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Miners of the United Steelworkers (USW) in Canada are on strike at the Iron Ore Co. of Canada for better workplace protections and reductions to subcontracting. The strike, by 1,300 USW members at a mine and pellet plant in Labrador City, Newfoundland, and an export water facility at Sept-Iles, Quebec, also involves wages and benefits. 
 
Major mining house Rio Tinto owns 59% of Iron Ore Co. of Canada.
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USW members in Labrador City, over 1,000 strong, walked out on 8 March, while port workers of another USW branch union joined the strike last week. The two sides have not held talks since the strikes began. 
 
Management forced the strike with an inadequate pay package, and refusal to address the contractors&rsquo; issue, a matter that has brought hundreds of grievances by maintenance staff and production workers alike. 
 
&ldquo;The tipping point in this dispute included such fundamental issues as seniority rights,&rdquo; stated USW District 6 Director Wayne Fraser. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s all about corporate control. Workers deserve to have their most basic rights respected.&rdquo;
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USW Disrtict 6 Director Wayne Fraser
Just minutes after the strike deadline on 8 March, management slid a revised offer under the office door of the branch unions&rsquo; bargaining committee. The company did move some on wages, and dropped its unfettered right to contract out any job at the mine site and pellet plant. But it was too little to stop the strike. 
 
The two USW unions in Labrador City, Locals 5795 and 6731, have 500 grievances pending for arbitration. Many of these grievances involve work being performed by contractors, work that could be done by USW miners. Despite movement on the wage and benefit package, the company&rsquo;s 8 March offer still falls short of what other mining companies in eastern Canada pay. 
 
&ldquo;This fight is about recognizing the intrinsic value our members bring to this operation,&rdquo; stated USW Local 5795 President George Kean. The year &ldquo;2006 broke all production records and our members gave the company the biggest profit in its history.&rdquo; 
 
Kean said employee morale is at an all-time low, citing a company survey of workers revealed that 87% of them felt they were not treated with respect and dignity. Management has turned a deaf ear to the survey. 
 
USW Locals 5795 and 6731, on 1 March, voted by 98% to strike. The 250 port and dock workers at Sept-Iles, represented by USW Local 9344, voted to strike on 14 March, also with a 98% ballot. 
 
The grievances and subcontracting issues date to 2004, when workers at the two locations undertook a 12-week strike to win a renewal labour agreement.

Work Issues, Subcontracting Cause Mining Strike at Canadian Rio Tinto Subsidiary

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On Saturday, 24 March, ICEM Peruvian affiliate Federaci&oacute;n Nacional Unitaria de Los Trabajadores Petroleros, Energ&eacute;ticos y Conexos (FENUPETROL) conducted manifestations in the northern region of Talara against trade union abuses by multinational enterprises. The protests drew thousands of workers. 
 
In a mobilisation statement, FENUPETROL said the provincial protests are against abuses of trade union freedom, and for fair collective bargaining and real corporate social responsibility. The union added that it wanted the world to know that it would not tolerate the &ldquo;violations and laws that are not being respected by transnational companies in our sectors.&rdquo;
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It cited seven major companies and five contracting employers for the abuses: Petrotech, Peruana S.A., Petrobras, PlusPetrol, SAPET, Gra&ntilde;a y Montero, and Mercantil, among major employers; and Skanska del Peru, Ini del Peru SAC, Petrex, Cosmos, and Energy Service, among service providers. 
 
FENUPETROL said proof of corporate disregard for workers&rsquo; rights lies in the &ldquo;denunciations&rdquo; made in administrative and judicial proceedings of government.
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FENUPETROL said such abuses occur in freedom of association, collective bargaining, punishment and disciplinary measures, non-payment for overtime work, working time issues, and arbitrary dismissals. &ldquo;What may be the worse,&rdquo; read the union&rsquo;s statement, &ldquo;is the very frequent use of contract work, which forces workers to accept inadequate conditions, and without receiving social benefits.&rdquo; 
 
The 24 March manifestation had the support of provincial Mayor Jose Vitonera Infante, who FENUPETROL describes as someone extremely &ldquo;supportive of our struggle.&rdquo; The union said Saturday&rsquo;s protest follows the example set by union martyrs such as Alejandro Taboada, Mart&iacute;n Chomo, Sinforos Benites, and others.

