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French unions held successful manifestations on 22 January at Shell France refineries over possible the possible sale of three facilities. FCE-CFDT, FO, CGT, CFE-CGC, and CFTC joined as one to call on the Anglo-Dutch company to assure full employment and maintain all social rights of workers in the event of divestiture. 
 
On 11 January, Shell France confirmed reports from late last year that three French refineries, as well as a petrochemical refinery in Yabucoa, Puerto Rico, were up for &ldquo;strategic review.&rdquo; The French sites include the large Berre-l&rsquo;Etang solvents refinery, and refineries at Petit-Couronne and Reichstett-Vendenheim. Some 2,500 of Shell France&rsquo;s 3,600 workers would be affected by asset sales of the three refineries. 
The unions held a press conference at Berre after presenting management with a petition calling for respect and honest social dialogue with workers before any sale occurs. Some 1,500 workers are employed there. Similar petitions were handed to Shell management at Petit-Couronne and Reichstett, where 550 and 240 workers are employed. 
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&ldquo;We request from any potential buyer a clear plan for the facility,&rdquo; FCE-CFDT Union Representative Jean-Luc Bildstein told Agence France Presse. &ldquo;For now, we do not see a strike occurring but if Shell does not hear our demands, other actions will be considered.&rdquo; 
 
The one-day manifestations were considered a success since the vast majority of Shell workers at each site turned out for the protests.

French Unions Mobilise as Shell Prepares to Sell Refineries

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Polish mining unions stood their ground with the country&rsquo;s Economic Ministry over total privatisation of two coal mining companies, as well as the sale of several mines of Europe&rsquo;s largest coal producer, Kompania Weglowa (KW). A compromise agreement was reached late on 22 January between 12 miners&rsquo; unions and Economy Minister Piotr Wozniak, an agreement which halted a planned 24-hour warning strike, scheduled to start on 24 January. 
 
Coal miners balloted to strike on 18 January after 62% of the country&rsquo;s 122,000 affected miners voted by 97% in favour of industrial action. A general strike was to follow the warning strike on 1 February if the privatisations and a plan to link miners&rsquo; salaries with production were not reached. 
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The compromised consensus agreement states that the privatisation of mines will be considered on a case-by-case basis, and on condition that the government retain a majority stake in the coal sector. The Economic Ministry last September proposed the sale of state-run companies Jastrzebska Spolka Weglowa (JSW) and Katowicki Holding Weglowy (KHW), as well as selling some of KW&rsquo;s 17 pits, as part of the government&rsquo;s mining sector reorganisation strategy for the years 2007 to 2015. 
 
The trade unions, including the ICEM affiliate Miners&rsquo; and Energy Workers&rsquo; Section of Solidarnosc, have been critical of the government&rsquo;s minimum investment programme for coal mining, and feel that partial privatisation or management buy-ups of some mines could inject the necessary capital. 
 
The issue of the remuneration-to-productivity ratio is still unresolved, and the mineworkers&rsquo; unions are hopeful that continued dialogue with the government will solve this important issue.

Strike Threat Curbs Polish Government’s Privatisation of Coal Sector

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The general strike that has paralysed the West African nation of Guinea since 10 January ended 27 January. The country&rsquo;s unions, including ICEM mining affiliate SYNAMIC/ONSLG, reached a compromise with beleaguered President Lansana Cont&eacute; to cede some of his near absolute powers. 
 
Guinea&rsquo;s trade unions, backed by some 14 opposition parties, forced Cont&eacute; to concede authority to a yet-to-be-named prime minister, who will run the government. The ending of the strike also produced a pledge from Cont&eacute; to immediately reduce fuel and food prices. 
The ICEM reached SYNAMIC General Secretary Yamodou Tour&eacute; last week, after he had been twice jailed by police and gendarmerie during the strike. Tour&eacute; said he was among some 20 leaders who negotiated with Cont&eacute; until late in the evening of 25 January. Earlier that day, a commission that included government officials, union leaders, and civil society representatives met to work out the new powers for the prime minister. 
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The 72-year-old Cont&eacute; sacked former Prime Minister Cellou Dalein Diallo in April 2006. The strike started after Cont&eacute;, in December, released one of Guinea&rsquo;s wealthiest men, employers&rsquo; association leader Mamadou Sylla, and former minister Fode Soumah from prison. The two, both close associates of the reclusive president, had been imprisoned on corruption charges. 
 
The peaceful general strike was met with heavy-handed force by Guinea&rsquo;s riot police. At least 59 demonstrators were killed during the 18-day strike, including more than 30 on 22 January when police sprayed automatic weapons fire into a citizens&rsquo; protest in the capital city of Conakry. 
 
