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An ICEM mission to Argentina has gained first-hand accounts on how the global recession has affected the South American country, as well as laying the groundwork for ICEM&rsquo;s 2011 Congress in Buenos Aires. ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda met the GUF&rsquo;s Argentine affiliates on 29 April in an exchange of views on the economic collapse, and also met with non-affiliated trade unions on the crisis and their plans to affiliate. 
 
A decision on the location for the Fifth World Congress will be taken at the ICEM Executive Committee meetings, 23-24 June in Geneva. Argentina trade union affiliates are enthusiastic on hosting the Congress. 
 
Warda, along with ICEM Latin America/Caribbean Contact Person Carol Bruce, met with the Rubber Workers&rsquo; Union of Argentina, SUTNA, as well with the Energy and Oil Workers&rsquo; union, FeTERA, and the private-sector Oil and Gas Workers&rsquo; Union, FASPyGP. The ICEM delegation also met with Uni&oacute;n Obrero Metal&uacute;rgical (UOM), which is interested in joining ICEM on behalf of nuclear workers that the union represents, as well as with trade unions affiliated with the national centre Central de Trabajores de la Argentina (CTA) on joining the ICEM. 

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Bruce participated in two manifestations while in Argentina. On 22 April, she marched with the CTA in which the national centre&rsquo;s secretary-general, Hugo Yasky, called for a 180-day moratorium in Argentina on job layoffs and an emergency outlay of state money to cover lost wages of workers. 
 
On 30 April, she marched with the other major labour centre, Confederaci&oacute;n General del Trabajo (CGT), in its support of the government of Cristina Kirchner in late June elections, and against neo-liberal policies that created the crisis and job losses, estimated to be some 50,000 in Argentina. 
 
The ICEM mission was supported by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation of Germany, which also provided a presentation on the impact of the economic crisis in Argentina.

ICEM Mission to Argentina Probes Crisis

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Hundreds of ICEM affiliates from every continent responded to an ICEM Circular to lend support to American trade unions in their legislative battle to pass the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA). In recent weeks, support letters arrived in droves to ICEM&rsquo;s nine US trade union affiliates, which together with the rest of the American trade union movement are waging a bitter fight against a rabid business lobby in order to enact the first meaningful labour law reform measure in the US in 50 years. 
 
The EFCA would simplify and make the process fairer for workers who choose to organise and win US government certification for collective bargaining. The proposed law would give workers the choice of union representation if a simple majority in any given workplace signed a card or petition seeking unionisation. 
 
Currently, it is the employer that chooses which of two methods &ndash; &ldquo;card-check&rdquo; recognition or a one-sided election procedure &ndash; to certify a bargaining representative. In nearly all instances, a company chooses the election method because the government-conducted vote is held at the worksite and trade unions have no on-the-job access to workers in the 30-45 days leading up to the vote. 

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Instead, over the past three decades, employers have fine-tuned the process, using stop-work meetings to vilify the union, sacking workers who support the union, and utilising threats and intimidation by stating that if the union is voted in, layoffs or plant closures will occur. Although such union-avoidance tactics currently do violate US labour law, no penalties are attached so bosses have crafted the election process to their distinct advantage. 
 
If the EFCA is passed, financial penalties will be levied on employers who deploy such tactics. Perhaps most significantly, the proposed legislation contains a first-contract arbitration provision in which contract proposals are submitted to a government mediator if an initial collective agreement cannot be reached. Oftentimes at present, management&rsquo;s strategy following a union win in a government-supervised election is to &ldquo;surface bargain&rdquo; without ever intending to come to an agreement. After one year, the union can then be decertified. 
 
ICEM&rsquo;s call to its global affiliates came immediately after Global Unions, comprising the 11 Global Union Federations, plus the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and the Trade Union Advisory Committee (TUAC) of the OECD, issued a statement, demanding passage of the EFCA: &ldquo;There is no defense for employers who interfere in workers&rsquo; decisions to form trade unions &hellip; It is time for the United States to join the other democracies around the world that respect the fundamental rights of workers to form trade unions and bargain collectively with their employers. Members of the US Congress should muster the courage to resist a massive, multi-million dollar employer campaign of propaganda, scare tactics, and distortion. 

