English

Español

Français

Aerospace

Automotive

Base metals

Chemical, pharmaceutical and bio-science

Energy

Glass, cement, ceramic and associated industries

ICT, electrical and electronics

Mechanical Engineering

Mining and DGOJP

Pulp and paper

Rubber

Shipbuilding and shipbreaking

Textile, garment, shoes, leather and textile services

Sectors

Action Plan 2025-2029

Action on textile and garment industry

Clean up shipbreaking

Ratify ILO C176

United for a just future - time to pay up!

Disinvest from Myanmar

Campaigns

Global Framework Agreements

Union building

White-collar workers

Health & safety

Industry 4.0

Women

Youth

LGBTQI+

Gender, equality, diversity and inclusion (GEDI)

Just Transition

Organizing with industriALL

What we do

Affiliates

Statutes

Elected Officials

Executive Committee

Geneva head office

South East Asia

Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Caucasus

Latin America and the Caribbean

Middle East and North Africa

South Asia

Sub-Saharan Africa

Regional offices

About us

Global worker No1 2022

Global worker No2 2022

Publications

Resources

Press

ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin - No. 77, February 2012

<img alt="" height="59" src="" width="120" />

	Warning strikes across Austria&rsquo;s electric energy sector slated for tomorrow, 15 February, brought a national labour agreement to 21,000 workers over the weekend. ICEM affiliate PRO-GE and GPA-djp, the Salaried Employees, Print, Journalism, Paper Union reached accord on 12 February after the third round of bargaining last week failed.

	In keeping with a decision made in worksite meetings after the second round of talks failed, late in January, the two unions got strike endorsement from the Austrian Federation of Trade Unions (&Ouml;GB) and were to start manifestations today, with warning strikes commencing tomorrow.

	Instead, the employers&rsquo; association moved a previous 3.6% wage offer to over 4%, with the minimum level of wages in the utility sector lifted to 4.2%. Higher-level wages will be increased by 3.8%, while those of apprentices will be hiked by 4.2%.

	The two unions took the stalemate in 2012 wage negotiations to union memberships at the shop-floor level because employers were refusing to come close to wage level increases reached in Austria&rsquo;s metal sector last October, or to account for a 2011 inflation rate of 3.2% that continues to rise. The unions also cited rising company earnings as reason why electric generating and distribution companies could pay what was achieved in the nation&rsquo;s metal sector.

	In a statement issued yesterday, PRO-GE&rsquo;s Manfred Anderle and GPA-djp&rsquo;s Karl Proyer jointly said: &ldquo;Our great thanks go to all employees and to the shop stewards, who made this possible through their solidarity and readiness for action.&rdquo;

Threat of Strikes in Austria’s Electric Sector Brings National Accord

<img alt="" height="59" src="" width="120" />

	The Australian High Court last week refused to hear an appeal by Rio Tinto over the company&rsquo;s illegal non-union collective agreements imposed on iron ore miners in West Australia. The denial is a victory for ICEM affiliate Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU), which took the case forward, and a victory for legitimate collective bargaining rights.

	It also stands as a rebuke to Rio Tinto in its efforts to avoid 2009 changes in Australian labour law.

	The 10 February ruling not to hear Rio&rsquo;s appeal to a 25 July 2011 determination by the full bench of the country&rsquo;s Federal Court means Rio&rsquo;s sham labour agreement from July 2008 is not a genuine collective agreement. (See <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4571-Australia-s-CFMEU-Wins-Major-Bargaining-Ruling-Against-Rio-Tinto">ICEM report</a> on Federal Court decision from 1 August 2011.)

	It also serves as an invitation for iron ore miners &ndash; and others &ndash; in West Australia&rsquo;s rich Pilbara region to take membership in the CFMEU, with the aim to negotiate real enterprise labour agreements through the union.&nbsp; The High Court ruling will also negate other mining firms such as BHP Billiton, which also converted individual work agreements into non-union labour agreements that were intended to keep trade unions away from workers and workers without a union voice.

