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Last week proved to be a deadly for South African mining company Gold Fields Ltd. Fourteen miners were killed, including nine on 1 May at the firm&rsquo;s South Deep Mine near Randfontein, in the northeast province of Gauteng. 
 
Those nine were killed in an inexcusable safety breach that saw a chain attached to an elevator cage snap, causing death when the cage plummeted 60 metres inside a mine shaft. Eight of the nine were contract workers, including one woman. Those eight were employed by the subcontracting firm, Murray and Roberts.
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Two days earlier, on 29 April, three miners were killed and one seriously injured, this time inside another shaft of the South Deep complex. They were killed and injured by a rock fall caused by a seismic event. Also on a same day, a driller&rsquo;s assistant employed by Gold Fields was killed at the Twin Shafts mine from a rock slide. 
 
The week&rsquo;s spate of accidents caused South Africa&rsquo;s second largest gold producer to suspend mining operations in the country, a move mandated by the Department of Energy and Minerals in order to secure a full review of safety procedures. 
 
National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) General Secretary Frans Baleni said branch unions at Gold Fields will observe a full day of mourning over the tragedies. NUM Regional Chairperson Thamsanqa Joko said the company is not doing enough to protect workers. &ldquo;We feel that more should have been done to improve safety conditions,&rdquo; he said in a South African newspaper.
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&nbsp;NUM General Secretary Frans Baleni 
 

And the country&rsquo;s Minister of Minerals and Energy, Buyelwa Sonjica, who met with NUM leaders and management at South Deep following the elevator collapse, was sharp with her criticism of the company. &ldquo;I see it as gross negligence, which can only be due to lack of maintenance.&rdquo; She called it &ldquo;inexcusable&rdquo; and promised those responsible will be held accountable, even if it means prosecution. 
 
Following the near tragedy of 3,200 miners who were trapped at Harmony Gold&rsquo;s Elandsrand Mine last October, the South Africa government ordered a full safety audit of all the country&rsquo;s mines. That audit is expected to be complete by the end of May 2008.

14 Killed in Gold Fields’ South African Mines Last Week

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The Ontario Labour Relations Board (OLRB) cited mining giant Vale with union interference in blocking the Vice President of United Steelworkers Local 6500 from entering work zones for representation purposes. The positive OLRB ruling came 16 months after a bitter, year-long strike between Brazil-based Vale and the USW at Sudbury and other Canadian locations. 
 
Patrick Veinot was one of nine Local 6500 members who were fired by Vale for strike activity and when he was elected following the end of the strike in July 2010, Vale refused to allow him on company property. Veinot is chairman of the Local 6500 grievance committee and his duties include meeting with shop stewards and grievants to resolve workplace differences. 
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Patrick Veinot
&ldquo;I think the message Vale Inco has sought to communicate is cold and hard and I conclude there has been a substantial interference both in the administration of the Union and its representation of employees,&rdquo; stated OLRB Chairman Bernard Fishbein. 
 
Veinot and the eight others were charged with criminal harassment but were acquitted of those charges by a jury trial in early 2011. But they remain sacked by Vale pending a separate proceeding lodged by the USW before the OLRB to win their jobs back. 
 
&ldquo;The Board made it quite clear,&rdquo; said USW District Director Wayne Fraser. &ldquo;Vale&rsquo;s post strike assault on the continuing determination and solidarity of our members will not be tolerated.&rdquo; 
 
Added USW Canadian National Director and ICEM Vice President Ken Neumann, &ldquo;Patrick has become a living symbol of the union&rsquo;s strength and like all discharged strikers, Patrick and his family have suffered at the hands of this autocratic employer hell bent on achieving its goals without regard to the interests of its employees.&rdquo;

Ontario Labour Board Rules Discharged USW Sudbury Leader has Worksite Access

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A mass rally is scheduled for Saturday, 21 January, in London, Ontario, to support locked out members of a bargaining unit of Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) Local 27. Sponsored by the Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL), the Day of Action against Caterpillar Inc. will begin at 11h in the southwestern Ontario city of 40,000. 
 
