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Thursday, 15 January, saw Brazil&rsquo;s five major labour unions come together, pledging to follow a united path through the current economic crisis. The meeting held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil&rsquo;s centre for business and largest city, created the &ldquo;Union Action Pact,&rdquo; which outlines the labour movement&rsquo;s determination to protect jobs during the economic downturn. The pact will now be presented to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and to several state governors. 
 
The newly unified force of the five unions represents tens of millions of workers throughout Brazil, the largest and most important of the Latin American economies. The weight given by these numbers to demands laid out in the accord is considerable. One important clause decided on by the unions is that loans and benefits from the Brazilian government to companies be linked to commitments by them not to cut jobs. 

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Other demands laid out in the accord are to do with the national economy. Organised labour asks the central bank to lower the national interest rate from its currant 13.75%, and also puts demands on private banks to correct the current imbalance between the interest they charge borrowers and the rates they pay for deposits. 
 
The labour groups are asking Lula, himself a former union leader, to boost unemployment insurance and to increase the amount of money going to the national worker-training fund. They are planning a manifestation this Wednesday, 28 January, in S&atilde;o Paulo to coincide with a central bank meeting related to interest rates. 
 
A current example of the problems facing Brazilian workers is at the powerful S&atilde;o Paulo state industrial federation, or FIESP. While asking workers to accept a 25% pay cut, FIESP is unwilling to offer a no-layoff pledge.

Brazilian Labour Unions work together to fight challenging economic times

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The ICEM has taken up a call for support to 430 paperworkers in Argentina, represented by affiliate Federation of Workers&rsquo; of the Paper, Carton, and Chemical (FOEIPCyQ) Unions. 
 
Employed by the Argentine company, Massuh SA, the workers did not receive wage payments in January and the second half of December 2008. The company is also guilty of non-payment of social benefits last year, in which cheques to public entities failed due to insufficient funds. 
 
FOEIPCyQ&rsquo;s Executive Council has given the situation high priority. The union is pressing the Ministry of Labour, Employment, and Social Security, as well as the Buenos Aires Provincial Ministry of Work to address the situation. FOEIPCyQ is also delivering food to families, as well as providing other support. 

<img height="83" alt="" src="" width="180" />
The ICEM has written to the financially troubled company demanding immediate payment of back wages to workers. &ldquo;The number one priority for any company should be the payment of fair compensation to workers,&rdquo; wrote the ICEM. &ldquo;We urge you to handle this matter in a socially responsible way, as well as to use full dialogue and commitment with the legitimate workers&rsquo; representative,&rdquo; the FOEIPCyQ. 
 
The ICEM strongly encourages affiliated trade unions to take the Spanish-language Letter of Support to Massuh workers, found <a href="/index.php?id=78&amp;la=EN&amp;doc=3014">here</a>, place it on your letterhead, and e-mail to the union, at <a href="mailto:fedpapel@speedy.com.ar">fedpapel@speedy.com.ar</a>. 
 
Massuh operates a pulp and paper mill with two paper machines in Quilmes, near Argentina.

ICEM Seeks Support for Argentine Paperworkers Who Have Been Denied Wages

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ICEM affiliate Sintracarb&oacute;n in Colombia last week achieved major wage and other gains, including 180 promotions for contract workers. The two-year contract, ratified 78-6 by the union&rsquo;s Delegates Assembly on 18 January, is with Carbones del Cerrej&oacute;n, the thermal coal exporter owned by AngloAmerica, BHP Billiton, and Xstrata. As reported in December by the ICEM, miners were seeking social improvements regarding family health, education, transportation, restrictions on outsourcing, and other social responses inside several Colombian communities in la Guijara state. 
 
The renewal agreement covers some 4,000 workers at Colombia&rsquo;s largest mining operation, and successful negotiation of the contract keeps in place a social dialogue commitment between management of Carbones del Cerrej&oacute;n and Sintracarb&oacute;n that the ICEM was instrumental in forging in 2004. 
 
