditions, and salaries for contract workers, as stipulated under Indian law. Holcim India continuously neglects this legislation, specifically at its subsidiaries ACC in Bhilai and Ambuja Cement in Baloda Bazar.
The State High Court of Chhattisgarh ruled in favour of contract workers at Holcim Jamul Unit, instructing the company to regularise CAL employees and replace the "sham" contracts currently in place. Holcim India is yet to act positively on the court ruling. Workers at Jamul have conducted a "sit in" protest since 3 April.
On Holcim's purchase of ACC and Ambuja Cement, both companies were members of the Cement Manufacturer's Association and signatories to the National Wage Agreement for the sector. It is extremely unfortunate that under Holcim's ownership, this has been reversed, removing employee's protection from the National Agreement, blocking their right to bargain collectively.
See a recent <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4245-Finally-Excellent-Wage-Gains-Won-by-Indian-Cement-Workers" type="internal">ICEM report</a> on the positive national settlement for the Indian cement industry here.
The INCWF, backed by BWI, ICEM, and joint Swiss affiliate UNIA, are calling on the company to enter into dialogue so as to resolve these issues, respect global labour standards, Indian law, and end the discriminatory treatment of contract workers at Holcim.
Holcim is the second largest producer of cement in the world. An average salary for Indian contract workers is US$2.17 a day, and a high amount on limestone are factors moving Holcim to shift production to India from countries such as Spain and the US.
See the <a href="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Holcim%20Akermann%2028%204%202011.pdf" type="internal">joint BWI-ICEM letter to Holcim</a> CEO Markus Akermann here.

Global Campaign Launched for Indian Cement Contract Workers

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100" height="39"/>
The ten-day strike by union members of Sindicato No. 1 Escondida of Chile’s Federation of Miners (FMC) at the world’s largest copper mine has galvanized mining unions in the South American country. In unprecedented solidarity, mineworkers’ unions of the private-sector FMC and at state-run Codelco, the Federation of Workers of Cobre (FTC), are uniting to proclaim a larger portion of the world’s copper profits must remain in national hands. 
 
That message was made clear last Thursday, 28 July, when leaders of both federations met in Antofagasta in northern Region II to discuss how companies circumvent labour laws and collective agreement conventions at the expense of mineworkers, and how natural resources are exploited to the detriment of Chile’s national character. Outside the trade union meeting, rank-and-file workers marched and demanded re-nationalisation of copper mining. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1107.chile miners - use this one as replacement.jpg" width="237" height="164"/>
28 July manifestation in Antofagasta
That may seem improbable, but one thing is not: soaring pricing on copper concentrates and copper cathodes and the ever-growing profit margins of multinationals that mine and trade the red metal worldwide has created a “Together We Can” mentality. Chile’s mineworkers are now saying that unified industrial action can affect the country’s future for the better. 
 
Consider that on a single day – 30 July – 10% of the world’s copper production stopped when 1,500 FMC miners at Doña Inés Collahuasi (AngloAmerican and Xstrata) joined 2,400 miners of FMC Sindicato No. 1 at Minera Escondida Ltd. (BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto). Although grievances reflected separate sets of negligent circumstances at the two mining complexes, the unity of purpose was evident. 
 
The bosses have declared both strikes illegal because the walkouts occurred during running collective agreements. But when companies abrogate terms of those contracts – or refuse dialogue on health and safety or other concerns – what choice is there? Sindicato No. 1 has taken Escondida Ltd’s breaches to labour court to disprove the illegality of its strike. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Christian Arancibia - Chile FMC.jpg" width="128" height="159"/>
Cristián Arancibia
FMC President Cristián Arancibia said that workers are hearing a national calling, that unions of his federation feel a responsibility to the people and communities of mining regions. He said agreement has been reached with the FTC that mineworkers will not be “accomplices to Chile’s resources sold away for foreign investment.” That includes FMC recognition that Codelco is chipping away at FTC’s membership in order to partially privatise the world’s largest copper company. 
 
The FTC’s Cristian Cuevas, in turn, demanded that Escondida Ltd. stop persecuting workers by failing to fulfil the terms of the 2009-2013 collective agreement and disrespecting international labour conventions. He also warned that if BHP Billiton sacked striking Sindicato No. 1 members and replaces them with scabs, the wrath of all Chilean mineworkers will be heard. 
 
The ten-day strike by FMC Sindicato No. 1 at Escondida is portrayed as a difference in a one-off production bonus between the union and management. In fact, it is over dramatic reductions in agreed-upon production bonuses that were reduced three-fold this past spring while multinationals, BHP Billiton (57.5%) and Rio Tinto (30%), were reaping huge profits from a mining enterprise that accounts for 7% of the world’s copper supply. 
 
