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Negotiations in the gold, platinum, chrome, diamond, coal, and iron ore mining sectors of South Africa head into July with the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and major mining companies being far apart on wages. 
 
Disputes have been declared in nearly all the talks, with NUM seeking two-year increases ranging from 11% at DeBeer's diamond-mining operations to higher at platinum and gold mining operators. Contracts expired on 30 June but talks are likely to continue throughout July, under the guidance of the CCMA, the governmental agency where NUM has filed for dispute resolution. Such filings are necessary before a union can legally take strike action. 
<img height="103" alt="" src="" width="100" />
This set of negotiations comes amidst an escalating South African inflation rate, especially food and fuel costs. The talks also come when commodity prices are high, and the mining houses are reaping huge profits. 
 
Gold and platinum, two natural resources in which South Africa leads the world in production, have seen rising demand, resulting in higher pricing. Gold was selling for US$420 an ounce in early 2005. In June 2007, it was selling for nearly US$653 an ounce. And platinum, which finds South Africa supplying 75% of the world's markets, has seen price rises of 18% since the beginning of 2007. 
 
NUM is seeking wage increases for the two years in most sectors of about 15%. 
 
&quot;When we talk of double-digit (increases) we mean business and we are not in the business of playing games with our members' mandates,&quot; said NUM General Secretary Frans Baleni. 
<img height="142" alt="" src="" width="100" />
NUM General Secretary Frans Baleni
To date in talks, the mining companies have put forward wage offers that fall far short of South African inflation. The Chamber of Mines, representing AngloGold Ashanti, Goldfields, and Harmony in gold talks, have offered only 6%. DRDGold is bargaining outside the chamber, but its current offer is insufficient. 
 
The same can be said for the chamber's low offer in coal negotiations. In platinum, where AngloPlatinum, Impala Platinum, Lonmin, and Northam are the country's leading producers, the employers' wage offer of between 6-7% falls short of NUM goals. 
 
At Kumba Resources, an iron ore producer, the NUM is seeking 13.5%, while DeBeers offer to diamond miners is 7% next to NUM's demand for 11%. 
 
The NUM knows that no mining settlement has ever been reached without a fight. Now, as negotiations head into July, South Africa's largest and most militant trade union expects just that.

Disputes Declared in South Africa&#039;s Mining Negotiations

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South Africa's mining industry is getting more dangerous, judging from a rash of deaths in June in the country's gold and platinum sectors. Overall, mining deaths in 2007 far outpace those occurring in preceding years, making a 2003 goal by the Chamber of Mines of achieving zero workplace deaths by 2013 difficult to imagine. 
 
The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), ICEM's largest trade union affiliate in South Africa, believes mining houses are spending large sums to increase production in this period of high precious commodity pricing, but very little on safety prevention. 
<img height="100" alt="" src="" width="100" />
A&nbsp;study done by a South African organisation, Bench Marks Foundation, cites an audit done by AngloPlatinum, a company hit with the most June mining deaths. The audit reveals that an AngloPlats review of its deaths in mining shows more emphasis is placed on establishing blame &quot;rather than on identifying causes and instituting measures to prevent the occurrence of accidents.&quot; 
The world's largest producer of platinum, 75% owned by AngloAmerican, witnessed five June deaths in its South African operations, which caused the company to close its massive Rustenburg operations for seven days on 18 June in order to conduct a safety audit. 
 
AngloPlatinum is responsible for 17 deaths in South African mines so far in 2007. Twelve of those came at Rustenberg. That compares with a total of 19 in 2006, 17 of which came at Rustenburg.
AngloPlat's sister company, AngloGold Ashanti, has fared no better. Globally, in the first quarter of 2007, AngloGold experienced its worst quarter of mining deaths since 2004. Fourteen miners perished in the first three months of 2007, including nine in the company's South African gold operations. 
<img height="115" alt="" src="" width="250" />
Rival Goldfields is responsible for ten mining deaths in South Africa so far in 2007. 
 