	In Rio Tinto&rsquo;s case, it brought ten new hires of its Pilbara Iron Company Pty. Ltd. subsidiary into a bogus Pilbara Iron Employee Agreement for a five-year duration that was meant to include all other new hires during that time. The ploy was done to avoid changes in law that took effect with the July 2009 effective date of the Fair Work Australia law.

	Some 20 such delusionary labour agreements are said to have been put in place to avoid the Fair Work law, and Rio Tinto&rsquo;s legal failure last week is expected to strike the ones that are still in effect null and void.

	&ldquo;Rio Tinto made a cynical attempt to circumvent their obligations under the Fair Work laws,&rdquo; said CFMEU Mining General Secretary Andrew Vickers. &ldquo;It has tried to dodge its obligation to recognise the rights of its workers to genuinely collectively bargain for future pay increases and improved conditions.

	&ldquo;It has been a long legal battle, but it&rsquo;s been worth it to safeguard the rights of our members in the Pilbara and demonstrate that Rio Tinto is not above the law,&rdquo; added Vickers.

Australian High Court Denies Rio Tinto’s Appeal to Evade Union Contracts

<img alt="" height="59" src="" width="120" />

	Tuluy Kalyoncu, the President of ICEM affiliate Turkish Electricity Authority of Cyprus Workers&rsquo; Trade Union, or EL-SEN, easily admits it: without the ironclad clenched collective fist of each and every one of his union&rsquo;s 600 members, the state-run electric company, KIB-TEK, would be on unimpeded course straight into the hands of a private-sector generating company favorable to Ankara.

	And with that, so would a number of other state-owned enterprises in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus become pawns to the profiteers. EL-SEN, together with its national labour centre, T&Uuml;RK-SEN, deploying both fortitude and strategic vision, are clearly leading a growing mass movement in Northern Cyprus that includes opposition political parties, NGOs and most other unions.

	A sampling of that mass movement took place when many of those groups held a first-step manifestation in Lefkoşa on 30 January. This action was tame, but unless the ruling government retreats from Turkey&rsquo;s neo-liberal agenda, upcoming street actions will be powerful and ever more demanding.

	<img alt="" height="161" src="" width="224" />

	EL-SEN Leaders at 30 January Manifestation

	The EL-SEN and T&Uuml;RK-SEN leadership of this movement was vividly seen in a series of events that began 19 January with a paralyzing strike that shut the electric grid, except for parts that the union and its members deemed life-essential. And that was then reflected in government&rsquo;s retreat, albeit temporarily, when it published in its official gazette a union-submitted restructuring plan for KIB-TEK.

	That restructuring calls for a board of directors that is fully autonomous from the government, and one that will take decisive action to make KIB-TEK feasibly sound. EL-SEN objects to all government departments, agencies, and quasi-public institutions receiving free electrical power from KIB-TEK, for instance.

	The government&rsquo;s publication of the union&rsquo;s restructuring plan came five days after it declared the strike illegal and four days after EL-SEN did quit the strike, but continued a work stoppage through civil disobedience. (See <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4849-Northern-Cyprus-Imports-Scabs-to-Break-Electric-Utility-Work-Stoppage">ICEM news article</a> here.) It also came after the union received broad support, including remarkable solidarity from the Free Pancyprian Union of Electricity Authority Employees (FPUEAE) on the Greek side of the island, who made sure no power from the south was exported northward.

	But the struggle is far from over. The ruling government still has a draft bill before the Northern Cypriot Parliament to push ahead with privatisation. EL-SEN has put forth a different legislative proposal that would keep the utility in state hands and restructure it into a viable, low-cost energy provider that benefits all citizens of Northern Cyprus.

	EL-SEN leadership and Prime Minister İrsen K&uuml;&ccedil;&uuml;k and his team will meet this week to discuss this alternative legislation. Most importantly, a plan must come forward to make the ill-managed company solvent.

