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The modus operandi by US multinational Ross International on human rights reads like the script of &lsquo;how to behave badly in a globalised world.&rsquo; The company, which manufactures moulds for the glass container industry, appears to follow a handbook on how to subcontract and outsource work, while eliminating trade unions at the same time. 
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In a letter to the company last week, ICEM took on the company&rsquo;s anti-union techniques in Colombia. ICEM Colombian affiliate Sintravidricol is running a campaign in that country to get the company to deal responsibly with its workforce. 
 
Ross International owns one facility in Colombia where a collective bargaining agreement exists, called Moldes Medellin Ltda. Reportedly, this modern facility operates at only 50% capacity and is constantly reducing its number of workers, with a prohibition in place on hiring new ones. The company also owns four other factories in Colombia, which all are enlarging their capacity. 
 
New jobs at these facilities come with far less job security and at lower salaries, with most workers being hired through temporary work agencies. On top of that, Ross International ignores union requests in the one plant with an agreement. It also refuses to comply with earlier agreements in that plant. 
<img height="71" src="" width="130" alt="" />
In the US, where the company is headquartered in the state of Pennsylvania, ICEM North American affiliate United Steelworkers (USW) faces very similar problems. There as well, union members are the victims of Ross efforts to downsize mould shops, and outsource work that has, for years, been performed by USW members. The serious reductions in staff at Ross International&rsquo;s US operations affect three of the four company plants in the US: Penn Mould, Ross Mould, and Brockway Mould. 
 
Another sign that the company is not taking its obligations towards its workers seriously is that representatives of the USW have had seriously difficulties to even get a meeting with the management of the company to discuss the issues of downsizing, layoffs and possible solutions. 
 
As a mould manufacturer, Ross International serves both Owens-Illinois and Saint Gobain Container, Inc.

Ross International: Labour Problems in Colombia and US

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Manfred Warda was appointed to fulfil the final year, 2007, of Fred Higgs' term as General Secretary of the ICEM. The decision was made by the ICEM's Presidium at its 5 October meeting in Brussels. 
 
Higgs has been diagnosed, along with other health-related issues, with pleural plaques of the lungs, a condition brought about by industrial exposure to asbestos while working, near London, at Chloride Battery, where he got his start in the trade union movement as a shop steward in the 1960s. 
<img height="182" alt="" src="" width="300" />
From left to right: Manfred Warda, ICEM President Senzeni Zokwana and Fred Higgs
Higgs, who will turn 60 in December, will remain ICEM General Secretary until the end of the year. 
 
Warda, 59, is currently Head of the International Department of the German trade union IGBCE. A 43-year member of the IGBCE and before that, Industriegewerkschaft Bergbau und Energie (IGBE), the German Mineworkers' Union, Warda began working in the industrial sector in 1963, in his home city of Bochum, North Rhine Westphalia. 
 
He began his career inside IGBE in 1971, and after serving as an assistant and then Head of the President's Office, he became Head of IGBE's International Department from 1990 to 1997. Following the 1997 merger that created IGBCE, he continued as Head of the IGBCE&rsquo;s International Department.

Manfred Warda to Replace Fred Higgs as ICEM GS in 2007

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ICEM Workshop on Peer Education 
 
Peer Education was the central topic of the 3rd Regional Workshop for national coordinators, which was held in Johannesburg from 6 to 8 September 2006. Participants from ten sub-Saharan African countries acquired the necessary skills as peer educators and, in turn, train peer educators from ICEM affiliates in their own countries. 
National coordinators identified key functions for peer educators, the core contents of a peer educators&rsquo; programme, the qualities and skills required by peer educators, the sustainability of programmes and the role of unions in peer education. 
 
The ILO draft toolkit on behaviour change communication was an important tool in the workshop. Participants received the CD-Rom of this seven-part toolkit which provides essential resources on developing programmes. 
 
National coordinators also reviewed progress on activities since the 2nd Regional Workshop, in November 2005, and agreed to forward information on workplace policies and collective agreements with HIV/AIDS clauses to the Regional Coordinator in order to compile a best practice guide. 
 
For the remainder of the year, national programmes are planned in the participating countries. The 4th and final regional workshop in the present project cycle will be held in Johannesburg from 4 to 7 December, focussing on accessing external funding sources at national level and the writing of project proposals. 
 
(Source: Report Regional Coordinator) 
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Gates Foundation Supports the Global Fund &ndash; Advocates Empowerment of Women 
 
Shortly before the International AIDS Conference took place in Toronto in August, the Gates Foundation announced that it would give USD 500 million to the Global Fund over the years 2006-2010, at a rate of USD 100 million per year. This is a significant increase from the USD 150 million that the foundation gave over the four years 2002-2005. 
 
