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ICEM affiliate Mineworkers&rsquo; Union of Zambia (MUZ), together with another mining union, won a 20% pay increase for 9,000 miners at Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) in early July. The pay increase matched what the unions achieved for miners at KCM in 2006. 
 
Negotiations began in mid-May, but KCM, a company that is majority held by London-listed and Indian-owned Vedanta Resources, was slow in meeting the unions&rsquo; demands. In early July, the company did increase its pay offer from 16% to 20%. 
 
The average salary for the lowest paid miner at KCM had been US$400 per month. The other union negotiating the MUZ is the National Union of Mining and Allied Workers (NUMAW). The 20% increase was awarded effective 1 July.
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Meanwhile, last week, Canadian gold and copper producer First Quantum sacked four strike leaders &ndash; including two shop stewards &ndash; over a wildcat strike at the Kansanshi mine near Solez in mid-July. MUZ intervened to halt the strike by 400 miners in the North-Western province of Zambia, and succeeded in getting negotiations back on track. 
 
But the company took the action to terminate the four and place six others on final warning notices. Appeals are expected. 
 
At KCM, a business dispute between Vedenta and minority shareholder Zambian Copper Investments (ZCI) has gone to arbitration and awaits a ruling. Vedenta has an option to buy ZCI&rsquo;s 28.4% stake in KCM, lifting its ownership to 79.4%, but the dispute over share price has blocked the deal. The Zambian government maintains a 20.6% share of KCM.
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KCM comprises copper mines at Nkana, Nchanga, and Konkola, as well as pyrite mining at Nampundwe and a copper smelter at Nkana. This smelter is the biggest in Africa, and is now currently undergoing expansion. Vedanta also has invested at a new site, the Konkola Deep Mine Project, which will be operational in 2010 and will extend KCM&rsquo;s mining life by 30 years. 
 
Vedanta Resources is a major global producer of aluminum, zinc, and copper, and was founded and is currently run by Indian industrial magnate Anil Agarwal.

Zambian Miners Get 20%; Canadian Firm Sacks Leaders of a Copper Strike

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The death toll in the tragic coal mine explosion in Russia on 19 March is 110 miners, most of them members of ICEM affiliate Russian Independent Coal Miners&rsquo; Union (ROSUGLEPROF). The country&rsquo;s worst mining accident in decades occurred at the Ulyanonskaya mine near the city of Novokuznetsk, Kemerovo, in southern Siberia. 
 
At the weekend, rescue workers began operating a second pump to remove water from shafts, where the bodies of two miners are believed to be. Authorities have identified 100 of the 108 bodies recovered so far. It is thought to be the worst mining tragedy in the coal-rich Kuznetsk coal fields in 60 years.
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&ldquo;The enormity of this disaster is reflected in the great number of trade unions around the world that have reached out to ROSUGLEPROF with words of sympathy and solidarity,&rdquo; said ICEM Gen. Sec. Manfred Warda. &ldquo;The ICEM is joined in this period of grief with the families of the miners, and the managers who perished. This tragedy will mark a time when the world&rsquo;s mining unions will double its efforts for safe mines.&rdquo; 
 
The methane gas explosion occurred when some 20 senior managers and technicians of Yuzhkuzbassugol were underground checking a newly-installed gas detection system. All were fatalities due to the explosion. Managers and technicians included the mine&rsquo;s chief engineer, deputy production manager, deputy chief engineer for technology, technical director, chief mechanic, and a senior mechanic. 
 
Also dying was a British technician, who worked for the company that installed the system, and his interpreter.
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&nbsp;&quot;Danger Zone&quot; sign (at entrance to Ulyanovskaya mine)
The Ulyanovskaya mine, operating only since 2002, is considered one of the safest and most modern in Russia. ROSUGLEPROF Vice President Ruben Badalov remains at the mine site as part of the official federal investigatory team probing the cause of the disaster. Two investigation commissions will simultaneously work to determine the cause; the federal team and a parallel regional commission headed by Kemerovo Governor Aman Tuleyev. Russia&rsquo;s workplace Technical Inspectorate will also participate. 
 
