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The on-again, off-again bid by NUM in South Africa to save jobs at Harmony Gold Mining Ltd. is on again as the two sides this past weekend signed an agreement preventing closure of six mineshafts targeted by the company. In April, the firm agreed on a process to continue employment for 5,000 miners, but that was broken in late June when Harmony insisted the jobs must go. The latest agreement calls for a plan to integrate both marginal and profitable shafts, thus creating new job opportunities. &ldquo;We are in the process of creating history with this agreement,&rdquo; said NUM Gen. Sec. Gwede Mantashe. &ldquo;The fact that we ensured that the shafts are not closed augurs well for our goal to save jobs.&rdquo;

NUM, Harmony Gold Resume Talks in South Africa

German and French unions are teaming up to block the hostile takeover of German-French pharmaceutical Aventis by French rival Sanofi-Synthelabo. Hubertus Schmoldt, president of German IGBCE and Patrick Pierron, general secretary of the French union FCE-CFDT, oppose the hostile takeover. They fear massive job cuts in both countries will result, and jointly expressed disdain over how the takeover was set up. &ldquo;A hostile takeover such as this is counter-production to the stock market. There are hardly any winners with such actions, but certainly plenty of losers,&rdquo; the two unions said.

French, German Unions Resist Aventis, Sanofi Chemical Merger

The framework accord reached in May between South African affiliate NUM and Harmony Gold Mining Ltd. Was broke last week when the firm refused to budge on its initial stand of sacking 5,000 workers at six mine shafts. &ldquo;Clearly, Harmony is not interested in savings jobs but wishes to wait out the situation by mothballing shafts until the price of gold improves,&rdquo; said NUM Gen. Sec. Gwede Mantashe. &ldquo;Their emphasis is more on cost-cutting and efficiency improvement, going against the framework we developed on jobs.&rdquo; The union has declared a dispute with Harmony through a formal letter to the company and the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration

NUM marches over Job Retrenchments in South Africa

The framework accord reached in May between South African affiliate NUM and Harmony Gold Mining Ltd. was broken last week when the firm refused to budge on its initial stand of sacking 5,000 workers at six mine shafts. &ldquo;Clearly, Harmony is not interested in saving jobs but wishes to wait out the situation by mothballing shafts until the price of gold improves,&rdquo; said NUM Gen. Sec. Gwede Mantashe. &ldquo;Their emphasis is more on cost-cutting and efficiency improvement, going against the framework we developed on saving jobs.&rdquo; The union has declared a dispute with Harmony through a formal letter to the company and the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration.

Harmony Gold Breaches Agreement with NUM in South Africa

Also in Nigeria, a day-long &ldquo;warning strike&rdquo; 22 June by NUPENG and PENGASSAN against Shell Petroleum Development Co. was conducted at worksites in Lagos, Port Harcourt and Warri. The action was taken over a document produced by Shell stating that the firm intends to cut between 30-40% of its 5,000-member workforce in Nigeria.

Warning Strike Launched at Shell in Nigeria

Protest actions began today by ICEM&rsquo;s two Nigerian affiliates, NUPENG and PENGASSAN, aimed at forcing the Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. to upgrade four oil refineries. Following a 24 June joint emergency meeting of the National Executive Council of the two unions, a five-point communiqu&eacute; was issued to the government to revitalize the refineries in order that petrol prices in Nigeria be stabilized. The unions gave the government a 21-day ultimatum beginning today; otherwise a national strike of the refineries will be called.

Nigerian Oil Affiliates Seek Upgrades to Refineries

Workers at Chernobyl and Ukraine's four other nuclear power stations will launch an indefinite strike on 22 March over unpaid wages. 
 
Their union, the ATU, confirmed this in a message received today by the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM). The ATU is an ICEM affiliate. 
 
The nuclear workers are now owed more than 15 million US dollars' worth of back pay. They have repeatedly warned that serious underfunding of the sector poses a threat to nuclear safety. 
 
The strike decision was taken after an arbitration board ruled that the nuclear power utility Energoatom is in breach of its collective agreement with the workers. Subsequent attempts at conciliation failed. 
 
The number of protesting workers in the &quot;tent villages&quot; around the power stations has now grown to more than 2,000. They launched a hunger strike on 6 March, and workers in various other Ukrainian sectors have demonstrated in support. 
 
Strikes and underground sit-ins are also continuing in Ukraine's coalmines, where miners are owed pay totalling more than 700 million US dollars. The ICEM-affiliated miners' union MITU has said the strikes will continue indefinitely. 
 
Cash-flow has slowed to a trickle in most parts of the Ukrainian economy. In consequence, most bills go unpaid - or are part-settled with bartered produce. This also applies to the energy bills run up by industrial and other consumers. 
 
