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Juan Linares Montufar was released from jail today, in what trade unionists around the world are calling a victory for international solidarity against the repressive Mexican government. The release, in which more details will be forthcoming, comes one week after trade unions around the world conducted a week-long &quot;Global Days of Action&quot; for trade union rights in Mexico. 
 
Linares was a political prisoner, held illegally since 3 December 2008 and without bond since his arrest. The sham charges against him all relate to the transfer of funds from a Trust created by his trade union, the National Union of Mine, Metal and Steel Workers (SNTMMSSRM) to the union. His detention is one part of the campaign of trade union intimidation and repression by the Mexican government.
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Juan Linares is the President of the Oversight and Justice Council of the SNTMMSSRM, also known as Los Mineros. 
The transfer of the trust funds was perfectly legal under Mexican law; in addition to being a protected exercise of trade union autonomy under ILO Convention 87. Two state charges against Linares were dismissed during his time incarcerated, but a federal charge against him was dragged out while the courts denied him bail. 
Linares was held at the Reclusorio Norte prison in Mexico City. He received regular visits from his family, other Mineros leaders, and international trade union delegations from around the world. To all his visitors, Linares had one message: &ldquo;I could walk out of this jail tomorrow if I were willing to betray my union. But I will never do that.&rdquo;

Mexican Trade Unionist Juan Linares Released from Jail

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For a country in which 49% of all export revenue is derived from mining, Chile&rsquo;s mining safety is in the dark ages. A dichotomy was in full view last fall: while the government of Sebasti&aacute;n Pi&ntilde;era marshalled the very best global technical and engineering expertise to rescue 33 miners from the San Jos&eacute; copper mine under the world&rsquo;s spotlight, Chile continues to wallow in safety practices that are cumbersome, unmanageable, and deadly. 
 
Despite an October 18 Pi&ntilde;era promise heard throughout the world &ndash; five days after the rescue &ndash; that Chile would reform a disjointed national safety structure and adopt global standards, nothing has happened. In fact, in early 2011 ICEM met with senior government officials and was told there is nothing on the agenda to reform internal safety standards or to adopt global standards. 
 
The ICEM reminded the leaders that just as Pi&ntilde;era lifted Chile&rsquo;s world status during the rescue, the country&rsquo;s significance is because it is a rich exporter of basic metals and minerals. If it is to be world-class in any way, it must implement world-class safe mining practices for the workers who dig those riches. 
 
Thus, the ICEM, together with the IMF, began a campaign to press the Pi&ntilde;era government for change. That campaign was joined by other Global Union Federations, national unions, and trade union activists to demand that Chile ratify ILO Convention 176, the Safety and Health in Mines Convention. (See <a href="/en/209-ILO ">ICEM&rsquo;s global Convention 176 campaign</a>.) 
 
The campaign was joined simultaneously by unions affiliated with Chile&rsquo;s two main mine union federations, representing workers at both state-run copper company Codelco and at the major mining houses that own large-scale operations. 
 
Government cynicism might best be found in the commission Pi&ntilde;era set up to investigate San Jos&eacute;. No trade union representatives were invited to sit on the commission, even though 130 miners were represented by a union. ILO Convention 176 states that workers and their trade unions shall participate in mine inspections and accident investigations. 
 
At San Jos&eacute;, Union No. 2 of Campa&ntilde;ia Minera San Esteban repeatedly warned of safety hazards and once even presented a legal challenge to close the mine. But the common refrain from both government and industry when unions warn on safety and health conditions is that the union&rsquo;s duty is to negotiate economics, not to take part in safety or health matters. 
 
After a miner was killed in 2007, San Jos&eacute; was shut for a brief period by SERNAGEOMIN, the National Service of Geology and Mining. But it quickly reopened on orders from another government official who failed to read the closure report, and relied on the owner&rsquo;s pledge that deficiencies would be corrected. 
 
One such pledge was to install a ladder through a ventilation shaft as a second exit, a standard in Convention 176. That was not done, there were no follow-up inspections, and the lack of a second exit, in fact, led to the 69-day entrapment of the 33 miners. 
 
