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From the International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation 

In a unanimous vote, the 300-member Central Committee of the International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF) moved to convene an extraordinary Congress in June 2012 to create a new global union for industrial workers. The action occurred on the second day of the Central Committee&rsquo;s meeting in Jakarta on 8 December. 

The new global union organization will unite workers of metal, mining, chemicals, energy and textile industries, and will bring the IMF together with the ICEM and the International Textile, Garment, Leathers Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITGLWF). The new global union, which will represent 50 million workers in 140 countries, will be launched on 18-20 June 2012 in Copenhagen, Denmark. 

Introducing the discussion on creation of the new global union, IMF President Berthold Huber said: &ldquo;Many of our members are working in companies that cut across different industrial sectors. We need to bundle up our forces to speak with a single voice of workers in the manufacturing industries.&rdquo;
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Berthold Huber
In a lively debate, delegates expressed hope about building a stronger counter-power to transnational corporations, and more focus and resources for organizing, fighting precarious work and defending trade union rights. Speakers emphasized the need to further improve gender balance in the different structures, including a 30% minimum share of women on statutory bodies and other forums. 

The Central Committee returned the proposal on presidents of IMF&rsquo;s industrial departments back to the Executive Committee in order to find a better gender and north-south balance.

IMF Central Committee Moves on Dissolution, Merger Congresses

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Like past years, the Communications, Energy, Paperworkers (CEP) Union of Canada held its bi-annual Women&rsquo;s Conference in the days around National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women in Canada on 6 December, the fateful date in 1989 when 14 young women were massacred at &Eacute;cole Polytechnique in Montreal in an anti-feminist rage. 
 
Some 350 women attended the CEP&rsquo;s 9th Women&rsquo;s Conference in Canada&rsquo;s national capital, Ottawa, from 4-6 December. The conference, entitled &ldquo;Imagine,&rdquo; included workshops on cyberstalking, gun registry, and street-proofing as deterrent for crime and violence against women.
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CEP Women&nbsp; 
 

On the morning of the conference&rsquo;s final day, former Governor General of Canada Micha&euml;lle Jean spoke and told of battered women&rsquo;s shelters in Quebec and the urgent need to engage young Canadians on the degradation that violence against women brings on societies. Following her address, delegates marched from the Westin Hotel in Ottawa to Parliament Hill, where a mass demonstration was occurring for gun control in Canada and the National Day of Remembrance of the Montreal Massacre. 
 
&ldquo;The gun control law is a monument erected in the memory of our daughters,&rdquo; said Suzanne Laplante-Edward, mother of Anne-Marie, who was slain at &Eacute;cole Polytechnique by a lone gunman. The CEP&rsquo;s Western Region Administrative Vice President, Wendy Sol, also spoke at the Parliament Hill manifestation. 
 
In an ICEM letter to delegates at the opening of the CEP&rsquo;s Women&rsquo;s Conference, the federation reminded Canadian women that the Montreal Massacre is rightfully marked in global observance of &ldquo;16 Days Against Gender Violence,&rdquo; as designated by the Global Campaign for Human Rights. Those 16 days began on 25 November with the UN International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, and continued across World Aids Day (1 December), the Montreal Massacre (6 December), and finally International Human Rights Day (10 December). 
 
The ICEM letter read: &ldquo;With the CEP Women&rsquo;s Conference occurring within these globally recognized 16 days, please tell your delegates that the ICEM is using this time frame and indeed, the entire new year, to remind all that gender equity will remain a major global priority.&rdquo;

CEP Holds 9th Women’s Conference in Ottawa, Canada

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Members of the United Steelworkers Local 207L numbering 1,050 are livid that management of Cooper Tire and Rubber in Findlay, Ohio, broke good-faith negotiations and locked them out on 28 November. They showed their anger on Saturday, 17 December, by manifesting strongly with other state and regional trade unionists in the northern Ohio town. 
 