Last year, a total of 199 mining deaths were recorded in the country's mines, including 113 in gold operations and 40 in platinum. If the recent May-June spate of nearly 50 deaths continues, the 2007 death toll will far exceed those occurring in 2006. 
 
The NUM has formally called for an urgent tripartite meeting to resuscitate South Africa's Mining Health and Safety Summit in order to address the current deficiencies in mine safety. Even the Chamber of Mines, at its third annual health and safety meetings early in June, said that drastic action is needed now to curb the high level of mining deaths. 
 
The NUM endorsed the chamber's statement, but says mining houses must begin to &quot;walk the talk.&quot; In the Bench Mark's study, commissioned by the three major platinum producers, AngloPlatinum, Impala, and Lonmin, the NGO said the dramatic increase in production levels is responsible for an adverse effect on safety. 
 
The chief researcher to the year-long study recommends that bonuses of top executives be linked closely to safety performances. 
<img height="161" alt="" src="" width="130" />
NUM and ICEM President Senzeni Zokwana
NUM President Senzeni Zokwana said, &quot;Workers feel let down by the state's judicial system since no employer has ever been hauled before a court of law in the circumstances in which people lose their lives, although legislation is clear on that.&quot; 
 
&quot;Miners are losing their lives and limbs, while the majority of accidents are preventable,&quot; added NUM General Secretary Frans Baleni. The NUM insists that all parties concerned in South Africa, from the relevant governmental agencies to all levels of management inside the mining companies, give the matter of health and safety in mining the top priority it deserves.

2007 Mining Deaths Become Worrisome in South Africa

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On June 25, 2007, 30 employees of the Russian &ldquo;State Institute of Organic Synthesis Technology&rdquo; (or FGUP GITOS) went on a hunger strike for an indefinite period. They were driven to this extreme measure by the inability of the Federal Agency for Industry to settle wage arrears, going back to 2003. 
 
In the past, FGUP GITOS was involved in technology research and development, including on highly toxic substances. When Russia signed the Chemical Weapons Convention in 1993, the R&amp;D work at the Institute ended. 
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All conversion schemes subsequently launched at the enterprise have failed. Since June 2004, the FRUP GITOS, the only industrial employer in the town of Shikhany, in the Russian Saratov Region, has been going through a bankruptcy procedure, which has been persistently obstructed by the Federal Agency for Industry. 
 
In June 2005, the Federal Agency set up one of the business units of the FGUP GITOS as a separate entity and transferred production floors, the infrastructure , the State order, and 230 employees of the FGUP GITOS to the new legal entity. In April 2006, the FGUP GITOS itself, with the remaining 200 employees, was declared bankrupt and put into receivership. Currently, all employees of the FGUP GITOS have received redundancy notices. 
 
In July 2006, in an attempt to prevent a hunger strike announced by the FGUP GITOS union, a Joint Commission was formed, with representatives from the Federal Agency for Industry, the Interregional Trade Union Association SODRUZHESTVO, affiliated to Russian Oil and Gas Workers Union (ROGWU, ICEM affiliate), the Government of the Saratov Region, the local authorities of Shikhany, and the workforce. The Commission had the task of determining the amount of wages and social benefits owed to both former and current GITOS employees and finding a way to settle the arrears. 
<img height="67" alt="" src="" width="100" border="1" />
Some efforts towards financial assistance were arranged. However, most failed, and others were manifestly insufficient. 
 
In February 2007, the FGUP GITOS union announced its decision to picket the Federal Agency for Industry. After they were first told that it was &lsquo;all their own fault&rsquo;, promises were made to the workers that the enterprise would be reorganised. Those promises were never fulfilled. 
 
More workers are determined to join their 30 striking colleagues if nothing is done. The workers also intend to organise a march to Moscow and file a mass complaint with the European Human Rights Court. 
 
