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A ballot taken by UK&rsquo;s Transport and General Workers Union (TGWU) among Imerys workers in the South West has failed to gain the necessary majority. But the country&rsquo;s second largest private sector union has vowed to continue to press the French multinational for a fair redundancy package for 600 former English China Clay workers in Cornwall. 
 
TGWU represents nearly 1,000 of the 2,100 Imerys kaolin mining and processing workers in the region. The industrial ballot, over the company&rsquo;s inferior severance package for workers to be made redundant late this year, was sent out on 7 February and counted late last week. 
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&ldquo;Our members have decided not to take any industrial action,&rdquo; stated TGWU National Secretary Jennie Formby. &ldquo;There were significant numbers of people who voted for action short of strike and for strike action. 
 
&ldquo;While we&rsquo;re aware that those who wanted to fight back will be very disappointed, we understand the huge pressure members have been under after the misinformation and propaganda campaign (Imerys) has been waging over the course of the ballot. Members are also under great pressure as they face the loss of their jobs. 
 
&ldquo;We will continue to do everything we can at home and internationally to ensure workers get a fair deal from this immensely wealthy company.&rdquo; 
 
Formby commended trade unions in the US and Europe for lending support and aid to the TGWU in its campaign against Imerys. She particularly singled out Serge Gonzales from the French trade union F&eacute;d&eacute;ration Force Ouvri&egrave;re (FO) Mat&eacute;riaux, C&eacute;ramique et Thermique, who is also secretary of Imerys&rsquo; European Works Council. &ldquo;He took every opportunity to put pressure on the company, and for this we are truly thankful,&rdquo; Formby said. 
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French FO's Serge Gonzales
&ldquo;We know this is not the end of the struggle against Imerys, both in the UK and everywhere it operates,&rdquo; she added. &ldquo;We will, of course, do all we can to continue to support our members in Imerys UK in our efforts to get fairness.&rdquo; 
 
The ICEM maintains that Imerys could and should do much better in the redundancy packages offered to the 600 workers who face joblessness later this year. Imerys, one of the world&rsquo;s biggest and most profitable building materials companies, will fail in its social obligations to the people of the South West, ICEM believes, unless it improves the severance packages.

Imerys Strike Ballot in UK Fails; TGWU will Press for Bigger Redundancy Packages

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In the United Kingdom, a private member&rsquo;s bill in Parliament to extend full employment rights to workers of employment agencies has the full support of the Transport and General Workers Union (TGWU) and Amicus, both ICEM affiliates. UK&rsquo;s government has been lax in implementing a new European Union directive giving agency and migrant workers new rights across all 27 EU nations. 
 
But that now has changed, thanks to a bill by Labour MP Paul Farrelly of Newcastle-under-Lyme. His bill to introduce into law the same rights, pensions, and working conditions that full-time workers enjoy, apparently has awoken the UK&rsquo;s Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), at least partially.
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On 20 February, DTI ministers agreed that they will consult on measures to protect the 1.4 million agency employees working in UK&rsquo;s economy. 
 
TGWU Gen. Sec. Tony Woodley said, however, that UK&rsquo;s government must go further, while pledging full support to MP Farrelly&rsquo;s bill: &ldquo;Agency workers need protection, not simply advice on how to deal with abusive employers. Without domestic legislation, 1.4 million agency workers in this country will continue to face discrimination.&rdquo; 
 
Regarding DTI&rsquo;s announcement, Woodley added, &ldquo;At Warwick, the government agreed to support the EU directive on agency workers, the fundamental principle of which is equal treatment. In the absence of any progress at EU level, we need EU legislation that will ensure this equality. What has been announced (by DTI) falls far, far short of this and will not significantly assist workers who endure abuse or undercutting because the law allows agency workers to be discriminated against on essential matters like pay, sick leave, and overtime. 
 