At the opening night of the Toronto Conference, Bill Gates called the Global Fund &ldquo;a fantastic vehicle for scaling up treatment and prevention&rdquo;. He went on to say that 
&ldquo;Right now, one of the most widely practiced approaches to prevention is the ABC Program, or Abstain, Be faithful, use Condoms. This approach has saved many lives and we should expand it. But for many at the highest risk of infection, ABC has its limits. Abstinence is not often an option for poor women and girls who have no choice but to marry at an early age. Being faithful will not protect the woman whose partner is not faithful. Using condoms is not a decision that a woman can make by herself. It depends on a man. We need to put the power to prevent HIV in the hands of women. 
 
So we need tools that will allow women to protect themselves. This is true whether the woman is the faithful, married mother of small children or a sex worker trying to scrape out a living in a slum. No matter where she lives, who she is or what she does, a woman should never need her partner&rsquo;s permission to save her own life. To be clear, as we discover and distribute preventative tools that women can use without a man&rsquo;s cooperation, we are not excusing men from their obligations to be responsible and to protect their partners. We&rsquo;re just reducing the consequences to women if they don&rsquo;t.&rdquo; 
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation received some USD 31 billion from Warren Buffet, which brings its total assets to around USD 60 billion. 
 
(Source: Global Fund Observer Issue 63, 19 September &ndash; GFO is a free service of Aidspan <a href="http://www.aidspan.org">www.aidspan.org</a>) 
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TAC Day of Action &ndash; Call for Minister of Health to Resign 
 
A Day of Action on 24 August, called for by South Africa&rsquo;s Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), was marked by protests in cities throughout the country, as well as at several South African embassies, calling for the resignation of Minister of Health Manto Tshabalala-Msimang. 
The Global AIDS Alliance stated that &ldquo;For many years an effective response to the HIV/AIDS crisis was hampered by disastrous pseudo-scientific policies. South Africa has the knowledge, the skills and the resources to be in the forefront of the fight against the pandemic.&rdquo; 
 
With a prevalence rate of close to 20 percent, around 5.5 million people are living with HIV/AIDS; more than 800 are dying every day. This is in the first place an avoidable human tragedy. But it is also affecting the investment climate in the country, with foreign companies increasingly being concerned about the impact of HIV/AIDS. 
 
(Source: TAC Press Release, 20 August and Press Release Global AIDS Alliance, 23 August) 
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Roche Transfers Know-How for Generic Production 
 
The Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche has granted a cost-free licence to three African generic producers &ndash; two in Kenya and one in South Africa &ndash; to produce a generic version of its AIDS drug Sequinavir. The drug is used in second-line treatment when resistance to first-line treatment has been developed. 
 
(Source Neue Z&uuml;rcher Zeitung, 23-24 September 2006)
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Namibia Up-scales ART 
 
The Namibian government expects to treat more than 30,000 HIV-positive people with antiretroviral drugs by the beginning of 2007. This will cover about 58 per cent of those requiring treatment. Under Namibia&rsquo;s treatment programme, which started in 2003, the number of deaths from AIDS-related illnesses has dropped from 3,627 in 2004 to 3,230 in 2005. 90 per cent of the people who have been receiving ARVs since the programme started in 2003 are still alive. 
The procurement of ARVs is mainly financed by PEPFAR and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. According to the WHO, Namibia is among the top countries to provide ARVs. 
 
(Source: Global Fund Website reprinted with permission from the Kaiser Family Foundation and GlobalHealthReporting.org) 
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Jamaica: Business Joins the Fight against HIV/AIDS 
 
19 private-sector companies committed to join the fight against HIV/AIDS stigma and discrimination at the workplace, during the launch of the Jamaica Business Council on HIV/AIDS. The Council&rsquo;s mission also includes prevention and treatment strategies for the workplace. USAID and pharmaceutical company Merck provided USD 100,000 to set up the Council. No mention is made of the role of unions to fight HIV/AIDS at the workplace. 
 
About 25,000 Jamaicans are living with HIV/AIDS, equivalent to a prevalence rate of 1.5 per cent. 
 
(Source: The Jamaica Observer, 22 September) 
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Global Fund Considers Grant Requests 
 
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has announced that its Technical Review Panel has recommended 85 requests for funding, worth a total of USD 949 million over the first two years of the grant period. This represent 43 per cent of all eligible proposals received by the Global Fund for the 6th Round, for which the deadline was 3 August. 
At present, only about USD 650 million is available for Round 6 grants. Proposals worth this amount will most likely be approved by the Board Meeting at the end of October, with the remaining USD 300 million worth of proposals being approved after adequate pledges are received in 2006 or 2007. 
 
