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Addressing the Plenary sitting of the 100th session of the International Labour Conference today, ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda called for action on precarious work, workers' health and safety in the mining industry, and attention to the violation of rights of Holcim employees in India, as well as on abuses to glass workers in Mexico. 
 
Warda condemned the shocking attempt by Swiss-based cement multinational Holcim to crush the union representing its employees in India, with unsubstantiated claims leading to the 19 May arrest of union leaders engaged during a legal battle for the reinstatement of 80 members illegally sacked at the Holcim-ACC unit at Jamul.
Referring to the recent attempt of those outsourced workers to voice their concerns to the authorities, Warda continued, &ldquo;It is deplorable that Mr. Chandrashekhar Sahu, the Labor Minister of the State of Chhattisgarth of India, attending this Conference, refused to meet 250 Holcim workers who had walked long distances to appeal to him for observation of basic trade union rights.&rdquo; 
<img alt="" src="" width="327" height="160" />
Warda called on governments and employers to move towards ratification and implementation of ILO Convention 176 and its associated Recommendation 183, on safety and health in mines. With Ukraine soon to become the 25th country to ratify the Convention, this represents far too few adoptions, while miners are continuing to be killed and injured every day around the world. 
 
Finally, Warda focussed on the ILO complaint&nbsp;No. 2774 by Mexican affiliated union SUTEIVP. The complaint is being fully supported by the ICEM, following a 2008 mass dismissal of hundreds of workers at Industria Vidriera del Potosi S.A., a manufacturer of glass bottles used by Corona beer. The sacked workers were covered by a collective bargaining agreement and included the executive committee of the SUTEIVP at the plant. A protection contract was then established by the employer. 
 
See the <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/ICEM_Manfred_Warda_ILC_Plenary_Speech%20_8_June%20FINAL.pdf">full text of the speech</a> here.

ICEM General Secretary Addresses International Labour Conference

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Trade union activists around the world are focussing on Mexico again this week and next in the vitally important struggle to block regressive labour legislation which stands to further legitimise Mexico&rsquo;s breaches of international labour standards.
The proposed labour code revisions would legitimise the illegitimate and pervasive use of &ldquo;protection contracts,&rdquo; increase the undermining of freedom of association through outsourcing and temporary contracts, sharply curtail the right to strike, and restrict the contesting of unfair dismissals. 
 
The Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), in proposing the harsh provisions, is widely seen as pandering to big business in the build-up to presidential elections in 2012. The draconian revisions have the full backing of President Felipe Calder&oacute;n&rsquo;s ruling National Action Party (PAN). 
 
Legislators are planning to fast-track the bill through&nbsp;public consultations, in which high-level trade union delegations are contributing, so that the legislative commission of labour can approve the proposal in the final days of this parliamentary session, ending 18 April. The next stage of the bill will likely occur during the Easter holiday. Legislators are refusing to discuss the 30 most contentious articles of the new legislation during the consultation stage.
<img alt="" src="" width="80" height="97" />
During these critical days, write with your organisation&rsquo;s opposition to the proposed labour legislation to parliamentary coordinators of the parties <a href="mailto:jcarlos.ramirez@congreso.gob.mx; frnrojas@congreso.gob.mx; alejandro.encinas@congreso.gob.mx; josefina.vazquez@congreso.gob.mx; alfonso.rios@congreso.gob.mx; jjguerra@congreso.gob.mx; pedro.jimenez@congreso.gob.mx">here</a>. 
 
Further dangers posed by the proposed&nbsp;changes include a cap on backpay when a worker is found unjustly sacked. The proposed cap of 12 months salary, when legal proceedings commonly take five years, effectively gives employers a green light to sack workers arbitrarily with impunity. 
 
Another concern is over a&nbsp;proposal that would&nbsp;give employers the right to negotiate individually with workers on terms other than what is&nbsp;in a collective agreement. This would outrageously destroy the process of collective bargaining, enshrined in international labour law. 
 
Mexican labour law can never begin to resemble acceptable standards without first addressing &ldquo;protection contracts,&rdquo; which make democratic trade union organising near impossible, and the &ldquo;toma de nota,&rdquo; which allows authorities to remove elected union leaders arbitrarily and without legal basis. Legislators from the PRI and PAN political parties ignored trade union demands on these issues and other amendments, including establishing a 40-hour work week and improving seniority bonuses and the holiday system. 
 