CAW Local 27 members were locked out late in the evening on New Year&rsquo;s Eve by Caterpillar&rsquo;s Electro-Motive Diesel (EMD) in a callous display of corporate might. The 650 CAW members voted by 98% on 30 December for strike action and 24 hours later &ndash; just as they were returning to jobs following a holiday shutdown &ndash; they were locked out. 
 
&ldquo;We see this fight as being central to the entire labour movement and we are going to dig in our heels and fight Caterpillar with everything we&rsquo;ve got,&rdquo; said OFL President Sid Ryan. 
 
Caterpillar&rsquo;s EMD &ndash; run as part of the company&rsquo;s Progress Rail Services Corp. &ndash; lockout followed workers&rsquo; total rejection of unreasonable wage and benefit concessions sought by the US-based company. There is little doubt that the company is trying to knock back wage and benefit levels of Canadian workers as a ploy to shift production of electric-powered diesel engines and associated railroad components to a start-up and lower wage plant in Muncie, Indiana, in the US. 
 
EMD began operations in Muncie in October 2011. Until the New Year&rsquo;s Eve lockout, CAW and EMD had bargained under a seven-month contract extension. However, EMD never once wavered from an initial, hostile and family-wrecking proposal that demanded wage cuts from C$35-per hour to C$16.50, health benefits cut in half, and elimination of a pension scheme. 
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CAW President Ken Lewenza
At the same time, EMD was advertising for a Human Resources manager in Muncie with the stipulation that he/she have &ldquo;experience with providing union-free culture and union avoidance.&rdquo; 
 
EMD is paying average salaries between US$12-16-per hour in Muncie. Caterpillar and its wholly-owned Progress Rail Services is seeking to dislodge General Electric&rsquo;s (GE) Transportation Division as the US&rsquo;s premiere supplier of train locomotives at a time when government stimulus funds are available for infrastructure and transport needs. GE operates three major rail division plants that are unionised and it pays average salaries of US$30-per hour or more. 
 
EMD&rsquo;s London, Ontario, plant was purchased by Caterpillar in August 2010 for US$820 million from Greenbriar Equity Group and Berkshire Partners. The two capital companies in turn bought the manufacturing plant in 2005 for a quarter of that amount from General Motors when GM was shedding its non-auto making businesses. 
 
Then, Caterpillar was interested in buying the southwestern Ontario plant but CAW opposed the deal because of Caterpillar&rsquo;s horrid labour relations record in the US. Now, with Caterpillar in control and the company displaying obvious whipsawing of CAW members against non-union Muncie workers that will swell to 650 this year, Unit 2 of CAW Local 27 is forced to blockade the London plant to prevent equipment from leaving for the Indiana city 350 miles to the south. 
 
CAW President Ken Lewenza called the lockout &ldquo;a serious attack on working people, their families and the greater community of London. 
 
&ldquo;If (Caterpillar) is not going to do business in Canada, this wage cut is designed as a mechanism to blame workers,&rdquo; said Lewenza, referring to production flight and a possible plant closing. In mid-December, the CAW lodged a formal complaint with the government over Caterpillar&rsquo;s violation of the Investment Canada Act. 
 
The company has benefitted by tax breaks given the predecessor equity firms in 2008. In fact, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper used the plant as a backdrop in March 2008 to tout the federal government&rsquo;s corporate tax breaks. The enterprise&rsquo;s buyers received a C$5 million tax break then and a wider C$1 billion tax break on industrial capital investment. 
 
EMD has other railroad manufacturing facilities in Sete Lagoas, Minas Gerais state, Brazil, and Sahag&uacute;n, Hidalgo state, Mexico, a facility it operates jointly with Bombardier. It also operates a unionised facility in LaGrange, US state of Illinois. EMD sells locomotives, replacement parts, and diesel powered engines for marine propulsion, oil drilling and power generation in 130 countries, and currently has major contracts with companies providing equipment for state railways in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and South Africa. 
 