Peruvian Affiliate Leads Protests Against Trade Union Abuses

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The ICEM&rsquo;s Goodyear Global Union Network convened in Akron, Ohio, on 19-20 March, and 50 trade union leaders from 12 countries attended. The Network expanded its steering committee, and pledged greater communication and exchange of data between workers at all of Goodyear&rsquo;s global operations. 
 
The Goodyear Network is coordinated by the United Steelworkers (USW), based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
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Trade Unionists at Goodyear
The union Network meetings, held in the US city of Goodyear&rsquo;s global headquarters, produced a statement, which included a call for management to begin discussions on a global agreement, starting with talks on occupational health, safety, and environmental issues.&rdquo; 
 
The statement also said: &ldquo;Given Goodyear&rsquo;s increasing size and global scope, it is important that unions participating in the Goodyear Global Union Network recommit their efforts to secure and promote the rights for all workers worldwide at Goodyear. As part of those efforts, we pledge to increase the effective functioning of the Network steering committee and to expand and improve Network communications.&rdquo; 
 
Reports on the recent 86-day strike in North America were heard, and labour situations in which Goodyear has displayed disagreeable human conduct were also reported. Updates were presented on bargaining scheduled to begin in South Africa and Turkey.
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&nbsp;Anan Pol-ung and ICEM Project Coordinator Aranya Pakapath of Thailand
Trade unionists also heard longstanding problems that exist in Goodyear&rsquo;s Bangkok tyre factory. They heard of Thai management&rsquo;s continuing waste of resources to fight the legitimate rights of contract workers inside Thai courts, and unionists met and heard from Anan Pol-ung, former president of the factory-level union in Bangkok, who was fired last year. 
 
The Network voiced strong support for him, and called on the company to properly restore him to his job at Goodyear in Thailand. Anan first drew the ire of Goodyear&rsquo;s Thai management over two years ago when he made a stand with over 20 contract workers, many of whom had been working in the warehouse and rubber stock department of Goodyear&rsquo;s Bangkok factory for up to 10 years under single-year individual contracts. 
 
Goodyear sacked the contract workers when they sought freedom of association rights. They were seeking to join with full-time employees at the 500-worker factory in organising with ICEM affiliate Petroleum and Chemical Workers&rsquo; Federation of Thailand. 
 
The expanded Goodyear Network elected Tom Conway, USW Vice President, as chairman. Other trade union leaders elected to join the steering committee include Carlos Antonio de Silva of Brazil and Werner Staniewski of Germany. Besides representatives from unions in Brazil, Germany, South Africa, Thailand, Turkey, and US attending, delegates also came from Canada, Chile, France, Peru, Poland, and UK.

Goodyear Global Rubber Unions Meet in Akron, US

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The Lafarge Group of France has become intransigent in a year-long dispute with subcontracting workers at a cement plant in South Korea. Despite ICEM and Building and Woodworkers&rsquo; International (BWI) insistence that the company drop legal appeals over freedom of association rights won for eight contract workers, Lafarge continues to spend money and resources on appealing an issue that involves trade union organisation.
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In March 2006, managers at Lafarge&rsquo;s Okgye, South Province, cement plant fired 13 workers, after 21 of 35 workers of Woojin Industry, a subcontractor of Lafarge, joined the Korean Chemical and Textile Workers Federation (KCTF). Lafarge also cancelled the contract of Woojin, and shifted the equipment and jobs to two other subcontractors, Sehwa Industry and Daewon Industry. 
 
In late September 2006, the Gangwon Regional Labour Relations Commission ruled that Lafarge is legally the employer for the dismissed contract workers, since they worked as agency workers for more than two years. The court ordered Lafarge to re-employ the workers, and pay them for the periods of dismissal. 
 
