English

Español

Français

Aerospace

Automotive

Base metals

Chemical, pharmaceutical and bio-science

Energy

Glass, cement, ceramic and associated industries

ICT, electrical and electronics

Mechanical Engineering

Mining and DGOJP

Pulp and paper

Rubber

Shipbuilding and shipbreaking

Textile, garment, shoes, leather and textile services

Sectors

Action on textile and garment industry

Clean up shipbreaking

Ratify ILO C176

United for a just future - time to pay up!

Disinvest from Myanmar

Action Plan 2021-2025

Global Framework Agreements

Union building

Women

Youth

White-collar workers

Health & safety

Industry 4.0

Just Transition

Organizing with industriALL

What we do

Affiliates

Statutes

Elected Officials

Executive Committee

Geneva head office

South East Asia

Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Caucasus

Latin America and the Caribbean

Middle East and North Africa

South Asia

Regional offices

About us

Global worker No1 2022

Global worker No2 2022

Publications

Resources

Press

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
Workers employed by Rio Tinto Alcan, the global mining giant&rsquo;s aluminium producer, were locked off their jobs in the Canadian province of Qu&eacute;bec on 1 January in a dispute centering on the company&rsquo;s ceaseless subcontracting. Some 780 metalworkers, represented by Syndicat des M&eacute;tallos d&rsquo;Alma Local 9490, affiliated to the United Steelworkers (USW), were thrown off their jobs at contract expiration at one of the company&rsquo;s most modern plants, the Alma, Saguenay-lac-Saint-Jean region, Qu&eacute;bec smelter. 
 
The three bargaining units of the union voted to reject a new contact late in December after the company refused to limit subcontracting. The lockout at the end of a prior five-year contract comes before USW Local 9490 had even submitted demands regarding salary adjustments, vacations, or benefits. 
 
The three bargaining committees are seeking a floor of 750 unionised jobs at the Alma facility and a halt to subcontracting that reduces full-time, stable jobs to levels below that. In recent years, since Rio Tinto purchased Canada-based Alcan for US$39 billion in 2007, Alma management has used each worker retirement and other reductions in force as a means to reduce costs and manpower by contracting out more and more work. 
<img alt="" src="" width="105" height="160" />
USW District Five Director Daniel Roy
Last year, USW District Five Director Daniel Roy said Rio Tinto has removed some C$7.4 million in salaries and purchasing power alone from the resource-rich region. Roy and leaders of Local 9490 will hold a press conference in Alma on 13 January to highlight the negative economic impact of the lockout and Alcan&rsquo;s insistence on unlimited contracting out rights. 
 
The union states that the average C$36-an-hour unionized wage rate is reduced to about C$16 with each subcontract employee. 
 
On 3 January, Alcan succeeded in Qu&eacute;bec Superior Court in obtaining a temporary injunction limiting the number of pickets at the main plant gate to 20. Locked-out picketers must remain at least 500 feet from the entrance. A full hearing on that injunction will happen tomorrow, 10 January. 
 
Rio Tinto Alcan announced force majeure at the aluminium smelter on 3 January, stating that it would operate only 122 of 432 electrolytic production cells. Alcan said it would operate at one-third capacity with use of 200 management and other personnel. The USW has lodged a complaint with the provincial labour board that Alcan is violating Qu&eacute;bec legislation by using scab or replacement workers during a labour dispute. 
 
The Alma operation at full capacity can produce 438,000 tonnes annually and in 2010 Alma accounted for 11% of Rio Tinto&rsquo;s global aluminium production. Rio Tinto Alcan operates two smelters in the Saguenay-lac-Saint-Jean region and has a 25% stake in a third, in B&eacute;cancour where Alcoa is the majority partner.

USW Affiliate in Québec Locked Out by Rio Tinto at Aluminium Plant

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
UK mobilisation in front of a second wave of Unilever strikes to begin on 17 January occurs tomorrow when three affiliates of the ICEM and the International Union of Food and Agricultural Workers&rsquo; Association (IUF) protest in front of Unilever&rsquo;s London headquarters at 100 Victoria Embankment. 
 