	&ldquo;Our struggle is now with the strength of our membership,&rdquo; said EL-SEN President Kalyoncu. &ldquo;We have proven that 600 workers can stand and resist a political decision,&rdquo; adding that resilient vigilance has now taken hold by El-SEN union members and it must resonate with all citizens of Northern Cyprus.

El-SEN Draws Cypriot Government into Electric Privatisation Stalemate

<img src="" width="100" height="39" alt="" />
Trade unionists are encouraged to apply for the Global Labour University&rsquo;s (GLU) two upcoming Masters programmes, one at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, India, the other in Germany at the University of Kassel and Berlin School of Economics. Both programs begin on 1 July 2012, and have 1 March deadlines for applying. 
 
The India programme is entitled Globalisation of Labour, while the German curriculum is titled Labour Policies and Globalisation. Both are 14-week semesters of course offerings followed by an internship placement with trade unions or labour research institutes, thus offering the chance to engage inside the labour movement in different countries and at the international level. 
 
In Germany, the Hans Boeckler Foundation has extended its grant programme for Labour Policies and Globalisation programme, which grants scholarships to colleagues from EU Member States. Further information and applications to the German programme can be obtained <a href="http://www.global-labour-university.org/74.html ">here</a>, or contact directly the coordinator, <a href="mailto:Glu.germany@uni.kassel.de">Simone Buckel</a>. 
 
For information and application to the GLU&rsquo;s Tata Institute programme, contact <a href="mailto:gluindia@gmail.com">Mandira Zutshi</a>. Or visit <a href="http://www.global-labour-university.org/">GLU&rsquo;s website</a> to complete and overall information. 
 
The GLO, part of the ILO, has trained 214 trade unionists in economics and social sciences since 2004, giving young national and local trade union activists the opportunity to learn specific curriculums tailored to improve their skills at home. 
 
Course offerings are in English, and the GLU awards a limited number of scholarships to participants from developing and transition countries. Applicants must have the endorsement of a trade union to apply for a scholarship.&nbsp;

1 March Close for Global Labour University’s Masters Applications in India, Germany

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
With on-line voting about to end at midnight on 26 January, the United Steelworkers (USW) has issued a last-minute alert for global trade unionists to make the Brazilian mining company Vale the shameful recipient of the 2012 Public Eye Award, as bestowed by a Swiss NGO, the Berne Declaration, and Greenpeace. 
 
Going into the final week&rsquo;s balloting, Vale trails the Japanese electric energy company TEPCO by less than 300 votes &ndash; 17,276 votes for TEPCO, 16,996 for Vale. 
 
Visit the <a href="http://www.publiceye.ch/en/vote/">Public Eye website here</a> to cast your ballot, and push Vale into the number one spot. 
<img alt="" src="" width="118" height="160" />
In early January, the two organisations launched this year&rsquo;s version of the contest, with six multinationals judged as being the worst violators of environmental stewardship and human rights abuses. Besides TEPCO and Vale, the other nominees are the US mining company Freeport-McMoRan, Korean electronics manufacturer Samsung, Swiss chemicals company Syngenta, and the British bank Barclays. 
 
The winner will be announced at a press conference on 27 January at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Vale, of course, besides heaping environmental damage the world over, extracted more than just minerals from the earth in recent years; it extracted deep and unnecessary economic concessions from USW members in 2009-10 strikes in Canada.

USW Makes Last-Ditch Appeal to Shame Vale as Public Eye Recipient

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
Hundreds of garment workers staged a symbolic sit-in strike on 16 January in front of the National Press Club in Dhaka city, Bangladesh, demanding that Parliament takes up and passes a key piece of labour legislation. 
 
The legislation has been ready for presentation in Parliament for three years, but the Labour Ministry has stalled the process. Demonstrating workers warned of mass mobilisations before the Labour Ministry, Prime Minister&rsquo;s Office, and Parliament if the bill is not considered during the next session which begins, which begins this Wednesday, 25 January. 
 