When Lafarge failed to adhere to the ruling, KCFT was forced to take the case to the National Labor Relations Commission. In November, the ICEM and BWI strongly urged senior managers of Lafarge &ndash; through the Global Framework Agreement the two labour federations have with the company &ndash; to step in to resolve the matter in good faith. A month later, in December 2006, the Gangwon Regional Commission issued unfair labour practice citations on Lafarge for failing to negotiate with KCFT over the matter.
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The dismissed workers have conducted sit-downs and picketing at the cement plant, as well as at Lafarge&rsquo;s offices in Seoul and the home of new Lafarge Halla CEO Frederic de Rougemont. Throughout 2006, Lafarge in South Korea has dispatched mid-level managers to talk with KCFT, who have no authority to act. 
 
The case is now before the central labour commission, with Lafarge employing expensive and wasteful counsel to reverse the freedom of association rights inherent for all workers at the Okgye cement plant. 
 
The ICEM and BWI will continue to press this issue through all available avenues. Lafarge acquired Halla Cement of Korea in 1998.

Lafarge Resisting Unionisation of Contract Workers at Korean Cement Plant

The 20-million-member International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine &amp; General Workers&rsquo; Unions (ICEM) has expressed deep condolences to both its Russian trade union affiliate, the Russian Independent Coal Miners&rsquo; Union (ROSUGLEPROF), and the families of the coal miners killed in the Kemerovo region of Siberia. 
 
As of mid-afternoon today, 20 March, a total of 106 miners had been confirmed dead, with another four unaccounted for, making it Russia&rsquo;s deadliest coal mine disaster in modern times. The gas explosion occurred at the Ulyanonskaya mine in Novokuznetsk, Kemerovo, part of the coal-rich Kuzbass region of southern Siberia. Ninety-two miners have been rescued so far. 
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ROSUGLEPROF President Ivan Mokhnachuk
A communiqu&eacute; was dispatched this afternoon by the ICEM to the mine&rsquo;s shop steward Mikhail Shutov, whose son was one the 106 miners killed, and to mine manager Andrei Funk. The ICEM also has been in contract with ROSUGLEPROF leadership, including President Ivan Mokhnachuk since the tragic accident occurred in the early afternoon of Monday, 19 March. 
 
ROSUGLEPROF Vice President Ruben Badalov flew from the union&rsquo;s office in Moscow yesterday to Novokuznetsk. Badalov is an elected member of Russia&rsquo;s Duma, and is part of the official investigation team. 
 
In the ICEM letter from General Secretary Manfred Warda to the mine&rsquo;s shop steward and manager, the Global Union Federation for the Mining sector, stated, &ldquo;Please, tell the families of those killed in this horrible disaster that in this hour of grief, we are joined with them. The sorrow that has crushed down on them doubles our determination to fight for safe mines everywhere.&rdquo; 
 
A total of 203 miners were working 270 metres underground when a methane explosion occurred. Preliminary reports say that a roof collapsed inside the mine, either releasing or forcing high levels of methane gas through mine shafts. 
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Those levels did register on newly-installed and British-made gas detection equipment, ironically, as a British safety specialist was inspecting the equipment underground. He was accompanied by an interpreter, the mine&rsquo;s chief engineer, and some 20 other managers and technicians from the mine. All were killed in the blast. 
 
The Ulyanonskaya mine, 50% owned by the major Russian steel and metals company Evraz Group SA, employs a total of 1,068&nbsp;workers, of which 1,024 are ROSUGLEPROF union members. The mine started up in 2002 and produces about three million tonnes of coal annually. The mine&rsquo;s reserves are 230 million tonnes. 
 
The ICEM affiliates 384 industrial trade unions in 125 countries. The Global Union Federation represents a total of two million coal miners worldwide.

ICEM&#039;s Russian Affiliate, ROSUGLEPROF, Probes Tragic Coal Mine Disaster

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The Communications, Energy and Paperworkers (CEP) Union of Canada has chosen Petro-Canada and its 135,000-per-day refinery near Edmonton, province of Alberta, as the lead enterprise for its 2007-2008 National Energy and Chemical Bargaining Programme. 
 
That decision was made by the CEP&rsquo;s Energy and Chemical Advisory Committee on 1 March after a three-month process. 
 
&ldquo;We chose to negotiate the pattern in Edmonton because we believe that the oil and gas sector and the labour market conditions in Alberta create the best conditions to deliver the kind of settlement that our members are expecting,&rdquo; stated National Energy Bargaining Coordinator Joe Gargiso. 
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CEP's Joe Gargiso
The CEP&rsquo;s National Energy and Chemical Bargaining Committee will conduct the national pattern bargaining negotiations, while CEP Local 501A of Sherwood Park, Alberta, conducts local negotiations at the refinery. 
 
