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ICEM affiliate Paperiliitto of Finland and that country&rsquo;s Forest Industries Federation jointly announced a 22-month labour agreement, covering 22,000 workers at 70 pulp and paper mills. The new accord comes seven weeks before expiration of an existing agreement, with both sides commending the negotiations for meeting the challenges of the changing Nordic paper sector, while taking into account workers&rsquo; needs and development. 
 
&ldquo;The agreement includes numerous positive changes in workers&rsquo; conditions of employment,&rdquo; stated Paperiliitto President Jouko Ahonen. &ldquo;One important goal of the agreement is to increase real cooperation at the confederation and local level. I also consider it positive that we were able to reach an agreement in good time before the expiration of the current agreement, without outside assistance and without confrontation.&rdquo;
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&nbsp;Paperiliitto President Jouko Ahonen
The new pact will run from 1 June 2008 to 31 March 2010. 
 
Wage levels will rise annually by 4% each in the first two years. For the third year, an increase will be negotiated by the union and industry in an autumn 2009 set of talks. If the parties fail then to reach accord on the remainder of the pact, the agreement can be terminated. 
 
The pay system for Finnish paperworkers is being reformed in this collective agreement and their job security improved in the face of restructurings by the major paper companies. Workers made redundant due to financial or production-related reasons will be entitled to full pay for a paid-notice period, even if that worker gets a job with another employer. 
 
The re-employment obligation by companies for workers&rsquo; made redundant was extended from nine months &ndash; the applicable period by Finnish labour law &ndash; to 15 months, from the date of the employment termination relationship. Further, the employer is obligated to inform redundant workers of new vacancies for another nine months beyond that. 
 
Perhaps most importantly to Paperiliitto, is that terms and conditions for outsourcing and lay-offs remain unchanged.
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Paperworkers also gained a three-day sick period without proof of medical certificate, a first inside Finland&rsquo;s industrial sectors. The new agreement allows for flexible work time if workers and employers, with union approval, agree to it on the local level. The two sides can also agree on regular 10-hour work days. 
 
The new pay system to be implemented will promote multi-skilled jobs. It provides opportunities, incentives and personal training for diversity of tasks, and for workers to acquire new competencies. This agreement was also achieved outside of Finland&rsquo;s traditional tripartite incomes policy of employer association, national labour centres, and government, but leaves open the possibility to return to the national incomes policy in spring 2010. 
 
Toimihenkil&ouml;unioni TU, ICEM salaried workers&rsquo; affiliate in Finland, which represents white-collar workers in the pulp and paper sector, has currently just begun talks with the Finland Forest Industries Federation on a new labour agreement. That pact also expires 31 May 2008.

Paperiliitto, Finnish Pulp/Paper Industry Come to Amiable Terms

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Joining many others in the internet community, the ICEM is now also offering RSS news feeds on its website. Through this system of automatic (news headlines) links, ICEM news can be brought to you automatically via your RSS reader, or even via your website. 
 
RSS is a tool used in different ways for information distribution on the internet. It&rsquo;s most widespread usage is distributing news headlines. 
RSS (news) reader programmes allow you to easily check updates from your favourite (news) sites, or blogs. Headlines are brought to one centralised place (the RSS reader), and the user doesn&rsquo;t have to go to different websites directly. All that is necessary is to &ldquo;subscribe&rdquo; to the feed. A major advantage is getting the information you want, without spam, since the user doesn&rsquo;t need to provide his/her e-mail. 
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For those unfamiliar with RSS feeds, an easy way to find out more about the basics of RSS is this <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0klgLsSxGsU">short three-minute video on YouTube</a>. Another, shorter introduction can be found through <a href="http://www.google.com/reader/view/#directory-welcome-page">Google Reader</a>, one of the most used &ldquo;RSS feed readers&rdquo;. A short explanation on RSS feeds can also be found <a href="http://www.akimedia.eu/web-agency/news/fils-rss.html">here</a> in French on the web-site of Belgian Akimedia. The various language sites of Wikipedia can also be a source to find out more about RSS feeds in your own language. 
 