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&ldquo;We, the Global Unions, representing around 200 million workers on all continents and in all industries, call on the United States Government to adopt the EFCA.&rdquo; 
 
Many of the ICEM affiliates that wrote to the US unions alluded to the current global economic crisis, and the best means to rise out of that crisis. &ldquo;We know that a strong economy depends on workers given the opportunity to join a trade union and to bargain collectively so that fair wages and social benefits are lifted for all in a society.&rdquo; 
 
The letters concluded by stating: &ldquo;Please pass to your union membership, as well as to your elected officials, that our union fully supports EFCA, and that we consider it an essential element in a free society that workers be allowed to join a trade union in an unobstructed way.&rdquo; 
 
American trade unions are currently pushing members of the US Senate to adopt the bill. US unions played the major role in electing members of the Democratic Party to substantial majorities in both the Senate and US House in last year&rsquo;s elections. But a number of supposed pro-worker Democrats in the Senate have come under the influence of the business lobby&rsquo;s misinformation campaign putting passage of EFCA in jeopardy. 

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As committees of Congress prepare to debate EFCA, Democrats in the Senate are suggesting compromises, such as workers submitting &ldquo;card-check&rdquo; authorization directly by mail to the US labour board, or proposing alterations to the first-contract arbitration procedure. 
 
This is the fourth time in recent years that EFCA has been proposed in the US Congress, but the first time it has a realistic chance of enactment. This is due to President Barack Obama&rsquo;s pledge to sign it, as well as the US labour movement&rsquo;s yeoman work in elections six months ago that gave a political mandate to do away with George Bush&rsquo;s draconian policies. 
 
In March 2007, the last time the measure was before Congress, it passed the US House by a 241-185 vote. But it died in the US Senate when proponents failed to gain the 60 votes necessary to invoke cloture, or the vote to shut down filibustering on a piece of legislation. In the coming weeks, Democrats are expected to have exactly 60 seats in the 100-seat Senate. Labor&rsquo;s strategy this time is to first gain passage of EFCA in the US Senate before taking it to the House.

Trade Unions Worldwide Respond to ICEM’s Call for Fair Organising in the US

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The Communications, Energy, Paperworkers (CEP) Union of Canada launched a national fight-back campaign Friday, 15 May, in front of the Montr&eacute;al headquarters of AbitibiBowater, the world&rsquo;s biggest producer of newsprint. AbitibiBowater is seeking to avoid its pension obligations through bankruptcy filings. 
 
The ICEM affiliate&rsquo;s main target, however, is the Canadian government. The federal government has done too little to protect the jobs of forestry workers, asserts the CEP. 
 
&ldquo;Workers are not responsible for the crisis in the forest industry, but we are the ones facing demands for cuts to our wages and pensions,&rdquo; said CEP President Dave Coles. 
 
&ldquo;It is totally unfair that a company like AbitibiBowater can use bankruptcy protection to avoid paying severance and making payments to the pension plan,&rdquo; he added. 

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CEP President Dave Coles
On 7 May, a Superior Court in the Province of Qu&eacute;bec issued an order that the paper company could suspend pension payments into its unfunded liabilities account for workers, thus shrinking that account and pushing workers&rsquo; pension payments on Abitibi&rsquo;s creditors list. 
 
&ldquo;There is something seriously wrong with a system that puts workers&rsquo; pensions in the same category as hedge fund credit,&rdquo; said CEP Secretary-Treasurer Ga&eacute;tan M&eacute;nard. &ldquo;When workers go to work to earn a living and a pension, they certainly don&rsquo;t see themselves as venture capitalists making a risky investment. 
 
