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Trade unions of the pulp and paper sector affiliated to the ICEM acted in concert with Dutch unions last week in their protest against inferior contract terms put forward by Sappi. On 15 October, 50 protesters from ICEM Netherlands affiliates FNV Bondgenoten and CNV Bedrijenbond, along with two other Dutch unions, made their way to Sappi&rsquo;s European headquarters in Brussels to present a petition signed by the 800 workers of the two paper mills stating they are dissatisfied with contract terms presented. 
 
The 50 shop-floor leaders from Sappi&rsquo;s mills in Nijmegen and Maastricht were joined by scores of protest letters by ICEM affiliates of the sectors. 
 
In mid-September, Dutch workers of all four unions rejected a 21-month pay deal with a 95% vote that would have provided only a miniscule pay rise. Sappi proposed a 0.4% increase effective on 1 July 2009, with a 0.9% increase proposed for 1 April 2010. 

<img src="" width="180" height="183" alt="" />
What&rsquo;s perhaps worse, the South African-based company proposed elimination of &ldquo;seniorendagen&rdquo; for workers 55 years or older. This is the Dutch system of granting days off annually to workers when they reach ages 45, 50, 55 years or older. The days-off do not amount to many per year, but are seen as a just reward to senior workers who have given valuable years of service to the company. 
 
Sappi told union negotiators that its pay proposal as presented was low because Nijmegen and Maastricht workers refuse to give up the senior days. In the ICEM&rsquo;s letter to Sappi European CEO Berry Wiersum on 15 October, General Secretary Manfred Warda said, &ldquo;The ICEM, and its family of 470 unions in 143 countries, finds this type of dialogue repulsive, and implore you to intervene on behalf of a socially responsible company to change this type of attitude.&rdquo; 
 
The ICEM and affiliated unions in the pulp and paper sector will be monitoring Sappi&rsquo;s collective bargaining dispute at its Dutch mills, as well as a developing contract dispute at a Sappi mill in North America and upcoming redundancy talks at three Sappi mills in South Africa, where the company is attempting to pare 500 jobs from ICEM affiliate Chemical, Energy, Pulp, Paper, Wood, and Allied Workers&rsquo; Union (CEPPWAWU).

Pulp, Paper Unions Assist Dutch Unionists in Contract Dispute with Sappi

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In late September, the ICEM continued to carry out reinvigorated activities in its Middle East/North Africa Region (MENA) by organising a workshop for chemicals and petrochemical unions of the region. The two-day set of workshops, sponsored by the Friedrich-Ebert (FES) Foundation of Germany, were held in Beirut, Lebanon, on 28-29 September. 
 
Energy and particularly oil have been one of the major driving forces of the economies of the region, and of ICEM activities in MENA of late. But in addition, the region has increased its overall production capacity in petrochemicals, specifically ethylene and its derivatives such as polyethylene and ethylene glycol. 
 
The joint ICEM-FES workshops were entitled, &ldquo;A Seminar on Reinforcing Trade Union Representation, Industrial Relations, and Social Dialogue in the Petrochemical Industry in MENA.&rdquo; The seminar was chaired by Suleiman Hamdan, President of Chemical Workers Union of Lebanon. 

<img src="" width="332" height="89" alt="" />
It was attended by 30 participants from Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan, Yemen, Bahrain, Iraq, Morocco, Tunisia, Libya, Palestine, Turkey, and France. Following a presentation by ICEM Chemicals and Rubber Officer Kemal &Ouml;zkan, entitled &ldquo;Main Developments and Global Challenges in the Global Chemical &amp; Petrochemical Industry,&rdquo; the seminar received reports from individual countries. 
 
The workshop was called &ldquo;Global Dimension of Industrial Relations: International Mechanisms, Social Dialogue, Global Framework Agreements, and Global/Regional Networks&rdquo;. Another session &ldquo;The Rising New Threat to Working Conditions: Precarious Employment,&rdquo; focused on the ICEM&rsquo;s global campaign on Contract and Agency Labour. 