Talks began on 1 December toward a 31 January 2009 expiration, with the union in early January giving a 17 January deadline for negotiations to conclude. 

<img height="185" alt="" src="" width="220" />
The contract grants an 11% pay increase to Cerrej&oacute;n miners and workers at the company&rsquo;s Puerto Bol&iacute;var export facility on the Caribbean for 2009, some 3% to 4% higher than the average negotiated settlements in Colombia. In 2010, workers will receive a 7% increase or 1.8% above the 2009 consumer price index, whichever is higher. 
 
Besides 180 precarious workers moving to full-time employment, the employer agrees to respect the right of contract workers to affiliate with Sintracarb&oacute;n. The negotiations also yielded improvements in transportation to and from the open-cast mines, education stipends for miners&rsquo; and port workers&rsquo; children, retiree benefits, and talks also produced financial sums to Sintracarb&oacute;n to perform benevolent deeds and community services. 
 
Besides improvements to health insurance, Cerrej&oacute;n management agreed to fund a study to be undertaken by the union related to workers&rsquo; health concerns. 
 
The Colombian union requested ICEM trigger international solidarity in the form of letters to the managing director, and that call was answered by numerous unions, which had a profound effect. ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda wrote on behalf of the 20-million-member Global Union Federation supporting Sintracarb&oacute;n, warning the company that an expeditious settlement must come or strike action would result.
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Our union is grateful to all the unions, social organisations, NGOs, and community networks that exhibited national and international support that was fundamental and instrumental&rdquo; in achieving the contract, Sintracarb&oacute;n said in a statement. 
 
ICEM&rsquo;s Warda said the labour-management process of social dialogue at Carbones del Cerrej&oacute;n serves as an impressive example on what can accomplished through mutual respect and shared responsibility. 
 
The Colombian operation of the three multinationals mines a high-quality, low-sulphur thermal coal that meets stringent emissions standards in many countries. The company is embarking on a US$300 million modernisation plan this year to upgrade infrastructure, technology, and mining equipment. The mines produced 32 million tonnes of coal in 2008, with production expected to increase to 40 million tonnes by 2011.

Sintracarbón Miners Win Two-Year Renewal Contract at Colombia’s Biggest Coal Deposit

It was largely due to the efforts of those who suffered and their union representatives that governments, after decades of inaction, finally introduced regulations on the use of and exposure to asbestos. But asbestos is still around and there are those who continue to tout it as the &ldquo;magic mineral.&rdquo; While your brake linings and floor tiles may still contain asbestos, most of today's production is now exported to third world countries where weak regulation and enforcement allows people to be fatally exposed to the killer fibres. 
 
WHAT IS ASBESTOS? 
Asbestos is a class of silicate mineral fibre. There are three main asbestos minerals: chrysotile, crocidolite, and amosite. The most common type is chrysotile. 
 
Because of their chemical structure, they form long crystalline fibres of amazing strength and fire resistance which can be recovered from the mineral. Asbestos is used in textiles, cement products, brake linings, filters, roofing tiles, flooring, fillers for plastics and thousands of other products. 
 
While union activists in the 1970&rsquo;s and 80&rsquo;s managed to put the workplace hazards on the front burner and achieved enormous reforms on the job and legislatively, the fact is that asbestos is still in use. And the concerns initially raised by unionists 30 years ago, while still valid, have been somewhat muted by a well funded industry lobby, at times in sync with our governments. 
 
It is useful for health and safety activists to keep alert on the dangers inherent with the use of asbestos and to keep the focus where it should be: saving our members&rsquo; livelihoods and lives. 
 
There are a multitude of environmental and health related issues surrounding the use of asbestos in society. 
 
ASBESTOS RELATED ISSUES 
 
EXPOSURE LIMITS 
Even though there is no evidence that there is any &ldquo;safe&rdquo; level of exposure, most jurisdictions have enacted limits. Check what applies in your workplace. Workers need to assure themselves, when working with or near asbestos, that exposure limits are not being exceeded; that protective measures are adequate (respirators, clothing, etc.); and, that you are not endangering yourself. In many jurisdictions, you have the right to refuse unsafe work. 
 
