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<img alt="" src="" style="width: 100px;height: 39px" width="390" />

	Union members, affiliated to Unite the Union in the UK, rejected 5 March a redundancy proposal from Austrian packaging company Mayr-Melnhof that would have ended a 19-day lockout at a plant in Merseyside, near Liverpool. Workers rejected it 138-1 largely because management still insists on its own discretionary powers in disbursing redundancy packages to 49 workers.

	Unite has escalated a campaign against the Vienna-based paper carton and packaging company primarily because Mayr-Melnhof has retracted and reduced buy-out terms in this set of talks, and has substantially broken from redundancy pay-outs and terms commonly established in past consultations.

	In talks on 29 February and again on 3 March, the company proposed a social fund to bridge the difference paid in its 2008 and 2010 layoffs, with lesser packages offered now. But the social fund would be discretionary, based on subjective criteria unilaterally set by the company, which underscores Mayr-Melnhof&rsquo;s bargaining posture throughout this set of 2012 talks.

	&nbsp;<img alt="" src="" style="width: 203px;height: 160px" width="390" />&nbsp;

	Len McClusky (right) Speaks to Unite Strikers at Mayr-Melnhof

	Workers at the Bootle, Merseyside, plant began lawful industrial actions on 10 February over Mayr-Melnhof&rsquo;s intransigence with six-hour &ldquo;switch strikes.&rdquo; &nbsp;Walkouts rotated from 06h to noon, and from noon to 18h. On 18 February, managers locked workers out and began manoeuvring to move equipment and product out of the factory.

	Workers then entered the factory and staged a shop-floor sit-in to prevent removal. Despite several sets of talks since, Mayr-Melnhof has steadfastly resisted any workable compromise proposed by Unite, and the lockout has continued.

	The union has brought the dispute to Mayr-Melnhof&rsquo;s Packaging Division workers in Germany, and the ICEM has issued a call for <a href="/en/19-Pulp-Paper/4918-Packaging-Workers-Need-Support-">Solidarity Action</a>, which can be viewed and acted upon here. Trade unionists inside the company&rsquo;s Karton Division, led by Austrian affiliate Pro-Ge, have brought attention to the company&rsquo;s hostile UK labour relations inside Mayr-Melnhof&rsquo;s eight European paper mills, and Pro-Ge has also protested loudly to CEO Wilhelm Hoermansedar.

	Unite, meanwhile, is preparing an industrial ballot at Mayr-Melnhof&rsquo;s other UK packaging plant, in Deeside, North Wales, on grounds that the company is worsening redundancy terms and conditions from previously agreed. The Bootle plant produces food packaging from tea bags to breakfast cereal to pet food packaging, with Kellogg&rsquo;s the plant&rsquo;s biggest customer.

Mayr-Melnhof Lockout Continues at UK Packaging Plant

<img alt="" src="" style="width: 100px;height: 39px" width="390" />

	Legitimate strike action by five bargaining units comprising 600 cement workers in total, members of the ICEM affiliate Oilfields Workers&rsquo; Trade Union (OWTU) of Trinidad and Tobago, turned into a company lockout early this week as Trinidad Cement Ltd. (TCL) seeks to gain individual work agreements to break the strike.

	The OWTU began a 90-day strike action on 27 February at the company&rsquo;s two cement and ready-mix bag plants at Claxton Bay and Mayo, but the company countered that on Monday, 5 March, by issuing intent to lockout notice. That means both TCL and TCL Packaging, part of the Caribbean cement company&rsquo;s TCL Group, can now try to coerce staff into signing yellow-dogs contracts.

	The OWTU is confident cement workers will continue to man the barriers and also has expressed a desire to return to the conciliation process. The two sides, negotiating a 2009-2011 contract, are split on the wage issue, with OWTU seeking 16% while TCL is offering only 7%. The OWTU signed a contract for a total of 9% in wage increases over a similar period recently for 5,000 oil workers employed by state-held Petrotrin. (See <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4903-OWTU-Reaches-Excellent-Terms-with-Petrotrin-in-Trinidad-and-Tobago">ICEM report</a> here.)

