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Each of the three Industrial European Trade Union Federations has given their leaders a mandate to move towards a merger. ICEM&rsquo;s sister organisation, the European Mine, Chemical and Energy Workers&rsquo; Federation (EMCEF), the European Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (EMF), and the European Trade Union Federation for Textiles, Clothing and Leather (ETUF:TCL) seek to create a single European industrial trade union federation. 
 
On 25 March 2010, the presidents and general secretaries of the three organisations met in Berlin, to discuss next steps in the merger process. A merged organisation will bring together 8 million workers in the manufacturing industries, and united they will be stronger. Other factors cited include continued integration of countries in Europe, globalisation, the recent financial and economic crisis, and several significant recent mergers at the national level. 

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The three presidents and three general secretaries, present at the Berlin meeting, underlined their belief that the combining of their resources would increase efficiency and strength, in their role of representing and protecting European workers throughout the industrial sectors. 
 
The leaders of the three federations agreed to oversee intensified discussions within their statutory bodies over the creation of a joint EMF-EMCEF-ETUF:TCL organisation. 
 
A joint Working Group for building the new organisation was created, and will now produce a timetable for the process.

Discussions Advance in Building Single European Industrial Trade Union Federation

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The ICEM reported on 22 February in InBrief No. 150 that the affiliated mining union the National Miners&rsquo; and Metalworkers&rsquo; Union (FNTMMSP), the country&rsquo;s largest mining union federation, has taken strike action at three mines of the precious metal producer Buenaventura. Peruvian law stipulates that companies must share a minimum of 8% of its profits with workers. The union claims Buenaventura are hiding financial information of the period 2006-2009 in order to avoid profit payments to the 4,000 workers during a global price boom. 
 
With the Peruvian Ministry of Labour siding with the company, and announcing the strike illegal, workers were forced back to work to avoid losing their jobs. This decision by the government has led FNTMMSP to go on short, rolling strikes. Workers will again down tools this Friday, 26 March, at the Antapite gold mine, and the next day at the Uchucchacua silver and Orcopampa gold mines of Buenaventura. 

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A FNTMMSP local leader at the Orcopampa mine stated that the demands of the strikers include improvements in working conditions, and the rehiring of a miner fired during an earlier strike, as well as a larger share of profit-earning bonuses. 
 
Buenaventura managers have so far refused to negotiate, with Buenaventura CEO Carlos G&aacute;lvez stating that only shareholders have the power to increase workers&rsquo; wages. He said management is powerless to avoid the rolling strikes. 
 
Uchucchacua is located in Lima's Oy&oacute;n province, Orcopampa in Arequipa region, and Antapite in Huancavelica region. Buenaventura operates four other mines and has a controlling interest in mining companies Cedimin and El Brocal. El Brocal workers went on a separate strike 13 March in response to management failing to pay agreed pay raises. 
 
Elsewhere in the Peruvian mining industry, 630 workers at Doe Run&rsquo;s Cobriza copper mine have ended a strike after one day, as company officials immediately began tripartite negotiations with FNTMMSP and the Labour Ministry. 

<img alt="" src="" width="160" height="120" />
FNTMMSP General Secretary, Luis Castillo Carlos
FNTMMSP General Secretary Luis Castillo has led the negotiations for the mineworkers of Doe Run. Castillo argues that the collective agreement has not been fulfilled by management, whereas it has been by workers, a year after it was signed. 
 
Doe Run Peru has been hard hit by the financial downturn. The operation, which is a unit of the US-based Renco Group, had its credit line cut six months ago. 
 
The company was expelled from the country&rsquo;s National Association of Mining and Energy for not completing a government-mandated clean-up at the metals processing complex in the central Peruvian city of La Oroya, which environmental organizations say is one of the world&rsquo;s most polluted places. 
 
Earlier this month, Doe Run Peru signed a letter of intent with Swiss mining multinational Glencore. If the agreement on a sale goes through, Glencore will provide Doe Run with a credit of some US$100 million, and will also finance the environmental clean-up demanded by government. 
 
The Peruvian mining industry&rsquo;s US$16.36 billion in foreign sales last year amounted to nearly 61% of the Andean nation&rsquo;s total exports.