Caterpillar&rsquo;s deep contract concession proposals, the lockout, matched with lucrative incentives from Indiana&rsquo;s anti-union state government for the Muncie start-up are a cause of great concern, particularly for two countries that each lack worker-friendly industrial policies in the wake of a financial crisis.

Rally Set for Locked Out Caterpillar Workers in Canada on 21 January

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Around 35 trade union representatives from various rubber companies, namely Goodyear, MRF, JK Tyres, Birla Tyres, Apollo Tyres, and Ajanta Rubber formed the Indian Rubber Unions National Network in a workshop entitled &ldquo;ILO/ICEM Workshop on International Labour Standards and Social Dialogue in Indian Rubber Industry.&rdquo; The forum was held on 14-15 December 2011 in Mumbai with the support of the ILO. 
 
India is becoming one of the world's fastest-growing rubber producing countries due to the emerging automotive industry, as well as availability and closeness of raw materials such as natural rubber. The tyre market attracts global manufacturers due to high growth figures, while India itself has its own multinational companies that also invest elsewhere. 
 
&ldquo;This is the first time that Indian rubber unions have come together, which is promising for the future,&rdquo; said Ravindra Ghoshalkar, General Secretary of ICEM-affiliated Chemical Mazdoor Federation (CMFI), the union that inaugurated the ILO/ICEM Workshop in Mumbai. Opening speakers included Pradeep Kokas, Education Secretary of the ICEM affiliate Indian National Mineworkers&rsquo; Federation (INMF) and Sayeed Ahmed, Secretary of the Maharashtra State of the Indian national labour federation, the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU). 
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The workshop received detailed presentations from keynote speakers. Kemal &Ouml;zkan, ICEM&rsquo;s Director of Industry and Corporate Affairs, briefed the participants on the global situation of the rubber industry with economic, employment, and trade union angles. 
 
An ILO Industrialist Specialist, Yasuhiko Kamakura, presented core labour standards of the organization as well as instruments of occupational health and safety worldwide. ICEM&rsquo;s Asia Multinational Companies&rsquo; and Social Dialogue Project Coordinator Yoon Hyowon informed the participants about international labour standards, such as the OECD Guidelines and the UN Global Compact, while Ashutosh Bhattacharya, ICEM&rsquo;s Multinational Indian Project Coordinator, presented the issue of the Right to Information Act and Workers Participation in India. 
 
The workshop participants were divided into various groups to discuss matters affecting the Indian rubber industry, working conditions, and health and safety situations at various workplaces. Following ICEM&rsquo;s input on union networking in the rubber industry at global and regional levels, Indian rubber workers&rsquo; representatives discussed how to improve cooperation, solidarity, and networking inside the country. 
 
In final discussions, the workshop produced concrete actions for the future. This included regular information and experience exchanges between rubber unions, as well as contant solidarity during collective bargaining negotiations or any other dispute. While forming the India National Rubber Industry Network, the workshop also aimed at developing close relations among the unions of the same company. 
 
Indian union represetatives strongly underlined the improtance of international solidarity. In this sense, it was agreed to establish close relations with union representatives outside of the country that represent workers at Indian-based rubber companies such as Apollo and JK Tyres. It was also decided to organize the next network meeting within a year with the participation of more unions.

Indian Rubber Unions Form National Network

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Negotiations concluded in December between five Swedish unions, representing 540,000 industrial workers, and employers&rsquo; associations. The 14-month national agreements contain general 3% wage rises and run from next month, on 1 February, to 31 March 2013. 
 
The sector-wide pacts cover industrial workers in paper, chemicals, wood, graphics, iron, steel, engineering, food, and other manufacturing workers. In coming months, talks in the Swedish federal and local governmental sectors, retail, retail food, commercial, construction, and transportation sectors will get underway. 
 