Also ignored by the authors of these legal changes was the 23 March report of the ILO Committee on Freedom of Association, which discusses the complaints of the International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF) and identifies &ldquo;protection contracts&rdquo; as a priority issue which must be dealt with through social dialogue with trade unions. 
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The Z&oacute;calo
A trade union demonstration marched from Mexico City&rsquo;s main square, the Z&oacute;calo, to the Congress on 31 March, where discussions over the regressive labour bill&nbsp;continue. Then, last Thursday, 7 April, a large national day of demonstration was conducted against the proposed labour law. 
 
In Mexico City, protestors marched from the Angel Monument of Independence to the Z&oacute;calo and heard speakers from trade unions of all Mexico&rsquo;s democratic unions. Los Mineros General Secretary Napole&oacute;n G&oacute;mez Urrutia, exiled to Canada, sent his message to the demonstration, calling the proposed changes a &ldquo;robbery of labour rights in Mexico,&rdquo; and called for Labour Minister Javier Lozano Alarc&oacute;n to resign immediately so that he does not cause &ldquo;more damage to industrial relations and social peace of the republic.&rdquo; 
 
Public opinion on Mexico around the world is repeatedly drawn away from the shocking denial of human and workers&rsquo; rights toward the bogus war on drugs, funded by the Obama administration as a way to finance Calder&oacute;n&rsquo;s military strength, which in turn is used to crush trade union campaigns such as in <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/3975-ICEM-Condemns-Repression-of-Workers-by-Mexican-Government-Grupo-Mexico">Cananea</a>. 
 
An international tribunal on trade union freedoms will be held on 29 April in Mexico City and that body will hear a strong globally-supported case against the proposed labour law, as well as specific cases from affected unions. 
 
The&nbsp;government-business campaign to weaken trade unions in Mexico was again highlighted by an avoidable methane gas explosion which killed two mineworkers in Barroter&aacute;n, Coahuila, on Saturday, 26 March. The explosion at Mine No. 7 belonging to Northern Steel, took the lives of 33-year-old Juan Francisco Rodr&iacute;guez Piedra and 43-year-old Jos&eacute; Camacho Grimaldo. The accident has been described as &ldquo;industrial homicide&rdquo; due to dangerous and negligent&nbsp;safety conditions in the mine. Union leadership at Barroter&aacute;n was forced onto workers through coercion. 
<img alt="" src="" width="73" height="108" />&nbsp;&nbsp; <img alt="" src="" width="65" height="108" />
Mario Alberto Castillo and H&eacute;ctor &Aacute;lvarez
Next week, 20 April, Los Mineros will honour the five-year anniversary of the two miners killed at L&aacute;zaro C&aacute;rdenas, Michoac&aacute;n, in 2006. Mario Alberto Castillo and H&eacute;ctor &Aacute;lvarez were murdered by federal and state police in&nbsp;violent&nbsp;suppression of a strike at the Sicartsa steel plant.

Next Two Weeks Crucial to Block Harsh Mexican Labor Law Revisions

Solidarity Needed: Finnish UPM Paper Strike 
 
Dear Activists in Pulp/Paper Sector, 
 
At 6h00 on Wednesday, 6 April, 1,000 members of the ICEM affiliate Ammattiliitto Pro in Finland began a two-week strike against UPM, the target paper company in a break-down of talks with the Finnish Forest Industries Federation. In an insult to these dedicated paperworkers, the industry failed to give white-collar and technical workers a national wage adjustment, despite giving a second year 2.5% increase to blue-collar workers, members of Paperiliitto. Members of PRO deserve at least the same! 
 
(A full ICEM story on this&nbsp;can be found by <a href="/en/19-Pulp-Paper/4342-Finnish-Paper-Sector-Wage-Accords-Divert-Between-ICEM-Affiliates">following this link</a>.) 
 
This is most insulting because in the past few years, paper companies in Finland have downsized the ranks of Pro by 30% through redundancies. It means more work and greater responsibilities have been placed on the 4,000 members of Pro remaining in Finland&rsquo;s paper sector. Thus, Pro has targeted UPM&rsquo;s six mills and 20 workplaces throughout Finland with industrial action. 
 
