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Mining giant Rio Tinto has made an offer to settle a long-running dispute at its Mt. Thorley mine in Australia. 
 
The news was announced this morning to a mass rally of striking mineworkers at the three Rio Tinto mines in Australia's Hunter Valley. 
 
The company concession came on the eve of an international trade union action week on Rio Tinto. The action is planned from today onwards in countries ranging from Australia to the USA, South Africa, Chile and Brazil. 
 
Rio Tinto has faced serious industrial disputes across all of its Australian coal mines since it sought to cease bargaining with unions and to push workers on to individual contracts - a process begun in 1993. 
 
The company's offer at Mt. Thorley was made on Friday night, and now has to be put to the union membership. The mining union CFMEU is understood to have recommended acceptance. At the global level, the CFMEU is affiliated to the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM), with which it has been campaigning globally on the Rio Tinto issue. The campaign and the action week will be maintained while the union members take their decision on the Mt. Thorley offer.

Rio Tinto Settlement Bid At Australian Mine

An American union has won a hard-fought election to represent Imerys workers at the company's Sylacauga site in Alabama. Imerys is a leading materials and minerals multinational, and a global trade union campaign played an important part in the election victory. 
 
&quot;We won against all odds by showing our union had real power against this giant global corporation,&quot; said Charles Stevens, an Imerys worker and one of the leaders of the organising committee for the Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers International Union (PACE). The union secured a 205 to 181 victory on 22 June in a secret ballot election to represent 400 workers at the Imerys plant. 
 
Imerys withdrew recognition of the union in June, 1999, after the company acquired English China Clays (ECC) and combined a much larger non-union ECC plant with its unionised Georgia Marble facility just next to it. Imerys claimed the union no longer represented a majority of workers at the combined operation. PACE immediately formed an organising committee, made up initially of union members from Georgia Marble, after the withdrawal of recognition, and started contacting non-union ECC workers. 
 
The victory, according to PACE Organiser Joe Wilson, who led the drive in Sylacauga, was the culmination of a year-long campaign. &quot;Most ECC workers had little knowledge of a union, and the company used brutal scare tactics to keep the workers from talking to union supporters from Georgia Marble,&quot; said Wilson. &quot;Eventually, we broke the spiral of fear by fighting back with a combination of hard work, proven organising methods and a sophisticated 21st century global campaign that overwhelmed the company.&quot; 
 
Key to the organising drive was support received from unions representing Imerys employees in Britain, Belgium and Australia and in France, where the company is headquartered. 
 
PACE produced a video and other publicity material on Imerys' &quot;union-busting&quot; at Sylacauga. A special PACE/ICEM website highlighted the campaign and enabled workers worldwide to communicate with their colleagues in the US. 
 
The union also sent two delegations to meet European trade unionists. One of the delegations included Imerys worker Keith Fulbright from the ECC side of the Sylacauga facility. Fulbright's accounts of Imerys' behaviour prompted European trade union protests to the company. British workers represented by the ICEM-affiliated Transport and General Workers' Union wore 
stickers at some of Imerys' largest plants stating: &quot;Stop Imerys Union Busting in the US.&quot; 
 
The ICEM lobbied Imerys headquarters management directly in Paris, and ICEM General Secretary Fred Higgs travelled from the international's headquarters in Brussels to a union rally in Sylacauga to show international support for the workers there. Higgs also led a march on the plant. 
 
The global campaign against Imerys peaked on 9 May at the Imerys shareholders' meeting in Paris. PACE, the ICEM and Walden Asset Management, a major social investment company, drew the shareholders' attention to Imerys' anti-union practices. 
 
&quot;I believe that PACE and the ICEM have made a little history with this campaign and our victory,&quot; commented PACE President Boyd Young today. 
 
PACE anticipates the start of bargaining soon for a first contract (collective agreement) at Sylacauga. &quot;We hope the company will finally put aside its anti-union attitude and realise that the union and company must work together to make the Sylacauga operation a success,&quot; said PACE Region 5 Vice-President Don Langham. 
 
&quot;This is a great victory for international solidarity,&quot; said ICEM General Secretary Fred Higgs today. &quot;Above all, it is a victory for the courage and perseverance of the Sylacauga workers and their trade union, PACE. We call upon Imerys to honour the workers' decision without delay. In Sylacauga as everywhere else, it is in the company's own best interests to work with the union and to conduct collective bargaining in good faith.&quot;

US Union Wins Imerys Recognition Vote

Materials giant Imerys is using a self-proclaimed &quot;goon squad&quot; to oppose union recognition at one of its US plants. 
 
This is shown by a photo taken yesterday morning at the multinational's Sylacauga site in Alabama. 
 
An election is to be held at Sylacauga on 22 June to decide whether workers there should be represented by the Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical &amp; Energy Workers' Union (PACE). 
 
