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The publicity and organising campaign launched in the town of Duzce, Turkey, (see report <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/3333-Turkey’s-Petrol-Is-Launch-Creative-Organising-Campaign">here</a>), by ICEM affiliate Petrol-İş, Turkey's Oil, Chemical and Rubber Workers Union, in mid-2009, has now been built on in the towns of Bursa and Gebze, both areas that have a high density of workers. 
 
The main aim of the campaign is to strengthen public confidence in unions, and to convey the union's positive message about unionising, not only to unorganised workers at their worksites, but also to families and within the local communities. 
 
The campaign adopted an approach which seeks to break down the negative public prejudices and attitudes towards unions. Petrol-İş plans to expand the drive to cover all Turkey. 

<img src="" width="280" height="210" alt="" />
Petrol-İş President Mustafa Oztaskin launches recruitment drive 
Using campaign materials, including local newspaper ads, billboard posters, local TV and radio spots and adverts, the union calls on workers to exercise their constitutional right to unionise. 
 
The campaign's key slogan, &ldquo;Be unionized,&rdquo; is accompanied by the messages &ldquo;Union is your strength,&rdquo; &ldquo;Union is your right,&rdquo; &ldquo;Union is the future,&rdquo; and &ldquo;Union means solidarity&rdquo;. The campaign website and brochures give specific information about unions, and the importance of &ldquo;being unionized,&rdquo; designed for potential new members. 
 
The Petrol-İş campaign aims to ensure that workers can freely, legitimately, and effectively exercise their right to organise, a basic human right.

Petrol-Iş Continues Aggressive Recruitment Drives in Turkey

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At a factory blockade of a Michelin tire plant in Laem Chabang, Thailand, on 20 March 2009, workers protested against a harsh 35% pay cut. Following the manifestation, 22 union activists were arrested, suspended from their jobs, with management taking out criminal charges against them. (See ICEM news release on that <a href="/en/77-All-ICEM-News-Releases/3132-ICEM-Condemns-Lockout-of-Thai-Workers-by-Michelin ">here</a>.) 
 
Those 22 unionists, members of ICEM-affiliated Petroleum and Chemical Workers&rsquo; Federation (PCFT), were finally reinstated to their jobs on 18 January, after attending a special training session specifically for them. 
 
However, despite this positive but delayed piece of justice, the conflict is far from over. Ten of the 22 are still facing criminal charges, charges the ICEM believes are unjust because they relate to legitimate trade union activity. The president of the Michelin Tyre Workers&rsquo; Union of the PCFT is one of those facing criminal proceedings, scheduled to take place at the Criminal Court of Pattaya by the public prosecutor of the province. The trade unionists have been forced to take bail. 

<img alt="" src="" width="270" height="129" />
Michelin Tyre Workers&rsquo; Union leaders of the PCFT, from left, Thanakorn Somsin, Rangsan Monchaisong, and Samai Koonswat
The cases are expected to be processed in the next month. 
 
Trade union members continue to face discrimination on a daily basis inside the Michelin factory, a workplace that employs 1,500. They receive lower pay than non-union members and have witnessed management take away holiday allowances in 2009. 
 
The March 2009 bargaining dispute was settled through successful tripartite discussions, brought forth by pressure from the ICEM, FCE-CFDT of France, and Michelin&rsquo;s European Works Council. The parties called for immediate intervention by Michelin headquarters then in France. 
 
In other Michelin Asia-Pacific news, the company announced closure of a Japanese factory in Ota, 50 kilometres north of Tokyo. The closure will occur in July 2010 and will see 380 employees sacked from their jobs. The reason given by Michelin is that production costs at the plant are too high. Michelin has entered into talks with the union to relocate workers from the Ota plant into other jobs.

Michelin Unionists at Thai Tyre Factory Still Face Discrimination

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The Guyana Bauxite &amp; General Workers&rsquo; Union (GB&amp;GWU) is seeking justice against the union-smashing affront by Russian metals company RusAL, the world&rsquo;s second largest aluminum producer. The union has filed a racial discrimination complaint over RusAl&rsquo;s sacking of 57 union activists, a move made necessary when neither the prime minister nor the minister of Labour, Human Services, and Social Security intervened to protect Guyana&rsquo;s labour law. 
 