Peruvian Miners Struggle for Fair Profit Share Continues

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ICEM&rsquo;s Norwegian affiliated union, Industri Energi (IE), has established a trade union rights award in the name of the late trade unionist, Arthur Svensson. The award, to come with a cash prize, will be given to a person or organization for outstanding contributions for promoting trade union rights and the strengthening of trade unionism on the international and national levels. 
 
Deadline for nominations for this initial Arthur Svensson International Award for Trade Union Rights is 1 May 2010. The announcement of the winner will be made on 11 October 2010. 

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Arthur Svensson
The award comes with a prize of NOK 500,000, equal to &euro;61,016 or US$82,784. ICEM Vice President Liv Undheim (also Vice President of IE) is coordinated the award. Nominations can be sent to her at <a href="mailto:liv.undheim@industrienergi.no">liv.undheim@industrienergi.no</a>, or faxed to +47 23 06 1360. 
 
Arthur Svensson was a long-time leader of Norsk Kjemisk Forbund, the Norwegian Chemical Workers&rsquo; Association, which merged with NOPEF on 4 September 2006 to form IE. Svensson died in 2008, but left a legacy in Norway and beyond as a man who promoted global peace, disarmament, and a nuclear weapons-free world. 
 
He was also a driving force from his leadership positions of Norsk Kjemisk Forbund in Norwegian environment law, and a strong proponent of clean energy to drive clean industries. But first and foremost, he was a dedicated trade unionist, maintaining membership in LO-Norway for 61 years, the final 48 of those years with the Chemical Workers. 
 
Announcement of the award can be found <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/industrienergi_annonse_ENG.pdf">here</a>.

Norway’s IE Union Announces Arthur Svensson Labour Rights Award

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Mobil Producing Nigeria (MPN), the subsidiary of ExxonMobil, has begun dialogue with ICEM affiliate PENGASSAN to address the growing use of casual and temporary workers among its contractors in the upstream oil and gas sectors of the country. But it still refuses to take responsibility for the abuse and sudden disposal of casual workers of it contractors. 
 
That is according to Bayo Olowoshile, the General Secretary of PENGASSAN. In talks with Mobil Producing, the company has stated that it is willing to be an observer if contractors and labour brokers do choose to sit down with the union, but not to be an active participant. 

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Bayo Olowoshile, PENGASSAN General Secretary
&ldquo;That is unacceptable,&rdquo; said Olowoshile. &ldquo;The use of these workers is a disguise for MPN. They use Mobil&rsquo;s equipment, they use Mobil&rsquo;s facilities, and they perform the same work that full-time PENGASSAN members perform.&rdquo; He added that PENGASSAN&rsquo;s mandate is equal pay for equal work, and making all casual workers regular, rostered, and full-time employees with the multinational. 
 
Olowoshile said MPN uses 12 such companies, easily characterized as labour brokers, which utilize some 600 casual workers. They earn 40 to 50% less than regular workers, and are denied most social benefits, as well as the right to join a union. 
 
There has been some progress, however. Since an early February strike by PENGASSAN and junior staff belonging to NUPENG, and an ICEM intervention with US-based ExxonMobil over the issue, MPN has converted some 10% of all casual workers to full-time staff. The company has also encouraged its contractors to talk with the union. 
 
PENGASSAN is waiting on the federal Ministry of Labour to issue a ruling on the casualisation issue under Nigeria&rsquo;s local content policies. 
 
Meanwhile, NUPENG&rsquo;s Petroleum Tanker Drivers&rsquo; Division is preparing to strike another multinational&rsquo;s subsidiary over the same issue. NUPENG&rsquo;s Western Zonal committee could take industrial action any day against Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Co. for using contractors to employ casual workers, who are then retrenched at will without payment of entitlements. Similar to MPN, Shell uses contractors to disguise the employment relationship, with NUPENG saying that such &ldquo;pay masters&rdquo; gain far more money than what is paid casual workers.

Mobil Producing Nigeria Takes Some Steps to Address Casualisation

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Two global trade union federations whose affiliates represent over 45 million workers, together with four Norwegian trade unions, have asked the Council on Ethics of the Government Pension Fund of Norway to divest its holdings in the Mexican mining conglomerate Grupo Mexico because of alleged labor and environmental violations. 
 
