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IMMEDIATE RELEASE, 17 June 2010 &ndash; Two Global Union Federations (GUFs) representing a combined 45 million workers will conduct a two-day conference on economic, environment, and social dimensions of sustainability in Toronto beginning tomorrow, aimed at forging a worldwide workers&rsquo; and communities&rsquo; declaration for the upcoming G8 and G20 summits. 
 
The &ldquo;Triple Crisis of Sustainability&rdquo; Conference is sponsored by Geneva, Switzerland-based International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine &amp; General Workers&rsquo; Union (ICEM) and International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF), and will include voices from 270 trade union and other leaders from over 50 countries. 
 
The conference runs from 9h00 to 17h30 on both 18 and 19 June in the Dominion Ballroom of the Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel, 123 Queen Street West. 
 
&ldquo;The financial crisis that brought the world&rsquo;s economy to its knees needs correcting and it needs the resonating voices of those most affected by runaway greed and banking calamities,&rdquo; said ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda. &ldquo;Environmental catastrophes, monetary disparities, and destabilized societies all have related origins, and this is the pivotal time for the world&rsquo;s economic and political leaders to correct the imbalances.&rdquo; 
 
Added Jyrki Raina, General Secretary of the IMF: &ldquo;The uncertainties that workers and their families face is now unprecedented. We want guarantees that the G8 and G20 summits address the legitimate concerns of workers for social justice and long-term, sustainable employment, and include the introduction of a global tax on financial institutions.&rdquo; 
 
The two GUFs believe that the crises of failing economies, environmental inaction, and social disorder are interconnected. ICEM and IMF also believe these crises have been produced by absence of global financial and environmental regulations, as well as inept financial governance of markets. The conference will ensure that the voices of global workers are heard on these issues before the G8 and G20 summits convene. 
 
Jobs, workers&rsquo; rights, social protections, quality public services, and sustainability &ndash; both on environmental stewardship and in providing decent work &ndash; will serve as the heart of a common declaration from the conference to the G8 and G20. 
 
A keynote speech on 18 June will be delivered by United Steelworkers President Leo Gerard, whose union has been victimized by the merciless globalization and one of the world&rsquo;s largest and most profitable mining companies in Ontario. A panel on the opening day will address the economic crisis. 
 
Other panels will be on topics of sustainable development and climate change, and on corporate governance. On the concluding day, 19 June, David Donnelly, a leading environmental attorney connected with Canada&rsquo;s Blue-Green Alliance, will speak, as will John Evans, the General-Secretary of the Paris-based Trade Union Advisory Committee (TUAC) to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). 
 
The conference&rsquo;s programme has been built to allow for maximum comments from the 250 participants in order to gain a wide-ranging discourse over the effects of the social, environmental, and economic crises. 
 
The ICEM counts 467 trade union affiliates in 132 countries, and represents 20 million workers. The IMF represents the collective interests of 25 million metalworkers from more than 200 unions in 100 countries.
Note to Media Outlets: A Press Briefing will occur at the venue at 12h30, 18 June.)
For more, contact: Dick Blin, ICEM Information Officer on-site at <a href="mailto:dick.blin@icem.org">dick.blin@icem.org</a>, +41 79 734 8994 (mobile); or Alexander Ivanou, IMF Communications, <a href="mailto:aivanou@imfmetal.org">aivanou@imfmetal.org</a>, +41 22 308 5033 (land line).

Global Trade Unions Meet in Toronto for Sustainability Conference

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The second world congress of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), meeting in Vancouver, British Colombia, Canada, 21-25 June, elected Sharon Burrow to become the first woman to head the global trade union body. Burrow succeeds Guy Ryder as the second General Secretary of the ITUC, which was created in Vienna in 2006, and leaves her position as president of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), a post that she has held since 2000. She has been President of the ITUC and its predecessor the ICFTU, since 2004. 
 
In her acceptance speech, Burrow described herself as a &quot;warrior&quot; for women and committed the ITUC to continuing to champion women's rights. 
 