<img src="" width="146" height="66" alt="" />
At the end of the meeting, the participants decided to create an &quot;ICEM MENA Region Chemical/Petrochemical Sectoral Network,&quot; with a series of suggestions for future follow-up activities. Those include social dialogue and industrial relations; labour legislation and international instruments; multinational companies in the sector; Contract and Agency Labour and precarious employment; and Health, Safety, and Environmental issues. 
 
&ldquo;This is a new area of work for the ICEM in the MENA Region,&rdquo; said &Ouml;zkan. &ldquo;The enthusiasm and readiness which participants displayed at this seminar shows there is great potential for a MENA network of petrochemical unions. Reinforcing activities in areas of industrial production and manufacture will be one of the priorities of ICEM in the region.&rdquo;

Middle East, North African Chemical Unions Form Network

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The Mexican government of President Felipe Calder&oacute;n Hinojosa surprised many nine days ago by sending federal agents and police in to take over the country&rsquo;s second largest electrical power distributor, Luz y Fuerza del Centro (LyFC) or Central Light and Power. Calder&oacute;n used an executive decree to dissolve the debt-ridden utility, but in doing so he also sacked the entire 60,000 LyFC workforce, and disbanded their union, the 95 year old, Mexican Electrical Workers&rsquo; Union (SME). 
 
The action to bust SME disturbed many in the global union movement, as well as activist groups that monitor trade union rights within Mexico, but did not come as a surprise, considering the repressive measures taken by Calder&oacute;n against trade unions. 

<img alt="" src="" width="329" height="210" />
In July, SME members re-elected Secretary-General Mart&iacute;n Esparza, but the government has refused to certify the election, citing voting irregularities. But the real reason for the government&rsquo;s elimination of SME is the union leadership&rsquo;s opposition to Calder&oacute;n&rsquo;s economic policies, specifically regarding privatisation of the utility. Not incidentally, Esparza&rsquo;s opponent in last summer&rsquo;s elections, Alejandro Munoz, has joined with Esparza in condemning the takeover and has pledged to resist the dissolution. 
 
In a joint letter last week to Calder&oacute;n by the ICEM and the International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF), General Secretaries Manfred Warda and Jyrki Raina called the action &ldquo;retaliatory because the leadership of the union opposed your anti-worker, anti-societal economic policies.&rdquo; See the letter <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/67%20ICEM%20IMF%20letter%20to%20Mr%20Calderon%20-%20Mexico%20-%2015Oct09.pdf">here</a>. 
 
The non-affiliated SME, which has not taken many strides to join the global trade union movement, deserves the support of unions everywhere because it has now become a victim of the current Mexican government&rsquo;s systematic plan to eliminate any workers&rsquo; group which stands in the way of business interests and unencumbered markets. 

<img alt="" src="" width="310" height="212" />
The SME has vowed to resist through peaceful methods the late-night, 10 October takeover, which was carried out by military police. The government has already offered redundancy packages, with the maximum up to 33 months pay, and said it would recall 10,000 of the electrical workers. But the SME has urged workers to reject the packages, and to participate in peaceful manifestations, the latest of which occurred on 15 October, when 100,000 people marched through Mexico City and gathered in the City&rsquo;s main square the Zocalo. The full day of large scale demonstration passed without incident and was widely supported in the capital, including from the left-wing city government. 
 
The huge manifestation of 15 October coincided with an international trade union forum on the issue of Multinational Corporations and their Protection Collective Agreements, sponsored by the Friedrich-Ebert (FES) Foundation of Germany. The contracts represent an enormous obstacle to free trade unionism in Mexico, and allow companies to sign &lsquo;collective&rsquo; agreements on work conditions and salaries, without including workers in negotiations, and without workers even being aware of the agreement made in their name. Calder&oacute;n&rsquo;s government encourages this practice and continues to block new democratic unions by repeatedly delaying official recognition for years, blacklisting trade unionists, and allowing company managements to act with impunity. The Forum issued a statement of solidarity with the SME. 