Tour&eacute; was among a handful of labour leaders arrested on 17 January as they led a group of some 200 demonstrators on a march to the National Parliament. The leaders were released later that day following negotiations led by National Assembly Speaker Aboubacar Sompare. Tour&eacute; also serves as secretary general for the Organisation Nationale des Syndicats Libres de Guin&eacute;e (ONSLG), one of the main national labour centres in Guinea. 
He was arrested again five days later, on 22 January, the bloodiest day of the strike, when a presidential guard led by the president&rsquo;s son, Ousmane Cont&eacute;, stormed a union meeting. Some 30 trade union leaders were then taken to Cont&eacute;&rsquo;s home on the Samory military grounds near Conakry. They were released in the early morning hours of the next day. 
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Ironically, it was those arrests and late night meeting with Cont&eacute; that set the stage for last week&rsquo;s negotiated end to the general strike. 
 
The strike brought Guinea, one of the world&rsquo;s most impoverished countries, to a standstill. It crippled exports of bauxite, the country&rsquo;s major cash source, after miners at one of the country&rsquo;s bauxite mines, Sangaredi, downed tools. 
 
Workers of the Christian miners&rsquo; union, FSAMCA, also played a key role in the strike, after they were told by their union to join the strike on 19 January. Miners belonging to all unions at the country&rsquo;s national bauxite company, Compagnie des Bauxites de Guin&eacute;e (CBG), effectively brought the company to a halt. 
 
CBG is operated by Alcoa World Alumina, through its Halco joint venture with Canada&rsquo;s Alcan, with the two North American companies owning 51% of the enterprise, and Guinea&rsquo;s government the remainder. Russia&rsquo;s giant aluminium producer Rusal also has substantial holdings in the country. 
 
Guinea is the world&rsquo;s leading producer of bauxite.

Unions in Guinea End General Strike

Two recent and separate attacks by lawless militia groupings in Iraq have incensed the ICEM, the Global Union Federation for the energy sector. Both attacks, one random, on 16 January,&nbsp;in which a dedicated trade unionist was slain, the other, on 11 January,&nbsp;a targeted slaying of oil engineers in route to a union&rsquo;s press conference, &ldquo;reflect the failures of both the occupation forces and of the al-Maliki government,&rdquo; according to ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda. 
 
The ICEM was appalled to learn of the death of Mohammed Hameed, a dedicated trade union organiser of the Federation of Workers&rsquo; Councils and Unions in Iraq (FWCUI). He was among a group of 15 civilians who were randomly gunned down in an open marketplace in southern Baghdad near his home. Hameed had been out on a walk when he was caught in a hail of gunfire.
<img height="142" alt="" src="" width="134" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <img height="143" alt="" src="" width="120" />
&nbsp;Manfred Warda&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Falah Alwan&nbsp;&nbsp; 
&ldquo;It hurts tremendously when a trade unionist is killed in a situation like this,&rdquo; stated Warda. &ldquo;Brother Hameed was a person who had the vision and fortitude to help build a just and decent civil society inside Iraq.&rdquo; Hameed, who was in his 30s, scored several advances last summer for oil industry workers in the Baghdad area, who constantly attempt to escape poverty conditions in the strife-ridden area. 
 
He is survived by his wife, who is an active trade unionist herself inside the service sector side of the&nbsp;FWCUI, and two children. 
 
The second incident occurred five days earlier, when militia gunmen abducted eight engineers of the Iraqi Oil Ministry as they were travelling in a vehicle to a FWCUI press conference on fuel price increases. Four of the kidnapped victims were released. One engineer, Abdukareem Mahdi, was later found dead, after being tortured. The other three, Nazar Fattah, Adil Yahia and Ahmed Maulood, remain missing and are presumed dead.
&ldquo;We are disappointed with the response from the government and the lack of information given us by the authorities on these heinous crimes,&rdquo; said Falah Alwan, the president of FWCUI. &ldquo;The Iraqi government must take responsibility for the lawlessness that has become so prevalent in the oil industry, as well as for the obvious security deficiencies that has allowed ordinary workers to be killed every day.&rdquo;
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The ICEM also calls on the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to fully investigate the abductions and killings on 11 January, and to make serious efforts to apprehend the drive-by gunmen responsible for the random killings on 16 January.

ICEM Condemns Killings Within Iraq’s Oil Industry

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Last month, North American ICEM affiliate United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) negotiated the biggest pay and benefit increase in the US coal industry since 1974, winning a 32% wage and pension increase over a five-year period. The union negotiated the agreement with the Bituminous Coal Operators Association (BCOA), which will establish the pattern for several US coal operators in the coming months. 
 