RSS feeds can also be inserted into e-mail applications such as Microsoft Outlook 2007 (for more, click <a href="http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook/HA101595391033.aspx">here</a> - this page also includes general information on RSS feeds). 
 
There is one ICEM RSS feed per language used on the ICEM site, allowing you to only get the updates in the language that you are interested in. The ICEM web pages to go to in order to subscribe to the ICEM RSS news feed are as follows: 
English: <a href="/feed_en.rss">/feed_en.rss</a> 
French: <a href="/feed_fr.rss">/feed_fr.rss</a> 
German: <a href="/feed_de.rss">/feed_de.rss</a> 
Japanese: <a href="/feed_ja.rss">/feed_ja.rss</a> 
Russian: <a href="/feed_ru.rss">/feed_ru.rss</a> 
Spanish: <a href="/feed_es.rss">/feed_es.rss</a> 
Swedish: <a href="/feed_sv.rss">/feed_sv.rss</a> 
Turkish: <a href="/feed_tr.rss">/feed_tr.rss</a>
You can also click on&nbsp;<img height="14" alt="" src="" width="14" /> in&nbsp;the address line of your internet browser next to the ICEM address. (This may not be visible in certain older browsers). 
 
Through RSS feeds, there also is a possibility for your website to automatically publish ICEM news on one or more of your own web pages. You can easily have a part of your organisation&rsquo;s homepage, or of your international pages, to automatically carry ICEM news headlines. Once the system is set up, these pages will, through automatically renewed links, show the latest news headlines from the ICEM's homepage, in your prefered language, making the full ICEM articles available through a click of a button.

ICEM Introduces RSS News Feeds from its Website

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ICEM French affiliate Chemical and Energy Workers Union, FCE-CFDT, hosted a group of 15 Japanese trade union leaders and five managers from Kansai Electric Power Co. (KEPCO) in France last week. The two-day visit, organised by the ICEM, followed a day-long orientation at the ICEM offices on 5 February in Brussels. 
 
The French portion of the trip tightened the bonds of unity between French trade union leaders in the energy sector and their Japanese counterparts. The 20-member Japanese delegation visited two worksites of Groupe V&eacute;olia, a global waste management concern, and received extensive briefings on a number of labour and French social issues in the offices of FCE-CFDT.
<img height="187" alt="" src="" width="280" />
Japanese, French trade unionists at FCE-CFDT offices&nbsp;
Besides presentations on French social legislation and collective bargaining relations, participants discussed European energy concerns for the future and the corresponding social aspects that are at stake. The Japanese delegation posed queries on workers&rsquo; rights inside energy companies, as well as on the union rights of FCE-CFDT members at these companies. 
 
The Japanese delegation also asked questions regarding women&rsquo;s rights at work, as well as their work-life balance in French society. 
 
Following the discussions, the delegation toured, with FCE-CFDT delegates from Groupe V&eacute;olia, two plants in the greater Paris area. Workers at these plants tear apart and recycle electric appliance components.
<img height="210" alt="" src="" width="280" />
Tour of Applicance Recycling Plant
The sites are located in Saint Ouen l&rsquo;Aum&ocirc;ne and Gonesse. &ldquo;With respect for the environment and sustainable development, the recycling of appliances is seen as a value to the communities,&rdquo; said FCE-CFDT Representative Jacques Caltot. 
 
Groupe V&eacute;olia is a world leader in water, waste, and energy transformation, with some 270,000 employees in 64 countries. Osaka-based KEPCO is Japan&rsquo;s second largest utility, and employs 30,000 workers. The company operates over 150 hydro, fossil fuel, and nuclear energy plants in Japan.

FCE-CFDT Hosts Japanese Kansai Electric Power Leaders in France

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The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) of the US is seeking a rare 10(j) court injunction, under the country&rsquo;s labour code, to compel Massey Energy Co. to re-hire 85 members of ICEM affiliate United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) at a mine in the state of West Virginia. The 85 were fired for their union affiliation in 2004 when Massey purchased the Cannelton Mine from Horizon Natural Resources after Horizon went into bankruptcy. 
 