Yuzhkuzbassugol is 50% owned by Russia&rsquo;s second largest steel and metals company, Evraz Group SA, with the other 50% held by a management team.

110 Deaths in Siberian Coal Mine Last Week is Russia’s Worst Disaster in Decades

Two days after 70 members of ICEM affiliate Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU) voted to take another strike action, managers at Bridgestone&rsquo;s Salisbury tyre plant near Adelaide, South Australia, locked them out. In a wage dispute turning more and more bitter, managers locked maintenance workers off their weekend shifts on 23 March. 
 
AMWU members staged a one-day strike on 20 March, and voted the next day for another 24-hour strike, this time to occur on 27 March. Workers represented by both AMWU and fellow ICEM affiliate Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Union (LHMU) turned out at a shareholders meeting on 20 March to voice their displeasure over Bridgestone Australia&rsquo;s bargaining posture.
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Management enraged the AMWU and intensified the dispute by hiring contract workers during last week&rsquo;s industrial action. An AMWU spokesman said this action was like &ldquo;putting fuel in the fire,&rdquo; adding the mood of workers&rsquo; has gone &ldquo;from frustration to anger.&rdquo; 
 
Both LHMU, representing 500 production workers at the Salisbury plant, and AMWU have been locked in pay talks with Bridgestone for over a year. LHMU took a series of industrial actions earlier in March, and currently is banning all overtime work by members. Local managers have retaliated against the LHMU, as well, by issuing temporary suspensions to some production workers.
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Bridgestone currently is offering 6% over three years, while the unions are seeking a 12% increase over the same period. Management is also trying to put in place a voluntary retirement plan at the 42-year-old auto and truck tyre plant. 
 
At last week&rsquo;s shareholders meeting of Bridgestone Australia Ltd., a A$50 million share buy-back plan was approved, which effectively makes the Australian company privately-held and wholly-owned by Bridgestone of Japan.

Bridgestone Locks Out Maintenance Workers at Australian Tyre Plant

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ICEM affiliate United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) issued a detailed safety report on the gas explosion at International Coal Group&rsquo;s (ICG) Sago mine in the state of West Virginia. The report states unequivocally that the tragedy that killed 12 on 2 January 2006 at ICG&rsquo;s non-union mine was preventable, and never should have occurred. 
 
The 68-page report, which also contained 20 appendices, was released at a Washington, D.C., press conference in the US Capitol Building on 15 March. The press conference was attended by the two US senators from West Virginia, as well as a US congressman from the coal-producing state. 
 
&ldquo;Twelve men are dead who should not be,&rdquo; stated UMWA President Cecil Roberts. &ldquo;Their deaths came as the result of a series of bad decisions made by the company and the federal mine safety regulatory agency.
&nbsp;&ldquo;Had the government done its job and (IGC&rsquo;s) Sago mining done their job, all of these miners would be alive.&rdquo;
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UMWA President Cecil Roberts
The tragedy was the worst US mining disaster in years, and captured the attention of the American public in the early days of 2006. IGC&rsquo;s management first reported that all the trapped miners were safe, bringing joyous relief to family members gathered at the mine site. Only hours later, the company admitted that the news was premature. It then took 41 hours to reach the miners. Only one miner was found alive, and he had suffered brain damage due to high levels of carbon monoxide. 
 
Stated the daughter of one Sago miner at the UMWA&rsquo;s press conference, &ldquo;It breaks my heart to have to think that those men barricaded, wondering and waiting when they were going to be rescued, knowing now that they did not have to die. It&rsquo;s not fair.&rdquo;
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The UMWA report cited several conditions that led to the deaths. It said the company&rsquo;s substandard mine seals, the mine&rsquo;s ventilation system, the lack of adequate oxygen devices inside mine shafts, no safety chambers, no two-way communications, no tracking devices, and no onsite, experienced mine rescue teams all played roles in the tragedy. 
 