Last Friday&rsquo;s CEP action in Montr&eacute;al was the first in a string of manifestations that the union will do in attempts to shake the Conservative government of Stephen Harper into taking action on behalf of forest industry jobs. CEP is demanding that the Canadian federal government weigh in with loan guarantees to halt paper and wood mill closures, and to protect jobs and pensions. 
 
&ldquo;There will be a lot of pressure,&rdquo; said Coles. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re going to take to the streets and we&rsquo;re going to make noise until we&rsquo;re heard.&rdquo; Further actions will target Canadian federal cabinet ministers and a mass rally is scheduled in the capital city of Ottawa on 2 June. 
 
Meanwhile, due to AbitibiBowater&rsquo;s bankruptcy filing, the CEP and ICEM American affiliate, the United Steelworkers (USW), have taken a wait-and-see position before entering into bargaining with AbitibiBowater. The CEP and USW have agreed to coordinate bargaining at the newsprint producer&rsquo;s 12 mills in eastern Canada, where the CEP represents 7,000 workers, and at a USW-represented mill in the state of South Carolina. 
 
A pulp and paper collective agreement covering the entire industry in eastern Canada, with AbitibiBowater expected as the lead negotiating company, expired on 30 April, while a labour agreement in Catawba, South Carolina, covering 1,000 workers expired on 24 April for USW branch locals there.

CEP Launches Canadian Forest Jobs Campaign; Demands Canadian Government Support

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The merger of six Finnish unions is down to five, and the effective date has been delayed one year &ndash; to 1 January 2011 &ndash; in order to make the merged union structure, to be called TEAM, fully operational. 
 
A joint project management committee of the unions made that announcement on 5 May, stating the extra time is needed because of the deep economic recession and the demands caused by it on staff. Among those demands is administration of unemployment funds. 

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Meanwhile, an ICEM affiliate, the Electrical Workers&rsquo; Union, has withdrawn from the planned merger. On 6 May, a majority representation group from the union decided to withdraw. As it now stands, merger partners include: Kemianliitto, the ICEM-affiliated Chemical Workers Union; Metalli, the Finnish Metalworkers&rsquo; Union; the Wood and Allied Workers&rsquo; Union; the Finnish Media Union; and the Finnish Railwaymen&rsquo;s Union. 

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The Railwaymen&rsquo;s Union is currently conducting a referendum on the new merger, which will be completed on 20 May, while the Media Union has already adopted the name TEAM as its new moniker. In February 2008, Kemianliitto members passed a binding vote in favour of the merger, while Metalli also saw members give approve to the merger in a consultative vote that same month. 
 
The merged Finnish industrial union would comprise 330,000 members, and would be governed by a Congress occurring five years, with delegates to that Congress electing both a General Council and an Executive Committee.

Finnish Union Merger to be Delayed One Year, Effective Date: 2011

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A UK Trades Union Congress (TUC) study released 12 May on workers now forced to take involuntary part-time work reveals a sharp increase. On the eve of the UK releasing its first quarter unemployment numbers, the TUC said the number of workers forced into involuntary part-time work had increased to 829,000, the highest figure in 15 years. 
 
One in nine people work only part-time because they cannot find a full-time job, states the TUC. Most of the part-time workers are women, 451,000 compared with 378,000 men. Women who work part-time earn, on average, 36% less than men who work full-time, while men working part-time earn 27% less. 
 
&ldquo;As unemployment rises, people are doing whatever they can to stay in work,&rdquo; said TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber. &ldquo;But while part-time work is better than no work at all, people will be shocked by the pitiful pay rates on offer &ndash; a disgrace that millions of women have suffered for many years.&rdquo; 
 
Workers in part-time employment are subjected to a double jeopardy, because their rates of pay are low and they are unable to work enough hours to make financial ends meet. UK government statistics cite that in job placement centres across the country, more than one in four work vacancies are filled for fewer than 16 hours per week. 
 
