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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

pulp and paper/pâte et de papier/pulpa y papel

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The deadline is 1 April 2009 for applications to two of the four Global Labour University (GLU) programmes offered in 2009-2010. Those programmes are at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, India, and at Germany&rsquo;s University of Kassel and the Berlin School of Economics. 
 
The one-year course work leads to a Masters Degree in Labour and Globalisation. The programme at the Tata Institute, which begins in July 2009, is entitled &ldquo;Globalisation and Labour.&rdquo; In Germany, where course work starts in September 2009, the Masters Programme is called &ldquo;Labour Policies and Globalisation.&rdquo; 

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The other two GLU programmes have application deadlines of 20 September 2009, and are scheduled for the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa, and at Universidade Estadual de Campinas (Unicamp), S&atilde;o Paulo State, Brazil. The South African programme is called &ldquo;Labour and Development, Economic Policy, Globalisation and Labour,&rdquo; which begins in January 2010, while the Campinas, Brazil, programme is entitled &ldquo;Social Economy and Labour,&rdquo; and begins in February 2010. 
 
Because of the enlargement of the GLU, there are additional scholarships available to trade unionists. This includes the possibility to support more European students. More details are available by visiting the GLU&rsquo;s website at <a href="http://www.global-labour-university.org">www.global-labour-university.org</a>. 
 
Courses are offered in English, and applicants should, as a rule, be under the age of 40. The endorsement of a trade union is a requirement for a scholarship, and such scholarships are conditional on a &euro;1,500 contribution from a supporting trade union or another donor. GLU is an initiative of the ILO, with support from global trade unions, the respective academic institutions, and foundations.

Global Labour University Seeking Applicants for Germany, India Masters Programmes by 1 April

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The Main Workers&rsquo; Board of EPS Trade Union, representing 48,000 employees of Serbia&rsquo;s state-run Electric Power Industry, re-elected Milan Đorđević on 12 February as President. This is Đorđević&rsquo;s first full term, having succeeded Miroslav Veličković early in 2008. He had been Vice President. 
 
Đorđević is from the town of Barosevac, and worked for EPS as a coal miner at the Kolubara-Lazarevac open-cast coal mine, Serbia&rsquo;s largest colliery. He was a strong activist for miners&rsquo; rights and continues to be an effective advocate for all workers at EPS. 
 
Re-elected Vice President by the Main Board was Branko Tomić, who comes from an electric power distribution company in Kraljevo. 
 
EPS consists of 11 electric power distribution companies, 7 electric generating plants, and three coal production, process, and transport enterprises. The EPS Trade Union was founded in 1992.

EPS Trade Union of Serbia Re-elects Milan Đorđević as President

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ICEM Belgian affiliate FGBT/ABVV stepped up its campaign calling for protection of workers&rsquo; rights in the glass and ceramics sector. 
 
Six hundred workers in the sector have lost their jobs, and over 1,000 contract workers have been sacked as global companies operating in Belgium face the worst economic downturn in decades. 
 
The FGTB/ABVV accused several companies of taking advantage of the crisis by shifting production to countries where wages and social payments are much lower. The Vesuvius group, for instance, is accused of closing a profit-making site in a &ldquo;race to the bottom.&rdquo; 
 
The economic downturn has seen scores of temporary and contract workers in glass and ceramics rendered jobless in Belgium without notice, prospect of job reclassification, or retraining. 
 
The 1,000 short-term contract workers represent between 11-12% of the total workforce in these sectors. 
 
Saint-Gobain, the Paris-based glass producer, announced last year that it would cut 4,000 jobs globally this year, many in Belgium. 
 
The FGTB/ABVV calls attention to the obvious fact that although workers are hardest hit by the crisis, production quotas remain high and dividends to shareholders continue to flow. 
 
Considering the government assistance and programmes available to employers, there should be no need for dismantling these sectors in Belgium. 
 
The union pledges to continue the struggle throughout 2009 to restore workers&rsquo; jobs and rights, as well as to ensure that workers have the necessary purchasing power in Belgium.

Belgian FGTB/ABVV Outlines Steps in Glass, Ceramics to Meet Economic Crisis

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The ICEM expressed concern recently at the actions of Sinotex Lanka, Ltd., a garment producer which is owned by Hong Kong-based Cristal-Martin Group. The company has closed two factories after operating 27 years in Sri Lanka. 
 
Members of the Sri Lanka Free Trade Zone and General Services Employees Union, who recently applied for affiliation to the ICEM, have called for international solidarity for the 2,500 workers that have lost their jobs. The ICEM insists that the company make the correct pay settlements to workers, in line with national legislation. 
 
Reports suggest that Sinotex has already made arrangements for the factories to reopen with new workers, a clear illustration of how a company uses the global economic crisis to destroy a trade union. Most of the Sinotex workers are women, and many are migrants from rural villages far from the factories in the Investment Promotion Zone of Katunayake. 
 