But the US management's tactics are bringing French-based Imerys into serious disrepute. 
 
The new photo features a man carrying the company's anti-union leaflets. He is wearing a teeshirt with &quot;Goon Squad&quot; printed on the back. &quot;Goon&quot; is a slang word for &quot;thug&quot;. 
 
So the teeshirt is an implied threat of physical attack. Goon squads often played a violently anti-union role in past US labour disputes. 
 
PACE reports that some of the company's other leafleters were wearing the same shirts. The union believes that they were provided by Imerys. 
 
This latest union-busting attempt at Sylacauga has been roundly condemned by the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM). PACE is one of the ICEM's American affiliates. 
 
The goon squad photo coincides with the ICEM's receipt of a letter from Imerys CEO Patrick Kron, in which he admits that the company is allowing its Sylacauga management to pursue an anti-union line. 
 
Dated 9 June, Kron's letter is in response to a recent protest from ICEM General Secretary Fred Higgs. 
 
&quot;Local management,&quot; Kron replied, &quot;has said from the beginning that a third party representation is not an advantage for the plant or our employees in Sylacauga and that a direct relationship between management and employees works well at Sylacauga. There is obviously no reason to prohibit the local management to express and explain this view to our employees and no commitment to refrain from doing so has been taken by anyone.&quot; 
 
Kron's words will shock Imerys employees in Europe, where the company has emphasised &quot;social partnership&quot; with unions. But unions in Europe, too, are now questioning the company's two-faced approach to industrial relations. Can it really cuddle up to unions on one side of the Atlantic and use goons on the other? 
 
Higgs had told Kron of three current anti-union activities by the Sylacauga local management: 
 
(a) Supervisors at Sylacauga are wearing &quot;Vote NO&quot; stickers on their hardhats and posting the same stickers around the plant. 
 
(b) The supervisors, sometimes two together, are also taking workers one at a time into offices, telling them that unionisation would mean a loss of wages and benefits, and urging them to vote against the union. 
 
(c) The company is still using the union-busting lawyer Frank Parker to train its local managers. 
 
In response, Kron wrote that the ICEM had been &quot;misinformed&quot; about points (b) and (c). He made no comment on point (a). 
 
Higgs had also urged Kron to &quot;confirm in writing to all workers in Sylacauga what you told your shareholders about the free choice of the workers.&quot; This was a reference to the commitment given by Kron, at last month's annual shareholder meeting in Paris, that the company would not campaign against the union. Both PACE and the ICEM asked questions during the Paris assembly, and discussed Sylacauga with Kron and his colleagues afterwards. 
 
In his reply to Higgs' letter, Kron made no comment on the suggestion that he should write to the Sylacauga workers. 
 
Today, Higgs again wrote to Kron. 
 
Kron had argued that Imerys is &quot;committed to respect the laws in all the countries where we operate and to conduct our industrial relations and business in an ethical manner.&quot; 
 
Higgs' reply: &quot;My experience tells me that a blind reliance on domestic legislation in many countries would certainly not deliver acceptable ethical business behaviour.&quot; 
 
Imerys employees in Europe should view the company's anti-union preference in Sylacauga with concern, Higgs stated - &quot;as I am sure they will when it is brought to their attention.&quot; 
 
And he signed off with the hope that &quot;even at this late stage, you will reflect on the inconsistency in the application of Imerys' declared corporate ethics, by ensuring your US management respect trade unions as legitimate social partners who, as in the European Union, should be welcomed rather than resisted.&quot;

Imerys: &#039;Goon Squad&#039; Photographed At US Site

Materials giant Imerys was today accused of acting in bad faith over an upcoming union recognition vote at one of its US sites. 
 
&quot;Imerys headquarters management in France had assured us that the company would not campaign against the union in the US,&quot; said Fred Higgs in Brussels today. &quot;They have broken their word.&quot; 
<img height="263" src="" width="350" alt="" />
UNDER PRESSURE 
Imerys supervisors are pushing US workers to vote against the union. 
(photo: PACE)&nbsp;
Higgs is General Secretary of the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM). 
 
An election is scheduled for 22 June at Imerys' Sylacauga site in the US, to decide whether workers there should be represented by ICEM American affiliate the Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical &amp; Energy Workers' Unions (PACE). 
 
The vote follows a campaign by PACE, the ICEM and unions at other Imerys sites worldwide to secure the Sylacauga workers' right to opt for a union. 
 
Imerys corporate headquarters had promised the ICEM and PACE that the company would not campaign against the union in the run-up to the poll. 
 