The dispute started in November 2009, following pay talks between GB&amp;GWU and RusAl, the 90% owner of Bauxite Co. of Guyana Inc. (BCGI) at the Aroaima and Kwakwani mines in central Guyana. RusAl managers submitted three counter-proposals for the workforce of 500 to consider, and after miners voted to accept one, the company rescinded it and announced on 1 December that it no longer recognized GB&amp;GWU, a blatant violation of the Trade Union Recognition Act. 

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Allegedly, the company subsequently said at a workplace meeting that those responsible for promoting the accepted offer would be the first in line for retrenchments. BCGI had hoped to tie a wage increase with some 70 redundancies, a counter-proposal that miners did not accept. 
 
Miners began a lawful strike on 21 November at the Aroaima mine. Three days into the strike, BCGI issued letters of termination to 57 strike leaders, all African descendants. Despite several urgent calls and letters to government officials to press RusAl on the law infractions, very little has been done. The discharge letters judged the workers &ldquo;insubordinate, refusing to obey instructions&rdquo; and guilty of &ldquo;misconduct.&rdquo; 
 
The race charge was heard before the Ethnic Relations Commission on 8 January. The GB&amp;GWU is asking the commission to convene a full public inquiry into the alleged discriminatory sackings because a &ldquo;bilateral initiative &hellip; to engage the union; then engage the company; then engage the Minister &hellip; will not work.&rdquo; 
 
An 8 January letter by the union and the 57 discharged miners to Prime Minister Samuel Hinds expressed frustration at government inaction: &ldquo;We were never charged, never summoned to answer the charges &hellip; never given a hearing yet the company has pronounced us guilty of charges. Today, as we continue to take a stand for our rights, the Minister of Labour has thus far taken the position that we do not have any rights or any recourse for justice.&rdquo; 

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GB&amp;GWU General President Charles Sampson
GB&amp;GWU General President Charles Sampson, in a letter to Labour, Human Services, and Social Security Minister Mansoor Nadir, said he was &ldquo;appalled&rdquo; that you &ldquo;have not seen it fit to intervene &hellip; to immediately put an end to this national insult.&rdquo; Nadir, for his part, publicly stated in December that &ldquo;we should let this festive (holiday) season of goodwill take its course and hopefully both parties will exercise more generosity towards each other.&rdquo; 
 
Six weeks later, there is little generosity shown the 57 mining families who are now impoverished in a poverty-stricken country. Guyana&rsquo;s Trade Union Recognition and Certification Board did hold a 12 January hearing on the unilateral de-authorization pronouncement by RusAl, and it also heard first-hand how BCGI is now coercing workers to sign waivers to abandon the union. 
 
The ICEM is disturbed that Prime Minister Samuel Hinds, himself a former miner and human rights proponent, has not been in the forefront of this dispute, seeking reinstatement for the 57 and prohibiting RusAl from trampling on the country&rsquo;s labour code. The ICEM also cites the Russian mining and metals multinational with yet another glaring example of the company&rsquo;s complete disregard toward international labour and human rights standards.

Guyana Bauxite Workers’ Union Bitter at RusAl, Government

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Negotiations between United Steelworkers (USW) Local 9508 and Brazilian mining company Vale broke off late last night, 24 January, in St. John, Newfoundland, in failed efforts to end the 25-week strike by 250 union members at Goose Bay and Voiseys Bay, Labrador. Three days of steady talks over the weekend, guided by a provincial mediator from Newfoundland/Labrador, failed to bring the two sides any closer to terms. 
 
Meanwhile, 3,100 striking Steelworkers marked six months on picket lines opposite Vale in Sudbury and Port Colborne, Ontario, a fortnight ago. The company, on 19 January, upheld its promise to re-start the Copper Cliff nickel smelter using managers and replacement workers to fire one of two furnaces. 
 
