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ICEM-affiliated Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) of Australia broke through a major barrier with Rio Tinto on enterprise bargaining when it used good-faith dialogue under the Fair Work Australia law to negate Rio Tinto&rsquo;s long-standing preference for individual work agreements. The breakthrough came in an &ldquo;in principle&rdquo; agreement achieved with the mining giant on 9 June that grants 400 iron ore train drivers and car examiners in West Australia collective bargaining rights. 
 
The agreement is precedent-setting and it is hoped that the Anglo-Australian mining house and metals producer follows similar Fair Work law practices in its other Australian businesses and with other Australian unions. The agreement allows the 400 essential staff who moves Australia&rsquo;s valuable iron ore resources to West Coast ports to vote on a collective agreement. 
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Gary Wood
&ldquo;This is a long overdue outcome that would never have been achieved under WorkChoices, and has only been achieved because of the Fair Work Act and the determination of the rank-and-file to stand united in support of their collective rights,&rdquo; said CFMEU West Australia Mining and Energy Secretary Gary Wood. 
 
The agreement came through 18 months of bargaining with Rio Tinto under procedures of two-year-old Fair Work Australia that left the company no alternative but to acquiesce and allow workers to vote on a collective agreement. It also ends an 18-year period of hostility by Rio Tinto to remain union-free and operate under individual work agreements at Rio&rsquo;s Hamersly, Pilbara Iron Ore, and other subsidiaries. 
 
The ICEM salutes the CFMEU for this historic accomplishment on behalf of Australian unions regarding Rio Tinto, and now calls on workers in West Australia to make the most of the achievement in order to speak with a collective voice in making life-enhancing gains for all.

CFMEU Wins Bargaining Rights for Rio Tinto’s Pilbara Train Drivers

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The National Union of Mineworkers, South Africa (NUM) are mobilising against an attempt by Brazilian mining multinational Vale to invest in the African copper belt. Vale&rsquo;s proposed purchase of Metorex Ltd was opposed by the NUM Central Committee, meeting 26-28 May, due to the anti-union history of the country, most notably in Canada. 
 
The NUM will now file a complaint to the Competition Commission, and engage the South African government to intervene against the US$1.1 billion purchase. Meterox is based in South Africa, but all its operations are in Zambia, and the DRC. Huge potential for copper extraction in the DRC is especially attracting Vale to the Meterox deal. 
<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="103" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <img alt="" src="" width="155" height="85" />
At the same time, Vale demonstrated its aggressive opposition to workers&rsquo; organising, in Colombia. On 3 June workers at the El Hatillo mine, in the Department of Cesar, Northern Colombia, organised with Sintramienerg&eacute;tica, and presented modest bargaining demands to management. 
 
Vale Coal Colombia responded to its employees exercising their right to organise and bargain collectively with persecution, threats, and outright refusal to bargain. Vale supervisors at the mine have threatened all workers with the sack if they do not renounce the union. Many El Hastillo employees are precariously employed through outsourced contractors, facilitating Vale&rsquo;s union busting at the mine. 
 
On June 12, El Hastillo superintendent Jairo Tamayo locked employee and union leader Mario Prado in his office and aggressively threatened him. This intimidation caused Mr. Prado a suspected heart attack, and he remains in hospital in a serious condition. 
 
The United Steelworkers last week launched an international campaign supporting Sintramienerg&eacute;tica in their struggle to organise at Vale. An international LabourStart campaign is launched today, calling on the Colombian government ensure the fundamental rights of workers at El Hatillo, and calling on Vale Colombia to halt its union busting efforts and negotiate with the union in good faith. 
 
Support the <a href="http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/solidarityforever/show_campaign.cgi?c=1027">LabourStart campaign</a> here, and write to the Colombian President and CEO of Vale Colombia.

NUM, USW Take Gloves Off on Vale in South Africa, Colombia

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The ICEM-affiliated Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) issued an ultimatum on 15 June to the Petroleum Equalisation Fund Management Board (PEF) over the continuing victimisation of its Branch Chairman and other executive committee members. 
 
The senior staff union warned the PEF management that if victimization of its officials continues, workers would reply through industrial unrest not only in PEF but the entire Nigerian oil industry. 
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PENGASSAN union members hold significant leverage in Nigeria; its members are supervisors at each of the petroleum depots, which transport fuel and diesel throughout the country. The depots are under the control of PEF. 
 
The PEF management has been conducting aggressive interference in union affairs since a recently successful PENGASSAN campaign forced PEF management to promote over 70% of its staff who had stagnated at the same grade for upwards of six years. PEF set up a panel to investigate union member activity in terms of their adherence to union rules, clearly not the jurisdiction of management, and a breach of union independence intended to undermine PENGASSAN. 
 