The union alleged the US Mine Safety and Health Administration allowed Sago&rsquo;s owners to build coal mine seals using lightweight Oemga Blocks, rather than sturdier and explosion-proof mine seals, as specified under the US&rsquo;s Mine Safety Act. The report also provides dozens of recommendations for tougher standards aimed at preventing such needless mine deaths in the future.
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UMWA Sec.-Treas. Dan Kane
&ldquo;We cannot afford to wait,&rdquo; said UMWA Sec.-Treas. Dan Kane at the press conference. &ldquo;The sooner we implement these recommendations, either as law or regulations, the more secure miners will be in the knowledge that their jobs are as safe as possible. As this report indicates, we&rsquo;ve got a long way to go before we reach that point.&rdquo; 
 
Six days after the UMWA was released, ICG temporarily closed the Sago mine doe to a downturn in coal prices. IGC, owned by New York-based investor Wilbur L. Ross, is a seven-year-old coal company that has specialised in buying abandoned coal operations from bankruptcy proceedings, and then mining them. The company now operates 11 coal mines in the eastern US, all of them using non-union miners.

UMWA Says Sago Mine Tragedy in US Could Have Been Prevented

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On the eve of critical Nigerian national and state elections, the country&rsquo;s two national labour centers elected the two presidents of both ICEM&rsquo;s oil workers&rsquo; unions to key positions. 
 
Comrade Peter Esele, president of white-collar PENGASSAN Union, was elected President-General of the Trade Union Congress (TUC) of Nigeria on 3 March in Lagos. The TUC is a newly-formed association of 22 unions, representing some 2.5 million senior staff in varying services and industries. 
 
Two weeks earlier, Peter Akpatason, president of blue-collar NUPENG, was elected Trustee of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC). 
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For the first time since 1999, the 38 affiliates of the NLC have new leadership. Comrade Adams Oshiomhole was given a rousing send-off as a dynamic trade union leader. Abdul Waheed Omar, president of the Nigerian Union of Teachers, won election as President of NLC on 17 February. Oshiomhole has left his trade union post to seek election as governor of Edo State from a multi-party alliance that includes the Labor Party and the Action Congress Party. 
 
In a message to the NLC&rsquo;s 9th National Delegates&rsquo; Conference at Abuja, Oshiomhole commended the role the four-million-member NLC has played in the enhancement of the welfare of workers, the consolidation of democracy inside Nigeria, and the war against corruption. 
 
He said that democracy with all its imperfections was better than the most benign dictatorship. Oshiomhole added that the NLC has become a democratic, independent, socially responsible, and effective organisation that commanded the confidence of workers, trusted by the public, and respected by the government and employers. 
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The national and state elections in April will be held at a time when security for oil and other workers in Nigeria is seriously threatened, and when corruption among public officials is rampant. Lack of development and job opportunities for local people in the oil-rich Niger Delta has spawned scores of ransom kidnappings, while theft, or bunkering, of petrol from pipelines has jeopardized public security.
Last week, for instance, a communiqu&eacute; issued by NUPENG typifies what workers face in Nigeria. The union issued a 21-day ultimatum to police in the Port Harcourt zone to halt the &ldquo;illegal extortion of money from tanker drivers by the police.&rdquo; The statement added that on most occasions, tanker drivers are &ldquo;unnecessarily delayed to the point of breaking their resistance, to offer money as ransom before they are eventually released to continue with their journey.&rdquo; 
 
NUPENG contends that such extortion by police occurs under the guise of law enforcement fighting pipeline vandalism, when, in fact, NUPENG&rsquo;s Port Harcourt zonal branch has evidence of police complicity in pipeline vandalism. 
 
The two oil workers&rsquo; unions, NUPENG and PENGASSAN, have also warned against election rigging as the coming presidential and state governorships balloting draws near.

Nigerian Oil Workers’ Leaders Elected to Posts in National Union Centres

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Power Workers&rsquo; Union of Canada (PWU) has called the government&rsquo;s plan to close all coal-fired electric generation plants by 2014 &ldquo;unrealistic and risky.&rdquo; The ICEM affiliate reiterated this stand in a statement welcoming the federal government&rsquo;s ecoTrust plan, an investment vehicle to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. 
 