In eastern Canada, an announcement a week ago that the first full round of negotiations since February 2009 would begin on 22 January brought hope that copper, nickel, and cobalt mining in Goose Bay, as well as operations at a slurry facility in Voiseys Bay would resume. Vale had submitted the framework of an agreement ten days ago, but this past weekend&rsquo;s bargaining proved Vale is seeking the same set of concessions. 

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Hong Kong flagged ship operators receive Voiseys Bay Petition, 9 October 2009
&ldquo;The company here still insists on removing the nickel bonus and they didn&rsquo;t deal at all with our issues,&rdquo; lead negotiator and USW District 6 Representative Boyd Bussey told the ICEM Sunday evening. &ldquo;If Vale thought they were picking off a weak link in this strike, they were wrong. We&rsquo;ll be on picket lines until we get a good deal.&rdquo; 
 
The key item that separated the two sides in talks remains Vale&rsquo;s insistence on removing the nickel bonus, a wage supplement that is tied to the rise and fall of the market price of nickel. Contract language, monetary issues, and a company demand to give it more latitude on use of temporary workers also separates the two sides. Local 9508 is an amalgamated USW branch union with five units, three &ndash; miners, catering staff, and security &ndash; that have been on strike against Vale since 1 August 2009. Another unit, a Vale sub-contracted group of port workers employed by an Aboriginal-owned company called TSI, has a separate labour agreement expiring early in 2010. 

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The focus will now be on whether or not Vale will restart copper and nickel mining in Goose Bay using replacement workers. The speculation is that Vale needs nickel concentrates to feed its smelting operations in Thompson, Manitoba, as well as nickel for the re-start of Copper Cliff, where USW Local 6500 is on strike. The company might also be expected to capitalize on high copper prices, with the high-grade red metal mined and processed in the maritime province moved to market. In 2008, the company produced 77,500 tonnes of contained nickel and 55,400 tonnes of high-grade copper concentrates from its Vale-Inco Newfoundland and Labrador operations. 
 
The start-up of the Copper Cliff smelter was long advertised by the company. Operation of one of two furnaces at Copper Cliff, however, is not expected to give Vale anywhere near 50% of smelting capacity from the Sudbury-area facility. Vale is getting minimal production from two of six mines in northern Ontario, as well as token output from its Claribelle refining operation. 
 
On 13 January, the six-month mark of the strike in Sudbury and Port Colborne, the USW filed a bad-faith bargaining complaint with the Ontario Labour Relations Board in Toronto on Vale-Inco&rsquo;s entrenched negotiations stand. Included in that complaint is an internal June 2009 Vale document that the company intends to pare mining jobs in northern Ontario, as well as strategically mine only high-grade ore from the region, thus reducing life expectancy of nickel reserves. The USW believes this indicates Vale is not managing the province&rsquo;s reserves in the long-term best interests of workers and rural communities. 
 
On the six-month anniversary of the Ontario mining strike, over 1,000 miners and their families marched and manifested in Sudbury. The event included an environmentally-friendly balloon release, with each balloon set aloft representing C$4 million of Vale&rsquo;s profits that has fled from Canada. 
 
The ICEM, together with the International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF), will continue ratcheting up pressure on the Brazilian company so that Vale returns to bargaining tables both in Labrador/Newfoundland and Ontario with fair contract offers. The USW Local 6500 strike website can be found here <a href="http://www.fairdealnow.ca">www.fairdealnow.ca</a>.

Talks Prove Futile in Ending Vale’s Eastern Canada Mine Strike

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The ICEM is demanding that the government of Bosnia-Herzegovina intervene on behalf of 1,250 workers in the northern city of Lukavac. The workers have had their pay slashed and are owed wage arrears by India-based Global Infrastructure Holdings Ltd., a subsidiary of the Ispat Group, owned by the Mittal steel-making family. 
 
The company is the minority owner but manages a coke-chemicals enterprise called Global Ispat Koksana Industtrija Lukavac (GIKIL), which sells to steel mills throughout Central Europe, Turkey, and in India. The local government of the Canton of Tuzla is majority stakeholder. 
 