SERNAGEOMIN is not a health and safety inspectorate. It plays that role, but so do bureaus inside six Chilean ministries. Chile has overlapping safety agencies inside the six that cover all sectors of work. None of them have judicial powers to enforce the few regulations there are in mining and all are without the technical capabilities to inspect and prevent accidents before they happen. 
 
In short, all prerequisites of Convention 176 are missing in Chile: regular inspections, set procedures to report and investigate dangerous occurrences and accidents, trade union consultation, regulatory bodies with the authority to shut dangerous mines, the right to refuse unsafe work, workers&rsquo; ability to select their own safety representatives, and employer obligations to provide training. Convention 176 places responsibility on employers to not only remove workplace hazards, but to remove the causes of those hazards. 
 
That is why the ICEM has targeted Chile for reforming not only its own mine safety laws, but to ratify, implement, and fully adhere to the standards of ILO Convention 176.

Global Unions to Hold Chile Accountable on Mine Safety

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In a powerful display of international solidarity, trade unions in over 40 countries on five continents took action demanding trade union rights in Mexico from February 14-19, 2011. Unions from around the globe came together holding actions, writing letters and taking meetings with Mexican ambassadors and political figures to highlight massive labour rights violations in Mexico. Everywhere the message to the Mexican government was the same: 
&bull; Hold employer and government officials accountable for the Pasta de Conchos mine explosion that killed 65 miners on February 19, 2006. 
&bull; Abolish systemic violations of workers' freedom of association, including employer-dominated &quot;protection contracts&quot; and interference in union elections. 
&bull; End the use of force-by the state or private parties-to repress workers' legitimate demands for democratic unions, better wages and working conditions, and good health and safety conditions. 
&bull; End the campaign of political persecution against the Mexican Miners' Union (Los Mineros) and the Mexican Electrical Workers' Union (SME). 
<img alt="" src="" width="334" height="188" />
Mexico City
In <a href="http://www.imfmetal.org/index.cfm?c=25486&amp;l=2">Mexico</a> itself each day of action was marked with the independent labour movement conducting over 27 actions throughout the country, including visits to embassies of 23 countries, a march and demonstration in Mexico City, seminars and a protest rally at the Monument of the Revolution. The leaders of Los Mineros and SME signed a pact of national unity. 
 
In <a href="http://www.imfmetal.org/index.cfm?c=25465&amp;l=2">Canada</a>, high-level trade union delegations met with Mexican ambassadors and consuls in four cities, while pickets continued outside. In six cities across the US, rallies, meetings with ambassadors and consuls, and pickets, sent the clear message to the Mexican Calder&oacute;n government that pressure is building inside the country&rsquo;s largest trading partner that labour rights abuses must end. 
<img alt="" src="" width="285" height="187" />
Washington DC
Elsewhere more than 50 meetings with embassy representatives or policymakers took place, shining a light on Mexico's refusal to honour its international commitments to respect Freedom of Association. In <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4238-Mexico-Days-of-Action-Begin">Switzerland</a>, the office of the Ambassador to the United Nations was targeted by a rally and other significant actions took place in <a href="http://www.imfmetal.org/index.cfm?c=25463&amp;l=2">Australia</a>, <a href="http://www.imfmetal.org/index.cfm?c=25469&amp;l=2">Belgium</a>, <a href="http://www.imfmetal.org/index.cfm?c=25476&amp;l=2">Brazil</a>, <a href="http://www.imfmetal.org/index.cfm?c=25528&amp;l=2">France</a>, <a href="http://www.imfmetal.org/index.cfm?c=25548&amp;l=2">India</a>, <a href="http://www.imfmetal.org/index.cfm?c=25552&amp;l=2">Indonesia</a>, <a href="http://www.imfmetal.org/index.cfm?c=25713&amp;l=2">Italy</a>, <a href="http://www.imfmetal.org/index.cfm?c=25590&amp;l=2">Japan</a>, <a href="http://www.imfmetal.org/index.cfm?c=25544&amp;l=2">New Zealand</a>, <a href="http://www.imfmetal.org/index.cfm?c=25513&amp;l=2">Russia</a>, <a href="http://www.imfmetal.org/index.cfm?c=25608&amp;l=2">South Africa</a>, and <a href="http://www.imfmetal.org/index.cfm?c=25492&amp;l=2">Spain</a>. 
 