PWU states that energy needs are growing rapidly across Canada. Advocating electric supply in the province of Ontario from many sources, the union is urging the province to use its share of ecoTrust monies to clean up carbon emissions by investing in better and cleaner technologies. 
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&ldquo;Ontario needs affordable electricity for its growing needs and the existing coal-fuelled plants are a necessary part of the mix,&rdquo; said PWU President Don MacKinnon. &ldquo;The technology to dramatically reduce air pollution from these plants is readily available, and the PWU believes it should be installed.&rdquo; 
 
The PWU also believes the best way to lessen the risk over electric supply &ndash; besides clean-coal methods &ndash; is new and refurbished nuclear plant capacity. &ldquo;This is an affordable way to immediately reduce pollution, while the province makes investments in conservation and demand management, viable new energy sources, and new transmissions lines,&rdquo; said the PWU statement. 
 
PWU, an affiliate of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), is the largest electric workers&rsquo; union in Ontario, representing employees in generation, transmission, distribution, regulations, and research and development.

PWU in Canada Calls for Cleaner Coal-Fuel Technologies

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Union members of ICEM affiliate Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Union (LHMU) of Australia began industrial action 8 March at a tyre factory in Salisbury, South Australia. The 500-member workforce voted on 2 March for strike action due to wide differences in future wage increases. LHMU began four-hour work stoppages last Thursday. 
 
Bridgestone responded by issuing temporary suspensions to some workers, claiming the suspensions were necessary due to production cuts. Management issued the suspensions without consultation with the union. LHMU has informed the company that an overtime ban is in effect all this week, and that a 24-hour strike will begin on 19 March. 
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Bridgestone had initially offered either a three-year contract with wage hikes of 4% over the entire contract, or a 6% increase over four years. That was modified to 6% over three years, with a bonus payment of A$2,000 per worker and productivity bonuses that could total A$3,000. Workers are seeking a 4% increase for each year of the renewal agreement. Talks have been ongoing for nearly a year. 
 
LHMU claims workers at the auto and truck tyre plant have been struggling to win adequate wage increases just to keep pace with inflation. &ldquo;For the past six years, they&rsquo;ve received an annual raise of just 3%,&rdquo; said LHMU Organiser Jim Watson. &ldquo;Now the company wants to offer them even less.&rdquo; 
 
On the day of the 8 March job action, LHMU members at the tyre factory received the solidarity of the United Steelworkers (USW) of North America in a letter. The USW is currently engaged with Bridgestone in difficult talks in the US, covering 5,000 workers at eight factories. 
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&ldquo;The USW has a history of difficult negotiations with Bridgestone,&rdquo; wrote Executive Vice President for Rubber, Ron Hoover. &ldquo;One lesson we have learned in our dealings with Bridgestone and other companies is that union power is bolstered when unions across the globe stand together in disputes with common employers. 
 
&ldquo;We are happy to stand together with LHMU in its current effort to achieve a fair contract with Bridgestone,&rdquo; pledged Hoover. 
 
Japan-based Bridgestone Corporation is currently engaged in a share buy-back plan, totalling A$50 million, of Bridgestone Australia Ltd., which would make the company privately-held and a direct subsidiary of the Japanese parent.

Bridgestone Workers in Australia Take Industrial Action for Fair Gains

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UK paperworkers, members of the Graphical, Paper and Media Division of Amicus, voted by nearly a two-to-one margin to approve a new pay package for 2007. The agreement covers some 3,500 workers in paper mills represented by the employers association, the Confederation of Paper Industries (CPI). 
 
Year 2007 pay gains will total 3%, similar to the wage increases achieved by Amicus with CPI for the corrugated packaging sector late last year. Paper mill workers voting for the 2007 wage increase numbered 1,351, while those voting against, 777. 
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This set of wage talks follows detailed negotiations over an 18-month period between the Amicus and CPI for a new national collective agreement for the UK&rsquo;s papermaking sector. The industry has been hard hit by rising energy costs and higher raw material costs, resulting in mill and paper machine shutdowns. The latest example is M-Real&rsquo;s closure of its 350-worker Sittingbourne mill in Kent. 
 
British paperworkers are due to ballot on a joint partnership plan with CPI, called &ldquo;Work Together, Grow Together, Stay Together.&rdquo; The programme will emphasize learning and skills, work-life balances, and better safety at work practices, as well as workplace improvement methods with employee information and consultation processes.