In a 21 January letter (see <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/3%20ICEM-IMF.Bosnia.pdf ">here</a>) to Bosnia-Herzegovina Prime Minister Mustafa Mujezinovic and to Canton of Tuzla Prime Minister Enes Mujić, ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda &ndash; together with International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF) General Secretary Jyrki Raina &ndash; called on both the federal government and regional government to ensure that restoration of previous pay levels dating to 2003 are restored, that wage arrears are paid, and that the governments be more vigilant on potentially serious health risks existing inside GIKIL. 

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The ICEM is pursuing justice for Lukavac workers on behalf of one of those affiliates, the Independent Trade Union of Chemistry and Non-Metal Workers of Bosnia-Herzegovina. 
 
&ldquo;The ICEM has probed Global Infrastructure Holdings, its parent, the steel-maker Ispat Group, and Pramod Mittal himself.&rdquo; said Warda. &ldquo;What we find is a history of depraved conduct placed on people in many countries and total disregard for global social standards, as well as statutes enshrined in European law.&rdquo; 
 
In Lukavac, workers have carried out lawful strikes twice in six months, laying claims to salaries owed them. Despite all workers taking membership in the union, GIKIL&rsquo;s Indian managing director, Guttupalli Jagannadham, has bypassed the union in slashing pay to 55% of previous earnings. That level is below the minimum wage standard contained in the national collective agreement for chemistry and non-metals, and amounts to just above &euro;200 per month (400 marka), putting it well under the minimum wage threshold for the sector in Bosnia-Herzegovina. 
 
Workers staged a strike from 6 January to 14 January after salaries had not been paid in October, November, and December 2009. During the strike, the October and November pay was made, but December salaries are still in remiss. A mediated agreement that ended a three-day strike in July 2009 called on GIKIL management to honour the collective agreement, and pay all wages due by 31 December 2009. 
 
The ICEM and IMF also stated concern for workers&rsquo; health at GIKIL in the letter to the Bosnia-Herzegovina government. The Independent Trade Union of Chemistry and Non-Metal Workers believes a number of workers have acute cases of cancer due to lack of safeguards around coke ovens. 
<img alt="" src="" width="102" height="140" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <img alt="" src="" width="99" height="140" />
ICEM and IMF General Secretaries, Manfred Warda, Jyrki Raina
In the joint letter, the combined 45-million-member ICEM and IMF cautioned the government not to lose oversight over labour-management relations at GIKIL. &ldquo;We think this a mistake, considering the recent history of wage arrears, asset stripping, and general social depravation brought by Global Infrastructure Holdings.&rdquo; 
 
In Nigeria in 2008, Kogi state steelworkers, over 500 Indian nationals, and many Ukrainian expatriate workers protested due to ten months of non-payment of wages. The Iron and Steel Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ISSSAN) counted 60 deaths among workers because of the lengthy pay arrears, including 21 suicides. In April 2008, the Nigerian government revoked a privatisation contract it had with Global Infrastructure Holdings to operate the Ajaokuto Steel mills and Nigerian Iron Ore Mining Co., as well as Delta Steel, when it discovered the Indian company was cannibalizing equipment and then exporting it. 
 
Also in 2008 in Libya, where Global Infrastructure Holdings had a contract to manage Libya Iron and Steel Co. Ltd., workers &ndash; including 120 Indian nationals in high-skilled jobs &ndash; went as long as seven months without pay. In Bulgaria, Pramod Mittal and Ispat&rsquo;s Global Steel Holdings bought 71% of the country&rsquo;s largest steel mill, Kremikovtsi Steel, in 2005, renamed it Finmetals Holdings, and the enterprise was declared insolvent in August 2008. Lack of promised investment was the cause. 
 
Mittal, the younger brother of ArcelorMittal Chairman Lakshmi N. Mittal, left a debt trail that included bondholders and huge sums owed Bulgarian state utility NEC, gas company Bulgargaz, and railway operator BDZ. 
 
Some 5,000 Bulgarian steelworkers also were not paid their wages on time throughout the latter half of 2008. 
 