Unite the Union, the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (USDAW), and GMB will conduct the rally beginning at 12 noon on 10 January over the food and consumer products company&rsquo;s insistence on scrapping the final pension scheme for 7,000 workers. Unilever&rsquo;s proposal would gut between 20-40% of pension earnings for one-third of its UK workforce. 
<img alt="" src="" width="241" height="160" />
Unite Battle Bus
Unite will dispatch its &ldquo;battle bus&rdquo; to Unilever&rsquo;s corporate offices tomorrow. It will leave Unite&rsquo;s Holborn Street building at 10h30. The action comes four days after a joint union delegates&rsquo; conference of Unilever worksite leaders met in Liverpool and decided to unleash a second set of strike actions to begin 17 January and to run 12 days. 
 
On 9 December, some 5,000 union members staged a 24-hour work stoppage at 11 Unilever plants in the UK, the first industrial action in UK history at the Anglo-Dutch multinational. The lawful strike saw Unilever bosses retaliate with the petty act of cancelling staff Christmas parties and withdrawing a &pound;15 holiday gift voucher to strikers. 
 
Unilever&rsquo;s gutting of the pension scheme for active workers is further insult by the company, which in 2008 eliminating the pension scheme for new hires. The company and unions negotiated late last week but there was no sign that Unilever would accept a union compromise on the pension scheme. 
<img alt="" src="" width="141" height="159" />
Unite's Jennie Formby
Unite National Officer Jennie Formby said, &ldquo;Our members have dedicated their time and hard work to help Unilever build leading brands. We have shown the company that there is no need to destroy the reputation of a blue chip company because there is a solution on the table if they will talk with the union.&rdquo; 
 
Unilever&rsquo;s factories where strike actions have occurred and where workers will again strike on 17 January are located in Purfleet, Warrington, Trafford Park, Port Sunlight, Wirral, Manchester, Leeds, Glocester, Burton-on-Trent, Chester, and Crumlin. 
 
Unilever produces Dove soap, Marmite, PG Tips, Pot Noodle, Hellman&rsquo;s mayonnaise, and several other consumer products at these plants.

UK Unions Hold Key Unilever Manifestation Before Second Strike Wave 17 January

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
ICEM&rsquo;s two affiliated oil workers&rsquo; unions &ndash; the white-collar Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) and the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) &ndash; joined the call of Nigeria&rsquo;s two labour federations in a nationwide strike today over the government&rsquo;s sudden 1 January removal of consumer fuel subsidies. 
 
The indefinite strike by Nigerian workers in all sectors was authorized last week by the executive boards of both the Trade Union Congress (TUC) and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC). NUPENG&rsquo;s board approved today&rsquo;s walkout at a meeting of union leaders yesterday, while PENGASSAN&rsquo;s National Executive Council (NEC) gave strike approval on 5 January. 
 
In a statement issued after the NEC meeting in Lagos, PENGASSAN President Babatunde Ogun called government&rsquo;s fuel subsidy removal &ldquo;illegal, hasty, without consultation, and lacking of transparency.&rdquo; The union challenged the government of President Goodluck Jonathan to work on behalf of Nigerian people rather than for the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. 
<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="103" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <img alt="" src="" width="98" height="103" />
Both PENGASSAN and NUPENG called on the government to rescind the New Year&rsquo;s Day elimination, roll back fuel prices to 2011 levels, and then engage the unions of Nigeria in honest dialogue. 
 
The lifting of subsidies immediately shot fuel prices up as much as 225% one week ago. It also sparked a price rise in food and transport costs across Nigeria. Many human rights groups and civil liberty organizations began protests last week. Petrol filling stations in many states were blockaded and protests spilled into many roads across the country, blocking traffic. 
 
Even though Nigeria produces about 2.4 million barrels of crude oil, the government is forced to import roughly 70% of its gasoline supply because of inadequate and run down refineries. The country of 160 million people depends on only three operable refineries for retail consumption. 
 
Jonathan acted on the recommendation of the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), a body notorious for irregularities and one that has paid billions of naira to so-called &ldquo;brief-case companies&rdquo; and middle men in import subsidies. 
 
Nigeria&rsquo;s National Industrial Court ruled on 6 January that Labour&rsquo;s indefinite strike would be illegal but similarly to a mass national strike in 2003 when a previous government attempted to lift remove fuel subsidies, strikes across the country went ahead today and are expected to continue throughout the week.