(Source: Global Fund Observer Issue 64, 10 October &ndash; GFO is a free service of Aidspan www.aidspan.org)

ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin - No. 13

Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont 
General Sondhi Boonyaratglin 
 
Government House 
Pitsunalok Road 
Bangkok 10300 
Thailand&nbsp;
 
Brussels, 5 October 2006 
 
Dear General, 
Dear Prime Minister, 
 
Meeting in Brussels, Belgium, today, the ICEM Presidium, the policy setting body of the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions, demands the immediate and full restoration of civil rights and democratic freedoms in your country. 
 
The ICEM Presidium members see it as an important priority to lift the current martial law at once. In addition, elections need to be held as soon as possible. 
 
The restoration of fundamental human rights is a necessary and urgently needed first step so that your country can be put back on its route to democracy. As part of this, we call upon you to remove, without delay, the whole range of political restrictions that are currently in place, so that the situation for Thai citizens can be normalised. 
 
The ICEM is scheduled to hold its 4th World Congress in Bangkok next year, from 22 to 24 November 2007. 
 
Thanking you for your consideration. 
 
Yours sincerely, 
 
Fred Higgs 
General Secretary. 

Cc: Embassy of Thailand in Brussels

ICEM letter to Thailand interim government

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Trade union representatives from Sappi paper mills in Europe, South Africa, and the US gathered in La Roche, Belgium, 22-23 September, to discuss the South African-based company&rsquo;s European restructuring measures. This restructuring has already led to numerous &ndash; and sometimes massive &ndash; redundancies at several mills. 
 
The seminar, hosted jointly by the Belgian Unions ABVV/FGTB and ACV BI/CSC BI, was attended by representatives from both ICEM and the European Mine, Chemical, and Energy Workers&rsquo; Federation (EMCEF). The two-day event primarily focused on Sappi&rsquo;s &ldquo;Project Everest,&rdquo; a restructuring programme announced in February 2006 for the company&rsquo;s European operations. Project Everest is aimed at improving the company&rsquo;s operating income by the end of 2007. 
 
Sappi workers&rsquo; representatives from Austria, Belgium, Germany, The Netherlands, and the UK, who currently face different stages of the restructuring, shared their experiences, while trade unionists from South Africa and the US added to the discussion by updating the participants on situations inside their mills. 
<img height="285" src="" width="380" alt="" />
Union participants in La Roche produced a joint letter from the Global Union Sappi Network to company Chairman Eugene van As, stating common concern over the company&rsquo;s cost-cutting measures. The letter says that the restructuring is potentially damaging not only to the company&rsquo;s workers, but also to the company itself. 
 
The letter requested clarification of management&rsquo;s development strategy for Sappi. The letter also asked van As to direct his reply to Pasco Dyani of ICEM affiliate Chemical, Energy, Paper, Printing, Wood, and Allied Workers&rsquo; Union (CEPPWAWU) of South Africa, who serves as Chairman of ICEM&rsquo;s Global Sappi Union Network.

Sappi Trade Unionists Meet to Discuss Company’s European Restructuring

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An eleventh hour agreement was reached late on Saturday, 30 September, just hours before 800 Canadian members of United Steelworkers (USW) were set to strike the Highland Valley copper mine and operations near Kamloops, British Colombia. 
 
USW Local 7619 and the mine&rsquo;s owner, Teck Cominco, reached a tentative five-year labour agreement that will now be voted on by union members over the next week. The USW local issued a 72-hour strike notice on 26 September, and the Vancouver-based global mining house began shutting down operations in anticipation of a strike at the expiration of a prior agreement on 1 October. The tentative agreement came with the help of a provincial mediator. 
<img height="50" src="" width="100" alt="" />
The Highland Valley operation is Canada&rsquo;s largest copper producer and generates 1.2% of the world&rsquo;s copper supply, with roughly 80% headed to Asian manufacturers. 
 
In Eastern Canada, a strike by USW members at Inco&rsquo;s Voisey Bay nickel operations ended 23 September, after 120 workers ratified a new labour contract. The strike started on 28 July 2006. 
 
The accord gives Voisey Bay steelworkers a 15.5% raise over the three-year contract, as well as a retention bonus of C$6,000. It also allows the nickel miners to gain parity with unionised Inco miners in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Manitoba.

