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Further action on Rio Tinto, the world's biggest mining company, was mapped out by international trade unionists and parliamentarians meeting in London today. 
The strategy talks were called by the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM). The unions are part of a broad international alliance of organisations campaigning for big improvements in Rio Tinto's environmental performance and in its respect for human rights, including trade union rights and the rights of indigenous peoples. 
 
As the London meeting got underway, a tense stand-off continued at Rio Tinto's Gordonstone mine in Australia, where the ICEM-affiliated miners' union CFMEU is pressing for the reinstatement of miners illegally sacked by the previous owner of the site. 
 
Trade unionists and British and European parliamentarians at the London talks declared their solidarity with the CFMEU and with the Gordonstone miners, and called upon Rio Tinto to rehire the miners without further delay. 
 
Meanwhile, Labor Party members of both chambers of the Australian federal parliament today issued a statement backing the CFMEU and the miners in their current disputes with Rio Tinto at Gordonstone and at other Australian mines. The Labor legislators said they would join a rally at Gordonstone next week. 
 
Rio Tinto, which recently bought Gordonstone from Arco, has been attempting to restart the mine with a group of hand-picked employees on a non-union contract. 
 
This has sparked daily confrontations over the past week on the Gordonstone picket line, which has been in place for 17 months following Arco's sacking of the miners. 
 
More than 50 pickets were arrested at Gordonstone today, including a member of the Queensland state parliament, after they prevented a bus from leaving the mine. Inside the bus were some of the hand-picked workers who have been preparing the mine for production. 
 
The Australian Federal Court today began hearing a CFMEU application to urgently bring forward the union's case to have the sacked miners rehired. 
 
The meeting in London today concentrated particularly on strategies regarding Rio Tinto's two Annual General Meetings this May. The dual-listed company holds yearly shareholder assemblies in both London and Melbourne. 
 
ICEM-affiliated British unions the AEEU, MSF and BACM organise within the UK operations of Rio Tinto, which is headquartered in London. 
 
Taking part in the London talks today were, among others: 
 
Richard Howitt, Labour Member of the European Parliament and the prime mover behind European legislators' call for a binding EU code of conduct for European enterprises operating in developing countries; British legislator Michael Clapham, who is prominent in the House of Commons all-party Occupational Health and Safety Group and who last year tabled highly critical parliamentary motions about Rio Tinto; Fred Higgs, ICEM Vice-President and National Officer of British ICEM affiliate the TGWU; John Maitland, ICEM Vice-President and National Secretary of the CFMEU; James Motlatsi, ICEM Vice-President and President of South Africa's ICEM-affiliated National Union of Miners; Bob Shannon, National Officer of ICEM British affiliate the AEEU; Simon Steyne from the International Department of the TUC, Britain's national union confederation; ICEM General Secretary Vic Thorpe and ICEM Mines Officer Damien Roland.

Rio Tinto Campaign: World&#039;s Unions In Strategy Talks

ICEM affiliates in Colombia are on course to a unified strategy on how best to organize and face the many obstacles of building free and democratic trade unions in the war-torn country. After three weeks of meetings through April, leaders of the affiliates working with ICEM resource people have identified a number of hurdles including contract labour as major threats to organizing.

Colombia Affiliates Dialogue Under ICEM Education Project

Workers at Chernobyl, and Ukraine's four other nuclear power stations, will go on strike unless a dispute over unpaid wages is resolved by tomorrow (6 March). Nationally and globally, unions are warning that the crisis could have implications for safety. 
 
Over the past few weeks, the nuclear workers have gradually been escalating their protests over the wage backlog, which now amounts to more than US$15 million. They have repeatedly warned that serious underfunding of the sector poses a threat to nuclear safety. 
 
Their union, the Atom Trade Union (ATU), issued the strike alert after the government and the nuclear energy utility Energoatom had persistently failed to tackle the wage debt crisis. The union has particularly criticised the government's foot-dragging over a decree that would open new credit lines for the cash-starved Ukrainian nuclear industry. 
 