SMOKING AND ASBESTOS 
An asbestos worker who smokes will have many times the risk of cancer than a non-smoking asbestos worker; or a non-asbestos exposed smoker, would have. But attempts to deflect the dangers of asbestos by blaming high cancer rates on smoking are irresponsible. The fact is that asbestos workers who have never smoked in their lives die of asbestos related cancers. 
 
BLUE vs WHITE 
There has been some suggestion that only &ldquo;blue&rdquo; (crocidolite) asbestos is a problem and that &ldquo;white&rdquo; (chrysotile) asbestos is relatively safe.. If true, why is asbestos related disease so widespread when crocidolite accounts for only 3% of all asbestos used? 
 
IMMOBILIZED FIBRES 
Industry makes the argument that the fibres are immobilized or bound together in such a way they cannot be released in many asbestos products. But, there are workers who must handle these fibres prior to their incorporation into such products and others who must saw, cut or fasten them in such a way that the fibres may, indeed be released. 
 
FIBRE MODIFICATION 
There is little or no evidence that chemically modifying asbestos fibres renders them safer and the only way to find out is to wait decades for workers to die or get sick. 
 
SUBSTITUTE PRODUCTS 
Fibreglass and other synthetic mineral fibres are the main asbestos substitutes. While it may be true that they are safer to work with than asbestos, the best approach for workers is to treat asbestos substitutes with suspicion and handle them with caution. The more similar the substitute is to asbestos, the more likely it is to have similar health effects. 
 
ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES 
Asbestos provides a good example of the link between occupational and environmental health and safety. Widespread environmental contamination with asbestos in asbestos producing region and near industries which use asbestos may be causing a &ldquo;cancer epidemic in slow motion.&rdquo; 
 
JUST TRANSITION 
Regrettably, the money already spent by some governments propping up this sunset industry could have been used to create a first class Just Transition programme for asbestos workers, their families and the communities that have depended on the asbestos industry. 
 
HOW ASBESTOS KILLS 
Asbestosis is one disease caused by asbestos in the lungs. Some scientists think that when asbestos fibres are inhaled, cells called macrophages attempt to engulf and digest them. The fibres are not easily dissolved by the digestive enzymes, however &ndash; although certain harmful chemical constituents of asbestos may be dissolved enough to be a problem in themselves. As well, the size and shape of asbestos fibres causes some of them to project through the cell wall of the macrophages, allowing these powerful enzymes to leak out and attack surrounding lung tissue. The end result is progressive scarring and damage to the lungs, resulting in loss of elasticity of the lung tissue. Damage can become severe enough to cause disability and death. 
 
Cancer is another consequence of asbestos exposure. Estimates of the number of cancer cases vary widely. Of the cancers that asbestos is known to cause, 80% are lung cancers; 10% are mesotheliomas; and 10% are others such as throat, stomach and intestinal. Although some asbestos cancers are difficult or impossible to distinguish from cancers caused by other agents; mesothelioma (cancer of the lining of the lungs or intenstines) is ONLY known to be caused in humans by asbestos. Mesothelioma is 100% fatal. 
 
IF YOU THINK THERE IS ASBESTOS IN YOUR WORKPLACE: 
Demand an immediate workplace Asbestos Survey. Your Joint Health and Safety Committee should lead the effort to identify and map all occurrences of asbestos and should be given all resources required to do the job. Once the asbestos has been identified, the JHSC should develop recommendations to control exposure. There are four generally accepted approaches. In order of preference, they are: 
 
1. Removal of the asbestos material: In all cases, this is the CEP&rsquo;s recommended solution. It is the only way to ensure the hazard is eliminated. Strict procedures must be followed and enforced which means careful planning and attention to the training of all workers and supervisors as well as to the choice of replacement materials. 
 