Many of the workers were sacked after up to 20 years employment. 

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The Joint Secretary of the union, Anton Marcus, sent a letter early in February to the President of Sri Lanka, Mahinda Rajapaksa. That letter urged him to organize &ldquo;dialogue between social partners in order to overcome the challenges posed by the world economic crisis.&rdquo; 
 
The legislation that must be upheld is the Termination of Employment of Workmen (Special Provisions) Act No. 45 of 1978. In order for a different settlement to be agreed outside of the terms of this law, it must be carried out under a Memorandum of Settlement, covered in section 12(1) of the Industrial Disputes Act of Sri Lanka. This must be based on negotiations between the employer and employees before the Commissioner of Labour. 
 
Sinotex Lanka, Ltd. has violated all of these legal provisions, summoning workers one by one, and then terminating their services with a small stipend. Neither the union nor the Commissioner of Labour had been consulted, even though the union had requested a meeting. 
 
The ICEM believes this has set a dangerous precedent for other anti-union companies across Sri Lanka. Members of the union at Wheel Works Private, Ltd. have also been threatened by managers with discharge if they do not resign their membership.

Global Economic Crisis Used to Destroy Union in Sri Lanka

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According to Brazilian health and safety standards, employers in all sectors must promote a yearly &ldquo;Workplace Accident and Disease Prevention Week,&rdquo; or SIPAT. This obligation creates an opportunity for trade unions to discuss the main issues related to health and safety, such as hazardous chemicals, HIV/AIDs, women&rsquo;s health, and emerging issues such as the health effects arising from the increasing use of nanotechnologies. 
 
The collective agreement in Brazil&rsquo;s chemicals sector thus requires chemical companies to include nanotechnologies and environment in workers&rsquo; training programmes. The agreement provides that companies can ask for the assistance of public health services when needed, and some of them do allow a trade union technical adviser. 

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Trade unions in the chemical industries in S&atilde;o Paulo State have been working closely with the Fundacentro&acute;s National Occupational Health and Safety Institute, and a trade union advisory body &ndash; Departamento Intersindical de Estat&iacute;sticas e Estudos S&oacute;cio-Econ&ocirc;micos (DIEESE) &ndash; to frame a strategic approach to the risks. 
 
The collective agreement signed in December 2008 between employers and the CUT-affiliated Chemicals Trade Union Federation of S&atilde;o Paulo State (FETQUIM) &ndash; representing 125,000 workers in the petrochemical, chemical, plastics, pharmaceutical, cosmetics, paints, and other industrial sectors &ndash; also includes recommendations that the companies share their environmental programmes and initiatives with workers during the SIPAT week. 
 
Currently, the main objective of Sindicato dos Qu&iacute;micos of the ABC Region, an affiliate of both FETQUIM-SP/CUT and ICEM, is to promote workers&rsquo; participation in workplace programmes regarding protection of the environment, as well as workers&rsquo; health from the impacts of the unknown risks of nanotechnologies.

Brazil: Collective Agreement in Chemicals Requires Nanotech, Environmental Training

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Last week, on 17 February, US-based International Paper Co. announced closure of its Inverurie mill following a 90-day consultation period with ICEM UK affiliate Unite the Union. The closure of the Aberdeenshire, Scotland, mill will happen at the end of March, and will cost 371 paperworkers their jobs. 
 
However, Unite and local politicians, during the mandatory consultation period, did find potential buyers for Britain&rsquo;s last uncoated freesheet paper mill. But International Paper (IP) refused to even consider selling the mill. 
 
Unite Assistant General Secretary Tony Burke said it was IP&rsquo;s intention all along to close the site and replace British paper production with paper made elsewhere. 

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That also is the position of a former owner of the mill, Thomas Tait, whose family began papermaking in the village of Inverurie in 1852. Tait, who sold the mill to another American paper company in 1987, told an Aberdeen newspaper late last week that IP received an offer from another paper manufacturer that could have saved the jobs, and perhaps even created more job opportunities. 
 
&ldquo;I know they were not willing to sell to another paper-making operation which made an offer,&rdquo; said Tait, who also told the Aberdeen Evening Express he had been involved three times in various plans to re-purchase the mill. &ldquo;It was an absolutely straightforward &lsquo;No,&rsquo; no discussion whatsoever.&rdquo; Tait said the Inverurie example should be used for a change in British legislation, mandating a sale to occur when a buyer intends to produce the same or a similar product. 
 
Meanwhile, IP presented Unite and Scottish paperworkers with an inferior redundancy package, pay and benefits and job retraining that the union would not consider bringing to union members. Talks on that issue between Unite and IP will continue this week. 
 