The unions involved in late 2011 industrial talks include Pappers, IF Metall, Unionen, GS, the wood and graphics union, and the Swedish Food Workers&rsquo; Union (LIVS). 
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In general, the 3%, 14-month agreements represent fairness factoring in Sweden&rsquo;s jump in GDP last year, and the fact that technology exports grew by 21%. Many of the agreements contain work groups and funds to establish further staff training and development. 
 
IF Metall, representing some 170,000 workers in several sectors, approved agreements on 15 December, and Pappers did the same two days later. Unionen, representing 120,000 workers in many sectors, negotiated 0.2% on top of the 3% for professional development. The union represents white-collar, technical, engineering, administration, and other staff. 
 
Pappers took a major step closer to a June deadline in finalizing industry-wide language banning all social dumping concerning agency and precarious work. The other unions also made strides in limiting and regulating temporary and short-term work. 
 
Pappers also gained flexibility to allot 50% of the wage increase to the local level, with a set of criteria guiding local social dialogue in disbursing the funds, including promotions. The union and paper companies also agreed to press government over insufficient state aid for early intervention of occupational health risks, a force driving long-term illnesses. 
 
IF Metall and employer groups agreed in principle to begin work on contract language halting termination of workers during an economic downturn and rather providing re-training opportunities within the enterprise. 
 
IF Metall President Stefan L&ouml;fven said the agreements in his union&rsquo;s sectors &ldquo;provide opportunities for real wage increases in 2012 as well as maintaining the competiveness of Swedish industry.&rdquo; 
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Unionen President Cecilia Fahlberg
Unionen President Cecilia Fahlberg said, &ldquo;Each member is guaranteed a salary increase that allows for increased purchasing power.&rdquo;

Sweden’s Industrial Unions Negotiate 3% Pay Hikes for 540,000 Workers

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The president of the Colombian Oil Workers&rsquo; Trade Union (USO) was dismissed from his employment at 95% nationally-owned Ecopetrol on 13 December, in an attempt to remove the democratically elected leader of the union and weaken the organisation. The move was based on national legislation blocking individuals holding public office becoming involved in politics, following Vecino&rsquo;s participation at a speaking event involving a political candidate of the left wing Polo Democr&aacute;tico, the event was held to commemorate the death of Jorge Ortega, Vice President of the CUT. The law should only apply to individuals holding managerial responsibilities inside a company which president Rodolfo Vecino Acevedo does not. It is absurd to attempt to use this legislation against a union leader, who necessarily seeks to affect the politics of a company as well as of the country, in the interest of the workers s/he represents. The vast majority of USO members are supporters of the Polo Democr&aacute;tico. 
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USO President Rodolfo Vecino
The blatant attack on union freedom and autonomy follows a long historical trend of intimidation and harassment of ICEM&rsquo;s militant affiliate USO. In 2011 USO conducted a strong campaign for improved pay and conditions for its members at foreign multinational corporations (MNCs), especially Canadian-based Pacific Rubiales. Many see the Colombian government and authorities repeatedly prioritising the interests of foreign MNCs far above those of Colombian workers. A further pernicious reason for the arbitrary sacking of president Vecino could be the strong opposition from USO to the government attempts at privatising Ecopetrol. It is a core value of USO that oil industry operations in Colombia must be publically owned, instead of foreign companies exporting profits from their oil wealth. 
 
The ruling also blocks president Vecino from holding office for a period of 10 years. 
 
The investigation against Vecino was carried out by Ecopetrol&rsquo;s Office of Disciplinary Inspection, which is conducting a wide ranging systematic attack on the union, with the clear intention to destroy USO all together. Three other USO officials targeted by the office are General Secretary Edgardo Lozano, Jaime Rodriguez, Head of the pipeline subcommittee, and Joaqu&iacute;n Padilla in Cartegena province. There are over 1,000 investigations by the office on USO activists. 
 