Of the four accepted approaches to dealing with asbestos, removal is best 
 
2. Encapsulation or sealing of the asbestos material: Coating or impregnating the asbestos material with a bonding agent immobilizes the fibres and reduces their release. Danger still exists, however, because the bonding material may deteriorate or work (cutting, grinding, repairs, etc.) may be performed on the material, creating the potential of fibres being released. Encapsulation should be considered a temporary measure with the objective of removing the asbestos material at some appropriate future date. 
 
3. Enclosure of the asbestos material: If neither removal nor encapsulation is possible within a reasonable time, the next best approach is to separate the asbestos material from the rest of the workplace by some kind of barrier (removable ceilings or walls are not acceptable). Enclosure is not a control measure and should be accepted only as a temporary means of protecting workers until removal can be completed. 
 
4. Asbestos management plan: If any materials cannot immediately be removed completely and safely, a management plan will be required. If any asbestos materials remain in the workplace, even if encapsulated or enclosed, an ongoing system is needed to: 
&bull; Maintain clear identification of the areas where exposure may take place; 
&bull; Educate people what to do if work must take place in or near these areas; 
&bull; Inspect the materials frequently for any changes; 
&bull; Formulate a complete removal strategy as quickly as possible. 
 
There are many lessons to be learned by union activists from the decades of battle which have been waged to protect ourselves and the public from asbestos hazards: 
 
&bull; Legislation and regulation on their own are not a total &ldquo;win&rdquo;. Regulatory solutions, too often, come after a problem becomes a crisis and while we need good laws, we also need better ways of identifying and controlling hazards before the death toll mounts. 
 
&bull; Our memory is too short. Having greatly reduced the uses and abuses of asbestos in the 1980&rsquo;s, too many people lowered their guard, believing the battle had been won. This has created an opportunity for the industry to rewrite history and win a rebirth. 
 
&bull; Scientists and other supposed independent authorities are just as vulnerable to undue influence as anyone when powerful economic forces are at work. 
 
&bull; Finally, the asbestos history reminds us that our best tool for building improved occupational health and safety is sold union activism at the shop floor level. 
 
DON&rsquo;T TAKE YOUR RIGHTS TO THE GRAVE 
If there is any doubt about whether the work is proceeding safely or not, remember that the regulations are a minimum standard. Compliance with regulations may not be sufficient in some cases. Remember, too, that workers in some cases have the right to refuse unsafe work. Don&rsquo;t take your rights to the grave!

ASBESTOS IS A KILLER

(Statement by International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation) Union leaders representing the international labour movement met with Santiago Canton, Secretary of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights of the OAS, in Washington, DC, to urge immediate action on Mexico and investigate gross labour and human rights violations carried out by the Mexican government against the National Miners and Metalworkers' Union of Mexico (SNTMMSRM). 
 
Led by Marcello Malentacchi, general secretary of the International Metalworkers' Federation and Juan Luis Zuniga of the National Miners' and Metalworkers' Union of Mexico, the delegation included: international representatives for the United Auto Workers (UAW) and United Steelworkers (USW); Manfred Warda, general secretary of International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM); Stan Gacek of the AFL-CIO; Victor Baez, general secretary of the Trade Union Confederation of the Americas (TUCA-ITUC); and petitioners Marco Del Toro and Luis Chavez from Del Toro Associates as legal representation to the Mexican miners' union. The high-level delegation put forward recommendations to the commission, among them, urging an immediate call on the Mexican government to:
■ return all frozen funds immediately to the SNTMMSRM, those seized in 2006 and in 2008;
■ lift all charges still pending against Napoleon G&oacute;mez Urrutia and other members of the SNTMMSRM;
■ prosecute in a court of law, immediately and transparently, all those responsible in the corruption of documents and facts; and
■ recognize Napoleon G&oacute;mez as the democratically elected general secretary of the National Mexican Miners and Metalworkers Union.
&quot;This case constitutes an important precedent for this commission which will mark its position on all acts of political persecution which prevent a person from aspiring to adequate defense against the abuse of power by a State,&quot; read the amicus curiae letter submitted by the delegation in support of the complaint filed with the commission by the Mexican miners' union. 
 