Alerted to the situation by ROGWU, the <a href="/index.php?id=8&amp;doc=2309&amp;la=EN">ICEM sent a letter to the Russian Prime Minister</a>, stating its grave concern and urging the Federal Government to ensure an immediate resolution of the dispute and settlement of all social benefits and wage arrears which currently stand at RUB 88 million (&euro; 2.5 million), including wage arrears, union dues, payments to the pension fund and health benefits.

Russian Chemical Workers start Hunger Strike

A.G.Lukashenko 
President 
Republic of Belarus 
By fax: +375-17-226-06-10 
 
Brussels, 
18 June 2007 
 
Dear Mr. President, 
I am writing to you on behalf of the 20 million workers whom our International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers&rsquo; Unions (ICEM) represents through its 384 affiliates in 125 countries of the world. 
 
We see the decision of the European Union to withdraw the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) benefits from Belarus, effective from June 21, 2007, solely as a result of your Government&rsquo;s persistent disregard for internationally recognised labour standards and its systematic failure to comply with the recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry of the International Labour Organisation. 
 
The Belarusian State Administration has had more than adequate time for implementing measures required to convince the international community of the seriousness of its declared intention to ensure freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining for all workers in Belarus. 
In reality, the measures taken by your Government proved to be largely cosmetic; the existing legal framework for trade union activities still allows for suppressive and discriminatory actions by managers and authorities who arbitrarily use it against members of independent trade unions; and the new Draft Law on Trade Unions equally does not guarantee genuine trade union rights and freedoms. 
 
We wholeheartedly support the independent trade unions and workers in Belarus and resent all attempts to lay the blame for the withdrawal of the GSP benefits at their door. The full responsibility for this decision of the European Union is borne by the Belarusian State Administration, and we believe that only expeditious and earnest implementation of the recommendations of the ILO Commission of Inquiry can form a credible basis for any future resolution of this situation. 
 
Sincerely Yours, 
 
Manfred Warda 
ICEM General Secretary 
 
Cc: 
S.S.Sidorskiy, Prime-Minister, Republic of Belarus 
L.P.Kozik, Chairman, Federation of Trade Unions of Belarus 
A.I.Jaroshuk, President, Belarusian Congress of Democratic Trade Unions

ICEM letter to Belarus President on GSP withdrawal

The ICEM condemns the brutal and unprovoked attack by Mexican Federal Police on members of the National Union of Mine, Metal, Steel and Related Workers (SNTMMSSRM) in the city of L&aacute;zaro C&aacute;rdenas, Michoac&aacute;n on May 23. According to the Union and press reports, police fired on, detained and brutally beat some 20 union members, including the Union&rsquo;s Special Delegate for the State of Michoac&aacute;n, Mario Garc&iacute;a Ort&iacute;z. 
 
The ICEM views this as a direct attack on the autonomy of the SNTMMSSRM, especially considering that Mario Garc&iacute;a Ort&iacute;z is the Alternate Secretary General of the Union and served as President of the Union&rsquo;s 36th Ordinary General Convention, held May 3-5 in Mexico City, at which representatives of the ICEM and its US and Canadian affiliates were present. 
 
This attack reminds us that two members of the SNTMMSSRM were killed and over a hundred injured in another attack by federal and state police in the same city on April 20, 2006. Despite a clear finding of state responsibility by the National Human Rights Commission, no one has been prosecuted for these killings. 
 
The ICEM calls on the Mexican Federal Government to: 
 
● grant legal acknowledgement (toma de nota) to Napole&oacute;n G&oacute;mez and should recognize the results of the Union&rsquo;s 36th General Ordinary Convention, held in May 2010 
 
● support the inter-party agreement in the Chamber of Deputies (Punto de Acuerdo) of 28 April 2010 regarding the strikes at Cananea and other Grupo M&eacute;xico mines, and should enter into good faith negotiations with the Union. 
 