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A noteworthy statistic in Mexico is that 95% of companies have a collective agreement, whereas union membership in the country is at 10%, clearly the vast majority of collective agreements are signed with yellow unions. Many union leaders are millionaires, due to mafia-style deals with management. Visit the campaign website <a href="http://www.democraciaylibertadsindical.org.mex">here</a>.&nbsp; 
 
The Calder&oacute;n government has temporarily rolled LyFC&rsquo;s day to day operations into the country&rsquo;s largest utility, the Federal Electricity Commission, from which LyFC buys most of its generated capacity, but the speculation is that LyFC will now be sold to private sources. LyFC serves Mexico City and portions of the surrounding states of Mexico, Hidalgo, Morelos, and Puebla.

Mexican Government Shuts Major Electric Utility, Crushes Trade Union SME

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ABD'nin en b&uuml;y&uuml;k ulusal sendikal merkezi AFL-CIO'nun Pennsylvania eyaletinin Pittsburgh kentinde yapılan 26. olağan genel kurulunda delegeler Richard Trumka'yı başkan se&ccedil;ti. ICEM &uuml;yesi ABD Birleşik Maden İş&ccedil;ileri Sendikası (UMWA) &uuml;yesi Trumka 1995'ten bu yana AFL-CIO mali sekreterliği g&ouml;revini y&uuml;r&uuml;t&uuml;yordu. 
 
Batı Pennsylvania'da madenci bir ailenin &uuml;&ccedil;&uuml;nc&uuml; kuşağından gelen Trumka, sendikaların saflarına gen&ccedil;leri kazanarak Amerikan sendikal hareketini canlandırmayı vaat ediyor. G&ouml;revi devralırken yaptığı konuşmada, Trumka, &ldquo;değişen ekonomide Amerikalıların ihtiya&ccedil;larını karşılayacak yeni bir sendikal hareket&rdquo; inşa edeceğini vurguladı. 
 
AFL-CIO'ya &uuml;&ccedil; d&ouml;nem başkanlık yapan John Sweeney'den g&ouml;revi devralan Trumka sendika avukatlığı da yaptı. 1974'te UMWA'nın Hukuk Servisi'nde &ccedil;alışmaya başladı. 1982'de maden sendikasına başkan se&ccedil;ildi. 1995'te Sweeney'nin AFL-CIO y&ouml;netim ekibinde yer alana kadar bu g&ouml;revi y&uuml;r&uuml;tt&uuml;.
<img src="" width="180" height="200" alt="" />
Arlene Holt-Baker, Richard Trumka ve Liz Shuler
56 sendikadan toplam 10 milyon &uuml;yeyi &ccedil;atısı altında toplayan federasyonun mali sekreterlik g&ouml;revini ge&ccedil;en hafta Trumka'dan devralan Liz Shuler Elektrik İş&ccedil;ileri Sendikası'ndan (IBEW) geliyor. Başkan yardımcılığı g&ouml;revine se&ccedil;ilen Arlene Holt-Baker ise kamu y&ouml;netimi &ccedil;alışanlarının sendikası AFSCME'den geliyor. 
 
Genel Kurul'da alınan 70 kadar karardan ikisi Irak'la ilgili. Kararlardan biri, Obama y&ouml;netimini, Irak'ta sendikaların meşruluğunu g&uuml;vence altına alan, ILO normlarına uygun bir iş yasası &ccedil;ıkarılması i&ccedil;in Irak y&ouml;netimi &uuml;zerindeki n&uuml;fuzunu kullanmaya &ccedil;ağırıyor. &Ouml;b&uuml;r karar ise ABD y&ouml;netiminin askeri işgale son vermesini ve askeri birliklerini bu &uuml;lkeden hızla geri &ccedil;ekmesini istiyor. 
 
Bir diğer kararda ise ABD'nin Honduras'taki askeri rejime yaptırım uygulaması isteniyor. Bu yaptırım &ccedil;er&ccedil;evesinde, Manuel Zeleya demokratik Honduras'ın meşru başkanı olarak tekrar g&ouml;revine d&ouml;nene kadar, ABD el&ccedil;isinin geri &ccedil;ekilmesi, Haziran 2009 darbesinden sorumlu kişilerin malvarlıklarının bloke edilmesi ve Honduras'la b&uuml;t&uuml;n ticari ilişkilerin askıya alınması &ouml;neriliyor.

