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ICEM Mexican affiliate Los Mineros continue to face government repression, and joint government-company action against them. Wednesday 25 November saw a convoy of 10 buses, carrying 400 members and supporters to a peaceful protest in the city of Zacatecas, blocked by riot police and held at Las Arcinas, in the municipality of Sain Alto, 25km from the city. The passengers were told that if they got off the buses, they would be beaten. 
 
The protest was planned as a call for justice over the murder of fellow mineworker Jeventino Flores-Salas in June this year, and also to show support for their exiled leader Napoleon Gomez-Urrutia. Miners from throughout Mexico travelled to Zacatecas on Tuesday 24 November, but were blocked by police the following day from entering the city. The strong suspicion is that Grupo Pe&ntilde;oles asked the federal police to act in this manner. The Mexican Constitution gives citizens the right to move freely, to peaceful demonstration and expression. All of these rights were denied by the police action. Although the workers were finally allowed entry into the city, they were not left alone by the police, and were not allowed to join the manifestation. 

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The union has criticised the state government of Amalia Garcia-Medina, who is supposedly left-wing, but still sides with the right-wing repression of the federal government. 
In other news regarding Los Mineros, the Australian Government is putting pressure on the Calderon Government to rethink its campaign of repression against the Mexican miners. This follows a resolution of the National Executive of ICEM affiliated CFMEU condemning the actions of the Mexican government following the Pasta de Conchos mine disaster in 2006. CFMEU lobbying to the Australian government has resulted in the Australian government making a strong statement of support for the international labour movement&rsquo;s campaign for improved trade union rights in Mexico.

Mexican Riot Police Block Buses of Unionists on Way to Peaceful Protest

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Since late 1997, dating from the merger between BP and Mobil the ICEM affiliated trade union in Greece, the Pan Hellenic Federation of Employees in Petroleum Products, refineries and Chemical Industry has faced a series of challenges from the company regarding increased outsourcing. 
 
Over the last ten years the outsourcing and transferring of the Accounting and Technical departments has taken place with numerous changes in the contracted company. In the initial instances the social plans offered to the workers were identical to those applied by BP Greece SA Oil Trading and Mobil Oil Hellas. 

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The latest conflict concerning the outsourcing of the Accounting and Technical departments and the intention to terminate the contract by BP Hellas is however different. This time it is clear that BP Hellas intends to end the contracts and new people will be employed on inferior terms and conditions of employment to circumvent the original conditions and to deny the workers their rights. Obviously this is completely unacceptable to our Greek affiliate. 
The union has the full support of our sister organization, EMCEF at European level in their claim that the proposed changes would be contrary to various European directives that give protection to the workers in question. EMCEF has already raised the issue with the relevant European Union structures. 
<img alt="" src="" width="146" height="46" />
ICEM is also fully behind our affiliate&rsquo;s claim and add our voice to their demand that there must be complete application of the directives to ensure that any structural changes in the business that impact on labour relation continue to benefit from the protection given by European Social Law. 
 
BP would be clearly violating both legal and ethical obligations, should it continue with its present proposals. It is essential that the company changes track and safeguards the legitimate rights of the relevant employees.

Outsourcing struggle at BP in Greece

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With the end of a 42-day strike on 22 November by miners at BHP Billiton&rsquo;s Spence copper mine, labour peace appears at hand in the copper mines of Chile, the world&rsquo;s largest supplier of the red metal. Leading up to the close of November, future labour agreements are in place for most copper producers now, including at one of the three sets of mines owned by the Chilean state-run government, Codelco. 
 
The Spence strike will go down in this round of Chilean copper talks as the most contentious. With an expiration of 30 September, it was the second set of negotiations between BHP Billiton and the union at the open cast mine in the Atacama Dessert of Region II of northern Chile. 
 
On 13 October, the 560 miners at the three-year-old facility downed tools. The strike was resolved eight days ago when workers accepted a 4% wage increase, a bonus of US$14,000 per miner, and a loan guarantee from the company of US$4,060. The agreement runs for 41 months. 

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Two days earlier, on 20 November, in less acrimonious bargaining, BHP Billiton workers at the smaller Cerro Colorado copper mine ratified a separate 41-month deal with BHP, the world&rsquo;s biggest mining house. That deal, to take effect 1 February, gives miners a 4.8% pay increase and a US$15,000 bonus. 
 
Also settling early were miners at the globe&rsquo;s largest copper mine, Escondida, which is 57.5% owned by BHP Billiton, 30% by Rio Tinto, and supplies five percent of the world&rsquo;s copper. That settlement came even before the official start date of negotiations. In mid-October, mine management and the union representing 3,400 miners agreed to a pay deal of 5%, with a US$28,000 bonus. 
 
