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Another Colombian trade unionist was murdered, continuing a trend that labels the South American country as one of the worst in the world with respect to trade union rights and human rights. 
 
Jes&uacute;s Marino Mosquera, an activist in the rural workers&rsquo; agricultural union of SINTRAINAGRO, was murdered last month while returning home from the farm that he worked at in Carepa, Urab&aacute; state. He served as a union representative for SINTRAINAGRO on a joint labour-management committee for the past 12 years. 
 
Following the mid-October assassination, two members of the union&rsquo;s national executive received death threats. On 26 October, masked gunmen broke into the home of one of those members, Medardo Cuesta, who was not there, and left a death note for him.
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SINTRAINAGRO, an affiliate of the International Union of Food Workers&rsquo; (IUF), and of the Colombian national labour centre CUT have denounced the murder and death threats, and have called on the government to provide all necessary protective measures for SINTRAINAGRO officers and members. 
 
Far more trade unionists are murdered in Colombia each year than in any other country in the world. Last year, the count was listed at 70, although it is believed another 25 trade union leaders were victims of death squads. 
 
The IUF provides further information on this latest instance of trade union killings in Colombia, as well as a link to send a message of protest to the government on its website. To get there, click&nbsp;<a href="http://www.iufdocuments.org/cgi-bin/dbman/db.cgi?db=default&amp;uid=default&amp;ID=3823&amp;view_records=1&amp;ww=1&amp;en=1">here</a>.

Agricultural Trade Unionist Slain in Colombia

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The former battery workers at two Gold Peak Industrial Holding plants in China who had been diagnosed with excessive levels of cadmium had their case heard in a Chinese court on 3 November. Some 146 workers &ndash; mostly young women &ndash; are being victimised by the Hong Kong-based company.
In 2004, some 400 workers at two of Gold Peak&rsquo;s battery plants in China engaged in strike action to overcome the company&rsquo;s refusal to carry out health tests. Now, Gold Peak is arguing that the 146 workers have no legal basis for claims to compensation, claims for lost working time, or re-employment. 
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The 146 employees, 95% of whom are women between ages 20 and 30, worked at the Gold Peak battery plants of Huizhou Xianjin and Huizhou Chaoba in Guangdong province. In documents, the workers said they were terminated from employment and given little compensation when high levels of cadmium were found in their bodies. The Huizhou city government had certified that a total of 177 Gold Peak workers had been tested and that excessive levels of cadmium had been found in their blood systems. 
 
The Chinese court, after hearing the case on 3 November, adjourned without issuing a verdict. 
 
Investor-based Gold Peak operates several battery-producing factories in China, and sells the batteries under different brand names worldwide.

Gold Peak Battery Workers Have Their Day in Court in China

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ICEM French affiliate FCE-CFDT is demanding that Bayer Pharmaceutical tend to all its social obligations in the German company&rsquo;s recent announcement of location changes inside France. After last summer&rsquo;s purchase by Bayer of Schering Pharma, the company announced last week it was moving the offices of the pharmaceutical division from Puteaux near Paris to the northern French town of Lys-lez-Lannoy, just inside the Belgian border.
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The pharmaceutical branch of FCE-CFDT warns that 500 jobs could be threatened by the move. &ldquo;Important social consequences&rdquo; will arise, FCE-CFDT said in a statement, &ldquo;because not all Puteaux workers will go north. In addition, there might be collateral consequences for staff of other divisions of the company, including Bayer SAS and Bayer Jardin.&rdquo; 
 
The union is calling on Bayer to commit itself to propose &ldquo;an acceptable solution to every worker impacted by the decision,&rdquo; and FCE-CFDT demands that an extraordinary meeting occur to address the social and economic future of the site at Puteaux.

FCE-CFDT in France Warns Bayer on Social Consequences of Move

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The National Federation of Mining, Metallurgy, and Steel Workers UNION (FNTMMSP) of Peru will hold a national session of all its affiliates in Lima on 22-23 November in order to formulate plans for a national strike. 
 
The ICEM affiliate said its discontent is aimed not at mining companies, but rather at the government. A bill now before Peru&rsquo;s Congress aims to change the way profit-sharing plans are regulated. The union also seeks to get the government to regulate and enforce the manner in which contract workers are employed.
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&ldquo;Our problem is a political problem,&rdquo; said FNTMMSP General Secretary Carlos Luis Castillo in a published Reuters report. &ldquo;On November 22 and 23, we will have a national session with delegates from all the country&rsquo;s unions, and we&rsquo;ll define the start date for the strike. 
 