During the Pacific Rubiales campaign at the end of 2011 threats from alleged paramilitaries increased, with USO leaders receiving verbal and written threats of kidnap, torture and death for their role in the strike in the eastern department of Meta. Pacific Rubiales publically condemned the threats. In his 27 years as a trade union activist, president Vecino has suffered the attempted kidnapping of his children, two attacks, and multiple threats. View a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&amp;v=x0W9F-REMNk">video of Vecino</a> describing this here. 
 
The ICEM Congress in Buenos Aires, last November, resolved to support Colombian workers, under vicious attack by employers and many aspects of the state. Write to <a href="mailto:presidencia@ecopetrol.com.co">Ecopetrol President Javier Gutierrez Pemberthy</a> here. See the Belgian <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/1201%20fgtb%20letter%20to%20ecopetrol.pdf">Centrale Generale FGTB&rsquo;s</a> letter to Pemberthy here. 
 
4,500 trade unionists have been assassinated in Colombia in the last 25 years. The trend of violence has not been stopped by new national president Juan Manuel Santos.

ICEM Affiliates Called on to Support Sacked Colombian USO President Rodolfo Vecino

The International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers&rsquo; Unions (ICEM) today signed a Global Framework Agreement (GFA) with Petr&oacute;leo Brasileiro SA, or Petrobras, the world&rsquo;s third largest energy company. The agreement, the 20-million-member ICEM&rsquo;s 16th since 1998, was signed at the Brazilian company&rsquo;s headquarters in Rio de Janeiro by ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda, and Petrobras Director for Gas and Industry, Maria Das Gracas Silva Foster, Executive Director for Human Relations, Diego Hernandes, and Joao Antonio de Moraes, General Coordinator of FUP (the Oil and Gas Workers&rsquo; Unified federation of Brazil). 
 
A GFA is a social pact between a multinational company and a Global Union Federation that puts in place the very highest standards regarding trade union and human rights, health, safety, and environmental practices, and quality of work principles across all of a company&rsquo;s global operations. 
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ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda signs Petrobras GFA
&ldquo;This is ICEM&rsquo;s fourth such agreement with an oil and gas concern,&rdquo; said Warda, &ldquo;and it embodies many of the social principles that we expect companies in extractive industries to adhere to.&rdquo; The ICEM has previously negotiated GFAs with Statoil of Norway, Eni of Italy and Lukoil of Russia. 
 
The agreement was signed with approval from ICEM Brazilian trade union affiliate, the Oil and Gas Workers&rsquo; Unified Federation (FUP), whose leaders were present at the signing together with ICEM Latin America/Caribbean Regional Vice President Sergio Novais of Brazil. Support from both FUP and Sergio Novais was important in reaching the agreement. 
 
The agreement commits Petrobras to recognizing the right of freedom of association and to bargain collectively for all employees, as well as establishing formal dialogue channels between staff and management. It also promotes working conditions that are favorable to a balance between work, personal, and family life. 
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ICEM, Petrobras, FUP
The GFA states that Petrobras &ldquo;will strive to get all service providers to comply&rdquo; with nine labour relations points contained in the agreement, including health and safety and providing necessary equipment, permanent institutionalization of negotiation channels, and equal opportunities and promotion of training opportunities. 
 
The agreement also recognizes global standards contained in the ILO Tripartite Declaration on Principles for Multinational Corporations and Social Policy, the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Corporations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the UN Global Compact. 
 
Warda and Petrobras CEO Jos&eacute; S. Gabriella de Azevedo initiated talks on the ICEM-Petrobras GFA as board members of the Global Compact some three years ago. 
 
Petrobras, 56% owned by the Brazilian government, has 80,500 employees and operates in some 30 countries. The company is a leader in exploration and production of oil, and operates 16 refineries as well as numerous petrochemical, biofuels, pipelines and other installations. The ICEM is composed of 255 national trade unions operating in 94 countries. 
 