Strike Averted at Canada’s Largest Copper Mine

A nationwide power strike was postponed at the last minute in South Korea today. However, the dispute is unlikely to be resolved. 
<img height="263" src="" width="350" alt="" />
 
The Korea National Electricity Workers' Union (KNEWU) today agreed to hold four more days of talks with the government over plans to split up and privatise the national power utility KEPCO. 
 
The union - and a large proportion of the Korean public - oppose the privatisation scheme. 
 
The strike had been due to start at 5 a.m. today local time. It was temporarily postponed after the government threatened to impose emergency arbitration. This would have made any strike action illegal. 
 
But there are few signs that the government will back down over the power sell-off, union sources say. So strikes are still likely at the beginning of December. 
 
If the industrial action goes ahead, it may merge into a broader general strike. Today, for the first time ever, the presidents of the two national trade union confederations FKTU and KCTU agreed to hold a joint press conference about plans for a general strike next month. This will be in protest against the privatisation of state-owned companies, the structural adjustment programme in the bank industry and the sell-off of the Daewoo motor company. 
 
Meanwhile, a sit-in at the headquarters of the power utility KEPCO will continue, the KNEWU said. 
 
At the global level, the KNEWU is affiliated to the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM), which has pledged full support for the union's campaign. Asia-Pacific energy unions meeting in Bangkok this week also declared their solidarity. Energy unions in a number of Asian countries have been contending with World Bank-influenced plans to privatise their industries.

Korean Power Strike Postponed For Talks

South Korea faces a nationwide power strike from 24 November over plans to privatise the electricity sector. 
 
Notice of industrial action has already been served by the Korea National Electricity Workers' Union (KNEWU), which will ballot members tomorrow. The union says it will launch the action if the Korean parliament presses ahead with legislation to split up and privatise the Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO). 
 
The parliament's Standing Committee on Industry and Energy is due to consider the draft law by 23 November. The KNEWU has publicly opposed the plans from the outset. A recent opinion poll showed 90.8 percent of KEPCO employees ready to take part in protests, and the scheme has also run into growing opposition from the public at large. In fact, the restructuring is already behind schedule because parliament pulled back from adopting the legislation last year. 
 
KEPCO is one of South Korea's biggest public enterprises. By law, the government currently holds 52.6 percent of its equity. The corporation accounts for about 94.2 percent of the country's power generation, and has 44 GWh of installed capacity. It transmits, distributes and sells all of South Korea's electricity. In June this year, it employed 34,146 people. 
 
The government has tabled a four-phase privatisation plan, starting with a split-up of KEPCO's generation side from this year onward and full privatisation of generation by 2002. Full competition would be introduced into the wholesale electricity market in the period 2003-2008, and the retail side of the business would be sold off. Competitive retailing of electricity would be brought in from 2009 onwards. 
 
KEPCO's thermal and hydro generation units are already being hived off into five separate subsidiaries, as a prelude to privatisation. Its nuclear capacity will be kept as a wholly-owned KEPCO subsidiary for the foreseeable future. As in power sell-offs elsewhere, there may be few or no takers for the nuclear stations. 
 
One issue is the debts run up by KEPCO, but the union points out that these are the result of the government's own policy of providing cheap electricity to industry and to low-income households. KEPCO has a public service ethic which includes support for rural communities, small and medium-scale enterprises and the domestic coal industry. 
 
The union's fight against privatisation is &quot;not just a matter of job security,&quot; said KNEWU representative Kim Chae-Ro. &quot;Resolving KEPCO's debts through asset sales will destroy the company. The changes will lead to an industry where suppliers wield the sword.&quot; 
 
Globally, the KNEWU is affiliated to the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM), which has declared full support for the Korean union's action. 
 
&quot;Your powerful campaign has so far prevented the sell-off of your national utility,&quot; ICEM General Secretary Fred Higgs emphasised in a message to KNEWU President Oh Kyung-Ho today. &quot;In Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America and Africa, we are helping our unions to fight against destructive privatisation which has led to huge job losses, higher prices and declining health and safety conditions everywhere it has been carried out. In countries such as Mexico, Costa Rica, Hungary, Uruguay, Paraguay and Thailand, unions have campaigned successfully in favour of alternative models which safeguard the interests of workers, their families and the citizens. The ICEM strongly believes that energy is a social product. It should be produced and distributed for the good of all citizens, not just for the benefit of the few.&quot; 
 
At special ceremonies across South Korea today, KNEWU officers had their hair trimmed down to a monkish minimum. It was a token of their readiness - and a cutting comment on a sell-off that could leave Korea shorn.