On 13 May, the government released figures showing that the number of jobless had risen by 244,000 for the first three months of 2009. That is the biggest quarterly jump in unemployment statistics since 1981. The 2009 increase in those without jobs raised UK&rsquo;s official unemployment rate from 6.3% to 7.1%. 
 
Also in the UK, hundreds of construction workers converged on the site of the 2012 Olympics in the east London community of Stratford on 6 May. Workers were protesting the wide use of agency labour by contractors on the &pound;9 billion site, undercutting a promise that contractors would pay union-negotiated pay rates and full-time construction workers.

Involuntary Part-time Work on Steep Rise, TUC Study Shows

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Late last month, the Ontario Legislature passed an Employment Standards Amendment Act (Temporary Help Agencies), which grants substantially more rights to workers of labour-hire companies. It will become effective in six months time. 
 
The new law, Bill 139, prohibits temporary employment agencies from charging fees for CVs or interview preparation. It also prevents agencies from charging workers &ldquo;temporary to permanent&rdquo; fees. 
 
And together with that, and more importantly, it allows agency workers fair treatment and better opportunities for advancement into permanent and sustainable work. Bill 139 ensures that such workers get paid for public holidays, and that they have the same rights as regular workers to notice of termination and severance pay. That will occur by removing exemptions under the Employment Standards Act&rsquo;s &ldquo;elect to work&rdquo; provision. Specifically regarding temporary workers, that means when they accept work through agencies, they forfeit such rights. That will no longer be the case. 
 
Although the new law does not guarantee equal pay for equal work, it does establish a system for payment of wage arrears by agencies when clients are late in payment. 
 
The legislation was advanced though Ontario&rsquo;s Poverty Reduction Strategy, a programme designed to build a stronger economy by creating more opportunities for low-income families and children. Passage of Bill 139, said Ontario Labour Minister Peter Fonseca, &ldquo;removes barriers to permanent employment&rdquo; and we feel &ldquo;we are helping people achieve their potential and opening doors to opportunity.&rdquo; 
 
In Ontario, Canada&rsquo;s largest and most populous province, the number of temporary agencies has grown from 1,300 in 1993 to nearly 4,400 today, with total revenues increasing from C$1.5 billion to C$8 billion in that 15-year time span. 
 
Most labour law in Canada is regulated under separate codes enacted and administered separately by the country&rsquo;s ten provinces.

Ontario Province in Canada Passes Law Giving Better Protections to Temporary Workers

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Australia&rsquo;s Construction, Forestry, Mining, and Energy Union&rsquo;s (CFMEU) fight to preserve mining jobs against a MNC&rsquo;s callousness, making workers the victims of an economic downturn, got a ruling in the Industrial Relations Commission (AIRC) last week. That ruling, delivered on 8 January, calls for a one-week consultation period &ndash; beginning today &ndash; in which Xstrata must justify its ill-taken decision to sack 230 coal miners at Oaky Creek No. 1 Mine in Queensland. 
 
The case stands as a key test in Australia regarding a company shifting the burden of the recent economic collapse onto workers. CFMEU is not alone at present in fiercely resisting job cuts because of a failed neo-liberal economic agenda. From Russia to Chile, at Europe&rsquo;s largest zinc deposits in Ireland&rsquo;s County Meath, where 670 were retrenched by Tara Mines, to the hundreds of thousands of migrant miners across the world who are out of work with no place to go, it is workers who are paying the unjust price of capital&rsquo;s failure. 
 
The CFMEU fightback is just one example of the necessary, the pivotally necessary response that is needed to re-shape a social agenda. 
 
In Bolivia, the FSTMB mine union federation staged protests on 9 January calling on the country&rsquo;s leftist government to allow no layoffs. That came just after Xstrata&rsquo;s holding partner &ndash; Swiss-based Glencore International &ndash; announced job cuts of 700 zinc and lead mines, and at the Sinchi Wayra smelting plant. Workers threatened to take over the operations if the sackings came. 