Nigerian Oil Workers’ Unions Strike in Fuel Subsidy Removals

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="45" />
The ICEM CAL Mini Guide to Dealing with CAL is available in English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Hindi and Bahasa Indonesian. 
 
The guide gives an overview of what the ICEM and its affiliates around the world are doing to promote permanent, direct employment and at the same time to promote better conditions for CAL workers. It also suggests ways in which unions can build relations with CAL workers, for example by creating a dedicated precarious workers&rsquo; section or rep, or considering the introduction of different membership fee levels and/or an alternate method of dues collection. ICEM affiliates are encouraged to initiate a discussion on CAL within their own unions, and the Guide suggests a number of questions which may help to get these discussions started. 
 
The <a href="http://cal.icem.org/images/documents/ICEM%20Mini%20Guide%20CAL%20HQ.pdf">CAL Mini Guide in English</a> is available here. 
 
The <a href="http://cal.icem.org/images/documents/ICEM%20Mini%20Guide%20CAL%20French.pdf">CAL Mini Guide in French</a> is available here. 
 
The <a href="http://cal.icem.org/images/documents/ICEM%20Mini%20Guide%20Spanish%20HQP.pdf">CAL Mini Guide in Spanish</a> is available here. 
 
The <a href="http://cal.icem.org/images/documents/ICEM%20Mini%20Guide%20CAL%20Portuguese.pdf">CAL Mini Guide in Portuguese</a> is available here. 
 
The <a href="http://cal.icem.org/images/documents/ICEM%20Mini%20Guide%20CAL%20Hindi.pdf">CAL Mini Guide in Hindi</a> is available here. 
 
The <a href="http://cal.icem.org/images/documents/ICEM%20Mini%20Guide%20CAL%20Bahasa.pdf">CAL Mini Guide in Bahasa Indonesian</a> is available here.

ICEM Mini Guide to Dealing with CAL Available in Multiple Languages

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="45" />
From International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation 
 
At the ILO Global Dialogue Forum on private employment agencies, unions put on record their experiences of employment through agencies being used to drive down wages and prevent agency workers from joining a union and bargaining collectively. 
 
On 18-19 October, representatives of governments, private employment agencies, and trade unions exchanged views on the role of agencies in promoting decent work. The discussions revealed that unions and agencies have completely different views on the impact of the growth of agency labour on employment. 
 
The agencies repeatedly insisted that agency work is decent work, that it creates jobs and that it is never used to undermine or replace open-ended, direct employment. All of these claims were rejected by trade union representatives, who presented a catalogue of situations from a variety of industries around the world that demonstrate that agency employment is being used to systematically replace permanent jobs, lower wages and work conditions and leaving workers with no social protections and no possibility of joining a union or bargaining collectively with their employer. 
 
Worker delegates insisted that triangular employment relationships by their very nature make collective bargaining virtually impossible. 
 
It rapidly became clear that the representatives of private employment agencies were using the meeting to seek legitimacy for their industry, to grow their markets and to be recognized as the sole counterpart for collective bargaining, at the exclusion of user enterprises. 
 
For their part, unions were seeking equal treatment for agency workers and restrictions on the circumstances under which agency employment is permissible, its duration and extent. Unions also wanted action to strengthen freedom of association and collective bargaining for agency workers which included user enterprises and unions representing workers in user enterprises. 
 
At the end of the meeting, a very limited number of potential consensus points were put forward for discussion, but finally the meeting ended with no conclusions when labour hire representatives showed that they are not ready to negotiate in order to reach agreement. 
 
Unions will continue to work within the framework of the ILO to ensure greater protection for agency workers and to limit the spread of agency work and triangular employment relationships.

ILO Meeting on Labour Agencies Exposes Abuses, No Consensus Reached

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="45" />
The devastating floods which killed more than 600 people in Thailand have had a serious impact on the livelihoods of CAL workers. Many agency workers were not paid as plants have been shut down since the crisis began in October 2011. As the flooding continued in November and December, hundreds of thousands of agency workers were laid off. 
 