These actions were key as the Committee on Freedom of Association met in the first week of March at the International Labour Organisation (ILO) to discuss three significant complaints filed against Mexico, two regarding union autonomy and the other regarding &quot;protection contracts&quot;. 
<img alt="" src="" width="285" height="189" />
Moscow
You can still join the <a href="http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/solidarityforever/show_campaign.cgi?c=863">campaign through LabourStart</a> by sending a message to Calder&oacute;n. More than 3,500 messages were sent via the campaign in the first week, and the numbers are growing every day. 
 
The action in support of the democratic and independent trade unions in Mexico was initiated by unions from around the world affiliated to the International Metalworkers' Federation (IMF), International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM), International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF), UNI Global Union, and the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC). 
 
In addition, the International Textile, Garment, &amp; Leather Workers Federation (ITGLWF) called for <a href="http://www.itglwf.org/lang/en/ITGLWFCallsforFundamentalRightsintheMexicanGarmentSector.html ">fundamental rights in the Mexican garment sector</a>, where &ldquo;protection contracts&rdquo; deny workers of their basic labour rights, as is the case throughout Mexico. 
 
<a href="http://www.imfmetal.org/mexico2011 ">Click here for more information</a>.

Unions Join Forces to Demand Trade Union Rights in Mexico

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Welcome to this first issue of a quarterly newsletter in 2011 of IMF, ICEM and ITGLWF aimed at providing information on the creation of a new International uniting industrial workers. 
 
Trade unions around the world affiliated to the International Metalworkers' Federation (IMF), the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM), and the International Textile, Garment, and Leather Workers Federation (ITGLWF) have a common interest in becoming a stronger voice for industrial workers. 
 
A joint IMF-ICEM-ITGLWF task force met in Japan in February to continue its examination of how to unify the world's industrial workers into one global union federation. 
 
Task force members of the three Global Union Federations (GUFs) from five continents confirmed the rationale of creating a united voice of the industrial workers of the world, and a strong counter-power to major transnational corporations. Unions want to underline the role of manufacturing industry as the locomotive of national economies and as a creator of good quality jobs with decent working conditions and trade union rights. 
 
The task force heard the reports from the working groups on statutes and finances, and discussed in detail the decision-making, regional and sectoral structures of a possible new GUF. The task force decided to meet again on May 5 in Frankfurt, Germany, to finalize a proposal to the Executive Committees of the three organizations at the end of May. 
 
Already the three GUFs work together on a number of joint areas and through joint initiatives in trade union rights and campaigns, precarious work, climate change, sustainable trade and development, networking and union building, and have demonstrated the advantages of greater unity. 
 
By creating a new International and combining our strengths we believe we can do more to mobilize workers, defend trade union rights, and organize unorganized workers throughout supply chains into strong and self-reliant unions. Together we can create a powerful counterpart to transnational corporations and fight more forcefully for good quality industrial jobs and against precarious forms of employment. 
 
By combining resources we can achieve greater visibility and impact, better service to affiliates, and find synergies through a reduction of overlapping activities. 
 
In this and future issues of our joint newsletter in 2011, we hope to show just how industrial workers around the world are Stronger Together! 
 
Jyrki Raina 
Manfred Warda 
Patrick Itschert

IMF, ICEM, ITGLWF Move Towards Creating a New International

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	ICEM Colombia Coordinator Carlos Bustos reports that a two-day seminar of young trade unionists from the three Global Union Federations (GUFs) that next month will form IndustriALL came to important conclusions last week. The participation of 20 trade unionists under the age of 30 brought young men and women together from throughout Colombia on 10-11 May.

	Participating unions included International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF)affiliates Utramicol and Fetramecol, and Martina Sanguinetti of the Uruguayan Metalworkers (UNTMRA). Also participating were representatives of ICEM, and CUT and CTC national labour centres.

	The meeting sought to find ways to increase the active participation of youth. A key issue for participants was not for them to be consulted more, but to be centrally involved in decision-making and to be involved and represented at all levels inside unions. This includes deciding the politics and the future of the Colombian trade union movement.