● drop the baseless criminal charges against Napole&oacute;n G&oacute;mez and other union leaders, all of which have been dismissed by the courts, and withdraw its appeals of these dismissals. 
 
● immediately release Juan Linares Montufar, President of the Union&rsquo;s Vigilance and Justice Commission, from prison. 
 
● comply with repeated court orders to lift the freeze imposed on the Union&rsquo;s bank accounts. 
 
● investigate and prosecute the persons responsible for the murders of four union members since 2006 and the latest attack on workers in L&aacute;zaro C&aacute;rdenas.

RESOLUTION in Support of National Union of Mine, Metal, Steel and Related Workers of Mexico

The ICEM Executive Committee, meeting in Geneva on 26-27 May 2010, is deeply disturbed by the extraordinary high number of workplace deaths and injuries in recent months, particularly in mining and both upstream and downstream oil and gas industries. This deterioration in safety and health conditions is attributable, the Executive Committee believes, to the rush to maximize profits by corporations in the wake of the financial crisis, and a general disregard to follow best practices in safety and health by these same corporations and, in some cases, governments. 
 
The ICEM points to the 17 May mine explosion in Zonguldak province, Turkey, which killed 30 workers as just one example. The Karadon mine is state-owned, but private contractors without trade union representation and with limited experience on safety matters operate this mine. The ICEM also points to the tragic explosion in May of the Raspadskaya mine in the Kemerovo region of the Russian Federation. Ninety miners perished and although cause of the methane gas explosion remains unknown, the ICEM deplores the coal-mining pay structure in Russia in which monthly salaries are kept extremely low and workers are expected to supplement their pay by reaching high production quotas. 
 
As well, the ICEM condemns Massey Energy in the United States, a company that has viciously avoided union representation while challenging all US federal mine safety citations given the company. Such appeals serve to delay corrective measures needed in Massey&rsquo;s mine. The 5 April explosion inside Massey&rsquo;s Upper Big Branch mine in the state of West Virginia, killing 29 miners, was compounded and made worse by the callousness and arrogance of the company&rsquo;s CEO in the aftermath of the explosion. 
 
In South Africa, where overall, mine safety is improving due to the militancy of the National Union of Mineworkers, the ICEM notes three miners were needlessly killed at AngloGold Ashanti in late April, bringing to over 30 the official death toll thus far in the country&rsquo;s mining industry. The ICEM also cites a recent roof collapse inside the Barapukuria Coal Mine Company in Dinajpur, Bangladesh, which killed and maimed several workers. An improper support system was the cause. Major mining accidents dating back to 2009 have also occurred in Poland, the Ukraine, and India. Also, the ICEM takes notice of continued deaths inside China&rsquo;s vast coal-mining industry and the fact that the death rate increased by 14% in the first quarter of 2010 over the same period in 2009. ICEM strongly believes this increase is due to negligence in safety in pursuit of greater production. 
 
In the oil and gas industries, the same is true. While much is made of the environmental destruction along the United States Gulf coast brought about by the oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico, which indeed merits attention and the wrath against BP, who is the overall responsible operator, and its contractors, Transocean and Halliburton. Little is made of the fact that 11 offshore workers died and 15 others were severely injured. 
 
In the downstream oil sector as well, a rash of fires and explosions recently in the USA and elsewhere proves that the industry is neglecting correct process safety principles and procedures. 
 
The ICEM calls on the upstream, midstream, and downstream sectors of the oil, gas, and petrochemical industries to engage the legitimate trade union representatives in correcting systematic deficiencies in safety procedures and methods to minimize this industry&rsquo;s inherent risks. 
 
The ICEM specifically recalls at this time recent and horrific accidents such as the tragic refinery explosion of the Tesoro company at its Anacortes, state of Washington, refinery that killed seven dedicated union members in April 2010, as well as the death of a contract employee in the state of Texas, and very recent fires at ExxonMobil&rsquo;s refinery in the state of Louisiana and a Valero refinery in the state of Tennessee, both seriously injuring workers. The ICEM grieves the death of a Petrobras worker at an onshore oil field in the state of Bahia in May. 
 