&ldquo;There is no doubt that this industry can well afford a significant wage increase as well as other improvements,&rdquo; said CEP President Dave Coles. &ldquo;I want to acknowledge the role Local 501A is prepared to play in stepping out in front to set the pattern.&rdquo; 
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CEP President Dave Coles
Once the CEP comes to terms with Petro-Canada at its refinery near Edmonton, the union will hold a bargaining conference with all energy local unions to ratify the proposed agreement for pattern issues. The CEP&rsquo;s process to choose a lead company started in December when it entered into consultations with all major employers in the oil, gas, and petrochemical industries. 
The union further met with Petro-Canada in February. This meeting was followed by a special meeting of all CEP Petro-Canada local unions in Toronto on 24 February.

CEP in Canada Chooses Petro-Canada Refinery in Alberta as Lead for Pattern Bargaining

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ICEM affiliate in North America, the United Steelworkers (USW), will host a two-day meeting next week for global union leaders of Goodyear rubber plants. The purpose of the meeting is to expand the steering committee of the Goodyear Network for more effective actions. 
 
This ICEM Network meeting will be held on 19-20 March, at the union hall of USW Local 2, Akron, state of Ohio. Akron is also the world headquarters for the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company. 
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The agenda will include a presentation on the structure of the ICEM Goodyear Global Union Network, and national reports on Goodyear&rsquo;s record of labour relations from across the world. The meeting will take up improving communications across the network, and will develop a solidarity action plan for trade unions representing Goodyear workers. 
 
Besides union leaders from USW local branches at some 16 Goodyear plants, union leaders from Goodyear enterprises in Canada, Chile, France, Germany, Peru, Poland, Thailand, Turkey, South Africa, and the UK will attend the USW-sponsored Goodyear Global Union Network.

USW to Host Goodyear Global Union Network of Workers Next Week

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On 8 March, ICEM affiliate IGBCE and BAVC, the chemical employers&rsquo; association in Germany, came to terms on a 14-month renewal contract covering 550,000 chemical workers. The contract includes adequate pay gains, but, more importantly, continues a trend of job growth inside Germany&rsquo;s chemicals sector. 
 
A salary increase of 3.6% is the base of the agreement. Workers will also receive an extra payment of 0.7% of their salary, times 13 months, before 30 June 2007 as a one-off. An additional lump sum tied to training is also included. 
 
&ldquo;The percentage increase, combined with the one-time payment, gives us an increase of 4.3%,&rdquo; said IGBCE Head of Collective Bargaining, Werner Bischoff. &ldquo;This is an acceptable and a decent compromise.&rdquo; Bischoff said protests by workers after the first round of national talks on 8 February had moved the BAVC at the bargaining table. 
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The IGBCE also won rights for 16,800 training placements to occur in 2007 and 2008, a proud achievement for the union in a four-year-old programme to retain and develop highly-skilled German chemical workers. 
 
&ldquo;It is good that we continue the efforts in the area of training at this high level,&rdquo; said Bischoff, adding that the IGBCE and chemical employers succeeded in meeting social responsibility goals. 
 
The renewal agreement, which effectively covers some 19,000 chemical employers, also calls for 2009 and 2010 levels of new training jobs to be determined inside collective bargaining. Bischoff noted that, through the 8 March agreement reached in Lahnstein, the IGBCE&rsquo;s &ldquo;Future through Training&rdquo; programme, which began in the 2003&rsquo;s round of collective bargaining, is now engendered until at least 2010.

IGBCE Secures Wage Gains, Furthers Job Opportunities in Germany’s Chemicals Sector

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At a merger Congress in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, last week, ICEM affiliate National Union of Workers in Electricity and Gas (SYNASEG), and the National Union of Workers in the Water Sector (SYNATRASE) formally came together to form FESENE, the Trade Union Federation of Energy and Water Workers. 
 
