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As labour in Australia approaches 28 April next week, the International Commemoration Day for Dead and Injured Workers, one mining company stands beneath the rest with a dismal safety record: BHP Billiton. 
 
In Western Australia&rsquo;s rich Pilbara mining section in the country&rsquo;s northwest, BHP has had five workers die over the past nine months, four less than have died in BHP employ in the region in the last nine years. Three of those deaths in recent months have been contract workers &ndash; employed by subsidiaries of BHP&rsquo;s primary contractor in the region, Leighton Holdings &ndash; while two were direct BHP workers. 
 
It is estimated that 75% of BHP&rsquo;s total workforce of 10,000 workers in the Pilbara are employed by contractors. On safety, one union official claimed BHP Billiton is less disciplined toward its contract employers than to its own workers. 
<img height="130" src="" width="130" alt="" />&nbsp;&nbsp; <img height="134" src="" width="130" alt="" />
Whether or not that changes might depend on an external safety audit being conducted after the most recent workplace tragedy, the 19 March death of a contract worker employed by Leighton&rsquo;s John Holland subsidiary. He was killed after falling off a piece of machinery at BHP&rsquo;s Mount Whaleback iron ore mine in Newman. 
 
But since that death, there have two near tragedies, the latest on 8 April when an iron ore truck struck a worker at BHP&rsquo;s Nelson Point operations in Port Hedland. The safety audit, mandated by Australia&rsquo;s Mines Safety and Inspection Act of 1994, means that stop-work orders were placed on 12 company operations late in March, interrupting production. 
 
BHP&rsquo;s recent industrial safety record has brought condemnation from the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) and the Australian Manufacturing Workers&rsquo; Union (AMWU). 
 
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s fine to put stop work notices on,&rdquo; stated CFMEU&rsquo;s Joe McDonald, quoted in the Kalgoorlie Miner, a regional newspaper. &ldquo;But they need to be extremely well enforced because BHP will still find ways around these notices.&rdquo; McDonald said he favours company prosecution when industrial deaths happen. 
 
The AMWU has discounted BHP&rsquo;s &ldquo;safety is a priority&rdquo; rhetoric, and has pushed hard for state regulators to conduct full and independent investigations. 
 
The AMWU publicly stated that such an inquiry is absolutely necessary following the second death in a matter of two weeks. On 24 February, a railroad track maintenance worker was killed on the job. The 56-year-old machine worker was killed when he was hit by a BHP train on the company&rsquo;s Tabba rail line near Port Hedland. 
 
Last year, two deaths occurred within nine days of one another at BHP Billiton&rsquo;s 85%-owned Yandi iron ore mine in the Pilbara. Both workers were employed by HWE Mining, another subsidiary of Leighton Holdings and a company that is BHP&rsquo;s exclusive mining contractor at Yandi. 
 
One of the workers, a 19-year-old, was crushed to death on 4 September 2008 when the small truck he was driving was crushed by a large haul vehicle. The other HWE employee died on 26 August in an industrial accident while he was changing a tyre. 
 
And less than a month earlier, on 29 July, a 52-year-old BHP worker was killed when a scissor lift toppled onto him while he was working in a locomotive repair shop at BHP&rsquo;s Port Hedland ore crushing and shipping facility. (That same day, at BHP Billiton&rsquo;s Klipspruit coal mine in Northern Province, South Africa, a miner was killed when a drill rig fell on him.) 
 
Less than a month before Workers&rsquo; Memorial Day, Australian trade union activists were not silent on BHP Billiton and its contractors&rsquo; death toll. At the Safety Institute of Australia&rsquo;s &ldquo;Safety in Action&rdquo; Conference in Melbourne on 31 March, CFMEU and AMWU members gathered in loud protest on safety issues. The reason: John Holland Chairman Janet Holmes was delivering the keynote address.

BHP’s Mining Deaths in Western Australia Face Serious Scrutiny

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In a unified response to safety shortfalls that killed a contract worker at Drummond Coal&rsquo;s La Loma mine, 8,000 members of Sintramienerg&eacute;tica and other contract staff stage a four-day strike late in March that shut production of Colombia&rsquo;s second largest coal mine. 
 
Dagoberto Clavijo Barranco, a one-month worker at La Loma who was put there through a labour agency, was killed on 23 March when the coal-hauling vehicle he was operating fell into an open-cast mine. 
 