&ldquo;We take the breach of contract, failure to engage the union in social talks, and wage issues very seriously,&rdquo; said Warda of the current Lukavac dispute. &ldquo;Either the government of Bosnia-Herzegovina corrects the wrongs imposed on workers, or we carry this dispute to different levels.&rdquo;

ICEM, IMF Decry Mittal’s Pay Delinquencies in Bosnia-Herzegovina

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The three-month-long wage dispute between a branch of ICEM Indonesia affiliate Federasi Serikat Pekerja Pulp Dan Kertas (FSP2KI) and managers of a pulp mill on Sumatra Island owned by the Japanese Marubeni Group was resolved recently. Along with settlement, the Human Resource director that exhibited rude and coercive behaviour toward the union&rsquo;s bargaining committee in July was sacked. 
 
SPPTTEL, the branch union of FSP2KI at the PT Tanjung Enim Lestari pulp mill near Muaraenim, and Marubeni were able to reach a 2011 wage accord with help from the provincial Manpower Ministry office. The two sides reached a compromise on wages, but it was the company&rsquo;s dismissal of Eko Ganefianto that perhaps is the biggest triumph for paperworkers of SPPTEL. 
 
In collective negotiations, this boss threatened worker layoffs and termination of all bargaining committee members when the union put forward its wage demands. Ganefianto also threatened to call out police to forcefully break any strike that SPPTTEL called. 
 
Mostly due to the manager&rsquo;s words and tone, SPPTTEL did strike for three days in late July (see <a href="/en/19-Pulp-Paper/4573-Paperworkers-Strike-Indonesian-Pulp-Mill-Pressure-Brings-Marubeni-to-Table ">prior ICEM report</a>). Although a police presence was nearby, the walkout by 1,000 paperworkers was peaceful. 
 
In pursuant bargaining, the union retreated from monthly wage demands of IDR 632,000 (US$74) and the company moved upward considerably. The agreement reached just over two weeks ago calls for a monthly increase of IDR 240,000 (US$27) per month. The average median salary at Marubeni&rsquo;s pulp mill is IDR 2 million, or US$235-per-month. 
 
The union also won payment for the three days of strike action, and partial payment on salaries for the post-fasting Ramadan days of Eid ul-Fitr.

Indonesia Pulp Dispute Settled; Human Resource Director Sacked

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The European Mine, Chemicals, Energy Federation (EMCEF), the European Chemical Employers&rsquo; Group (ECEG), and the European Chemical Industry Council (Cefic) signed on 6 September a declaration to jointly encourage policymakers to implement the recommendations by the High Level Group on the Competitiveness of the European Chemical Industry. 
 
The agreement was signed at the European Commission headquarters in Brussels with Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion Commissioner L&aacute;szl&oacute; Andor participating. 
 
The three-pillared blueprint, entitled &ldquo;Framework conditions for a sustainable chemical industry in Europe,&rdquo; centers on positive environmental, economic, and social principles. Under the environmental principal, the three social partners share the view that the voluntary Responsible Care programme offers the best possibilities to make continual improvements in safety, health and the environment. 
<img alt="" src="" width="134" height="160" />
Bottom, Cefic President Giorgio Squinzi and Commissioner L&aacute;szl&oacute; Andor; top, ECEG&rsquo;s Jean Pelin, EMCEF&rsquo;s Michael Wolters and representative from German chemical employers&rsquo; grouping, BAVC
The social component specifies good working conditions, life-long learning, and improving employability through skill development, retention and re-employment. The social partners also emphasize opportunities here for young people, and they say this social framework serves so far as the main contribution to the Agenda for New Skills and Jobs under the Euro 2020 strategy. 
 
The economic pillar is built around competitiveness and innovation, and striving to maintain Europe&rsquo;s strong position in global chemicals. The declaration states that the High Level Group&rsquo;s recommendations do &ldquo;form a strategic agenda for areas such as innovation, intellectual property, regulation, energy and climate change, logistics and trade policy.&rdquo; 
 
EMCEF General Secretary Michael Wolters said the declaration &ldquo;highlights the urgent need to see sustainability as a way to safeguard and expand high-skilled, high value-added jobs in Europe through a comprehensive EU industrial policy.&rdquo;

Europe’s Chemical Social Partners Sign Sustainability Pact

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On 14 September 14, the ICEM held an education and awareness-raising event on ILO Convention 176, the Health and Safety in Mines Convention, at XIX World Congress on Safety and Health at Work (WCSHW), an important global occupational health and safety gathering. It took place at the Hali&ccedil; Congress Center in Istanbul. 
 