The International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mining and General Workers&rsquo; Unions (ICEM) and the International Metalworkers Federation (IMF) sent a <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/Ltr_to_Ethical_Council-Mexico.pdf">letter</a> requesting the divestment to the Council on Ethics, which is charged with overseeing responsible investments of the Government Pension Fund, the second largest pension fund in the world. Grupo Mexico is accused of labor rights violations, environmental destruction and shareholder fraud. The letter also requests divestment in Southern Copper, Grupo Mexico&rsquo;s wholly-owned subsidiary. 

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Arve Bakke, Fellesforbundet President
&ldquo;We are supporting this action on behalf of trade unionists in Mexico to call attention to the extreme abuses of Grupo Mexico and to ask the Council on Ethics to drop Grupo Mexico as an investment in accordance with the Fund&rsquo;s very high standards and Norwegian law,&rdquo; said Fellesforbundet President Arve Bakke. &ldquo;The wealth of future generations in Norway must not be invested in companies which systematically attack labor unions and damage the environment, as Grupo Mexico has done.&rdquo; 
 
Manfred Warda, ICEM General Secretary, stated, &ldquo;We have national mining unions in over 60 countries, and nowhere have we found more despicable behavior than that demonstrated by Grupo Mexico.&rdquo; 
 
The overt attempt by Grupo Mexico to crush the National Union of Mine and Metal Workers of the Mexican Republic (SNTMMSRM or Los Mineros) and gross violations of workers&rsquo; rights to freely associate and collectively bargain as defined by the International Labor Organization are core arguments for divestment set forth in the letter. 
 
&ldquo;The illegal practices of Grupo Mexico, unfortunately supported by a corrupt Mexican government, include seizing the union&rsquo;s assets, attempting to replace the legitimate union with one selected by the company, and launching a protracted campaign of repression against the union&rsquo;s leadership,&rdquo; said IMF General Secretary Jryki Raina, 
 
In August 2007 the government and Grupo Mexico forced workers at eight mines to join a company-sponsored union using &ldquo;elections&rdquo; in which workers had to vote publicly in front of their employer. One union leader has been imprisoned without bond since December 2008. There are also credible allegations that Grupo Mexico is responsible for the violent deaths of two workers on two separate occasions. 
 
Despite these attacks, Los Mineros continues to negotiate wage increases across the country that average twice the government-imposed wage cap, which unions believe is a major motivation for Grupo Mexico&rsquo;s attacks. It is especially noteworthy that Los Mineros maintains non-confrontational labor relations with most employers and has some 70 collective bargaining agreements with multinational employers such as Goldcorp, Bombardier and ArcelorMittal. 

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The company is accused of gross health and safety violations at the Pasta de Conchos mine, where 65 workers died in an explosion in 2006, and the copper mine at Cananea, where workers have been on strike since July 2007. 
 
Studies of Grupo Mexico smelter operations in Mexico illuminate the company&rsquo;s shameful environmental record where abnormal levels of toxic minerals such as lead, zinc, copper, cadmium, mercury, and magnesium were found among the general populations, including high levels of arsenic and cadmium among children. In Peru, Grupo Mexico was forced to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to remediate its contamination of water and air. In Chile the company is accused of developing a mining project on indigenous land without consultation with local natives or assessing environmental damage. 
 
According to sources cited by the trade unions submitting the letter, the cost to shareholders of Grupo Mexico&rsquo;s abysmal labor practices exceeds $3 billion (USD) on top of the hundreds of millions required to remediate the company&rsquo;s environmental destruction in Peru. Grupo Mexico was convicted by a U.S. court in 2009 of defrauding shareholders of a wholly-owned subsidiary. Another subsidiary has been linked to drug trafficking. 
 
Covalence Ethical Quotation System, which tracks the ethical reputation of multinational companies, ranked Grupo Mexico 573rd out of 581 global companies in 2009. 
 
The trade unions and labor federations submitting the request for disinvestment anticipate that the Council on Ethics will thoroughly investigate the information and make an expedient decision to divest. 
 