UMWA membership of some 20,000 miners ratified the contract with 80% approval on 21 December. The contract took effect for 3,200 actives miners and 10,000 retirees in six US states at Consol Energy Inc. on 1 January. It includes a 20% across-the-board wage increase over the five-year period, and a future retiree benefit hike of $10-per-month for every year of service. In addition, UMWA&rsquo;s members at Consol received a US$1,000 bonus at the first of the year. 
 
&ldquo;There are no concessions, no givebacks in this agreement,&rdquo; stated UMWA President Cecil Roberts. &ldquo;There are only gains for current members, retirees, and their families.&rdquo; 
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&ldquo;This is the largest wage increase we&rsquo;ve negotiated since 1974. Over the life of the agreement, a miner working at the top rate will see over US$32,000 more in his paycheck for just working straight time,&rdquo; said Roberts in a statement. A mineworker represented by the UMWA had been averaging US$20.42-per-hour prior to this contract taking effect. 
 
Coupled with funds guaranteed through the US government&rsquo;s renewal of the federal Abandoned Mine Land Fund, the new contract assures that health care coverage, with all benefits included, will be maintained with no cost increases to workers for co-payments. Roberts said that other coal companies will be bound to the new BCOA contract&rsquo;s pension provisions, since they are part of the UMWA&rsquo;s 1974 Pension Fund.

UMWA in US Negotiates Highest Gains with Coal Companies since 1994

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A 4 January pipeline leak of some 4.5 tonnes of the chemical hexamethylene diamine (HMDA) at a BASF nylon intermediates plant near Bellingham, Teesside UK, was termed a &ldquo;major incident,&rdquo; causing injuries to 37 workers, including one worker still in serious condition at a North-East UK hospital. 
 
Two other workers had been hospitalised up until late last week. One of the two underwent plastic surgery for burns to the face. Hexamethylene diamine is a component in the manufacture of synthetic material nylons, and is a corrosive substance which causes chemical burns when contact with the skin and eyes is made. It also causes damage if breathed into the lungs. 
 
The incident injured both BASF staff and contract workers employed at the chemical plant. 
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ICEM UK affiliate GMB, which represents some workers at the plant, said it will involve itself fully in investigations now underway by the UK&rsquo;s Health and Safety Executive and the Environmental Agency. &ldquo;When there is an accident of this nature, we always have questions about safety and why it happened,&rdquo; GMB Regional Secretary Tom Brennan told a local newspaper, the Northern Echo. &ldquo;I can assure you, there will be questions raised over safety procedures, equipment, and machinery. There will be a complete review.&rdquo; 
 
Twenty of the workers were decontaminated at the worksite, but 17 others were rushed to hospitals. 
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BASF, the world&rsquo;s largest chemical concern, has had two other serious health and safety occurrences in recent years at this operational site. The German company&rsquo;s previous site, in Wilton, a town close to Bellingham, was struck by a massive fire in 1995. And four years later, a worker who inhaled cyanide fumes died. BASF was fined ₤20,000 in 2002 for that workplace death. 
 
BASF bought the nylon intermediate plant on Seal Sands Road in Bellingham in 1985.

Chemical Leak at BASF in UK Injures 37, One Seriously

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In Mexico, the urgent necessity to confront the hijacking of trade unionism was given priority by global trade unions recently. The ICEM was one of seven Global Union Federations that signed on to an ITUC/ORIT declaration calling for an end to &ldquo;employer protection contracts,&rdquo; or simply, yellow unionism. 
 
At a 3 April conference in Mexico, the GUFs, national and other global unions, and NGOs joined with ITUC/ORIT, calling on Mexico to halt the practice of company-dominated unions, where workers are victimised, ORIT says, by a &ldquo;triple sham: pseudo-unions, pseudo labour relations, and pseudo labour authority.&rdquo; 
 
The campaign, themed &ldquo;For Liberty, Autonomy and Union Democracy,&rdquo; kicked off with testimony from workers&rsquo; representatives from six sectors. Some workers wore hoods to prevent reprisals, including one from the big US retailer, WalMart.
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The hijacking of honest trade unionism comes in the form of employer protection contracts, which are invariably signed by a manager or owner of an enterprise, and a pre-selected trade union operative. Workers have no say in terms or conditions, and government labour commissions are powerless, since the &ldquo;sham&rdquo; labour contracts negotiated between owners and &ldquo;ghost&rdquo; labour unions are binding. 
 
ITUC/ORIT, and the global unions and other affiliates, will press &ldquo;Liberty, Autonomy, Union Democracy&rdquo; inside Mexico, and before international governing bodies, including the UN Commission and the International Court of Human Rights, and at the ILO.