ABD Maden İşçileri Sendikası&#039;ndan Richard Trumka AFL-CIO Başkanı

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ICEM Orta Avrupa ve Doğu Avrupa/Kafkaslar'da anat&uuml;z&uuml;k uyarınca b&ouml;lge toplantıları d&uuml;zenledi. 12 Eyl&uuml;l'de Orta Avrupa toplantısı Hırvatistan'ın Sibenik kentinde yapıldı. 
 
Toplantıya Bosna-Hersek, Hırvatistan, Macaristan, Makedonya, Romanya, Sırbistan, Slovakya ve Slovenya'dan sendika temsilcileri katıldı. Toplantıyı y&ouml;neten Slovakya kimya sendikasının başkanı Juraj Blah&aacute;k, tekrar b&ouml;lgeyle ilgili ICEM Başkan Yardımcısı se&ccedil;ildi. Blah&aacute;k, ayrıca, Orta Avrupa b&ouml;lge komitesinin başkanlığı g&ouml;revine de yeniden se&ccedil;ildi.
<img src="" width="340" height="255" alt="" />
Orta Avrupa toplantısındaki sekiz &uuml;lke sendikasının temsilcileri&nbsp;
Delegeler &uuml;lke raporları sundular, b&ouml;lgesel &ccedil;alışmalar &uuml;zerinde durdular ve k&uuml;resel ekonomik krizin her bir &uuml;lke &uuml;zerindeki etkilerini tartıştılar. ICEM Genel Sekreteri Manfred Warda ise ICEM'in k&uuml;resel faaliyetlerini a&ccedil;ıkladı ve Cenevre'de Haziran ayında yapılan ICEM Y&ouml;netim Kurulu toplantısında &ouml;zellikle ekonomik kriz &uuml;zerine yapılan g&ouml;r&uuml;şmeler ve alınan kararlar konusunda bilgi verdi. 
 
16 Eyl&uuml;l g&uuml;n&uuml; Ukrayna'nın başkenti Kiev'de Azerbaycan, Belorusya, Rusya, Ukrayna ve &Ouml;zbekistan sendikalarının temsilcileri Doğu Avrupa/Kafkaslar b&ouml;lge toplantısı i&ccedil;in bir araya geldiler. Toplantıyı, Rusya maden iş&ccedil;ilerinin sendikası Rusugleprof'dan, ICEM Başkan Yardımcısı ve B&ouml;lge Başkanı İvan Mohna&ccedil;uk y&ouml;netti.
<img src="" width="340" height="255" alt="" />
&nbsp;İvan Mohna&ccedil;uk (solda), &ccedil;evirmen Eugene Kuprin ve ICEM'den Manfred Warda 

ICEM &uuml;yelik aidatları konusunun da g&ouml;r&uuml;ş&uuml;ld&uuml;ğ&uuml; toplantıda, bu konunun gelecek ay yapılacak ICEM Başkanlar Kurulu toplantısına g&ouml;t&uuml;r&uuml;lmesi kararlaştırıldı. Delegelerin &uuml;lke raporlarından sonra, Manfred Warda ICEM Y&ouml;netim Kurulu toplantısı konusunda bilgi verdi. 
 
&Ouml;zbekistan Enerji, Kimya ve Jeoloji İş&ccedil;ileri Sendikası'ndan Mavcuda Halilova b&ouml;lge toplantısına Kadın Komitesi'nin raporunu sundu.

ICEM Orta Avrupa, Doğu Avrupa/Kafkaslar&#039;da Bölge Toplantıları Yaptı

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ABD'nin Pittsburgh kentindeki G20 toplantısıyla ilgili olarak, ICEM &uuml;yesi Birleşik Elektrik, Radyo ve Makine İş&ccedil;ileri Sendikası (UE), Pittsburgh United adlı bir sivil toplum grubuyla birlikte, bir dizi etkinliğin d&uuml;zenlenmesine &ouml;nc&uuml;l&uuml;k ediyor. Bu etkinlikler, G20 maliye bakanlarının ve k&uuml;resel ekonomik kurumların &ldquo;&ouml;nce insan&rdquo; g&uuml;ndeminin yerine &ldquo;k&acirc;r hırsı&rdquo;ndan oluşan neoliberal g&uuml;ndemi nasıl ge&ccedil;irdiklerini g&ouml;stermeyi ama&ccedil;lıyor. 
 