Los Mineros is affiliated with both the ICEM and IMF. The Norwegian trade unions signing the letter include Fellesforbundet, Handel og Kontor i Norge, Industri Energi and Norsk Arbeidsmandsforbund. 
 
The ICEM represents 467 trade unions in 132 countries and the IMF covers over 200 trade unions in 100 countries. 
 
For more information see the <a href="http://www.imfmetal.org/index.cfm?n=663&amp;l=2 ">IMF</a> and <a href="/en/67-Search-ICEM-site?keywords=los+mineros">ICEM</a> websites. 
________________________________ 
 
For further information, please contact: 
Dick Blin, ICEM, +41 22 304 1842 
Anita Gardner, IMF, +41 22 308 5032

Trade Unions Ask Norwegian Pension Funds to Divest of Grupo Mexico Shares

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	The global tyre industry is driven by four major multinationals &ndash; Bridgestone of Japan, Michelin of France, Goodyear of the US, and German-based Continental A.G. The ICEM has strategically targeted these leaders and as a result, Workers&rsquo; Networks have been formed within Bridgestone and Goodyear.

	Now Michelin is on ICEM&rsquo;s radar screen. It employs 115,000 workers and has 69 production facilities in 18 countries. ICEM French affiliates, along with the Michelin European Works Council (EWC), have traditionally played active and supportive roles during times of labour conflict at factories throughout the world.

	The latest examples include in Colombia, Thailand, and most recently, in Romania. The Secretary of the EWC, Cyrille Poughon, a member of French affiliate FCE-CFDT coordinates relations with all unions organizing Michelin employees.

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	ICEM&#039;s &Ouml;zkan, FCE-CFDT&#039;s Poughon, EMCEF&#039;s Lefevbre&nbsp;

	In the latest meeting of the Michelin EWC, attended by 32 workers&rsquo; representatives from 14 countries &ndash; held 27-30 March in Alessandria, Italy &ndash; the ICEM participated together with sister organization, the European Mine, Chemical, Energy Federation (EMCEF). The ICEM was invited as a keynote presenter, and participants discussed tyre production strategies, cost-cutting programmes, and current and prospects for the Michelin Group in Europe for 2012.

	During the final session of the meeting, ICEM&rsquo;s Kemal &Ouml;zkan presented the policies and practices of the ICEM, as well as the unification process of new Global Union Federation, IndustriALL.

	&Ouml;zkan also gave an overview about global tyre industry, including overviews of the other three companies, as well as emerging Asian companies and the difficulties and challenges in labour relations in Thailand, South Africa and the US. In addition, &Ouml;zkan gave reports on active solidarity and support extended by the EWC of Michelin over the past several years.

	The ICEM presentation concluded with the functions of Workers&rsquo; Networks in the global tyre and rubber industry, and a series of case studies involving the different companies in select countries and regions.

	&ldquo;This EWC meeting proved very promising for extending union solidarity from European partners to Michelin workers throughout the world, stated &Ouml;zkan.

Michelin EWC Gets Close Look at Global Solidarity in Tyre Industry

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	Some 35 trade union leaders, mostly from Indonesian pulp and paper mills of Asia Pulp and Paper (APP), attended a two-day workshop on 28-29 March in Serong, Indonesia, on trade union rights, environmental issues, and the health and safety record of the multinational company that is part of Indonesia&rsquo;s Sinar Mas Group.

	The workshop was intended to kick-start w Global Workers&rsquo; Network around APP, a company within the Indonesia-based Sinar Mas Group that also includes palm oil holdings and the European and North American pulp and paper company Paper Excellence. The workshop was generously supported by the Humanity Fund of the Canada&rsquo;s Communications, Energy, Paperworkers (CEP) Union, the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) of Australia, and the Solidarity Center of the US.

	The ICEM&rsquo;s Indonesian Council of Unions, headed by D. Patombong Sjaiful, hosted the event and aptly handled all logistics.

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	Delegates from multiple Indonesian labour confederations and affiliated trade unions, including the forestry and pulp union Kahutindo, that represent workers at APP owned and partially held Indonesian mills attended, and &nbsp;received valuable training on global labour standards contained in ILO Conventions, OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, and the UN&rsquo;s Global Compact.