Stop Illegal Trade Union Activity in Mexico

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Mediated negotiations to end a strike by the United Steelworkers (USW) against Rio Tinto&rsquo;s Iron Ore Co. of Canada occurred 1-3 April, but halted needlessly when management walked away from the table. Some 1,300 USW members at a mine and pellet plant in Labrador City, Newfoundland, and an iron ore export facility in Sept-Iles, Quebec, have been on strike since 8 March and 14 March, respectively. 
 
USW District Six Director Wayne Fraser said the two sides were not far apart to end the month-long strike, except that managers abruptly got up and left bargaining on 3 April. &ldquo;For the company to simply walk away shows remarkable disrespect to both the process and, more importantly, to the employees, who do not take the decision to be on strike likely.&rdquo;
<img height="161" src="" width="160" alt="" />
USW District Six Director Wayne Fraser
Chief among remaining concerns for the three USW local branches that are involved are recognition of seniority, ensuring that employees&rsquo; benefits are not capped, and meeting the pay parity of other mining companies in Quebec. 
 
&ldquo;This fight is about recognising the intrinsic value our members bring to this operation,&rdquo; stated USW Local 5795 President George Kean. &ldquo;(The years) 2005 and 2006 broke all production records and our members gave the company the biggest profit in its history.&rdquo; 
 
Iron Ore Co. of Canada is 59% owned by Rio Tinto.

Rio Tinto’s Canadian Managers Walk Away from Talks to End Strike

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A tentative agreement was reached late on 3 April between ICEM affiliate United Steelworkers (USW) and Bridgestone/Firestone North America. The agreement covers some 5,200 rubber workers at six US plants, and concludes master rubber bargaining at North America&rsquo;s three major tyre companies that have multiple plants. 
 
&ldquo;The tentative agreement and contract proposals follow the pattern established in the BF Goodrich (Michelin) and Goodyear contracts,&rdquo; said USW Executive Vice President Ron Hoover. The USW announced that informational meetings for Bridgestone/Firestone workers and secret-ballot ratification votes will occur at all six plants by 25 April 2006.
<img height="211" src="" width="160" alt="" />
USW Executive Vice President Ron Hoover
If ratified, the three-year contract will be backdated to last summer, and will run to 18 July 2009. The contract covers plant locations in Akron, Ohio; Noblesville, Indiana; Des Moines, Iowa; Russelville, Arkansas; La Vergne, Tennessee; and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, a plant in which Bridgestone discontinued tyre production in December 2006. Workers at two other Bridgestone/Firestone plants, Warren County, Tennessee, and Bloomington, Illinois, are also represented by the USW and are considering proposed agreements separate from the master rubber contract. 
 
The USW&rsquo;s last set of talks with a tyre producer is currently underway in the state of Virginia. Japan-based Yokohama Tire Co. and the union are in talks over a new contract for some 700 rubber workers at an auto and light truck tyre plant in Salem, Virginia. The current contract there expires on 15 April. 

&nbsp;

USW Members in US to Vote on New Bridgestone Tyre Contract

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The Finnish Electrical Workers&rsquo; Union succeeded in a four-month campaign, winning &euro;700,000 in backpay and reciprocity for 88 Polish electricians. The electricians worked on construction projects in Finland. 
 
The union discovered that a Gdansk, Poland-based contractor, MSB, was violating Finnish pay guidelines at a huge construction site near Tampere in November 2006. 
 
The electricians were earning &euro;5-per-hour, while the average electrician&rsquo;s pay in Finland is about &euro;14-per-hour.
<img height="285" src="" width="280" alt="" />
When the Electrical Workers&rsquo; Union sought information from MSB on working conditions in November, the company did not respond. The union then commenced a blockade against MSB, preventing the Polish company from performing any work in Finland. The union demanded that all companies, and their workers, abstain from working with MSB on any construction project. 
 
The Electrical Workers&rsquo; Union also pressed Finnish state authorities to intervene in the company&rsquo;s illegal work practices, as well. 
 
The pressure campaign worked. In early February, MSB came to agreement with the union on the process for paying wage arrears, as well as social security and tax reciprocation with Poland&rsquo;s government. Last week, Trade Union News from Finland reported that the agreement calls for wages to be brought up to levels common in Finnish collective agreements &ndash; &euro;12.30- to &euro;14-per-hour &ndash; and that of the &euro;700,000 sum, &euro;330,000 will be transferred to the Polish tax and social security authorities. 
 
&ldquo;This case is a strong message to companies that employ foreign labour,&rdquo; the Electrical Workers&rsquo; Keijo Rimmist&ouml; told Trade Union News. &ldquo;Respect, voluntarily, the Finnish collective agreements, as, in case you don&rsquo;t, our union will compel you to pay the arrears payments. Letting things go &hellip; you not only risk your reputation, but also risk waking the interest of the police.&rdquo;

Boycott Pressure Forces Polish Firm to Pay Back-Wages in Finland

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