The NLRB filed for the injunction on 31 January in a federal district court in Charleston, West Virginia. If the injunction is granted, not only must anti-union Massey rehire the 85, but it would require the Richmond, Virginia-based company to recognise the UMWA as lawful representative for all miners at its Spartan Mining subsidiary. It would also have to adhere to terms of the 2002 national bituminous coal agreement, and begin renewal negotiations with the UMWA.
<img height="100" alt="" src="" width="100" />
&nbsp;UMWA President Cecil Roberts welcomed the labour board&rsquo;s effort to take immediate remedial action. &ldquo;As workers know too well, the appeals process in labour cases can take years, while workers who have been harmed by a company&rsquo;s action get no relief,&rdquo; he said. 
 
&ldquo;But this time, things are different. We belief the NLRB&rsquo;s case for injunctive relief is a strong one, and we believe a judge will quickly see that and grant the injunction,&rdquo; said Roberts. 
 
In late November 2007, an administrative law judge of the NLRB ruled that Massey must re-hire the miners, pay backpay, and recognise the UMWA. Massey immediately said it would appeal that decision to the top five-member panel of the NLRB in Washington, DC, which could take years, and even further to the US Circuit Court of Appeals if the labour board panel rules against the company.
<img height="88" src="" width="200" alt="" />
In September 2004 when Massey took over Horizon&rsquo;s mine, it fired all 160 miners at the unionised operation, stating that it would seek better qualified workers. A bankruptcy judge also nullified the collective agreement, but the UMWA filed unfair labour practice charges before the NLRB. 
 
On two occasions, Massey was hit with unfair labour practice citations by the labour board, and the 21 November 2007 decision of Administrative Law Judge Paul Bogas verified the company&rsquo;s intent to discriminate against UMWA members &ldquo;on the basis of their membership in the predecessor&rsquo;s bargaining unit and their pro-union sentiments. 
 
Massey is the US&rsquo;s fourth biggest coal producer who&rsquo;s Chairman, CEO, and President, Donald Blankenship, is the most anti-union coal executive in America. Massey has renamed the Cannelton Mine and now calls it Mammoth Mine.

US Labour Board Wants Court Order to Force Massey to Re-hire Unionised Mineworkers

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A planned protest inside Finland&rsquo;s Stora Enso pulp and paper mills for 6 February was cancelled, following a Labour Court ruling that saw the demonstration as a collective bargaining act. The case was brought to the court by the Finnish Forest Industries Federation, on behalf of Stora Enso. 
 
The work-time protest, decided a week earlier by Stora Enso workers, was aimed at the Finnish government, which holds 16% of Stora Enso&rsquo;s shares, and controls 34% of the company. On 29 January, at a public meeting in Helsinki attended by 500 people and sponsored by Finnish unions Paperiliitto and Toimihenkil&ouml;unioni, three government ministers declined to intervene to halt Stora&rsquo;s mill and paper machine shutdowns.
<img height="60" alt="" src="" width="200" />
Two days later, workers themselves decided to do on-the-job protests against the Finnish government. This was quickly met by employers rushing to Finland&rsquo;s Labour Court and getting an expedited ruling forbidding the protests. The unions and Finnish employers officially opened industry-wide talks on 5 February for 25,000 workers employed by multiple pulp and paper companies. 
 
&ldquo;We are disappointed that the government did not take action to stop the closures, at least until further study and other remedies could be found,&rdquo; stated ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda. &ldquo;We also find it unusual that in a country such as Finland, a Labour Court would be used to block a legitimate workers&rsquo; protest.&rdquo; 
If the 7,000 Stora Enso workers had defied the ruling, Finnish trade unions would have been subjected to a compensatory fine, payable to the employer. There is no procedure for appeal of the Labour Court ruling.
<img height="57" src="" width="100" border="1" alt="" />
At the 29 January public meeting, Finnish Defence Minister Jyri H&auml;k&auml;mies, who heads the government&rsquo;s enterprise ownership oversight, as well as Labour Minister Tarja Cromberg and Economic Affairs Minister Mauri Pekkarinen, gave no pledge that the government could or would intervene on Stora Enso&rsquo;s latest restructuring plan. 
 
