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A first-of-a-kind collective agreement took root in Germany&rsquo;s solar energy manufacturing industry on 1 September. It was then that a labour contract took effect between IG Metall and three subsidiaries of Bosch in the state of Thuringia, making it the first collective agreement in Germany&rsquo;s solar power industry. 
 
The agreement covers 2,500 workers at factories of Bosch Solar Energy AC, Bosch Solar Wafers GmbH, and Bosch Solar Thin Film in the cities of Erfurt and Arnstadt. IG Metal Hesse and Thuringia Region representatives used the effective date of the three-year agreement to distribute leaflets to workers at other solar product manufacturers in central and eastern Germany highlighting details of the Bosch accord. 
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Those companies include Q-cells, Conergy, and Solon, to name just a few. It is the union&rsquo;s hope that the Bosch accord will spur a national collective agreement in the solar manufacturing industry, a sector now encompassing 130,000 German workers. 
 
Labour agreements in renewable energy industries, said IG Metall Regional Secretary Armin Schild, have been &ldquo;a no man&rsquo;s land. This agreement hopefully will become the standard throughout the industry.&rdquo; 
 
Based on the union&rsquo;s metal sector agreement, this first contract contains a bounty of benefits for workers of the three Bosch subsidiaries. Although it contains no set wage increases over the three years, workers will see their pay increase with regular bonuses, performance-based bonuses, and additional compensation for holiday and night-shift work. 
 
The work week will be reduced with full pay from 40 to 38 hours in increments over the three-year term, and overtime work will either be paid in full or employees have the option to convert that overtime to paid time off. And apprentices completing training are assured of at least a one-year fixed-term period of employment. 
 
The three Bosch worksites are relatively new in Thuringia, with Bosch Solar only opening the massive cell and panel plant in Arnstadt a year ago. The agreement is a trendsetting pact within Germany&rsquo;s former eastern states and IG Metall deserves high accolades for achieving this milestone.

IG Metall Breaks New Ground with First Accord in German Solar Energy Sector

The ArcelorMittal Health and Safety Committee, created in June 2008 in a common effort by the company and unions to improve safety in ArcelorMittal, issued its first report of activities on 15 August called &ldquo;Together for Safety.&rdquo; The number of fatalities has declined since 2008, but remains unacceptably high in the company. 
 
In 2008, ArcelorMittal management and unions signed an agreement to create a Joint Health and Safety Committee to address the high number of fatalities in the company&rsquo;s units. The Committee is composed of representatives of the IMF, the European Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation, the United Steelworkers (USW), CNM-CUT, a mining area representative, and company Health and Safety representatives. 
 
On 15 August, the Joint Global Health and Safety Committee launched its first report, concluding it has had a positive impact on the number of fatalities, which it ascribes to good workplace cooperation between trade unions and management. 
 
Since its inception, the Committee has created local health and safety committees and made site visits in priority company sites in Kazakhstan, Brazil, Mexico, Czech Republic, Romania, South Africa, USA, Argentina, and Ukraine. During these visits, local union members and management met with committee members to review the local safety situation and develop a health and safety action plan. The committee has then arranged follow-up visits. 
 
The committee concludes that it has had a positive impact on the number of accidents in the workplace, especially fatalities, and helped reduce risk faced by workers. It has also helped to improve communication and cooperation between unions and management, locally and globally. 
 
The committee, however, also notes an increase in the number of fatalities in the last year &ndash; from 36 in 2009 to 41 in 2010, which is considered to be unacceptably high by both unions and management. 
 
There remain issues of dispute between unions and management. The company has publicised a set of &ldquo;Golden Rules&rdquo; for safety and associated actions, including penalties for violations, while unions fear that this violations policy will impede safety by dissuading workers to report about minor accidents and near misses, thereby creating a lazy safety management culture. 
 
There is also joint criticism of inconsistent responses to requests for health and safety training, and a deficient dialogue on the subject at some business units and work sites. 
 
The parties remain committed to the committee&rsquo;s work, and see the joint report and accompanying union and management statements as evidence for a working dialogue and commitment to building a positive workplace culture. 
 