The ICEM also recognizes that there have been further workplace deaths in other sectors, many brought on by the expanded utilization of contract workers by companies attempting to decrease direct employment. 
Therefore, the ICEM firstly endorses the hour-long strike actions planned by affiliate Genel Maden-Is of Turkey in the Zonguldak region in the aftermath of the Karadon explosion that will take place on 26 May in protest of the government&rsquo;s general disregard for adherence of global safety standards. 
 
The ICEM also reiterates its campaign for ratification of ILO Convention 176, the Safety and Health in Mines Convention, and pledges to intensify efforts to directly engage governments of resource-rich nations that have not ratified this Convention into doing so. Further, as an integral component of Convention 176, the ICEM insists that trade unions be fully involved in all design, safety methodology, and implementation of safety equipment, as well as fully involved in investigatory work following accidents or malfunctions. 
 
The ICEM pledges it will alert affiliates when there is incidence of mass deaths inside any work facility that is caused by negligence or faulty safety systems. It is the expectation that trade union affiliates will bring attention to these horrific acts to their own governments and inside their own enterprises in order that a new safety consciousness is raised. 
 
It is also the ICEM&rsquo;s expectation that the ILO take immediate action in regard to implementation of ILO Convention 176, focusing on stricter methane gas controls and ventilation systems. ICEM also expects that the ILO will investigate causes of recent negligence in mine safety accidents, namely pay systems that reward maximum productivity to the detriment of safety, and mining enterprises that rely on temporary or short-term contract workers. 
 
The ICEM also calls for ratification and strict adherence to ILO Convention 155, the Occupational Safety and Health Convention; Convention 174, the Prevention of Major Industrial Accidents Convention; Convention 162, the Asbestos Convention; Convention 148, the Working Environment (Air Pollution, Noise, Ventilation); Convention 136, the Benzene Convention; Convention 170, the Chemicals Convention; Convention 115, the Radiation Protection Convention; Convention 139, the Occupational Cancer Convention; Convention 183, the Maternity Protection Convention; as well as attention to the ILO Guidelines on Health and Safety Management Systems. 
 
Finally, the ICEM calls on other Global Union Federations to join its campaign for better safety and health conditions throughout all industries.

Executive Committee Resolution on Safety in ICEM Sectors

ترجمة آخر أخبار غزة علي موقع الاتحاد الدولي للكيماويات والطاقة ال . بدأ وصول مساعدات الإغاثة من خلال جهود الاتحاد الدولي للنقل. والاتحاد الدولي للنقابات 
 
يناير 12-2009 مختصر لأخبار الاتحاد الدولي 
 
مصر- الأردن- فلسطين 
 
هبطت أول طائرة بشحنة للمساعدات الأسنانية بالكامل لأهل غزا الأسبوع الماضي 8يناير بمدينة العريش مصر كلفته ذوق من الاتحاد الدولي لعمال النقل كل من الاتحاد الدولي للنقابات منخرطين بشكل نشط في عمليات الأغاثه لإيصال الغذاء والماء والمساعدات الطبية لغزة عقب ما يقرب من ثلاثة أسابيع علي قصف غزا من جانب إسرائيل 
 