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In Brazil, iron ore miners of Vale stopped work last Thursday, 8 January, at a mine in Itabira over the mining company&rsquo;s decision to retrench 1,300 jobs. Itabira, in Minas Gerais state, is where Vale was founded. Mining union Metabase says that as many as 10,000 miners could lose their jobs in Brazil because of economic cuts. 
 
In South Africa, estimates say that 40,000 miners could be out work through 2009 because of the economic meltdown. Many will be migrant workers. ICEM and National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) President Senzeni Zokwana predicted the social impact of such sudden and unprecedented joblessness will be far-reaching and disturbing. 

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ICEM President Senzeni Sokwana
In Australia on 16 December, Anglo-Swiss Xstrata levelled a surprise on the 1,800-person town of Tieri, central Queensland, by announcing that the jobs of miners at one part of Oaky Creek&rsquo;s rich coal seams would be indefinitely suspended. 
 
ICEM-affiliated CFMEU took the matter to the AIRC to prevent the sackings. In arbitration hearings on 22 December, and again from 6-7 January in Brisbane, CFMEU argued that Xstrata&rsquo;s price drops are a speck in comparison with its recent coal pricing history has reverted only to early 2008 thermal coal prices to meet slowing demand from the steel industry. Xstrata has an industry-wide reputation, especially over Oaky Creek&rsquo;s high-quality coking coal, of driving prices upward in tight markets, thus making it the industry&rsquo;s price-setter during boom times. 
 
The CFMEU sought a four-week period for the consultative process. The AIRC gave the process a week to work. The CFMEU seeks to get Xstrata to place retrenched workers in its other Queensland operations, specifically Oaky Creek North, a separate longwall operation. The company resists. The union has charged Xstrata with stonewalling the AIRC process, relying on former Howard government work laws to justify its privilege to inflict social degradation on workers. 
 
&ldquo;Xstrata has chosen to take advantage of John Howard&rsquo;s WorkChoices laws and argues heartlessly that they are not required to afford workers natural justice in the redundancy process,&rdquo; said CFMEU Mining and Energy Vice President Stuart Vaccaneo. &ldquo;This really is corporate cowboy stuff.&rdquo; 
 
For the company&rsquo;s part, in December, a spokesman called CFMEU guilty of political posturing by wasting the AIRC&rsquo;s time in bringing the legal case. Vaccaneo called that the &ldquo;height of arrogance,&rdquo; given what 230 Queensland families face. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not about politics&mdash;it&rsquo;s about the future of (these) workers and their families.&rdquo; 
 
Following the 8 January AIRC ruling mandating this week as the week for labour-management consultation, a company spokesman said Xstrata will talk to the union, but &ldquo;we have appropriately managed those people&rdquo; affected. 
 
Some 450 job cuts were announced in December in Queensland. Although the Xstrata Oaky Creek case is the most high profile one, other mining enterprises in the region like Macarthur Coal Ltd. and Oz Minerals, a zinc producer, have also fired miners. 
 
Oaky Creek, first starting production in 1983, was bought by Xstrata when it took over MIM Holdings in 2003. Xstrata owns 55% of Oaky Creek, while Japanese companies Sumisho Coal, Itocho Coal, and ICRA OC Ltd. hold remaining ownership. Oaky Creek exports 11 million metric tonnes annually to steel mills in Europe, Japan, and North and South America.

Xstrata, CFMEU in Australia Battle Over Mining Jobs in Economic Downturn

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Find this article in Arabic <a href="/index.php?id=78&amp;la=EN&amp;doc=2994">here</a>.
The first cargo plane full of humanitarian supplies for the people of Gaza landed last week, 8 January, at Al-Areesh, Egypt, courtesy of the International Transport Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITF). Both the ITF and the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) are actively engaged in trade union relief operations to deliver food, water, and medical assistance to Gaza, following nearly three weeks bombing by Israel.
The supplies, collected from transport trade unions and other across the Middle East, were passed to the Red Crescent in Gaza. ITF Representative for the Arab World, Bilal Malkawi, also chief leader of Jordan&rsquo;s General Trade Union of Workers in Air Transport and Tourism, supervised a cargo that included mostly vital medical supplies purchased by the ITF. 