To be sure, descendants of the founders of the company that gave birth to Cooper Tire are also unhappy with current management over the lockout. In a letter to top executives of America&rsquo;s fourth largest tyre maker on 9 December, Janet Clinger and Lingel Winters wrote that their grandfather &ldquo;Claude Hart adhered to the standards &hellip; believ(ing) that the company had a responsibility for the well-being of not only the shareholders, but the workers and the community.&rdquo; 
 
The <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4808-Cooper-Tire-and-Rubber-Locks-Out-Steelworkers-at-Ohio-Factory">lockout began</a> after workers rejected a concession-loaded proposal in late November and after the USW requested to continue work and continue bargaining. Cooper&rsquo;s lockout was sudden, unprovoked, and now damaging both to labour relations and workers&rsquo; lives. Within days of the lockout, the company proudly announced it would re-start production with managers and temporary scab workers.
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Lockout: War on Families
Cooper&rsquo;s war on rubber workers at its flagship factory was evident at the 17 December manifestation. USW Local 207L President Rod Nelson lamented misguided managers who weathered the 2008-09 US manufacturing downturn with no small help from workers&rsquo; pay-check concessions, and now return for more economic cuts from workers when profits are good and executive bonuses are back. 
 
&ldquo;Cooper hasn&rsquo;t been fair with us at the bargaining table,&rdquo; said Nelson, refuting a management that has lost touch with the company&rsquo;s founding principles. &ldquo;We don&rsquo;t lock people out of their jobs, we work through our problems.&rdquo; 
 
USW Secretary-Treasurer and ICEM Rubber Sector Chairman Stan Johnson told the rally that the union has responded globally and immediately received support from Serbian union Nezavisnost. That came within days of Cooper&rsquo;s 8 December announcement that it would buy early next year a tyre factory from Trayal Korporacija AD near Krusevac, Serbia. 
 
The USW also received an assist from its trans-Atlantic partner Unite the Union in bringing the lockout to the attention of workers at Cooper&rsquo;s Melksham, Wiltshire, UK. Unite has flooded the shop floor of former Avon Tyres Ltd., which Cooper bought in 1997, with leaflets, posters and details of the American lockout.
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Stan Johnson
&ldquo;This lockout is about greed and gluttony,&rdquo; said Johnson at Saturday&rsquo;s rally. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s about a shiny new jet (Cooper&rsquo;s new purchase) and it&rsquo;s about multi-million-dollar bonuses.&rdquo; 

It is also about abandoning the traditions of social responsibility, judging from the letter by descendants of founders Claude Hart and John Schaefer. Expressing disappointment, Clinger and Winters wrote, &ldquo;Locking out employees who helped the company during hard times and hiring scab workers to replace them subverts the purpose of collective bargaining. &ldquo; 
 
USW Local 207L and Cooper did return to the table on 13 December in talks supervised by US federal mediator Kevin Moyer. But those negotiations produced no trace of Cooper reconciliation, or rescinding of harsh contract terms. 
 
The stakes will now get higher between the USW and Copper as a contract expires on 20 January 2012 between USW Local 752L in Texarkana, Arkansas, and the Findlay-based company. The 1,500 workers there have voted to give their union committee a mandate to strike if necessary.

Steelworkers in Lockout Manifest against Copper Rubber in US

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On 30 November, the ICEM, International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation, and the International Textile, Garment, Leathers Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITGLWF) collaborated on an event entitled &ldquo;Cutting Emissions - Transforming Jobs.&rdquo; It was a key part of World of Work side events that were coordinated by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) at COP-17 in Durban, or the 17th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. 
 
It has become a tradition for trade unions to hold side events under the World of Work banner at COP meetings since COP-15 in 2009 in Copenhagen. 
 
The three Global Union Federations, speaking for workers in the resource, industrial, processing and other industries, held the event to discuss a sustainable foundation for Just Transition and to develop a common industrial strategy for the future of industrial workers. 
 
The panellists included: Philemon Shiburi, National Treasurer, National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA); Arvind Shrouti, Analyst, Option Positive, India; Anne Panneels, Senior Advisor on Sustainable Development, European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC); Bob Baugh, Executive Director, Industrial Union Council/AFL-CIO, US; and David Macatha, the National Treasurer of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), South Africa.
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Anne Panneels&nbsp;
All panellists were asked to consider the following points, from their particular regional and sectoral perspective: 
 
Post Kyoto Framework: Could a second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol be a solution to avoid a gap in emission reduction commitments and to re-build the legally-binding framework covering all countries in the future negotiation process? 
 