Talks continue, but appear headed to a peaceful resolve between Xstrata and the mining union representing workers at its Altonorte mine and smelter in the Tarapac&aacute; region near the city of Antofagasta. An agreement there expires 18 December. 

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At Xstrata&rsquo;s nearby Lomas Bayas mine, where copper ore is processed at the Altonorte smelter, miners walked off jobs last May for a week to ensure a fair pay package. Xstrata also has a 44% stake in the Collahuasi mine, Chile&rsquo;s third largest copper mining operation. 
 
Talks are also underway at the copper and gold Candelaria mine, operated by US-based Freeport-McMoRan. 
 
The agreement at state-run Codelco&rsquo;s Andina mining complex in central Chile came on 21 November, nine days before contract expiration. The wage package was not immediately made known. Three unions are bargaining jointly at Codelco&rsquo;s Chuguicamata mine, part of Codelco Norte, which has a 31 December expiry. 
 
It is expected that the government, similarly as it has done at the Andean division mines, will extend fair wage offers to other workers of Codelco, which the supplies the world with 11% of its copper.

Copper Contracts Being Settled in Chile’s Mining Industry

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ICEM led a workshop for women from ICEM affiliates in Erbil, Iraq, from 17 to 19 November. The workshop was supported entirely by the US Solidarity Center. Hashmeya Muhssin from the Basra Electricity Workers&rsquo; Union and ICEM Executive Member was instrumental in organizing the meeting. The women who participated in the meeting were all highly educated. 

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The meeting focused on violence issues, since that was felt to be the most crucial issue facing women today in Iraq. Self-esteem is one critical area in building women&rsquo;s confidence to participate in trade unions. Women need to build their self-esteem and confidence in order to become better leaders. Violence in all its forms was condemned &ndash; violence against women is not cultural. It is criminal. The women acted out role plays on violence in the family, at work, and in society. Women in armed conflict is another issue that has to be looked at, as women bear arms and are victims of those bearing arms. The women brought examples of Iraqi women role models that they admire. These included Dr Naziha Al-Dulaimy who was the first government minister in the Middle East in the 50&rsquo;s. When it is said that Iraqi women are not participating recently as much as they used to, the explanation can be found in the Iraq-Iran war and the sanctions imposed on the country until 2003, followed by war since then. The problem is that without security, women cannot prosper. It was agreed that women need to go out to work in order to be financially independent and to take their own decisions. 
 
Examples were given of women&rsquo;s organizations, in particular Kurdish women&rsquo;s associations, who fight for legal reforms, provide shelter for the homeless and threatened, train the jobless and help the poor and ill. 
 
Hashmeya has been standing up for women as well as for men in Basra and is working to launch a campaign for social security. A lot of work still needs to be done to clean up the remains from the Iran-Iraq war, as well as provide environmental and community sanitation. This work will continue in connection with the elections scheduled in Iraq for 2010. 
 
The women left the meeting feeling empowered. &ldquo;A bird cannot fly with one wing.&rdquo;

ICEM Iraqi Women&#039;s Workshop Meets in Erbil

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Thousands of trade unionists demonstrated at the main square of the Slovenian capital Ljubliana, last Saturday 28 November, to demand higher wages and protest their governments&rsquo; plan to increase retirement age. 
 
Just before this big and important demonstration, the ICEM, through its General Secretary Manfred Warda and Chemical and Rubber Industries Officer Kemal &Ouml;zkan, attended a full day workshop organised by its affiliate KNG, Chemical, Non-Metal and Rubber Workers Union. The meeting was attended 25 participants from the KNG&rsquo;s local offices. 
 
KNG became a fully autonomous and independent trade union in 1990 and represents more than a third of all employees in the chemical, metal and rubber industries in Slovenia. 

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KNG President Tomas Kumer
President Tomas Kumer gave a detailed presentation about the effects of the economic crisis in their sectors. Job losses, lowering wages, problems arising from low value-added were principally mentioned, while the social pact does not seem successful in combating the social problems brought by the economic crisis. 
 
The workshop discussed how to use international mechanisms to put pressure on employers to get more trade union influence. Pharmaceutical, rubber and glass sectors were defined areas for future cooperation. 