	&nbsp;<img alt="" height="146" src="" width="180" />&nbsp;

	Carlos Bustos

	A commitment was reached to establish a permanent network for communication and information.

	The joint youth project of the three GUFs that also included the International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITGLWF) and was funded by the Finnish Solidarity Organisation, SASK. This project will connect similar processes that are ongoing in Brazil, Mexico, Uruguay, and Nicaragua with that in Colombia.

	ICEM project coordinator Patricio Sambonino evaluated the two-day Colombian seminar, saluting the important contribution and participation of the young trade unionists, moving towards generational change for the movement.

Young Colombian Trade Unionists of ICEM, ITGLWF, IMF Connect

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	The ICEM-affiliated Peruvian Federation of Mine and Metal Workers, FNTMMSP, achieved a significant legislative victory on 12 May that creates a pension fund for miners, funded by corporate profits and worker contributions.

	The law had been passed by the country&rsquo;s Senate nine months ago, but the government had not approved regulations for its implementation until now, two days prior to a planned two-day national strike.

	FNTMMSP General Secretary Luis Castillo announced the victory and called off the strike. The 75,000-member FNTMMSP had led the campaign for the last four years, against strong conservative forces in government and industry. The four-year campaign has included numerous mobilisations, marches, and three national strikes.

	<img alt="" src="" style="width: 342px;height: 154px" width="390">

	Supreme Decree DS 006-2012-TR sets out that the fund will be funded with 0.5% of the corporate annual income of the mining, metal, steel industries, plus 0.5% workers&rsquo; monthly gross salaries. The benefits cannot be used for any other benefit than miners&rsquo; pensions.

	FNTMMSP reports that the primary beneficiaries of the new law will be mine and metal workers from both primary employers and outsourced contractors.

	The mineworkers&rsquo; struggle now continues in other areas, including modification of the legislation on utilities.

	Peru is the world&rsquo;s second largest producer of copper and silver, and is a major producer of gold, zinc, and tin. A massive 60% of the country&rsquo;s export revenue comes from mining.

Peru’s Mineworkers Achieve Legislative Victory on Pensions, Avoid Strike

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	By the slimmest of vote margins, 2,000 UK petrol-tanker drivers represented by Unite the Union voted to accept a conciliation service&rsquo;s proposal, ending a months-long dispute between drivers and seven contract carriers involving work terms and conditions, including safety and subcontracting.

	The dispute, dating back to February, drove motorists into fuel-hoarding and panic-buying hysteria, mostly triggered by the over-reaction of Prime Minister David Cameron&rsquo;s government. The hysteria included a declaration that 1,400 British military personnel were being trained to deliver fuel oil to retail outlets as a strike precaution.

	An accumulated consultative ballot that was counted on 11 May found that 51% of the 69% of drivers who voted accepted the mediated proposal by UK&rsquo;s Advisory, Conciliation, and Mediation Services (ACAS) after eight days of non-stop bargaining. The vote was a re-ballot of one taken in March following concerns that some drivers were unable to vote.

	<img alt="" src="" style="width: 130px;height: 130px" width="390" />

	The ACAS-brokered agreement did introduce an industry-wide accreditation system called &ldquo;Passport,&rdquo; which must promptly be implemented to cover health, safety and training. One major concern to drivers was companies using sub-contract workers to deliver fuel, so creation of minimum industry-wide standards is expected to serve as deterrent.

	Unite warned that the overall narrow &ldquo;yes&rdquo; vote left no room for employer complacency. The union said the dispute uncovered deep-seated problems in UK&rsquo;s petrol supply, exacerbated by a mantra of &ldquo;profits before stability.&rdquo;

	&ldquo;This narrow vote in favour lifts the threat of strike action,&rdquo; said Unite Assistant General Secretary Diana Holland, &ldquo;but leaves the companies with no room for complacency. We look forward to the rapid implementation of the ACAS proposals which include an industry-wide &lsquo;Passport&rsquo;.&rdquo;

	Now, Unite, the seven oil companies, UK&rsquo;s Health and Safety Executive (HSE), and the Department for Energy, Environment and Climate Change &ndash; the government entity that threatened to break a strike with the military &ndash; must begin implementation of the &ldquo;Passport&rdquo; scheme by 1 June.