&quot;The interference by the administrative authorities in judicial matters has thwarted any possibility of defense with a view to obtaining speedy verdicts in accordance with the law. The guarantee of due process has clearly been overtaken by the bias of the judicial authorities,&quot; the letter read.
The delegation also urged the commission to take immediate &quot;precautionary measures&quot; regarding the government's recent illegal seizure of all union accounts and funds; the government's refusal to officially recognize Napoleon G&oacute;mez Urrutia as elected general secretary of the miners' union; and health and safety issues of miners on strike at three mines owned by Grupo M&eacute;xico, the largest and most powerful mining company in the country. &quot;Precautionary measures&quot; are measures for immediate action that the commission can take if there is a strong indication that irreparable harm may take place.
&quot;Clearly this is of moral and strategic importance to us,&quot; said Stan Gacek, speaking on behalf of the American labour movement. &quot;This is of significant importance to us at the national level, the regional level and the international level, as you can see given the representatives here. We have issues of irreparable harm here and we think that precautionary measures are absolutely critical.&quot;
Commissioner Santiago Canton thanked the delegation for their time and received the recommendations and evidence of human rights violations put forward by the international delegation of trade union leaders.

Trade Unionists Demand Inter-American Commission on Human Rights Action over Mexican SNTMMSRM Abuses

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The ICEM fully supports the work of the National Federation of Food, Beverage and Tobacco Workers of Pakistan, an affiliate of the International Union of Food Workers&rsquo; Association (IUF). The 723 contract labourers at Unilever&rsquo;s last directly-owned and operated Lipton Tea factory in Pakistan have organised to form the Unilever Mazdoor Union Khanewal. The newly organised workers, with the support of the IUF and ICEM, are preparing a new round of public action to press their case. 
 
The ICEM and IUF call for international support for the cause of these contract workers to form their union. To support their struggle click <a href="http://www.iuf.org/cgi-bin/campaigns/show_campaign.cgi?c=396">here</a> to send a message to Unilever. Tell corporate management that the Lipton Khanewal temporary workers must be given permanent employment status - and the way to implement this is through direct negotiations with the affiliated National Federation of Food, Beverage and Tobacco Workers of Pakistan. 
 
Unilever's Khanewal factory employs 22 permanent workers, union members who are covered by a collective agreement. But another 723 workers are hired through six contract labour agencies. The union is assisting contract agency workers to file petitions in the Labour Court to secure their right to permanent employment. 

<img height="158" alt="" src="" width="300" />
The permanent workers receive a monthly base wage of PKR 18,000 - some US$226. The basic wage for non-permanent workers is PKR 6,000, if they are lucky enough to work a minimum 26 days per month. Otherwise the daily wage is PKR 232 - less than three US dollars a day. Where permanent workers receive double for overtime/holiday work, agency workers simply receive the basic hourly wage. Disposable workers have no annual or medical leave. From one week to the next, they do not know their assignments or work schedules - or whether they will have work. Through exploiting workers in this way, Unilever was able to send CEO Niall Fitzgerald into retirement with a &pound;17 million golden handshake. 
 
Unilever employees at the site are illegally blocked from becoming permanent workers, as national legislation states that after nine consecutive months employed under a temporary contract, an employee must be offered a permanent contract to stay. The majority of agency workers at the Khanewal site have been on the job for more than 10 years, with some there for as long as 30 years. But since they are not formally employed by Unilever, they are barred from joining a union of Unilever workers and bargaining with Unilever as their employer. The labour agencies who supply the temporary employees to the factory do not have any other client, and operate their offices inside the Unilever factory itself, clearly a false way of flouting labour law. 
Two Lipton workers dismissed in August after 30 years of working at Unilever's Khanewal tea factory at minimum wage and received no social security, medical benefits or pension. 
<img height="66" alt="" src="" width="146" />
The Lipton workers are fighting for the right of workers everywhere to decent work - secure employment, a living wage, health and retirement benefits, and the right to join a trade union with a collective bargaining relationship to their real employer. 
 