The report, &ldquo;Together for Safety,&rdquo; has been issued in English, and will be published also in French, Spanish, German, and Portuguese. 
 
For further details, contact Joint Committee co-chair Rob Johnston at <a href="void(0);/*1316099350265*/">rjohnston@imfmetal.org</a>.

Common Efforts Input to Workers’ Safety at ArcelorMittal

Multi-stakeholder negotiations in Indonesia, bringing together major sportswear brands, key manufacturers and five unions &ndash; including ITGLWF affiliates SPN and Garteks &ndash; have cumulated in the signing of a protocol to protect trade union rights. 
 
The negotiations began in November 2009 following a major Play Fair campaign and a commitment by major sportswear brands to engage country-by-country with trade unions in order to agree concrete steps to bring about improvements to working conditions in the industry. 
 
The protocol, signed on 7 June, addresses the fact that unions in Indonesia&rsquo;s garment and footwear sectors are frequently denied the time and space they need to carry out their duties. The protocol outlaws all forms of anti-union discrimination and requires that a CBA, where none exist, be negotiated within six months. The agreement provides for the release of union officials from work duties in order to carry out their union activities; requires provision of adequate office, meeting and notice board space; gives unions the freedom to distribute information without interference; and commits signatory factories to facilitate a check-off system for collecting union dues. 
 
Initial signatories comprised multinational brands adidas, Nike and Puma, their key suppliers, and five Indonesian unions including SPN and Garteks. Playfair 2012 launched an action, exactly one year before the London 2012 Olympics, to encourage additional brands to commit to the protocol. The action was well supported and since then Pentland &ndash; owners of the Speedo brand, Asics, and New Balance have agreed to sign the protocol. 
 
Although implementation is in the embryonic stages, some steps have been taken to socialise the protocol. adidas have held workshops for their 58 Indonesian suppliers to inform them about the protocol and encourage them to agree to its provisions, and Nike have promised that all of their suppliers will know about the protocol by the end of October. ITGLWF affiliate Garteks report that the protocol has opened the door for them to negotiate a CBA and they have also seen their membership increase in that factory. 
The ITGLWF is urging all garment and footwear brands sourcing from Indonesia to sign the protocol.

Multi-Stakeholder Negotiations Lead to Garment Framework Agreement

Oil industry multinationals employ over 12,500 workers in the Meta Region of Colombia, mostly by outsourcing work to contractors. These precariously employed workers are subject to poverty wages, exhausting working hours including working 49 days consecutively, and other sub-standard working conditions, all in clear violation of Colombian law and international minimum standards. 
 
Colombian Senator Robledo has described the workstations of the Puerto Gait&aacute;n oil fields as more like concentration camps, with overcrowded tents, water shortages, malnutrition, unhygienic sanitation, and degrading treatment. Oil contractor Pacific Rubiales conducts a public disinformation campaign in which it describes trade union USO as &ldquo;armed criminals, forcing work stoppages&rdquo;. 
 
The fight back against this untenable situation began on 19 July with mass demonstrations and work stoppages in the Puerto Gait&aacute;n and Campo Rubiales installations. Protestors were met with violent police brutality. Key support and action has been supplied by ICEM affiliate Uni&oacute;n Sindical Obrera (USO), which traditionally has organised employees of Ecopetrol, Colombia&rsquo;s listed state-owned oil company. Along with Ecopetrol, the contractors employing the Meta region oil workers are providing services for Canadian-based Pacific Rubiales, and CEPCOLSA, a subsidiary of Spanish-based CEPSA. 
 
The explosion of mass protests moved the Colombian government, notoriously compliant in the repression of trade unions, to hold a tri-partite forum on 3 August, chaired by Vice-President Angelino Garz&oacute;n. The forum created nine working groups to assess the various issues over 15 days and reach conclusions leading to a settlement of the conflict. Unfortunately and predictably not one recommendation of the 15-day working groups has been enacted. Instead unions have been hit with fierce persecution. Contractors MR, Intricon, and Medell&iacute;n Electricians ended the employment of 70 workers who had been involved in the 19 July mobilisation. Another contractor Duflo SA instructed employees to cancel their union membership, under threat of dismissal. 
 