In a letter to the PEF Executive Secretary, PENGASSAN General Secretary Bayo Olowoshile warned that, &ldquo;the management of PEF is given a 14-day ultimatum with effect from the date of our earlier letter of June 15, 2011 to respect the Association&rsquo;s structure, rules, and extant laws on Trade Unions and labour relations or get prepared to face the consequences of full scale national industrial action in the oil and gas industry&rdquo;.

PENGASSAN Threatens Full-Scale Industrial Action in Nigeria’s Petroleum Industry

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A united grouping of six Belgian trade unions, representing all unionised oil workers, picketed at the gates of the Belgian Refining Corporation (BRC) last Thursday, 30 June, in protest of the sacking of three workers, calling for the company to spend their money on better terms in collective bargaining instead of unnecessary severance pay. 
 
A nationwide action is also planned. 
 
Two of the three sacked workers were union representatives of ICEM-affiliated Centrale Generale &ndash; FGTB, making the company even more liable for unfair dismissal. The three are guilty of no misconduct at all, although management have actively spread lies relating to the intimidation of a security guard and his family. 
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The Swiss management of BRC, under CEO Massenhaurer, has shown itself to be staunchly anti union, but inventing misconduct stories in order to sack union reps is new. 
 
The BRC refinery is located north of the Port of Antwerp at the centre of the ARA region, owned by European refiner Petroplus Holdings. BRC has production capacity of 107,500 barrels per day, and sells primarily inside Benelux. 
 
The ICEM joins calls of the six unions involved, five of which are affiliated, for the immediate reinstatement of all three sacked worker.

Belgium Unions Unite Against Belgian Refining Corp.’s Sackings

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&quot;Solidarity and Equal Opportunities: Principles of Trade Union Networks&rdquo; was the motto of the second meeting of this kind conducted by ICEM&rsquo;s Brazilian affiliate CNQ-CUT, the National Confederation of Chemical Workers which took place on 15-16 June, through the support of Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES), at the facilities of Sao Paulo Glass Workers&rsquo; Union in Praia Grande, with participation of more than 60 union representatives from 24 companies. 
 
The meeting was supported and attended by ICEM, CUT, Solidarity Center AFL-CIO, FETQUIM, Social Observatory Institute (ISO) and DIEESE. 
 
The opening session of the event was marked with a broad debate on the role of union networks in national and international solidarity in the chemical industries. ICEM&rsquo;s Regional President Sergio Novais highlighted the importance of the meeting and the need for unification of the sectors. Participants dynamically discussed their expectations of the meeting. 
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Later in the meeting a delegates discussed various topics such as solidarity, participation of youth and women, network running, communication mechanisms, network models and statutes, decent work, and training policies. The presentation of research on the situation of trade union networks in the chemical sector with a detailed analysis on multinational participation and trade union activity conducted by ISO gave an overview to the participants. 
 
The participants were then divided into working groups to account for future referrals and deepen the discussions presented. Gender, collective bargaining, network funding, social dialogue, internal and external challenges, and strengthening the networks were among the topics that came up with important resolutions that should strengthen the fight in the upcoming period. 
 
At the end of the meeting participants evaluated discussions by saying &quot;we have to act differently if we want a different life, what we did here was simply to think differently&quot;. Over the next couple of months, a report with the outcomes of the meeting will be publicised. 
 
&ldquo;Networking is one of the major priorities of ICEM sector work. The work performed by our Brazilian comrades in the chemical industry is an excellent model for the rest of the world&rdquo; said ICEM&rsquo;s Director of Industry and Corporate Affairs Kemal &Ouml;zkan. &ldquo;Our objective now is to widen this drive to the whole Americas region&rdquo;.

Brazilian Chemical Workers Discuss Solidarity Through Union Networking

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The Australian Workers&rsquo; Union (AWU) won a definitive judgment from Fair Work Australia on 24 June that grants the union right of entry to lunch rooms at Rio Tinto&rsquo;s Alcan aluminum smelter in Bell Bay, Tasmania. The ruling ends months of legal wrangling and should serve as a precedent against employers from blocking legitimate union access to workers on job sites. 
 
On 1 July, marking the second anniversary of the Fair Work Act of 2009, which makes such access legitimate, AWU National Secretary Paul Howes and three AWU organizers triumphantly met with AWU members in lunch rooms at Alcan&rsquo;s Bell Bay smelter, breaking Rio Tinto&rsquo;s claim that such meetings had to in administrative areas, generally parts of worksites where surveillance and management intimidation is greater. 
 