Drummond released all miners from work duties following the tragedy, but when the strike spread over the next few days because workers&rsquo; demanded improved safety, the company, in a statement, called the strike illegal. 

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A Sintramienerg&eacute;tica leader said Drummond agreed to meet with the union to discuss safety but was &ldquo;flippant&rdquo; in stating that no amount of negotiations will improve safety conditions. The company, on 27 March, issued a further public statement after full production at La Loma resumed. This time Drummond said it regretted the accident and would continue its &ldquo;best efforts together with the competent authorities to clear up this unfortunate incident.&rdquo; 
 
Drummond has had nine mining deaths at La Loma in C&eacute;sar state over the past decade. Another three have occurred at its port facilities near Barranquilla. 
 
In the days following the end of the safety strike, Drummond terminated 600 workers because of a strike by the transport union, Sintraime. Workers of coal-transport contractors Carbograneles and Fenoco (partially owned by Drummond) began strikes on 25 March, and these strikes were still underway late last week. Transport workers are striking for full union recognition on rail lines and at port facilities, as well as over overtime procedures. 
 
The mining union Sintramienerg&eacute;tica is insisting that Drummond recall the 600, claiming it has no responsibility in the transport strike. 
 
Drummond directly or indirectly employs 9,000 workers at La Loma, and the American company will soon start up its El Descanso mine in C&eacute;sar state, a US$1.8 billion investment that will increase the company&rsquo;s coal production to 27 million tones annually.

Contract Worker Death Causes Safety Strike at Drummond in Colombia

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Union and community leaders in the UK&rsquo;s northeast have mounted a campaign to save over 100 jobs at a chemicals plant. UK-based Elementis Plc., the EU&rsquo;s only producer of chromium chemicals used in superalloy production, timber treatments, and metal finishing, is currently in a 90-day consultation period with ICEM affiliate Unite the Union and workers at a plant in Eaglescliffe, near Teesside. 
 
In February, the specialty chemicals company &ndash; the world&rsquo;s largest producer of chromium chemicals &ndash; announced the plant was under &ldquo;a strategic review&rdquo; that could lead to a shutdown by July 2009. 
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Workers and community leaders are petitioning MPs and engaging in other activities to keep the profitable plant operating. Elementis, which also produces surfactants and specialty chemicals for paints, coatings, inks, and cosmetics, saw its chromium chemicals business post an operating profit of &pound;27.7 million in 2008, compared to a &pound;14.2 million profit in 2007. Sales in the division rose to &pound;168.6 million in 2008 from &pound;115.9 million in 2007. 
 
Unite Regional Secretary Bob Bolam stressed that production from the plant was crucial for the EU. &ldquo;If this plant were to close, the EU would be reliant on Kazakhstan and China. We intend to put together a case for the (Elementis) board to keep this site.&rdquo; 
 
The company&rsquo;s other chromium chemicals plants are in the US &ndash; Corpus Christi, Texas, and Castle Hayne, North Carolina. Raw materials used by Elementis come from South Africa and other parts of Africa, and are processed at the Eaglescliffe plant before being shipped to US facilities and other locations. The company&rsquo;s chromium chemicals business produces dichromate, chrome sulphate, chromic acid, chromic oxide, chromide hydrate, and sodium sulphate. 
 
Elementis senior executives have stated that no final decision on closure has been taken. The ICEM supports workers in the Teesside and Wilton area in their buoyant efforts to preserve jobs in this sector.

UK Workers, Community, Unite the Union Fight to Protect Jobs at Elementis Chemicals

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The UK&rsquo;s National Union of Mineworkers and Australia&rsquo;s Construction, Forestry, Mining, and Energy Union (CFMEU) largely financed the Second International Coal Conference in Edinburgh, Scotland, last month. The others on the preparatory committee were the ICEM, CITU and INMF of India, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) of South Africa, and FNME-CGT of France. The ICEM raised US$7,000 from the ILO to ensure attendance of delegates from Colombia, Mexico, Vietnam, and Mongolia. In total, 120 delegates from 20 coal-mining unions in17 countries attended. 

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The declaration of the conference included two items put forward by the ICEM. One related to the situation with Mexico&rsquo;s National Miners&rsquo; and Metalworkers&rsquo; Union (SNTMMSRM), or Los Mineros, and the other with the urgency for countries to ratify ILO Convention 176, the Health and Safety in Mines Convention. 
 