الموارد التي تم جمعها من نقابات النقل والنقابات الأخرى في الشرق الأوسط تم تسليمها للهلال الأحمر في غزة وقد أشرف علي وصول الشحنة ممثل الاتحاد الدولي في العالم العربي بلال مالكوي وهو أيضاً قيادي بالنقابة العامة لعمال النقل الجوي بالأردن والسياحة بالأردن وقد اشتملت الشحنة علي مواد ضرورية طبية تم شرائها بمعرفة الاتحاد الدولي للنقل وكان بلال مالكوي علي متن الطائرة التي هبطت في مصر الأسبوع الماضي وقد جهزت النقابة العضو في الاتحاد الدولي للنقل المواد الأساسية التي تم نقلها علي الخطوط الجوية الملكية الأردنية كتبرع من الخطوط الجوية الأردنية وسيتم تتابع رحلات جوية للإغاثة نأمل أن تكون تلك أولي الرحلات الإغاثة العديدة التي تحمل مواد الإغاثة الإنسانية قال ذلك الأمين العام للاتحاد الدولي للنقل . دافيد كوكروفت علي الرغم من أن تلك الأدوية حيوية إلا إنها لن تقلل بأي حال الحاجة الماسة إلي وقف فوري لإطلاق النار في غزا 

<img alt="" src="" width="130" height="141" />
ناشد الاتحاد الدولي للكيماويات والطاقة إل و بالتوصل لوقف فوري لإطلاق النار في بيان أصدره يوم 31 ديسمبر ومنه أن فقدان الأرواح البريئة من الفلسطينيين أمر يبعث علي الأسى مما يستوجب التوصل فوراً لإطلاق النار من جانب كلاً من إسرائيل وحماس وذلك هو السبيل الوحيد لحل المشكلة 
 
وقد أدانت جموع العمال علي المستوي العالمي خاصة في الشرق الأوسط الهجمات الإسرائيلية الغير متناسبة علي غزة 

<img alt="" src="" width="150" height="90" />
في آخر الأسبوع الماضي أصدرت نقابة المرافق المصرية للاتحاد الدولي بيان دعت وناشدة فيه المجتمع الدولي ممارسة الضغط علي إسرائيل لإنهاء معاناة الفلسطينيين وإيقاف العدوان المتوحش علي شعب غزة الأعزل 
 
ينسق الاتحاد الدولي للنقابات بالتعاون مع الاتحادات العملية في فلسطين والأردن لتوصيل المساعدات لمواطني غزة وقد فتح الاتحاد الدولي حساب بنكي باسم المساعدة النقابية لغزا ويمكن الحصول علي معلومات التبرع بالتحويلات المصرفية 322224211 لمزيد من المعلومات يمكن للنقابات التي تود أن تسهم في جهود نقابة عمال النقل الجوي الأردني الاتصال ببلال علي هذا الموقع 
 
<a href="mailto:mailto:Malkaw_bilal@itf.org.uk">mailto:mailto:Malkaw_bilal@itf.org.uk</a>&nbsp; 
 
بيان الاتحاد الدولي متوفر علي موقع

بدأ وصول مساعدات الإغاثة من خلال جهود الاتحاد الدولي للنقل. والاتحاد الدولي للنقابات

<img src="" width="100" height="39" alt="" />
Hundreds of trade unionists backed by their unions and led by New Zealand Council of Trade Unions (NZCTU) President Helen Kelly fiercely manifested outside the National Party&rsquo;s annual conference in Auckland on 18 July, protesting the ruling party&rsquo;s treachery in launching anti-worker revisions to the country&rsquo;s Employment Relations Act. 
 
Inside, Prime Minister John Key used his keynote to state that the party&rsquo;s legislative mandate will now aim to roll back workers&rsquo; rights and union rights. For starters, the Nationals intend to pass a law extending the rights-less, 90-day probationary period, now at workplaces with fewer than 20 workers, to all workplaces. 
 
The policy paper that formed Key&rsquo;s surprise keynote speech broke earlier commitments made by the prime minister to trade unions and the NZCTU that hard-line changes to the Act would not occur. Several NZ unionists at the manifestation showed their anger by skirting security to take the protest inside the Auckland casino/hotel where the National Party was meeting. 
<img src="" width="100" height="150" alt="" />
NZCTU President Helen Kelly
By Thursday, 23 July, trade unions had met and jointly devised an aggressive mobilization campaign against the legislation. 
 