&ldquo;There is an opportunity with Paul Farrelly&rsquo;s private member&rsquo;s bill to outlaw this mistreatment. We urge government to grab it &ndash; and we urge MPs not to be misled into thinking that (DTI&rsquo;s) consultation will deliver the fundamental employment protections that vulnerable agency workers need.&rdquo; 
 
The Farrelly bill received full support from Amicus Gen. Sec. Derek Simpson when it was introduced. MP Farrelly is hoping to get backing from 100 MPs in March for the measure. Britain&rsquo;s government stands accused of actively blocking the directive at the EU level.

UK Unions in Support of Full Rights for Contract and Agency Labourers

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At a kick-off rally on 21 February in New Plymouth, New Zealand, ICEM affiliate Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union (EPMU) launched its &ldquo;FairShare &lsquo;07&rdquo; campaign, aimed at mobilising the union&rsquo;s 50,000 members for 5% wage increases in this year&rsquo;s round of collective bargaining. 
 
&ldquo;We&rsquo;re telling employers that this year, we expect pay rises of 5% and we&rsquo;re prepared to do what&rsquo;s necessary to get it,&rdquo; EPMU National Secretary Andrew Little told 1,000 EPMU members at the rally. Little said that with increased business confidence and a strengthening economy, there is no excuse for working New Zealanders to miss out on the economic good times.
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&nbsp; 
The 2007 campaign is a repeat of the EPMU&rsquo;s &ldquo;FairShare &lsquo;05&rdquo; campaign, in which the union negotiated a total of 269 labour agreements &ndash; 85% of the total collective agreements negotiated then &ndash; with 5% wage gains. 
 
As part of this year&rsquo;s 5% drive, the union will be making claims for employer contributions into a workers&rsquo; savings plan. &ldquo;One of the major changes to the employment landscape this year is the introduction of KiwiSaver and we&rsquo;ll be taking employer contributions into account during our negotiations,&rdquo; said Little. 
 
KiwiSaver will become effective on 1 July, and the EPMU will bargain for a minimum 2% employer contribution to an individual worker&rsquo;s account. The supplemental savings scheme allows workers to make either a 4% or 8% personal contribution of their gross taxable earnings, but currently there is no statutory requirement for employers to match a contribution. 
 
Little also said superannuation will also be a key issue in this year&rsquo;s bargaining.
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EPMU, New Zealand&rsquo;s largest union, again has the full support of the country&rsquo;s Council of Trade Unions (CTU) in this year&rsquo;s drive. &ldquo;We need to see wages increased every year if we are to address both our significant social deficit and also the structural problem in our economy of low wages,&rdquo; stated CTU President Ross Wilson, adding that on average, New Zealand wages lag 30% behind those in Australia.

EPMU Renews ‘FairShare’ Wage Campaign for 2007 in New Zealand

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Two platinum strikes in South Africa ended last week, but workers and community members, behind the banner of ICEM affiliate National Union of Mineworkers, began another protest on 22 February at yet another platinum operation in the country&rsquo;s North West. Thousands of NUM members and villagers marched on the Bafokeng-Rasimone Platinum Mine (BRPM), delivering a memorandum to senior management of the mine. 
 
That ultimatum demands a halt to casualisation and the rampant use of contract labourers at BRPM, aiming to make them permanent employees. The 500 miners at BRPM demand the dismissal of the human resources manager, who they accuse of discrimination and nepotism.
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The memorandum of grievances also demands employment opportunities for local people, and a halt to the victimisation of NUM shop stewards. NUM has given management seven days to respond. &ldquo;As the NUM, we will leave no stone unturned and are determined to bring this exploitation to its knees,&rdquo; stated NUM Regional Organiser Itumeleng Mayoyo. 
 
BRPM is jointly owned by AngloPlatinum Ltd., a subsidiary of mining giant Anglo American, and the Royal Bafokeng Nation, an indigenous tribe, which owns vast land holdings in the North West. 
 
A 24-day strike by 3,000 members of the NUM against another black economic enterprise platinum operation ended on 18 February. That also involved AngloPlatinum, the world&rsquo;s biggest platinum miner, in an enterprise called Modikwa near the town of Limpopo. AngloPlats&rsquo; partner there is African Rainbow Minerals Ltd., a 41.5% stakeholder in the operation. 
 