Hosted by the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC), over 1,400 delegates assembled in Vancouver under the theme, &lsquo;Now the People, from the crisis to global justice&rsquo;, as the main focus was around issues related to labour&rsquo;s demands for restructuring and reform of the global economy. Delegates criticised the recent trend of governments, especially in Europe, introducing deficit control and austerity measures, under pressure the same banks that caused the economic crisis to begin, instead of keeping jobs at the centre of the recovery. This, according to Burrow, is turning the possibility of a double-dip recession into a probability. 

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ITUC General Secretary, Sharon Burrow
Among the 13 resolutions passed by the congress, were strong declarations on democracy, peace, gender equality, fighting HIV/AIDS, and on sustainable development and a just transition. See those resolutions in full at the link below. 
 
The congress called on G20 governments to increase economic stimulus to create more jobs. On Thursday, 24 June, over 1,000 Congress delegates conducted a rally outside the Vancouver Convention Centre, calling on world leaders to move towards global justice. 
 
Michael Sommer, DGB (Confederation of German Trade Unions), Germany, was elected ITUC President. Jaap Wienen was elected Deputy General Secretary. Luc Cortebeeck, CSC (Confederation of Christian Trade Unions) Belgium, was elected ITUC Deputy President. Nair Goulart, For&ccedil;a Sindical (Brazil), was elected ITUC Deputy President. 
 
View the ITUC second world congress web page <a href="http://www.ituc-csi.org/+-congress-+.html">here</a>.

ITUC Congress Elects Sharon Burrow General Secretary

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The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and the South African state-run utility Eskom inched closer to a new labour accord for 28,000 workers last week in bargaining coordinated by the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation, and Arbitration (CCMA). Even though the CCMA issued a certificate of non-resolution following talks late on 24 June, the two sides were not far apart on wages and differences over the elusive year-long issue of housing allocation for workers also narrowed. 
 
The NUM did set a deadline for tomorrow, 29 June, for the company to make further movement, but the threat of a disruptive strike was diminished by movement made in CCMA talks. Two other unions are also involved in the negotiations, including the ICEM-affiliated National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA), but ICEM&rsquo;s second largest global affiliate &ndash; the NUM &ndash; represents the greatest number of workers at Eskom, 16,000. 

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Management at Eskom has maintained that a strike would be illegal because a court decision on 25 May ruled the utility an essential national service. But workers have kept the strike option open, and the NUM said it would back rank-and-file staff if they decided to walk off jobs at electric generating facilities, power plants, and administrative servicing centres. 
 
At a press briefing on 25 June, the NUM rejected compulsory arbitration and suggested that the narrow differences between the two sides can be resolved in mediated talks early this week. 
 
The company has increased its wage offer from 4% to 8% in June talks, while the unions have brought their original wage demands down to 9%. The unions are seeking a housing allowance of R4,000 per month, while Eskom is proposing a 5.6% increase in certain benefit allowances, as well as a one-off R12,000 payment, to be made in two equal pay-outs in July 2010 and July 2011.

NUM, Eskom Come Closer to New Pay, Housing Allowance Deal

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ICEM&rsquo;s Bridgestone Global Union Network continued its regular work with the 10th Meeting of its Steering Committee which met in Madrid, Spain on 25-26 June 2010, upon invitation of ICEM&rsquo;s Spanish affiliate the Federation of Related Industries FIA-UGT, represented by Jesus Delgado, Secretary of the European Works Council of the company and as member of the Steering Committee on behalf of Europe. Delgado originally comes from the Bridgestone plant in Burgos. 
 