Building a Foundation-Climate Finance: How should the funding be designed/realized to achieve sustainable jobs and a Just Transition? What are the components of a strong financing scheme, e.g. mandatory contributions from governments, Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), levy on maritime transportation &amp; aviation, or other? 
 
Just Transition: What kinds of programmes are needed for industrial workers who are most dramatically affected by the climate change issues? How can both today's and tomorrow's workers benefit from the transformation to a sustainable economy? What support will be needed? 
 
Developing Industrial Strategy: Industrial strategies which aim towards sustainable production, the transformation and enhancement of existing jobs, and the creation of new, greener jobs are needed at local, national, regional and international levels. How could developed and developing countries be engaged to harmonize/develop respective industrial policies? 
 
Union&rsquo;s Role for the Future: How should unions get involved to transform industry and create new, greener jobs be designed and implemented with the full participation?
<img alt="" src="" width="120" height="113" />
Each panellist made a thought-provoking presentation. Philemon Shiburi emphasized the importance of a second Kyoto commitment period to Africans. Finance and technology transfer are essential. Existing jobs must be protected alongside new ones as renewable energy is developed. 
 
Arvind Shrouti identified inequalities as a barrier to sustainability and urged strengthened industrial democracy with worker participation in decision-making. Anne Panneels outlined some of the European efforts to design a long-term industrial strategy through social dialogue, for green and decent jobs that includes a Just Transition. 
 
Bob Baugh showed that in the USA many unions are committed to an industrial policy that endorses the concepts of &quot;green job&quot; transformation and creation through deployment of technology and training and education. David Macatha said that nothing can be accomplished without the efforts of workers to demand change, decent work, and a democratic renewal. 
 
The presentations showed that workers globally share a vision of an industrial and social strategy that promotes the transformation of existing jobs to a more sustainable model, as well as the creation of new, sustainable jobs that fulfil the ILO goals of &quot;decent work.&quot; The path towards a sustainable future for both today's and tomorrow's workers is strong investment in technological innovation, and a Just Transition.

COP-17 Union Panel Stresses Sustainable Industry in Climate Change Debate

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On 2 December, representatives of the ICEM Canadian affiliate Communications, Energy and Paperworkers (CEP) Union participated in a discussion on trade union perspectives on the Canadian bituminous sands, or tar sands or oil sands. 
 
Organized by the Cornell Global Labor Institute and the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) with the CEP, the session was part of the international trade union World of Work events held at the 17th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP-17) in Durban, South Africa. 
 
Jim Britton, CEP Western Region Vice-President, introduced the CEP and its membership. The CEP is Canada's energy union.
<img alt="" src="" width="120" height="100" />
Britton explained why the question of the tar sands cannot be separated from the question of the Keystone XL Pipeline, a new pipeline connecting the province of Alberta with US refineries. CEP has been opposed to the Keystone pipeline, and several previous pipeline proposals, for two reasons: the value-added processing of Canada's bitumen should take place in Canada; and the pipelines stand as a symptom of the lack of a sustainable energy policy in Canada, which is desperately needed. 
 
Sadly, these concerns have not found traction with Canada's present Conservative government, nor with the regulatory bodies or courts in Canada. 
 
An intelligent energy policy could ensure a rational continued development of the tar sands, with the creation of high-quality permanent jobs and a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. Canadians, including those who mine and process bitumen, want adequate regulation that ensures job creation, environmental protection, respects First Nations' rights, a growing economy and reduced risks for business. 
 
This is an area where everyone could win. Instead, Canada is sacrificing energy security and sustainability for short-term and short-sighted profits. It cannot be jobs &quot;or&quot; the environment, it must be both. CEP members expect it and the CEP will fight for it.
<img alt="" src="" width="150" height="132" />
Roland Lefort&nbsp;
Roland Lefort, President of CEP Local 707, representing thousands of oil sands workers, explained that his position was based on CEP policies on energy, the environment, and Just Transition that have been developed over many years and affirmed at successive CEP Conventions. Together, these call on Canada to develop a plan for the sustainable development of the oil sands. 
 