ABD'de sivil toplum grupları ile sendikalardan oluşan, &ldquo;Halkın Sesi: G20'nin Şirketlerin K&uuml;reselleşmesi G&uuml;ndeminin Sorgulanması&rdquo; adlı geniş bir ağ, Orta ve G&uuml;ney Amerika'daki benzer &ouml;rg&uuml;t ve gruplarla birlikte, 23-25 Eyl&uuml;l g&uuml;nlerinde d&ouml;rt forum d&uuml;zenleyecek. Forumlarda, d&uuml;nyanın d&ouml;rt bir yanında yoksulluğa, eşitsizliğe, işsizliğe ve &ccedil;evresel yıkıma yol a&ccedil;an G20 g&uuml;ndemi tartışılacak.
<img src="" width="130" height="76" alt="" />
&nbsp;23 Eyl&uuml;l'de ilk etkinlik olarak d&uuml;zenlenecek panelde, G20 politikaları ve toplumsal yaşam &uuml;zerindeki etkileri tartışılacak. Panele ABD Birleşik &Ccedil;elik İş&ccedil;ileri Sendikası (USW) Başkanı Leo Gerard ve Nobel &Ouml;d&uuml;ll&uuml; iktisat&ccedil;ı Joseph Stiglitz de katılacak. 
 
24 Eyl&uuml;l akşamı d&uuml;zenlenecek bir başka panel, &ldquo;Halkın Sesi: K&uuml;resel/Yerel Bir Alışveriş&rdquo; adını taşıyor. Ayrıca, aynı g&uuml;n&uuml;n gecesi d&uuml;zenlenecek bir &ldquo;Halk Mahkeme&rdquo;nde G20'nin ekonomik &ouml;ncelikler g&uuml;ndemi yargılanacak. 25 Eyl&uuml;l g&uuml;n&uuml; d&uuml;zenlenecek &ldquo;Latin Amerika'dan Sesler&rdquo; adlı oturuma ise Bolivya, Honduras, Meksika ve Peru'dan sendika ve sivil toplum aktivistleri katılacak.

ABD&#039;de Sivil Toplum Grupları Pittsburgh&#039;da Alternatif G20 Forumları Düzenliyor

On 15 October 2009, 50 workers from four Dutch unions, including ICEM affiliates FNV Bondgenoten and CNV Bedrijvenbond, will assemble at the European headquarters of Sappi in Brussels. There, between 14h00 and 15h00 European time, they will present a petition signed by nearly 800 paperworkers at Sappi&rsquo;s Nijmegen and Maastricht mills. 
 
Since early in the summer, the unions have been unsuccessful in negotiating a new collective agreement with Sappi at these two mills. Finally on 17 September, Sappi presented a final offer. It called for a 0.5% increase effective 1 July 2009, and a 0.9% increase on 1 April 2010. Workers rejected it with better than a 95% vote. 
 
What&rsquo;s more, Sappi seeks to eliminate days off that senior workers, age 55 and over, have accrued due to longevity of service. These no-work days, called &ldquo;seniorendagen&rdquo; in Dutch, are very few per year for each worker of that age, but Sappi made it clear in negotiations that its wage offer was so low because Dutch workers insist on keeping this rightful benefit. These no-work days have been earned by Dutch staff who have long years of service, and they should not have to be given up. 
 
Below, please find a letter that ICEM is hopeful your union can send to the European CEO of Sappi on 15 October. Please cut and paste it (or feel free to change it to fit your union&rsquo;s style), attach it your letterhead and send to the e-mail address of Mr Berry Wiersum, as well as the two fax numbers of Sappi&rsquo;s Brussels office. 
 