Korean Power Strike Over Privatisation

How can workers face up to the might of the global corporations? 
	 
	By organising globally.

	That is why more than 20 million workers worldwide are already members of the ICEM, the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers&#039; Unions. 
	 
	The ICEM is a rapidly growing industry-based world labour federation dedicated to practical solidarity. It unites trade unions in its sectors on all continents. Its aim is to become a truly global trade union.

	<img alt="" height="43" src="" width="50" />

	Its main focuses are:
<ul>
	<li>
		<div align="justify">
			negotiating and monitoring global agreements with multinational companies - mainly on workers&#039; rights, equality at work and the highest standards of health, safety and environmental protection worldwide</div>
	</li>
	<li>
		<div align="justify">
			networking trade union reps within global corporations</div>
	</li>
	<li>
		<div align="justify">
			coordinating solidarity and support for member unions during disputes</div>
	</li>
	<li>
		<div align="justify">
			union-building in countries where unions are weak or non-existent</div>
	</li>
	<li>
		<div align="justify">
			providing information and expertise on topics ranging from collective bargaining to health and safety standards</div>
	</li>
	<li>
		<div align="justify">
			representing workers&#039; interests within the UN, its agencies and other intergovernmental bodies</div>
	</li>
	<li>
		<div align="justify">
			skills training and development work with trade union officers and rank-and-file union members.</div>
	</li>
</ul>

	 
	The ICEM organises in a wide range of industries: 
	 
	Energy 
	Exploration, production, generation, refining and distribution of all types of primary and secondary energy. 
	 
	Mining and Quarrying 
	Exploration, extraction and processing of hard coal and lignite, metallic and non-metallic minerals, clays, sands, gravels and gems. 
	 
	Chemicals and Bioscience 
	Research, production and refining of chemical elements, compounds and products, pharmaceuticals, chemo-technical products, petrochemical products, agrochemicals, plastics, plastic products and composites and artificial fibres. Research and manufacture of products and materials resulting from biotechnical methods or genetic engineering techniques. 
	 
	Pulp and Paper 
	Research, production and conversion of pulp, paper, board, kraft, paper packaging and other paper and board products. 
	 
	Rubber 
	Research and production of synthetic rubber and composites and fabrication of both natural and synthetic rubber products. 
	 
	Diamonds, Gems, Ornaments and Jewellery Production 
	Diamond and gem sorting, cutting and polishing; pearl farming and setting; ornament and jewellery manufacture. 
	 
	Glass, Ceramics, Cement and Associated Industries 
	Research, production and fabrication of flat glass, container glass, glass fibres, household glass, technical glass and all other glass products; all types of pottery, clay and ceramic materials, composites and products; cement, non-metallic minerals, composites and products. 
	 
	Environmental Services 
	Waste disposal and recovery, pollution control, recycling, cleaning and maintenance, laundry, dry cleaning and hygiene services, porterage and security and associated activities. 
	 
	Service and Miscellaneous Industries 
	Service and miscellaneous industries not falling within the scope of other International Trade Secretariats. 
	 
	 
	The ICEM membership includes all employee categories within its sectors.

	By March 2012, the ICEM represented 355 industrial trade unions in 115 countries. Enquiries are welcomed from other unions in ICEM sectors worldwide. 
	 
	The ICEM unites workers irrespective of race, nationality, gender or creed. It supports sustainable industrial development. The ICEM campaigns for the highest levels of health and safety at the workplace, and for environmentally responsible industrial products and processes. The ICEM is also committed to the global application of the best possible standards and practices - especially within multinational corporations.

	&nbsp;

	 
	Principal officers of the ICEM

	&nbsp;

	 
	<img alt="" height="198" src="" width="160" /> 
	 
	President 
	Senzeni Zokwana 

	&nbsp;

	<img alt="" height="169" src="" width="160" /> 
	 
	General Secretary 
	Manfred Warda

	 
	The ICEM promotes modern techniques of information exchange between affiliated trade unions, including computer networking. In particular, it is expanding trade union contacts and cooperation within the worldwide operations of the major multinational companies in its industries. 
	 
	As a clearing house for trade union expertise, the ICEM draws on a pool of specialists from its affiliated trade unions around the world. Its own staff provide rapid responses to unions&#039; specific questions on, for example, collective bargaining trends, company structures or the health hazards of a new industrial chemical. 
	 
	The ICEM believes that its policies must be locally &quot;owned&quot; by its rank-and-file membership - not handed down from above. These policies must be relevant to the day-to-day needs of its affiliated trade unions. The ICEM&#039;s union-building programmes carefully avoid the creation of client organisations. Its assistance to newly emerging industrial trade unions is on the basis of help for self-help. 
	 
