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The mineworkers of Collahuasi, Chile, won a heroic strike dispute in November, December 2010, against the third largest copper miner. Now local management is taking legal action in an attempt to crush the union. The 32-day strike was the longest ever in Chile&rsquo;s private copper sector. 
 
Settlement, accepted by a 521-398 vote on 6 December, gave 1,551 miners a 16.3% wage increase and a bonus of US$25,160, as well as other advances in housing, education, and health. Union President Manuel Mu&ntilde;oz said at the time that the contract&rsquo;s outcome would increase monthly benefits by 120,000 pesos, or US$252 per month. 
<img alt="" src="" width="224" height="149" />
Collahuasi miners, during the strike
This price has clearly been deemed too expensive by management, whose courtroom attack of last week will make it very difficult for the current leadership of the union to continue effectively representing workers. The employer posted net profits in 2009 of US$1.56 billion. 
 
The company&rsquo;s criminal charge against union leaders Manuel Mu&ntilde;oz, Juan Barraza, Loncol Espinoza, Victor Cubillos, Cristian Arancibia, Carlos Rojas, and Jaqueline Cerda, argues that under articles 417 and 418 of Chile&rsquo;s penal code, these trade unionists are guilty of libel against the company for statements made during last year&rsquo;s dispute in the May Six Atipa&ntilde;a newspaper online and in print, and should all serve three years in prison. 
 
The Collahuasi copper mine, in the Atacama Desert of Chile&rsquo;s northern Region I, some 285 kilometres from the port city of Iquique, is jointly owned by multinationals Xtrata and AngloAmerica, each with a 44% stake. The remaining 12% is owned by Japan&rsquo;s Mitsui. 
 
The hypocrisy of the charges is highlighted by the strong smear campaign that the company conducted in the media during the conflict, and the illegal offers of bribes to workers to leave the union, both strategies clearly against the law.

Chile Miners Attacked with Flawed Libel Case

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The Thai Industrial Gases Labour Union (TIGLU), part of ICEM affiliate Petroleum and Chemicals Workers&rsquo; Federation of Thailand (PCFT), continues efforts to cement trade union rights for workers who supply industrial gases to the manufacturing and food sectors. The ICEM continues to provide support to what is a courageous and uphill struggle against intransigent employers. 
 
The union is currently engaged on two fronts with multinational companies: German-based Linde and French-based Air Liquide. At both, the union is fighting for reinstatement of workers who have been fired for exhibiting trade union activism. 
 
At Linde, TIGLU is approaching the expiration of a 21-month collective agreement at a plant in Saraburi province. That contract&rsquo;s expiry is in a week&rsquo;s time, on 21 March. Although the two sides are negotiating, proposals by the union relate to information demands, hiring agency workers into full-time jobs, and retuning union activist Wasan Ruengloikham to his rightful job. Linde Thailand seeks to eliminate union involvement clauses that were successfully won in 2008. 
<img alt="" src="" width="358" height="190" />
TIGLU members at Air Liquide
TIGLU wants managers to utilise Linde&rsquo;s &ldquo;Golden Rule&rdquo; corporate responsibility language to address the sacking of Wasan Ruengloikham in common dialogue with the union. Ruengloikham was sacked on23 September 2010. 
 
The union is also demanding paternity leave, and full-time employment for agency workers and three-year tank-truck drivers Pornpitsanu Puenpha and Surachai Singpasta. 
 
Upon receiving the union&rsquo;s proposals, managers at the Talan plant submitted their own contract-gutting demands. Linde Thailand seeks to cancel a clause that allows union participation in disciplinary actions, and it seeks to void contract language that allows for company facilitation of six hours per year of education on workers&rsquo; rights for all staff. 
<img alt="" src="" width="150" height="186" />
Wasan Ruengloikham
At Air Liquide&rsquo;s Nong-kae plant, also in Saraburi province, one month ago five trade union leaders were given the sack over hideous &ldquo;causing disturbance&rdquo; allegations. The matter was due for a hearing at the provincial Labour Ministry on 11 March, at the request of Air Liquide&rsquo;s Nong-kae managers. But just minutes before the session was to begin, management sent a fax stating they would not attend and the five would remain discharged. 
 
The ICEM takes deep exception to this conduct. On 15 February, ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda personally intervened with local managers, calling them out for violating Air Liquide&rsquo;s global values. Specifically, the ICEM cited Air Liquide social responsibility code that its enterprises &ldquo;commit to encouraging and respecting social dialogue&rdquo; and the &ldquo;respect for human rights and enforce respect for the dignity of their employees.&rdquo; Review the <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/7.ICEM.Air%20Liquide.Thailand.pdf">full letter</a> here. 
 