The failure to implement any of the roundtable recommendations was met with protest from the local Puerto Gait&aacute;n community, who blocked all major roads leading into the municipality on 19 August. The local community&rsquo;s discontent was then compounded when the oil companies began hiring new staff, without employing anybody locally. 
 
The Ministry of Social Protection claims to have made 162 visits to the region, but has never met with USO or with the outsourced workers, and has only met with high level company officials on a handful of occasions. In a clear indication of the government&rsquo;s allegiance, from September the administration of President Santos will deploy a military battalion to be stationed in the community, which will in fact have its military vehicles fuelled by the local multinationals. 
 
Pacific Rubiales posted annual profits of US$218 million in 2010. 
 
During this labour conflict, 4,000 workers joined USO en masse in the Meta region. In the past year, over 16,000 contract workers have joined USO throughout Colombia.

Colombian Oil Workers Fight Back Against Mass Persecution

The initial findings from a global survey of ITGLWF affiliates show that there has been a sharp increase in the use of Contract and Agency Labour in the textile, garment and leather sectors. 
 
In Cambodia, ITGLWF affiliates the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers Democratic Union (C.CAWDU) and the National Independent Federation Textile Union of Cambodia (NIFTUC) believe that contract and agency workers now account for 41-45% of the garment workforce. They also report that workers on short term contracts are more likely to be forced to work overtime whilst also receiving remuneration and benefits of a standard lower than their permanent colleagues.&nbsp; The length of contracts has also changed dramatically in the last 12 months. Previously six-month contracts where the most common contract length for CAL workers however this has now decreased to three months, while some are as short as one month. 
 
In Kenya, there has been an even sharper increase in the use of contract and agency workers. In the last 12 months the Kenyan Shoe and Leather Workers Union (KSLWU) has recorded a 50% increase in the use of CAL.&nbsp; Joseph Bolo, General Secretary of the KSLWU outlines the union&rsquo;s reaction to these increases &ldquo;The footwear sector is now using outsourced firms to provide the bulk of their employees. We are already organising with such employers and have signed recognition agreements with two firms employing about 600 employees.&rdquo; 
 
In Faisalabad, Pakistan, two ITGLWF affiliates have reported a 37% increase in the use of contract labour in the last 12 months whilst in Malawi the Textile Garment Leather and Security Services Workers Union has recorded a 20% increase in the last year, nearly all of whom have been women. 
 
In fact, all respondents to date have indicated that it is women workers who make up the majority of contract workers. They also agree that contract workers are facing even greater levels of exploitation than permanent employees such as forced overtime, non-payment of the minimum wage, and no social security provision amongst other issues. 
 
Unions have also indicated that their ability to organise workers is fundamentally undermined by employers dismissing organised contract workers or failing to renew only the contracts of union members. Added to this the industry standard of intimidation and other forms of repressing freedom of association, unions report they are finding it extremely difficult to organise contract workers. 
 
The ITGLWF is continuing to collect data from affiliates in the Americas, Asia, and Africa on the use of Contract and Agency Labour and will publish the full findings in early 2012.

Sharp Spike in Use of Contract, Agency Labour in Textile, Garment, Leather Sectors

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The 26th Congress of ICEM Turkish affiliate Oil, Chemical, and Rubber Workers&rsquo; Union (Petrol-İş), was held 17-18 September in Istanbul and provided an open platform on discussing labour&rsquo;s current shape in Turkey with expectations for the future. Attended by a large number of guests from political parties, trade unions, professional groupings, employers, and civic society organizations, the Congress also welcomed ICEM representatives Manfred Warda and Kemal &Ouml;zkan, as well as EMCEF General Secretary Michael Wolters. 
 
Members of the Presidium of South Eastern European Energy Unions&rsquo; Network (RETUNSEE) were also present. 
 