	While maintaining its global unity, the ICEM has devolved some of its decisions and action to the world&#039;s different regions. 
	 
	Special provisions ensure that women workers throughout the world are properly represented within the ICEM, which runs programmes to meet their particular concerns. 
	 
	The ICEM issues a range of general and specialised publications, both in print and via the Internet. It also voices workers&#039; concerns within the world media. And its website at www.icem.org is first with the unions&#039; news and views. 
	 
	The ICEM often makes representations on workers&#039; behalf to national authorities and international bodies. These include the relevant specialised UN agencies, such as the International Labour Organisation and the World Health Organisation. 
	 
	The ICEM maintains close contact with the trade union movement&#039;s other sector-by-sector Global Union Federations (GUFs), with the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), with regional trade union bodies of all continents and with other organisations campaigning on issues that directly affect its members (for example, the environment and human rights). 
	 
	The world&#039;s major employers are now organised globally. Trade unions cannot lag behind. The ICEM believes that industrial trade unionism worldwide must concentrate on its main tasks - improving workers&#039; pay and conditions and recruiting new members.

The ICEM - who we are, what we do

Global Solidarity 
A newsletter for unionised Goodyear workers world-wide
 
Global Network Links Workers across Borders 
 
When more than 100 labor leaders and trade union representatives from 16 countries gathered in Cleveland, Ohio in March 1999, they decided to form a global network for Goodyear workers around the world. The goal was to open lines of communication worldwide and to share information of mutual interest. 
 
Publishing Global Solidarity is one facet in the creation of a network that builds international worker solidarity within a multinational corporation. With the continuing consolidation of the world tire industry, workers need a united global front to address common problems. 
 
The Cleveland conference and the establishment of a global network was a direct result of an agenda established during an ICEM rubber industry conference held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in June 1998. 
 
The delegates at the Cleveland conference elected a network steering committee comprised of Richard Davis (United Steelworkers of America), chairman; Yoshihiko Sawada (Gomo Rengo, Japan); Bill Holmes (Manufacturing Science &amp; Finance, U.K.); Carlos Antonio da Silva (Frente Unica de Borracha, Brazil); Thabang Nchele (National Union of Metalworkers, South Africa); and Peter Schmitt, (ICEM). 
 
The Steering Committee met in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on January 25, 2000 to set the network&rsquo;s direction. Among other things, the network held an initial meeting with senior Goodyear executives and proposed that a joint agreement on health and safety be negotiated. 
 
 
U.S. Steelworkers Win Contract Improvements 
 
On November 15, 2000, the Goodyear/Kelly Springfield/Dunlop Policy Committee of the United Steelworkers of America announced member ratification of changes to the Master Contract. The contract improvements are consistent with the industry pattern agreement established in the 2000 Bridgestone negotiations. 
 
Union workers at Goodyear and subsidiary plants in the U.S. will receive wage, cost-of-living and pension increases as well as language improvements in several areas, including preferential hiring and outside contracting. The agreement covers 12,000 employees at nine Goodyear locations, 5,700 workers at three Kelly plants and 2,600 workers at two Dunlop facilities. 
 
Negotiations between Goodyear and the Steelworkers began in March. Re-opener discussions were suspended March 10, about a month after the Steelworkers chose Bridgestone as its target company for pattern bargaining. When negotiations between Bridgestone/Firestone and the union concluded successfully in September, talks between the Steelworkers and Goodyear resumed. 
 
 
Asia/Pacific Unions Hold Regional Conference 
 
The ICEM hosted the Asia/Pacific Goodyear Network Workshop in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on July 25-26, 2000. The workshop resulted from actions taken at the ICEM World Rubber Conference of June 1998 and the ICEM-USWA Goodyear World Conference of March 1999, which directed Goodyear steering committees in all regions to conduct sessions. 
 
Yoshihiko Sawada, president of the Japanese Rubber Workers Union Confederation (Gomu Rengo, Japan) chaired the workshop that included 18 participants from five countries. Participants also came from SP KEP Goodyear Union, Indonesia; National Union of Workers, Australia; National Union of Employees in Companies Manufacturing Rubber Products, Malaysia; Centre of Indian Trade Unions; as well as ICEM-JAF and the ICEM. 
 
In addition to developing ways to network and communicate better, work groups discussed issues such as industrial health and safety, occupational diseases, and training and education programs. 
 