The ICEM is asking you to immediately send the following message of support to Pro President Antti Rinne (<a href="mailto:Antti.Rinne@proliitto.fi">Antti.Rinne@proliitto.fi</a>) and Chief Paper Sector Negotiator Jukka H&auml;m&auml;l&auml;inen (<a href="mailto:jukka.hamalainen@proliitto.fi">jukka.hamalainen@proliitto.fi</a>). 
 
Please cut and paste this message, or something similar, and send today to the e-mail addresses above: 
 
Dear Brothers Antti and Jukka, 
We have heard through the ICEM of your strike, targeting UPM, from April 6 to April 20. We understand the work stoppage to be justified because the Finnish employers&rsquo; federation has failed to deliver a justified wage increase on the national level. To tell your union&rsquo;s members to go negotiate an increase on the local level is insulting considering the tremendous sacrifices they have made over recent years in keeping Finland&rsquo;s paper sector operating. Please tell all Pro members working in the paper sector that our union supports them! 
 
(Signed) 
(Name of Union)
&nbsp;
<hr />
&nbsp;
Appel &agrave; la solidarit&eacute;: gr&egrave;ve des papetiers d&rsquo;UPM en Finlande 
 
Chers Militants de la Section P&acirc;te et Papier, 
 
A 6h00 ce mercredi 6 avril, un millier de membres du syndicat finlandais Ammattiliitto Pro, affili&eacute; &agrave; l&rsquo;ICEM, ont entam&eacute; une gr&egrave;ve de quinze jours contre UPM, entreprise cibl&eacute;e dans le cadre de la rupture de leurs pourparlers avec la F&eacute;d&eacute;ration des Industries foresti&egrave;res de Finlande. Dans une attitude insultante pour ces travailleurs appliqu&eacute;s, les entreprises ont refus&eacute; d&rsquo;accorder un ajustement salarial aux cols blancs et techniciens en d&eacute;pit d&rsquo;une seconde augmentation salariale annuelle de 2,5% accord&eacute;e aux membres de Paperiliitto, le syndicat des cols-bleus. Les membres de PRO m&eacute;ritent un traitement &eacute;gal ! 
 
Un r&eacute;cit complet de l&rsquo;ICEM, en anglais, sur ce sujet peut &ecirc;tre lui en <a href="/en/19-Pulp-Paper/4342-Finnish-Paper-Sector-Wage-Accords-Divert-Between-ICEM-Affiliates">suivant ce lien</a>. 
 
Ce geste est tr&egrave;s insultant parce qu&rsquo;au cours des derni&egrave;res ann&eacute;es, les entreprises papeti&egrave;res en Finlande ont r&eacute;duit les rangs de Pro de 30% en raison des licenciements. Cela signifie que davantage de travail et de responsabilit&eacute;s reposent maintenant sur les &eacute;paules des 4000 membres de Pro qui subsistent dans le secteur du papier en Finlande. En cons&eacute;quence, Pro a cibl&eacute; pour cette action les six usines et vingt sites d&rsquo;activit&eacute; d&rsquo;UPM en Finlande. 
 
L&rsquo;ICEM vous demande d&rsquo;envoyer imm&eacute;diatement le message de soutien suivant au Pr&eacute;sident de Pro Antti Rinne (<a href="mailto:Antti.Rinne@proliitto.fi">Antti.Rinne@proliitto.fi</a>) et au n&eacute;gociateur en chef pour le secteur du papier Jukka H&auml;m&auml;l&auml;inen (<a href="mailto:jukka.hamalainen@proliitto.fi">jukka.hamalainen@proliitto.fi</a>). 
 
Veuillez faire un couper-coller de ce message ou en composer un similaire et l&rsquo;envoyer aux adresses &eacute;lectroniques mentionn&eacute;es: 
 
Chers Camarades Antti et Jukka, 
 
Par l&rsquo;interm&eacute;diaire de l&rsquo;ICEM, nous avons pris connaissance de votre gr&egrave;ve qui cible UPM du 6 au 20 avril. Nous sommes inform&eacute;s que votre arr&ecirc;t de travail est motiv&eacute; par le refus de la F&eacute;d&eacute;ration patronale finlandaise d&rsquo;accorder une hausse de salaire justifi&eacute;e au plan national. Dire aux membres de votre syndicat d&rsquo;aller n&eacute;gocier leurs augmentations au plan local est une insulte compte tenu des sacrifices consid&eacute;rables qui ont &eacute;t&eacute; consentis ces derni&egrave;res ann&eacute;es pour maintenir en activit&eacute; le secteur papetier en Finlande. Dites &agrave; tous les membres de Pro occup&eacute;s dans le secteur du papier que notre syndicat les soutient ! 
 