The following day, 30 January, Stora Enso permanently idled one paper machine at its Summa, Finland, newsprint and book papers mill in Kymenlaakso, while it shut the mill&rsquo;s second paper machine on 31 January. A total of 450 jobs were lost. An equal number also will be eliminated when the Kemij&auml;rvi pulp mill shuts in April 2008, and a paper machine at the Anjala mill ceases production in November. 
 
The 20-million-member International Federation of Chemical, Energy, and Mine Workers&rsquo; Union (ICEM) is also critical of Stora Enso&rsquo;s unwillingness to grow jobs rather than destroy them at the company&rsquo;s Norrsundet, Sweden, mill. There, 350 jobs are expected to be made redundant when Stora closes the bleached softwood kraft pulp mill late this year rather than sell it to a perspective buyer. 
 
In Finland, industry-wide social talks did begin on 5 February with the unions and Finnish Forest Industries Federation exchanging initial proposals. The existing three-year contract for Finland&rsquo;s number one industrial sector expires on 31 May 2008.

Finnish Paper Industry Uses Court Order to Block Government Protest

Leading US industry magazine Rubber &amp; Plastics News has praised a recently signed global labour agreement. The magazine says the worldwide union deal will give the Freudenberg company a competitive edge. 
 
Finalised this July, the agreement is between Freudenberg and the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM). 
 
Rubber &amp; Plastics News devoted its main thinkpiece Opinion to the agreement. Here is the magazine's article in full, reproduced with permission: 
 
 
Freudenberg's global labour pact makes sense 
 
Give Freudenberg Group credit for demonstrating a social conscience by signing a global cooperative agreement with an international labour organisation. Give Freudenberg even more credit for being smart. 
 
The pact with the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions sets guidelines for work rules and policies at the German sealing and vibration control producer's operations throughout the world. The agreement is a framework and therefore doesn't supplant local bargaining units and national trade unions. 
 
A worldwide labour pact may be anathema to tyre and rubber product companies that operate on a global scale and seek out low-wage regions. But take a close look at what Freudenberg has agreed. 
 
The company said it will recognise its employees' right to join trade unions and won't discriminate against them if they do. Unless a company is out to break a union, what's wrong with that? 
 
Freudenberg agreed to follow United Nations guidelines about forced and child labour. Any objections? The company said it will cooperate in striving toward job security and social justice and seek solutions to problems through &quot;appropriate dialogue.&quot; Isn't discussion the key component of bargaining, anyway? 
 
Finally, Freudenberg made a commitment to environmental protection and safety in the workplace and with its products. What company would oppose that? 
 
While confirming policies it probably already pursues, Freudenberg has taken a big step toward keeping labour relations on an even keel. That gives it an edge over competitors that take a more combative approach to labour. 
 
__________ 
 
 
When it comes to smartness, Rubber &amp; Plastics News is obviously no slouch either. 
 
But will the big players in the rubber and other sectors get the message?

Industry Press Lauds Freudenberg Agreement

American unions yesterday succeeded in stopping the takeover of Crown Central Petroleum by company insiders. 
 
The campaign against the bid was run by the US Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers International Union (PACE) in conjunction with the national labour federation, the AFL-CIO. 
<img height="269" alt="" src="" width="200" />
Crown has a long history of union-busting. On 5 February 1996, management ordered union members to leave Crown's refinery in Pasadena, Texas, and locked the gates behind them. By the next day, the company replaced all 252 union workers with inexperienced &quot;temporary&quot; workers. The lockout has continued ever since. 
 
Various groups have also accused the company of racism, sexism and environmental pollution. 
 
Yesterday, at its annual shareholders' meeting, Crown announced that the vote in favour of the takeover fell far short of the two-thirds of voting shares needed under Maryland law in order for the family of Crown CEO Henry Rosenberg to acquire all remaining shares in the company at 9.50 US dollars per share. 

<img height="247" alt="" src="" width="320" />
WORLD PRESSURE ON CROWN 
ICEM's and NOPEF's Lars Myhre with locked-out workers in Texas last year. 
Stopping the takeover was unprecedented, since the Rosenberg family already owned over half the stock. One unnamed source with close ties to Crown insiders told PACE that Crown board members were shocked that the takeover by Rosemore, the Rosenberg family holding company, did not pass. 
 