It is important to do this on Thursday, 15 October, in order to support our Dutch colleagues who will be traveling to Brussels to present a petition on that day. Thank you for your support and initiative on behalf of our colleagues in The Netherlands.
Please be sure to copy your letter to the following:
Ans van den Akker
<a href="mailto:ansvandenakker@orange.nl">ansvandenakker@orange.nl</a>
Ilja Philippen-Nijssen
<a href="mailto:I.Philippen@bg.fnv.nl">I.Philippen@bg.fnv.nl</a>
Mariska Razoux Schultz-Helbig
<a href="mailto:M.Razouxschultz@bg.fnv.nl">M.Razouxschultz@bg.fnv.nl</a>
(do not hesitate to send your own solidarity message to these trade union leaders.)
&nbsp;
<img alt="" src="" width="280" height="76" />
&nbsp;15 October 2009 
 
Mr. Berry Wiersum 
CEO, Sappi Fine Papers Europe 
154 Chauss&eacute;e de la Hulpe 
B-1170 Brussels 
Belgium 
 
Transmit to <a href="mailto:berry.wiersum@sappi.com">berry.wiersum@sappi.com</a> and fax numbers +32 2 676 9601 and +32 2 676 9660 
 
Dear Mr. Wiersum: 
 
Our trade union, representing pulp and paper workers, has learned of the contract dispute at Sappi&rsquo;s two mills in the Netherlands, at Nijmegen and Maastricht. We understand that in late September, 800 workers at these two mills, represented by all Dutch unions solidly rejected a very inferior company proposal. 
 
We want it to be made known that Sappi&rsquo;s pay offer over the next 21 months is insulting. We also want it to be made known that Sappi&rsquo;s insistence on taking away the &ldquo;seniorendagen&rdquo; for workers with long-time service to the company is unfair. Workers age 55 and over have earned these days off and Sappi must adhere to contractual commitments it has made in the past. 
 
We urge you to instruct your managers in the Netherlands to return to dialogue with the workers&rsquo; representatives and raise the level of salary adjustments over the next two years, as well as assuring that senior workers retain what they have earned in their many long years of employment service to Sappi. 
 
Our union will be watching closely this dispute at your two mills in the Netherlands, and we intend to take further action if need be. We will strongly support our Dutch colleagues in all ways possible, and urge you now to prevent a dispute that will only deepen if Sappi does not return make an acceptable contract offer to Nijmegen and Maastricht workers. Thank you. 
 
Sincerely,

Sappi Dispute in Dutch Paper Mills; Act 15 October 2009

<img src="" width="100" height="39" alt="" />
The ICEM-affiliated General Union of Electricity Workers and Technicians in Basra, Iraq, has been faced with a hostile new general manager of the electricity network in Southern Iraq. The union, led by President Hashmeyia Muhsin Saadawi, is attempting to gain wage arrears for power station security guards, who have been illegally refused back wages. 
 
The salary arrears are for overtime work and work that had previously been approved by management. The union has been attempting to negotiate the issue with the manager throughout September, but Hashmeyia Muhsin recently told the ICEM that she has grown frustrated with his intransigence. Of late, the new general manager admitted that &ldquo;the security guards are entitled to the allocation of extra hours, but I am not paying them, so let them complain to the Inspector-General or any other authority.&rdquo; 

<img src="" width="190" height="128" alt="" />
President Hashmeyia Muhsin Saadawi
The claim of the Basra Electricity Workers and Technicians is clear; security guards at the company are contractually allocated 154 working hours per month, distributed over morning, evening, and night shifts. However, those workers work an average of 192 hours per month, and rightfully expect overtime pay. 
 
On 21 September, a large number of the affected security guards, joined by other members of the union, assembled in front of the headquarters of the authority for Power Transmission in Southern Iraq. That action, which illustrated the level of solidarity for the security workers by all segments of workers in the union, did succeed in attracting the attention of the Department of the Inspector General, as well as the Electricity Commission of local government. 
 
