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Dutch affiliate FNV Bondgenoten continued its lead in protesting NL government&rsquo;s planned budget cuts last week. Some 200 union protestors barricaded the offices of the Social Affairs Ministry in The Hague 20 October to remind ministers that cuts to social programmes are unacceptable. Six days earlier, transport workers staged a nationwide 24-hour strike and tomorrow metal workers will strike factories and workplaces in protest to the government&rsquo;s widely unpopular austerity measures.

Bondgenoten Blocks Entrances of NL’s Social Affairs Ministry

The president of Colombian mining union Sintraminercol was the target of an assassination attempt 10 October as he was leaving his home in Bogot&aacute; with family members. Francisco Ramirez noticed gunmen on a motorcycle heading directly at him and he immediately took cover with his young girls behind a utility setting. The attempted killing comes at a time when the union is resisting the liquidation of state mining company Minercol, a move by the Uribe government to open the country&rsquo;s natural resources to global enterprises.

Colombia’s Mining Union President Target of Assassination

A 4-day strike paralyzed Nigeria the week of 11 October, and the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) is gearing for a second, heavier general strike aimed at getting the government to reverse a fuel price hike. A 2-week break in the strike ends this week and NLC leadership and leaders of the federation&rsquo;s 29 affiliates meet tomorrow to schedule another general strike if the government does not rescind September&rsquo;s 25% petrol hike.

Four-Day Nigerian General Strike Over Fuel Prices

Canadian affiliate CEP is challenging the decision by Finnish firm UPM Kymenne to shut a kraft pulp mill in Miramichi, New Brunswick. &ldquo;We have questions about this announcement and we are not getting logical answers,&rdquo; said the CEP&rsquo;s Max Michaud. Citing the union&rsquo;s recent decision to seek mediation in bargaining with the company. CEP also is concerned about wood source policies that hamper the mill and is asking the provincial government to investigate. Some 400 high-paying and family-supporting jobs are at stake in the rural community.

CEP in Canada Seeks to Keep Pulp Mill Open in New Brunswick

US affiliate PACE filed a formal inquiry to the US Contact Point over French-based Imerys&rsquo; labour conduct at a calcium carbonate operation in the state of Alabama. The inquiry hopefully will start an investigation by US and French Contact Points under OECD&rsquo;s Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. Unlawful complaints issued by the US labour board have been levied against Imerys for interference in union activities and for failure to provide PACE with necessary information to process workers&rsquo; grievances. Imerys management says it will not comply with US labour board investigations of its illegal actions, and PACE is seeking injunctive relief under the labour code in a federal court.

PACE Seeks OECD Investigation on Imerys’ Labour Conduct

The NUM of South Africa successfully concluded wage negotiations with DeBeers Consolidated Mines Ltd. Terms include a 7% increase in pensionable wages with the minimum basic rate of pay retroactive to May 2004 set at R 3,100 per month. &ldquo;The agreement paves the way toward enhancing a partnership that would enable both parties to benefit during the good and bad times,&rdquo; said NUM Deputy Gen. Sec. Archie Palange. The pact runs until 30 April 2005.

NUM, DeBeers Come to Wage Terms in South Africa

Following Japan&rsquo;s worst nuclear accident in history on 9 August in which four workers were killed and seven injured seriously, Kansai Electric Power announced it would temporarily close all 11 of its nuclear plants for inspections of pipes for corrosion. The deadly accident occurred at Kansai&rsquo;s Mihama nuclear plant north of Kyoto when a steam pipe ruptured. The pipe reportedly never had been inspected since the plant opened in 1976, and investigators after the accident found the once ten-millimetre-thick pipe had worn away to a thickness of only 1.4 millimetres. Minimum safety requirements mandate such pipes carrying superheated steam be at least 4.7 millimetres thick.

Japan’s Worst Nuclear Accident Occurs at Kansai Power Plant

ICEM New Zealand affiliate Engineering, Printing &amp; Manufacturing Union (EPMU) emerged from its biennial conference in Rotorua 24 July with a priority to achieve employer-funded superannuation schemes. The New Zealand Institute was established to promote policies and aid New Zealand&rsquo;s largest trade union with developing asset ownership funds held by workers. Andrew Little was re-elected EPMU national secretary at the conference for a second four-year term, while Trevor Ruby was elected president, Don Pryde senior vice president and Dennis Robertson junior vice president.

EPMU Leaves Congress with Focused Priorities

CFMEU of Australia won an important court decision late last week that will broaden its organising strength in development-rich Western Australia. A federal court refused to ban the union from a construction site on the Barrup Peninsula where an A$650 million ammonia plant is being built. Contractors last January blocked CFMEU from entering, saying employees already had individual work contracts under the Howard government&rsquo;s Australian Workers&rsquo; Agreements. The decision is expected to have far-reaching effects across Australia for union organizers.

CFMEU Wins Case against Howard Government’s Work Contracts

The deadliest mine disaster in four years in the Ukraine occurred 19 July. Thirty-six coal miners perished when a methane gas explosion rocked the Krasnolymanskaya mine in eastern Donetsk region. &ldquo;Safety rules, especially those of ventilation, were constantly violated in that mine,&rdquo; said Mikhail Volynets, president of the Miners&rsquo; Independent Trade Union of Ukraine. The mine is Ukraine&rsquo;s most profitable, producing 10,000 tonnes per day. On 27 July, the government ordered around-the-clock inspections of air volume, effectiveness of mine degassing, dust content and explosive risks of equipment for a two-week period in all coal mines in the country.

Deadly Coal Mine Explosion Kills 36 in Ukraine

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