	&nbsp;<img alt="" src="" style="width: 240px;height: 160px" width="390" />&nbsp;

	OWTU President General Ancel Roget Addresses Cement Workers

	Foto: Rishi Ragoonath/Trinidad &amp; Tobago Guardian

	The cement strike sent shock waves through the twin-island nation&rsquo;s construction industry after management announced cement inventories would only last one week. TCL immediately began importing cement and ready-mix from its Caribbean Cement subsidiary in Jamaica and its Arawak Cement in Barbados.

	The strike became tense on the evening of 28 February and morning on 29 February when police drew guns and swung batons at strikers as forces left the factory Claxton Bay. The OWTU filed a formal complaint with the police over certain officers&rsquo; use of force in confronting the strikers.

	Since that incident, calm has been maintained at picket lines, and the OWTU has kept a vigilant strike camp near TCL&rsquo;s plant in Claxton Bay. OWTU and TCL held conciliation meetings between 9 February and 23 February, but strike notice was then given when the company refused to increase its wage offer.

Trinidad Cement Declares Lockout to Coerce Individual Labour Agreements

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	Some 100,000 union workers in South Africa will march today, 7 March, for two causes &ndash; an outright ban on labour brokers and scrapping the planed e-tolling, or pay-to-drive on Gauteng freeways. Some 32 manifestations will occur today across the country today in actions sponsored by the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU).

	The strike is against a government recommendation that failed to get consensus in year-long discussions before the national Economic Development and Labour Council (NEDLAC) that would allow employers to use workers provided by labour brokers for up to six months.

	COSATU is also protesting turning the country&rsquo;s first motorways into toll roads, something that clearly turns public services into commodities. &ldquo;These roads are national assets for the use of the people of South Africa,&rdquo; said COSATU General Secretary Zwelinzima Vavi, &ldquo;not a commodity which can be used to make profits at our great expense.&rdquo;&nbsp;

	&nbsp;<img alt="" src="" style="width: 190px;height: 160px" width="390">&nbsp;

	Zwelinzima Vavi

	COSATU is intent at ending the practice of labour brokering, which it compares to human trafficking. Statistics now show that one-third of all South African workers are temporary employees without social benefits. COSATU wants the responsibility of labour brokers to be limited to matching employees for employers, and that responsibility must end at the door to the workplace.&nbsp;

	COSATU believes precarious workers can easily be intimidated into not joining a union and Vavi said that&rsquo;s why the organisation&rsquo;s Central Executive Committee is insisting &ldquo;that every effort is made to mobilise workers employed by labour brokers to join actions on 7 March.&rdquo;

	In Johannesburg, Vavi, who will stand for re-election at COSATU come the union confederation&rsquo;s congress in September, will lead marchers starting at the Library Gardens to the Gauteng premier&rsquo;s office, and then past the offices of the Chamber of Mines and the Steel and Engineering Industries Federation. Multiple marches will be held in various cities in the Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and other provinces.

South African Workers March Today to Ban Labour Brokers

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	The ornate conference room of the Seranada Hotel in the Hamra district of central Beirut was the venue for the ICEM Middle East-North Africa (MENA) Regional Conference and Seminar from 14-16 March. Affiliated unions from throughout the region including Algeria, Morocco, Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine, and Yemen attended, and were joined by potential affiliates from Bahrain, Tunisia, and Egypt.

	From Egypt came a delegation of new independent trade unions from workplace levels representing both of the new structures of independent unions in that country. Delegations also came from Canada, Norway, Germany, and South Africa. It was very pleasing to see that there was a particularly large delegation from Turkey, a country often promoted since last year&rsquo;s Arab Spring as a model to follow&nbsp;and a country that is economically active throughout the region, and a major trading bridge between Europe, Asia, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East.

	Local representatives of the ILO, US Solidarity Center, and Public Services International (PSI) were also present as guests during the conference opening.

	&nbsp;<img alt="" src="" style="width: 283px;height: 159px" width="390" />&nbsp;

	The conference was generously supported by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES) of Germany, which also played an active role in the proceedings jointly chaired by ICEM President Senzeni Zokwana and Soliman Hemdan, President of the host union, the Professional Union of Syndicates for Workers &amp; Employees of Chemical Materials and Similar Products of Lebanon.