After repeated appeals from the nuclear workers' leaders, a meeting with Ukrainian Prime Minister Valery Pustovoitenko finally took place on 5 March. He was informed about the escalation of the union action, and was told that the campaign had gained international support through the ICEM. 
 
It was agreed to set up a special commission, which was due to begin work today. The commission will examine the non-payment of electricity, heating, coal and gas bills and has the authority to cut off supplies to major defaulters. 
 
Further talks are scheduled for tomorrow. 
 
The Ukrainian miners and nuclear workers can count on full international union support, ICEM General Secretary Vic Thorpe repeated today. 
 
&quot;The situation in Ukraine gives cause for real concern by the world community as a whole,&quot; Thorpe said. &quot;The world must insist that these wage debts be paid off without further delay. Major international funding has been pledged for the modernisation of the Ukrainian nuclear sector and the restructuring of Ukrainian mining. As large a proportion of that funding as is necessary must now be earmarked for settling the wage debts in those industries. The workers' wages must have first call on the finances available. Natural justice - and international safety - demands this.&quot;

Chernobyl Strike Starts 22 March

Australian affiliate Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Workers&rsquo; Union (LHMU) won a verdict on agency fees in South Australia. The Industrial Relations Commission ruled non-union members must pay a fee for worklife gains through the enterprise bargaining process. LHMU Branch Sec. Mark Butler called it a &ldquo;landmark decision&rdquo; and vowed that all LHMU collective agreements in South Australia will include the new language.

Australian Affiliate LHMU Wins Agency Fees Case

South Africa&rsquo;s NUM and Harmony Gold Mining Ltd., along with two other unions, agreed to establish a task force composed of geologists, financial experts and labour and management officials to ward off the company&rsquo;s announced intent to shutter six mine shafts that could have cut the jobs of 5,000 workers. The compromise centers on the principle of saving jobs and not closing the shafts, and the task force will deliver its assessment on 3 May. &ldquo;We are pleased that a process to ensure we meet these objectives is in place and acceptable to everyone,&rdquo; said NUM Gen. Sec. Gwede Mantashe.
But strikes due to retrenchments and pay could occur by the NUM at two other firms in South Africa&rsquo;s gold and platinum sectors. Goldfields has indicated it intends to reduce its workforce at the Driefontein gold mine, and talks have failed over economics at Modikwa Platinum, a joint venture between AngloPlatinum and African Rainbow Minerals. NUM states it would like Goldfields to follow Harmony&rsquo;s approach by getting all parties seriously engaged to find a collective means to save jobs.

NUM of South Africa and Harmony Will Evaluate Job Cuts

92,000 South African workers have united within a union spanning a wide range of major industries. 
 
CEPPWAWU (Chemical, Pulp and Paper, Printing, Wood and Allied Workers' Union) was created at the end of last week by the merger of the chemical and allied workers' CWIU and the paper and allied workers' PPAPWU. As well as the sectors listed in its name, the new union covers glass, rubber, plastics and pharmaceuticals. 
 
Elected as CEPPWAWU's General Secretary was Muzi Buthelezi, with Bengeza Mthombeni as Deputy General Secretary and Pasco Dyani as President. 
 
&quot;Our membership will benefit from this merger through better service, improved finances and human resources, and more bargaining power,&quot; Buthelezi told ICEM UPDATE. 
 
The new union will be harmonising its collective bargaining this month and expects to have its local and regional structures in place by May. 
 
It urged its members to contribute today's (3 March) wages to the Job Creation Fund set up by South Africa's national labour confederations to tackle the unemployment crisis. 
 
At the global level, CEPPWAWU will be affiliated to the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM). The new union has taken a resolutely internationalist stance from the start, and specifically notes that &quot;unions internationally from the chemical and paper industries have aligned themselves to form single organisations.&quot; 
 
&quot;This strong new union will be a further boost for the ICEM's important organising drive in Africa,&quot; commented ICEM General Secretary Vic Thorpe. &quot;South Africa is crucial to out efforts to unite the world's workers - a fact that we will recognise when the ICEM holds its World Congress in Durban this November.&quot;

South Africa&#039;s New Super-Union

Archive

NUM, Harmony Gold Resume Talks in South Africa

French, German Unions Resist Aventis, Sanofi Chemical Merger

NUM marches over Job Retrenchments in South Africa

Harmony Gold Breaches Agreement with NUM in South Africa

Warning Strike Launched at Shell in Nigeria

Nigerian Oil Affiliates Seek Upgrades to Refineries

Chernobyl Strike Starts 22 March

Australian Affiliate LHMU Wins Agency Fees Case

NUM of South Africa and Harmony Will Evaluate Job Cuts

South Africa's New Super-Union

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