The Meeting, chaired by Toshiaki Hojo, President ICEM&rsquo;s Japanese affiliate GOMU RENGO, the Confederation of Rubber Workers&rsquo; Unions was attended by members from Japan, namely Akihiro Nagasawa, President, Gen Tashiro, Vice President and Kazutaka Nishihira, Central Executive Member of the Bridgestone Union (BSU); Terezinho Da Martins, President, Daniel Demetrio, Regional Vice-President and Joao Batista Goncalves, Assistant to the President of Sao Paulo Rubber Workers&rsquo; Federation Brazil; Eduardo Alonso, shop steward at Burgos from FIA-UGT of Spain, Yoshio Sato, General Secretary of ICEM&rsquo;s Japanese Affiliates Federation (ICEM-JAF) and Kemal &Ouml;zkan, ICEM&rsquo;s Chemical and Rubber Industries Officer. The meeting also welcomed, as observer, Tamas Szekely, President of ICEM&rsquo;s Hungarian affiliate VDSz, Chemical and Energy Workers&rsquo; Federation. 

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&ldquo;The Bridgestone Global Union Network can be a good model for networking activities in the rubber industry&rdquo; said Toshiaki Hojo at the opening of the meeting. &ldquo;In some countries unions are faced with very hostile relations and the denial of human rights. Networks should also confirm their role in extending solidarity&rdquo; he added. 
 
The meeting received an extensive report from ICEM&rsquo;s Kemal &Ouml;zkan on the economic situation, corporate mergers and acquisitions, future trends of the global tire and rubber industry and their effects on employees. According to &Ouml;zkan, the global tire and rubber industry was in depression and severely suffered from the crisis in 2008. He however noted that the situation was improved in 2009, demand in the industry had not recovered to the peak level in the previous year. For 2010, he reported, the industry seems to continue to recover in a relatively stabilized situation which will give opportunity to the unions in the sector to be in a better position vis-a-vis employers. 

<img alt="" src="" width="240" height="180" />
Left: Gen Tashiro, Coordinator ICEM Bridgestone Global Union Network and Vice-President of Bridgestone Union Right: Toshiaki Hojo, Chairman of ICEM Bridgestone Global Union Network and President of GOMU RENGO
Following the particular report on Bridgestone given by the BSU, participants reported on economic and employment situations of the tire industry and Bridgestone in their respective regions and countries. The company&rsquo;s activities on CSR (corporate social responsibility) were discussed by the participants. 
The second part of the meeting dealt with the participants&rsquo; reports on occupational health, safety and environment, particularly on the number of accidents in 2009, involving the workers entangled or stuck in machines, by giving examples as well as unions&rsquo; activities on preventing accidents. The meeting then moved to the reports on health and safety measures being taken by unions and/or the company with a view to preventing similar industrial accidents; promoting education on industrial safety and capacity building, and on the handling of chemical substances and health. 

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Tamas Szekely of Hungary gave a written report to the meeting on the union situation at the plant located in Tatabanya, Hungary where his organisation has been trying to establish a trade union for three years without success. He asked for the support of the Global Union Network in the process of developing industrial relations with the local management of the company there. Having invited participants to Hungary in the near future, Szekely particularly thanked representatives of GOMU RENGO and BSU of Japan for their interest. 
 
The next meeting of the Steering Committee is scheduled to take place on 24-25 June 2011 in Japan.

ICEM’s Bridgestone Global Union Network Continues to Work

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International pressure and attention has been building around the 19-year strike of 340 Fiji Mineworkers Union (FMU) members at the Emperor Gold Mine in Vatukoula, Fiji, as a resolution becomes possible following Government intervention. 
 
Executive member of ICEM&rsquo;s Asia-Pacific Regional Committee, Robert Reid, also the General Secretary of the National Distribution Union of neighbouring New Zealand, has been particularly vocal, &ldquo;This is perhaps the longest running strike in the world and it is time it was resolved,&rdquo; Reid stated. 
 
The Executive of the FMU met with Permanent Secretaries of the Fiji Government Wednesday, 16 June, the miners presented a compensation claim of US$8,000 per miner for every year of striking. The Government delegation consisted of Permanent Secretaries for Lands and Mineral Resources, Labour, Defence, and the Attorney General's office, as well as for Prime Minister Bainimarama. 