Castillo added that in an era of high demand and high prices for base metals, &ldquo;we show that we aren&rsquo;t passive about things that are happening either because of government inaction or because of laws before Congress.&rdquo; 
 
Mining companies operating in Peru have seen huge profits coming from high global pricing of metals. FNTMMSP has consistently backed the needs of people living in mining areas by seeking more social investment and environmental safeguards for these areas. 
 
Peru&rsquo;s is the world&rsquo;s third largest producer of copper and zinc, and ranks fifth in global output of gold.

ICEM’s Peruvian Mining Affiliate Braces for National Strike

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ICEM affiliate National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) of South Africa is outraged by the further retrenchment of 400 miners in the diamond-mining region of Kimberley, Northern Cape. DeBeers said that it would sack the workers, employed near the Koffiefontein diamond mine&rsquo;s New Treatment Plant, by the end of the year. 
 
The company has not, as of yet, conducted the proper consultation process with the NUM. The union also is angered at DeBeers for not providing advance notice of the closure so that &ldquo;avenues or alternatives to retrenchments&rdquo; could be explored.
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&ldquo;In our view, this constitutes bad faith on the side of the employer, who know the magnitude of problems that come (for people) with this kind of mass retrenchment,&rdquo; said the NUM. 
 
The New Treatment Plant was only opened in the year 2000, and was expected then to extend the life of diamond-mining operations in Koffiefontein by 15 to 25 years. But DeBeers closed the Koffiefontein mine last year, costing 600 miners their jobs. In all, over 2,500 miners have been left jobless in the Kimberley area.

South Africa’s NUM Disputes DeBeers’ Further Retrenchments at Koffiefontein

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Over the past two years, ICEM affiliate Botswana Mine Workers Union (BMWU) has faced obstacles that would have crushed any normal union. The National Executive of the union has witnessed two mining companies, Debswana and BCL, now an enterprise of global mining house LionOre, subvert the union&rsquo;s national leadership, instigate a wildcat strike (BCL) in order to sack workers, withhold union fees from BMWU, and now start a rival, yellow union. 
 
But the BMWU hasn&rsquo;t flinched, and has met every onslaught with a legal and dignified response to the overt divide-and-conquer tactics of the two companies. On 3 November, the BMWU General Council met in session and reaffirmed the union&rsquo;s role as the Mineworkers&rsquo; Union of Botswana.
It also set in motion resolutions passed from the 2004 Congress, national union initiatives that had been stalled by the companies&rsquo; conduct, and followed through on a restructuring plan that gives BMWU four regions. 
 
However, interference from both Debswana, a joint diamond-mining company between DeBeers and the government of Botswana, and BCL continues. Debswana is actively pushing members into a rival union, and strong evidence exists that management is funding such a union. 
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&ldquo;The Human Resources Department works around the clock to divert our members,&rdquo; said BMWU General Secretary Jack Tlhagale. He said Debswana took a full year, until September 2006, to recognise the legitimate branch committee from Orapa, a major mining area of Debswana, and has withheld union fees due the BMWU. 
 
Tlhagale also said the world&rsquo;s largest diamond-mining enterprise has unilaterally taken union dues money and used it for fees owed in an appellate court case the BMWU lost in April 2004. Separately, the BMWU is still seeking justice for 461 workers fired in August 2004 when they went on strike, but the case is consistently being delayed in an Industrial Court. BMWU is convinced that the court is unduly influenced by the government and DeBeers in the matter. 
BCL, a copper and nickel mining operation bought by LionOre only in 2005, has entered into an illegal collective agreement with dissidents inside the Selebi-Phikwe branch of BMWU, dissidents who have been jailed for failing to comply with multiple court orders to turn dues monies over to the national union. 
 
BCL has financially supported the jailed group of workers, and has refused to recognise a duly-elected Selebi-Phikwe branch committee that replaced the one consisting of some of the jailed workers. That recognition case is scheduled to be heard in Industrial Court on 20 November. 
 
Perhaps BCL&rsquo;s biggest offence is that management led machine workers and spannermen into a non-sanctioned strike in order to sack them. Some 181 workers were fired after BCL management told them they have no union to represent them. &ldquo;The general manager did this deliberately as a trap to eliminate them,&rdquo; said Tlhagale. &ldquo;He was fully aware that a legitimate union committee was in place, but he said they have no union because the union he recognises is in prison.&rdquo; 
 
The BMWU&rsquo;s National Executive Committee will continue to receive the support, guidance, and solidarity of ICEM and its affiliates as it continues it&rsquo;s legal and moral course for justice and a dignity for all Botswana&rsquo;s miners.