&ldquo;International Paper is one of the biggest paper-making companies in the world and can afford to pay decent severance terms given the loyalty and dedication of our members,&rdquo; stated Burke.

International Paper Ends Consultation, Announces Closure to Scottish Inverurie Mill

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The Pakistan Central Mines Labour Federation (PCMLF), affiliated to the Labour Confederation of Pakistan, staged a protest demonstration in front of the Quetta Press Club on 13 January 2009, and again ten days later in front of the Mines Inspectorate. The manifestations were in protest to a deadly incident at the Mach coalmine in which eight mineworkers lost their lives. 
 
That tragedy occurred on 4 January when a mine shaft collapsed, causing the mine to fill with poisonous gases. 
 
Comrades of the dead workers were maddened to see a week pass by following the tragedy with only one of the bodies being removed from the mine by the authorities. A further reason for the demonstration was that the First Information Report (FIR), which puts forth information on those responsible for industrial accidents, had not been submitted for the deadly Mach disaster. 

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The mine authorities had no prior registration of the contractors working there, including the victims. It became clear at the protest that it is common practice throughout the mines in the region not to register contract workers. This also stands as an obstacle to organizing workers. 
 
The Pakistani Department for Mines and Minerals received heavy criticism from throughout the country, as it failed to supply the required safety equipment to retrieve the bodies. Mines Inspector Mohammad Farooq stated that there had been eleven miners present at the time of the collapse, with three workers rescued and the others killed instantly. 
 
The colliery belongs to Balochistan Mines, which is owned by Federal Minister for Livestock Mr. Hamayun Aziz Kurd. The protest demonstration culminated with the unanimous adoption of a resolution calling for immediate efforts for the recovery of the dead miners&rsquo; bodies; the granting of compensatory money to the families; that those found guilty of negligence be rigorously punished; that the Mach mine where the tragedy occurred be immediately sealed; and that Pakistan&rsquo;s Mines Safety Act be strictly enacted in the case. 
 
The PCMLF asked for letters of protest to be sent to the relevant authorities.

Pakistani Manifestation Condemns Deadly Mine Accident, Inaction in Retrieving the Dead

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The Council of Finnish Industrial Unions (TP) is calling for higher cooperation with employers and business groups as the protocol to lessen the sting of the current economic crisis. The group of 14 trade unions last week called on Finnish business and social partners to join the unions in a set of talks aimed at ensuring a stable labour market and income maintenance so purchasing power does not drop. 
 
The Council has set a date of 25 February for an initial meeting with industrial and service sector employers&rsquo; groups to discuss the means in finding common ground on employment strategies and domestic market improvements. Several European Works Councils (EWCs) of leading Finland companies came out after the unions&rsquo; call and endorsed strengthened cooperation between TP and business. 

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The unions are eager to reach an accord in order to avert mass job losses, to strengthen and enhance company competitiveness, and to continue strong domestic demand for goods and services. Such an agreement, which would cover 90% of Finland&rsquo;s two million wage earners, would be the socially conscious approach to avoid mass redundancies that, TP claims, are not brought on by lack of Finnish competitiveness, but rather by a deep crisis that has hit hard on production and demand. 
 
&ldquo;Under these circumstances, freezing wages, curbing the growth of purchasing power, or weakening other terms of employment are not the right solutions&rdquo; to current economic problems, said TP in a statement. TP is calling for a social accord that would be binding on the unions, labour market confederations, central employer associations, and the Finnish public sector. 
 
Trade unions enjoined to TP include Paperiliitto, Kemianliitto, Finnish Electrical Workers&rsquo; Union, Toimihenkil&ouml;unioni (TU), or the Salaried Employees&rsquo; Union, Finnish Media Union, Finnish Metalworkers Union (Metalli), Wood and Allied Workers&rsquo; Union, Construction Trade Union, Finnish Foodstuff Workers&rsquo; Union, Association of Business School Graduates (SEFE), Association of Graduate Engineers (TEK), Union of Professional Engineers UIL, and the Union of Machine Supervisors.

Finnish Council of Trade Unions Call for Framework Employer Agreement to Offset Economic Crisis

Archive

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

pulp and paper/pâte et de papier/pulpa y papel

Global Labour University Seeking Applicants for Germany, India Masters Programmes by 1 April

EPS Trade Union of Serbia Re-elects Milan Đorđević as President

Belgian FGTB/ABVV Outlines Steps in Glass, Ceramics to Meet Economic Crisis

Global Economic Crisis Used to Destroy Union in Sri Lanka

Brazil: Collective Agreement in Chemicals Requires Nanotech, Environmental Training

International Paper Ends Consultation, Announces Closure to Scottish Inverurie Mill

Pakistani Manifestation Condemns Deadly Mine Accident, Inaction in Retrieving the Dead

Finnish Council of Trade Unions Call for Framework Employer Agreement to Offset Economic Crisis

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