(Signature) 
(Nom du Syndicat.) 
<hr />

&nbsp;
 
Llamado de solidaridad: huelga de trabajadores de UPM, sector papelero de Finlandia 
 
Estimados activistas del Sector de Pulpa y Papel: 
 
El mi&eacute;rcoles 6 de abril pasado, se inici&oacute; la huelga de trabajadores de la empresa papelera UPM, que estuvo involucrada en el colapso de las conversaciones con la Federaci&oacute;n de Industrias Forestales de Finlandia. Siendo las 6 de la ma&ntilde;ana del d&iacute;a indicado, 1.000 miembros de Ammattiliitto Pro, organizaci&oacute;n finlandesa afiliada a la ICEM, comenzaron una huelga de dos semanas en UPM, a consecuencia de la insultante negativa de esa industria, de no conceder un aumento salarial nacional a los dedicados trabajadores t&eacute;cnicos y de oficina, a pesar de haber otorgado a los trabajadores manuales un aumento del 2,5% por segundo a&ntilde;o consecutivo. Los trabajadores manuales son miembros de Paperiliitto: &iexcl;los miembros de PRO merecen por lo menos el mismo trato! 
 
(Haga clic en este enlace para ver un art&iacute;culo completo de la ICEM, en ingl&eacute;s, <a href="/en/19-Pulp-Paper/4342-Finnish-Paper-Sector-Wage-Accords-Divert-Between-ICEM-Affiliates">sobre este problema</a>.) 
 
Esto es un gran insulto porque en a&ntilde;os recientes las empresas papeleras de Finlandia han despedido a muchos trabajadores, reduciendo en un 30% el n&uacute;mero de miembros de Pro. Debido a esto, se han recargado con m&aacute;s trabajo y responsabilidades a los 4.000 afiliados de Pro que quedan en el sector papelero de Finlandia. Por este motivo, Pro ha declarado la huelga en seis plantas y 20 lugares de trabajo de UPM en diferentes partes de Finlandia. 
 
La ICEM les ruega enviar inmediatamente el siguiente mensaje de apoyo a Antti Rinne, Presidente de Pro, (<a href="mailto:Antti.Rinne@proliitto.fi">Antti.Rinne@proliitto.fi</a>) y a Jukka H&auml;m&auml;l&auml;inen, Negociador Principal del Sector del Papel (<a href="mailto:jukka.hamalainen@proliitto.fi">jukka.hamalainen@proliitto.fi</a>). 
 
Rogamos copiar este mensaje, o algo semejante, y enviarlo a las direcciones de e-mail que se se&ntilde;alan m&aacute;s arriba.: 
 
Estimados Cros. Antti y Jukka: 
La ICEM nos ha informado sobre la huelga que han declarado en UPM, del 6 al 20 de abril. Parece justa esta paralizaci&oacute;n de los labores, debido a que la federaci&oacute;n empresarial de Finlandia no ha concedido un aumento salarial justo a nivel nacional. Tomando en cuenta los enormes sacrificios que han hecho estos sindicalistas en los &uacute;ltimos a&ntilde;os para que contin&uacute;en las operaciones del sector papelero de Finlandia, constituye un insulto que les digan a los miembros de su sindicato que vayan a negociar un aumento salarial a nivel local. &iexcl;Rogamos informar a todos los miembros de Pro que laboran en el sector del papel que nuestra federaci&oacute;n sindical est&aacute; con ellos! 
 
(Firmado) 
(Nombre del sindicato) 

&nbsp;

Action Needed/ Votre intervention est souhaitée/ Se requiere acción urgente

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Bahrain&rsquo;s authorities and business leaders are retaliating to a general strike led by the national trade union centre GFBTU with a campaign of mass sackings, intimidation, and violence against all workers involved. The general strike was called on 13 March, and ended 22 March, in support of pro-democracy protests inside the island state near the western shore of the Persian Gulf. The agreement to end the strike included a promise to GFBTU, an affiliate of the International Trade Union Confederation, by authorities that strikers would not suffer repercussions. 
 