	The seven fuel distribution companies involved include the largest Hoyer, with 500 drivers, and Wincanton, DHL, BP, Norbert Dentressangle, JW Sucklings and Turners. Majorities of drivers at DHL, Wincanton, Hoyer, and Turners voted against the proposals, while those at BP, Norbert Dentressangle, and JW Sucklings voted in favour. The accumulated vote was 737 for, 711 against.

	The 2,000 drivers deliver 90% of UK&rsquo;s refined fuel oil products to thousands of retail petrol stations.

UK Truck Drivers Agree to Terms with Seven Fuel Distributing Companies

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	The 26th World Congress of the International Union of Food and Agricultural Workers&rsquo; Association (IUF) is now being held in Geneva 15-18 May. A major focus of the Congress is a united condemnation of the appalling behaviour of Swiss-based Nestl&eacute;, the largest food company in the world.

	The IUF has a longstanding campaign for the rights of workers throughout Nestl&eacute;&rsquo;s global facilities. Great victories have been won in Pakistan and Indonesia, but serious rights abuses of Nestl&eacute; workers in those countries continue, as they do other countries.

	This Congress will see affiliates, representing a combined 2.6 million trade union members, formulate a new plan of action to move Nestl&eacute; to act responsibly. The IUF Nespressure Campaign highlights the fast-growing profits of the market leader, CHF 110 billion in sales in 2011, with Nespresso one of the most profitable parts of the company. But even as profits soar for the company, management increases the pressure on its workers everywhere. Wages, conditions, and rights of Nestl&eacute; employees are constantly squeezed.

	&nbsp;<img alt="" src="" style="width: 120px;height: 120px" width="390">&nbsp;

	A new part of the global campaign will be launched at this week&rsquo;s Ccongress, and serves as a clear example of Nestl&eacute;&rsquo;s disregard for workers&rsquo; core labour rights. The &ldquo;We are the 53!&rdquo; campaign focuses on the vindictive mass-dismissal of 53 workers at a Nescaf&eacute; factory in Panjang, Indonesia. Those workers were sacked because they organised and attempted to assert their rights.

	The 53 are members of IUF affiliate SBNIP there and the union itself have struggled for years for the right to bargain collectively. When the bargaining deadlock forced workers to strike last year, management signed an agreement with the SBNIP to end the strike and subsequently promptly sacked the 53 key union activists.

	Congress will establish a Nestl&eacute; Panjang Justice Fund to assist the workers and their families who now face hardship because of Nestl&eacute;&rsquo;s disturbing actions.

	See more information, and support the online campaign at <a href="http://www.iuf.org/nespressure/en/">IUF&rsquo;s Nespressure website</a>&nbsp;here.

IUF Congress in Geneva Condemns Nestlé

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	From International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITGLWF)

	Workers making Olympic sportswear for London 2012 for top brands and high street names including adidas and Next are being paid poverty wages, forced to work excessive overtime and threatened with instant dismissal if they complain about working conditions, according to a recently released report Play Fair 2012 campaign.

	The report, <a href="http://www.itglwf.org/documents/Workers_in_Olympics_Supply_Factories_Human_Rights_25412.pdf">Fair Games? Human Rights of Workers in Olympic 2012 Supplier Factories</a>, uncovers a range of abuses, providing more evidence to increase the pressure on the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to act to improve the working conditions in Olympic supply chains in the run up to Rio 2016, says Play Fair.

	Last autumn, researchers working on behalf of Play Fair campaign, which includes the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), the International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITGLWF) and the Clean Clothes Campaign, visited ten factories &ndash; eight of which were producing Olympic goods &ndash; in China, the Philippines and Sri Lanka. Across the three countries they talked to 175 workers about their working conditions.

	<img alt="" src="" style="width: 129px;height: 186px" width="390">

	The &ldquo;Fair Games?&rdquo; report contains many examples where workers making Olympic goods have been badly treated, including:

	&bull; In China, workers at a factory in the Guangdong Province which produces sportswear for Adidas were contracted to work in two separate locations 200km apart so lived in fear of suddenly being sent miles from home for their jobs.