The ICEM forum had the presence of two of the leaders of ICEM-affiliated mining unions, which indicated the commitment from them to get Turkey to ratify and implement the standards contained in Convention 176. Nurettin Ak&ccedil;ul, President of T&uuml;rkiye Maden-İş, the Mine Workers&rsquo; Union of Turkey, and President Ey&uuml;p Alabaş of Genel Maden-İş, the General Mine Workers&rsquo; Union of Turkey, participated and expressed the necessity of improved mine safety through adoption of global standards. 
 
ICEM Industry and Corporate Affairs Director Kemal &Ouml;zkan introduced the panellists. He noted that the ICEM has made mine safety a top priority, and will vigilantly work to get more countries to ratify ILO Convention 176. 
 
The first panellist was Dr. Fikret Sazak, Director of Education Department for Maden-İş. He reviewed the deplorable occupational health and safety conditions in Turkey's mining sector, as well as generally. 
<img src="" width="230" height="160" alt="" />
From left to right: Brian Kohler, Glen Mpufane, Ey&uuml;p Alabaş, Kemal &Ouml;zkan, Nurettin Ak&ccedil;ul, Fikret Sazak, Turhan Oral
Neo-liberal policies of deregulation, privatization, and globalization are devastating the sector, he said. There is a large informal sector within the Turkish economy. Even within the formal sector, there is high unemployment, low union density, and therefore a big problem with contract labour, flexible labour arrangements, and other forms of precarious work. 
 
Turkish mines are poorly regulated, and there are not enough government inspectors to adequately enforce even those regulations that do exist. 
 
Sazak concluded that the solution lies in enacting effective and enforceable occupational health and safety laws, much more education and training, and worker participation through joint Health and Safety Committees. ILO Convention 176 sets out a minimum standard for all of these things, therefore it should be a high priority for the government of Turkey to ratify it. This will not happen without strong unions. 
 
ICEM Mining Officer Glen Mpufane entitled his presentation &ldquo;First Aid Needed for Safety and Health in the Mining Industry.&rdquo; He focused on various incentive systems used to compensate miners &ndash; both workers and managers. This creates a race to the bottom where all standards are sacrificed to the altar of profit. 
 
Surveying recent mining disasters, in Pakistan, New Zealand, the US, China, Russia, Mexico and other countries, Mpufane concluded that the role of trade unions was crucial. The ICEM predecessor, the Miners&rsquo; International Federation (MIF), played a major role in drafting and adopting ILO Convention 176 in 1995, and now the ICEM is the major organization campaigning for country to country ratification. 
 
Brian Kohler, ICEM Officer for Health, Safety and Sustainability, reviewed some of the provisions contained in ILO Convention 176, and the associated Recommendation 183. 
 
The main features include recommendations for a strong national legislative and regulatory framework, including inspection, required accident investigation, and reporting and record-keeping; employers' responsibilities to provide adequate training and supervision; hazard control following the principle of eliminating or controlling the hazard as close to the source of the hazard as possible and relying on personal protective equipment only as a last resort, and a recognition of workers rights to participate in health and safety policy-making at the workplace level and to remove themselves from danger. 
 
Other important provisions include topics such as risk assessment and control, health surveillance, and risk communication. Good engineering design is a starting point for a safe mine, stated Kohler. Effective emergency response procedures and equipment are also necessary. 
 
Kohler concluded by saying when it comes to occupational health and safety, governments and employers have responsibilities &ndash; workers have rights.

ICEM Holds Forum on ILO C. 176 at Safety Congress in Turkey

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Movement finally occurred in the ten-and-a-half-month lockout by U.S. Steel Corp. of United Steelworkers (USW) Local 1005 members in Hamilton, Canada, but too little of it by the concession-seeking company by all accounts. The American steelmaker tabled an offer one week ago, but little in it has changed from US Steel&rsquo;s original demands. 
 