The ICEM will continue to monitor the negotiations at Linde, as well as work to rectify Air Liquide&rsquo;s harmful social conduct in eastern Thailand.

Thai Union at Odds with Linde in Talks; Dispute Air Liquide’s Sackings

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Spring sunshine shone on March 2, 2011 as an unprecedented crowd, estimated by organisers at 70, 000 people, gathered in the central Inonu Square in the old part of Nicosia and at the nearby Kyrenia Gate at the north of the circular city wall. This was by far the largest of a number of recent demonstrations organised by the trade union movement in the north of this divided island. It was also largely peaceful with the police and military taking a low profile in comparison to earlier demonstrations. (See prior ICEM reports <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4211-Northern-Cyprus-Resists-Ankara’s-Reforms-">here</a> and <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/3946-ICEM-Urges-Northern-Cyprus-Administration-End-Trade-Union-Repression">here</a>.) 
 
Unprecedented numbers? Well 70, 000 people is a truly incredible figure when you consider that the entire population of Turkish Cypriots is said to be 260,000. 
 
The protest was organised by a &ldquo;Trade Union Platform&rdquo; which brings together the entire trade union movement in the North of Cyprus and ICEM affiliate, EL-SEN, the Turkish Electricity Authority of Cyprus Workers Trade Union was at the forefront of the demonstration with almost all of their membership present, together with family members. The demonstration was called principally to fight privatisation, threatened as part of a series of austerity measures by the government, that would both attack trade union rights and enforce privatisation of the electric power company, the airport and even universities. All the trade union movement was present as were all of the opposition political parties, the latter at the rear of a demonstration that was clearly trade union organised and led. 
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Workers resent deep private and state sector salary cuts, which were announced last year, following negotiations between the Turkish Cypriot leadership and the government in Turkey, which bankrolls this area with about US$600 million a year. Turkish Cypriot trade unions have vowed to fight the austerity package, which includes rolling back entry level salaries by 40 per cent, taxing pensions and cutting the taxable income threshold from 17 to 10 per cent. The package also foresees selling off state enterprises to private Turkish business interests and such a massive privatisation is deeply unpopular, not only with effected trade unions and workers , but with the wider population. 
 
ICEM Energy Officer, Jim Catterson, joined our affiliate EL-SEN on the protest march and at the demonstration. The day began outside the trade union office by the head office of the electric power company where El-Sen members gathered in the morning, together with union President, Tuluy Kalyoncu and other leadership of the union. The atmosphere was both lively and friendly with many families present as well as a number of retired members &ndash; still eager to show their support for their union. Similar meetings of other unions were clearly taking place across the city. 
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After a series of short speeches, where ICEM solidarity on this and previous occasions were applauded, the EL-SEN contingent set out to march to the square and demonstration. Traffic was brought to a standstill but most motorists sounded their horns in support of the marchers. Gradually a whole series of marches coalesced into one and marched into the square, dominated by a massive stage, where in between speeches music was played to entertain the massive crowd. 
 
Despite this massive demonstration the government has so far refused to change policy. Indeed while the demonstration took place the government announced that the council of ministers will send the privatization proposed law to the parliament this week. 
 
The struggle continues. After the demonstration and after the government statement, the Trade Union Platform took a decision to take the next demonstration directly to the government. Unless these policies are changed, March 25 will see the next demonstration both in front of and inside the parliament building. 
 
Still facing the privatization of their employer our affiliate, EL-SEN has decided to call an indefinite strike to begin no later than 25 March, 2011. 
 
ICEM will continue to offer all support and solidarity to the brave struggle of our affiliated trade union.

El-Sen in N. Cyprus Conducts Historic Manifestation

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In the US, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker signed into law on 11 March legislation that will strip 200,000 state public employees of their collective bargaining rights, as well as target them for deep health-care benefit cuts. The signing comes after a month of fierce citizen protest inside the state&rsquo;s capitol building in Madison, the likes of which had not been seen in America in decades. 
 
It also came just days after the state&rsquo;s Republican senators used a secretive and probably illegal legislative manoeuvre to circumvent the necessary 60% quorum to conduct a vote. With Democratic senators taking hiatus out of Wisconsin to block Republicans from pushing through the regressive measures (see <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4267-Five-Things-to-Know-About-Protests-in-US-State-Wisconsin ">prior ICEM article</a>), the majority party removed fiscal items from the legislation so that the bill needed only 50% present. Republicans control the senate in Wisconsin 19-13. 
 