For further information, contact ICEM&rsquo;s Dick Blin (+41 79 734 8994, <a href="mailto:dick.blin@icem.org">dick.blin@icem.org</a>) or Tom Grinter (+41 22 304 1842, <a href="mailto:tom.grinter@icem.org">tom.grinter@icem.org</a>).

ICEM Signs 16th Global Agreement with Petrobras of Brazil

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The Asia-Pacific Regional Materials Union Network of the ICEM held its third meeting in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, on 10-11 October. The meeting was attended by 34 trade unionists from 14 unions in the cement, glass, and ceramics industries of Japan, Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, India, and the Philippines. 
 
This meeting agreed to set up a Saint Gobain Network in the Asia-Pacific Region, with affiliates in Korea, Indonesia, Thailand, India, Vietnam, Australia, and New Zealand joining the network. Unions in the region are currently running networks at Lafarge and Holcim in India, Korea, Philippines, Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Indonesia, and Vietnam. 
<img src="" width="372" height="144" alt="" />
The meeting was also joined by union leadership from Nippon Sheet Glass (NSG) and Taiheiyo Cement of Japan, who expressed support for networking in their subsidiaries. 
 
The Vietnamese General Confederation of Labour (VGCL) and the Vietnam National Union of Building Workers (VNUBW) hosted this meeting of the Network, supported by the German Friedrich-Ebert Foundation (FES). The meeting also welcomed the ICEM Secretariat and the Japanese Affiliates&rsquo; Federation (ICEM-JAF). 
 
&ldquo;I am very impressed with the young and talented union representatives with research capacity and language skills in the region,&rdquo; said ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda. &ldquo;This participation guarantees a positive future for the trade union movement.&rdquo; 
<img src="" width="214" height="160" alt="" />
ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda
ICEM Materials Industries&rsquo; Officer Phee Jungsun presented major developments and challenges in the global materials industries and profiles on multinational companies. 
 
Participants then gave country reports with pre-arranged survey details on working conditions and occupational safety and health. For the cement unions of Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia, performance of union activities is still difficult due to weak labour legislation. It was reported that both Lafarge and Holcim hire an increasing number of contract workers &ndash; averaging about 60% &ndash; with offers of voluntary retirement schemes to reduce permanent workers with long seniority. 
 
The meeting adopted a resolution to support contract workers at Swiss-based Holcim in India, who fight constantly for freedom of association rights. Also, support was extended to workers and unions at Lafarge in India, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Malaysia. The establishment of a Saint Gobain Network on the national and regional level is seen to coordinate with French trade union affiliate CFDT-FCE, which heads the Saint Gobain European Works Council. This Asia-Pacific network will work alongside a newly-planned North America Saint Gobain Network and hopefully build toward creation of a global network. 
 
The meeting also received a detailed report from ICEM-JAF General Secretary Yoshio Sato on the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. Sato thanked all ICEM affiliates who showed solidarity to Japanese unions by sending messages and donations.

ICEM’s Asia-Pacific Materials Sector Network Meeting Held in Vietnam

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Members of the International Association of Machinists &amp; Aerospace Workers (IAM) began strike action Honeywell on 10 October at a nuclear parts manufacturing facility in Kansas City, Missouri. The 940 members of IAM Lodge 778 begin their third week today on picket lines at a US government-owned site following a 79% contract rejection on 9 October. 
 
Union members followed that ballot with an 85% strike vote the same day. US federal mediation a week ago failed to resolve differences, but did produce a hand-shake agreement on 18 October in which both sides agreed to refrain from airing the dispute in the local press. Two days later, a manager for Honeywell Federal Manufacturing &amp; Technologies LLC. told a television broadcast that IAM members are overpaid and should be satisfied with the company&rsquo;s &ldquo;last and final&rdquo; offer.
<img src="" width="215" height="161" alt="" />
That offer is a six-year proposal that does contain minimal pay gains in each year, but it also creates a two-tier wage scheme. That pay grid would see all employees hired in 2012 receive less hourly pay and come under a slower pay progression. Such a pay schedule would take new hires five years to reach only 90% of what current workers earn. 
 