 
Goodyear Pushes to Bust Union in Colombia 
 
Despite extensive efforts over the past months to work with the company to reduce production costs at the Santiago de Cali plant, Goodyear management in Colombia is engaged in a blatant effort to undermine its collective bargaining relationship with the tire workers union SINTRAINCAPLA. 
 
The company unilaterally violated the union contract by hiring temporary workers in the production and maintenance departments. The collective bargaining agreement explicitly prohibits the use of temporary or contract workers unless the company and union agree. 
 
Workers at the plant have already accepted a number of concessions pursuant to collective bargaining negotiations with management aimed at saving jobs and keeping the plant open. 
 
 
Canadian Workers Reject Company Proposal 
 
Members of a Salaberry-De-Valleyfield, Quebec union, already on strike for six months, rejected a five-year contract proposal from Goodyear on November 15. Wage and job security issues were the reasons that members of Steelworker Local 919 overwhelmingly rejected the offer. The 76-member local, mainly office and technical workers at Goodyear&rsquo;s Valleyfield passenger radial facility, have been on strike since April 27, 2000. 
 
Local members have been working without a contract since July 1996. The union and the company have fought within Quebec&rsquo;s labor department over alleged exclusion of certain jobs from unionization. Initially the local was prevented by provincial law from striking, but regained that right earlier this year. 
 
The exclusion of jobs from bargaining units has continued to be an issue during the negotiations. Management&rsquo;s desire to turn union into non-union work, continued layoffs of Local 919 members, and increased use of subcontracting has reduced union employment by about 40% over the past decade. The Communications, Energy &amp; Paperwork Union represent production and maintenance workers at the plant. 
 
 
Indonesian Union Makes Proposal to Company 
 
In November, the SP.KEP Goodyear Indonesia (Chemical, Energy and Mine Workers Union at Goodyear Indonesia) 
 
initiated negotiations with PT. Goodyear Indonesia Tbk. The union is looking to improve wages, working condition and safety for its members. 
 
 
Goodyear Reneges on UK Union Agreement 
 
The company has mounted a major attack on two ICEM-affiliated unions in the United Kingdom. The Transport and General Workers Union and the MSF are battling to protect its members&rsquo; terms and conditions of employment as well as their ability to effectively represent membership. 
 
Goodyear has already announced layoffs (redundancies) of 540 workers at its Wolverhampton facility. More troubling is the way the company is handling the matter. In addition to the redundancy notice, the company has delivered 90 days notice that it is unilaterally canceling the long established employment security and severance payment agreement. 
 
ICEM General Secretary Fred Higgs and Goodyear Network chairman Dick Davis have urged the company to honor its commitments. 
 
The agreement, first signed in 1985, was revised and renegotiated as recently as October 1999. In September 2000, a Goodyear senior vice president promised the workers at Wolverhampton that the company would honor all existing agreements, including the Security of Employment Agreement. 
 
 
Operating Engineers Ratify Contract 
 
Striking workers at Goodyear&rsquo;s chemical plant in Houston, Texas overwhelmingly ratified a new contract in mid-December. The new agreement provides pension improvements and a first-year lump sum wage increase. 
 
Union solidarity was key in fighting Goodyear&rsquo;s demand for concessions on seniority rights, contracting out, health benefit cuts and wage reductions. Members of Local 347 of the International Union of Operating Engineers walked out on October 10 after rejecting the company&rsquo;s proposed new agreement. 
 
International unions representing Goodyear workers in France, Germany, Guatemala, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Peru, Colombia, Australia and the U.S. registered protests with the company and lent support to Local 347. 
 
In early November, the workers rejected by a 2-to-1 margin another company offer that called for contracting out 139 jobs or across-the-board pay cuts. Wages would have automatically been cut by 33%, health care cost would have increased and a number of jobs would have been phased out over a two-year period. 
 
The settlement covers 350 workers at a plant that manufactures emulsion styrene butadiene rubber, a material used in tire production. 
 
 
Anti-Union Tactics in Guatemala 
 
The ICEM reported last year that Goodyear has targeted workers in Guatemala with anti-union practices. Forty-eight production employees, members of STGINSA, at the Guatemala City plant were fired without just cause and two executive committee members of the union were suspended. 
 
The union said the action breaches the collective bargaining agreement, the labor laws of the country and the international labor conventions ratified by the government of Guatemala. Ron Hoover, USWA Goodyear Coordinator in the U.S. urged the company to &ldquo;take the necessary steps to restore the proper integrity to the collective bargaining process (in Guatemala) and protect the company&rsquo;s &ldquo;Good Name.&rdquo; 
 
 
European Unions Stand Up for Goodyear Workers 
 
The IGBCE of Germany and the FCE-CFDT of France have recently written support letters on behalf of Goodyear workers in Wolverhampton, UK, Houston, U.S. and Colombia, South America. The letters were written to Goodyear Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Samir Gibara. 
 