Central among issues were wage differentials between black miners and white miners, and Modikwa&rsquo;s insistence on continuous operations. The NUM called off the strike with the issue of continuous operations still on the table. The company&rsquo;s continuous operations demand &ndash; in which the mine is to operate every day including on weekends with the exception of national holidays &ndash; will now be discussed between the NUM, Modwika, and South Africa&rsquo;s Commission for Conciliation, Mediation, and Arbitration. 
 
NUM contends that operating continuously violates the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, and the country&rsquo;s Mines Act. Earlier in February, the wage gap issue between black miners and white staff was resolved when pay adjustments were made for black workers. The NUM also won travel subsidies for miners during the strike. 
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A second platinum mining strike near Rustenberg in the North West State also ended late in the evening on 18 February. The strike against Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd. had started on 16 February over health and safety issues and, more importantly, inferior and discriminatory care at the company&rsquo;s hospital.
Miners sought the dismissal of Dr. John Andrews, who had intentionally withheld anti-retroviral HIV/AIDS drugs to workers. On 23 January, 15,000 miners and community members had marched on the hospital in protest of inferior health care and the doctor&rsquo;s negative behaviour. 
 
The situation was intensified following the march when ImPlats, the world&rsquo;s second largest platinum producer, allowed Andrews to address the media rather than respond to the miners&rsquo; list of health grievances and demands. Those included inclusion of miners&rsquo; family members in the company&rsquo;s health care plan, as well as extending the plan to service providers outside the Rustenberg area. 
 
The strike ended only after Implats agreed to withdraw Andrews&rsquo; statement and management agreed to address all the grievances presented to them.

SA’s Platinum Strikes End, but NUM Protests Contract Labour Abuses at Bafokeng-Rasimone Platinum

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The first ever strike by workers in a Turkish free-trade zone continues unabated. Since late September 2006, some 300 workers of German-headquartered Fresenius Medical Care have been on strike in Turkey&rsquo;s Antalya Free Trade Zone. The strike was called by ICEM affiliate Petrol-Iş, Turkey&rsquo;s oil, chemical and rubber workers&rsquo; union, some 18 months after the union successfully organised the workers.
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&nbsp; 
For a full year, the company, which manufactures bloodline and kidney dialysis equipment, refused to recognise the union. When it finally did, bargaining began with workers&rsquo; representatives of Petrol-Iş on 19 April 2006. The company, however, continued its practice of union repression, failing to even come close to an agreement. 
 
Some 98% of the striking workers are women. 
Prior to the union organising the facility, working conditions were so bad that women were forced to apply to the company for permission to marry, and talking on the job was forbidden. It became a habit for managers to insult women workers. Following the successful organising, conditions improved somewhat, but managers continued subtle harassment and openly pressed workers to resign from the union.
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IGBCE and the European Mine, Chemical and Energy Workers&rsquo; Federation (EMCEF) have brought the inhumane conduct and union repression of Antalya&rsquo;s Novamed GmbH to the attention of the German parent company. The two unions have also brought it before Fresenius Medical Care&rsquo;s Works Council.&nbsp;

Petrol-Iş in Turkey Fights Back Against Anti-Union Medical Company

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The ICEM and its family of trade unions were saddened to learn of the death of former United Steelworkers (USW) President George Becker. He died, at the age of 78, on 3 February in the US state of Pennsylvania.
Becker was responsible for bringing several USW labour disputes to a global stage, and then using his passion and tenacity to resolve those disputes with positive gains for members of his union. Those major disputes included a lockout by a Swiss holding company of 1,700 USW members at Ravenswood Aluminium in the state of West Virginia, and a bitter dispute between Japanese-owned tyre-maker Bridgestone/Firestone and 6,000 rubber workers at several US plants. 
Brother Becker was elected USW president in 1993 and won re-election again in 1997. He retired from union office in 2001, but remained extremely active for the USW, following his retirement, on fair trade issues in Washington, DC. He was engaged in the work of both the ICEM and its predecessor, ICEF. 
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George Becker
Born the son of a steelworker in Granite City, state of Illinois, Becker knew at an early age of the advantages that trade unionism brought. He began working in a steel mill in Granite City as a teenager. Following US military service in both World War II and the Korean Conflict, he worked at a Dow Chemical aluminium rolling mill in Illinois, where he was a shop steward. He was elected president of the local union there in 1961. 
 
