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ICEM Asia-Pacific Region affiliate, the Philippines Cement Workers&rsquo; Council (PCWC), conducted an action on 13 November in Quezon City to retain a 5% tariff on imported cement. Faced with a number of recent layoffs due to the global economic crisis, the PCWC is opposing a Philippines Cabinet recommendation to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to eliminate the 5% tariff. 
 
&ldquo;Our local cement manufacturing industry has already experienced the bad effects of zero tariffs on imported cements in the early 2000s,&rdquo; said PCWC National Coordinator Felix Deyta. This &ldquo;led to closure of some cement plants.&rdquo; 

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Currently, both Philippines Cement and Lafarge Philippines Cement have begun retrenchments because of the economic slowdown. Cemex Philippines also cut 3% of its 587 workers at the end of October due to a restructuring plan. 
PCWC Secretary General Samuel Eslava said further cuts are inevitable of the tariff is rolled back. Added PCWC President Ricardo Pascual, quoted in the Philippines press, &ldquo;If tariffs are lifted, layoffs are certain. We&rsquo;re calling on the President to study the matter again. The issue is not the loss of government revenue, but the loss of jobs.&rdquo; 

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The ICEM issued a letter in support of the PCWC d position and demanded that the government consult with its social partners, including the union, before removing the tariff. &ldquo;Acting in favour of foreign business at a time of a worsening global economy&rdquo; will have &ldquo;a deep impact on the job security of ordinary workers&rdquo; in the Philippines, said the ICEM. 
 
The 5% tariff applies to international trade of Portland cement into the Philippines. A 3% tariff is charged to producers in countries belonging to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)

Philippines Cement Workers’ Take Stand to Protect National Cement Industry Jobs

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Months of dispute were brought to an end last week when workers at the Sellafield nuclear energy site in Cumbria, UK, voted to accept a pay offer. 
 
Two UK ICEM affiliates, Unite the Union and GMB, voted by a three-to-one margin to accept terms similar to what a third UK union, Prospect, accepted in mid-September. Unite and GMB had been engaged in limited industrial action at the British Nuclear Decommissioning Authority&rsquo;s (NDA) site as it prepares to sell the last state-owned nuclear assets. 
 
Although the union Prospect accepted a 2.5% pay increase plus a 2.5% bonus in mid-September from Sellafield Ltd., operator of the facility, members of the two ICEM affiliates, Unite and the GMB, rejected the offer as the pay increase was below inflation. 

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The 5,000 of 10,000 Sellafield workers who are represented by Unite and GMB received four months back pay, and two separate bonus schemes of &pound;600 each. An added incentive in the negotiated proposal was a &pound;1,500 &ldquo;goodbye bonus&rdquo; as the NDA prepares to sell its nuclear assets to Nuclear Management Partners, a consortium of French, American, and British energy interests. That sale is scheduled to be finalised on November 24. 
 
During October, Unite and GMB members had strictly performed only work in their own job classifications, refusing to attend meetings on efficiencies, and refusing cross-departmental work. 
 
The Sellafield site, with a technical facility in Risley and a former uranium enrichment site in Capenhurst, will now undergo a massive multi-year reprocessing and clean-up project, estimated to cost &pound;1.3 billion a year.

Unite, GMB Avoid Further Industrial Action at Sellafield Nuclear in the UK

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Meeting on 6 November in Geneva, eight days before an economic summit for the world&rsquo;s political leaders to address a financial crisis that already has caused great social pain, the ICEM Presidium passed a resolution, declaring the recent collapse &ldquo;a turning point in history&rdquo; and proof that &ldquo;the current system of capital has not worked.&rdquo; 
 
After some debate, ICEM Vice Presidents agreed that the current market system has malfunctioned and that &ldquo;creation of a new and fairer system of global capital&rdquo; must &ldquo;contain stringent financial oversight and governance, including a new set of global regulations.&rdquo; 
 
The resolution emphasizes the fact those citizens of the world least responsible for the collapse are the &ldquo;most vulnerable, worst affected, and the least able to cope in the aftermath of the crisis.&rdquo; 
 
The resolution can be read <a href="/index.php?id=3&amp;doc=2856">here</a>.