ATU President Alexander Jurkin is now in negotiations with the Deputy Prime Minister in a last attempt to avert a full strike. 
 
At the global level, the ATU is affiliated to the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM). 
 
&quot;Our Ukrainian brothers and sisters can count on the full support of their colleagues worldwide,&quot; ICEM General Secretary Vic Thorpe. &quot;The Ukrainian nuclear workers must be paid what they are owed, and the ICEM stands ready to back their campaign. 
 
&quot;Non-payment of any group of workers is wholly unacceptable,&quot; Thorpe said. &quot;In the case of nuclear workers, it also poses a threat to the wider national and global community. 
 
&quot;Workers are a key factor in nuclear safety. They have to remain fully alert throughout their shifts. Nuclear workers who have serious financial worries, and who may have to take second jobs out of hours in order to make ends meet, could experience difficulty in concentrating. 
 
&quot;The Ukrainian authorities must ensure full payment of the nuclear workers' wages without further delay,&quot; Thorpe insisted, &quot;and they must provide the nuclear industry with the financial resources needed for safe operation. 
 
&quot;The global community must also shoulder its responsibilities,&quot; Thorpe said. &quot;Part of the international funding devoted to nuclear safety in Ukraine must be earmarked for the full, immediate payment of the nuclear industry's wage backlog. And the world's governments must insist that, from now on, wages be paid in full and on time to the workers on whom the world's safety depends.&quot;

Chernobyl Workers To Strike?

The Communications, Energy, Paperworkers Union of Canada would welcome global trade union support in its effort to block the Canadian government from selling its 19% state in Petro-Canada. Log on to www.cep.ca, click on the &ldquo;Don&rsquo;t Sell Petro-Canada&rdquo; link on the home page, and you can draft and send a short message against divestment to the prime minister that is automatically copied to the finance minister.

CEP of Canada Seeks Petition Help on Petro-Canada

Korean elections on 15 April proved historic for progressive forces including the Democratic Labor Party (DLP) and ICEM affiliate Korean Chemical &amp; Textile Workers&rsquo; Federation (KCFT). For the first time in the nation&rsquo;s 56-year history, progressive labour as represented by the DLP won seats in the National Assembly&mdash;ten, to become the country&rsquo;s third largest political party. KCTF is a member of the thriving national labour center, the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, which backs the DLP.

Korean Elections Bode Well for Union Movement

The crisis in Ukrainian coal mines is worsening by the day. Crippled by customers' unpaid bills and by &quot;reforms&quot; partly dictated by global financial institutions, the industry is continuing to default on wage payments to its workers. 
 
By 1 February, active coalminers were owed between 3 and 14 months' pay, the Miners' Independent Trade Union of Ukraine (MITU) reports. The total wage debt to these miners topped 700 million US dollars last month. The many Ukrainian miners invalided out because of accidents and occupational diseases are faring no better financially. They are now owed some 135 million US dollars' worth of benefits. 
 
Desperate times breed desperate measures. Strikes are spreading rapidly, now involving between 20,000 and 25,000 miners each day. About 200 miners have launched an indefinite sit-in below ground. One miner burned himself to death in a protest last December and more have threatened to do so. 
 
&quot;The miners are demanding that their wages be paid on time, that the arrears be paid and that state financing of the sector be increased during 1999,&quot; MITU President Mikhail Volynets commented yesterday. He said the country's President and government had reneged on a commitment to begin paying off the wage backlog. If the miners' &quot;legimate demands&quot; were not met, MITU would &quot;lead a general miners' strike,&quot; Volynets pledged. 
 
He pointed out that the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank are pressing the Ukraine to cut coal industry subsidies, close mines and reduce the workforce. 
 
&quot;All this doesn't favour the financial improvement of country in general, and in particular of the coal sector, which is a key Ukrainian industry,&quot; Volynets emphasised. &quot;Because of the tough monetary policy implemented by the government under pressure from the World Bank, many industrial enterprises in related sectors have stopped working. This has also had a negative effect on the working of the mines. 
 