The 550-worker Alcan smelter has been a test case in Australia over right of entry under a balanced Fair Work Act, a law that reversed many of the management rights provisions in the former Conservative government&rsquo;s WorkChoices Act. (See prior <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4314-">ICEM Bell Bay article</a> here.) It also stands as a major crossing of a threshold that will lead to full enterprise bargaining between AWU and Alcan. 
 
The AWU, which counts a majority of Alcan workers at Bell Bay as members, also used this Fair Work Australia decision to re-boot an advertising campaign aimed at recruitment of non-union Rio workers to the union fold. The ad campaign, which first ran in March, states that process operators at other, unionized Australian aluminum plants, namely Alcoa&rsquo;s, are paid up to A$20,000 per year more than operators at Bell Bay. 
 
The AWU said it would use the decision to meet union members in similar surroundings at Alcan worksites in Gladstone (Boyne Island) and Yarwun, Queensland. 
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Paul Howes
&ldquo;Make no mistake, the bullies at Rio Tinto are losing the stranglehold they once had over their workforce,&rdquo; said Howes in an Australian newspaper report. &ldquo;The decision is highly symbolic of that, and I know it will be a crushing embarrassment for the company.&rdquo; 
 
That decision, FWA Case 3878, found Alcan&rsquo;s insistence on a conference room inside an administration building was not reasonable. It stated such meetings there meant workers had to travel 8-15 minutes longer from work stations, and this was insufficient time to meet with AWU representatives during average break times. 
 
Fair Work Australia&rsquo;s ruling also rejected Alcan&rsquo;s claim that the meal rooms closer to work areas were too small for such lawful meetings under the Fair Work Act and that worker-union discussions would disrupt other workers in the break areas. 
 
Rio Tinto Alcan said it disagrees with the decision, but this time will not appeal the Bell Bay right of entry ruling. The company said the AWU had made some 20 visits to meet with union members in conference rooms, and it made note of the fact that the 24 June ruling had found that the company did not intimidate or hinder workers from meeting with the AWU in the conference rooms. 
 
Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) Secretary Jeff Lawrence said the Bell Bay decision &ldquo;sends a positive message to other employers that they must respect fundamental workers&rsquo; rights to collective bargaining and union membership.&rdquo;

Australia: AWU Wins Correct Access to Rio Tinto’s Alcan Smelter

Today, 15 March, the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine, and General Workers&rsquo; Union (ICEM), the International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF) and their Norwegian affiliated trade unions, Fellesforbundet and IndustriEnergi (IE) signed a Global Framework Agreement (GFA) with Norsk Hydro ASA in Oslo. 
 
The agreement covers provisions of freedom of association and collective bargaining rights, discrimination, forced labour, child labour, health and safety, wages, working conditions, employment conditions, skills training, HIV/AIDS, and environmental conditions, referencing the standards established by the core labour conventions of the International Labour Organisation (ILO). 
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From left to right: Arve Bakke, Fellesforbundet President, Jyrki Raina, IMF General Secretary, Wenche Agerup, Norsk Hydro Executive Vice-President, Corporate Staff, Manfred Warda, ICEM General Secretary, Leif Sande, IndustriEnergi President
Norske Hydro was established more than 100 years ago and today is a leading global supplier of aluminum products and energy solutions. The Hydro companies have a total of 23,000 workers in more than 40 countries worldwide. The production facilities are mainly located in Europe, North America, Australia, and Qatar. 
 
In addition to the agreement, the parties agreed to establish a working group on the US legislation and US practices related to freedom of association and collective bargaining rights. The conclusions of this group&rsquo;s work will provide a basis for revision of the GFA in 2012. 
<img alt="" src="" width="246" height="188" />
Arve Bakke, Jyrki Raina,&nbsp;Wenche Agerup,&nbsp;Manfred Warda,&nbsp;Leif Sande
The parties also committed to work together to build an open channel of network which ensures implementation of the GFA in all Hydro workplaces. 
 
A copy of the agreement in English can be found <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/1103.%20Norsk%20Hydro%20GFA.%20with%20signatures.3.pdf">here</a>. 
 
For further information, contact ICEM Information Officer Dick Blin (<a href="mailto:dick.blin@icem.org">dick.blin@icem.org</a>), +41 22 304 1842, +41 79 734 8994 (mobile); or IMF Communications Director Anita Gardner (<a href="mailto:agardner@imfmetal.org">agardner@imfmetal.org</a>), +41 22 308 5032.

ICEM, IMF, Norwegian Unions Sign Global Social Accord with Norsk Hydro

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ICEM&rsquo;s affiliated mining union Sintracarb&oacute;n is calling for pressure to be increased local management of food multination Aramark, to follow their legal requirement and enter into bargaining with the newly formed union. 
 
