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Global worker No1 2022

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The ICEM joins the wide condemnation of the Malawi government&rsquo;s vicious crackdown on human and trade union rights. A raft of recent legislative changes has systematically curtailed civil liberties, freedom of the press, and increased impunity of government agencies and officials.<br />
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In the African nation, Section 46 of the Penal Code was amended, allowing the Minister of Information to ban publications which are deemed to be contrary to the public interest. The Civil Procedure Bill was also amended, denying plaintiffs the right to instant relief when their rights are under threat by a government agency or officer. This latter amendment also allows police to search any house without a search warrant.</div>
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<div>Civil society groups have given President Mutharika until 17 August to respond to their grievances. &quot;If nothing happens, the nation will hear from us,&quot; stated Robert Mkwezalamba, General Secretary of the Malawi Congress of Trade Unions (MCTU), referring to a petition of grievances submitted to the President.<br />
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Nationwide popular protests on 20 July were brutally repressed by shocking police violence, leaving 19 people dead including a 13-year-old boy. The violence used by the Malawi government has been widely condemned, and attention is now on Mutharika&rsquo;s regime to peacefully reach agreement with protest groups, and reverse the country&rsquo;s archaic legislation.<br />
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The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) has initiated an <a href="http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/solidarityforever/show_campaign.cgi?c=1074"><font color="#ff0000">electronic campaign</font></a> through LabourStart. Please support it here. </div>

Campaign to Halt the Bloody Repression of Malawi Trade Unionists

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<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Swiss trade union UNIA has achieved significant steps in the campaign to save the jobs of 470 workers at Swissmetal, a company on the verge of bankruptcy. The first victory was ensuring all staff received salary payments for the month of July. This was achieved through pressure on Switzerland&rsquo;s Secretary of State for the Economy, and on the cantonal governments of Soleure and Berne.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">The federal, cantonal governments and UNIA provided the CHF 2 million to meet July&rsquo;s payroll. Swissmetal no longer has the liquidity to pay wages. UNIA provided the majority of the payment, approximately 70%.</span></p>
<div><span lang="EN-GB">This payment means that the possibility still exists that the two Swiss operations of the company still might be purchased by French-based Le Bronze Industriel SA, a manufacturer of bronze and copper electrodes.</span></div>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB"><span>UNIA Occupy BNP Paribas Branch</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Another major step UNIA in trying to save Swissmetal jobs came when the Swiss national union succeeded in pressuring bank BNP Paribas &ndash; a creditor of Swissmetal that is owed CHF 20 million &ndash; to release the company&rsquo;s metal inventories, which the bank blocked at the two sites.</span></p>
<div><span lang="EN-GB">On 8 August, UNIA and workers at the main facility in Dornach held a symbolic manifestation at the Basle branch of BNP Paribas, urging the bank to lift the blockade of raw metal stock. Hundreds of workers rallied under the slogan, &ldquo;You occupy our warehouse, we occupy your bank!&rdquo; The occupation of the bank proved successful.</span></div>
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<div><span lang="EN-GB">While work did re-start at the other plant, in Reconvilier, on 8 August, all attention today is on the Dornach site, where production must restart immediately. This depends on Swissmetal agreeing to operate and deal with pending orders before buyers look elsewhere. Reopening of operations in the immediate term would ensure Swissmetal&rsquo;s ability to pay wages for August.</span></div>
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<div><span lang="EN-GB">As sale negotiations continue, redundancies are not necessary at this stage, and will be bitterly opposed.</span></div>
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<div><span lang="EN-GB">UNIA underlines the vital importance that the cantonal governments of Soleure and Bern have. They have a duty to prevent the massive dismantling of operations and stop closure of the factories.</span></div>