American unions yesterday succeeded in stopping the takeover of Crown Central Petroleum by company insiders. 
 
The campaign against the bid was run by the US Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers International Union (PACE) in conjunction with the national labour federation, the AFL-CIO. 
 
Crown has a long history of union-busting. On 5 February 1996, management ordered union members to leave Crown's refinery in Pasadena, Texas, and locked the gates behind them. By the next day, the company replaced all 252 union workers with inexperienced &quot;temporary&quot; workers. The lockout has continued ever since. 
 
Various groups have also accused the company of racism, sexism and environmental pollution. 
 
Yesterday, at its annual shareholders' meeting, Crown announced that the vote in favour of the takeover fell far short of the two-thirds of voting shares needed under Maryland law in order for the family of Crown CEO Henry Rosenberg to acquire all remaining shares in the company at 9.50 US dollars per share. 
 
Stopping the takeover was unprecedented, since the Rosenberg family already owned over half the stock. One unnamed source with close ties to Crown insiders told PACE that Crown board members were shocked that the takeover by Rosemore, the Rosenberg family holding company, did not pass. 
 
At the global level, PACE is affiliated to the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM). The campaign to end Crown's union-busting has received strong support from the ICEM and its affiliated unions. 
 
In Norway, the ICEM-affiliated oilworkers' union NOPEF is pressing the Norwegian-based multinational Statoil to suspend all commercial dealings with Crown until the US company reverses its anti-union policies. 
 
&quot;PACE's victory in the shareholder battle is important for American workers, but also for oilworkers everywhere,&quot; commented Lars Myhre in Norway today. Myhre is NOPEF's President, and he chairs the ICEM energy workers' section. 
 
&quot;Unless and until Crown Central Petroleum halts its union-busting and its other nefarious activities, no respectable oil company should have anything to do with Crown,&quot; Myhre insisted. 
 
In the US, where Crown gasoline and other products are on direct sale to the consumer, PACE and other organisations have been running a boycott campaign.

US Unions Block Crown Central Petroleum Takeover

For the first time, a leading multinational in nonwoven and allied products has signed a global agreement with trade unions. 
<img height="62" src="" width="70" alt="" />&nbsp;&nbsp; <img height="61" src="" width="150" alt="" />&nbsp;&nbsp; <img height="65" src="" width="51" alt="" />
The 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM) finalised the deal today with German-headquartered Freudenberg after a series of negotiating sessions. The main points are trade union rights, workplace equality, protection of health, safety and the environment and a ban on child labour and forced labour. 
 
The agreement with the ICEM encompasses Freudenberg's long-standing business principles, notably &quot;the social commitment that the Freudenberg Group has towards all its employees.&quot; It specifically recognises that full cooperation and consultation with workers and their unions are the best way of furthering the interests of the company and its shareholders. 
 
All sites of Freudenberg and its subsidiaries worldwide are covered by the agreement. It was negotiated in cooperation with the ICEM-affiliated German union IG BCE, which is a co-signatory. 
 
The ICEM organises more than 20 million workers within 379 unions in 103 countries. 
 
Freudenberg employs about 30,000 people in 41 countries. 
 
Primarily, it supplies components to manufacturers, such as the auto, engineering and footwear industries. Sealings, vibration controls and lubricants are among its main products. But almost a quarter of its sales now come from consumer goods, including household products, floor coverings and footwear. 
 
Its consolidated worldwide sales rose to DM 7 079 million last year. The EU accounted for 57.2 percent of this, followed by North America at 30.6 percent. While Germany remains by far the company's biggest market, the proportion of international sales has been rising rapidly. 
 
The emphasis in the global agreement is strongly on trade union rights and other human rights. Specifically cited as touchstones are the relevant Conventions of the UN's International Labour Organisation (ILO). Through the agreement with the ICEM, Freudenberg undertakes to respect, as a minimum, Conventions 87 and 98 on freedom of association and collective bargaining; Convention 135 on non-discrimination against union reps; Conventions 100 and 111 on equal opportunities and treatment; Conventions 29 and 105 on forced labour; and Convention 138 on child labour. 
 