	In attendance were ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda and International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF) General Secretary Jyrki Raina. A key area of discussions was the creation of the new Global Union Federation (GUF) that will bring together ICEM, IMF, and the International Textile, Garment, Leather Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITGLWF). Discussion centered on the future role of MENA in the new organization.

	Another major focus of discussions was the Arab Spring and the fundamental political changes that are taking place in the region. The growth of new independent trade unions in a number of countries was considered and discussed as was the need for ILO compliant labour legislation throughout the region, particularly in Egypt and Iraq.

	&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<img alt="" src="" style="width: 155px;height: 159px" width="390" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

	Mohammed Abuadwan of Palestine

	Various international instruments were examined, including ILO Core Conventions, the OECD Guidelines for MNCs, the UN&rsquo;s Global Compact, and Global Framework Agreements. There was a focus on the importance of building regional networks within industries and where applicable, company levels, both to strengthen trade unions in the region, as well as to improve input into global discussions and networks and the new GUF, to be named IndustriALL.

	Over two-and-a- half days, with a mixture of presentations followed by detailed question and answer sessions, panel discussions, and group works, the participants enthusiastically debated their local situations, examined the past activities of the ICEM, a resolution on the MENA region passed by the ICEM Congress in Argentina, and laid down solid plans for the future &ndash; especially regarding network building.

	The conference watched a graphic film made by the Palestine General Federation of Trade Unions (PGFTU) showing the immense difficulties their members face in crossing into Israel for daily work with check-points serving as a major form of daily harassment that on occasions clearly constitutes collective punishment of the Palestinian people.

	&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<img alt="" src="" style="width: 147px;height: 160px" width="390" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

	The Iraqi Union Delegation

	The delegate present, Mohammed Abuadwan, President of the General Union of Petrochemical Workers in Palestine, thanked the ICEM for the focus on Palestine at the Argentina Congress and reaffirmed his strong support for the resolution passed there. All delegates reaffirmed their wishes that Palestine and Iraq continue to be priorities for work in the region in IndustriALL.

	Iraqi trade unions met in a work group which determined that it was essential for ICEM to revitalise its campaign and to increase pressure on the Iraqi government to introduce a new labour code fully compliant with ILO global standards. Iraqi unionists seek trade union organisations to function normally in both the public and private sectors, as well as guaranteeing the pluralistic system of trade unions that exists now on the ground in their country. Unity has to be built voluntarily by workers and their unions, and cannot be enforced by government decree.

	A wide ranging&nbsp;discussion on alterative and independent trade unions centered on the situation in Egypt where&nbsp;long-standing affiliates of ICEM in the petroleum and electric power sectors were faced across the table by new emergent independent unions in these industries.

	Of particular importance was the situation in oilfield services with Schlumberger where local management has dismissed on spurious grounds four leading activists of the new union. With the general secretary of the new union dismissed on the same day that the first Congress of the new organization elected him, it was clear to all that this was a blatant attack on the new structure and all delegates. With the exception of the old union part of Egyptian Trade Union Federation (ETUF), delegates expressed strong support to the dismissed union activists of Schlumberger Egypt, and called on ICEM to intensify the campaign on their behalf, as well as other union activists who have suffered similar dismissals.

	In general, delegates called for increased ICEM activities throughout the region and a continued special focus on both Iraq and Palestine. Calls were made for increased use of the Arabic language in the new organization as well as increased seminars and network meetings building on past work.&nbsp; Both Warda and Raina committed the new organization to play an increased role throughout MENA, and gave support to all efforts to build real and strong trade unions in the region.

ICEM Holds Middle East-North Africa Region Conference in Beirut

<img alt="" src="" style="width: 100px;height: 39px" width="390" />

	Spain&rsquo;s two labour confederations, Confederaci&oacute;n Sindical de Comisiones Obreras (CCOO) and Uni&oacute;n General de Trabajadores (UGT), have jointly called a 24-hour strike for 29 March in response to labour law reform which is already in force by decree-law of 10 February by the Council of Ministers and is pending of Parliamentarian validation.

	On 9 March, CCOO&rsquo;s and UGT&rsquo;s executive councils, meeting jointly for the first time in history, agreed to the general strike following refusal of the ruling Popular Party to sit down and negotiate some 30 amendments to the draconian labour legislation, as proposed by the confederations.