The lockout of 900 steelworkers in the province of Ontario began on 7 November 2010 when USW Local 1005 refused to put a concession-laden proposal before proud union members. US Steel is demanding closure of the defined benefit plan to new hires, an end to pension indexing for 9,000 retirees, cuts to cost-of-living adjustments, and elimination of two weeks vacation time. 
<img src="" width="212" height="160" alt="" />
Negotiations commenced on 13 September for the first time since the lockout began and Hamilton Works managers tabled the offer. The union took it to an information meeting on 21 September, but Local 1005&rsquo;s Executive Committee reviewed it days earlier, and passed a resolution declaring it &ldquo;substantially the same as the offer presented prior to locking the workers out on November 7, 2010, as concerns the demands to give up indexing of pensions and permitting new hires to go into a defined contribution plan instead of being part of the defined benefit plan.&rdquo; 
 
Local 1005&rsquo;s committee also said parts of the new offer actually &ldquo;make it worse,&rdquo; proving &ldquo;that (U.S. Steel) continues to refuse to bargain in good faith.&rdquo; 
 
A major sticking point reportedly is the offer contains call-back language in which the company will only re-start certain operations with a very limited number of workers. The new offer also contains a modest ratification bonus. 
 
USW Local 1005 and U.S. Steel are expected to continue talks under the guidance of provincial mediator Simon Clark.

Talks Begin but Relations Still Frozen in Canadian Steel Lockout of USW Members

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United Steelworkers (USW) Local 6166 in Thompson, Manitoba, ratified a three-year labour agreement with the mining company Vale on 15 September, the same day that a prior three-year pact expired. Following a strike authorisation vote by the 1,100-strong unionised workforce a week earlier that passed by 95.3%, the USW bargaining team negotiated excellent gains in wage, pension, cost-of-living, and other payment schemes. 
 
But most importantly the union diminished the harsh effects to workers in expected 2015 closures of a nickel refinery and smelter at Vale&rsquo;s Manitoba Operations. 
 
The new contract contains annual 2.5% wage increases, plus a C$.35-per-hour cost-of-living increase that will lift earnings C$2.72-an-hour over the life of the agreement. USW Local 6166&rsquo;s defined-benefit pension plan also will increase, to C$3,450 monthly for full work service effective this year and to C$3,550 in September 2013. 
 
The union won &ldquo;preferential hiring&rdquo; language for workers that will lose their jobs in 2015 when Vale pares the Thompson workforce by 45% with the refinery and smelter closures. Vale&rsquo;s Thompson operations exceed new federal Canadian sulphur dioxide standards that will come in 2015. The Brazilian company is building a new C$2.8 billion refining complex in Long Harbour, Labrador/Newfoundland, near Vale&rsquo;s Voiseys Bay and Goose Bay mine operations in eastern Canada. 
 
The new contract language will mean workers likely to be furloughed will have preference in employment opportunities at Vale&rsquo;s Canadian operations in Ontario and Labrador/Newfoundland. The company will continue mine and milling processing in Manitoba and also will continue development of new nickel deposits in the western Canadian province. 
 
Other gains in the 2011 to 2014 collective agreement include a transition and retention payment to be paid over the three years. That will total C$10,000 and include a C$4,000 pay-out on 15 October 2011, and C$2,000 pay-outs in each of the next three years. The new agreement also contains an incentive scheme. 
 
&ldquo;Obviously, the gains we have made are bittersweet, given Vale&rsquo;s plans to close our smelter and refinery in 2015, eliminating 500 jobs,&rdquo; said USW Local 6166 President Murray Nychyporuk. The company and union came to terms on 12 September. A senior Vale manager called the negotiations &ldquo;respectful throughout.&rdquo; The agreement stands as the second labour accord between USW Local 6166 and Vale, the first coming in 2008 two years after Vale bought Inco Ltd. operations in Canada and elsewhere.

Canadian Steelworkers, Vale Agree to Terms at Manitoba Nickel Mine

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