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Bargaining will resume today in the lockout of 25,000 paperworkers in Finland. The Executive Committee of Paperiliitto on 5 June rejected a mediator&rsquo;s proposal that, on the whole, sided with many of the concessionary proposals put forward by the Finnish Forest Industries Federation. Those proposals would have given paper companies the unlimited right to outsource work that would see as many as one-third of all full-time paper sector jobs disappear, and would have weakened worker protections against layoffs. 
Employers have now extended the lockout to six weeks, or until 29 June. EMCEF announced that it will investigate whether Finnish paper firms forced the lockout in order to increase paper prices through reduced supply and the ICEM continues to encourage paper sector unions across Europe not to accept work orders from Finnish paper mills and converters.

Finnish Affiliate Rejects Paper Companies Harsh Concessions

The president of the Cartagena region of oil workers union USO in Colombia escaped injury 14 May when four heavily armed men on two motorcycles fired on him. Jorge Ortega was riding in an automobile with his family in Cartagena when the attack occurred. Bodyguards of Ortega exchanged gunfire with the assailants. 
USO blames the national government for not providing the necessary measures to protect trade union leaders, as well as not taking necessary action to curb right-wing paramilitaries in their &ldquo;political and social genocide.&rdquo;

Attempt on Life of Regional Oil Union Leader in Colombia

Talks continued in New Zealand last week at the highest level to resolve issues surrounding a series of strikes over the past two months by coal miners of ICEM affiliate EPMU. National Secretary Andrew Little and Solid Energy CEO Don Elder met to clarify issues and to seek an end to the dispute. Miners are seeking a 6% pay hike and a national coal mining agreement that will bring pay parity to miners on both the North and South Islands, and in underground and open cast mines.

Talks Pressing Forward for End to New Zealand’s Coal Dispute

USW members in Mayfield, Kentucky, are being further victimized by Continental Tyre of Germany. Following a plant closing 1 January that found 730 workers losing their jobs, Continental has now dropped 350 of those workers from company-paid health insurance, despite the fact that no agreement over extended health coverage was ever agreed to in severance bargaining. Terms of the collective bargaining agreement call for between 30 days to 12 months of health insurance in the event of a closure depending on seniority, but many of the 350 cut were some of the most senior workers at the tyre production plant.

Continental Tire Cuts Displaced Workers from Health Care in US

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US affiliate United Steelworkers (USW) expressed disbelief that BP blamed workers for the 23 March explosion at its Amoco refinery in Texas City, Texas. BP said in an interim report that the &ldquo;root causes&rdquo; were a failure to follow operating procedures by workers and supervisors, but backed off that statement when the USW called the company on it. 
USW Region Six Director Gary Beevers said the blast that killed 15 and injured 170 could have been prevented had BP taken the union&rsquo;s advice to properly vent hydrocarbons released from an isomerization unit and had not violated its own policy by granting a variance in placing contractors&rsquo; trailers in a dangerous location.

BP Wrongly Blames Workers, Managers in Deadly US Explosion

ICEM affiliate NUM in South Africa issued its demands to the Council of Mines for the gold sector, and the union will press for full implementation on all terms agreed to in the last negotiations&mdash;2003. The demands include adequate retirement benefits, death and funeral benefits and an across-the-board wage increase of 20%. In June, the NUM and the Council, representing AngloGold Ashanti, Gold Fields and Harmony Gold, will begin full negotiations.

NUM Puts Gold Sector Demands Forward in South Africa

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Bargaining will continue today in efforts to end the lockout of 25,000 paperworkers in Finland. Six major paper companies, headed by the Forest Industries Federation of Finland, locked out members of ICEM affiliate Paperiliitto on 18 May for two weeks, and then tacked on another two weeks as a retaliatory measure for industrial action of 16-17 May. Employers are seeking harsh concessions including unlimited outsourcing, elimination of Christmas and mid-summer shutdown days, and greater job flexibility including 12-hour work shifts. 
Paper unions in Sweden and Norway have successfully turned back orders originating from Finland at mills and paper converters in those countries, and the ICEM has encouraged paper sector unions at all European operations to refuse production work from the closed Finnish mills. The European Works Council of Stora Enso has taken positive solidarity action, as has the European working committees of UPM Kymmene and M-Real. The other three major paper companies instigating this lockout are Ahlstr&ouml;m, Mets&auml; Tissue, and Myllykoski.

Paper Employers Lock Out 25,000 Workers in Finland

Members of ICEM oil workers&rsquo; affiliate NOPEF in Norway have given leaders of the union a mandate to begin merger negotiations with the Norsk Kjemisk Industriarbeiderforbund, the country&rsquo;s Chemical Workers&rsquo; Union, also an affiliate of the ICEM. Merger discussions between the two leading trade unions of Norway are expected to begin by late summer.

NOPEF Given Vote to Begin Merger Dialogue in Norway

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In Argentina, affiliate FeTERA won a dispute with energy company Edea S.A. when the company agreed to place 30 contract workers on its core staff at a workplace near Buenos Aires. &ldquo;This is a very proud labour achievement,&rdquo; said FeTERA General Secretary Jos&eacute; Rigane. &ldquo;We are making progress on the issue of contract labour. The energy sector of Argentina belongs to all of the people.&rdquo;

Victory for Contract Workers at Electric Company in Argentina

Brazil&rsquo;s FUP oil workers&rsquo; union won an increased profit-sharing plan for 38,000 workers prior to launching a planned five-day strike recently against state-owned Petrobras. The overall profit-sharing awards were increased from US$268 million to US$285 million, with both the floor and the ceiling increasing. Petrobras workers who earn less will now get a higher share of profit-sharing earnings as the floor was increased by 26.9%. The ceiling of the plan is now 2.5 times the floor payment.

FUP Oil Union in Brazil Wins Increases for Petrobras Workers

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