Copies of your messages will be sent to Unilever corporate and Pakistan management, to the union, and to the IUF secretariat. 
 
You can give additional support by taking a moment to visit <a href="http://www.unilever.com/sustainability">http://www.unilever.com/sustainability</a>. Scroll down the page to a section on the lower right entitled &quot;Sustainability during the credit crunch&quot; There you can &quot;vote&quot; yes/no to the question, &quot;Do you consider sustainability in your product purchasing decisions?&quot; This is followed by &quot;Please tell us what actions you are taking to make the world more sustainable,&quot; with fields for name/message. Please take a moment to send the following response, or a message of your own: 
 
&quot;Sustainability is about investing in sustainable jobs - over 700 workers at the Khanewal Lipton factory are disposable workers hired through labour hire agencies, with no employment security and inferior wages and benefits though many have worked continuously for decades. Make the Khanewal workers permanent through direct negotiations with the National Federation of Food, Beverage and Tobacco Workers of Pakistan!&quot;

Support Needed for Contract, Agency Workers Forming Union at Unilever Tea Factory in Pakistan

Estimados trabajadores de MASSUH SA y dirigentes de FOEIPCyQ: 
 
 
La ICEM, federaci&oacute;n sindical internacional del sector de la pulpa y papel, ha dado a conocer a nuestro sindicato la lucha que enfrentan con el fin de lograr que la empresa MASSUH pague como corresponde los sueldos a sus trabajadores. A pesar de que muchas empresas de diferentes partes del mundo enfrentan actualmente una p&eacute;sima situaci&oacute;n econ&oacute;mica, la mayor&iacute;a paga a sus trabajadores, porque saben que sus ganancias provienen exclusivamente del esfuerzo de los trabajadores. 
 
Por tanto, objetamos severamente la decisi&oacute;n de MASSUH de negarse a pagar los sueldos de sus trabajadores. Felicitamos a FOEIPCyQ, nuestro sindicato hermano en Argentina, el haber solidarizado con la lucha de los trabajadores de MASSUH. 
 
Exhortamos a los trabajadores para que se mantengan unidos en la defensa de sus derechos; la unidad en torno al sindicato es la clave del triunfo final. 
 
Saludos solidarios,

Transmit to e-mails: fedpapel@speedy.com.ar and alari@papeleros.org.ar

<img height="39" alt="" src="" width="100" />
In October 2006, efforts to make the Prior Informed Consent (PIC) procedure of the Rotterdam Convention apply to asbestos were blocked by a handful of countries, including Canada. The Rotterdam Convention is an international agreement on hazardous materials. 
 
PIC is not a ban. It is a requirement stating that information is to be made available, and adequate warning of a substance&rsquo;s hazards is to be made available when that substance is traded on global markets. However, even this mild requirement has been too much for the asbestos industry to accept. Their fear, no doubt, is that such warnings will cause developing countries &ndash; Canada is one of the biggest exporters of asbestos &ndash; to question the safety of asbestos. 

<img height="200" alt="" src="" width="135" />
The Canadian government made the usual public excuses about scientific uncertainty but, in fact, a government memo that became public last year proves that Canada backs the asbestos industry for crass economic and political reasons. The existence, or lack of existence,&nbsp;of&nbsp;any scientific doubt about the hazards of asbestos played little role. 
 
On 31 October, at the most recent Conference of the Parties to the Rotterdam Convention, Canada once again managed to prevent the PIC procedure from applying to asbestos. Canadian delegates, aware of the embarrassing stance of their position, chose to keep a low profile, but worked behind the scenes to organise and encourage the very few remaining supporters of asbestos to block any progress. Those nations are India, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Vietnam, Ukraine, Pakistan, and the Philippines. 
 