At Collahuasi, the 24-hour walkout on 30 July – only eight months after a bitter 33-day strike – was over the company negotiating individually with workers outside the collective agreement. It was also brought about by an unresolved health issue from that November-December 2010 strike. The mine is located 4,000 metres high in the Atacama Desert of the Andes where oxygen levels are low and worker body stress is high. Anglo American and Xstrata have a US$750 million expansion underway that will nearly double production. The new open-cast mining area is at even higher altitudes, up to 5,000 metres. The FMC affiliate, Sindicato de los Trabajadores de Collahuasi, seeks dialogue to address the obvious and adverse health affects.

‘Together We Can’ …. Chile’s Copper Miners Unite for National Gain

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Swiss union UNIA is mobilising its forces in defence of 560 jobs at Swissmetal, as the company moves dangerously close to bankruptcy. Some 150 Swissmetal staff in Dornach in north-western Switzerland assembled in the factory car park on 21 July in a sombre demonstration, demanding that production continues after the two-week scheduled holiday break. Resumption of all work activities should occur 8 August. 
 
Workers at the plant are refusing to halt production, in the knowledge that it would result in mass redundancies. UNIA and local staff have proposed a raft of alternative measures to improve efficiency, which would ensure profitability for Swissmetal. 
 
Pending a solution, local management must not issue redundancies or dismantle production equipment, as operations may still be purchased by another company. One prospective buyer is France-based Le Bronze Industriel. 
<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1107.swissmetal unia.jpg" width="216" height="161" alt=""/>
Other union demands include for management to provide fully transparent financial documentation of the company, and a joint review of union proposals on efficiency improvements. A period of consultation has been extended to 19 August. 
 
UNIA is calling on the Canton of Soleure to mobilise its powers to safeguard the jobs. It is the same Canton where pulp and paper multinational Sappi last spring announced closure of its Biberist graphic papers mill, in a brutal loss of 341 jobs. Despite UNIA and Sappi European Works Council (EWC) efforts to find a buyer for the Sappi mill, the South African company recently said those efforts have failed and the mill would close. 
 
Swissmetal manufactures high-quality copper products, mainly used in the electronics, telecommunications, aviation, petroleum, and automotive industries. Based in Dornach, ten kilometres south of Basel, the company’s other foundry in Switzerland is in Reconvilier, where another 560 jobs are at risk.

UNIA Continues Fight to Keep Swissmetal Jobs 

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Three separate mine tragedies last week caused the deaths of 36 miners in eastern Ukraine, with the death toll likely to climb with rescue efforts still incomplete and some miners in life-threatening conditions in hospitals. The worst occurred in the early morning hours of Friday, 29 July, when a methane gas explosion in a Metinvest B.V. coal mine in Lugansk Region killed 18. Eight miners are still missing. 
 
On the same day, hours later and in adjoining Donetsk Region, seven miners were instantly killed when a headframe at the state-owned Bazhanova mine near Makiyivka collapsed. The collapse sent an elevator hurling downward, killing the seven. Another three miners are unaccounted for and four were rescued and are hospitalised in serious condition. 
<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1107.ukraine mine accident.jpg" width="329" height="161" alt=""/>
Families of the lost miners
The third tragedy occurred in another state-run mine in the Donbass of Donetsk Region on 26 July. Three miners are dead, another three are missing and feared dead when a roof collapsed 520 metres underground at the Rodynska colliery. 
 
The Metinvest gas blast at the former state-owned Sukhodolskaya-Vostochnaya coal mine near Krasnodon, Lugansk, happened at a depth of 915 metres and stands as Ukraine’s worst mine tragedy since 101 miners were killed in a series of explosions in November 2007 at the privately-held Zasyadko company mine in the Donbass. 
 
Demitry Kalitventsev, the branch leader of the Ukrainian Coal Industry Workers’ Union (PRUP) in Lugansk, feared the death toll could exceed 30 because another nine miners who were rescued have extreme burns and their conditions are not good. It’s been reported that the mine had modern safety equipment and detection devices, but consistently languished under high gas methane readings. 
 
Families of the victims are to receive UAH 1 million (US$125,000), it was reported. Metinvest is 75% owned by Rinat Akhmetov’s System Capital Management Group (SCM) and 25% by Smart Holding Group. Akhmetov, Ukraine’s richest individual, is a Party of Regions bankroller and a member of Ukraine’s Parliament, the Rada. Metinvest of late has grown into one of Ukraine’s largest steel producers with a number of acquisitions. Smart Holding has major interests in shipbuilding, construction, port management, and metallurgy and mining.