Botswana’s Miners’ Union Fights Repressive Companies, BCL LionOre and Debswana

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Nigerian oil workers&rsquo; unions PENGASSAN and NUPENG are demanding that the country&rsquo;s National Assembly investigate the sale of Eleme Petrochemicals Ltd. by the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) to Indorama of Thailand. The privatisation of an olefins refinery in Port Harcourt to a group of investors was called into question by the two unions over several fiduciary disparities. 
On another level, the two ICEM oil and gas union affiliates in Nigeria also continue to negotiate with management of Agip, a division of Italian energy company Eni, over security protections. The talks come during another peak in kidnappings and energy installation occupations along the Niger Delta, this time with Agip worksites as the main targets. 
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Agip staff has threatened a strike to shut all of the company&rsquo;s production down unless it provides the same level of security that it provides to expatriate workers. Agip office workers at a regional headquarters in Port Harcourt did strike on 30 October, and barricaded the office in protest to the company&rsquo;s delays in providing extra security and pay. 
 
The security issue also threatens to renew a national oil and gas strike in Nigeria. On 11 October, PENGASSAN and NUPENG, after meeting jointly in Lagos, issued a statement that said a second phase of a national strike is close to being called because of &ldquo;failed implementation&rdquo; of the safety requirements that were agreed to after a two-day September strike. 
 
The Nigerian oil and gas workers&rsquo; unions protested the government&rsquo;s &ldquo;lukewarm attitude&rdquo; in convening a security forum. They also called the failure to date to set up a commission to investigate the kidnapping and murder of PENGASSAN member Nelson Ujeye &ldquo;unacceptable.&rdquo; 
 
The unions, furthermore, called on the government to drop any plans to privatise the Kaduna refinery and petrochemicals division. 
On the flawed BPE privatisation sale, the official communiqu&eacute; to the government from PENGASSAN and NUPENG provides staunch evidence that the investors not only defaulted on loan requirements and still got possession of the refinery, but that after gaining possession Indorama sold spare parts to generate funds for the sale. 
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Since 75% of Eleme Petrochemical had been owned by the state, PENGASSAN and NUPENG said it was seeking the investigation &ldquo;with a deep sense of patriotism.&rdquo; 
 
The joint statement reads: &ldquo;The Director General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises, Mrs. Irene Chigbue, was quoted as informing unsuspecting Nigerians that Indorama had paid the full price of US$225 million (N$30 billion) for the Eleme Petrochemical Co. Ltd. She was also quoted as describing the sale of EPCL as a star deal of the privatisation programme. 
 
&ldquo;While Mrs. Chigbue is entitled to express her opinion and make personal assessments of her &lsquo;achievement&rsquo; in BPE, we in NUPENG and PENGASSAN have consistently maintained that the sale was another asset stripping and charade, ever done on the national assets of our great country.&rdquo; 
 
&ldquo;Our position is premised on the fact that the selling of the plant at US$225 million is less than the US$336 million, which the Federal Government will pay as outlandish liabilities before Indorama took possession of the plant,&rdquo; the communiqu&eacute; stated. 
 
Meanwhile, a rash of violent acts again hit Niger Delta oil and gas installations, proving the Nigerian government still has not found viable solutions to the safety and security of workers in the area. 
 
About 40 Agip workers, all Nigerians, are still being held by militant youths at Eni&rsquo;s Tebidaba flow-station in Bayelsa State. They, and eight other Nigerian workers, who managed to escape, were kidnapped there on 6 November by some 70 heavily-armed youth militia. The eight who had escaped told of a security guard being shot.

Nigerian Unions Close to Second National Strike

The 20-million-member ICEM, the Global Trade Union Federation representing workers in the mining industry, today commended its Colombian affiliate, Sintracarb&oacute;n, and coal producer Carbones del Cerrej&oacute;n for achieving a new collective agreement over the weekend. After the union&rsquo;s National Assembly of Delegates issued a strike mandate on 25 January, Sintracarb&oacute;n&rsquo;s six-member bargaining committee met with the management of Colombia&rsquo;s biggest coal enterprise throughout the weekend to achieve the new two-year agreement. 
 
&ldquo;The ICEM applauds the fact that both sides saw the rationale to continue discussions even after it appeared a strike was inevitable,&rdquo; stated General Secretary Manfred Warda. &ldquo;This is a testament to the commitment that Sintracarb&oacute;n and the company has for the Social Dialogue process.&rdquo; 
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Carbones del Cerrej&oacute;n, with its three multinational stakeholders, AngloAmerican, BHP Billiton, and Xstrata, are partners with the ICEM and Sintracarb&oacute;n in a unique Social Dialogue arrangement adopted in 2004 in Colombia. The agreement, which also covers other multinational companies and several other ICEM-affiliated trade unions in Colombia, established a formal process for meaningful labour-management discussions between parties. 
 
