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Just hours before 130 paperworkers of the ICEM affiliate Svenska Pappers were about to strike an ABB Power Technologies paper mill near Oskarshamn, Sweden, on 15 November, a settlement was reached between the union and Swiss-based engineering firm. 
The agreement actually exceeds the standards in place in Sweden's paper sector. It guarantees workers at the paperboard mill the right to health care, education, all benefits and income development, plus ABB will pay Svenska Pappers 1.5% of the total salary cost for follow up and administrative costs during the term of the agreement. 
Pressure to resolve the two-year-long dispute was brought on management when,&nbsp;on 10 November, a Swedish labour court ruled the workers not only had the right to strike, but that sympathy strikes by other unions operating at the mill were lawful. 
The threat of a strike also was heightened when&nbsp;Finnish union Paperiliitto, another ICEM affiliate, announced it would engage in industrial action against ABB if Swedish workers&nbsp;at the ABB's Figeholm mill struck. Svenska Pappers was instrumental last spring and early summer in sympathy actions in support of Paperiliitto during a 7-week lockout of Finland's paper sector, affecting 25,000 paperworkers. 
&quot;We are happy to avoid a strike,&quot; said Svenska Pappers Negotiations Secretary Lennart Olovsson. &quot;But I am more relieved over the fact that we could stand up against ABB and their intention to introduce a completely new and inferior collective agreement into the Swedish paper industry.&quot;

Strike Threat, Finnish Pressure Wins Paper Mill Dispute in Sweden

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The nearly five-month strike by Communications, Energy, Paperworkers (CEP) Union of Canada at a plant of chemicals company Invista ended 28 October when the workforce to 350 voted by 77% to return to work. 
A back-to-work accord was reached in Ottawa on 25 October, and bettered the back-to-work protocol workers rejected 19 September that would have voided seniority provisions. CEP Local 28 and Invista, a wholly-owned subsidiary of giant US energy company Koch Industries, had agreed to terms contained in the new three-year agreement earlier. 
The strike at the nylon intermediates and polymer plant in Ontario began on 4 June.

Invista Strike By CEP in Canada Ends

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Copper-mining and smelter workers, members of US affiliate United Steelworkers (USW), voted 12 November to accept a collective agreement. The ratification ends a four-and-a-half month strike at Asarco, a unit of rich Grupo Mexico SA de CV, now a global mining company enjoying healthy profits from high metals pricing. 
Strikes by 1,550 steelworkers and members of other US unions at six mine and smelting operations in Arizona and Texas began in late June and early July and were followed by Grupo Mexico taking Asarco into US bankruptcy protection. 
Formal US government labour law complaints against Asarco moved creditors to settle the strikes, and the resignation recently of Asarco Chairman and President Daniel Tellechea helped clear the way for agreement. 
The dispute centered on further wage and pension freezes at a time when world copper prices are at an all-time high. Two other US affiliates of the ICEM have minority representation in some of the six Asarco southwestern US worksites, including the Boilermakers (IBB) and Operating Engineers (IUOE).

Copper Strike in American Southwest Ends

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A&nbsp;compromise was reached in the pension dispute at Shell Nederland that nearly shut all operations of the company in Holland, including the giant gas fields and plants of NAM Nederland BV, the joint venture between Shell and ExxonMobil. 
ICEM affiliate FNV Bondgenoten and Christian union CNV Chemie en Energie reached the compromise on 3 November, three days after shutdown procedures began at the Pernis oil refinery in Rotterdam and a petrochemicals plant in Moerdijk. Workers at Shell and NAM won through their unions an agreement that the early retirement age would stay at 60, while pension contributions by workers would not exceed more than 2% annually. 
Some 10,800 Shell and NAM employees are covered under the pension scheme.

Pension Dispute at Shell Nederland Ends

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Five global union federations, including ICEM, joined together on 31 October and 1 November to start the union-building modernisation project in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. 
The launch of the three-year project occurred in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, and included unions from the host country, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan. Russia and Ukraine are also included in the project. 
Vsevolod Barbaneagra was appointed project coordinator, and an education unit of the unions will be established in Bishkek by the end of the year. 
Besides ICEM, GUFs involved include IFBWW, ITF, IUF and UNI. The project is funded by FNV Mondiaal of The Netherlands.

Joint GUFs Project in Central Asia Kicks Off

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A four-hour general strike across Italy is scheduled for 25 November in protest to the Berlusconi government&rsquo;s proposed 2006 budget. 
All three major trade union federations&mdash;CGIL, CISL and UIL, numbering 11.2 million workers&mdash;have called for the strike.
The Berlusconi budget, which must be approved by Parliament by year&rsquo;s end, calls for US$24 billion in spending cuts, plus regressive revenue-raising measures. Among the proposed cuts are US$2.4 billion in social security costs that companies now must pay for the welfare of workers.

Italy Poised for General Strike on 25 November

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A two-day strike by hundreds of Eni workers in Nigeria brought the Italian energy company and state-owned NNPC to the bargaining table. The strike occurred over wage arrears. 
The 19-21 October strike by ICEM Nigerian affiliates NUPENG and PENGASSAN was won when Eni&rsquo;s direct subsidiary Agip agreed to expedite pay. The strike affected Agip&rsquo;s Brass River export terminal on the southern coast. 
Eni is responsible for 7% of Nigerian oil production

Eni Oil Strike in Nigeria Ends

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ICEM President Senseni Zokwana, president of the National Union of Mineworkers, gave an inspirational appeal at the Congress of ICEM affiliate South African Chemical Workers&rsquo; Union (SACWU) to fight even harder against the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Africa. 
The Congress was held in Johannesburg from 3-5 November and included a skit by SACWU members on HIV/AIDS as well as speech by a motivational speaker delivering a strong message on fighting the disease.

SACWU Congress in South Africa Focuses on HIV/AIDS

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A 12-day hunger strike by five members of Colombian oil workers&rsquo; union Sindical Obrera de la Industria Del Petroleo (USO) ended 3 November. 
The hunger strikers ended their fast after winning assurances from the archbishop of Cartagena and the governor of Boliv&aacute;r state that they would present a public proposition to the national government to prohibit privatisation of state-run Ecopetrol&rsquo;s oil refinery in Cartagena. Archbishop Jorge Enrique Gim&eacute;nez and Gov. Libardo Simancas have committed to present the plan within 30 days. 
The Uribe government has plans to sell 51% of Colombia&rsquo;s second largest oil refinery. The hunger strikers of USO, which solely represents Ecopetrol workers in Colombia, included Rodolfo Vecino, Hernando Meneses, Rafael Cabarcas, &Eacute;dgar Mojica, and Jorge Ortega.

Hunger Strike in Colombia Over Refinery Privatisation Ends

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US-based glassmaker Owens Illinois has discriminated against union members by sacking workers inside a Peldar glass plant in Peru. 
Early in October the company made redundant 11 workers from the factory but later that month recalled five of the workers. The six who were not recalled included representatives - two of whom were past general secretaries - of the Sindicato de Trabajadores de Owens Illinois Per&uacute;. 
The ICEM, in lodging a protest with the American company, cited the firm with a clear violation of trade union rights. The trade union discrimination matter has also been taken up by Peruvian national labour centre CGTP, and is before the country&rsquo;s labour courts.

Owens Illinois Discriminating Against Union Officers in Peru

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