	The calling of the strike, which CCOO General Secretary Ignacio Fern&aacute;ndez Toxo and UGT General Secretary C&aacute;ndido M&eacute;ndez termed &ldquo;fair, inevitable and necessary,&rdquo; is also aimed at planned austerity measures expected from Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy.

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

	On 30 March, the government is expected to release its 2012 budget that contains unprecedented public spending cuts of &euro;35 billion as recommended by the European Union.

	But it is the anti-social labour reforms that are chief reason behind the general strike, which was preceded by three days of action, the latest occurring on 11 March. The confederations are calling the reforms the biggest attack on labour law in Spain&rsquo;s post-fascist democratic period.

	Specifically, the legislation weakens collective bargaining on both the national and regional levels by giving precedence to company labour agreements, allows an employer to unilaterally reduce salaries for reasons of competitiveness and productivity, as well as giving bosses the liberty to unilaterally change working hours and labour terms.

	It provides employers with opportunities to use &ldquo;work-experience&rdquo; contracts under which they can dismiss workers who have been employed for less than a year without granting compensation. It also cuts jobless benefits, makes layoffs easier, and promotes other forms of precarious work.

	The general strike is the second in Spain since the advent of the 2008 financial crisis, with the first occurring in 2010 and will be the sixth general strike in Spain&rsquo;s democratic period.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Spain Braced for Mass 29 March Strike over Draconian Labour Legislation

&nbsp;<img alt="" src="" style="width: 100px;height: 39px" width="390" />

	For the first time since the 30 December lockout by Rio Tinto Alcan of 780 union members of Syndicat des M&eacute;tallos d&rsquo;Alma in the Canadian province of Qu&eacute;bec, bargaining got back on track this week. After a half-day delay caused by a different labour dispute at the Montr&eacute;al airport on 19 March, provincial mediators Jean Poirer and Jean Nolan travelled to Alma where United Steelworkers (USW) Local 9490 leaders and six members of Alcan&rsquo;s management met face to face that afternoon.

	Mediation continued throughout the day yesterday, with Syndicat des M&eacute;tallos d&rsquo;Alma Local 9490 President Marc Maltais stating that both sides expressed a willingness to settle the 12-week dispute at the aluminium smelter. By late yesterday, the union and company &ndash; with the help of government mediators &ndash; were establishing a speedy timetable for further talks.

	The resumption of bargaining came five days after a general union meeting and news conference where Maltais and USW Deputy District Five Director Guy Farrell reported on their two-week mission to the US West and Australia and New Zealand in order to ratchet up pressure on Rio Tinto with the company&rsquo;s militant workers and unions.

	&nbsp;<img alt="" src="" style="width: 345px;height: 161px" width="390" />&nbsp;

	Turkish Union Maden-İş Displays Solidarity with Syndicat des M&eacute;tallos d&rsquo;Alma

	Maltais said at the news conference that both sides needed to compromise on the single issue that caused the company&rsquo;s lockout, outsourcing. The union seeks to stop the continual erosion of permanent jobs by establishing limits to outsourcing, while Alcan used that issue to lock-out the entire workforce before other bargaining issues were even tabled.

	Farrell told the ICEM that pressure has mounted on the company to settle the dispute because of an escalating global campaign against Rio Tinto, and the realization across Qu&eacute;bec that Alcan is cashing in handsomely during the lockout by selling excess hydro-electric power to the province.

	Under an agreement with Qu&eacute;bec dating to 2006 when Alcan was a stand-along Canadian company, Rio Tinto is selling its unused hydro-electric power back to the province while it operates the Alma smelter at only one-third capacity. Throughout the near four-month lockout, Rio Tinto Alcan has been enriching itself by C$15 million per month at taxpayer expense while holding a community&rsquo;s top-paying jobs hostage. Meanwhile, the Saguenay-lac-Saint-Jean region economy of central Qu&eacute;bec is losing C$1.8 million per week in lost salaries and benefits.

	&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<img alt="" src="" style="width: 320px;height: 141px" width="390" /><img alt="" src="" style="width: 320px;height: 141px" width="390" />

	USW&rsquo;s Guy Farrell Speaks at Brisbane Manifestation

	Another driving force that undoubtedly has pushed the company to return to the bargaining table is the current rise of aluminium prices on the London Metals Exchange. After dropping 25% from a high of US$2,500 per tonne in spring 2011 to the end of last year, prices have since rebounded by US$400 per tonne and aluminium is selling this week at US$2,245 a tonne.

