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The Mineworkers Union of Zambia blasted the use of casual labour as a new and growing threat against the work/life social structure. 
MUZ Gen. Sec. Ernest Mutale told the nation that new investment arriving into Zambia is intent on utilizing contract labour, a fact opposite of what these investors must do in their home countries, he said.

Zambia’s Mining Union Sees Threat of Casual Labour

German IGBCE, French FCE CFDT and EMCEF, the European workers&rsquo; federation in chemical, energy and mining sectors, met in Paris 4 May and issued a declaration on the impending Sanofi-Synthelabo and Aventis pharmaceutical merger. The combined firm&rsquo;s two biggest unions vowed to prevent site closures and job loss, maintain existing rights and obligations, and asks that the new management team be innovative inside the framework of existing social dialogue.

German, French Unions Meet over Aventis, Sanofi Merger

Global tyremaker Continental faced coordinated protests on both sides of the Atlantic over the past 24 hours by union leaders from 16 countries. 
 
Demonstrations took place in Akron, Ohio - a centre of the US rubber industry - and in London, England, where the tyre industry is holding a major European trade exhibition. Coordinating the campaign is the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM), which represents tyre workers worldwide. 
 
The current protests centre on Continental's treatment of striking (and locked-out) workers at its General Tire plant in Charlotte, North Carolina, USA. But union leaders have also voiced concern over the company's declared worldwide strategy of shifting production to &quot;low-cost&quot; areas. 
 
The core issue in the American dispute is that &quot;Conti&quot; is refusing to pay the going rate among leading employers of US tyre workers, even though the plant is now profitable. The American workers accuse Conti of failing to bargain in good faith and of trying to break the Charlotte local of their union, the USWA. After provoking a strike, the company drafted in &quot;permanent replacement&quot; workers last September, thus effectively locking out and dismissing the strikers. 
 
In 1995, after Continental bought General Tire, the workers bailed out the Charlotte plant by &quot;giving back&quot; about 90 million dollars in pay and benefits cuts. Charlotte is now showing a healthy profit, but the company is still refusing to bring its pay and conditions up to standard. 
 
Taking part in the Akron protests yesterday were tyre workers' leaders from ICEM-affiliated unions in Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, France, Germany, Guatemala, Japan, Malaysia, Morocco, Slovenia, South Africa, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the USA and Venezuela. Their demo was held in front of a retail outlet that sells Conti tyres. 
 
And in London this morning, protesters from ICEM-affiliated British unions rolled bald tyres up and down outside the TYREXPO Europe 99 exhibition. Time To Run Continental's Greed Off The Road proclaimed one placard at the London demo, while another said Reinstate 1,450 Sacked Continental Workers In North Carolina USA. 
 
&quot;We will take our campaign against Continental to wherever they do business, here or abroad,&quot; John Sellers pledged in Akron yesterday. Sellers is Executive Vice-President of the USWA and heads the union's Rubber And Plastics Industry Conference. &quot;German multinational corporations would not be allowed to abuse workers this way in Germany,&quot; Sellers declared, &quot;and we're not going to tolerate such behaviour in the United States, either.&quot; 
 
&quot;We are proud to join forces with our American brothers and sisters in protesting against Continental's actions in Charlotte,&quot; said British union leader Bert Hill. He is from British ICEM affiliate the GMB, which organises workers at Continental's Newbridge tyre plant in Scotland. Hill is currently in Akron. 
 
&quot;Continental has been systematically trying to wrest concessions from our members in Scotland,&quot; he stated, &quot;and we know we have to stand together in solidarity with other Continental workers in other countries against our common employer.&quot; 
 
 
UNIONS DRAW UP GLOBAL STRATEGY 
 
Hill and union leaders from Germany, France, Turkey, South Africa and the US met yesterday to plan a common strategy to support the Charlotte strikers. 
 
&quot;Continental's actions in the United States are a disgrace,&quot; said Jacques Caltot, who heads the rubber division of the ICEM-affiliated French union FCE-CFDT. &quot;We will continue to press Continental to adhere to international labour standards wherever it does business, and we will support the USWA strike in Charlotte until a fair and just agreement can be reached.&quot; 
 
&quot;The situation at Continental is typical of a problem that we are going to have to tackle globally,&quot; commented ICEM Vice-President Fred Higgs just after the London demo. &quot;Companies that pride themselves on being respectable employers in Europe often act very differently in contexts like the United States. We are going to be exerting the fullest possible pressure to secure the reinstatement of all the 1,450 Charlotte workers who have been so unjustly and ungratefully treated by Continental.&quot; 
 
Also heading up the London demo was Earl Pabst, President of the union local in Charlotte. 
 