Estimates suggest over 1,000 workers will be laid-off during the crackdown including at employers Aluminium Bahrain BSC, Bahrain Telecommunications Company, Gulf Air, Bahrain Airport Services and APM Terminals Bahrain at the Khalifa Sea Port. All sackings were due to worker absence during the strike. 
<img alt="" src="" width="140" height="169" />
BAPCO President Abdul Ghaffar Abdul Hussain
The president of the union at Bahrain Petroleum (BAPCO), Abdul Ghaffar Abdul Hussain, has been sacked for his absence during the strike and also for &ldquo;inciting workers to strike&rdquo;. The company will begin legal prosecution of Hussain this week or next. Hussain was central in the creation of the GBFTU. All employees at BAPCO are now fearful of losing their jobs in the coming days. Absenteeism of BAPCO employees on 16-17 March was 60%. 
See <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/27.ICEM.Bahrain.6April.pdf">ICEM's letter to the King of Bahrain</a> here. 
 
Security forces have closed down the GBFTU headquarters and are expected to soon call the organisation&rsquo;s president, Salman Mahfooz, in for questioning. Roads leading to the union office were closed and workers were blocked from reaching the headquarters, most of those workers had been seeking guidance from their union following their sacking. The GBFTU website has been closed. Parliament is calling on the government to immediately refer trade union leaders involved in the strike to the public prosecution office. 
 
All members of the GBFTU executive, spanning all industries, have been suspended from work pending investigations. On top of this cynical multi-faceted attack on Bahrain&rsquo;s independent trade unions, companies are now planning legal cases against the unions in a further attempt to permanently end their activities. 
 
Over 300 activists have been arrested with many missing, and at least 20 killed since protesters took to the street in February, inspired by popular uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt. The violent suppression of the Bahraini people&rsquo;s reform protest has been facilitated with armed forces from neighbouring Saudi Arabia. 
 
This disgraceful attack on core human and trade union rights of the Bahraini people must end immediately.

ICEM Angered by Brutal Attack on Trade Unions in Bahrain

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The ICEM Secretariat was stricken with grief on 4 April upon learning of the death of Liv Undheim, former Vice President of Norwegian trade union affiliate IndustriEnergi (IE). Liv Undheim died at 07h00 that morning in an Oslo hospital after a period of illness. She was 61. 
 
She was an ICEM Vice President, representing the Nordic region, and had served on ICEM statutory bodies for the past 20 years, dating to her tenure as an officer of Norsk Kjemisk Forbund, the Norwegian Chemical Workers&rsquo; Association. She was the driving force inside ICEM in the development of gender equality and women&rsquo;s activities. 
 
In a letter to IE President Leif Sande, General Secretary Manfred Warda said her advocacy in this regard made the ICEM a leading Global Union Federation on gender issues. 
 
She began working in an industrial setting in the late 1960s at Figgjo AS, a ceramics and pottery manufacturer near Stavanger. She then became a federal secretary of the Chemical Workers&rsquo; Association and served in that capacity for nine years before being elected organisation secretary of the Norwegian Federation of Trade Unions (LO). In that capacity in 1997, she also became deputy minister with responsibility for energy issues. 
 
In 2001, she became Vice President of the Chemical Workers&rsquo; Association and in 2006, upon the merger of that union with the Norwegian Oil and Petrochemicals Workers&rsquo; Federation (NOPEF), she was elected Vice President of IE. She retired in October 2010 but retained the exemplary role she always performed as IE&rsquo;s head of international affairs.
<img alt="" src="" width="112" height="150" />
She also had served on a number of boards and public bodies, including the research institute FAFO, Norway&rsquo;s Labour Directorate, the Labour Inspection Authority, and many others. 
 
She was diagnosed with cancer several months ago and in February 2011 was stricken and hospitalised with pneumonia, which prevented cancer treatment. The ICEM&rsquo;s Warda said she always delivered a great deal of energy and passion to global trade union work, and &ldquo;we held hope that this same energy and passion would allow her to overcome this illness.&rdquo; 
 
He added: &ldquo;Her passing at the age of 61 is a sad moment for us here. The extraordinary work she performed for the ICEM &ndash; and for all trade unions &ndash; will carry on in her honour. We pledge to re-dedicate the many workers&rsquo; issues that she championed in her memory.&rdquo; 
 