	The Alma smelter is one of the world&rsquo;s most modern, low-cost operations and with access to cheap hydro-electric power, the facility is too valuable for Rio Tinto not to run at full capacity. In Europe, Rio Tinto Alcan will permanently shutter its North East aluminium smelter in Northumberland, UK, on 29 March, sacking nearly 500 workers. It also announced on Monday that it would sell or close the Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne, Savoie, France, smelter because of inability to reach an electric-power rate deal with EDF.&nbsp;

	Maltais said this week that despite talks resuming, a mass rally in Alma slated for 31 March will go ahead. The union is expecting to draw 5,000 to 10,000 at the manifestation, which will occur a day after the ICEM&rsquo;s North America affiliates convene for its bi-annual regional meeting in Alma.

	Protestors will assemble at 13h00 at the Galeries Lac St-Jean shopping mall and march to Parc le Festiv Alma for the manifestation that begins at 15h. (See <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/RTA_CARD4ENG_high.pdf">full manifestation flyer</a> here.)

	The solidarity-building trip by Maltais and Farrell through the American West and then on to Australia and New Zealand saw them get support from Rio Tinto&rsquo;s borax miners in Southern California. International Longshore &amp; Warehouse Union (ILWU) Local 30 faced its own lockout by Rio Tinto from late 2009 to spring 2010.

	From those late February meetings in both Boron and Los Angeles, California, Maltais and Farrell journeyed to the state of Utah where they met with USW local union leaders at Rio&rsquo;s Kennecott Copper mines. Some 1,000 steelworkers and members of other unions, including the International Association of Machinists (IAM), waged a bitter six-month strike there in 2002-03.

	From 4 to 9 March, the Canadians were in Australia and New Zealand. In Australia, their message was heard by hundreds of delegates at separate forums of the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) and the Australian Manufacturing Workers&rsquo; Union (AMWU) in Brisbane. On 5 March, Australian supporters including members of the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU), the MUA, AMWU and Australian Workers&rsquo; Union (AWU) joined Maltais and Farrell in a protest against Rio Tinto on Queen Street in Brisbane.

	&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<img alt="" src="" style="width: 87px;height: 155px" width="390" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

	Local 9490&rsquo;s Marc Maltais at MUA Forum

	At the mass MUA meeting there on 6 March, the two were surprised to see the MUA selling Syndicat des M&eacute;tallos d&rsquo;Alma&rsquo;s trademarked orange shirts, emblazoned &ldquo;Australia and New Zealand Mining and Maritime Union Fight War on Rio Tinto&rsquo;s Workers.&rdquo; Proceeds and other donations were given the two for Local 94990 back home, including at a stop at Rio Tinto&rsquo;s Bell Bay, Tasmania, aluminium smelter that was hosted by the AWU, the union fighting for a first enterprise agreement there.

	In New Zealand, the visit from 7-9 March sponsored by ICEM affiliate Engineering Printing &amp; Engineering Union (EPMU) and the Maritime Union of New Zealand (MUNZ), included a meeting with Rio Tinto aluminium producing workers at the Tiwai Point smelter in Invercargill. It also included another demonstration, this time on 9 March in front of Rio Tinto offices in Wellington.

	Throughout the western US trip and the Australia/New Zealand union-building visits, Maltais and Farrell had along a union banner to which trade unionists signed their names and pledged to join the Alma lockout fight. That banner was unfurled and hung in Local 9490&rsquo;s union hall last week.

	While the two were concluding their trip in New Zealand, back home in Alma, on 8 March, International Women&rsquo;s Day, women&rsquo;s-only forum was held attended by 100 spouses and women workers. The event was billed as a unique chance to share experiences of the then 68-day lockout, the hardships, the loss of income and the emotional turmoil inflicted by a rich multinational on citizens of Qu&eacute;bec&rsquo;s Saguenay-lac-Saint-Jean region.