The electronic sector, which employs a high proportion of precarious workers, has been amongst the hardest hit by the flooding. In the Ayutthaya and Pathumthani provinces, north of Bangkok, thousands of electronic factories located across several industrial estates remain swamped by more than two metres of water. Several companies have announced lay-offs and plans to relocate production facilities from Ayuttaya to Malaysia. 
<img alt="" src="" width="150" height="69" />
The Thai government is providing a package to assist companies to retain their workforces. Companies that commit to a policy of no lay-offs, maintain the same level of worker benefits, and pay workers no less than 75% of their wages are eligible for this relief package. 
 
Some unionised companies have continued to pay wages &ndash; from 100% of wages in the first month, to 75% and 50% for November and December. The Goodyear Tyre company paid full wages to both regular and fixed-term workers since its only plant in Rangsit, north of Bangkok, was hit by the floods on 21 October. 
 
Production has not yet resumed at the plant but management and the union are working hand in hand in the recovery process. Workers on fixed term workers at Goodyear whose contracts came to an end on 30th November 2011 did not have their contracts renewed. 
 
At the same time, several companies in the eastern seaboard which were not directly affected by the flood have used the flood as an excuse to delay CBA negotiations or to avoid implementing CBAs.

Flooding in Thailand has devastating impact on CAL workers

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="45" />
An ICEM report has found that the rights of workers in the cement industries of the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and India are being routinely violated through the use of precarious forms of employment. 
 
In many of the plants covered by the research, Contract and Agency Labour (CAL) is being used to restrict or prevent workers from exercising their right to freedom of association. Lafarge in the Philippines, for example, has been using CAL workers to fill permanent positions ever since workers took part in industrial actions as far back as 2000. At one Lafarge plant in Indonesia, all permanent workers are union members, whereas none of the CAL workers are. In India, contract workers at Holcim were dismissed after they joined the union. To make it worse, the company started criminalising the union leaders. 
 
ILO Conventions 87 and 98 apply to all workers, as explicitly stated in the 350th report of the ILO Committee on Freedom of Association: &ldquo;The Committee emphasizes that all workers, without distinction whatsoever, whether they are employed on a permanent basis, for a fixed term or as contract employees, should have the right to establish and join organizations of their own choosing.&rdquo; 
<img alt="" src="" width="150" height="46" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <img alt="" src="" width="150" height="64" />
The report further specifies that the non-renewal of a contract for anti-union reasons constitutes a prejudicial act within the meaning of Article 1 of Convention 98. 
 
In all five countries covered by the research, CAL workers earn less than permanent workers &ndash; despite performing work of equal value &ndash; and are denied access to many of the benefits enjoyed by their permanent counterparts. 
 
In both the Philippines and Thailand, permanent workers are increasingly being used only in supervisory roles. This division of responsibilities highlights the fact that it is often contract and agency workers who are performing core labour tasks. 
 
CAL workers in many cement plants live with the burden of uncertainty. As one interviewee explained, he felt his job would continue only &ldquo;as long as I will cooperate.&rdquo; In the Philippines, some CAL workers reported that they do not even have written contracts. In many cases and countries, CAL workers are also not clear who is responsible for their welfare. In Thailand, agency workers are the most likely to suffer workplace accidents, yet in many plants they are denied the same health care benefits as permanent workers. 
 
The ICEM decries these exploitative practices, and demands that multinational cement companies such as Lafarge and Holcim that operate in Asia guarantee equal rights for CAL workers and take urgent steps to bring their practices in line with not only the various applicable national legislations, but also with all existing international labour standards - including ILO Conventions 87 and 98 and the Employment Relationship Recommendation 198. 
 
Cement companies must also act to ensure that they meet their obligations under the OECD Guidelines for MNEs and the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. 
 
The <a href="http://cal.icem.org/images/documents/Cement%20Report.pdf">CAL Cement Report</a> is available here.

ICEM Report Exposes Asian Cement’s CAL Practices

<img alt="" height="39" src="" width="100" />

	Chemical Workers&rsquo; Unions from the Trans-Caucasus region voiced their concerns and expectations through a sub-regional workshop entitled &ldquo;Union Organising, Social Dialogue and Multinational Investments.&rdquo; Held Tbilisi, Georgia, on 2-3 February, the workshop was jointly organized by the ICEM and its project partner, German-based Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES). 
	 