Participants on 17 September viewed two documentaries prepared by Petrol-İş, namely &ldquo;Trade union is Your Future&rdquo; and &ldquo;What Did They Say for Petrol-İş at its 60th anniversary?&rdquo; In his opening address, President Mustafa &Ouml;ztaşkın said that the economic crisis first occurring in developed countries and then impacting the whole world caused political, economic, social, and cultural crunches. 
<img alt="" src="" width="243" height="160" />
&ldquo;The crisis brought inequality and injustice to humankind,&rdquo; said &Ouml;ztaşkın. &ldquo;We witnessed continuous rising unemployment and poverty, causing human death through starvation, and we saw a polluting environment caused by for profit.&rdquo; 
 
He also cautioned that human health is being threatened by genetically modified products. 
 
ICEM General Secretary Warda, in his address, praised the determination of Petrol-İş in defending the rights and interests of its members. He cited struggles undertaken by the union at multinational companies such as Novamed, Bericap, and Polyplex. 
 
&ldquo;It is shameful that multinational companies, particularly Western European MNCs, do not recognize internationally accepted trade union rights in Turkey, while they do it in their home countries,&rdquo; said Warda. 
 
The delegates discussed and approved a series of political resolutions under different chapters which included World, Turkey, Society, Economy, Industrial Relations, the Trade Union Movement, as well as Action Principles and Programme. A special resolution was unanimously voted on that gives full support to the coming creation of a new Global Union Federation for industry. 
 
&ldquo;Petrol-İş believes international solidarity of the working class has great importance over attacks by capitalism against the union movement,&rdquo; states the resolution, adding &ldquo;unification under the roof of single Global Union Federation in manufacturing with three existing organizations, including the ICEM, will create a promising initiative, and the Congress pledges fully supports it.&rdquo; 
 
The Congress also amended the union&rsquo;s statutes by bringing new mechanisms into the current structure, particularly for special groups of workers. One union objective has been &ldquo;to struggle against child labour and to strive protecting and promoting the rights of young workers.&rdquo; Another now enshrined in Petrol-İş statutory objectives is gender equality, with the union pledging &ldquo;to take all necessary measures in practices at home, in workplaces, and within the trade union to build equality and struggle against all forms of gender violence.&rdquo; 
 
Mustafa &Ouml;ztaşkın was unanimously re-elected President of Petrol-İş, while Ali Ufuk Yaşar won election as General Secretary, İbrahim Doğang&uuml;l as Finance Secretary, Nimetullah S&ouml;zen as Organizing and Education Secretary, and Ahmet Kabaca as Administrative Secretary. The five trade unionists were named as members of the union&rsquo;s Executive Committee.

Turkey: Petrol-İş Congress Endorses Creation of New Trade Union International

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Following the first joint mission in October 2007, ICEM and Rhodia again visited the company&rsquo;s Chinese operations from 19-21. This second visit came within the context of the Global Framework Agreement (GFA) that was signed in 2005 and renewed twice since. The objective of such missions is to monitor implementation of the principles and indicators set out in the GFA. Such joint missions by ICEM and Rhodia have also been made to Brazil in 2008, the US in 2009, and to South Korea in 2010. 
 
The ICEM was represented by its General Secretary Manfred Warda and Director of Industry and Corporate Affairs Kemal &Ouml;zkan. Rhodia had Jacques Kheliff, Group Vice-President for Sustainable Development, and Jean-Christophe Sciberras, Group Vice-President for Industrial Relations, on the mission. Rhodia&rsquo;s Asia &amp; Pacific Zone Chairman, Michel Ybert, Chinese General Manager Michael Zhu, and Asia &amp; Pacific Research and Development Director Pascal Metivier accompanied the joint mission. 
 