On 17 May, local US manager Randy Sandrik sent all Sylacauga employees a note proclaiming the company's &quot;commitment to a fair and prompt election.&quot; 
 
But a little further into the memo, he unveiled his real agenda: &quot;In consideration of the relationship between the company and unions throughout Imerys, we will not campaign against unions in general. The focus of our communications process will only be union representation at Sylacauga.&quot; Sandrik also gave everybody the benefit of his own views: &quot;I don't think the Sylacauga employees need a third party representative to manage our relationship.&quot; 
 
The results of this duplicity are already plain. 
 
Supervisors at Sylacauga are wearing &quot;Vote NO&quot; stickers on their hardhats and posting the same stickers around the plant. 
 
The supervisors, sometimes two together, are also taking workers one at a time into offices, telling them that unionisation would mean a loss of wages and benefits, and urging them to vote against the union. 
 
And the company is still using the union-busting lawyer Frank Parker to train its local managers. 
 
&quot;One thing is clear,&quot; Higgs said today. &quot;Either the Imerys corporate management in Paris is acting in bad faith - or else it is simply being fooled by its US local managers.&quot; 
 
He urged Imerys CEO Patrick Kron to write immediately to all the Sylacauga workers, assuring them of the company's full neutrality on the issue of union representation at its US site. 
 
PACE has now brought a case against Imerys at the OECD, which has a code of conduct for multinational companies.

Imerys in &#039;Bad Faith&#039; Over US Union Vote

Lawlessness and intimidation&quot; in Zimbabwe are now impacting negatively on trade union rights there, world industrial union leaders declared in Brussels this afternoon. 
 
The Executive Committee of the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM) called on the Zimbabwean government to &quot;allow trade union activities to take place freely and without fear or intimidation.&quot; 
 
Trade union rights and human rights must be guaranteed &quot;irrespective of political tensions in the country,&quot; the ICEM said. It also called for &quot;free political activity&quot; in Zimbabwe and the &quot;creation of an environment conducive to free and fair elections.&quot;

Zimbabwe Union Rights Under Threat

Sri Lanka's emergency regulations have been severely condemned by world industrial trade union leaders currently meeting in Brussels. 
 
Promulgated on 3 May, the regulations suppress &quot;fundamental democratic rights and basic trade union rights,&quot; said the Executive Committee of the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM). 
 
The ICEM particularly deplores the &quot;total suppression&quot; of Sri Lankan workers' &quot;rights to strike, to picket and to march in public procession&quot; in any sector that the country's President declares to be an &quot;essential service&quot;. The wide range of sectors already hit by the decrees includes fuel distribution, electricity supply, commodity exports and &quot;the sale, supply or distribution of any articles of food or medicine or any other article required by a member of the public,&quot; the unions point out. 
 
Calling on the Sri Lankan government to withdraw the regulations immediately, the ICEM pledged to mobilise &quot;full solidarity action&quot; by its unions worldwide and to lodge a complaint against Sri Lanka with the UN's International Labour Organisation (ILO). The emergency regulations breach the ILO's core standards on freedom of association and collective bargaining.

Unions Slam Sri Lankan Decrees

A strike that hit most of Turkey's tyre industry from 28 April onwards has been &quot;postponed&quot; by government decree. 
 
Under a frequently abused legal pretext, the Turkish cabinet claimed that the tyre strike was a threat to national security. 
 
It then invoked Article 33 of Turkey's Law on Collective Agreements, Strikes And Lock-Outs. This allows the government to suspend any strike or lock-out for sixty days if it is deemed to endanger &quot;public health or national security&quot;. 
 
To apply this law to a tyre strike is obviously absurd. The move will certainly damage the Turkish government's reputation at a time when it is trying to prove its democratic credentials in a bid to join the European Union. 
 
Moreover, &quot;postponement&quot; of a strike under this legislation usually amounts in practice to an indefinite ban, because Article 34 of the same law empowers the labour ministry to impose arbitration at the end of the sixty days, unless the parties have either come to an agreement or voluntarily sought arbitration. 
 
Turkey's official arbitrators rarely decide in a union's favour. 
 
The decree &quot;postpones&quot; strike action at the three main multinationals affected by the dispute - Pirelli, Goodyear and Bridgestone. It was signed on 5 May by President S&uuml;leyman Demirel, Prime Minister B&uuml;lent Ecevit and the entire Turkish cabinet. 
 
The Turkish rubber workers' union Lastik-Is had been negotiating with the tyre companies since last November for a new agreement covering this year and 2001. At the global level, the union is affiliated to the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM), which organises tyre and rubber workers worldwide. 
 
The companies' final offer to Lastik-Is was a 22 percent pay increase for the first half of this year, followed by a further 6 percent in the second half, plus a small lump sum. For the year 2001, the companies proposed to make an additional payment dependent on the prevailing exchange rate between the US dollar and the Turkish lira at the time. 
 
This is a wholly inadequate offer, the union points out, in view of the steep rise in the cost of living. Turkey's inflation rate last year was 68.8 percent. The tyre workers would need a pay rise of the same order simply in order to restore their purchasing power. 
 