Three Coal Mine Accidents Kill at Least 36 in Ukraine

<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100" height="39" alt=""/>
A common pattern of union-busting in Turkey is being conducted against ICEM-affiliated Belediye-İş in Istanbul, and two international federations and a European union federation are calling for action by Turkey’s new Minister of Labour and Social Security, Faruk Çelik. 
 
Metropolitan municipality workers in Istanbul have been pressured to rescind their membership in Belediye-İş, the Municipal and General Workers’ Union of Turkey, and to instead join a different “trade union” preferred by management. In a 26 July joint letter, the General Secretaries of ICEM, Public Services International (PSI), and the European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU), united in condemning treatment of workers solidly aligned with Belediye-İş, an affiliate of all three federations. 
<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1107.belediye is.jpg" width="250" height="160" alt=""/>
Threats and intimidation exerted on workers by managers of the Metro Istanbul government have forced a number of workers to quit the union. Now, as many of them return to Belediye-İş, workers are being punished with forced relocation to other jobs elsewhere inside the municipality. This is especially the case for municipality employees in parks, gardens, social facilities, and municipal police services. 
 
The ICEM, PSI, and EPSU reminded Labour Minister Çelik of the Turkish government’s responsibilities in protecting freedom of association, the right to organise with the union of their choice, and to bargain collectively with that union, as stipulated under the Turkish Constitution and Core ILO Conventions. 
<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1107.Belediye Is President.jpg" width="192" height="144" alt=""/>
Belediye-İş President Nihat Yurdakul
“Under these circumstances, we urge you to use your authority over the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality to stop all the methods and means used against Belediye-İş members to resign their membership,” the letter states.

ICEM, Public Sector Unions Call on Turkey’s Labour Minister to Intervene in Istanbul

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By the narrowest of margins on 2 August, members of United Steelworkers (USW) Local 7-669 in Metropolis, Illinois, ratified a three-year labour agreement with Honeywell, Inc., officially ending a lockout that began on 28 June 2010. The ratification vote came a full 13 days following conclusion of a negotiating settlement (see <a href="/en/3-Energy-Oil-and-Gas/4564-USW-Union-at-Honeywell-Reaches-Tentative-Labour-Agreement" type="internal">ICEM 22 July report</a>), primarily because Honeywell managers at the uranium converting facility were negligent in giving explicit back-to-work assignments to locked-out workers. 

The 228 steelworkers at Honeywell convert milled uranium, known as yellow-cake uranium, into uranium hexafluoride (UF6) which is used in nuclear fuel enrichment. The lock-out was marked by Honeywell’s decision to resume full production nine weeks into the company’ s work stoppage and then re-start operations with inexperienced scab replacement workers. Twice in the months that followed, the plant saw near-miss tragedies due to mishandling of dangerous chemicals. 

The period between the 20 July 2011 tentative agreement and yesterday’s ratification was just as contentious as was the entire lockout. Honeywell managers told Local 7-699 that it wanted experienced workers to return to the jobs they knew best, but then submitted a back-to-work roster which saw job postings many of the locked-out workers had never worked before. 

It took Local 7-669 leaders enormous time and effort in the 13-day interval to sort out the return-to-work roster. Meanwhile, Honeywell managers publicly denounced the union for not conducting the ratification vote. “They were trying to force a vote before our people knew exactly which job they would return to,” said local union spokesman John Smith.
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1106.honeywell safety matters.jpg" width="131" height="214"/>
Local 7-669 members will begin returning to work on 15 August. Some 150 workers will return then to training and re-certification by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Forty workers will return two weeks later for the same, and the remainder two weeks after that. The unionised workforce will number about 220 workers when the experienced and qualified USW members are fully back to work. 

The negotiated settlement preserves most of the key union-protection provisions that Honeywell was trying to strip away at the start of the lockout, including seniority, job bidding, overtime, and retention of a defined benefit pension plan for existing workers, as well as retiree medical benefits that go along with that plan. 

On wages, the new three-year collective agreement calls for no increase in the first year, 1% effective 15 August 2012, and 2% on 15 August 2013. Local 7-669 proposed in bargaining over a year ago a freeze on wages and continuation of all terms and conditions of a prior three-year contract. But Honeywell seemed intent on taking away pension, the accompanying health care benefits, as well as union-protection provisions. 

Honeywell abandoned most of those contract concessions, perhaps realising that it needed experienced steelworkers to effectively operate the plant safety and productively. Production had plummeted to a reported 35% of pre-lockout levels and Honeywell was not meeting it order demand for UF6. 