SYNASEG Gen. Sec. Fran&ccedil;ois Yao will hold the same position inside FESENE. He said the birth of the union is based on two principles, the right to association and the common fact that there is strength in unity. &ldquo;Wherever there is an economic power, there needs to be a trade union counterpart,&rdquo; said Yao at a press conference introducing the new union. 
 
The merger of the two unions occurs at a time when SYNASEG remains in dispute with CIE, the country&rsquo;s electricity operator and a subsidiary of the Bouygues Group. The ICEM affiliate suspended a strike, scheduled to start last week, after national ministers for Public Works and Energy and Mines agreed to mediate social dialogue. 
<img height="143" src="" width="100" alt="" />
General Secretary Fran&ccedil;ois Yao
CIE has engaged in systematic attacks on SYNASEG since 2005. Then, the union backed the government&rsquo;s reform of the national electric sector, which called for re-nationalising and not renewing Bouygues&rsquo; 15-year contract. But the government changed its policy and did award another 15-year contract to the French company. CIE retaliated over the following year by refusing to engage in social dialogue, and obstructing basic trade union rights. 
 
The current dispute centers on salary increases and the company&rsquo;s handling of a Mutual Investment Fund, established for training, placement, and other worker needs. SYNASEG members contribute to the fund, but CIE uses the money for purposes other than what it is intended for. 
 
Yao said the union will assess this week&rsquo;s mediation efforts by the two national ministers on 15 March, and take whatever action is necessary following that date.

ICEM’s Ivory Coast Affiliate, SYNASEG, Announces Merger with Water Workers’ Union

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ICEM South African affiliate, the Chemical, Energy, Paper, Printing, Wood and Allied Workers&rsquo; Union (CEPPWAWU), raised some legitimate concerns at the annual general meeting of pulp and paper produce Sappi on 5 March. 
 
The union asked acting CEO Eugene van As why the South African-based company faces such high staff turnover, particularly among technical workers. It also asked why Sappi does not have a viable succession plan in place for executives. 
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The latter point was a reference to the dismissal of CEO John Leslie last year, just two years after he left Rio Tinto to replace van As as Sappi&rsquo;s CEO. The world&rsquo;s number one producer of fine coated paper also lost three other executive directors last year, including Finance Director Don Wilson. 
 
CEPPWAWU demanded to know if there was any prospect of a new CEO being appointed soon, or if van As would stay on. The union also said poor morale in the South African operations of the company was the cause of high turnovers, both at lower levels of the workforce and among technical staff. &ldquo;Why are these resigning?&rdquo; asked CEPPWAWU Organiser Michael Mokoana. 
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Van As, who resigned in 2003 to take up the post of non-executive chairman after 25 years as CEO, stepped back in last year as acting CEO. In response to CEPPWAWU&rsquo;s question, he said it was not his intention to stay in the position. &ldquo;This is not where I wanted to be &hellip; not where I should be, but this is what we had to do.&rdquo; 
 
Van As admitted the company was concerned about the turnover, but said it was not abnormally high. He did admit that six months ago, a number of key people in the company&rsquo;s Johannesburg head office did depart. 
 
Sappi employs about 15,000 people in South Africa, Europe, and North America, with roughly half that number in South Africa, where the company operates pulp and paper mills, wood products operations, and manages timberlands.

CEPPWAWU Brings Concerns over Sappi’s Management to AGM in South Africa

Archive

Work Issues, Subcontracting Cause Mining Strike at Canadian Rio Tinto Subsidiary

Peruvian Affiliate Leads Protests Against Trade Union Abuses

Goodyear Global Rubber Unions Meet in Akron, US

Lafarge Resisting Unionisation of Contract Workers at Korean Cement Plant

ICEM's Russian Affiliate, ROSUGLEPROF, Probes Tragic Coal Mine Disaster

CEP in Canada Chooses Petro-Canada Refinery in Alberta as Lead for Pattern Bargaining

USW to Host Goodyear Global Union Network of Workers Next Week

IGBCE Secures Wage Gains, Furthers Job Opportunities in Germany’s Chemicals Sector

ICEM’s Ivory Coast Affiliate, SYNASEG, Announces Merger with Water Workers’ Union

CEPPWAWU Brings Concerns over Sappi’s Management to AGM in South Africa

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