Altogether, some 5,000 workers are affected by the strike ban.

Turkish Tyre Strike Banned

Talks could begin today on the dispute that has shut down much of Norway's private sector. 
 
National labour federation LO called its secretariat into special session immediately after a press conference in Oslo this morning. LO President Yngve Hagensen told journalists that exploratory discussions have already taken place with the employers' federation NHO. 
 
&quot;These could - and I emphasise the could - lead to a resumption of negotiations with NHO as early as today,&quot; Hagensen said. 
 
But strike action could continue in parallel with any negotiations, he stressed. 
 
&quot;If we are to succeed in the negotiations, we must demonstrate our strength,&quot; Hagensen explained. 
 
84,600 Norwegian workers have been on strike across the private sector since 3 May, following the membership's rejection of a previous mediated settlement offer. The strike is scheduled to spread at 6.00 a.m. tomorrow local time, after which a total of 102,119 workers will be out. 
 
Industrial unions affiliated to the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM) are playing a major part in the campaign.

Norwegian Strike Talks Today?

Norway's nationwide strike will spread to more industries next Tuesday, union leaders told a press conference in Oslo this morning. 
 
102,119 workers will be on strike across the private sector from 6.00 a.m. local time on 9 May. These include the 84,600 union members who have been out since 3 May - already more than a third of the country's private sector union membership. 
 
Among the new strikers next Tuesday will be 5,200 pulp and paper workers organised by the general union Fellesforbundet. At the global level, Fellesforbundet is affiliated to the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM). 
 
ICEM sectors already on strike in Norway include asphalt, cement, explosives, rubber products, paints, plastics and a range of ancillary and catering functions in the oil and gas industries. Electricity and electrochemical workers could join in later this month. 
 
The strike follows a membership vote to reject a mediated settlement covering much of the private sector. 
 
&quot;It is true that we have national-level collective agreements and that we have a tradition of bringing out whole sectors of coverage during a dispute,&quot; commented Fellesforbundet President Kjell Bj&oslash;rndalen at today's press conference. &quot;We call out everything or nothing.&quot; 
 
No new offer has so far been received from the employers, Yngve H&aring;gensen told the journalists this morning. He is President of the national trade union federation LO, which is coordinating the action. 
 
&quot;We're going to conduct a big, solid strike without hitting 'third parties' too hard,&quot; H&aring;gensen added. &quot;We'll do it in such a way that it will be first and foremost the companies, the owners, who will feel it.&quot;

Norwegian Strike To Spread

Major investors are backing calls for change at mining multinational Rio Tinto. 
 
In Britain, where Rio Tinto is headquartered, investors with over 28 billion pounds sterling in assets (over 43 billion US dollars) are supporting two resolutions proposed by the Coalition of Rio Tinto Shareholders. One of the resolutions concerns corporate governance. The other calls on Rio Tinto to ensure that its labour practices worldwide comply with the core standards of the UN's International Labour Organisation (ILO). 
 
British investors who have come out in favour of the resolutions include the Co-operative Insurance Society Ltd. (CIS). The CIS decision was announced by Britain's Trades Union Congress (TUC) today. CIS is one of Rio Tinto's largest shareholders, with more than 23 billion pounds sterling under management. A number of British pension funds have also swung their shareholder power behind the resolutions. 
 
Under its dual-listing structure, Rio Tinto holds two Annual General Meetings (AGMs) - one in London (on 10 May this year) and one in Australia (Brisbane, 24 May). The resolutions will be put to shareholders at both AGMs. 
 
&quot;It should come as no surprise that shareholders are welcoming our proposals with open arms,&quot; said TUC General Secretary John Monks. &quot;Institutional investors increasingly see the value of AGM resolutions that promote long-term shareholder value.&quot; 
 
The two resolutions are being backed by the TUC, by the trade union movements in Australia and the US and by the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM). 
 
The ICEM has already offered to negotiate and sign a global agreement with Rio Tinto. Under such an agreement, the ICEM and its affiliated unions worldwide would verify, among other things, the company's compliance with ILO core standards. Through the ICEM, unions would have the right to raise with Rio Tinto corporate management any alleged breaches of these standards. 
 
However, the ICEM has also made it clear that Rio Tinto must resolve current industrial disputes in Australia before a global agreement can be signed.

Rio Tinto: Big Investors Want Change

Archive

Rio Tinto Settlement Bid At Australian Mine

US Union Wins Imerys Recognition Vote

Imerys: 'Goon Squad' Photographed At US Site

Imerys in 'Bad Faith' Over US Union Vote

Zimbabwe Union Rights Under Threat

Unions Slam Sri Lankan Decrees

Turkish Tyre Strike Banned

Norwegian Strike Talks Today?

Norwegian Strike To Spread

Rio Tinto: Big Investors Want Change

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