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Bilal Malkawi was aboard the aircraft as it landed in Egypt late last week. The ITF-affiliated union has headed up the collection of essential supplies that were transported on Royal Jordanian planes, donated by the airline for the cause. Further relief flights will follow. 
 
&ldquo;We hope that this will be the first of several mercy flights carrying humanitarian supplies,&rdquo; said ITF General Secretary David Cockroft. &ldquo;Vital though these medical supplies are, they do not lessen in any way the need for an immediate cease fire in Gaza.&rdquo; 

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The ICEM called for an immediate cease fire in a statement issued on 31 December. &ldquo;The loss of innocent Palestinian lives is deplorable, and an immediate and fully respected ceasefire by both Israel and Hamas is now clearly the only way forward,&rdquo; the&nbsp;ICEM statement read.&nbsp; 
 
Labour groups worldwide, particularly in the Middle East, have condemned Israel&rsquo;s disproportionate attacks on Gaza. Late last week, the ICEM-affiliated General Trade Union of Public Utilities of Egypt issued a call for the international community &ldquo;to exercise and exert pressure on Israel to bring an end to Palestinian suffering, and to stop the violent and atrocious aggression on the armless people of Gaza.&rdquo; 

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The ITUC is working in cooperation with national labour centres in Palestine and Jordan (the PGFTU and GFJTU) to bring trade union aid for Gaza&rsquo;s citizens. The ITUC has set up an account called &ldquo;Trade Union Aid for Gaza.&rdquo; Information on bank transfer donations can call +32 2 224 0211 for information. 
 
Union wishing to contribute to the ITF, Jordanian Air Transport Workers Union efforts can do so by contacting Bilal at <a href="mailto:malkaw_bilal@itf.org.uk">malkaw_bilal@itf.org.uk</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Relief Aid Begins Reaching Gaza through ITF and ITUC Efforts

Calling it a &ldquo;complete and total victory,&rdquo; ICEM Vice President and Communications, Energy, Paperworkers (CEP) Union President Dave Coles said today that CEP Local 175 ratified a three-year labour agreement yesterday with Petro-Canada, ending a 57-week lockout at a refinery in the Canadian province of Quebec. 
 
&ldquo;The pattern agreement for the CEP&rsquo;s National Energy Bargaining Programme has been achieved, the employer has recognized this programme, and we can now truly call this a major victory for both the international and national labour movements,&rdquo; said Coles. 
 
The 260 members of CEP Local 175 at the Montr&eacute;al refinery voted on 23 December by 94.6% to approve the retroactive contract.
<img height="266" src="" width="200" alt="" />
CEP Local 175 Members Were&nbsp;Solid in&nbsp;Their Resolve to Achieve the Canadian Oil and&nbsp;Gas Pattern Agreement&nbsp;
Coles said the mediated settlement contains a commitment by both sides to undertake measures to improve the labour relationship between CEP and Petro-Canada at all locations across the country. The two sides began private mediation early in December with Special Mediator Lucien Bouchard, Premier of Quebec from 1996 to 2001, in efforts to resolve the lockout, which began on 17 November 2007. 
 
The mediated settlement preserves the pattern labour agreement in Canada&rsquo;s oil, gas, and petrochemicals industry, thus granting Local 175 members a basket-full of wage and benefit improvements at year end 2008. 
 
They will receive a retroactive pay increase of 5% dating to 1 February 2007, with further increases of 4.5% in 2008, and 4.5% on 1 February 2009. In addition, each worker will receive a C$4,000 bonus, an accrued holiday or vacation payment averaging C$6,000, and a 2007 profit-sharing payment of C$3,800. 
 