Both letters proclaimed support for the Houston workers&rsquo; fight for a new contract and condemned Goodyear&rsquo;s management for undermining negotiations in Colombia, as well as terminating a job security agreement in the U.K. 
 
IGBCE president Hubertus Schmoldt also cited serious problems with Goodyear at its Philippsburg, Germany factory. Schmoldt criticized the company for trying to wreck the collective agreement and for not reinvesting in the facility. 
 
Both unions appealed to the company to take a civilized approach of discussing and negotiating changes with both the workers and their unions. 
 
 
ICEM &amp; FUTINAL Host International Conference 
 
Leaders of 25 unions from Mexico, Guatemala, Venezuela, Colombia, Peru Chile and Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil and the United States, gathered in Praia Grande, Brazil in November 2000 to participate in a conference hosted by the ICEM and the Latin American United Tire and Rubber Industry Workers Front (FUTINAL). 
 
The tire and rubber worker trade unionists examined trends in the world industry as well as national, regional and global concerns. Measures were adopted that will improve the exchange of information between workers of different global tire companies that operate in the region. 
Several motions were passed that extended solidarity to Goodyear workers in the region. Members Guatemalan Goodyear union STGINSA received a pledge of support from the conference in their battle against the company&rsquo;s anti-union practices. 
 
A resolution condemning Goodyear&rsquo;s union busting attempts in Colombia was passed, as was a motion directed to the Colombian government that denounced death threats by right wing groups to labor leaders. 
 
A motion to offer international solidarity to the Titan Tire workers in Uruguay, members of FUNSA, also passed. This action denounced the recent agreement between Titan and Goodyear that reduces tire production in Uruguay and promotes the imports of Goodyear products. 
In an act designed to strengthen the links between workers across borders, it was decided that an international delegation of rubber workers would visit in early 2001 all the countries of the Americas affiliated with FUTINAL. Next year&rsquo;s conference will be held in Argentina. 
 
 
Goodyear-Pacific Dunlop Announces Restructuring 
 
South Pacific Tyres Ltd. is cutting production at one site and laying off workers at another in Australia. The joint venture of Goodyear and Pacific Dunlop looks to reduce costs and reverse company losses within six months. 
 
Heavy truck production will be halted at the Somerton plant and passenger and light tire production will be reorganized. The company also plans to lay off 500 workers at its Melbourne plant and reduce the product line at that facility. 
 
The National Union of Workers represents workers at these plants. 
 
 
Aircraft Tire Production Resumes in Brazil 
 
After a seven-year hiatus, Goodyear has resumed production of aircraft tires at its Sao Paulo, Brazil facility to meet increased demand. The company manufactured aviation tires at the plant from 1943 until 1992, when it suspended production. 
 
About 30 percent of the tire output will be for the Brazilian market while the rest will be exported to North America, Europe, Asia, Australia and other Latin American countries. 
 
Brazilian airplane manufacturer Embraer-Empresa Brasiliera de Aeronautica, the world&rsquo;s fourth largest producer of airliners and a Goodyear customer since 1969, is building a new domestic plant that the company will supply. 
 
 
Global Goodyear 
 
Goodyear is the world&rsquo;s largest tire company. In addition, it manufactures and markets worldwide several lines of belts, hoses and other rubber products for the transportation industry, as well as various industrial and consumer products. 
 
Goodyear operates 92 plants in 27 countries around the world. Thirty-two plants are located in the US, eight in Canada, 20 in Europe, two in Africa, 13 in Latin America and 17 in Asia. With the addition of its Dunlop tire joint ventures, Goodyear employs more than 100,000. 
 
Last year, Goodyear posted net sales of $12.9 billion and net income was $241.1 million. For the nine months ending September 2000, net sales increased 12%. 
 
Goodyear is the No. 1 tire maker in North America and South America and the largest in Europe. Chairman and CEO, Samir Gibara, earned $1.6 million USD in salary last year and exercised options worth another $216,000 USD during that time. 
 
 
Send Your News! 
 
Global Solidarity is published by the United Steelworkers of America, Five Gateway Center, Pittsburgh, PA. 15222, USA. 
 
If you have news and information for the next issue of Solidarity News, please send it to Don Faulkner by: 
 
Fax + 1 412 562 2520 or 
 
E-mail mailto:dfaulkner@uswa.org

Goodyear network Global Bulletin - English version

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