The 90 workers at Aramark formed a branch of the national Colombian union of food workers, SINAILTRAINAL on 21 February, elected the leadership, and drafted and approved the list of demands which was presented to management the following day, 22 February. 
 
Colombian labour law requires the employer to respond and enter bargaining with the nascent union within five days. This step has not been taken by local Aramark management. 
 
The absence of any mechanism for industrial relations at the contractor had lead workers to frustration on salary, and shift scheduling especially. 
 
Sintracarb&oacute;n has escalated its campaign to organise outsourced workers at Cerrej&oacute;n over the last two years, following a congress vote to change the organisation&rsquo;s statutes and allow inclusion of outsourced workers.

Organised Outsourced Cerrejón Food Workers’ Call for Bargaining Ignored

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The formation of a strike committee by ICEM-affiliated Federation of Chemical, Energy, and General Workers&rsquo; Unions (VDSZ) at Hankook Tyre Magyarorsz&aacute;g Kft. in Hungary prompted the Korean-based company to increase wage rates by an average of 8%. 
 
That happened last week, after the VDSZ Tyre Manufacturing Workers&rsquo; Union threatened strike action ten days earlier on 3 March. They did so because management had failed to raise salaries to compensate for Hungarian tax changes that went into effect 1 January. 
 
Some 1,700 workers at the 1,800 workforce will receive an average 8% pay hike retroactive to 1 January. In addition, workers will receive HUF 20,000 (&euro;73.40) yearly in non-wage benefits. Hungary&rsquo;s National Interest Conciliation Council was recommending 4-6% increases to offset the tax change. 
<img alt="" src="" width="166" height="221" />
VDSZ President Tam&aacute;s Sz&eacute;kely
The average 8% wage increase surprised many due to the negative labour climate made by Hankook since opening the R&aacute;calm&aacute;s factory near Dunaujv&aacute;ros in 2007. Only last year, Hankook Tyre Magyarorsz&aacute;g was fined by the Hungarian Labour Inspectorate for obstructing VDSZ&rsquo;s legitimate duties of representation inside the plant. And shortly after production began in 2007, Hankook was charged or found guilty of non-payment of overtime remuneration, forcing a six-day work-week, making work mandatory on public holidays, and interrogating workers over their lawful union activities. 
 
Hankook, 10% owned by French Michelin, is the world&rsquo;s seventh largest tyre producer, capable of making 87 million tyres a year from five plants &ndash; the Guemsan and Daejeon factories in Korea, the Jiaxing and Jiangsu plants in China, and R&aacute;calm&aacute;s in Hungary. It is expected to jump to the world&rsquo;s fifth biggest producer after factory start-ups in Liang Jiang, Chongqing province, China, and the Bekasi, Java, Indonesia, over the next few years.

Hankook Tyre Averts Hungary Strike with Pay Rise

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The mineworkers of Collahuasi, Chile, won a heroic strike dispute in November, December 2010, against the third largest copper miner. Now local management is taking legal action in an attempt to crush the union. The 32-day strike was the longest ever in Chile&rsquo;s private copper sector. 
 
Settlement, accepted by a 521-398 vote on 6 December, gave 1,551 miners a 16.3% wage increase and a bonus of US$25,160, as well as other advances in housing, education, and health. Union President Manuel Mu&ntilde;oz said at the time that the contract&rsquo;s outcome would increase monthly benefits by 120,000 pesos, or US$252 per month. 
<img alt="" src="" width="224" height="149" />
Collahuasi miners, during the strike
This price has clearly been deemed too expensive by management, whose courtroom attack of last week will make it very difficult for the current leadership of the union to continue effectively representing workers. The employer posted net profits in 2009 of US$1.56 billion. 
 
The company&rsquo;s criminal charge against union leaders Manuel Mu&ntilde;oz, Juan Barraza, Loncol Espinoza, Victor Cubillos, Cristian Arancibia, Carlos Rojas, and Jaqueline Cerda, argues that under articles 417 and 418 of Chile&rsquo;s penal code, these trade unionists are guilty of libel against the company for statements made during last year&rsquo;s dispute in the May Six Atipa&ntilde;a newspaper online and in print, and should all serve three years in prison. 
 
The Collahuasi copper mine, in the Atacama Desert of Chile&rsquo;s northern Region I, some 285 kilometres from the port city of Iquique, is jointly owned by multinationals Xtrata and AngloAmerica, each with a 44% stake. The remaining 12% is owned by Japan&rsquo;s Mitsui. 
 
The hypocrisy of the charges is highlighted by the strong smear campaign that the company conducted in the media during the conflict, and the illegal offers of bribes to workers to leave the union, both strategies clearly against the law.

Chile Miners Attacked with Flawed Libel Case

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