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Permanent secretary to the Prime Minister's Office, Pio Tikoduadua, said a response on the government's position would be made within the next 10 days. 
 
The strike stems from the Emperor Gold Mine Company choosing to close down the mine, instead of negotiating a settlement over worker grievances of poor labour conditions, substandard housing and environmental damage at the mine. 
 
The FMU moved the ILO&rsquo;s Committee of Experts to analyse and resolve the dispute, this process was begun in December 2009. However, with those deliberations on-going, the miners&rsquo; picket has been removed and workers are now being threatened with eviction from their homes for arrears in rent. 
 
In a letter to Fijian Prime Minister Commodore Frank Bainimarama, ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda urged Bainimarama &ldquo;on humanitarian grounds and in accordance with provisions of the International Labour Organization to reach a fair and equitable resolution of this dispute.&rdquo;

International Support for Fiji Miners’ 19-Year Strike

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ICEM affiliate Industri Energi (IE) successfully negotiated salary increases for its members at Statoil&rsquo;s offshore Gullfaks B and Gullfaks C fields, and at Shell's Draugen field, in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea. Talks between union officials and the Norwegian Oil Industry Association, mediated by Nils Dalseide of Norway&rsquo;s National Arbitration Tribunal, reached agreement that avoided strike action after extending a midnight deadline and concluded in the early hours of Thursday 17 June. 
 
&quot;No strike,&quot; reported Industri Energi Spokesman Arild Theimann, swiftly following conclusion to the talks which had begun 2 days prior. Workers ready to down tools if talks failed included employees of Halliburton, Geoservices, Baker Hughes and Oceaneering. 

<img src="" width="136" height="148" alt="" />
Industri Energi President&nbsp;Leif Sande
&quot;We feel relieved that we could avoid a strike in the oil sector,&quot; President of Industri Energi Leif Sande stated. &quot;We did not get everything, but we got a good wage increase and better compensation. We were very satisfied with this.&quot; 
 
The new Norwegian Shelf Agreement sees a Nkr 10,000 (US$1573) annual increase in general wages for some 6700 workers involved in operating, drilling and catering on the Shelf, on top of Nkr 4700 from a previous pay deal. 
 
In addition, shift, conference and holiday supplement will be increased. The negotiations also involved discussions on shift rotation policy for near permanent workers. 

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Jointly, the Gullfaks and Draugen fields produce around 270,000 barrels of oil per day, of Norway's daily exports of 1.87 million barrels. 
 
Mature traditions of industrial relations in the sector in Norway permit constructive dialogue and problems to be resolved. 
 
The oil and gas industry is vital to the Norwegian economy, accounting for a third of tax revenues and a quarter of GDP. The dispute was closely followed elsewhere in Europe, with many countries such as the United Kingdom, heavily dependent on Norwegian gas.

Strike Avoided, Salary Increases for Norway’s Oilworkers

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In an attempt to find common ground in a seven-month dispute between the Guyana Bauxite and General Workers&rsquo; Union (GB&amp;GWU) and RusAl&rsquo;s Bauxite Company of Guyana (BCGI), the ICEM met in Geneva with the country&rsquo;s Labour, Human Services, and Social Security Minister, Mansoor Nadir. 
 
The meeting occurred on 15 June and included Jerry Goolsarran, the representative for the Guyanese employers&rsquo; association, who sits on the Trade Union Recognition and Certification Board, and Lydia Greene, an assistant in the Labour Ministry. 
 
Discussion during the meeting reviewed the deep divisions resulting from a November 2009 strike by GB&amp;GWU and the subsequent unilateral, and what the ICEM believes is illegal de-authorization by BCGI of the union at the 500-worker mine in central Guyana. The government owns 10% of the bauxite operations. 