The trip coincided with 95% of Rhodia shares being tendered by Belgian-based chemicals company Solvay. Rhodia and Solvay together will create a chemicals company that will have &euro;12 billion in sales, with 40% of that generated in emerging markets. Rhodia will become the third sector of Solvay, in addition to its Chemicals and Plastics segments. This situation also made possible Olivier du Roy de Blicquy, President of Greater China of Solvay Group, being present during the first day of last week&rsquo;s joint mission. 
<img alt="" src="" width="200" height="161" />
The mission first received a briefing at Rhodia&rsquo;s zone headquarters in Shanghai. Employing over 2,800 workers in the zone and producing 23% total sales, Rhodia has sites in China, South Korea, India, Japan, Indonesia, Thailand, New Zealand, and Vietnam. The zone&rsquo;s sales in 2010 increased 36% over that of 2009. Rhodia also has shown rapid development in China where the chemical industry has grown on average by 24% from 2005 to 2010. The recent takeover of Feixiang Specialty Chemicals gives Rhodia a leading position in the amines and surfactants markets in China. 
 
ICEM&rsquo;s Warda and &Ouml;zkan met with the chairperson and board members of the local trade union organizing employees of Rhodia at the Shanghai campus. Chairperson Jie Dong, who also serves as union representative for the Asia-Pacific region of the ICEM-Rhodia Global Safety Panel, gave a review of union activities at all plants of Rhodia, preparations for collective agreements, and social dialogue initiatives. 
 
She gave a specific attention to the joint training sessions between union and management representatives, which were launched through the GFA. Jie Dong&rsquo;s report stated that the local union committee got authorization from employees for collective consultation in early June. A questionnaire for getting views and demands of employees was answered with a high percentage. Salary and income (62.5%), insurance and welfare (62%), and rest and vacation (58.7%) were priority topics. 
 
She also reported that workers elected 35 representatives from each workplace section to prepare and negotiate a collective agreement. The collective agreement is expected to be signed at the end of 2011. 
 
ICEM and Rhodia representatives later met with the representatives of Association of International Chemical Manufacturers (AICM), which regroups multinational companies in China. Discussion focused on the Responsible Care initiative. The meeting then welcomed representatives of the All China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU) from the Minhang area and Xinzhuang Industry Park. The parties exchanged information about union activities at multinational companies. 
 
The second day of the mission saw ICEM and Rhodia representatives travel to the city of Feixiang, where Rhodia recently acquired a plant that has been placed in its Novacare business. Warda and &Ouml;zkan met with union leaders and union members of the plant in a separate meeting where current topics were reviewed. 
 
During the mission&rsquo;s final day, representatives drove to a Rhodia plant located in Zhenjiang, where union delegates explained work conditions, union activities, and labour-management relations. This was followed by presentations on the site, business activities, employment-related matters, and how the GFA has been implemented at this site. 
 
Warda noted that there has been improvement and progression in union activities in the Chinese operations of Rhodia since the 2007 visit. &ldquo;The situation in China demonstrates how a GFA can prove instrumental in improving labour relations, even in China. Our clear hope and expectation is this good model of global industrial relations extends to the Solvay Group in the future.&rdquo;

ICEM, Rhodia Review Chinese Workplaces as Part of GFA

<img src="" width="100" height="39" alt="" />
BHP Billiton-Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA) in Queensland, Australia, is a major global coal exporter to the metallurgical industry. In enterprise bargaining in the coal-rich Bowen Basin of Queensland, it has painted itself as a big bully. 
 
BMA and three Australian trade unions, the latter in unison in trying to preserve miners&rsquo; basic quality-of-life, have been locked in a ten-month dispute that has now become the bellwether on trade union rights under the nation&rsquo;s two-year-old Fair Work law. On issues of rosters, subcontracting, and other job conditions, BMA has tried to dictate, much like it could under the draconian WorkChoices Act of ousted Prime Minister John Howard a handful of years ago. 
 
The three unions, negotiating as the Single Bargaining Unit (SBU), are the Construction, Forestry, Mine and Energy Union (CFMEU), the Australian Manufacturing Workers&rsquo; Union (AMWU), and the Communications, Electrical, Plumbing Union (CEPU). They are making a stand for fair rights and equitable job protections on behalf of workers so those workers can determine their own terms and conditions of work. 
<img alt="" src="" width="260" height="131" />
SBU Picket at Goonyella Riverside Mine, July
That is a tenet to Fair Work Australia. Over the weekend of 17-18 September, BMA used FWA to suspend bargaining, circumvent the SBU, and take its rotten work proposals directly to 4,000 miners. A ballot will be held between 29 September and 5 October. Knowingly or not, but characteristic in itself, BMA scheduled the ballot during Australian school holidays &ndash; many workers will be away with family. 
 