Delegates were appalled by trade union rights abuses reported by Mexican representatives present, especially compliance of the Mexican government with such abuses. The delegates declared their full support of Los Mineros, as well as ICEM-affiliated Sintracarb&oacute;n of Colombia. 
 
&ldquo;We pledge to provide as much political, financial, and moral support as are within the means of our national unions and call on our internationals to similarly focus on supporting these struggles,&rdquo; read the declaration. Unions pledged to send a delegation of trade unionists and members of parliament to Mexico within 90 days of the Edinburgh meeting to protest the efforts of Grupo Mex&iacute;co and the Mexican government to destroy Los Mineros. 
 
All those present at the conference demanded the ratification of ILO Convention 176, by all member states of the United Nations. Also demanded was a dramatically increased focus on ratification by the ILO itself, including the adoption of Convention 176 as a core convention, and focusing on its ratification in countries where there are the most deaths and injuries at work. India, for example, has yet to ratify the Convention. 
 
Andrew Vickers of CFMEU presented a paper to the conference on the effects of the financial crisis on the coal sector worldwide, pointing the blame for millions of job losses to greed and deregulation of bankers. He noted that demand for coal will be reduced in developed countries, but greatly increased in developing nations. China, Vietnam, and India plan massive expansion in their capacity to produce coal. Vickers called for collective worldwide efforts to protect the interests of coal miners. 
 
The declaration found <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/0904.mining.pdf">here</a>, was passed unanimously amid enthusiasm of the delegates.

Second International Coal Conference held in Scotland

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A strike by 190 Turkish paperworkers, members of ICEM affiliate T&uuml;mka-İş, against Procter &amp; Gamble ended on 30 March. The end came when workers voted in front of the plant gates in Gebze, Turkey, for a two-year agreement. 
The negotiated agreement is a significant improvement over the American company&rsquo;s proposed wage freeze in the first year of the agreement. Workers will receive a 3.9% increase, an improvement over the 2% offer made by Procter &amp; Gamble 11 days into the strike. In addition, all workers will receive a lump-sum TL 1,250 payment upon returning to work. 
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The second year&rsquo;s wage increase, to come on 1 September 2009, will equal the rate of Turkish inflation. The company&rsquo;s offer in early March was two-thirds the inflation rate. T&uuml;mka-İş retained all work rights already in the collective agreement, and won increases in certain compensations, including night-shift premium pay. 
 
T&uuml;mka-İş General President Kemal Yilmaz thanked the ICEM and the many pulp and paper unions throughout the world which supported workers during the strike. &ldquo;For success to come in a struggle against a giant multinational company such as P&amp;G, international solidarity is a necessity,&rdquo; said Yilmaz. &ldquo;When it is coupled with the decisiveness of workers on the front lines, success can come easily.&rdquo; 
Procter &amp; Gamble manufactures paper towels, tissue, and hygiene products, including nappies, at the Gebze plant outside of Istanbul.

Turkish Paperworkers at Procter &amp; Gamble End 37-Day Strike

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In September 2007, ICEM and the International Metalworkers' Federation (IMF) jointly signed a Global Framework Agreement with Belgian-based Umicore, a chemicals, metals technology, and catalysts systems company. In line with a relevant article of the agreement calling for the parties to have an annual mission to a Umicore worksite to monitor compliance, a visit to a plant in Shanghai, China, producing cobalt and zinc powders for battery application was made from 16-20 March. 
 
The ICEM was represented by Chemicals and Rubber Industries Officer Kemal &Ouml;zkan, while IMF General Secretary Marcello Malentacchi, IMF Director of Education, Health and Safety Magnus Palmgren, and Jef Peeters, chairman of Umicore&rsquo;s European Works Council also were along. The company was represented by Ursula Saint L&eacute;ger, Senior Vice-President of Human Resources. 

<img height="190" alt="" src="" width="298" />
 
Umicore&rsquo;s corporate officials presented the topics covered in the global agreement related to social objectives, human rights, working conditions, and environmental issues. Both Global Union Federations explained their activities regarding multinational companies, and Peeters provided information on the structure of the company&rsquo;s European section. The union side commented on the reports given and put forward expectations for the future. 
 
The delegation then visited the company's subsidiary in Shanghai, called Shanghai Blue Lotus. Employing 88 workers &ndash; 71 men and 17 women &ndash; the plant does have trade union representation. ICEM and IMF had the opportunity to meet Lu Yaozhong, chairman of the branch union at Shanghai Blue Lotus, and discussed working conditions and trade union rights. 
 