	They also heard presentations on APP&rsquo;s forestry practices in Indonesia, the ways and means of the world&rsquo;s three forest certification programmes, and they participated in a session on community-building that was conducted by Tim Woods of FitzpatrickWoods consulting group of Australia.

	Also participating were union representatives from CFMEU&rsquo;s Pulp and Paper Division of its Forestry sector, local union presidents from CEP Local 440 in Nova Scotia &ndash; representing workers of Paper Excellence at the Pictou Mill there &ndash; and CEP Local 1092 in Mackenzie, British Colombia, representing Paper Excellence pulp mill workers there.

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	As well, the United Steelworkers (USW) of the US had delegates from a pulp mill in Halsey, Oregon, attend, and the US-based union provided a look at its labour-environmental network called the BlueGreen Alliance. Other representatives came from the Swedish Paperworkers Union, Pappers, which sponsors a pulp and paper project in Indonesia, and the Pulp and Paper Products Manufacturing Employees&rsquo; Union (PPPMEU) of Malaysia.

	The central conclusion formed at the workshop is that intensive work must now start in order to unite the different unions and their respective confederations at APP&rsquo;s Indonesia&rsquo;s pulp, paper and tissue mills. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;

Pulp, Paper Unions Conduct Workshop on APP in Indonesia

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	Asia-Pacific Regional Chemical Unions of the ICEM discussed union organizing and strong union representation inside workplaces at a seminar entitled Coordination of Trade Union Networks and Implementation of Global Framework Agreements in the Chemical and Related Industries.

	The seminar was held 9-10 April in Shanghai, China, with support and assistance from German-based Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) through its Shanghai Coordination Office for International Cooperation led by Director Catrina Schl&auml;ger.

	Attended by 50 participants from China, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Pakistan, Thailand, Vietnam and India, the seminar was opened by speeches from Dr. Jiang GuangPing, National Secretary of All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU), Yoshio Sato, General Secretary of ICEM&rsquo;s Japanese Affiliates&lsquo; Federation (JAF), and ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda.

	<img alt="" src="" style="width: 240px;height: 160px" width="390">

	Manfred Warda

	ICEM&rsquo;s Kemal &Ouml;zkan introduced global and regional developments in the chemicals industry, which clearly depicted the rapidly growing importance of the Asia-Pacific region. Representatives from Japan, China, India, Thailand and Pakistan presented their experiences with other participants.

	Delegates underscored the importance of a strong union presence at chemical workplaces for getting more shared and added value from the burgeoning industry as it ramps up in the region.

	Another important topic discussed was trade union networking inside the ICEM-represented companies and sectors at the global, regional and national levels. Following ICEM&rsquo;s general overview, trade union representatives from major chemical multinationals such as BASF, Linde and Akzo Nobel put forward their experiences and discussed how to further networks in the upcoming period.

	As an important role, trade union networking was analyzed in supporting union organizing and struggling against precarious employment in Asia Pacific Region. Contributions on this subject were presented to the meeting.

	&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<img alt="" src="" style="width: 323px;height: 160px" width="390">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

	The Shanghai meeting also brought forth discussion on international labour instruments, social dialogue and Global Framework Agreements (GFAs), particularly on activities carried out within ICEM&rsquo;s Project for Multinational Companies and Social Dialogue in the Asia-Pacific Region.

	The meeting heard a number of specific examples on how GFAs have successfully worked for shop-floor improvements, including cases involving French-based company Rhodia. Rhodia&rsquo;s China Country Manager, Michael Zu, presented how the GFA has impacted improvement of labour relations at the workplaces of the company in China.

	Two trade union representatives, Lee Daeyong of Rhodia in South Korea and Vadhavkar Sanjay Suryakant from Rhodia in India, shared their respective situations on implementing the GFA in their respective countries.

	On the seminar&rsquo;s second day, participants were divided into two work groups and given the task of devising future cooperation strategies on union networking and GFAs. Specific delegates related to companies BASF, Linde, Akzo Nobel and Rhodia worked in a separate work group. All groups discussed advantages, challenges, and strong and weak points of their tasks, as well as future cooperation opportunities among chemical unions in Asia-Pacific.