ICEM Presidium Discusses, Passes Resolution Addressing Financial Crisis

The National Union of Mineworkers in South Africa has joined two other unions, including affiliate CEPPWAWU, and filed a formal application under Section 77 of the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac) to investigate the strong Rand and the adverse affect it has had regarding job loss. The union seeks a tripartite summit to find an intervention strategy. &ldquo;The appreciating currency has had a negative impact in the mining industry. The mining sector has shed numerous jobs and is intent on cutting further,&rdquo; said NUM Gen. Sec. Gwede Mantashe in a South African report.

NUM and CEPPWAWU in South Africa Protest Strong Rand

IGBCE in Germany has warned employers in the chemical industry not to deviate from their social responsibilities in bargaining that begins in April for 580,000 chemical workers. Emphasizing that only some employers are stating the industry needs to &ldquo;catch its breath&rdquo; free of any wage increases, IGBCE said in a statement it would not change directions in upcoming talks. The union maintains that only through meaningful increases can the consumer economy in Germany improve.

German IGBCE Warns Chemical Industry Ahead of Bargaining

An announcement by the Canadian government to sell off its remaining 19% stake in Petro-Canada was denounced by the country&rsquo;s leading energy union, Communications, Energy, Paperworkers of Canada. The Calgary-based company was established in 1975 to promote domestic supply of oil and gas and as a counter to the US-based oil giants. Petrocan is involved in Arctic gas, oil sands in western provinces, exploration and production of eastern seacoast reserves. It also operates a chain of petrol stations across Canada. &ldquo;Canadians want and need a role in our oil and gas industry, and now is not the time to sell off Canada&rsquo;s station,&rdquo; said CEP President Brian Payne. &ldquo;There are more than six million Canadians who drive up to Petro Canada regularly, believing that this company in part belongs to them. I can&rsquo;t think of a better way to alienate Petro Canada&rsquo;s loyal customers than by selling out.&rdquo;

CEP Resisting Canadian Petro-Canada Sell-Off

Letter writing to Ukrainian embassies is the message from the ICEM to all affiliates over the repressive and violent measures taken against Mikhail Volynets and his family. Volynets is president of ICEM affiliate Miners&rsquo; Independent Trade Union of Ukraine, a founder of the national center Confederation of Free Trade Union of Ukraine, as well as a member of the country&rsquo;s parliament, the Rada. On 7 March, two men abducted his 24-year-old son and beat him to near death. Since, Volynets has noticed two members of the Secret Service of Ukraine constantly outside his residence building, as well as two men monitoring visitors to his son&rsquo;s hospital room.

ICEM Protests Against Ukrainian Repression of Mining Leader

Two US ICEM affiliates&mdash;USWA and PACE&mdash;have been jointly working on legislative and member mobilization projects for several years. The two unions have now officially consummated that bond by entering into a formal strategic alliance with each other. The cooperative bond &ldquo;recognizes that it is in each union&rsquo;s mutual interest to coordinate their activities and share with each other the knowledge, techniques and experiences each has gained in areas in which they excel.&rdquo;

US Unions USWA, PACE Form Strategic Accord

German and French unions are teaming up to block the hostile takeover of German-French pharmaceutical Aventis by French rival Sanofi-Synthelabo. Hubertus Schmoldt, president of German IGBCE and Patrick Pierron, general secretary of the French union FCE-CFDT, oppose the hostile takeover. They fear massive job cuts in both countries will result, and jointly expressed disdain over how the takeover was set up. &ldquo;A hostile takeover such as this is counter-production to the stock market. There are hardly any winners with such actions, but certainly plenty of losers,&rdquo; the two unions said.

French, German Unions Resist Aventis, Sanofi Chemical Merger

The ICEM banner in Democratic Republic of Congo continues to show hope for the war-torn country. Last month 13 unions led by ICEM&rsquo;s two Congolese affiliates&mdash;the petrol/chemical union FNTPEC and mining union FENAMICO&mdash;came together in unity and industrial democracy under the ICEM&rsquo;s Regional Shop Steward Development Project of Africa. With war and strife receding in the Congo and multinational concerns rapidly eyeing mining and energy opportunities, the unions have agreed to work together to promote effective leadership and shop steward networks. ICEM Regional Chairperson and NUM President Senzeni Zokwana from South Africa is instrumental in coordination.

ICEM Education Project Making Headway in Congo

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