Warda said it was essential that the three parent companies asserted themselves in talks over the weekend. 
 
The agreement, covering some 4,000 miners, awards a pay increase of 7.7% in the first year of the agreement, with a second year increase of either 1.5% above Colombia&rsquo;s consumer price index for 2007, or 6%, whichever is higher. 
 
The ICEM congratulates Sintracarb&oacute;n and its membership for standing steadfast in these negotiations in order to meet their other contractual demands. Those include sizeable payouts in both years of the agreement for university educations for children of miners; a series of bonuses for Cerrej&oacute;n&rsquo;s workers, which includes a ratification bonus and a set production bonus that will increase when the company&rsquo;s coal price exceeds US$48-per-tonne; additional employer contributions to a pension fund in each year of the agreement; and extra monthly medical stipends for family members. 
 
The ICEM is specifically proud of the achievements Sintracarb&oacute;n made for contract workers employed at Carbones del Cerrej&oacute;n in Guajira state. That includes bringing 80 temporary workers to full-time, permanent status; and enlarging the level of benefits for contract labourers once six months of employment is complete. One more requirement is for the company to conduct interviews with contract employers to ensure they are complying with Colombian law, and that this process is shared with the union. 
 
For further details: <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/2105-Sintracarbón’s-Miners-Poised-to-Strike-at-Carbones-del-Cerrejón-in-Colombia">/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/2105-Sintracarb&oacute;n&rsquo;s-Miners-Poised-to-Strike-at-Carbones-del-Cerrej&oacute;n-in-Colombia</a>.

ICEM Applauds Coal Agreement Reached in Colombia

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ICEM North American affiliated United Steelworkers (USW) and Stora Enso applauded an innovative labour agreement at four paper mills located in the state of Wisconsin, following union membership ratification on 17 January. 
 
The labour accord, covering some 1,400 USW members, is a five-year contract that will now backdate to 30 April 2005. It expires in 2010. It contains wage increases of 9% over the term of the agreement, and a US$3,000 ratification bonus also was negotiated. 
 
The agreement provides job security for all union members against contract labour, and gives USW local unions a strong voice in workplace redesign and restructuring at the paper mills in central Wisconsin. Workers also will be awarded quarterly bonuses for the redesign. The collective agreement contains language pledging Stora Enso to be neutral in union organising efforts, and contains a successorship clause in the event any facility is sold. It also brings all the mills under the same collective bargaining expiration date. 
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&ldquo;These negotiations are a model for improving the competitiveness of the US paper industry in the world market,&rdquo; said USW President Leo Gerard. &ldquo;Stora Enso recognizes that high productivity is tied to high road employee relations.&rdquo; 
 
Added USW Paper Sector Vice President Dick LaCosse, &ldquo;The willingness of Stora Enso and the USW to forge a new path in collective bargaining will make the company and union stronger.&rdquo; 
 
&ldquo;Simply put,&rdquo; said USW District 2 Director Jon Geenen, &ldquo;companies that rely on confrontation with the union lose a competitive advantage. Those that focus on working with the union to find innovative solutions benefit from it.&rdquo;

USW Achieves Innovative Collective Agreement with Stora Enso in US

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The Communications, Energy, Paperworkers (CEP) Union of Canada used 22 January as a National Day of Action in Canada to expose a government devoid of effective policies on halting job losses in the pulp, paper, and the forestry sector. Together with local branches, the CEP waged a massive e-mail campaign aimed at MPs and Premier Stephen Harper, and conducted a symposium in Ottawa on the jobs crisis. 
 
CEP also aired radio advertisements across Canada, demanding urgent action from Parliament on the issue. 
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&ldquo;The industry is facing unprecedented hardship impacting on more that 300,000 Canadians who depend on it for their livelihoods,&rdquo; said CEP President Dave Coles. &ldquo;There are solutions to this crisis, solutions based on the fair treatment of workers and their families, sustainable forest practices, value-added productivity, and more. But the first step is to break the silence and open discussions with all parties affected.&rdquo; 
 
The CEP symposium on Parliament Hill heard from labour leaders, elected officials from affected areas, representatives from the Forest Products Association of Canada, and members of Parliament. Coles said, &ldquo;The survival of dozens of communities are threatened, and yet we have had very little response from the federal government.&rdquo; 
 
The CEP reported at an ICEM statutory meeting last year that, in the preceding two years in the paper sector alone, 34 full, partial, or permanent mill closures had occurred, costing 7,000 jobs.

CEP Draws Attention to Massive Job Losses in Canadian Forestry Sector

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