This plan would ensure, among other things: energy security for Canadians; carbon capture and storage for all new tar sands projects; the promotion of energy conservation; a well-funded Just Transition plan for energy workers and energy-dependent regions of the country; a fulfilment of Canada's commitments to stabilize and then cut greenhouse gas emissions. 
 
Oil sands workers in Canada believe in the science of climate change, the rights of aboriginal peoples, and the protection of Canada's resources. Their position is one of sustainable development. It disagrees with the proposition that there are only two positions on the issue of oil sands development &ndash; all or nothing. 
 
The present Canadian government and industry want to extract the oil sands without impediments or controls, while the environmental lobby, which is getting stronger by the day, wants to shut down the oil sands. The CEP believes that there is a position in between, a position of balance, a position for sustainability. 
 
To that effect, the CEP has been working to bring together government, labour, First Nations, and environmentalists to the table to develop the plan on energy as stated in our policies. 
 
Lefort's strong presentation in Durban, backed by his personal credibility as a miner and President of Canada's largest group of unionized oil sands workers, made a huge impact on the audience. 
 
Another panelist was Roger Toussaint of New York City and the Transport Workers&rsquo; Union (TWU). He stated that the issues involved in the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline affected everyone and his union decided it could not be silent on the issue. Instead of uncontrolled development, there is a potential to move towards a lower-carbon and just economy, with the creation of millions of good jobs in renewable energy, mass transportation, energy-efficient buildings, and the like. Toussaint believes that the global labour movement can lead this change and pointed out the forward-looking policies of the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) as an example.
<img alt="" src="" width="90" height="106" />
Asking a question from the floor, Anthony Jacobs, Director of National Construction Agreements for the ICEM-affiliated and US-based International Brotherhood of Boilermakers (IBB) stated that he understood Lefort's position, but passionately defended his union's support for the Keystone XL pipeline and the potential construction jobs it represented. Lefort said that he accepted and understood the IBB position but hoped that he understood CEP's. 
 
Other considerations in the debate on the Keystone XL pipeline include the US's dependency on foreign oil and the potential mutual economic benefit to Canada and the US. 
 
The event illustrated the value of unions' direct participation in international events such as COP-17. The value of an opportunity to hear directly from those affected is impossible to overstate.

Canada’s Tar Sands, Keystone Pipeline Gets Aired at COP-17

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The unjust decision to dismiss Rodolfo Vecino Acevedo, President of ICEM affiliate Uni&oacute;n Sindical Obrera (USO), was reversed on 12 January. Heavy pressure was exerted on the Colombian government and the management of Ecopetrol, the 95% state-owned oil company. 
 
Letters were sent to Ecopetrol president Javier Gutierrez Pemberthy from all corners of the world, from trade union organisations and activists angered by the blatant attempt to derail the union and punish Vecino for his role in the strong campaign for improved conditions and salaries at Canadian-based Pacific Rubiales. 
<img alt="" src="" width="216" height="159" />
Rodolfo Vecino centre, with Manfred Warda and Carlos Bustos
The decision to dismiss Vecino and end his 27-year employment at Ecopetrol was taken on 13 December by the company&rsquo;s Office for Internal Discipline, and was only overturned after the company president bowed to pressure and instructed overturn the office&rsquo;s decision. 
 
This victory must now send a strong message to Ecopetrol&rsquo;s Office for Internal Discipline that they must end the ongoing attempts to dismiss other USO officials and activists. The USO General Secretary Edgardo Lozano was to be the next target. 
 
The shoddy charge used to dismiss Vecino had been linked to his participation at a political event marking the anniversary of the death of a previous Vice-President of the CUT. 
 
Legislation had been manipulated which stipulates individuals holding public office cannot be involved in partisan politics. This legislation clearly should not apply to trade unionists, and this decision being overturned has avoided a dangerous new precedent. 
 