Uncertainty Continues for Swissmetal Workers

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<p><span lang="EN">Union members of Sindicato No. 1 de Trabajadores de Minera Escondida, a branch of Chile&rsquo;s Federation of Miners (FMC), returned to work on 5 August after a 15-day strike at the world&rsquo;s largest copper mine, majority owned by BHP Billiton. Mineworkers voted by 65.5% to 34.5% on 4 August to end the strike after their leaders negotiating the previous two days with Escondida management. <br />
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Those talks produced a memorandum of agreement providing a remedy to a dispute over a 2010 production bonus. But equally important, the memorandum addressed several grievances and breaches by Escondida management from a 2009 labour agreement. <br />
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Sindicato No. 1, representing Escondida&rsquo;s 2,375 direct-employed miners, said of the memorandum, &ldquo;the company promises to solve a series of labour issues such as establishing a new attendance policy, regularising a certification system based on competency for promotions, and reformulating the criteria for calculating a production bonus.&rdquo; These were just some of the issues in dispute inside a four-year labour agreement that was signed in November 2009. <br />
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In 2010, Escondida &ndash; 57.5% owned by operator BHP Billiton, 30% by Rio Tinto, and 12.5% by Japanese holding companies connected to Mitsubishi &ndash; saw profits of US$4.3 billion, up 35% over that of 2009. Last week&rsquo;s amended bonus to each worker amounts to CHP 2.65 million (pesos), or US$5,800. Miners will receive that on 25 August.</span></p>
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<font color="#ff0000">Sindicato No. 1 Files Papers in a Labour Court in Late July</font></span></p>
<p><span lang="EN">Escondida called the strike illegal and said throughout that it would not negotiate with the union. But as the days wore on and production was crippling revenue from the rich mining complex, that changed. In a statement after signing the memorandum of agreement, the company said workers had ended their &ldquo;illegal work stoppage&rdquo; and &ldquo;this action is due to the success of talks between the parties. <br />
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&ldquo;Minera Escondida reiterates that dialogue and respect are the foundation for maintaining a beneficial relationship with its workers.&rdquo; <br />
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Besides the aforementioned issues, that respect includes a more transparent system for the production bonuses; restoration of a housing allocation that lifts restrictions on where miners may use those stipends; safer and higher-quality bus transport service, and compensation for tickets; no retaliation, redundancy, or punishment for union or strike activity; and review on why the company installed surveillance cameras. <br />
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Miners will also be paid their salaries for the 15-day strike. Sindicato No. 1 de Trabajadores de Minera Escondida had filed labour court charges on several of the issues involved in the strike. <br />
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For its part, the union said it hopes to maintain and deepen channels of communication with management, but also will stay vigilant that the issues agreed to in the memorandum will get addressed and resolved. <br />
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Minera Escondida consists of two open-pit copper mines some 170 kilometres southeast of Antofagasta, in Chile&rsquo;s Region II. It also consists of two concentrator plants, Los Colorados and Laguna Seca, which have a combined capacity of 330,000 tonnes per day. The company operates two pipelines and a filter plant on the Pacific Ocean Port of Coloso. <br />
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In 2010, Escondida&rsquo;s production totaled 1.087 million tonnes, consisting of 786,603 tonnes of copper concentrate and 300,098 tonnes of copper cathodes. The Escondida mine complex provides 7% of the world&rsquo;s copper supply.</span></p>