	To read further information on this corporate attack on working families, click <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4908-Locked-out-Alcan-Workers-Take-Dispute-to-Business-Doorstep">here</a>, <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4875-Rio-Tinto-s-Euro-Works-Council-Irate-over-Québec-Aluminium-Lockout">here</a> and <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4837-USW-Affiliate-in-Québec-Locked-Out-by-Rio-Tinto-at-Aluminium-Plant">here</a>.

Negotiations Restart between USW, Rio Tinto Alcan in Canadian Lockout

The repressive Mugabe regime today found six activists guilty on fabricated charges of inciting public violence. They had been arrested a year ago, together with 39 other people for discussing the Arab Spring and viewing video footage on the popular uprising in Egypt. They had initially been charged with treason, but during the course of the court process, the charges were reduced and the other 39 people cleared.

	The six Zimbabwean activists, Munyaradzi Gwisai, Tafadzwa Choto, Tatenda Mombeyarara, Edson Chakuma, Hopewell Gumbo and Welcome Zimuto, face jail sentences of up to 10 years, to be handed down tomorrow.&nbsp;

	Three of the six, Munyaradzi, Tafadzwa and Tatenda work with the Zimbabwe Labour Centre a non profit organisation that gives legal support to unions and workers on labour matters and&nbsp; provides educational programmes.&nbsp;

	The right to meet, discuss events in the world, share ideas and speak openly and freely is a basic human right for which activists should not be victimised and vilified.&nbsp;&nbsp;

	Send your SMS text message now to the people who can limit the unfair sentence tomorrow.

	Police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena + 263 712 801 172

	Police Commissioner Augustine Chihuri + 263 712 808 290

	Police Minister Kembo Mohadi +263 712 605 424

	Security Minister Didymus Mutasa +263 0712 200 532

	Send: &quot;Do NOT send the 6 Harare activists to jail!&quot;

Urgent! Send SMS to Call for Justice in Zimbabwe NOW

<img alt="" src="" style="width: 120px;height: 59px" width="390" />

	At a general membership meeting and news conference today in Qu&eacute;bec, 780 union members of Syndicat des M&eacute;tallos d&rsquo;Alma were told that the lockout imposed on them &ndash; in its 11th week &ndash; by Rio Tinto&rsquo;s Alcan aluminium subsidiary now has the undivided attention of key workers&rsquo; groups connected to the mining giant.

	United Steelworkers (USW) Local 9490 President Marc Maltais and USW Deputy District Five Director Guy Farrell told a packed news conference of their two-week mission through the US West and then on to Australia and New Zealand, where the trade union Mining and Maritime Initiative brought this piece of corporate terrorism front and centre before the company&rsquo;s most militant workers and unions in Oceania.

	Maltais and Farrell also laid out plans for the mass rally in Alma, a city of 30,000 in the Saguenay-lac-Saint-Jean region of Qu&eacute;bec, a manifestation expected to draw 5,000 to 10,000. Earlier at the membership meeting, USW District Five Director Dan Roy told victimised metalworkers that they are up against one of the most egregious examples of corporate crime ever committed in Canada.

	<img alt="" src="" style="width: 320px;height: 141px" width="390" />

	&nbsp;USW&rsquo;s Guy Farrell Speaks at Brisbane Manifestation

	The lockout came ostensibly over the union&rsquo;s contract demand to stop the continual erosion of permanent jobs by establishing limits on outsourcing. And it occurred even before several other issues were tabled in bargaining.&nbsp; Alcan prematurely locked workers off their jobs on 30 December, a day before the prior five-year agreement had expired.

	With aluminium prices on the London Metal Exchange down more than 25% from spring 2011 and inventories high, the opportunity to reverse that by bringing one of the world&rsquo;s premier and low-cost smelters down to one-third operational capacity was too much to resist.

	And Syndicat des M&eacute;tallos d&rsquo;Alma learned this month what they feared had been happening since the lockout began: Rio Tinto, under an opaque agreement signed with Qu&eacute;bec in 2006 when Alcan was a stand-along Canadian company, is selling unused hydro-electric power back to the province of Qu&eacute;bec because Alma is operating only 122 of 432 electrolytic production cells. The company is pocketing C$15 million per month at taxpayer expense, while holding a community&rsquo;s top-paying jobs hostage with a lockout. Worse, the province does not need the excess power but is obligated to buy it due to the 2006 agreement.