In a statement this week from Oslo, IE President Sande said, &ldquo;Following her long and devoted service to the labour union movement we all felt with all our hearts that Liv had deserved a long and pleasant retirement together with her dear Elisabeth. The holiday to Thailand was booked and she was looking forward to spending her time reading, travelling and generally enjoying life. Instead she was struck down with cancer, having to spend her last days in a hospital. It seems so unfair. She will be deeply missed.&rdquo;
Liv Undheim's funeral will be 14 April in Oslo. Following, a memorial and commemoration of her life will be held at&nbsp;IE's offices&nbsp;there.&nbsp;

ICEM Mourns Death of Presidium Member Liv Undheim

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
The ICEM this month began a search for qualified candidates to assume the duties of Mining/Diamond, Gems, Ornaments, and Jewelry Production Officer. The vacancy was created when Joe Drexler decided to leave the ICEM to resume his duties with the United Steelworkers in North America. 
 
The position will be based in Geneva. The successful candidate must have fluent written and spoken English language skills, as well as IT skills. The Mining/DGOJP position at ICEM offers an excellent salary and level of benefits. 
 
Candidates must send full details of their background in a cover letter in English, along with a CV to General Secretary Manfred Warda and ICEM&rsquo;s Finance and Administration Officer Marie-France Sarfati <a href="mailto:marie-france.sarfati@icem.org">here</a>, (or to fax no. +41 22 304 1841) by 15 February 2011. 
 
The letter of job posting can be found <a href="/index.php?id=5&amp;la=EN&amp;doc=4203">here</a>, and a job description for the position in English can be found <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/Job%20description%20mining%20and%20DGJOP%20Officer.pdf">here</a>.

ICEM Seeks Mining Officer Based in Geneva

<img src="" width="100" height="39" alt="" />
RadioLabour broadcasts a daily round-up of news in the global labour movement. Now the daily broadcast is accessible from the ICEM website. 
 
The Solidarity News shows are five minutes long Monday to Thursday, and the Friday show is ten minutes long and summarizes the news of the week. 
<img src="" width="174" height="24" alt="" />
RadioLabour's news programmes are presented by international labour educator, Marc B&eacute;langer, and broadcaster, Irma Arkus. 
 
RadioLabour is also accessible via its <a href="http://www.radiolabour.net">website</a>, <a href="http://www.facebook.com/radiolabour">Facebook</a>, <a href="http://RL-5.net">mobile phones</a>, <a href="http://www.radiolabour.net/itunes-instructs.html">iTunes</a>, UnionBook and Twitter. 
 
The ICEM is proud to provide access to this important labour communications tool.

Access RadioLabour’s Daily Broadcasts on ICEM’s Homepage

<img src="" width="100" height="39" alt="" />
Unit chapel leaders at some 50 corrugated paper operations in the UK, representing some 2,500 Unite the Union members, recently recommended acceptance of a 2010 pay package. Paperworkers represented by both Unite and GMB will now vote in the coming weeks on a pay accord that was agreed to with Confederation of Paper Industries (CPI) in mid-December. 
 
The CPI, representing major corrugated boxboard and packaging employers at plants mostly owned by DS Smith, SmurfitKappa, and SAICA, agreed to raise their wage offer from 2.1% to 2.5% last month in response to the unions moving forward on a ballot for industrial action. 
 
The offer, when accepted by members of the two unions, will be retroactive to 1 September 2010, the date a prior one-year accord expired. 
<img src="" width="140" height="109" alt="" />
Unite National Officer Peter Ellis
Unite and GMB were set to file for an industrial ballot on 10 January. Unite represents the majority of workers in the UK&rsquo;s corrugated paper sector, while GMB represents some 800 workers in the sector. 
 
The 14-member joint union/CPI bargaining body began 2010 negotiations in July, but talks became bogged down in October when CPI offered a pay hike of less than half of the retail price index. Unite National Officer Peter Ellis says now that the tentative settlement falls into the upper level of median pay awards in all industries in the UK this year. 
 
Meanwhile, Unite and Kimberly Clark reached an early accord for 2011 that was agreed to by workers in December. The agreement covers 500 workers at two towel and tissue mills, the Northfleet mill in Kent and the Barrow-in-Furness mill in Cumbria. The 2011 pay award, effective 1 February, will be 1.5%, with Unite also winning a lump sum bonus of &pound;1,450. That lump sum will also be calculated into the pension contribution, thus raising the benefit level.

