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ICEM Belgian affiliate la Centrale G&eacute;n&eacute;rale FGTB held its Congress in Blankenberge 17-20 November with a theme entitled &ldquo;Delegates Without Borders for More Social Justice.&rdquo; The theme was a call to union activists to go beyond the &ldquo;borders&rdquo; of enterprises and conduct union work on international and European levels. The Congress debated global and European issues with emphasis on creating trade union networks. The Congress also marked the retirement of five members of FGTB&rsquo;s Federal Secretariat with Alain Clauwaert elected new President and Jacques Michiels as General Secretary. Other members of the Secretariat include Werner Van Heetvelde, Paul Lootens, Rik Desmet, Bruno Bachely, Herman Baele and Eric Neuprez.

Belgian Affiliate la Centrale Generale FGTB Holds Congress

ICEM sectoral conferences on Mining and on Diamonds, Gems, Ornaments &amp; Jewellery production are being held this week in Benoni, South Africa. The Diamonds/Gems conference is being held today with 130 global trade unionists attending. A joint session of the two sectors will be held tomorrow with the Mining Conference and its 190 registrants meeting on 24-25 November. The conference will develop a four-year ICEM work plan on Mining.

ICEM’s Mining, Diamonds and Gems Sectors to Merge

ICEM affiliate Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU) won a round against global paper and packaging firm Visy Industries when the firm backed off forcing single-site labour agreements at 13 of its corrugated packaging plants in Australia. Visy had offered workers A$1,000 cash payment to accept the stand-alone labour agreements, but AMWU unity and resistance defeated the measure. The two sides agreed on a three-year, 14.25% wage hike covering some 600 paper-converting workers that preserves a system-wide agreement.

AMWU Wins Master Contract for Paperworkers in Australia

US affiliate United Steelworkers of America (USWA) and Bridgestone/Firestone will return to negotiations 16-17 November in St. Louis, Missouri, after a yearlong recess. The union halted talks in November 2003 and instead reached agreements with other global tyremakers in the US and Canada. USWA represents 5,000 rubber workers at seven Bridgestone/Firestone factories in the US.

Bridgestone and USWA Return to Bargaining Table in US

Brazilian affiliate FUB-CNQ will conclude voting on a new collective agreement with state-run Petrobras tomorrow, thus preventing unions from striking operations of the oil and gas major by 40,000 workers. Workers stand ready to approve a 12.1% pay hike plus additional benefits for retired workers. Petrobras will also create a special body to study workers&rsquo; retirement plans.

Oil Union in Brazil Gains Deal with Petrobras

The ICEM is central to global protests against the Colombian government&rsquo;s expulsion of four international trade unionists on 31 October. ICEM, along with representatives from the Textile, Education and Journalists GUFs, as well as ICFTU and Human Rights activists, met with Colombian Ambassador to Belgium Nicol&aacute;s Echavarr&iacute;a on 5 November in Brussels over the expulsions. Colombia has officially apologized for the trade union breaches, blaming the incident on immigration officials and &ldquo;erroneous interpretation&rdquo; of decrees. The four were due to attend a regional trade union coordination meeting. About the same time, union leaders from the UK, Ireland and Spain who were in Colombia at a women&rsquo;s trade union meeting had their 60-day visas cancelled and were permitted inside the country for only three days.

ICEM Protests Expulsions of Trade Unionists to Colombia

Another general strike over the price of fuel may occur in neighbouring Sierra Leone. The Sierra Leone Labour Congress has called on its government to rescind a late October price hike&mdash;the third fuel price hike in nine months&mdash;or face a strike. &ldquo;Most industrial firms and employers depend on generators. Which invariably affects cost of production with a high probability for redundancy for workers and high process for products,&rdquo; the national center said in a release last week.

High Fuel Prices May Spark General Strike in Sierra Leone

PACE, as lead union in ICEM&rsquo;s ExxonMobil Network, has an excellent website containing topical and informative data and news articles on the world&rsquo;s largest energy concern. It can be found at www.exxonmobil-solidarity.org.

PACE in US Establishes ExxonMobil Network Website

The USWA and Goodyear have resolved a potential dispute stemming from union-friendly language contained in last September&rsquo;s precedent-setting labour agreement. Goodyear announced 5 February that production of its new Assurance ComforTred tyre would go to a non-union plant in the state of Oklahoma. Specific job-security provisions in the labour agreement, however, state new tyre lines must go to a unionized plant. Goodyear acquiesced and the new tyre will be made in a Steelworker-represented plant in Gadsden, Alabama.

USWA Tyre Accord with Goodyear Brings Union Work

US affiliate United Steelworkers took advantage of union-friendly language in last year&rsquo;s Goodyear tyre contract to win card-check recognition status at a tyre mold plant in Statesville, North Carolina. A vast majority of the 130 workers at the non-union plant expressed a desire for USWA representation through a card signing process, and an independent arbitrator verified that. The union and local management will now negotiate a first collective agreement for the 130. USWA has also submitted a majority of cards to an arbitrator for representation at another Goodyear tyre facility employing 350 workers in Asheboro, North Carolina.

USWA’s Neutrality Language with Goodyear Pays Off

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