FMC Copper Union at Escondida Wins Dialogue Guarantees

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The ICEM has joined trade unions of Australia, New Zealand, and the UK in protesting flagrant trade union abuses by the military dictatorship in Fiji. On Saturday, 13 August, just two days after dictator Josaia Voreque Bainimarama tried to assure a high-level ILO delegation, including Deputy General Director Guy Ryder, that trade union rights in Fiji were being upheld, police showed up at the opening of Fiji Trades Union Congress&rsquo;s (FTUC) national council meeting and revoked the national centre&rsquo;s meeting permit.<br />
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That came ten days after Daniel Urai, formerly of the ICEM-affiliated Fiji Electricity Workers&rsquo; Union, who is President of the FTUC, and union activist Dinesh Gounder were arrested under Fiji&rsquo;s new Public Emergency Regulation for meeting with trade unionists without a permit. They were charged with unlawful assembly in meeting with hotel workers over a pending collective agreement. <br />
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Daniel Urai, Dinesh Gounder</span></div>
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Both were released on bail on 4 August and are due to appear in the Nadi Magistrates Court on 2 September on those charges. (See <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/98.ICEM.Fiji%20Prime%20Minister.10August.pdf"><font color="#ff0000">ICEM protest letter</font></a> here.)<br />
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The arrests, along with broader trade union repression, specifically against FTUC National Secretary Felix Anthony, are seen as recrimination against Fiji union leaders visiting Australia and New Zealand to speak out against the military dictatorship of Commodore Bainimarama.<br />
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Australian unions, led by the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), have begun a number of direct actions against Fiji, which have raised the stakes against Bainimarama&rsquo;s strong-armed tactics. For example, the Australian Transport Workers&rsquo; Union (TWU) has threatened to not load or refuel Qantas air flights headed to Fiji, which would severely impact the Pacific country&rsquo;s tourism trade. The blockade would also include Air Pacific, a Qantas partner and Fiji&rsquo;s flag carrier.<br />
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On 2 September &ndash; the date that Urai and Gounder will be in a Fiji courtroom &ndash; the ACTU will organise two manifestations in front of Fiji consular offices in North Sydney and in Deakin near Canberra.<br />
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<div>Dictator Bainimarama with ILO Representatives Last Week</div>
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On 8 August, UK&rsquo;s Trades Union Congress and ICEM affiliate GMB called on British sugar multinational Tate &amp; Lyle to challenge the Bainimarama regime&rsquo;s abusive tactics. Tate &amp; Lyle purchases 100% of Fiji&rsquo;s sugar exports and the illegitimate Fijian ruler has a controlling stake in sugar production.<br />
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On the same day that Urai and Gounder were arrested, 3 August, a dictum was issued by Bainimarama &ndash; Fiji&rsquo;s self-appointed Prime Minister following a 2006 coup &ndash; called the Essential National Industries Employment Decree. It bans all industrial actions, will ban workers from being covered by collective agreements in 60 days time, and restricts wage and benefit growth.<br />
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Despite this, Bainimarama told the ILO delegation last week he was not trying to ban unions or take away workers&rsquo; rights. Not many in the international community believe this, least of all the government of Australia, which has recalled its envoy from Fiji.<br />
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On 4 August, the day Urai and Gounder were released, Australian Acting Minister for Foreign Affairs Martin Ferguson, issued a statement saying: &ldquo;Since 2006 the Bainimarama regime has abrogated the constitution; detained political leaders; sacked the independent judiciary; censored the media; and restricted meetings of civil society, including church groups.<br />
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&ldquo;Despite commitments to hold elections in 2014, it is not clear the regime intends to make good on its promise.<br />
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&ldquo;The restriction of labour rights is part of a concerted campaign to curtail the human rights of the people of Fiji. The rights of workers in Fiji have been targeted through a series of decrees restricting labour rights, the most recent of which was aimed at essential industries.&rdquo;</div>

Trade Union Repression in Fiji Mounting

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<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">Following an opening meeting in October 2010, the Global Safety Panel of ICEM and French chemicals company Rhodia under the Global Framework Agreement (GFA) held its second meeting at a Rhodia operation called Sertow in Serpukhov, Russia, on 19-20 July.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">The safety forum was included in an amendment to the GFA in February 2010. The safety panel has duties to monitor Rhodia&rsquo;s health and safety policies and practices, as well as to continue ongoing dialogue between the company and its workers and make recommendations on improvements.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">The Sertow plant is part of the group&rsquo;s Acetow company and makes cigarette filters for the global tobacco industry. Operated by </span><span>Rhodia since 1994, the plant uses cellulose acetate flakes as a key raw material. The plant does stress the importance to health and safety issues since a fatal accident happened on 12 September 2000. The plant since has gone for over ten years without a lost-time accident.</span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">The ICEM delegation was composed of Juarez Nogueira of Sindquim, Brazil; Scott Harrington of the United Steelworkers (USW), US; Maurice Tritsch of CFDT, France; Jie Dong from China; and Kemal &Ouml;zkan and Brian Kohler from the ICEM headquarters. The delegation first met with </span><span>the elected representatives of the site concerning industrial relations and the health and safety situation.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span>Local level labour relations were set up using the example of the German Works Council system as it exists at Acetow&rsquo;s centre, located in Freiburg, Germany. There is close collaboration between the workforce leaders of both operations, and the Sertow Works Council is actively involved in labour-related matters such as collective agreements, personnel health improvement, support of sporting events, and involvement in renovation of the social room. The Works Council has regular meetings with management as part of social dialogue.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span>Following presentations about Rhodia, Acetow, and the Sertow plant with key figures presented on economic, social, and personnel-related matters, the meeting received a report on Rhodia Way, the company&rsquo;s integrated management system regarding sustainable development.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span>The participants also heard a report from Rhodia managers on the five-year plan of personal safety that covered records of 2011, as well as projections for the period of 2011-2015. The report put forward a plan to significantly reduce the number of irreversible and chemical accidents until 2015. The targets cover Rhodia&rsquo;s temporary and sub-contact employees and its own staff.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span>Having made comments on the report, the ICEM&rsquo;s Kohler presented his health and safety recommendations to plant-level and corporate management. A specific discussion was made on Rhodia&rsquo;s investigatory method named after the &ldquo;Casual Tree&quot; accident. The meeting also received a presentation from the Sertow management on practices and results regarding safety compliance. The participants later toured the facility.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span>The meeting was finalized with an assessment of the discussions and future activities. It was agreed to deepen co-operation for reflecting the work of the Global Safety Panel to workplace level in all of Rhodia&rsquo;s operations worldwide.</span><span lang="EN-GB"></span></p>