&quot;The support over here is even stronger than I had imagined,&quot; Pabst said. &quot;Today's event has taken our message to another level.&quot; 
 
Asked what he wanted as a next step, Pabst replied: &quot;I want the scabs [strikebreakers] out and us back in.&quot; 
 
Meanwhile, he said, the union would be expanding an &quot;informational campaign&quot; of leafletting customers outside US retailers that sell Continental tyres. &quot;We're now contacting retailers across the USA,&quot; Pabst added. &quot;We're telling them who we are and what we want, and we're explaining that we're with them, not against them.&quot; 
 
In Akron, ICEM General Secretary Vic Thorpe pledged continuing global union support for the American workers' campaign. 
 
&quot;Our affiliated unions around the world are behind the USWA,&quot; Thorpe said. &quot;We will show Continental there are serious consequences for its violation of workers' rights.&quot;

Continental Tyres Faces Intercontinental Trouble

An ICEM Nuclear Power Union Network is out of the starting blocks after 14-15 April meetings in Brussels. The network will be formalized at a conference tentatively set for 27-30 August in Romania. Unionists from affiliates in Belgium, Canada, Romania, UK and US attended the Brussels meetings.

Nuclear Power Network Forms with ICEM Assistance

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

The 20-million-member ICEM, the global union federation for the energy, mining, chemical and processed industries&rsquo; sectors, has succeeded in bringing a first-ever process of Social Dialogue between Colombian trade unions and multinational companies. In a series of meetings in Colombia this month between unions and employers facilitated by the ICEM, a formalized process was established with eight companies over dialogue on a full range of social issues. 
 
&ldquo;The ICEM is in a unique position. Through our global affiliates, we represent workers across the world at these companies,&rdquo; stated General Secretary Fred Higgs. &ldquo;Our affiliated trade unions in Colombia recognize this initiative as a vehicle for peace and reconciliation, and a meaningful attempt to establish full human and trade union rights.&rdquo; 
 
Higgs added, &ldquo;Trade Unions are among the few democratic structures in Colombia. We see this process of Social Dialogue with employers as a major step to achieving peace and justice in this war-torn country.&rdquo; 
 
The multinational companies that accepted the invitation of the ICEM and Colombia trade unions include: the Spanish energy firm Endesa; Spanish electrical distributor Uni&oacute;n Fenosa; Swiss oil and gas trader Glencore; Australian mining concern BHP Billiton; British-based mining company Anglo-American; German gas, engineering, materials handling and refrigeration firm Linde AG; UK&rsquo;s household products group Reckitt Benckiser; and Irish paper and packaging company Jefferson Smurfit Group. 
 
ICEM&rsquo;s Colombian trade union affiliates involved include: Sindicato de Trabajadores de la Electricidad (SINTRAELECOL), Sindicato Nacional de los Trabajores de la Industria del Carb&oacute;n (SINTRACARBON), Sindicato de la Industria Qu&iacute;mca (SINTRAQUIM), and Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de Cart&oacute;n (SINTRACARCOL). 
 
At the inaugural set of meetings in mid-October, the unions met with Colombian managers of all companies as a group, and then individually to set a working process into the year 2006. Labour and management began the process immediately at the company level by designating contact point persons and introducing procedures to follow within each company. Agreement was made to convene two collective seminars prior to June 2005 on international labour standards and human rights. And then in June another conference of all participants will convene with the ICEM to shape an agenda for 2006. 
 
Colombia&rsquo;s labour-management Social Dialogue process will operate on two levels: at corporate level, in which best practices will be developed regarding the international standards, labour relations, working conditions and physical security of trade union leaders; and at multi-company level, whereby initiatives and experiences will be shared with other companies operating in Colombia. 
 
The ICEM-initiated Social Dialogue process is part of a programme adopted at the GUF&rsquo;s 2003 Congress in Norway to provide resources and awareness to the trade unions of Colombia.