&quot;In this situation, social and psychological tensions are intensifying more and more in the mining regions,&quot; Volynets warned. 
 
At the global level, the MITU is affiliated to the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM). 
 
&quot;The Ukrainian miners' claim is undeniably just,&quot; ICEM General Secretary Vic Thorpe commented. &quot;They are simply demanding what they are owed. They have the full support and solidarity of their brothers and sisters worldwide. 
 
&quot;We certainly call upon the Ukrainian mines and the Ukrainian government to ensure payment of the wage debt without further delay,&quot; Thorpe said. &quot;But beyond that, we demand that the institutions of global finance, notably the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, should at last show some social responsibility. At least part of the international finance that now goes into often harmful 'restructuring' in Ukraine and similar economies must instead be earmarked for the payment of the huge debts owed to those countries' workers. Global action is needed now to right this scandalous wrong.&quot;

Ukraine: Mine Strikes Spread As Pay Debt Climbs

ICEM President and Australian CFMEU National Secretary John Maitland officiated at a remembrance 4 April of the 1,600 miners who lost their lives in the mining areas of New South Wales dating back to 1801. The remembrance was the ninth such observance at the United Mineworkers&rsquo; Federation House in Cessnock. CFMEU Northern Mining &amp; Energy Division President Peter Murray said it is important to demonstrate respect and condolences to families who have lost loves ones in the mines and as a result of hazardous mine work.

Australian Mine Union Marks Death Toll in NSW

US refinery workers of BP in Whiting, Indiana, will take their case for preserving health care benefits to the AGM of the company in London this week. Members and officials from affiliate PACE will ask BP managers and shareholders 15 April why a firm based in a nation that guarantees universal health care to all citizens is taking advantage of a US system in which health insurance is unaffordable and unattainable for 45 million citizens. Although a collective agreement between BP and PACE Local 6-1 in Whiting does not expire until February 2006, the company is using a health care re-opener in mid-term to demand a 10% hike in out-of-pocket costs for current workers and retirees. BP seeks to increase what workers and retirees now pay for health care from 20% to 30%, and it seeks to eliminate health coverage altogether for retirees hired after 1 April 2004.

PACE US Workers Take Health Care Issue to BP’s AGM

The NUM in South Africa said it would withdraw from bargaining and the current work-term agreement it has with Harmony Gold Mining Ltd. if means are not found to reduce Harmony&rsquo;s projected job cuts. Harmony announced outside of talks on 2 April that it was closing six shafts due to insufficient financial returns and the strong Rand. Some 5,000 jobs are at stake. NUM agreed to continuous seven-day-a-week operations with Harmony to ensure marginal mines stay operational, but now SA&rsquo;s largest gold producer has reneged on that pledge. NUM was in talks with Harmony when the firm made the surprise announcement about shuttering the six shafts.

NUM in South Africa Takes Issue with Harmony Gold&#039;s Job Cuts

Despite a complete and full victory by Kristal-Is at Sisecam Group glass plants in Turkey, ICEM affiliate Maden-Is&mdash;the General Mine Workers&rsquo; Union&mdash;is still in dispute with the glassmaker. Fifty-five miners at Sisecam&rsquo;s Cam-Is Quartz Mining operations in Yalikey, Istanbul, were sacked one year ago for becoming members of Maden-Is, and 16 others have been on strike at the mine since last August. Sisecam has shown no willingness to recognize the rights of the miners to join the union.

Turkish Maden-Is Union Seeks Rights for Glass Workers

Archive

Rio Tinto Campaign: World's Unions In Strategy Talks

Colombia Affiliates Dialogue Under ICEM Education Project

Chernobyl Workers To Strike?

CEP of Canada Seeks Petition Help on Petro-Canada

Korean Elections Bode Well for Union Movement

Ukraine: Mine Strikes Spread As Pay Debt Climbs

Australian Mine Union Marks Death Toll in NSW

PACE US Workers Take Health Care Issue to BP’s AGM

NUM in South Africa Takes Issue with Harmony Gold's Job Cuts

Turkish Maden-Is Union Seeks Rights for Glass Workers

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