The Kiwis call the trial 2008 probationary measure &ldquo;the 90-Day Fire-at-Will&rdquo; law. Kelly said that nearly one-quarter of all workers employed under the existing scheme for small employers have been sacked. And 47% of those firings are workers under the age of 23. 
 
Other provisions to the National Party agenda erode existing labour law. The test for justified dismissal under the Employment Relations Authority gets weakened; union access to worksites to defend workers gets restricted; workers can trade one of four annual leave weeks for money to stay on the job; observance of statutory holidays can be changed; and stricter proof of illness in order to take sick-day leave will apply if revisions to New Zealand&rsquo;s labour law takes effect. 
 
&ldquo;Unfair dismissal changes are just the tip of the iceberg,&rdquo; said Kelly, citing other draconian provisions of the proposed legislation, including cuts in entitlement, meal breaks, union education funding, and axing the Pay and Employment Equity Unit of government. &ldquo;To make matters worse, we believe government will also make it more difficult for the Employment Court to question the reason why any worker has been dismissed.&rdquo; 
 
The country&rsquo;s Labour Party had introduced legislation to repeal the 90-day probationary law. That party will now coalesce with the Green Party and the Maori Party to attempt to block the Nationals anti-worker agenda. But the biggest voice expected to halt the labour law roll backs will be the nation&rsquo;s 400,000 trade unionists who will work tediously through their unions to block these spurious changes to labour law.

New Zealand Unions Protest National Party’s Draconian Labour Proposals

<img src="" width="100" height="39" alt="" />
Negotiations to end the Canadian strike between United Steelworkers (USW) Local 9508 and the Brazilian-based mining company Vale in Goose Bay and Voiseys Bay, Labrador, failed on 19-20 July when the company put forward a far inferior bonus plan compared to what USW members in Ontario agreed to on 8 July. 
 
Vale refused to offer Local 9508 members a similar bonus plan that it gave USW members in Sudbury and Port Colborne, Ontario, and it refused to discuss other outstanding issues of a renewal collective agreement unless Labrador workers accepted an inferior bonus scheme. 
 
Some 230 members of USW Local 9508 will mark one-year on picket lines in copper and nickel mines and port and processing operations in Labrador on 1 August. 
 
USW District 6 Director Wayne Fraser called on the provincial government of Labrador/Newfoundland Premier Danny Williams to intervene. In a 21 July letter to Williams, Fraser said, &ldquo;It is indisputable that out union and its members at Voiseys Bay &ndash; like their colleagues in Ontario who recently ended their year-long strike &ndash; have shown flexibility and a willingness to compromise to achieve a fair collective agreement with Vale. 
<img alt="" src="" width="150" height="151" />
Wayne Fraser, USW District 6 Director
&ldquo;Mr. Premier, we trust you and your government will agree it is unacceptable that a massively profitable foreign corporation such as Vale would treat Newfoundland and Labrador workers as second-class employees. We also trust you will use every means at your disposal to ensure Vale treats the working families of Newfoundland and Labrador with the respect and dignity they deserve.&rdquo; 
 
The nickel bonus offer presented in Labrador consists of Vale-controlled criteria, such as individual work performance, safety issues, and other unilateral mechanisms. None of these conditions are contained in the Ontario agreement. As well, Vale is insisting on a lower cap on the bonus than what was accepted in Sudbury and Port Colborne. 
 
Besides the 230 members of three bargaining units of Local 9508 on strike, 50 workers employed by Ushitou Maintenance also have been on strike since 1 June 2010. These workers are also members of Local 9508, and perform electrical, pipefitting, instrumentation, and other functions for Vale at its Voiseys Bay operations. 
 
Vale continues to use scab labour to operate Goose Bay and Voiseys Bay. On Wednesday, 28 July, all unions in Labrador/Newfoundland will meet in St. Johns under the umbrella of the provincial Federation of Labour Council. Trade unions will discuss taking action on a push to adopt anti-scab and binding arbitration legislation in the province, as well as to discuss methods to get the Tory premier, Danny Williams, to use his office to re-start negotiations. 
 