USW Local 7-669 President Darrell Lillie told the ICEM: “We’re highly appreciative of the tremendous support we have received from trade unions, those in the community and others throughout this long lockout. The donations, the international support, and the recognition by many here and abroad on what we were up against will never be forgotten.”

Troubled to End, USW Union Ratifies US Honeywell Contract

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Union members of US affiliated Teamsters Union (IBT) used a broadening corporate campaign to win reprieve over job losses at a BMW auto-parts warehouse in California. IBT Local 495 and North American bosses of German auto-maker BMW agreed on 9 August to a six-month extension of a collective agreement that was to expire 31 August.
BMW North America had given notice in June that it would terminate the agreement at a parts distribution warehouse in Ontario, California, then and outsource the 68 Teamster jobs to a third party logistics company. The IBT nationally then ramped up a pressure campaign on both sides of the Atlantic (see prior <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4570-US-Teamsters-Ardently-Resist-BMW-s-Auto-Parts-Outsourcing" type="internal">ICEM news article</a> here) and there is little question that adverse publicity on the luxury auto producer caused management to re-consider.
<div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify">Last week, just as dockworkers belonging to unions affiliated with the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) organised informational pickets at nine ports in 10 countries on behalf of the California warehouse workers, BMW North America sat down with Local 495 in Southern California and agreed to extend the contract for six months to allow the two sides to work out a mutually acceptable solution that addresses long-term employment for Teamster members.</div>
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1108.bmw.california.jpg" width="223" height="160"/>
<div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify" align="center">Dockworkers picket in Bremerhaven, Germany, on behalf of US Teamsters</div>
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“We sent a clear message to BMW with our campaign actions that outsourcing these jobs is unacceptable,” said Teamsters Joint Council 42 Public Affairs Director Ed Rendon. “We won’t be happy until we get a full agreement, but we’re highly optimistic this will happen and BMW will better run their business with our members” maintaining direct employment.</div>
Added IBT Local 495 Secretary-Treasurer Bob Lennox, “I am confident that BMW will honor its promises to find a solution to keep their long-time, dedicated workforce and ensure that these jobs remain good, middle-class jobs."
Teamster members and supporters protested at a 6-7 August weekend event called “Bimmerfest” in the state of Maryland where BMW enthusiasts annually turn out to celebrate ownership of the German car. Thousands of handbills were distributed and a Teamster-hired airplane flew overhead with a banner emblazoned “BMW: the Ultimate Misery,” the campaign’s slogan.
And on 8 August, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa sent a letter to BMW North America CEO Jim O’Donnell telling him that members of the International Longshore & Warehouse Union (ILWU) were about to picket the Port of Los Angeles, and reminded him that the company received monetary assistance during the 2008-09 financial crisis from the US federal government.
The 68 Ontario warehouse workers themselves had spent their weekends handbilling BMW dealerships in California, Oregon, and Washington state, telling consumers about on BMW’s intended social dumping.
The Ontario, California, warehouse is one of six parts depots in the US, supplying and distributing BMW parts to auto dealerships and auto-supply outlets in the western region of the US.

Campaign Action Wins US Teamsters BMW Contract Extension

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<div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"><img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100" height="39"/></div>
 
The Mexican government of President Felipe Calderón Hinojosa ordered the army and police to use brute force to take over the country’s second largest electrical power distributor, Luz y Fuerza del Centro (LyFC) in October 2010 via an executive decree. This unilateral decree also meant shutting down the 95-year-old Mexican Electrical Workers’ Union (SME) and sacking 44,000 workers. 
 
The Calderón administration has conducted a multifaceted campaign to destroy the SME, one of only a handful of independent trade unions in Mexico, as part of the government’s systematic plan to eliminate any workers’ group which stands in the way of business interests and unencumbered markets. In July 2010, SME members reelected General Secretary Martín Esparza, but Calderón’s regime has refused to certify the election, citing bogus voting irregularities. 
 
The SME has had its union bank accounts frozen, 13 union activists are political prisoners in jail, and now arrest warrants have been issued for the SME leadership. This shocking campaign of state violence against a trade union must be combated with global solidarity. 
 