Commented &Ouml;zkan on the visit, &quot;This first joint activity has created hopeful expectations for the future. In&nbsp;view of the importance of international industrial relations, the global agreement between ICEM/IMF and Umicore will continue to serve to improve working conditions of the company worldwide.&quot;

ICEM, IMF Join Umicore on a Joint Mission to Shanghai, China, Plant

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Trade unions joined with aid agencies and environmentalists on the streets of London last weekend, 28 March, to march under the banner &ldquo;Put People First&rdquo;. The 35,000 peaceful protestors called for reform of the world&rsquo;s economy under a common banner, &ldquo;Jobs, Justice, Climate.&rdquo; Decent jobs and public services for all, justice for the world&rsquo;s poor, including the 200 million people that the United Nations predicts will be thrown into poverty as a result of the economic crisis, and a green economy to slow climate change. 
 
The march was part of the global campaign to challenge the G20 ahead of the summit meetings last week, and was sponsored by the Trades Union Congress (TUC) of the UK. 

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The colourful four-mile march from Embankment to Hyde Park was accompanied by brass bands and chants of &ldquo;Bail out the people, not the bankers!&rdquo; Speeches were then heard from trade union leaders, including United Steelworkers of America President Leo Gerard, Australian Council of Trades Unions (ACTU) President Sharon Burrow, TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber, and comedian Mark Thomas. All called for an overhaul in the mechanisms governing the world economy. 
 
&ldquo;Even before the crisis, the world suffered poverty and faced the threat of climate change,&rdquo; said GMB General Secretary Paul Kenny of the UK. &ldquo;The G20 must fight recession by making the world fairer and greener.&rdquo; At least 1,500 GMB members took part in the march. 
 
The high turnout has been attributed in part to the use of Twitter, Facebook, and other social media used by organizers in the run-up to the event. During the march, messages that had been posted on Twitter were shouted through a loud speaker.

Trade Unionists join others on streets of London demanding G20 to ‘Put People First’

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Ukrainian unions in the chemical and related industries discussed crisis conditions and challenges at a meeting on 24 March in Kiev, a meeting organised by ICEM and Nordic-In, the industrial labour federation covering workers in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden. 
 
The main objective of the meeting was to develop cooperation with Ukrainian unions in chemicals and other such industries in the Ukraine. The emphasis included organising, collective bargaining, multinational companies, and capacity building for trade union officers, with firm intent to conduct a long term and extensive project in the country. 

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The participants included Kemal &Ouml;zkan, Chemicals and Rubber Industries Officer of ICEM, Kent Karrlander, Head of Chemicals for the Nordic-In, which represents over 20 trade unions in the metal, energy, chemicals, plastics, paper, and mining sectors, and Swedish IF Metall Union&rsquo;s International Officer Henrik Nilsson and Local Officer Peter Johansson. The participating labour organisations from Ukraine included the Nuclear Power and Industry Workers&rsquo; Union (Atomprofspilka), Chemical and Petrochemical Industry Workers Union, Oil and Gas Workers&rsquo; Union, and the Construction and Building Materials Workers&rsquo; Union. 
 
Before starting any specific activities, the participants discussed needs, views, and the expectations that a long-term project would undertake. One key aspect expressed by Ukrainian trade unionists was bargaining during crisis conditions, such as at present with the global economic recession. The Ukrainians were interested in learning the experiences of unions in other countries as a major need. 
 
Structural issues, finances, and organising were put forward as burning issues in which a future project should centre on. As well, using international tools for developing organising drives was also mentioned as an agenda item of future activities. The project is scheduled to start in September 2009 and continue for a three-year period. 
 
&quot;With great appreciation to Nordic-In, which strives to initiate great cooperation with the unions represented chemical workers in the Ukraine, I am confident that the issues and problems will be addressed and handled in this project,&rdquo; said the ICEM&rsquo;s &Ouml;zkan. &ldquo;This, indeed, will have a big impact on ICEM affiliates in the Ukraine and signifies a good example of international trade union solidarity.&quot;

Ukraine’s Unions Seek Tools to Overcome Economic Crisis in Joint ICEM-Nordic Project

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Pencho Torkmachiev, President of the Federation Independent Union of Miners of Bulgaria (FIUM), opened a day-long celebration on 31 March of the 100-year anniversary of the founding of Bulgaria&rsquo;s oldest and largest mining union in Pernik, the industrial city where the trade union movement and FIUM were born. As in many other countries, the miners&rsquo; union became the leading force in the trade union movement and survived numerous cataclysmic changes including two world wars and the advent and fall of communism. 
 