But a settlement to the issue still has not been reached. The ICEM will continue to follow and report on this story as, hopefully, positive developments occur.

Iraqi Electricity Trade Union Faces Intransigent Manager in Southern Iraq

Tom Albanese 
Chief Executive 
Rio Tinto plc 
2 Eastbourne Terrace 
London 
W2 6LG 
United Kingdom 
 
Fax +44 20 7781 1800 
 
Geneva, 17 September 2009 
 
Dear Mr. Albanese, 
 
We have recently learned of the contract demands that Rio Tinto has made of 600 miners represented by Local 30 of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU), AFL-CIO, in Boron, California. 
 
We are deeply concerned that Rio Tinto is creating an unnecessary conflict at this mine. The company proposes to dramatically reduce worker rights provided under the current agreement; terminate the current pension plan; drastically increase costs for dental and medical benefits: eliminate leave for sick workers; take away bidding rights of older workers; and offer no wage increases over 8 years while cutting wages if productivity falls. Clearly, your management is also seeking to weaken the trade union. 
 
The demands made by your management are unjustified and draconian. Moreover, these demands contradict your own policies concerning sustainable development since you seek to punish the workers and their community which have been responsible for your success. 
 
We will be supporting the ILWU in whatever way we can. 
 
Sincerely,

Rio Tinto, Model Letter

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
Some 1,200 miners at Shougang Hierro Peru begin their second week of an indefinite strike today, with no end in sight, as the company continues to refuse to enter dialogue with the union. Shougang Hierro&rsquo;s Marcona mine in Southern Peru is the country&rsquo;s only iron ore mine, producing 7.5 million tonnes of iron ore last year, and is part of China&rsquo;s state-owned Shougang Group. 
 
Management has failed to follow through on a collective agreement reached in July this year, which was supposed to raise daily wages by US$1.91 a day. The July agreement was reached through arbitration with Peru&rsquo;s Labour Ministry, and followed a 10-day strike at the mine. 
 
Shougang Hierro is notorious for paying the lowest salaries in Peru&rsquo;s entire mining sector. 

<img alt="" src="" width="250" height="179" />
Shougang Miners
The Labour Ministry resolution last summer called on the company to raise miners&rsquo; wages, or be faced with a large fine. Mine management preferred to pay the fine rather than hike miners&rsquo; wages. The ICEM calls on the government of Peru to take more definitive action against the Chinese mining concern. 
 
Peru&rsquo;s national miners&rsquo; and metalworkers&rsquo; union, ICEM affiliate FNTMMSP, last week called on its members to carry out a nationwide sector strike 19-20 October in support of Shougang miners. 
 
The striking miners are further demanding improved health benefits, and better safety and hygiene. 
 
A union spokesman, Julian Julca, stated, &ldquo;The strike is total. We are approximately 1,200 workers on strike.&rdquo; In response to the action by 100% of Shougang Hierro miners, management made a request to the Labour Ministry to declare the strike illegal. 

<img alt="" src="" width="200" height="93" />
A US$1 billion expansion of the mine is currently underway to increase annual output by 10 million tones. Despite the global recession, Shougang Hierro Peru reported profits last year of US$145 million, a 50% increase over the previous year, and a figure almost three times the yearly profit of 2004. 
 
The national mining strike scheduled for 19-20 October is aimed at demanding compliance with the Labour Ministry resolution to raise the wages of Shougang Hierro miners, and will also demand the signing of a mining retirement bill by the government. In addition, FNTMMSP is seeking passage and enactment of mining profits legislation in Congress, which will assist all miners financially. 
 
The federated union also demands release of union leaders who were incarcerated for their involvement in a strike action at Minera Casapalca, and demands respect for the collective negotiation processes for both direct and outsourced workers. 
 
Peru is one of the world&rsquo;s top mining and metallurgical producers. The mining sector accounts for 60% of the country&rsquo;s total exports. The Marcona mine, 220 miles south of Lima, was bought by the Chinese national steel company in 1993.

Strike by Peru’s Miners Against China’s Shougang Group Hardens

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Strike by Peru’s Miners Against China’s Shougang Group Hardens

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