	It was attended by 30 trade union representatives from Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Turkey and Russia. The meeting also welcomed ICEM and Norway&rsquo;s IndustriEnergi (IE). 
	 
	The Eastern European chemical industry has been experiencing important growth over the last several years. However, this trend has not extended to the Trans-Caucasus region and the chemical industry loses importance in countries&rsquo; industrial outputs. This situation leads to a non-sustainable future for the sector and for workers of the sector.

	<img alt="" height="160" src="" width="278" />

	In Armenia, for example, a company called Nairit is the only chemicals concern with meaningful employment, and the future of Nairit is unclear due to bankruptcy. In Azerbaijan, through the Chemical Industry Improvement decree of 2 April 2010, by which the chemicals company Azerikimya was incorporated into the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR). 
	 
	In Georgia, a company by the name of Azoti in the city of Rustavi remains the largest chemical enterprise in Georgia but the situation in both Georgia and Azerbaijan presents repercussions to unions, since in both countries unions have become part of bigger unions. This is likely to occur in Armenia, as well. 
	 
	&ldquo;International solidarity and cooperation is the only way for securing the future of members of our unions&rdquo; said Irakli Petriashvili, President of Georgian Trade Union Confederation (GTUC) during an opening speech. Petriashvili was given the Elisabeth Velasquez Award of the Netherlands&rsquo; FNV Confederation for 2011 for the defense of trade union rights during World Day for Decent Work in October 2011.

	&ldquo;Union solidarity is needed in Georgia at this time when the government exerts systematic attacks on trade union rights,&rdquo; said Matthias Jobelius, FES Regional Director for the South Caucasus, based in Tbilisi. 
	 
	Following an analysis of the global chemicals industry through an ICEM presentation, trade union representatives delivered country reports. The main issue in all countries of the sub-region is organising new members and establishing a mature and productive industrial relationship based on social dialogue. Another key problem in the region is the issue of how to cope with multinational investments. Trade unions often have difficulties in acquiring the necessary competences in this area of work. 
	 
	Union representatives from Turkey, Russia and Norway shared their experiences with participants. 
	 
	The workshop gave clear lines on how to give a boost to union organising and to develop social dialogue, particularly with and within multinational companies. Along with this, the meeting opened a way for continuous cooperation among the unions of the sub-region. 
	 
	&ldquo;This workshop addressed the needs of our members in the chemical industry in the region,&rdquo; said Kemal &Ouml;zkan, ICEM&rsquo;s Director of Industry and Corporate Affairs. &ldquo;Our focus to support the unions of the Trans-Caucasus region will remain a priority for the ICEM.&rdquo;

Chemical Unions in Trans-Caucasus Region Push for Decent Work, Union Rights

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
Tuluy Kalyoncu, the President of ICEM affiliate Turkish Electricity Authority of Cyprus Workers&rsquo; Trade Union, or EL-SEN, easily admits it: without the ironclad clenched collective fist of each and every one of his union&rsquo;s 600 members, the state-run electric company, KIB-TEK, would be on unimpeded course straight into the hands of a private-sector generating company favorable to Ankara. 
 
And with that, so would a number of other state-owned enterprises in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus become pawns to the profiteers. EL-SEN, together with its national labour centre, T&Uuml;RK-SEN, deploying both fortitude and strategic vision, are clearly leading a growing mass movement in Northern Cyprus that includes opposition political parties, NGOs and most other unions. 
 
A sampling of that mass movement took place when many of those groups held a first-step manifestation in Lefkoşa on 30 January. This action was tame, but unless the ruling government retreats from Turkey&rsquo;s neo-liberal agenda, upcoming street actions will be powerful and ever more demanding. 
<img alt="" src="" width="224" height="161" />
EL-SEN Leaders at 30 January Manifestation
The EL-SEN and T&Uuml;RK-SEN leadership of this movement was vividly seen in a series of events that began 19 January with a paralyzing strike that shut the electric grid, except for parts that the union and its members deemed life-essential. And that was then reflected in government&rsquo;s retreat, albeit temporarily, when it published in its official gazette a union-submitted restructuring plan for KIB-TEK. 
 