It is interesting to note that the Rotterdam Convention binds signatory countries to consider only the hazard criteria. Economic and trade issues are not grounds for excluding a substance from the PIC procedure. How then were the parties able to prevent the inclusion of asbestos under PIC when no one at the October meeting was able to refute the case that all forms of asbestos &ndash; including chrysotile &ndash; meet the Rotterdam Convention&rsquo;s scientific and legal criteria?

Canada Again Serves as Roadblock at Rotterdam Convention on Asbestos

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The 2008 collective agreement covering 30,000 rubber workers in Germany was put in place, following agreement on 30 October between ICEM affiliate IGBCE and the rubber employers&rsquo; association. The 15-month contract, from 1 September 2008 to 30 November 2009, was accepted by a large majority. 
 
The agreement calls for a 1 November 2008 wage increase of 2.5%. On 1 July 2009, another wage increase of 1.3% will be put into effect. The yearly training allowance per worker was increased by &euro;25.00 effective on 1 January 2009. 

<img height="242" alt="" src="" width="150" />
Rubber employers in Germany have committed &euro;4 million to the Association of Employment Promotion (VzB), which assures a flexible transition to retirement, including part-time work and other benefits for workers nearing retirement, particularly during times of redundancies. 
 
The agreement commits the union and employers to handle issues of demographics and work life in conjunction with framework negotiations during the first quarter 2009, with the aim of reaching accord by 30 September 2009.

German Rubber Workers Agree to 15-Month Labour Agreement

<img height="39" alt="" src="" width="100" />
The ICEM and some of its major mining affiliates made a historic step in trade union work around Xstrata, a major global mining house. The meeting took place in Montr&eacute;al, Canada, on 25 October. 
 
The meeting was initiated by the United Steelworkers (USW) and included mining unions from Canada, Peru, Chile, Australia, Germany, and the Dominican Republic, along with the ICEM. 
 
The meeting was a first step in building a world council of Xstrata trade unions. The company is based in Switzerland and traded on London and Swiss stock exchanges. Efforts are underway to involve other ICEM affiliates in the mining sector, as well as other trade unions. 
<img height="173" alt="" src="" width="260" />
Euclide Hache and Mike Willett from USW New Brunswick Mine, Canada 
Martin Schindler, IG Metall Wesermarsch, Germany 
Bodo Bar, Xstrata Zinc Nordenham, Germany 
Bob McGregor, USW New Brunswick Refinery, Canada 

On November 10, rank and file CFMEU delegates from Xstrata&rsquo;s coal operations throughout Australia endorsed a campaign to defend collective bargaining and fight the company&rsquo;s efforts to promote individual contracts. The delegates also voted to be part on an active international network. &ldquo;We must confront Xstrata on equal global terms or we&rsquo;ll be picked off one by one&quot;, said Andrew Vickers, CFMEU General Vice-President. 
 
At the 25 October meeting, a statement was adopted. It can be found at <a href="/index.php?id=5&amp;doc=2855">here</a>.&nbsp; (please note that the strike by members of the Canadian Auto Workers has been settled)

Mining Unions, Gathering in Canada, Focus on Xstrata

Archive

Brazilian Labour Unions work together to fight challenging economic times

ICEM Seeks Support for Argentine Paperworkers Who Have Been Denied Wages

Sintracarbón Miners Win Two-Year Renewal Contract at Colombia’s Biggest Coal Deposit

ASBESTOS IS A KILLER

Trade Unionists Demand Inter-American Commission on Human Rights Action over Mexican SNTMMSRM Abuses

Support Needed for Contract, Agency Workers Forming Union at Unilever Tea Factory in Pakistan

Transmit to e-mails: [email protected] and [email protected]

Canada Again Serves as Roadblock at Rotterdam Convention on Asbestos

German Rubber Workers Agree to 15-Month Labour Agreement

Mining Unions, Gathering in Canada, Focus on Xstrata

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