In Sudbury and Port Colborne, some members of USW Locals 6500 and 6200 have returned to their rightful jobs, with most of the 3,000 staff expected to return throughout August. Members of the two locals are under a joint agreement and on 8 July, ratified a five-year labour contract that ended a 360-day strike in Ontario.

Talks Fail Between Vale, Steelworkers in Efforts to Resolve Labrador Strike

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
As the mineworkers&rsquo; strike at Gammon Gold&rsquo;s El Cubo mine in Mexico&rsquo;s Guanajuato State was deferred to the Federal Conciliation and Arbitration Board, the authority abandoned all activities and took summer vacations until August. 
 
The recess forces workers to continue the strike with no possibility of settlement before labour authorities return to litigate and rule on the legality of the strike. The authority gave no instruction to Canadian-based Gammon to start negotiating with the workers. 
 
The 409 workers are represented by Section 142 of ICEM-affiliated National Union of Mine, Metal, Steel and Related Workers of the Mexican Republic (SNTMMRM), or Los Mineros, at the mine in south-central Mexico. 
 
As previously reported by ICEM, the strike began 30 June, primarily because of Nova Scotia-based Gammon&rsquo;s refusal to make profit-share payments to workers, a condition that had been agreed to in bargaining with the union in return for a lengthening of miners&rsquo; work days from eight- to ten-hour shifts. 
<img alt="" src="" width="180" height="132" />
In the absence of a profit-sharing arrangement, union leaders took strike action, demanding a bonus of 50,000 pesos (US$3,968) per worker. A further demand was that the company improve safety standards at the mine, following five deaths at the site in recent months, accidents which were not properly investigated or even sometimes not recorded by authorities. The families of the five dead miners have not received any compensation. 
 
As was predicted by the ICEM in an earlier, 28 June, report (see <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/3896-El-Cubo-Mexican-Mine-Shut-in-Attempt-to-Crush-Union">here</a>), the company has moved to restart production with scab labour. This decision was authorised by Labour Minister Javier Lozano, who pushed through a ruling via the Federal Conciliation Board for 70 &ldquo;emergency personnel.&rdquo; The obvious anti-union stance of the Mexican government is again illustrated by these rulings and lack of pressure from the authorities on Gammon to negotiate with Section 142. 
 
Gammon Gold has repeatedly claimed that it does not have the financial resources for profit-sharing payments, which are mandated by law, or to make improvements to worker safety at the mine. Los Mineros filed for a fiscal audit to be conducted by the Mexican Treasury into Gammon, in May 2010. In typical government inaction regarding Los Mineros, there has been no response to this request. 
 
In a familiar trend now used in Mexican labour conflicts, workers at El Cubo were physically attacked by the company&rsquo;s private security team on 18 June. 
 
Gammon Gold recorded US$207 million in revenue from gold and silver mining operations in 2009. The company operates exclusively in Mexico, with a large gold-silver complex in the northern state of Chihuahua, known as Ocampo. Exploration work is on-going at the neighbouring Guadalupe y Calvo gold-silver mine, and Gammon recently acquired the El Mezquite and Venus projects in the states of Zacatecas and Chihuahua, respectively. 
 
Gammon Gold&rsquo;s director in Mexico, Luis Chavez, was previously the Director of Mines in the Ministry of Finance, and then Director of Mines in Coahuila State government, a position he held when 64 miners died inside the Pasta de Conchos mine in February 2006. After protecting Grupo M&eacute;xico in the wake of the accident, Chavez moved to his current position as head of Gammon Gold. The corrupt links between the Mexican government and Gammon Gold are deep. 
 
Politicians in the country&rsquo;s Senate and House of Representatives demanded that Labour Secretary, Javier Lozano, act as mediator to the conflict.

Mexico Government No Help in Resolving Gammon Gold Mine Strike

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