Paperworkers of Amicus Ratify 2007 Pay Gains in UK

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Two short strikes in Zambia&rsquo;s copper belt ended early in March with assurances from managers that miners&rsquo; grievances would be addressed. On 7 March, a seven-day strike by 1,000 miners at Luanshya Copper Mines ended with the company pledging to ICEM affiliate Mineworkers Union of Zambia (MUZ) that it would rescind its threat to sack strike leaders, and engage in earnest wage talks with the union. 
 
Another strike at the Mufulira and Nkana mines of Mopani Copper, owned by Swiss Glencore International and First Quantum Minerals of Canada, started on 1 March and ended two days later when Mopani&rsquo;s 7,000 miners began returning to work. MUZ entered bargaining there with the company and secured an 18% wage increase for miners. 
At Luanshya, owned by J&amp;W Investment Group Ltd., miners marched to the offices of the company on 1 March after they received their February salaries. MUZ President Rayford Mbulo said management had threatened to dismiss strike leaders and other miners. He asserted that Luanshya managers had stated on five occasions that they were not willing to accept miners&rsquo; demands, despite workers meeting all the companies set production goals. 
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&ldquo;Management should not just be issuing threats of dismissing workers, but should take time to reflect on (workers&rsquo;) actions,&rdquo; said Mbulo to the Times of Zambia on the first day of the strike. He said the position of MUZ is that since copper prices have doubled over the past two years and the Luanshya mine was at peak production, it was only fair that miners were appropriately rewarded.
Workers at Luanshya earn as little as US$200 per month. They are seeking a fair wage increase, in part, because they now pay for basic services, including water and electricity. Previously, the Zambian state mining company paid such expenses. 
 
At Mopani, miners began returning to work on 3 March as an act of good faith that negotiations would succeed. The strike did force the company to increase its wage offer from 16% to 18%.

Two Copper Strikes in Zambia End with Assurances, Pay Gains for Miners

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While women across the globe celebrated work/life accomplishments on 8 March 2007, women in Iran had to cancel a planned demonstration for women&rsquo;s rights because of certain arrests. Only four days earlier, over 30 women were arrested while protesting and detained at Evin Prison in Tehran. 
 
In Palestine, different from Iran in that a vibrant trade union movement is underway, women celebrated through their union, ICEM affiliate Petroleum, Mining, and Chemicals Workers of Palestine (GUPMCWP). The union marked the day in a moving statement by paying tribute to the hard-won efforts of women everywhere, and then letting women leaders of the union speak for themselves. 
 
GUPMCWP Head Mohammed Jadallah said the day must be held up as one in which women have &ldquo;crossed the border&rdquo; between balancing family life with work in all walks of life. He said country after country began recognising International Women&rsquo;s Day in the early 20th Century when &ldquo;women started pushing the wheel of the economy in the west.&rdquo; 
<img height="60" src="" width="100" alt="" />
The head of the union&rsquo;s women&rsquo;s committee as well as the union&rsquo;s International Officer, Dr. Nuzha Mohammed Jadallah, said the participation of women in all trade unions must strengthen, and that mass participation by women must occur in all &ldquo;activities and organisations of civil society.&rdquo; 
The GUPMCWP&rsquo;s Nabeela Mahmmoud said the ability of women to take different courses regarding trade union issues is paramount to building strong women leaders. She said that &ldquo;educating the unionist women&rdquo; to the key roles they can play inside the union is the surest way to a strong union. 
 
The GUPMCWP concluded the statement by declaring their solidarity with the women strikers of Turkish ICEM affiliate, Petrol-İş, at Fresenius Medical Care. The Palestinian union said it was proudly supporting the strikers &ldquo;until they achieve their demands of dignity and justice, on and off the job, and our union in Palestine stands firmly with them to achieve their just demands. The working women in Palestine congratulate them on this International Women&rsquo;s Day, and the victory that is to follow for their and their union, Petrol-İş.&rdquo;

Women in Iran Try to Celebrate Women’s Day, Palestinian Women Share Thanks on 8 March

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