Corrugated Paper Agreement to be Voted on By Unite, GMB Members

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
The ICEM-affiliated National Miners&rsquo; and Metalworkers&rsquo; Union (SNTMMSRM) of Mexico, or Los Mineros, conducted its National Assembly 10-11 January in Mexico City. Delegates representing over 60 sections and fractions of the union, from 22 states, pledged unfaltering support for their General Secretary in exile, Napole&oacute;n G&oacute;mez Urrutia, and for the national executive. 
 
The meeting confirmed the priority challenges facing Los Mineros at present during four ongoing strikes, at Cananea, Zacatecas, Taxco, and El Cubo. The National Assembly also reiterated the union&rsquo;s demand for the immediate release of union officials Juan Linares Mont&uacute;far and Mart&iacute;n Salazar, and for an immediate end to the illegal freezing of union bank accounts by the Calder&oacute;n government. 
<img alt="" src="" width="368" height="87" />
Delegates resolved to continue the fight to bring Napole&oacute;n G&oacute;mez back to Mexico, currently made impossible by sham legal charges from the government. Los Mineros also want their democratically elected leader to be officially recognized by the authorities, which has not yet happened. 
 
Delegates pledged full support to the Global Days of Action for trade union rights in Mexico, 14-19 February, which will mark the fifth anniversary of the deadly mine disaster at Pasta de Conchos. The Days of Action will provide a strong, cross-sector trade union alliance carrying out actions across the globe, intended to pass common demands to the Mexican government through its embassies and consulates around the world. 
 
To get involved in trade union action during the week 14-19 February, email <a href="mailto:tom.grinter@icem.org">tom.grinter@icem.org</a>. See the campaign material&nbsp;<a href="/en/5-Mining-DGOJP">here</a>.&nbsp;

National Assembly of Los Mineros of Mexico Reiterates Trade Union Demands

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
A new 10,000-member was born early in the new year when the ICEM affiliate Forestry, Logging, and Industrial Workers&rsquo; Union (FLIWUL) and the National Mine Workers&rsquo; Union of Liberia merged, creating the United Workers&rsquo; Union of Liberia (UWUL). 
 
The merger, after two years of discussion, was formalised by delegates of both unions at a convention in Monrovia on 5 January. The new union has 2,600 members in mining, 1,250 in forestry, as well as 6,000 members employed at the Firestone Rubber Plantation. It also has 550 members working for the National Transit Authority, the public bus system. 
 
The union has five collective agreements and that will increase to eight in the near future. 
<img alt="" src="" width="170" height="78" />
FLIWUL brings ArcelorMittal mine and railroad workers into the merger, workers employed at the state&rsquo;s Forestry Development Authority, as well as the Firestone workers. The National Mine Workers&rsquo; Union represents miners in the country&rsquo;s western cluster of mining activity. The union is closing in on organising iron ore miners of a Chinese company. 
 
The 5 January merger convention elected four leaders from each trade union to guide UWUL, including FLIWUL David Sackoh as Secretary-General. &ldquo;The mission of this merger is to unite Liberian workers to build bargaining power for decent work, mutual respect, and sustainable development at the workplace and in communities through collective action and social dialogue,&rdquo; said Sackoh. 
 
The other union officers include: Aloysius S. Kie, President, who served in that capacity with the Mine Workers and as President of the Liberia Federation of Labour Unions; Oretha Tarnue, Vice President, who led FLIWUL Union No. 1, or the Forestry Development Authority Union; Dave Seneh, Deputy Secretary General for Administration; James D. Sorboh, Deputy Secretary General for Operations; Sakou Sirleaf, Treasurer; Tenneh Y. Nagbe, Chair of the Women&rsquo;s Committee; and Mohammed Guss, Advisor. 
 
Sackoh&rsquo;s tenure as leader of FLIWUL dates back 2003 and before that with the union&rsquo;s predecessor, FLAWUL, where he organised a logging company in the West African nation. Prior to that, he headed the United Seamen&rsquo;s and Port Workers&rsquo; Union of Liberia, where he landed after a career as a marine engineer. 
 
In a statement read at the early January merger convention, ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda congratulated the two unions, calling the marriage &ldquo;a great accomplishment and one in which the adage &lsquo;In Unity There is Strength&rsquo; we know will prove true in Liberia.&rdquo;

FLIWUL, Miners’ Union in Liberia Merge to Create United Workers’ Union

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