The demonstration was organised by the National Garment Workers Federation (NGWF), a highly-active trade union affiliate of the International Textile, Garment &amp; Leather Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITGLWF). 
<img src="" width="214" height="160" alt="" />
NGWF President Amirul Haque Amin led speeches which included contributions of numerous labour leaders. All speakers agreed that the existing labour law of 2006 runs against the rights of workers, but also against industrial development, and is the cause of much labour unrest across the industrial sectors. 
 
The current government of Bangladesh repeatedly promised to amend the unjust labour law, both before and after the last general election in December 2008. The existing draft amendment was prepared through a long, tripartite process, consisting of viewpoints from workers, government and employers. But the draft amendment has been held up inside the Labour Ministry for the last three years. In that time three separate labour bills have been adopted by parliament. The first suspended trade union rights inside the country&rsquo;s Economic Processing Zones, the second exonerates factory owners from serving jail time for breaking labour laws, and the third also increases the rights of employers over workers.

Bangladeshi Garment Workers Lead Charge for Just Labour Legislation

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
Several European trade unions, led by the European Mine, Chemicals, Energy Federation (EMCEF), are desperately trying to exert public and governmental pressure to keep the continent&rsquo;s independent petroleum refiner from going totally insolvent. 
 
In late December, a consortium of 13 banks froze a &euro;1 billion credit line on Swiss-based Petroplus, and immediately the oil company shut three of its five refineries &ndash; the Petite-Couronne refinery near Rouen, France, an Antwerp, Belgium, facility, and the Cressier refinery in the region of Neuch&acirc;tel, Switzerland. 
 
The publicly-listed company also reduced capacity at its Coryton refinery in Stanford-le-Hope, UK, and at Ingolstadt, Germany. At stake, is 2,500 jobs, with roughly half of that number already idle. 
 
EMCEF General Secretary Michael Wolters said there must be &ldquo;a financial solution to stop Petroplus from going bankrupt and we call on the responsible national and European authorities&rdquo; to safeguard these workplaces. 
 
But despite getting a temporary revolving credit loan on 11 January to keep Coryton and Ingolstadt partially operating, time is running short. Late last week, the Zug-based company said it was shutting down refinery equipment at Petite-Couronne and Antwerp, making a sale of these facilities and re-start much more difficult and expensive. 
 
The French unions CGT, CFDT, and CFE/CGC have been actively pressing their government to facilitate a sale, and Unite the Union in the UK has engaged with MEP Richard Howitt for Eastern England to find a solution. The Swiss union Unia has petitioned the federal government to intervene by calling for countries with companies exporting refined petroleum to Europe to pay added duties because generally those companies do not adhere to European environmental standards. 
<img alt="" src="" width="66" height="83" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <img alt="" src="" width="177" height="69" />
The ABVV/FGTB and ACV/CSC in Belgium and IGBCE in Germany have also stepped up efforts to save Petroplus refineries in their countries. 
 
Of major concern for workers of Petroplus are imports of refined petroleum markets. But also not to be discounted are the faulty decisions made by senior leaders of the company after the private equity firms Carlyle and Riverstone took the company public in late 2006. Carlyle and Riverstone soon after exited ownership with huge dividends. 
 
And then on the front end of the economic collapse, new management paid a premium to buy Coryton from BP and Ingolstadt from ExxonMobil in 2007, and followed in 2008 with purchase from Shell of the French refineries Petite-Couronne and Reichstett near Strasbourg. Petroplus then shuttered Reichstett in 2009. It also shut a refinery in Teeside, UK, in 2009, as exports to the US dwindled and refining margins dropped. 
 
Since the Petroplus went public in 2006 on the Zurich bourse, the company has lost 98% of its value. The crisis the downstream oil producer is now in stands as a stark reminder of inept managerial decisions during an economic downturn, with workers suffering the ultimate consequences.

European Trade Unions Make Dire Efforts to Keep Petroplus Operating

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
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

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
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

Archive