	&bull; Workers at the same Amerseas Enterprises Factory also complained of regularly having to do overtime in excess of the legal minimum (with working hours from 8am to 10pm not uncommon even at less busy times) and of not being able to wear the necessary safety masks to protect against dust because of unrealistic production targets.

	&bull; In the Philippines, workers complained of pay rates so low that they were forced to pawn their ATM cards to loan sharks for &lsquo;pay day loans&rsquo; to see them through the month. Workers in the factories producing for Adidas said they were also told when they started that overtime was compulsory.

	&bull; In Sri Lanka, workers also said that their pay was not enough to meet their basic needs &ndash; those questioned said they earned a maximum of LKR 25,000 a month (&pound;122), little more than half the country&rsquo;s living wage of LKR 45,000 (&pound;220).

	&bull; Workers at the Next Manufacturing factory in Sri Lanka reported how the company used an external agent to hire short-term temporary workers. The agent made the workers do double shifts each day &ndash; after completing a full shift plus overtime at Next, they were transferred to another factory where they had to work until 2.30am. The next morning they had to report for their 8am shift at Next.

	&bull; There were no unions permitted in any of the factories and in China, workers said that anyone talking to colleagues about the need to improve factory conditions would be dismissed instantly.

	Research undertaken by Play Fair camping earlier this year &ndash; which found evidence of child labour, excessive hours, poverty pay and dangerous working conditions in Chinese factories producing pin badges and London 2012 mascots &ndash; the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) agreed to get tougher with the factories in its various supply chains.

	This included making information about employment rights available in Chinese and establishing a Chinese language hotline so that workers could complain about ill treatment. The &ldquo;Fair Games?&rdquo; report shows that the abuse of workers in Olympic supply chains was also happening in other countries.

	To illustrate the extent of the problem and to convince the IOC that it needs to do more to improve the treatment of workers making goods for the next Games in Brazil, UK&rsquo;s Trades Union Congress (TUC) has submitted a number of complaints to LOCOG on behalf of the workers from China and the Philippines who are featured in the report.

	Klaus Priegnitz, General Secretary of the ITGLWF, which wrote the report, said: &ldquo;Prior to the Beijing Olympics Play Fair called on companies to take action to ensure the human rights of all workers in their supply chains were respected.

	&ldquo;Four years on we see that the denial of the right to freedom of association, the payment of poverty wages and the widespread use of precarious work is still the norm. Companies need to step up their game and work with unions to support the development of mature systems of industrial relations in their supplier factories.&rdquo;

ITGLWF Report Outlines Abuses of Workers Preparing Olympic 2012 Goods

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	Trade unions in the Czech Republic are mobilising for a large scale manifestation against the austerity measures of the right-wing government of Prime Minister Petr Necas, which aims to make workers pay for the crisis. The pressure is bringing the government close to collapse.

	On 22 May in Wenceslas Square in the centre of Prague, the unions will assemble tens of thousands of workers to manifest and then march through the capital. The unions are threatening a general strike if demands are not met. Top of the list of demands is for the government to postpone planned pension cuts until the economy recovers and a better assessment can occur.

	Further issues put on the table by 30 unions, united under the umbrella of International Trade Union Congress-affiliated CMKOS, include drawing money from the European Union to stimulate growth, and revision of the law on the right to strike.

	<img alt="" src="" style="width: 311px;height: 160px" width="390" />

	The enormous participation of 120,000 people at a 21 April demonstration against government reforms gave a strong mandate to organisers to continue the campaign.

	The &ldquo;STOP the Government&rdquo; platform includes 75 civil society organisations in partnership with CMKOS, and the campaign is running a permanent information tent in center Prague with public debates each evening with respected guests presenting economic alternatives to austerity.

	Protesters also plan to Occupy government ministries that are proposing damaging social cuts.

	Jaroslav Zavadil, head of CMKOS, tabled union demands in tripartite meetings with government. Employer representatives also want the government to follow EU funding and pro-growth measures. The next tripartite meeting is planned for 4 June, meetings that the unions will boycott if their demands have not been met.

	The Necas government, now half-way through its four-year term wants to introduce a second pillar pension system that will be completely privatised.

Czech Unions to Take Mass Action Against Government Austerity on 22 May

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