Nonetheless, the ballot will receive near 100% rejection. Ever since a strike vote passed by 92% on 2 June, miners at six collieries have gained ever more strength and unity, and have developed the ironclad fortitude that extended work rosters and Howard-era management rights are not good for family life and destructive to job security. 
 
The ICEM will continue to champion the workers under the SBU banner of our three affiliated unions. Their fight is one that must be won so that the bad choices made in WorkChoices finally make their way to the dustbin. The ICEM has chronicled this struggle and the lawful industrial actions taken by the SBU, and a sampling of past developments can be found <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4611-CFMEU-Still-Seeking-Australian-Coal-Agreement-with-BHP-Billiton-Mitsubishi ">here</a> and <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4506-Stop-Work-Meetings-Raise-Stakes-in-Queensland-Coal-Talks ">here</a>. 
 
In sync with BMA&rsquo;s recent ballot initiative, shift-long work stoppages occurred early last week at four of the six mines &ndash; Norwich Park, Saraji, Gregory, and Crinum. The SBU has effectively called for quality-of-life balances in print and media advertisements and industrial actions have continued at all mines in recent weeks.

Coal Boss Conceit: BMA Tries to Bully Aussie Labour Law Back to Howard Era

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International pressure &ndash; both inside and out of Georgia &ndash; caused a change of course last week by police and political authorities in the aftermath of belligerent 15 September strike-breaking at Euroasian Steels in Kutaisi. Not only were over 30 sacked workers offered their jobs back, but police questioned the Indian managing director and two aides at Euroasian, also known as Hercules Steel, on 29 September.
The next day the top boss was sacked. 
 
Meanwhile, three strike leaders &ndash; Emilo Gumberidze, Irakli Iobidze, and Malkhaz Gogiava &ndash; who were jailed by police on bogus charges were released after serving ten-day sentences in the Kutaisi jail. (See <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4673-Georgian-Trade-Union-Leaders-Jailed-for-Passing-Drug-Test">ICEM report here</a>.) 
 
They immediately called Metallurgical, Mining, and Chemical Workers&rsquo; Union President Tamazi Dolaberidze and pledged their continued support to the union. On 30 September, the new acting managing director of Hercules personally called each of the three to offer them their jobs back. The reversal gave Hercules metalworkers renewed momentum following the strike&rsquo;s crushing and that registered both with Georgian workers and about 130 Indian workers employed at the rolling mill.
<img alt="" src="" width="275" height="160" />
Georgia's Police Break Strike in Kutaisi, 15 September&nbsp;
Several points of global and internal civil pressure caused deep embarrassment to Georgia. There also was high-level diplomatic pressure involved, especially after an international delegation that included the ICEM and top leaders from Poland&rsquo;s Solidarnoş&ccedil; exposed the fact that the Indian workers at Hercules may be treated worse than anyone else. 
 
They live eight to a room in a dormitory adjacent to the mill, their passports were being head by the senior boss, and their salaries are sent back to India. It is believed that the top boss, Raji Kumar Sureika, was sacked because he was holding the passports. 
 
The strike last month by 200 Hercules metalworkers was sparked after the Metallurgical, Mining, Chemical Union gained written support from a majority of the Georgian workers and then requested labour-management dialogue. After several weeks, the request was ignored and the strike started, including hunger strikes by four workers in front of the mill. 
 
Two days into the strike, police violently broke it up and literally <a href="/en/4-Chemicals-Pharmaceuticals/4667-ICEM-Scorns-Blatant-Police-Repression-in-Putting-Down-Georgian-Metal-Strike">forced workers</a> back to their jobs. Workers are angry that the two-year-old start-up mill has no salary schedule, no health and safety plan, and pays no overtime. Following last week&rsquo;s good news, the ICEM-affiliated Metallurgical, Mining, Chemical Union again called on Hercules to enter peaceful, construction negotiations. 
 