	&ldquo;These are the people&rsquo;s resources,&rdquo; said Farrell. &ldquo;The atrocities this company is committing against Qu&eacute;bec and Quebecers is incomprehensible, yet they are happening right before our eyes.&rdquo;

	The 31 March manifestation will occur a day after the ICEM&rsquo;s North America affiliates meet in Alma in the first of two bi-annual meetings. Protestors will assemble at 13h30 at the Galeries Lac St-Jean shopping mall and march to Parc le Festiv Alma for the manifestation that begins at 15h. (See <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/RTA_CARD4ENG_high.pdf">full manifestation flyer</a> here.)

	&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<img alt="" src="" style="width: 87px;height: 155px" width="390" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

	Local 9490&rsquo;s Marc Maltais at MUA Forum

	Maltais and Farrell reported today on their two-week mission that saw them get support from Rio Tinto&rsquo;s borax miners in Southern California. International Longshore &amp; Warehouse Union (ILWU) Local 30 faced its own lockout from the world&rsquo;s second largest resources company, and USW Local 9490 was keen to learn their fightback strategy.

	From those late February meetings both in Boron and Los Angeles, Maltais and Farrell journeyed to the state of Utah where they met with USW local union leaders at Rio&rsquo;s Kennecott Copper mines. Some 1,000 steelworkers and members of other unions, including the International Association of Machinists (IAM), waged a bitter six-month strike there in 2002-03.

	From 4 to 9 March, the Canadians were in Australia and New Zealand. In Australia, their message was heard by hundreds of delegates at separate forums of the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) and the Australian Manufacturing Workers&rsquo; Union (AMWU) in Brisbane. On 5 March, Australian supporters including members of the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU), the MUA, AMWU and Australian Workers&rsquo; Union (AWU) joined Maltais and Farrell in a protest against Rio Tinto on Queen Street in Brisbane.

	At the mass MUA meeting there on 6 March, the two were surprised to see the MUA selling Syndicat des M&eacute;tallos d&rsquo;Alma&rsquo;s trademark orange shirts, emblazoned &ldquo;Australia and New Zealand Mining and Maritime Union Fight War on Rio Tinto&rsquo;s Workers.&rdquo; Proceeds and other donations were give the two, including from a stop at Rio Tinto&rsquo;s Bell Bay, Tasmania, aluminium smelter that was hosted by the AWU, the union fighting for a first enterprise agreement there.

	&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<img alt="" src="" style="width: 345px;height: 161px" width="390" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

	ICEM Turkish affiliate Maden-İşDisplays Long Distance Solidarity with Syndicat des M&eacute;tallos d&rsquo;Alma

	In New Zealand, the visit from 7-9 March sponsored by ICEM affiliate Engineering Printing &amp; Engineering Union (EPMU) and the Maritime Union of New Zealand (MUNZ), included a meeting with Rio Tinto aluminium producing workers at the Tiwai Point smelter in Invercargill. It also included another demonstration, this time on 9 March in front of Rio Tinto offices in Wellington.

	Throughout the western US trip and the Australia/New Zealand union-building visits, Maltais and Farrell had along a union banner to which trade unionists signed their name and pledge to join the Alma lockout fight. That banner was unfurled and hung in Local 9490&rsquo;s union hall this morning.

	While the two were concluding their trip in New Zealand, back home in Alma, on 8 March, International Women&rsquo;s Day, women&rsquo;s-only forum was held attended by 100 spouses and women workers. The event was billed as a unique chance to share experiences of the then 68-day lockout, the hardships, the loss of income and the emotional turmoil inflicted by a rich multinational on citizens of Qu&eacute;bec Saguenay-lac-Saint-Jean region.

	With a call two weeks ago by provincial Premier Jean Charest to return to bargaining still unheeded by the company, the experience of pain, sacrifice and uncertain futures is sure to continue for the 780 families and for even more in the wider community who depend on the family-supporting pay days from the Alma smelter.

	To read further information on this corporate attack on working families, click <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4908-Locked-out-Alcan-Workers-Take-Dispute-to-Business-Doorstep">here</a>, <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4875-Rio-Tinto-s-Euro-Works-Council-Irate-over-Québec-Aluminium-Lockout">here</a> and <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4837-USW-Affiliate-in-Québec-Locked-Out-by-Rio-Tinto-at-Aluminium-Plant">here</a>.