Significantly, the agreement provides for ICEM monitoring and for annual meetings between Freudenberg's global management and the ICEM. Both sides commit themselves &quot;to contact each other directly and immediately in case any conflicts or violations of the agreement arise, in order to seek a common solution.&quot; 
 
This is the crucial difference between a global agreement and the internal codes of conduct adopted by many multinationals. The Freudenberg agreement is fully verifiable by the ICEM. 
 
The agreement clearly acknowledges &quot;the right of the employees in the Freudenberg Group to freely join trade unions of their choice, to elect workers' representatives and represent their interests in negotiations concerning collective bargaining agreements.&quot; It is &quot;part of the cooperation and confidence&quot; between Freudenberg and its workers that &quot;wherever the employees wish to organise themselves in trade unions, and trade unions apply for recognition, ways are sought to develop good labour relations in joint dialogue.&quot; This &quot;rules out any kind of unequal treatment, discrimination or sanctions against trade union organisation.&quot; 
 
Freudenberg also commits itself to &quot;sustainable protection of the environment and natural resources&quot; and to ensuring the safety of the workplace and of its products. 
 
It further &quot;condemns involvement in unethical or illegal business&quot; and undertakes not to produce &quot;weapons or any kind of war materials similar to weapons.&quot; 
 
&quot;Confidence and cooperation between management, employees and their representatives, innovation and flexibility in work organisation are the basis for the employees' future success and that of the Freudenberg Group,&quot; the agreement says. Every effort will be made to achieve &quot;a consensus about the introduction of flexible, efficient and customer-oriented forms of work organisation&quot;, while taking account of &quot;the needs of the employees.&quot; 
 
&quot;This agreement is in the best interests of Freudenberg's workers, but also of all the company's stakeholders worldwide,&quot; said ICEM General Secretary Fred Higgs today. Higgs negotiated and signed the deal on the ICEM's behalf. 
 
&quot;Today, we are witnessing a big step forward in global industrial relations,&quot; Higgs emphasised. &quot;The ICEM intends to negotiate and implement a whole series of such agreements with the major global corporations in its sectors.&quot; 
 
He paid tribute to the efforts of ICEM German affiliate IG BCE in securing the global agreement. &quot;We were able to build on the good cooperation between IG BCE and Freudenberg in Germany,&quot; Higgs said. &quot;We thank IG BCE President Hubertus Schmoldt and all his team for their decisive role in achieving this breakthrough.&quot; 
 
Schmoldt, who is also an ICEM Vice-President, said the agreement is in line with &quot;the traditionally fair and constructive policies of the Freudenberg Group.&quot; It opens up &quot;the opportunity to jointly make innovative contributions to the further global development of good industrial relations,&quot; Schmoldt insisted. &quot;Particularly important for us is the fact that the ICEM is now recognised as a trade union representative at all the company's sites.&quot; 
 
For the Freudenberg Management Board, Dr. Hans-Jochen H&uuml;chting commented: &quot;The approach from IG BCE and the ICEM fell on fertile ground as far as we were concerned, because the main contents of the agreement - such as the rejection of child labour and of forced labour and the commitment to environmental protection and to the responsibilisation of our employees - are already enshrined in our business principles and codes of conduct.&quot; 
 
Germany's Labour Minister Walter Riester welcomed the agreement as &quot;an important step towards more social responsibility between employers and employees&quot; in the Freudenberg Group.

Freudenberg And Unions Seal Global Agreement

The International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers&rsquo; Unions (ICEM) has urged the Chevron Corporation to settle strikes at two US coal mines. 
 
Currently, 520 members of the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) are on strike against Pittsburg &amp; Midway Coal Mining Company (P&amp;M), a wholly-owned Chevron subsidiary. The strike at the McKinley mine near Window Rock, Arizona on the Navajo Nation territory, involving 310 UMWA members, has been ongoing since May 14. At the Kemmerer mine in Kemmerer, Wyoming, 210 UMWA members have been on strike since May 28. The UMWA is affiliated at the global level to the 20-million-strong ICEM. 
 