In 1965, he was appointed a staff representative of the USW, a post from which he became a tireless advocate for health and safety. By 1969, he was brought to USW&rsquo;s headquarters as a health and safety technician, and became an expert witness on lead poisoning before the US Congress as it passed the Occupational Health and Safety Act in 1970. In 1985, he won election as the union&rsquo;s vice president for administration, a position he was elected to again before becoming USW president. 
&ldquo;Trade union leaders the world over knew of the resolve and courage of George Becker whenever he took on a crucial labour issue,&rdquo; wrote ICEM Gen. Sec. Manfred Warda to current USW President Leo Gerard. &ldquo;We will never forget his direction and fortitude in leading stop-work actions at Bridgestone factories in several countries on behalf of US workers of that company in the 1990s. The ICEM was proud to stand with George and the Steelworkers Union in these very effective actions.&rdquo; 
 
Gerard said of Becker: &ldquo;He was a powerful voice for the interests of our members. He had a unique ability to give voice to the frustrations and concerns of workers, their right to be treated with dignity and decency &ndash; values he believed in deeply.&rdquo; 
 
He is survived by his wife of 57 years, Jane, three sons, ten grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

ICEM Mourns Death of USW Past President, George Becker, in US

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A meeting between representatives of ICEM, Swedish paperworkers&rsquo; union Pappers, and corporate officers of Svenska Cellulosa Aktiebolaget (SCA) was held in Stockholm on 26 January to review and update a Global Framework Agreement between the three parties. The SCA agreement was signed by the three on 15 April 2004. 
 
The company informed the union representatives of progress it was making in meeting social requirements with supply-chain companies, and spoke of its corporate code of conduct in relation to compliance with human rights assessments, and health and safety issues.
 
ICEM and Pappers proposed that the company agree to a clause into the agreement that it will comply with the ILO Code of Practice on HIV/AIDS and the World of Work, which SCA readily accepted. A second union proposal was tabled calling for language on contract and agency work inside SCA. Such language would include consultations with trade unions before contracts are signed with contractors or agencies. SCA took the matter under advisement, and both sides resolved to continue discussions on this issue in future meetings. 
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Agreement was made that clarifies text in the Global Agreement stating that minimum labour and other standards are not to be predicated on the relevant national legislation in a particular country. The ICEM also invited the Swedish-based global pulp/paper firm to join a unique social dialogue programme in Colombia that was launched by the Global Union Federation in 2004. SCA is a joint-venture partner in a paper mill in the South American country. 
 
One disturbing issue raised in the meeting was the company&rsquo;s sacking of the SCA European Works Council (EWC) chairman. The individual, a leader from Skogstrafacket, the Swedish Forest and Woodworkers&rsquo; Union, was fired for &ldquo;disloyalty&rdquo; because he checked licenses and permits of contractors coming into a Swedish saw mill after a round of redundancies. SCA charged him personally with this legitimate action, rather than challenging his role as a union officer. The case is now before a Swedish labour court. 
 
The review meeting was attended by ICEM Gen. Sec. Manfred Warda and Pulp and Paper Sector Officer Eugene Kuprin; Pappers President Jan Hennrick Sandberg and International and Research Officer Christer Larsson; and SCA&rsquo;s Karin Eliasson, senior vice president for Human Resources, Bo Rhodiner, vice president for Industrial relations, Yogi Pillay, corporate social responsibility manager, and Clive Bell, the company&rsquo;s senior EWC mill representative.

Review Meeting on SCA Global Agreement Held in Stockholm

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After successful lobbying by ICEM Peruvian mining affiliate FNTMMSP and a national labour centre, Confederaci&oacute;n General de Trabajadores del Per&uacute; (CGTP), ILO Convention 176, the Safety and Health Mines Convention, is one step closer to ratification in the South American country. The Commission of Work of Peru&rsquo;s Congress approved a motion encouraging the government to ratify the 11-year-old convention. 
 