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The ICEM also visited production facilities of Sava where KNG represents workers. The President of the Sava Union of KNG, Janez Justin, presented the situation of the factory in the face of global crisis. Justin reported that in 2008, the first indication of global recession came in September. The Union and the employer identified the problem and negotiated on a shorter work calendar, winter collective vacation and agreement on temporary redistribution and uneven distribution of work time through a Flex time Agreement. This allowed the employer high flexibility with the workforce engagement, and the workers the possibility to spend winter holidays with their families while employees managed to secure their jobs with no layoffs. In 2009 market demand reduced by 30% in some segments, for this reason employees are limited to work 306 days. Through intensive social dialogue, carried out on a daily basis, no layoffs occurred; only collective vacation in the summer (14 days) and collective vacation in December were agreed with employers.

Slovenian Unions Demand Higher Minimum Wage, Protest Government’s Effort to Increase Retirement Age

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Strike actions occurred in Europe in recent days against South African pulp and paper producer Sappi. Workers holding memberships in four Dutch unions continue to be in dispute with Sappi at two mills in the Netherlands, Nijmegen and Maastricht. 
 
And at one of two mills in Finland that Sappi purchased from M-real one year ago, Kirkniemi, members of the local branch of ICEM affiliate Paperiliitto took a four-day industrial action 19-23 November over serious safety issues. 
 
At Nijmegen on 26 November, workers staged a 24-hour strike over the company&rsquo;s failure to come to a terms in meeting minimal union demands for a new labour agreement. More actions are expected this week at Nijmegen and Maastricht. 

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On 24 November, Dutch unions FNV Bondgenoten, CNV Bedrijenbond, ACV, and De Unie issued a demand for a one-year wage increase, July 2009 to July 2010, of 1.5%. The unions, representing 800 workers at the two paper mills, also demand retention of &ldquo;seniorendagen,&rdquo; the annual reward days off for workers with long service careers. If this is to be lost in a new collective agreement, the unions said in a demands declaration, a financial equivalent for both senior workers and younger workers for the social benefit must be substituted. 
 
Sappi Europe has been stingy in its pay offer, as well as unfair in benefit takeaways. In mid-September, workers rejected a 21-month Sappi proposal that was deemed inferior by a 95% vote. On 15 October, in a protest joined by ICEM and its global pulp and paper unions, 50 of the two mills&rsquo; workplace leaders took a petition to Sappi&rsquo;s European headquarters in Brussels. (See InBrief No. 142 <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/3455-Pulp-Paper-Unions-Assist-Dutch-Unionists-in-Contract-Dispute-with-Sappi-">here</a>.) 
 
Following a revised company offer a few days later, union leaders again decided to take the proposal to Dutch workers at Nijmegen and Maastricht for a vote. They rejected that with a 99% vote. 

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At Kirkniemi in Finland, earlier this year, Sappi thinned job ranks by 63 workers from a workforce of 400. The 19-23 November strike was over the fact that the remaining workers have taken on more work duties and occupational safety has been jeopardized. Sappi bought five European coated paper mills from M-real in early 2009 and intends to completely close one of those mills &ndash; Kangas, Finland &ndash; by the end of this year, thus giving the sack to 150 members of Paperiliitto. 
 
At a Sappi mill in North America, another labour dispute is coming to a head. Members of the United Steelworkers (USW), early in the week of 16 November, made a statement about a regressive Sappi contract proposal with an 82% rejection vote. Some 600 union members at a pulp and coated paper mill in Cloquet, Minnesota, have been without a current labour agreement since 1 May 2009. Sappi&rsquo;s less than adequate pay offer contains no retroactive wages to that date. It also falls short in meeting pension offsets and the company has ignored a USW request to assist Sappi in finding lower-cost private health care alternatives.

Paperworkers in Finland, Netherlands Take Strike Actions against Sappi

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Turkish public sector employees have legally had the right to organise and form their own unions since 2001, as stipulated by the Public Employees' Trade Unions Act No. 4688. Although the law recognizes the right to organise, there are numerous groups of employees who are excluded, lawyers, civil servants at the Ministry of Defence and Turkish Armed Forces, employees at penal institutions, special security personnel, public employees &quot;in positions of trust&quot;, presidents of universities, and directors of high schools. 
 
In terms of negotiating and taking strike action, these workers have no rights at all. Act 4688 allows for &ldquo;collective consultative talks&rdquo; for the negotiating of working conditions with government, it is then the government that makes the final decision on salaries, allowances, compensation, and bonuses. Likewise, there is still no formally recognised right to strike for public employees. This clearly is not in line with core ILO Convention 98. The International Labour Organisation repeatedly criticises this and urges the Turkish Government to make necessary modifications to the Act. 