	&ldquo;This seminar provided an important opportunity to drive forward union organizing and strong representation through the various instruments that were studied, and to develop networks and resulting Global Framework Agreements,&rdquo; said &Ouml;zkan in summary.

Asia-Pacific Chemical Unions Decisive in Unity Through Networking

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	Aminul Islam, a trade union activist in Bangladesh who only two years ago was arrested for his role in protests against the garment industry&rsquo;s miserly low salaries, was found murdered on 5 April on the side of a road near Ghatail, 80 kilometres north of Dhaka.

	Islam, 40, was last seen the day before in the textile manufacturing centre of Ashulia, 30 kilometres north of Dhaka. He worked as a senior organiser for the Bangladesh Centre for Worker Solidarity (BCWS), and reportedly closed the NGO office in Ashulia early on 4 April after noting police surveillance outside.

	His tortured body was found half buried with several bruises from the waist down, including his toes and ankles smashed. Police in Ghatail then buried the unidentified body, but a brother identified Islam when his tortured body was shown in a newspaper photograph. His body was exhumed and then re-buried on 9 April in his home village of Kaliakoir.

	He is survived by his wife, two sons and one daughter.

	Aminul Islam was arrested in June 2010 along with some 20 other demonstrators after they violated a ban on protests when the government raised the minimum wage for garment and textile workers only a token amount. Those charges were still pending against him and a few other trade union activists.

	Islam and the BCWS had most recently been leading a campaign of liveable wages and fair treatment against the Shanta Group, a garment supplier to Nike, Ralph Lauren and PVH, the latter a maker of garments for Tommy Hilfiger. He had also assisted in arranging news interviews by an American television network with exploited workers in the Ashulia area.

	The International Trade Union Confederation has written Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina demanding a full and impartial investigation of Islam&rsquo;s death. That letter can be found <a href="http://www.ituc-csi.org/ituc-letter-to-bgd-minister-of.html?lang=en">here</a>.

Garment Workers’ Activist Brutally Murdered in Bangladesh

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	Workers belonging to several unions in Guinea began strike action on 4 April against UC Rusal at the Russian company&rsquo;s Friguira alumina refinery in the city of Fria. The strike by 5,000 workers is termed an indefinite one and started after managers of the company refused to adhere to better working conditions for workers.

	Rusal said the strike is illegal and has urged the Guinean government to intervene. On 10 April, the Russian Foreign Ministry in Moscow issued a terse statement calling strikers &ldquo;extremist syndicalists,&rdquo; urging the government to take decisive action to end the strike.

	But late last week the government closed the offices of Rusal in the capital of Conakry &ndash; 100 kilometres from Fria &ndash; in violation of environmental regulations at Frigura. In September 2011, Guinea passed a new mining code mandating that a 35% stake of all resource-producing enterprises be placed in state hands. Rusal has resisted that law, even though it bought the bauxite and aluminium operation valued at US$257 million in 2006 for US$19 million.

	<img alt="" src="" style="width: 200px;height: 92px" width="390" />

	Since, Guinea&rsquo;s government has found that Rusal has evaded some US$860 in taxes due and non-payment of royalties.

	At the Friguira operation, the only aluminium refinery in the West African country which holds roughly two-thirds of the world&rsquo;s bauxite reserves, workers are seeking a doubling of the current US$200 monthly wage and for Rusal to pay their medical expenses. The Frigura refinery can produce 630,000 metric tonnes early of aluminium.

	Rusal has a long history of exploiting workers in Guinea&rsquo;s bauxite industry. In 2009, following an ICEM Contract and Agency Labour (CAL) workshop attended by government officials, the Russian industrial relations manager of the company, Anatoly Pantchenko, was expelled from the country after exposure to practices regarding the use of casual labour.

	It was customary for Rusal to allow front-line managers to establish phantom labour brokering companies in order to hire casual workers at low pay with commissions going to the font-line bosses. The ICEM considered this practice the perpetuation of abject poverty in a country many consider to be the poorest nation on earth.

Guinea’s Unions Take Strike Action Against Rusal’s Aluminium, Bauxite Operations

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