Late in the evening on 9 March, the 19 voted 18-1 to eliminate collective bargaining for public workers, except police and firefighters. This trickery exposed the real truth to Walker and right-wing America&rsquo;s assault on US trade unions as played out in Wisconsin: the legislation was never about public budget deficits, but rather stripping Wisconsin public-sector employers of their legitimate work rights. 
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But the manoeuvre appears to have violated Wisconsin&rsquo;s Open Meeting Law, which requires public notice of a meeting be given &ldquo;24 hours prior to the commencement of such meeting unless for good cause such notice is impossible or impractical.&rdquo; The late 9 March legislative vote was held on two hours notice. 
 
An emergency request for an injunction was immediately filed to block signing, but a judge on 11 March denied the emergency request. A further court hearing will occur this week to stop enactment on a non-emergency basis, and other court action has already been filed. 
 
Labour unions and other public groups have begun recall petition drives to throw Walker and eight Republican legislators out of office. But that could take a year for Walker and ten junior Republicans. In Wisconsin, the recall law states that elected officials must be in office for one year before being recalled. Walker has been governor of Wisconsin only since January. 
 
The law must now be officially and publicly published before it takes effect. If it does, it will make public workers contribute more to their pensions and health coverage, amounting to an 8% pay cut. It also eliminates their right to bargain collectively on anything except wages and only up to the rate of inflation. 
 
Walker&rsquo;s law makes all public-sector unions recertify each year with the approval of 50% plus one of workers eligible to vote. It stipulates all union fees be paid on a voluntary basis. 
 
Reaction last week by US trade unions was swift and sharp to the midnight raid on workers&rsquo; rights. United Steelworkers (USW) President Leo Gerard said the attack on workers in Wisconsin is far from isolated. &ldquo;This is a nation-wide campaign by billionaires and country-club conservatives, to terminate workers&rsquo; rights, giving unfettered power to corporations.&rdquo; 
<img alt="" src="" width="189" height="175" />
Wisconsin State AFL-CIO President Phil Neuenfeldt
Wisconsin State AFL-CIO President Phil Neuenfeldt said Walker and Republicans &ldquo;have been lying throughout this entire process and we have been telling the truth.&rdquo; 
 
Neuenfeldt added: &ldquo;Republicans have exercised the nuclear option to ram through their bill attacking Wisconsin&rsquo;s working families in the dark of night. (They) acted in violation of state open meeting laws &hellip; and have demonstrated they will do or say anything to pass their extreme agenda that attacks Wisconsin&rsquo;s working families.&rdquo; 
 
Similar assaults on unions in America&rsquo;s statehouses are currently underway in Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Nevada.

Wisconsin Eliminates Public Sector Bargaining; Resistance Continues

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Japan's strongest ever earthquake and consequent tsunami has caused devastation along Japan&rsquo;s North-eastern coast. The ICEM is shocked and extremely concerned for all those affected, including many union members. Large numbers of messages of support and solidarity are being communicated from unions around the world to Japan. ICEM have offered heartfelt condolences for the loss of life. 
 
ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda wrote to Japanese affiliates, via ICEM-JAF General Secretary Yoshio Sato, and President Ochiai, &ldquo;It is with deep sadness that I and all in ICEM are receiving ever more news of the disastrous effects of the earthquake and Tsunami. All our solidarity is with the people of Japan. And our special thoughts are now with the comrades of Denryoku Soren. Please convey to them my best and heartfelt wishes that their members will be safe and the dangers that may come from the Fukushima power plant, which was so terribly hit by the earthquake, can be tackled.&rdquo; 
<img alt="" src="" width="177" height="156" />
ICEM-JAF President, Kiyoshi Ochiai
The scale of the devastation and safety of union members and their families is now being assessed, and that process will take some time. Early reports are that all headquarter staff of ICEM affiliates, in Tokyo, are safe but there is much concern for their colleagues and members unaccounted for in the coastal region, especially the Tohoku area and workers in the electric and petroleum industries. ICEM-JAF General Secretary Sato today reported that the death toll in the Tokhoku Region could go well into the tens of thousands, and that the current situation there is desperate, with severe shortage of water, food, electricity, and gas. Train services have been severely disrupted, movement inside Japan is difficult. 
 