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Centre&nbsp;Sami Evren, President of KESK,&nbsp;right Bircan Akyıldız, President of T&uuml;rkiye Kamu-Sen
The collective consultative talks have proved inadequate in achieving the deserved working conditions for public sector employees, two major Turkish trade union confederations, T&uuml;rkiye Kamu-Sen and KESK, have decided to take joint strike action on 25 November to urge the government to change the law and recognise the right to bargain and strike. On that day, both confederations report, aircrafts, trains and ships will not work, education will not be done, taxes will not be collected, &ldquo;all the public services will be stopped&rdquo;. 
 
The President of T&uuml;rkiye Kamu-Sen Bircan Akyıldız stated that eight years of commitment to collective consultative talks have produced nothing for workers. &ldquo;The strike on 25 November will not just be done on behalf of Kamu-Sen and KESK, but also for defending the rights of all public emloyees&rdquo;, he added. The President of KESK, Sami Evren, stated that the parties have never bargained from equal positions during the collective consultative talks, leading to the Government ignoring the demands of public employees. &ldquo;We have exhausted all internal judicial possibilities, and then applied to the European Human Rights Court, which ruled that Turkish public employees should have the right to bargain collectively&rdquo;, he added. 

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The ICEM has affiliates from both confederations and fully supports the strike on 25 November, in line with the decision of the ICEM Turkish Coordinating Committee, which met on 2 November in Izmir. In his letter to the Presidents of T&uuml;rkiye Kamu-Sen and KESK, ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda has conveyed the solidarity of the whole ICEM family to the Turkish public employees in their struggle for bargaining and striking rights. &ldquo;We cordially convey to you our deepest sympathy and solidarity for your rights which are guaranteed by international conventions that have been ratified by Turkey. It is our firm belief that your struggle, fought since the 1990s, for empowered unions with all rights, will be successful. The joint strike on 25 November is a clear signal for this. The ICEM has been and will always stand shoulder-to-shoulder with you in this honourable and rightful fight&rdquo;.

Turkish Public Employees to Stop Work on 25 November Calling for Right to Bargain, Strike

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In the US, the ICEM intervened on behalf of the affiliated Teamsters Union in a strike that started on 3 November and ended 14 November against specialty chemicals manufacturer Rhodia. General Secretary Manfred Warda contacted the Paris-based company directly in efforts to bring the two sides together. 
 
The plant is in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and it is part of Rhodia&rsquo;s Eco Services division, producing sulfuric acid and organic chemicals. The 135 members of Teamsters Local 5 went on strike following rejection of a company proposal given 1 November, but accepted a new three-year agreement with modifications on 13 November after managers and the bargaining committee reached agreement that day. 
 

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Teamsters Local 5 Members Last Week on Strike, a Strike that Ended on 13 November 
The strike was primarily over rising health care costs and co-payments that Teamster members were asked to make. The negotiated settlement includes wage increases in each of the three years. It also includes positive modifications for workers to an on-call procedure, or provisions for calling staff to work during their off hours. That was a further cause in the ten-day strike. 
 
The ICEM has a constructive Global Framework Agreement with Rhodia. The difficult American issue of private and for-profit health care delivery systems is generally the leading cause of US labour-management disputes.

Ten-Day Strike by US Union against Rhodia Ends on 14 November

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ICEM&rsquo;s two-year project in Turkey on Organising and Social Dialogue, supported by a Dutch labour confederation&rsquo;s international solidarity arm, FNV Mondiaal, moved forward with its second seminar on 5-6 November, this time in the western Turkish city of Izmir, where ICEM-affiliated trade unions have a strong presence. 
 
The overall objective of the project is to help contribute to the unions&rsquo; ability to recruit new members, as well as to discuss the establishment of a base to create a functioning industrial relations system, prioritizing human and trade union rights, and to promote healthy social dialogue in Turkey&rsquo;s industrial relations system. 
 
The seminar was opened by ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda, who presented the Global Union Federation&rsquo;s activities and current work plan. The 60 trade union leaders in attendance then heard a report from ICEM Chemicals and Rubber Industries Officer Kemal &Ouml;zkan called, &ldquo;In the Framework of Globalisation and the European Union Organising and Social Dialogue.&rdquo;
<img src="" width="330" height="248" alt="" />
Delagtes at&nbsp;ICEM/FNV Project Workshop in Izmir&nbsp;
Besides Turkish local trade union leaders, shop stewards, and militants in attendance, the meeting also saw participation by several international trade union leaders from the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, and Sweden. Celil &Ccedil;oban and Mail &Uuml;rker of FNV Bondgenoten, the Netherlands, exchanged their experiences and knowledge with Turkish colleagues, while Fons Welters, Chairman of Works Council of the Dutch chemicals company, Akzo Nobel, explained social dialogue inside his company. 
 