The ICEM commends the leadership of the Georgia Trade Union Confederation (GTUC), and Tamazi Dolaberidze, for mobilising to organise, and the Global Union Federation pledges to remain active on the global front over the ever-reocurring abuse of trade union rights in Georgia.

Calm Restored as Georgian Metalworkers Rehired

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Jack Layton, the soul of a progressive Canada and leader of the NDP, passed away Monday, 22 August, of cancer. For the past decade and more, Layton has led a populist surge in Canada that has given NDP, the party of fairness and justice, the official opposition stamp &ndash; since May 2011 &ndash; to the ruling neo-liberal Tories. Layton was 61. 
 
Layton had recently been diagnosed with his second bout against cancer. He died early in the morning on 22 August in his home and surrounded by his family. 
 
Layton&rsquo;s energy and conviction inspired ordinary Canadians and statements on his passing testified to that. Statements by North American unions said Layton&rsquo;s inspiration, ideas, and vision must push forward at a faster pace now. 
 
In a statement to Canadian unions expressing condolences over Layton&rsquo;s passing, the ICEM said, &ldquo;What happens in Canada has global significance&rdquo; (see full <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/100.ICEM.Jack%20Layton.Canada.23August.pdf">ICEM letter</a>). The ICEM remembers Layton as a courageous fighter for social justice, depicted best in his own words on the labour strife brought by Vale, the Brazilian mining giant, or to the Mexican government on its union smashing. 
<img alt="" src="" width="290" height="161" />
Toronto: Tributes to Jack Layton
In Sudbury at the beginning of a bitter year-long strike Vale provoked against Canadian living standards, Layton stood among thousands of miners, and emphatically said, &ldquo;They cannot take away what working people have built over generations in this country, or this town.&rdquo; 
 
In 2009, Layton was part a global labour mission to Mexico sponsored by the ICEM and International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF). He accurately summarised the full trade union climate in Mexico: &ldquo;We made it clear that the government&rsquo;s interference in union governance, it&rsquo;s jailing of union leaders and freezing union bank accounts, declaring strikes illegal and failing to prosecute the killers of union leaders, are serious and unacceptable violations of basic human rights.&rdquo; 
 
Dave Coles, President of the Communications, Energy, Paperworkers (CEP) of Canada said: &ldquo;I knew Jack Layton as a principled social democrat who was utterly committed to social justice and peace. Thousands of our members knew Jack by his first name, as a leader who had reached out to them in their workplaces and communities. Jack Layton paid attention to our members&rsquo; deepest concerns and gave them unqualified support in their struggles.&rdquo; 
 
Ken Neumann, Canadian National Director of the Untied Steelworkers (USW), said: &ldquo;Jack reawakened Canadians to the reality that government can &ndash; and must &ndash; play a positive role in ensuring the economic and social wellbeing of its citizens. Steelworkers will help lead the way in honouring Jack&rsquo;s legacy by carrying on his fight to build a better Canada and a better world.&rdquo; 
 
Ken Lewenza, President of the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) said in a message to the NDP: &ldquo;At Jack&rsquo;s passing, your voice of conscience is needed more than ever. Your efforts can and will make a difference in the direction of our country.&rdquo; The CAW also said that in mourning, progressive Canada must reflect on Jack&rsquo;s vision for Canada &ldquo;and how we can endeavor to make some of his cherished ideas a reality.&rdquo; 
 
Jack Layton was born in Hudson, Quebec, into a political family. He entered public service in 1982 as a member of the Toronto City Council after leaving academia. His years on the city council of Canada&rsquo;s largest city were marked by many accomplishments concerning poverty, homelessness, public transport, and environmental stewardship. In 2004, Layton won election to the federal Parliament as NDP leader, and the NDP has grown steadily to where it now is the logical political choice for a social Canada, and beyond. The ICEM letter said Jack stood always for workers, the poor, the disenfranchised. 
 
Jack is survived by his wife, Olivia, his dedicated political partner; and a son, Mike, a member of the Toronto City Council, and daughter, Sarah, who works for the Stephen Lewis Foundation.

Jack Layton: 1950-2011

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