Colombia: 8 Multinationals Commence Social Talks with Unions

The 20-million-member ICEM, the global union federation for the oil, energy, chemical and other sectors, lent its support to Colombian trade unions and civil society organizations at a National Day of Action in defense of labour and human rights. ICEM Gen. Sec. Fred Higgs spoke at a mass rally and demonstration 12 October in Bogota, one of three major protests across Colombia condemning the policies of President Alvaro Uribe Velez. 

<img height="157" alt="" src="" width="350" />
ICEM's Fred Higgs spoke to Colombian workers in Bogota 
(photo by Carlos Bustos) 
&ldquo;These events in Colombia demonstrate the Trade Union Movement&rsquo;s determination to secure social justice for workers and all citizens,&rdquo; said Higgs. &ldquo;Trade unions are one of the few democratic structures in Colombia and the issues today prove the Trade Union Movement can be a force for peace and reconciliation in a country that so badly needs it.&rdquo; 
<img height="180" alt="" src="" width="350" />
Some 20,000 workers filled a square in Bogota on 12 October 
Higgs promised to Colombian workers they would not be alone in their struggle for social justice. &ldquo;Trade unionists across the world are conscious of the deaths, death threats and intimidation and harassment of trade union leaders and others in Colombia,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;The ICEM will remain active in Colombia and we will ensure that the struggle for justice and fairness continues to be heard worldwide.&rdquo; 
 
The rallies coincided with a 24-hour protest strike in which public sector workers shut down government administration, plus education, health care and other public sector services.
&nbsp; 
All ICEM-affiliated trade unions in Colombia took part in Day of Action events, as did all national union centers. The Trade Union agenda: 
* Oppose the re-election of Uribe; 
* Oppose legislation that cuts pensions, increases taxes on workers, and reduces money and aid for education and health; 
* Oppose security policies that are causing violent human rights abuses; 
* Oppose the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas, other regional free-trade agreements, and bi-lateral trade agreements with the US; 
* Oppose unilateral closure of hospitals, health clinics, and schools; 
* Begin the negotiation process to end armed internal conflict and seek humanitarian assistance. 
 
The ICEM, numbering 400 affiliates in 125 countries, has been engaged in Colombian union building and solidarity efforts for the past eight years. The GUF has now launched a Social Dialogue Process among affiliates in Latin America&rsquo;s most violent nation that has met success coordinating serious dialogue between individual affiliates and global employers.

ICEM Endorses Trade Union Agenda in Colombia

The ICEM is calling on principals behind Debswana, the diamond mining enterprise of Botswana, to step in and resolve the remaining issues in the bitter dispute between the company and affiliate Botswana Mining Workers' Union (BMWU). 
 
Debswana, encompassing four highly profitable mines, is jointly owned by global diamond concern DeBeers and the government of Botswana, which also controls 15% of DeBeers. 
 
On 23 August, about half of Debswana's 6,000 workers struck the mine sites over a pay and bonus offer that fell far short of what was granted salaried staff. The company responded by issuing termination notices to 444 strikers, as well as eviction notices to many of the strikers who reside in company-subsidized housing near the mine sites. 
 
In late July, Debswana secured an industrial court ruling declaring any strike illegal. The miners who struck, acting without BMWU consent, were angered that the inferior pay and bonus offer was withdrawn from the bargaining table after leadership rejection, as well as the industrial court ruling which they considered one-sided. 
 
Following the strike, Debswana management sought and received contempt of court citations for some 33 officers of the three BMWU branches at the four sites and national BMWU leaders. A hearing on the matter is scheduled for 2 September with the company showing no willingness to soften its stand despite several attempts by BMWU to re-enter dialogue, efforts rejected by Debswana managers. A legal decision against the BMWU and the branch leaders-all of whom work for Debswana-will have the effect of shutting down the union. 
 
&quot;Our information from several sources tells us that neither DeBeers nor the government of Botswana has interceded in efforts to resolve this dispute,&quot; said ICEM General Secretary Fred Higgs. &quot;In good faith and also to prevent this dispute from escalating to other work sectors in Botswana, we call on Debswana management in coordination with DeBeers and the government to immediately rescind the dismissals and eviction notices.&quot; 
 
Higgs added the BMWU agreed on 27 August to accept the company's pay and bonus proposal. &quot;It is now necessary for Debswana to recall the discharged workers and drop the court action so that both union and management can put this dispute behind, resume full operations and begin more cooperative labour relations.&quot; 
 
Debswana's mines, which produce 30 million carats annually, are responsible for nearly 75% of Botswana's export earnings, 45% of all government revenues and account for one-third of the country's Gross Domestic Product.