ICEM, Rhodia Global Safety Panel Hold Second Meeting in Russia

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<div>Three days before the annual two-week summer shutdown at a Clariant plant in Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium, management of the Swiss-based chemicals company fired two Centrale G&eacute;n&eacute;rale-FGTB union representatives. Kamel Bennaceur and Mohamed Loukili were sacked on 27 July for doing the trade union work they were elected to do by co-workers.<br />
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Management of Clariant Benelux SA unilaterally installed two other workers to fill their duties. Managers cited &ldquo;breach of trust&rdquo; as the reason for dismissing the two delegates, who are of Moroccan origin. The ICEM last week in Switzerland registered a <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/99.ICEM.Clariant.Belgium.10August.pdf"><font color="#ff0000">strong protest</font></a> with Clariant Chairman J&uuml;rg Witmer and CEO and Director Hariolf Kottman, and intends to press the breach of international labour standards on the global level unless the two are reinstated. <br />
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<div><img alt="" src="" width="129" height="161" /><br />
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<div>Kemal Bennaceur, Mohamed Loukili<br />
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ICEM Swiss affiliate UNIA also has written to the Belgian trade unionists expressing its support.<br />
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The FGTB has prioritised the dismissals and will hold a day of action at the plant on Wednesday, 17 August. The action will start at 09h30. It will occur on day three after the re-start of work at Louvain-la-Neuve, a city in Belgium&rsquo;s Wallonia federal region some 40 kilometres southeast of Brussels. The plant is part of Clariant&rsquo;s Masterbatches division and produces colour additives for inks and textiles.<br />
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FGTB says the real reason for the firings is the pair are just too conscientious in the performance of their duties. They conducted work inspections and were in constant communication with the 45 other blue-collar workers employed at Clariant regarding work rules and social legislation. The 45 solidly support the union stalwarts, Bennaceur and Loukili.<br />
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FGTB Adjunct Regional Secretary Enzo Gramaglia Talks to Clariant Workers</span></div>
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The union held two abbreviated meetings with plant managers &ndash; on 28 July and 10 August &ndash; but bosses refused to discuss the sackings or consider immediate reinstatement. FGTB said that recent and similar firings at <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4558-BRC-Belgium-Conflict-Settled-Sacked-Oil-Workers-Reinstated"><font color="#ff0000">Belgian Refining Corporation (BRC)</font></a> in which shop stewards were also dismissed, but subsequently reinstated, will provide the template for this breach of Belgian work law and international labour standards. <br />
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The ICEM vows to assist its Belgian affiliate in the entire legal process.<br />
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FGTB Delegates Sacked at Clariant Chemicals Plant in Belgium