In a letter to David J. O&rsquo;Reilly, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Chevron Corporation, ICEM General Secretary Fred Higgs expressed concern about &quot;the company&rsquo;s retention of outside legal counsel which has the reputation for promoting, instead of resolving, conflict; the company&rsquo;s hiring of military-type security guards (one of whom has already been arrested by Navajo police), and the company&rsquo;s demand that the union accept a pension package inferior to those offered by your competitors in the coal industry.&quot; 
 
&quot;The United Mine Workers of America is a valued affiliate of our federation,&quot; Higgs continued, &quot;and we intend to do everything possible to support them, including notifying our affiliates around the world with members employed by Chevron Corporation and Caltex Petroleum Corporation about the ongoing dispute. I strongly urge you to do everything possible to bring about a speedy end to this dispute.&quot; 
 
Already responding to the solidarity appeal is the Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers International Union (PACE), which represents approximately 2,000 Chevron oil and chemical workers in the United States. &quot;We will support the UMWA in any way we can,&quot; said PACE Executive Vice President Robert Wages. &quot;We will mobilise our members at Chevron&rsquo;s oil and chemical operations to ensure that justice is won at these coal mines.&quot; PACE is also affiliated globally to the ICEM. 
 
&quot;We are grateful for this show of support and solidarity,&quot; said Jerry Jones, UMWA Vice President and the union's chief negotiator with P&amp;M. &quot;Our members on strike at McKinley and Kemmerer are stronger and more resolved than ever and, with this show of support from other Chevron workers in the US and around the world, I am certain we will win a fair and just contract with P&amp;M.&quot;

Settle US Coal Strike, Global Union Tells Chevron

Days before a multi-nation meeting about the closing of Ukraine's Chernobyl nuclear power plant, leaders of 10 US unions representing 4.9 million workers today wrote to President Clinton, urging him to &quot;take active leadership&quot; to ensure adequate funding to aid the 12,000 Chernobyl workers and their families. 
 
Signing the letter were union presidents George Becker, United Steelworkers of America; Douglas Dority, United Food and Commercial Workers International Union; Edward Fire, International Union of Electronic, Electrical, Salaried, Machine &amp; Furniture Workers; Frank Hanley, International Union of Operating Engineers; Jay Mazur, Union of Needletrades, Industrial, and Textile Employees; Brian McWilliams, International Longshore and Warehouse Union; Cecil E. Roberts, United Mine Workers of America; Andrew Stern, Service Employees International Union; and Boyd Young, Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers International Union. Also signing were Robert Clark, Secretary-Treasurer of the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America; and Fred Higgs, General Secretary of the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM). 
 
The US signers all head unions that are affiliates of the ICEM, a global industrial trade union federation representing more than 20 million workers worldwide. ICEM affiliates include the Trade Union of Nuclear Energy and Industry of Ukraine (ATU). The ATU represents the workers at Chernobyl, the site of the worst-ever nuclear accident in 1986. 
 
Governments of the G-7 nations are sending representatives to Berlin on July 5 to discuss Chernobyl's closure, scheduled for December 15. However, according to the ICEM's Higgs, &quot;not enough attention is being paid to shielding Chernobyl's workers from economic disaster.&quot; 
 
Higgs explained that &quot;under a Memorandum of Understanding signed in Ottawa in 1995, western commitments to fund the Chernobyl closure included a pittance - a mere 4 million US dollars - to help displaced workers. In 1997, experts from the governments of the United States, the European Union and Ukraine drafted a Social Impact Plan to provide retraining and new jobs for Chernobyl workers in case the plant was closed. Today, it is estimated that fully funding the Social Impact Plan would cost between 50 million and 100 million dollars.&quot; 
 
He said that &quot;Western nations are proposing to spend some 875 million dollars on projects such as building a new, safe shell to contain dangerous radiation&quot;. 
 
&quot;Isn't it reasonable to ask that less than one-eighth of that amount be spent to ensure affected workers have the benefit of a safety net?&quot; Higgs said. &quot;We believe that it is.&quot; 
 
The union leaders' letter to Clinton says: &quot;The July 5, 2000, Pledging Conference in Berlin would seem to be an excellent opportunity for the U.S. Government to reaffirm its commitment to assist in funding ... to ensure that ... the future of the Chernobyl workers (and) their families ... is protected.

Unions Press Clinton To Aid Chernobyl Workers

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