The importance of the FIUM was demonstrated in the final event of the day when Georgi Parvanov, the president of Bulgaria, spoke to the audience, which included several government ministers. President Parvanov spoke about how the FIUM shaped his life, having grown up in Pernik. 

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President Parvanov
Joe Drexler, ICEM&rsquo;s director of industry and corporate affairs, spoke in the final event on the economic crisis sweeping the world and how mining trade unions are addressing the crisis. He also spoke on the importance of Bulgaria moving to ratify ILO Convention 176, the Health and Safety in Mines Convention. In private conversations, the FIUM expressed confidence that Bulgaria will make a major step toward ratification in 2009. 
 
There are few places in the world that would rival Pernik in terms of its celebration of miners. Monuments and sculptures to miners dominate the city center along with a mining museum that includes an underground coal mine. Those attending the event were given a tour of the underground mine which showed how technology has changed the nature of mining 
 
FIUM President Torkmachiev along with Vice Presidents Alexander Kanev and Valentin Valchev, expressed their appreciation to the ICEM for its continuing support to the trade union. The FIUM has approximately 11,000 members engaged in coal, metal, and industrial materials mining.

Bulgarian Miners’ Union Celebrates 100 year Anniversary with President of Bulgaria

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The first meeting of the Latin American Regional Trade Union Network for workers of Dutch multinational Akzo Nobel was organised between 11-13 March in S&atilde;o Paulo, Brazil. The newly formed network had the participation of Brazilian, Argentine, and Mexican trade union representatives. ICEM, the Brazilian trade union confederation CUT, and Instituto Observat&oacute;rio Social (ISO) were also present in the meeting. 
 
After the meeting&rsquo;s opening, ICEM Chemicals and Rubber Industries Officer Kemal &Ouml;zkan made a presentation on the global situation in the chemicals industry, and the impacts of the current financial crisis throughout the world. Dutch trade union representatives from Akzo Nobel contributed to the discussions by sending a report about the general situation and organizational structure of the company following Akzo Nobel&rsquo;s merger with British ICI. 

<img height="127" alt="" src="" width="270" />
During the meeting, a video conference with employees in Mexico was conducted that allowed&nbsp;for sharing of&nbsp;information and experiences. The video conferencing also served to link Mexican workers into discussion on the construction of the network. 
 
To better understand the reality facing workers, the participants visited the Akzo Nobel plant in Santo Andr&eacute;, S&atilde;o Paulo state, a paint and varnish factory of ICI Parkingon on 12 March. 
 
A Social Dialogue conference, organized on 13 March, had the participation of the human resources manager for South America, Adenilson Ara&uacute;jo, together with members of the new network. The main points discussed were the recognition of the Latin American Network of Workers&rsquo; for Akzo Nobel, and a search for information regarding a survey on health and safety in the various workplaces, as well as along the supply chain. 
 
According to Ara&uacute;jo, Akzo Nobel recognizes the consistency of the movement and will discuss all points brought forward by the network. A record with such issues will be produced and signed by the parties. 
 
&quot;The network of workers in Latin America for Akzo Nobel workers is now a reality and our goal must be to strengthen the network, and build agreements and benefits that better the lives of workers,&quot; said Sergio Carasso, the coordinator of the network.

Akzo Nobel South American Workers Form Regional Trade Union Network

Archive

BHP’s Mining Deaths in Western Australia Face Serious Scrutiny

Contract Worker Death Causes Safety Strike at Drummond in Colombia

UK Workers, Community, Unite the Union Fight to Protect Jobs at Elementis Chemicals

Second International Coal Conference held in Scotland

Turkish Paperworkers at Procter & Gamble End 37-Day Strike

ICEM, IMF Join Umicore on a Joint Mission to Shanghai, China, Plant

Trade Unionists join others on streets of London demanding G20 to ‘Put People First’

Ukraine’s Unions Seek Tools to Overcome Economic Crisis in Joint ICEM-Nordic Project

Bulgarian Miners’ Union Celebrates 100 year Anniversary with President of Bulgaria

Akzo Nobel South American Workers Form Regional Trade Union Network

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