Locked-out Canadian Steelworkers Build Global Unity as Mass Rally Nears, 31 March

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	On 7 March, the US National Mediation Board (NMB) announced that the International Association of Machinists (IAM) won exclusive bargaining status for 16,720 United Airlines employees, staff who work as passenger service, gate agents and reservation workers for the Chicago-based airline.

	In a mail ballot over the preceding seven weeks, 8,305 of the airline&rsquo;s ground workers chose IAM, while 5,865 voted for no union. The ballot, conducted through the auspices of the US Rail Labor Act, became necessary following the December 2010 merger of United with Continental Airlines, the latter a predominately non-union airline.

	The IAM had represented United&rsquo;s passenger services staff since 1998 but with the Continental merger, a new certification election became necessary. The union now represents 31,500 workers at the world&rsquo;s largest airline, including ramp service, baggage handlers, and stock and store workers. The election also included passenger service employees of Continental Micronesia Airlines, which operates between the state of Hawaii and some Asia-Pacific nations and previously had another union.

	The election was marked by fierce resistance by United. Airline management tried to exclude 1,000 fleet service workers from voting but the NMB ruled that those workers have the right to join a union.

	IAM Transportation Vice President Sito Pantoja said the election &ldquo;preserves IAM representation rights for pre-merger United employees and extends that benefit to their new co-workers from Continental and Continental Micronesia.

	&ldquo;The win provides all IAM members at United with the advantages of size and strength that airlines themselves are seeking through consolidation.&rdquo;

US Machinists Win Bargaining Status for 17,000 United Airlines Workers

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	Dave Oliver, National Secretary of the ICEM affiliate Australian Manufacturing Workers&rsquo; Union (AMWU), this month accepted the nomination of Secretary of the national labour centre, the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU). He will succeed Jeff Lawrence at May&rsquo;s triennial Congress of the ACTU in Sydney.

	Lawrence, from United Voice, which prior to March 2011 was the Liquor, Hospitality &amp; Miscellaneous Union (LHMU), said on 8 March he would not seek another term at ACTU. Oliver, 48, has headed AMWU since May 2007, and is credited with driving Australia&rsquo;s manufacturing policies since the financial crisis with an agenda of job preservation and job creation.

	He is also known as a proponent of union campaigning and establishing pattern bargaining throughout AMWU&rsquo;s different sectors. His toughest task will be to guide the country&rsquo;s trade unions during 2013 federal elections and retaining the Fair Work Act. Business groups, as well as Conservative and Liberal politicians, seek to roll back labour legislation to elements contained in the dead-and-gone WorkChoices law.

	&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<img alt="" src="" style="width: 110px;height: 110px" width="390">&nbsp;

	As a teenager, Oliver worked as an apprentice mechanic in the lift industry, and got his first taste of trade unionism at the age of 19 when he began work in the construction industry in Sydney. He served as Assistant National Secretary of the 130,000-member AMWU from 1996 to 2001, and from 2002 to his election in 2007 he was the Victorian Branch Secretary of the union.

	Oliver was endorsed two weeks ago by several unions, including the Australian Workers&rsquo; Union (AWU), the Transport Workers&rsquo; Union (TWU), and on 9 March, the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union&rsquo;s (CFMEU) National Executive Committee endorsed him.

	With that endorsement, CFMEU National Secretary Michael O&rsquo;Connor paid tribute to Lawrence, calling him &ldquo;a consistent advocate for working people across decades&rdquo; and thanking the 59-year-old Lawrence &ldquo;for his tireless efforts in working for the abolition of the ABCC,&rdquo; the Australian Building and Construction Commission, the body given broad anti-worker powers under the government of former Prime Minister John Howard.

	In a statement to AMWU members upon accepting the nomination as ACTU Secretary, Oliver said a prime focus of his will be &ldquo;the growing threat to jobs and the economy, particularly in those sectors impacted by the mining boom and the high Australian dollar, not only in manufacturing but in finance, tourism and the service sector.&rdquo;

AMWU’s Dave Oliver Tagged as Next Australian Council of Trade Unions Secretary

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