Petro-Canada dropped a demand to eliminate the refinery&rsquo;s health and safety prevention officer; its proposal to accelerate a training programme that would place safety at greater risk; and backed away from plans to alter shift schedules and job assignments.
<img height="160" src="" width="140" alt="" />
&nbsp;CEP President Dave Coles 
 

The settlement provides for an automatic extension of the collective agreement when it expires on 1 February 2010 based on the CEP&rsquo;s National Energy Bargaining agreement with the company at its Edmonton, Alberta, refinery. 
 
Coles credits the start of a nationwide boycott against Petro-Canada&rsquo;s retail products, as well as vast support both from CEP members, and from union members throughout the world, with bringing the company to terms of the pattern agreement. 
 
&ldquo;It was clear that the world&rsquo;s trade unions were pulling in behind our courageous members of Local 175,&rdquo; said Coles. &ldquo;We had international support from energy unions around the globe organized by our international federation, ICEM. There is no doubt that this outcome owes much to this watershed of labour solidarity that was organized in support of our members.&rdquo; 
 
The other message, Coles said, is that boycotts work. &ldquo;Canadians from all trade unions had begun executing a flawless boycott, and the company took notice.&rdquo;
<img height="263" src="" width="350" alt="" />
ICEM's Manfred Warda, left,&nbsp;in Ottawa with CEP members&nbsp;
ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda, who had walked the picket line at the Montr&eacute;al refinery, as well as protested at company petrol stations in Ottawa, extended the Global Union Federation&rsquo;s congratulations to the CEP and Local 175. 
 
&ldquo;This is a tremendous victory. The perseverance and resolve of the 260 refinery workers to protect 40 years of pattern bargaining &ndash; backed by CEP members across Canada &ndash; is an inspiration to us all,&rdquo; stated Warda. &ldquo;This will be acclaimed by energy trade unions across the world.&rdquo; 
 
The back to work agreement calls for CEP Local 175 members to return to their jobs and begin ramping up production to the refinery&rsquo;s 130,000 barrel-per-day capacity on 12 January 2009. The CEP agreed to drop all legal charges and complaints arising from the dispute.

CEP’s Montréal Refinery Workers Victory ‘Total and Complete,’ Lockout Ends

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With less than 18 months in existence, the Latin American trade union network of Belgian-based Solvay has taken important steps in expanding to other employees in the region. 
 
The third meeting of Brazilian Trade Union Network of the chemicals, pharmaceutical, and plastics multinational was held in S&atilde;o Paulo on 1-3 December, with trade union participates coming from Argentina, Belgium, and the European Works Council of the company, as well as from five Brazilian unions. The meeting was also attended by ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda and Chemicals and Rubber Industries Officer Kemal &Ouml;zkan. 
 
The participants discussed the importance of international trade union networking, especially in the face of the global financial crisis and its possible consequences in the world of work. The precariousness of labor relations, such as outsourcing and subcontracting, and the need to ensure the health and safety of workers in all localities were priorities at the meeting. 
 

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&quot;This network has shown a great willingness to grow, adding strength of colleagues from different Latin American plants, so that together we can initiate dialogue with Solvay in order to improve working conditions and the lives of workers,&rdquo; said Juvenil Youth Nunes da Costa, coordinator of the network. 
 
&rdquo;I am very happy to take part in such an important initiative, which is becoming a model for workers&rsquo; solidarity,&rdquo; said ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda. &ldquo;This network has become a success in a very short period of time, and it is clear that we must unify our efforts to combat common problems.&quot; 
 
Among the major decisions taken at the early December meeting was to strengthen the role of representation of the network, along with the role of workers in Solvay&rsquo;s direction in Brazil; disclosure of the network in Argentina so that further extension can occur in other Mercosur countries; dissemination of the commitments on &quot;Sustainable Development and Corporate Social Responsibility,&quot; as made by the company to workers in Argentina and Brazil; and drafting a proposal related to a Communication Policy Network. 
 
The next meeting is scheduled to be held in July 2009. The Network of Workers at the Solvay-Brazil Group was created in September 2007, and representation covers the 14 units of the group in the country.

Brazilian Network of Solvay Eyes Latin Expansion

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