In its decision of May 2011, the Mexican Tribunal for Freedom of Association reported grave violations by the Mexican government of workers&rsquo; freedom to organize unions, and denounced the intensifying climate of violence against union members.<br />
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In August, under false premises the Mexican government ordered the detention of General Secretary Martin Esparza Flores and other leaders of the Mexican Electricians&rsquo; Union (SME).  The employees of the Workers&rsquo; Support Center (CAT), an organization which supported the unionization of Johnson Controls in Puebla, Mexico, have been publicly charged with destabilizing the situation in that state.<br />
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In addition, no just solution has yet been achieved to the conflict of the SNTMMSRM, which is led by Napoleon Gomez and affiliated with the IMF and the ICEM.  August marked the fourth anniversary of the beginning of the strikes in Sonora, Taxco, and Sombrerete, with no response from the authorities: collective contracts are not recognized and the independence of the union is not respected.<br />
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The IMF, ICEM, ITF, and UNI, together with the Tri-National Union Alliance and the ITUC, stand together with the Mexican unions in their struggle, as was shown by action of unions around the world during the action week of February 2011, as well as by international union participation in the 1 May event in Mexico.  <br />
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Also in May, the IMF organized a planning workshop attended by representatives of the international union federations and democratic unions of Mexico to jointly design union-building programs.  With regard to international solidarity, it was agreed to concentrate work on opposing the PRI-PAN bill on the regressive Labor Reform and the bill on National Security, both of which are on the agenda for the September session of the Mexican Congress.  If these reforms are passed, precarious employment will be legalized, employer protection contracts will be strengthened and it will be even more difficult to organize genuine workers&rsquo; unions.  <br />
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Given that prospect, and added to it the fact that the Government Secretariat intends to remove by 15 September the sit-in protest which the SME Union has been holding on the Zocalo for the last seven months, the unions have been intensifying their action and alliances to confront the new wave of repression.  <br />
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On 1 September, the fourth anniversary of the Felipe Calderon administration, a &ldquo;National Day of Outrage&rdquo; was held to denounce the disastrous results of his administration for the working class.  More than 100 unions and 40,000 people participated in the day; a rally was held in front of the Chamber of Deputies, and later moved to the Zocalo.  It demanded an end to the persecution of independent unions and reiterated the importance of building a sustainable and inclusive social model with fairness, justice and democracy.

Greater Unity of Democratic Unions in Mexico against Repression

In Chile, a recent strike by union members of Sindicato No. 1 Escondida of Chile&rsquo;s Federation of Miners (FMC) at the world&rsquo;s largest copper mine galvanized mining unions across the South American country like never before. In unprecedented solidarity, mineworkers&rsquo; unions of the private-sector FMC and those at state-run Codelco, the Federation of Workers of Cobre (FTC), are uniting to lay claim to a bigger portion of the world&rsquo;s copper profits for all Chileans.<br />
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Recent joint meetings of the federations have discussed how companies circumvent labour laws and collective agreement conventions at the expense of mineworkers, and how natural resources are exploited to the detriment of Chile&rsquo;s national character. Unions are also united &ndash; at the private-sector multinationals to the Cobres at Codelco &ndash; resist privatisation of Codelco.<br />
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Another testament to FMC and FTC unity is at a time when Chile&rsquo;s ministries are eager to meet with them, the federations insist that such meetings will not happen until leaders of the federations meet first.<br />
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The labour-management match in Chile happens at a time of soaring demand and high prices for Chile&rsquo;s main export, copper. The same demand and volatile pricing of the red metal worldwide has created a &ldquo;Together We Can&rdquo; cry that says Chile&rsquo;s mineworkers believe unified action can affect the country for the better. <br />
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Much was made of the fact that on a single day &ndash; 30 July &ndash; 10% of the world&rsquo;s copper production stopped when FMC miners at Do&ntilde;a In&eacute;s Collahuasi (AngloAmerican and Xstrata) joined a strike by Sindicato No. 1 at Minera Escondida Ltd. (BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto) in a display of simple unity. Although grievances reflected separate sets of negligent circumstances at the two mining complexes, the unity of purpose was clear. <br />
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FMC President Cristi&aacute;n Arancibia said that workers are hearing a national calling, that unions of his federation feel a responsibility to the people and communities of mining regions. He said agreement has been reached with the FTC that mineworkers will not be &ldquo;accomplices to Chile&rsquo;s resources sold away for foreign investment.&rdquo;<br />
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This very specifically is FMC recognition that Codelco is chipping away at FTC&rsquo;s membership in order to partially privatise the world&rsquo;s largest copper company.<br />
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On 30 July, union branches of the FTC supported the symbolic strike of the two FMC branches. Now with common understanding that tripartite dialogue will occur over Chile&rsquo;s export revenues, the unity, decisiveness, and single voice of FMC and FTC will ensure that all Chileans have a stake in copper.

Chile: Mineworkers’ Unity in Times of High Mineral Prices

Unions Make Work Safer: Today, 28 April, Every Day

ICEM Contract and Agency Labour Newsletter

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