Sato-san also reports that brave members of Denryoku Soren are risking their lives working to contain the difficult situation at the Fukushima Power Plants, following explosions at reactors 1 and 3. They managed to prevent the spread of radiation, but continuing hydrogen explosions have injured operators. Engineers from Toshiba, members of the International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation are working on the Fukushima reactors. The International Atomic Energy Agency and experts from abroad are present and assisting at the Fukushima plant. 
<img alt="" src="" width="156" height="222" />
ICEM-JAF General Secretary, Yoshio Sato
&ldquo;We are touched with and appreciate from our heart your support and solidarity!&rdquo; stated ICEM-JAF. 
 
ICEM affiliates can send <a href="mailto:icemjaf@blue.ocn.ne.jp">messages of condolence</a> and support to ICEM-JAF General Secretary Bro. Yoshio Sato here. Sato-san has explained that the ICEM-JAF are very grateful for the numerous offers of assistance, and that they need to first assess the situation and respond once it is known where the help is needed most. 
 
Top-level union officials are meeting today on coordinating volunteer rescue efforts and an aid fund. 
 
Dangerous aftershocks will continue, hindering rescue efforts. And another tsunami has not been ruled out. Damage to energy plants is causing wide reaching power-cuts, beginning today in Tokyo.

ICEM Concern for the People of Japan

Forty trade union leaders representing the ICEM, the International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF), and the International Textile, Garment, and Leather Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITGLWF) met on 20-21 September in Bad M&uuml;nder, Germany. This was the first meeting of a joint task force set up by the decision-making bodies of the three Global Union Federations (GUFs). 
 
The ICEM&rsquo;s task force was established at its 2007 Congress in Bangkok in order to examine a new organizational structure for the three industrial GUFs. The joint task force in Bad M&uuml;nder this week was asked to look at the political project, structures, finances, and a possible timeline for uniting the 55 million workers represented by the three organizations into a unified Global Union Federation.
<img alt="" src="" width="290" height="265" />
&nbsp;Trade union leaders of ICEM, IMF, ITGLWF in Bad M&uuml;nder 
 

Task force members from five continents acknowledged the rationale of the unifying process to create a united voice of the industrial workers of the world, and a strong counter-power to major multinational corporations. Unions want to underline the role of manufacturing industry as the locomotive of national economies and as a creator of good quality jobs with decent working conditions and trade union rights. 
 
The meeting decided to set up a working group to look at the financial questions and to start drafting the statutes for a new organization for a continued discussion on decision-making, regional, and sectoral structures. The task force will report back to the statutory bodies of the three federations, and will meet again in the beginning of December in Geneva.

ICEM, IMF, ITGLWF Bodies Meet to Shape New Industrial Global Union

Legal experts of the International Commission for Labour Rights (ICLR) yesterday announced their next step in the campaign for legal recognition of the leadership of the National Miners and Metalworkers' Union of Mexico (SNTMMSRM), known as Los Mineros. The ICLR will file a brief to the Mexican Supreme Court in the case of Los Mineros, in which a ruling is pending over recognition of democratically elected General Secretary Napole&oacute;n G&oacute;mez Urrutia. 
 
Legal recognition, or toma de nota, for Napole&oacute;n G&oacute;mez was first withdrawn by the Mexican Labour Secretariat in 2006. After the decision was overturned in court early 2008, G&oacute;mez was re-elected to serve another term by a May 2008 Los Mineros Convention. On 24 June 2008, the Mexican Labour Secretariat once again denied the toma de nota to G&oacute;mez, on the grounds that his election was not in accordance with the constitution of the trade union. 
 
It is unacceptable for the Mexican state to interfere in the internal workings of democratic independent trade unions such as Los Mineros, removing their right to autonomy. The Court&rsquo;s decision in this case will set a vitally important precedent on the freedom of Mexicans to freely exercise their right of association and to organise, outlined in ILO Convention 87. 
 
The move was formally announced at a press conference yesterday, 21 September, in Mexico City, organised by Los Mineros. The International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers&rsquo; Unions (ICEM) and the International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF) fully support this latest development, as part of the overall campaign for labour rights in Mexico. 
 
&quot;We will maintain pressure on the Calder&oacute;n government until our joint affiliate Los Mineros achieves justice&quot;, stated ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda and IMF General Secretary Jyrki Raina. 
 
The brief to be filed by the ICLR is supported by a strong network of human and labour rights organisations around the world, including the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), the European Association of Lawyers for Democracy &amp; World Human Rights (ELDH), the International Centre for Trade Union Rights (ICTUR), the National Lawyers Guild (NLG), and the Canadian Association of Labour Lawyers (CALL-ACAMS), among many others. 
 