See more details in the <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4832-ICEM-Affiliates-Called-on-to-Support-Sacked-Colombian-USO-President-Rodolfo-Vecino">ICEM news article</a> here.

Global Pressure Gets USO President Reinstated at Ecopetrol

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On 1 January, Rio Tinto&rsquo;s aluminium subsidiary Alcan threw 780 Canadian members of United Steelworkers (USW) Local 9490 out of work at the Alma smelter and refinery in Saguenay-lac-Saint-Jean region, Qu&eacute;bec. 
 
The callous lockout, as reported here in this <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4837-USW-Affiliate-in-Québec-Locked-Out-by-Rio-Tinto-at-Aluminium-Plant ">ICEM dispatch</a>, came exactly at contract expiration of a prior five-year labour pact and simultaneously, Rio Tinto did little to hide the fact that because global aluminium prices had slumped, a full 11% of Alcan&rsquo;s workforce would face layoffs. 
 
Last week, the ICEM and the International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF) lodged a strong complaint with Rio Tinto CEO Tom Albanese over the assault by lockout on Syndicat des M&eacute;tallos d&rsquo;Alma members at this most modern of Alcan&rsquo;s smelting/refining facilities. That letter can be found <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/3.ICEM-IMFletterRioTintoAlma1.18Jan.pdf ">here</a>. 
<img alt="" src="" width="239" height="160" />
photo: lapresse.ca
Trade union affiliates across the world are now being asked to also send letters to Albanese. We ask you to take the attachment herein, modify appropriately, place on your letterheads, and fax to Rio&rsquo;s corporate offices in London and Melbourne. 
 
Those fax numbers are +44 20 7781 1800 (London) and +62 3 9283 3707 (Melbourne). Be sure to e-mail this letter as well to the <a href="mailto:info@icem.org">ICEM</a>, <a href="mailto:unionrights@imfmetal.org">IMF</a>, and the <a href="mailto:bdavis@usw.org">USW</a>. As the USW&rsquo;s global campaign against Rio Tinto for fairness and justice mounts, more and more activity will ensue. 
 
Already, several Canadian trade unions and a few international ones have reached out to the USW and to Local 9490 to offer aid, assistance and support. One notable example came last week when another union representing metalworkers in the region, Le Syndicat National des Employ&eacute;s de l&rsquo;aluminium d&rsquo;Arvida (SNEAA), an affiliate of the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW), presented USW Local 9490 with an interest-free loan of C$1 million. 
<img alt="" src="" width="229" height="160" />
SNEAA President Alain Gagnon and Local 9490 President Mark Maltais
In making the presentation, SNEAA President Alain Gagnon expressed deep concern over Rio Tinto/Alcan&rsquo;s intransigence in bargaining with fellow Alma metalworkers. 
 
This intransigence is reflected in the single biggest issue in the dispute &ndash; the company&rsquo;s desire to have unlimited contracting out rights. Alcan has substituted the retirement of each full-time, USW-represented worker with a subcontracting employee. Company documentation reveals that the expected ratio of hours worked by subcontractors will go from 10% in 2010 to 27% this year. 
 
When Syndicat des M&eacute;tallos d&rsquo;Alma attempted to put a floor on outsourced work, or to put guidelines on addressing subcontract work, Alcan refused to address such issues. And at midnight, 31 December, Rio Tinto/Alcan showed its contempt toward any such dialogue with a lockout. 
 
Make sure your union takes action and registers its protest with Rio Tinto.&nbsp;

ICEM, Metalworkers Urge Action in Rio Tinto Canadian Lockout

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An agreement was reached yesterday, 22 January, after a marathon 15-hour bargaining session between Bulgarian state-owned Maritsa East Mines (BEH-EAD) and two ICEM affiliates. The settlement ends a seven-day coalminers&rsquo; strike in Stara Zagora province that saw ICEM intervention last week. 
 
The strike started at 20h00 on 15 January and was carried out jointly, cooperatively, and ultimately successfully by the Federation of Independent Miners&rsquo; Unions (KNSB/CITUB) and Podkrepa&rsquo;s Miners&rsquo; Federation. The settlement produced a partial payment to a bonus that was promised the 7,000 miners last July, but more importantly, calls for improved working conditions, an increase in investment at the three open-cast mines, and a commitment not to consider privatisation. 
 