The ICEM encourages affiliates and trade union supporters to be heard on this matter. Click here for a <a href="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/SME-CARTA%20DESPLEGADO%20%20(2).doc" type="internal">model letter</a>, in Spanish, to Calderón and his cronies. Put the letter on your organisation’s letterhead, or individually with your name, and <a href="mailto:pp_mdo@yahoo.com.mx; aidesparzasosfuturo@gmail.com">send it electronically</a> to SME here.  
</div>

Letters Needed to Aid Mexican Electrical Workers’ Union, SME

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBriefAlert.jpg" width="160" height="78"/>
The ICEM today expressed sadness and anger at the deaths of two members of United Steelworkers (USW) Local 6500 in Sudbury, Ontario, on Wednesday night, 8 June. The two miners died 900 metres underground at Vale’s Stobie nickel and copper mine when an overflow of broken rock, sediment, and water – known as muck – buried them. 
 
The miners were identified yesterday as Jason Chenier, 35, and Jordan Fram, 26. The two men were operating a scooptram at the No. 7 ore pass inside Stobie. An ore pass is a junction where ore is dropped from one level to the next. Sixty miners were working in the mine on the night shift when the fatalities occurred. 
 
In a letter today to USW President Leo Gerard, himself a former mineworker in Sudbury, USW Canadian National Director Ken Neumann, and USW Local 6500 President Rick Bertrand, ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda stated: “It is a terrible tragedy and makes clear the inherent dangers for workers whose livelihoods are dependent on the mining industry. Please convey the sympathies of the entire ICEM global family of unions to the families of the two miners, as well as to all union members of Local 6500.” (See the full <a href="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/54.ICEM.USW.Sudbury%20Deaths.Canada.10June.pdf" type="internal">ICEM letter</a> here.) 

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1106.sudbury, stobie mine site.jpg" width="144" height="168"/>
Vale’s Stobie nickel and copper mine
The ICEM also noted that USW’s expert team of safety and health investigators will probe the tragic circumstances to uncover what went wrong and to ensure a similar tragedy does not happen again. The ICEM stated the sad irony of the 8 June is that only eight days before the miners’ deaths, Vale was honoured with an award by the Canadian Institute of Mining as having the safest two metal mines in Canada. 
 
Although the mines receiving the award were at Vale’s nickel operations in Thompson, Manitoba, mines from Sudbury won the same award consecutively from 2006 to 2009. 
 
In a statement, Local 6500 President Bertrand said, “The Steelworkers will be involved in this investigation every step of the way. Once the investigation is complete we will work hard for the workplace to be restored to safe condition before it starts up again.” 
 
The Stobie mine in Sudbury consists of two adjoining mines, an open cast one and an underground one where the tragedy occurred. Canada has not ratified ILO Convention 176, the Safety and Health in Mines Convention.

ICEM Saddened by Mine Deaths of Two Steelworkers at Vale in Sudbury, Canada

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/CAL_en.jpg" width="146" height="66"/>
The US Solidarity Centre has released a new report detailing the Nigerian oil industry’s shift from permanent, direct employment towards outsourced and temporary labour – known in Nigeria as “casualisation.” The report argues that the casualisation of labour is industry-wide, and is a clear attempt to reduce the cost of doing business while simultaneously breaking workers’ strength. 
 
The Solidarity Centre engaged with leaders and members of the ICEM-affiliated Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas (NUPENG) and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) to examine industry trends and their impact on workers’ lives. A key trend, highlighted by almost every programme participant, was the degeneration of permanent employment and the increasing casualisation of labour. 
 
<a href="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1105.pubs_nigeria_degradationofwork.pdf " type="internal">The study</a>, in English, can be found here. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/NigeriaPengassan.JPG" width="120" height="126"/>
According to NUPENG and PENGASSAN, for every full-time oil worker there are four casual workers. The unions argue in the report that the shift away from permanent employment is an attempt to replace unionized employees with lower paid and less protected workers, as well as to transfer employment responsibilities to subcontractors. 
 
Casual workers perform the same tasks as permanent workers, but without any job security and under “never-ending probation.” They are frequently laid off, particular just before they would become entitled to permanent contracts. Most casual workers are not union members. They receive lower wages – the report estimates between 15-50% of union workers’ wages – and fewer benefits. 
 
The report gives examples of some of NUPENG and PENGASSAN’s organising and advocacy efforts which, it highlights, are often thwarted as employers shift bargaining responsibilities from one subcontractor to another, or even resort to violence. Ensuring respect for workers’ rights is particularly challenging in a context in which the Nigerian state plays the dual role of enforcer of labour legislation and majority shareholding partner or owner of most Niger Delta oil companies in the Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. (NNPC). 
 
Recognising NUPENG and PENGASSAN’s long history of supporting transparency and democracy, the report concludes by emphasising the important role the unions have to play in the struggle against the downward pressure on decent work and other human rights in the Niger Delta.

Damning Casualisation Report in Niger Delta

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