That restructuring calls for a board of directors that is fully autonomous from the government, and one that will take decisive action to make KIB-TEK feasibly sound. EL-SEN objects to all government departments, agencies, and quasi-public institutions receiving free electrical power from KIB-TEK, for instance. 
 
The government&rsquo;s publication of the union&rsquo;s restructuring plan came five days after it declared the strike illegal and four days after EL-SEN did quit the strike, but continued a work stoppage through civil disobedience. (See <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4849-Northern-Cyprus-Imports-Scabs-to-Break-Electric-Utility-Work-Stoppage">ICEM news article</a> here.) It also came after the union received broad support, including remarkable solidarity from the Free Pancyprian Union of Electricity Authority Employees (FPUEAE) on the Greek side of the island, who made sure no power from the south was exported northward. 
 
But the struggle is far from over. The ruling government still has a draft bill before the Northern Cypriot Parliament to push ahead with privatisation. EL-SEN has put forth a different legislative proposal that would keep the utility in state hands and restructure it into a viable, low-cost energy provider that benefits all citizens of Northern Cyprus. 
 
EL-SEN leadership and Prime Minister İrsen K&uuml;&ccedil;&uuml;k and his team will meet this week to discuss this alternative legislation. Most importantly, a plan must come forward to make the ill-managed company solvent. 
 
&ldquo;Our struggle is now with the strength of our membership,&rdquo; said EL-SEN President Kalyoncu. &ldquo;We have proven that 600 workers can stand and resist a political decision,&rdquo; adding that resilient vigilance has now taken hold by El-SEN union members and it must resonate with all citizens of Northern Cyprus.

EL-SEN Draws Cypriot Government into Electric Privatisation Stalemate

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
A 40-day strike in the US state of Massachusetts ended a week ago. Ninety brave members of the ICEM-affiliated Teamsters Union (IBT) backed Saint-Gobain&rsquo;s CertainTeed subsidiary away from severe cuts to their health care plan, and ratified a five-year labour agreement by a 69-0 vote on 29 January. 
 
The workers, who make asphalt roofing shingles, gypsum wallboard and fiberglass products at a plant outside Boston in Norwood, Massachusetts, returned to their jobs on 31 January with their heads held high, their pride intact, and most importantly their premium benefits&rsquo; package unsevered. 
 
CertainTeed management came at the members of IBT Local 25 late last year with a proposal to abandon the union&rsquo;s Health and Welfare Fund and replace it with an inferior company-managed plan. Such a plan would have left the workers with far fewer health care benefits, leaving them largely unprotected from illness or injury. 
<img alt="" src="" width="154" height="160" />
Workers took strike action on 19 December and when the company refused to move from its regressive proposals in US federal mediation on 13 January, Norwood Teamsters expanded their strike. Besides working with the ICEM and French union CFDT to take the dispute directly to executives of Saint-Gobain in Paris, they began handbilling other non-Teamster and non-represented CertainTeed and Saint-Gobain plants in the US. 
 
&ldquo;Our members would not accept the company plan and made that loud and clear to us,&rdquo; said Local 25 Business Representative George Slicis. &ldquo;We were on the picket line for 40 days, 24/7, through the holidays and in bad weather, and we were not going back unless the Teamster health care plan went back with us.&rdquo; 
 
The 69-0 vote last Sunday made that an affirmative. In bargaining again supervised by the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) on 26 January, CertainTeed backed off the takeaways. Although there will be a very slight increase in workers&rsquo; out-of-pocket costs for continuation of the premium health coverage of US$6-per-week, that will be more than offset with the union negotiating a US$500 bonus each in years one through four of the labour agreement. 
 
In addition, starting in year two, or late in 2012, and continuing in 2013, 2014 and 2015, workers will receive a 2% wage increase each year. Local 25 also won company-paid increases to the New England Teamsters Pension Fund of 10% in years one and two, and 6% each in the remaining years. 
 
The ICEM congratulates Local 25 members at CertainTeed for their resolve in maintaining their earned benefits package and also commends Jean-Francois Renucci of CFDT, who took the case to preserve the US workers&rsquo; health and welfare insurance to top Saint-Gobain leaders.

Workers of CertainTeed, a Saint-Gobain Unit, Retain Premium Health Care in USA

Archive