Both unions submitted documents favouring passage, including ICEM materials and documentation supporting ratification. &ldquo;We believe that ratification of Convention 176 will serve as an instrument to prevent accidents in Peru&rsquo;s mining sector,&rdquo; said FNTMMSP Sec. Gen. Luis Castillo Carlos. &ldquo;The strengthening of trade union organisations is the other tool towards better working conditions, including health and safety conditions.&rdquo;
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Peru&rsquo;s Ministry of Energy and Mines reports that in 2006, 66 miners died in industrial accidents and of those deaths, 37 were contract workers employed in mines. Part of the documentation submitted to the congressional panel was ICEM&rsquo;s reporting on global contract and agency labour. 
 
In mid-January, the Peruvian government signed a memorandum with ILO Sec. Gen. Juan Somavia on principles and polices, including the government&rsquo;s intent to ratify eight labour conventions. The party of Democrats, which currently controls Peru&rsquo;s Congress, is supporting adoption of ILO Conventions, and insists such conventions be contained in the country&rsquo;s free trade agreements.

Mine Safety Convention 176 Passes Key Committee in Peru’s Congress

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The future of the German hard-coal industry was given new life early in February. Shaped by a combination of hard bargaining by German Union IGBCE in a top-level national summit and a timely demonstration in D&uuml;sseldorf by 10,000 miners, a workable plan was achieved to preserve the industry until at least 2018, and possibly beyond. 
 
The summit was necessary after some federal politicians, as well as politicians from the coal-producing regions of Saarland and North Rhine-Westphalia proposed eliminating coal subsidies as German coal and industrial enterprise RAG becomes a publicly-traded company.
<img height="146" alt="" src="" width="100" />
&nbsp;IGBCE President Hubertus Schmoldt
&ldquo;Our central tenets have been fulfilled,&rdquo; declared IGBCE President Hubertus Schmoldt. &ldquo;Social compatibility, a legal financing mechanism until 2018, and keeping a future door open beyond that.&rdquo; Revenues gained from RAG&rsquo;s stock offering will be placed in a non-profit foundation for that purpose. 
 
&ldquo;We negotiated hard and at a crucial moment, our ability to mobilise materialised,&rdquo; said Schmoldt. He was referring to the 10,000 miners who left their workplaces on 1 February and protested in front of the state parliament building in D&uuml;sseldorf. Miners were demonstrating against North Rhine-Westphalia Prime Minister J&uuml;rgen R&uuml;ttgers&rsquo; proposal at the summit to stop all coal subsidies by 2014. IGBCE and mining industry works councils organised the protest. 
 
Schmoldt said it was that demonstration which blocked the R&uuml;ttgers plan. 
 
Now the Germany Bundestag will draft a hard-coal financing plan from the results of the summit. Coal industry aid will begin in 2009 from the newly-created foundation. The IGBCE and German mineworkers are pleased with several major features produced by the recent coal summit, and with one in particular: that in 2012, a full review of the coal industry will occur in order to sustain it beyond 2018.

German Coal Industry Preserved Until 2018, Possibly Beyond

<a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/RTnews[1].pdf">Rio Tinto Workers' Global Network Newsletter 1</a>
<a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/Issue2.pdf">Rio Tinto Workers' Global Network Newsletter 2</a>
<a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/Issue%20No%203.pdf ">Rio Tinto Workers' Global Network Newsletter 3</a>
<a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/Issue%20No%204.pdf ">Rio Tinto Workers' Global Network Newsletter 4</a>
<a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/Issue%20No%205.pdf">Rio Tinto Workers' Global Network Newsletter 5</a>
<a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/RioTintoNewsMay.pdf">Rio Tinto Workers' Global Network Newsletter 6</a>
<a href="http://www.cfmeu.asn.au/national/int_issues/20040513_Riotinto.html ">Rio Tinto Workers' Global Network Newsletter 7</a>&nbsp;

Rio Tinto Network Newsletter overview

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