Akzo Nobel operates in Turkey without union representation. In this framework, FNV Bondgenoten and ICEM Turkish affiliate Petrol-İş made a pact to cooperate on organising Akzo Nobel&rsquo;s staff in Turkey. 
 
Other speakers, giving their respective country perspectives and presenting their trade union structures, included Michael Mersmann, Head of the International Department, Germany&rsquo;s IGBCE; Jorgen Juul Rasmussen, the General Secretary of Dansk El-Forbund, Denmark&rsquo;s Electricians&rsquo; Union; and Mats Svensson, Advisor to the President of IF Metall in Sweden.
<img src="" width="260" height="195" alt="" />
A presentation by ICEM&rsquo;s Information, Campaigns, Pulp &amp; Paper Officer, Dick Blin, on the trade union situation in the US attracted much attention, specifically by participants who compared the many similarities to the current Turkish union model &ldquo;imported&rdquo; from America in the late 1940s following World War II. 
 
The last presentation was made by &Uuml;zeyir Ataman, Director of Education and Collective Bargaining of Turkish union Lastik-İş, who covered the history and current situation of the union movement in his country. 
 
Comrade Ataman&rsquo;s presentation focused on Power and Weak Points, Challenges and Opportunities, and Concrete Organising Targets inside Turkey. Each of the near 60 participants took the floor and put forward his opinions on these issues in Turkey. 
 
&ldquo;Our seminars in Izmit and Izmir have clearly shown that there is a major need in Turkey to reinforce capacity of trade union leaders on organising and social dialogue,&rdquo; said the ICEM&rsquo;s &Ouml;zkan, who runs the project. &ldquo;Turkey has big potential in terms of trade union growth, and our objective is to mobilise this growth. So far, we are gaining on that objective.&rdquo; 
 
The FNV project will encompass several more issue-focused seminars through 2010. The next one will be a special women&rsquo;s seminar, scheduled for 15-16 December in İstanbul. In 2010, there will be seminars in the cities of Adana and Bursa, as well as in the region of Tracia.

FNV’s Organising, Social Dialogue Forum in Turkey Comprehensive

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Rolling work stoppages began at a Peabody Energy coal mine in central Queensland on 7 November. The legal industrial actions, brought on by the American company&rsquo;s proposed rollbacks in an enterprise labour agreement at its North Goonyella mine, could intensify in coming weeks, as members of the Construction, Forestry, Mining, and Energy Union (CFMEU) balloted this weekend on whether or not to take further industrial actions. 
 
A prior enterprise agreement expired early in 2008. But that was extended one year, until 31 March 2009. The dispute now centers on work rosters, rates of pay, and conditions of living in a mining camp. 
 
The CFMEU members took four three-hour work stoppages over a 24-hour period in the middle of last week. Further three-hour industrial actions could occur this week, and if this weekend&rsquo;s ballot passes, legalized work stoppages could extend to 24- or 48-hour periods. Unrelated to the dispute, Peabody announced on 11 November that 34 miners would be made redundant by year&rsquo;s end at North Goonyella.
<img src="" width="200" height="102" alt="" />
Peabody owns other coal-mining operations in Queensland and New South Wales, and is the major stakeholder of other collieries that operate with sub-contractors. All miners at these enterprises are represented by the CFMEU. Peabody bought the North Goonyella colliery from RAG AG as part of a three-mine purchase in 2003. 
 
The US multinational began mining coal in Australia through predecessor companies in the 1950s. Over the years, the CFMEU has developed close ties with the US mining union, ICEM affiliate United Mine Workers&rsquo; of America (UMWA), over Peabody&rsquo;s collective agreements and organizing efforts.

CFMEU Begins Job Actions at Peabody Coal in Australia

Archive

Mexican Riot Police Block Buses of Unionists on Way to Peaceful Protest

Outsourcing struggle at BP in Greece

Copper Contracts Being Settled in Chile’s Mining Industry

ICEM Iraqi Women's Workshop Meets in Erbil

Slovenian Unions Demand Higher Minimum Wage, Protest Government’s Effort to Increase Retirement Age

Paperworkers in Finland, Netherlands Take Strike Actions against Sappi

Turkish Public Employees to Stop Work on 25 November Calling for Right to Bargain, Strike

Ten-Day Strike by US Union against Rhodia Ends on 14 November

FNV’s Organising, Social Dialogue Forum in Turkey Comprehensive

CFMEU Begins Job Actions at Peabody Coal in Australia

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