Also, the settlement outlines guidelines to improve health and safety at Bulgaria&rsquo;s largest mining complex, a key point raised in the ICEM intervention. The unions won assurances that the state company will make BGN 20 million (&euro;10.2 million) available for safety. 
<img alt="" src="" width="122" height="159" />
The final talks occurred overnight on 21-22 January in Radnevo in south-central Bulgaria, center of the Maritsa mining and power generation facilities. 
 
In the <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/5.ICEM.Maritsa%20East%20Mines,%20Bulgaria.20Jan.pdf ">ICEM letter</a> to Prime Minister Boyco Borissov and Economy, Energy, Tourism Minister Traicho Traikov, General Secretary Manfred Warda said, &ldquo;Although remuneration issues are part of the dispute, we are of the certain belief that health and safety, lack of adequate equipment, and refusal of mine management to engage in social dialogue as mandated by European social charters are legitimate reasons for miners to withhold their labour.&rdquo; 
 
Maritsa East Mines CEO Evgeni Stoykov had sought to get the strike declared illegal, but on 20 January BEH-EAD withdrew such a petition submitted to a Bulgarian court. Also on that day, the state National Electricity Company (NEK) suspended electric power exports to Turkey, Greece, Serbia and Macedonia in order to cover its own domestic needs. In 2011, NEK exported a total of 10.5 billion KWH to those countries. 
 
The suspension emboldened striking miners, with several hundred manifesting outside the headquarters of the company on 21 January. That sparked the urgency of weekend talks and produced the accord, which both unions said meet their requirements in ending the strike. 
 
The Maritsa East Mines, Bulgaria&rsquo;s largest deposits of lignite coal, supply 90% of the coal for the country&rsquo;s power industry. The mines supply coal to four thermal power stations, three that are state-owned by BEH-EAD and the other one that is owned by ContourGlobal of the US. 
 
Central to the dispute was revocation of an agreement signed on 12 July 2011 over a bonus premium for exceeding 2011 production levels. A targeted level of 27 million tonnes was surpassed and miners, who work 12-hour shifts, produced a total of 33 million tonnes, bringing a revenue stream to the company of BGN 500 million (&euro;255 million). 
 
Although miners did not get their full bonus demands, BGN 1,000 per worker (&euro;509), that was offset by management retreating from cuts to a staffing plan which would have seen 450 jobs, or 6% of the workforce, furloughed. Such downsizing would have affected safety. The unions also won commitments to improve on continual shortages of equipment, spare parts and monitoring devices, which also impacted safety. 
 
Maritsa East miners earn average monthly salaries of BGN 1,500 (&euro;767).

Week-Long Coal Strike Ends in Bulgaria

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The ICEM has responded with anger and outrage over the latest cold-blooded murder of a trade unionist in Colombia. Mauricio Redondo, 36, and his wife, Janeth Ord&oacute;&ntilde;ez Carlosama, were murdered in their home in the village of Tetey&eacute;, in the southern department of Putumayo, on 17 January at 19h30 by two gunmen. 
 
Mauricio Redondo was a provincial leader of ICEM Colombia affiliate Uni&oacute;n Sindical Obrera (USO) and both he and his wife were activists in a community group that advocated for better working conditions, environmental stewardship, and labour and human rights in the booming oil and natural gas fields of the Putumayo basin in southwest Colombia.
<img alt="" src="" width="240" height="141" />
In fact, four days before the killings,&nbsp;a meeting in the municipality of Orito,&nbsp;at a&nbsp;forum&nbsp;called Primer Foro Petrolero por el Derecho al Trabajo, la Reivindicaci&oacute;n Social y Econ&oacute;mica de Orito, Redondo was an active speaker in talks to open public protests over these issues. According to initial reports, the two gunmen were wearing work uniforms of the local oil contracting company Empresa de Energ&iacute;a del Bajo Putumayo, EEEP (Energy Company of Lower Putumayo) and fired multiple gunshots into the couple. Redondo and Ord&oacute;&ntilde;ez are survived by five young children. 
 