Burden on DeBeers, Government to End Botswana Diamond Dispute

Terms of the Global Framework Agreement between Svenska Cellulosa Aktiebolaget (SCA), the ICEM and the Swedish Paper Workers&rsquo; Union were announced this week. The Stockholm-based company along with the unions and SCA&rsquo;s European Works Council signed the Global Agreement on 15 April 2004.
The agreement cites adherence to the Core Conventions of the ILO on workers&rsquo; rights, and states that such standards &ldquo;should guide SCA&rsquo;s activities and its relations to the employees.&rdquo; It also includes language in which the company will inform sub-contractors and licensees of the agreement, and that it will encourage such parties to comply with the same standards. 
 
 
<img height="175" alt="" src="" width="380" />
Signing the SCA Global Agreement, from left, 
Carl Lindqvist, chair of the SCA European Works Council; 
Sune Ekbage, president of the Swedish Paper Workers Union; ICEM General Secretary Fred Higgs; 
and Jan Astrom, SCA CEO and Managing Director. 


Other points contained in the agreement: 
 
&bull; As a minimum, SCA will comply with all applicable legislative and regulatory requirements; 
 
&bull; The firm will strive for continuous improvement to workplace health and safety standards, as well as environmentally responsible behaviour; 
 
&bull; SCA will strive toward full non-discriminatory policies including ensuring equal development opportunities exist regardless of gender, race, ethnic background, sexual oreintation, religion, political affiliation or disability; 
 
&bull; The company will provide employees with opportunities to train for job enrichment and increased responsibilities; 
 
&bull; SCA commits to paying fair wages and benefits according to relevant market standards; 
 
&bull; The firm will be guided in its operations by provisions of the UN&rsquo;s Universal Declaration of Human Rights; and 
 
&bull; SCA supports the effective elimination of forced labour and child labour, and it will make these criteria in the choice and management of suppliers and sub-contractors. 
 
The Global Agreement also contains a process on how disputes pertaining to the agreement will be resolved and all parties will meet annually to review the framework agreement. 
 
Sune Ekbage, chair of the Swedish Paper Workers&rsquo; Union, said the agreement is a &ldquo;natural for a Swedish company such as SCA&rdquo; that has &ldquo;a long tradition of favorable relations with trade unions. I am convinced that this will favor SCA and it has come at exactly the right time, in view of discussions concerning ethical guidelines currently underway in Sweden.&rdquo; 
 
ICEM General Secretary Fred Higgs stated, &ldquo;SCA has expanded to become a premiere worldwide pulp, paper and packaging company. We are pleased that SCA recognizes the need to uphold workers&rsquo; rights and build cooperative relationships with respective unions in all its global enterprises.&rdquo; 
 
Higgs said the agreement follows an excellent accord reached late last year regarding cooperation between SCA and ICEM US affiliate Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical, Energy (PACE) Workers Union. A part of that overall agreement contains a company pledge to remain neutral in union organizing drives by PACE at SCA&rsquo;s non-union tissue mills in the US. 
 
Higgs said SCA&rsquo;s recent global expansions coincide with where the 20-million-member ICEM has trade union affiliates. In March of this year, the firm bought the tissue assets of New Zealand-based Carter Holt Harvey (CHH), the leading towel and tissue provider for both New Zealand and Australia. Additionally, SCA purchased the 50% share of a joint venture it had with CHH called Sancella that includes feminine hygiene products marketed in the two countries. 
 
The company has expanded into Malaysia with purchase of a baby diaper firm. In Europe, SCA has enlarged both tissue and containerboard capacity in Spain, and purchased a packaging firm called Busto and Tema in Italy. SCA has also taken a controlling interest in a Mexican tissue company called Copamex. 
 
Commented SCA CEO Jan Astrom on the global accord with the unions: &ldquo;The agreement supplements the Code of Conduct adopted by the SCA Board of Directors earlier this year. The agreement is an expression of SCA&rsquo;s willingness to assume social responsibility and act as an exemplary employer.&rdquo;

Global Framework Agreement Announced with Swedish SCA

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