Honeywell&rsquo;s proposal also attacks workers&rsquo; health care coverage, making it more costly for union members to have adequate health insurance. IAM Lodge 778 has proposed a four-year contract without the concessions. 
 
The union awaits a decision from the US National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) declaring the work stoppage an unfair labour practice strike. In the days prior to the 9 October rejection vote, Honeywell management circumvented the union&rsquo;s bargaining committee by express mailing a letter to all workers, misrepresenting the company&rsquo;s proposal and urging them to accept the offer. 
 
Such bad-faith bargaining runs counter to US labour statute and if the NLRB does issue a complaint, the strike takes on new meaning. Honeywell operates the US government facility called Bannister Federal Complex and produces non-nuclear components for America&rsquo;s nuclear weapons industry. 
 
The IAM strike comes a short two months after Honeywell ended a 13-month lockout against members of the United Steelworkers (USW) at a uranium conversion site in Metropolis, Illinois. ICEM reports on that can be found <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4618-USW-Local-7-669-Honeywell-Accord-Takes-Effect-Today-Ending-US-Lockout ">here</a> and <a href="/en/27-North-America/4527-Steelworkers-Mark-Year-long-Honeywell-Lockout-in-US ">here</a>.

US Machinists Strike Honeywell Nuclear Parts Plant in Missouri

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A subsidiary of the Swiss-based trading house Glencore International is refusing to consider modest improvements for its employees in the municipality of La Jagua de Ibirico, Cesar Province in Northern Colombia. CI Prodeco is Colombia&rsquo;s third largest coal producer and disgracefully only 4.91% of the company&rsquo;s expenditures is used for labour costs. 
 
Workers at Prodeco, organised under the municipality branch of ICEM coal-mining affiliate Sintracarb&oacute;n, presented management with a list of just demands on 21 September. The company negotiators initiated the direct settlement stage of bargaining on 3 October in the city of Barranquilla. Under Colombian law, the direct settlement stage of bargaining lasts two weeks but despite this, management has refused to bargain in good faith and shows no willingness to reach a collective agreement with workers, thus provoking strike action. 
<img alt="" src="" width="232" height="174" />
Instead of seeking a collective agreement, management announced its intention to renew a unilateral work rules document for a five-year period. The proposed document includes worker conditions below the legal minimum standards. 
 
Prodeco has run a sophisticated propaganda campaign attempting to convince workers that a collective agreement as proposed by the union would not be legal, and that workers stand to lose all benefits previously achieved through bargaining. They then offered the unilateral work rules document. The company campaign is clearly aimed at turning workers against the union and the bargaining process, in blatant breach of international labour standards that have been ratified by Colombia. 
 
The union is standing firm on its demands regarding labour-management relations, safety, occupational health, and on wages, benefits, promotions, education, housing, health, job stability, and use of external contractors. 
 
As pressure from supervisors increases, the ICEM stands in full support of Sintracarb&oacute;n members at Prodeco as they seek settlement for a collective agreement, or if they are forced to strike in the coming days. 
 
ICEM affiliates and supporters are urged to write to the <a href="mailto:Gary.nagle@prodeco.com.co; miguel.montoya@prodeco.com.co; emerito.benjumea@prodeco.com.co; carlos.martelo@prodeco.com.co; olga.charris@prodeco.com.co">company management</a>: Gary Nagle, Prodeco President; Miguel Montoya, human resources manager; and negotiators Charles Emeritus and Olga Lucia.&nbsp;

Sintracarbón Fights Glencore Subsidiary in Colombia

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