&ldquo;Once again we witness the price that dedicated trade unionists in Colombia pay when they attempt to stand up for a dignified way of life,&rdquo; said General Secretary Manfred Warda, who was in Colombia when the murders happened. 
 
&ldquo;Along with USO, we mourn the grisly deaths of Mauricio Redondo and Janeth Ord&oacute;&ntilde;ez and we call on Colombia&rsquo;s federal and provincial prosecution teams to expend all efforts in apprehending and bringing to justice those responsible.&rdquo; 
 
Mauricio Redondo was employed by Medellin-based P.E.I. Energy, an upstream oil and gas drilling company. He was a leader of the 220-member USO committee in Orito, in which 40% are employees of Ecopetrol and 60% employed by contract companies of the state-held energy company. 
 
The deaths of the couple came just days after three other USO Orito leaders &ndash; Manuel Coronado, Jos&eacute; Socimo Erazo and Julio Vargas &ndash; were threatened by calls made to their mobile telephones. It also came after a bomb threat was directed at the USO regional office in Orito.
<img alt="" src="" width="140" height="105" />
Said Central Unitaria de Trabajadores (CUT) Human Rights Director Alberto Vanegas, the worst aspect of the 17 January heinous crimes are that &ldquo;five children were left as orphans. This is what we leave with such murders: orphans and widows throughout the country.&rdquo; 
 
The killings of Mauricio Redondo and Janeth Ord&oacute;&ntilde;ez mark the first murders of trade unionists in Colombia in 2012. In 2011, at least 29 trade union leaders were killed in calculated and cold-blooded political assassinations.

ICEM Condemns Assassination of USO Leader, His Wife in Colombia

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The ICEM vehemently supports 90 members of the affiliated Teamsters Union (IBT) in the US, who went on strike last month in Norwood, Massachusetts, at CertainTeed, a roofing materials subsidiary of French multinational Saint-Gobain. Members of IBT Local 25 in the Boston area walked off their jobs when their contract expired on 19 December over unreasonable demands to reduce their health insurance benefits. 
 
In an <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/1.ICEM.Teamsters%20Local%2025.US.pdf">ICEM letter</a> today to Local 25 President Sean O&rsquo;Brien, General Secretary Manfred Warda said the dispute would receive the Global Union Federation&rsquo;s highest priority and would be brought to the attention of French trade unions and senior executives at Saint-Gobain in Paris. 
 
CertainTeed, a wholly-owned subsidiary with multiple plants in the US that manufacture asphalt roofing shingles, gypsum wallboard, and insulated fiberglass products, proposes to reduce the amount of health insurance it pays on workers, leaving them largely unprotected financially from illness or injury. 
 
&ldquo;The company has become the epitome of greed, treating its workforce unfairly without regard for health and welfare and job security,&rdquo; said O&rsquo;Brien, the principal officer of 11,000-member IBT Local 25. In order to preserve the joint union-management run health care plan, the union proposed costs savings to the company on a pension plan that would not reduce workers&rsquo; retirement benefits. But CertainTeed wasn&rsquo;t interested.
<img src="" width="154" height="160" alt="" />
At this point in the strike, CertainTeed workers would be without health insurance of any kind. But at a strike manifestation rally in front of plant gates on 5 January, O&rsquo;Brien announced that Local 25&rsquo;s Health and Welfare Fund would continue to provide health insurance at a cost to the union. The ICEM commends Local 25 for such social responsibility. 
 
The two sides are scheduled to meet today before the US Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) in the first negotiations since the strike began. Saint-Gobain increased its stake in CertainTeed from 32% to 57% in 1976, and then gained total ownership in 1988. In 1998, CertainTeed bought the Norwood plant from Bird &amp; Sons 
 
Local 25&rsquo;s so-called Taft-Hartley health care plan at Norwood pre-dates CertainTeed ownership, and the union is adamant in retaining it. The company proposes to replace it with a lesser company-controlled insurance plan that contains far few benefits.

ICEM Intervenes in Saint-Gobain Dispute in US State of Massachusetts

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