View the brief and prior ICLR report <a href="http://www.laborcommission.org/reports.htm">here</a>. 
 
The ICEM is a Geneva-based Global union Federation covering 467 national trade unions in 132 countries. The IMF, also Geneva-based, consists of 200 trade union affiliates in 100 countries. 
 
For further information, contact Tom Grinter, ICEM Communications Office, <a href="mailto:tom.grinter@icem.org">tom.grinter@icem.org</a>, +41 22 304 1853, +41796934499 or Anita Gardner, IMF Communications, <a href="mailto:agardner@imfmetal.org">agardner@imfmetal.org</a>, +41 22 308 5032.

Prominent Legal Experts Call on Mexican Supreme Court to Respect Mineworkers’ Autonomy

Para ver la versión en español de este boletín, debe desplazarse hacia abajo.

ICEM Women’s Bulletin / Boletín de noticias de la mujer de la ICEM

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According to Economic Populist and based on reliable data from a company that monitors layoffs, 25 American-based companies were responsible for 700,000 jobs lost during the financial crisis. And the statistics reveal that most of the lost US jobs were caused by outsourcing jobs offshore. 
 
The list of 25 includes a few industrial companies, but the most consisting of tech companies, service-oriented forms, and, of course, financial services. 
<img alt="" src="" width="166" height="122" />
The 25 are: General Motors, 107,357 jobs lost due to outsourcing; Citigroup, 73,056 jobs gone; Hewlett-Packard, 47,540 jobs eliminated due to outsourcing; Circuit City Stores, 41,495 (not attributed to outsourcing); Bank of America/Merrill Lynch, 40,650; Verizon Wireless, 39,000; Pfizer, 31,771; Merck and Co., 24,400. 
 
Lehman Brothers, 23,340; Caterpillar, 23,024; JP Morgan Chase, 22,852; Starbucks, 21,316; AT&amp;T, 18,401; Alcoa Aluminium, 17,655 jobs lost to outsourcing; Dow Chemical, 17,530; Dupont, 17,000; Berkshire Hathaway Capital, 16,900 jobs lost due to unknown reasons; 
 
Ford Motor, 15,912; KB Toys, 15,100; US Postal Service, 15,000; DHL Express USA, 14,900; Sprint Nextel, 14,500; Sun Microsystems, 14,000; Boeing Aviation, 13,715; and Chrysler, 13,672. 
 
Many of these companies demanded US taxpayers&rsquo; dollars in the form of stimulus monies, all the while they were loping jobs.

US: 25 Companies, 700,000 Jobs Lost Due to Outsourcing during Financial Collapse

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A draft report on precarious women workers has been presented to the European Parliament by Danish Social Democratic MEP, Britta Thomsen. 
 
The report expresses disappointment that EU employment law and the directives on fixed-term, part-time, and temporary agency work do not adequately address the precarious nature of employment and calls on the Commission and the Member States to take further specific legislative measures, such as introducing binding minimum social standards for employees and granting all employees equal access to social services and benefits, including maternity leave, health care, and pensions, regardless of their employment conditions. 
 
The report underlines the need for unionisation of women in precarious jobs and calls on the Member States to penalise those who create obstacles to trade union participation. 
<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="126" />
Danish Social Democratic MEP, Britta Thomsen
Member States are encouraged to combat undeclared work by means of preventive measures, such as granting immunity from prosecution to employees who report their illegal employment status and taking dissuasive action against employers. The report further calls on the Commission and the Member States to improve data collection and monitor progress in this field. 
 
The Commission and the Member States are called on to enhance their monitoring of minimum health and safety requirements in the workplace, paying particular attention to the specific risks to female workers. 
 
With regard to migrant workers, the report calls on the Commission, in its new gender equality strategy, to strengthen its commitment to promoting gender equality in migration and integration policies, in particular with a view to fully utilising migrant women&rsquo;s employment potential and encourages employers to take specific measures to facilitate the social integration of women migrant workers. 
 
Attention is drawn to the limited amount of research on the subject of precarious work and the report calls on the Commission and Eurofound to initiate targeted research in order to assess the cost of the de-skilling and welfare loss resulting from precarious employment. 
 
The report will be voted on by members of the European Parliament Committee on Women&rsquo;s Rights and Gender Equality on 10 October 2010.

Draft European Parliament Report on Precarious Women Workers

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