<img alt="" src="" width="252" height="191" />
Left to Right: Labour Minister Nadir, Manfred Warda, Employers' Representative Goolsarran
Labour Minister Nadir gave the ICEM a thick dossier of events leading into and beyond the strike, and he pledged to facilitate a meeting between the union and management of the company in order to begin necessary dialogue. The ICEM believes that management of the Russian-based aluminum company has a legal responsibility to meet with leaders of the GB&amp;GWU, and also feels it is the duty of the Labour Ministry to arrange such a meeting. 
 
Responding to the entrenched positions of both labour and management in a follow-up letter to the labour minister, ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda said, &ldquo;The hard work of engagement through tripartite voluntary dialogue must now commence, and we were happy to hear of your willingness to facilitate this dialogue between GB&amp;GWU and BCGI. Therefore, as you agreed to in our 15 June meeting, we call on you to immediately call both parties together to start open and honest talks.&rdquo; (The full letter can be seen <a href="/index.php?id=26&amp;la=EN&amp;doc=3886">here</a>.) 
 
In the letter, the ICEM also expressed displeasure over the company&rsquo;s undue coercion and harassment tactics in obtaining signatures by miners following the strike to decertify the GB&amp;GWU. If a de-authorisation ballot is to go before workers by the Trade Union Recognition and Certification Board, the ICEM is insistent that the government uphold its own law, and global labour standards, ensuring that management of BCGI not interfere in workers&rsquo; free choice for or against union representation. 
 
The ICEM has also offered to be part of dialogue in Guyana to assist in resolving the dispute.

ICEM, Guyana Labour Minister Meet to Air Concerns in Bauxite Mine Dispute

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ICEM&rsquo;s global level company networks now include a new one: Akzo Nobel. Over 20 trade unionists from the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Indonesia, Turkey, and Brazil decided to form a global network among the unions organising the Dutch-based chemicals company. 
 
The formation meeting which was held on 31 May-1 June 2010 in Amsterdam, upon invitation of ICEM&rsquo;s Dutch affiliate FNV-Bondgenoten. The host union considers international networking within multinational companies as a priority, and as a result, the union established the FNV Company Monitor some years ago as a tool for research on Dutch multinationals, and to build networks of unionists within them. 
 
AkzoNobel is the largest global paints and coatings company and a major producer of specialty chemicals. Headquartered in Amsterdam, the company employs 55,000 people in over 80 countries. 
The meeting was opened by Henk Van der Kolk, President of FNV-Bondgenoten. 
 
&ldquo;Organizing labour across borders is difficult and therefore much slower than transferring capital all over the world,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We all know that. And I wish you fruitful discussions about how we can cooperate in organizing and empowering workers at Akzo Nobel plants all over the world to strengthen our unions.&rdquo; 

<img alt="" src="" width="166" height="130" />
President of FNV-Bondgenoten, Henk Van der Kolk
After the presentation by Kemal &Ouml;zkan, ICEM Chemicals and Rubber Industries&rsquo; Officer, on the global chemicals industry and Akzo Nobel&rsquo;s global picture, trade unionists gave country-based reports on labour relations in their respective countries. 
Ron Vos, FNV Bondgenoten&rsquo;s National Officer for Akzo Nobel, explained the situation in the company&rsquo;s homeland, the Netherlands, and he defined employment, pensions, wages, a flexible workforce and use of temporary workers, the health of an aging workforce, and sharing results with the company on a major trade union agenda. 
 
Sergio Carasso from Brazil reported national and regional level networking activities within Akzo Nobel and the former British company, ICI, now absorbed by the Dutch company. According to his report, the first network of Akzo Nobel workers in Brazil was formed in 2002, and yearly meetings began at national level. 
 
The range of this national network was later extended to Argentina and Mexico. The network conducted a research for making a comparison between different workplaces on various items. A strategy on communications was also developed through bulletins and a web- blog. 
 
Helmizan Sakrani from Indonesia reported on union activities at an Akzo Nobel plant located Cimanggis-Depok. He reported that his plant has 280 permanent employees and 167 of them are union members. Founded in 1983, the union has good relations with the company through plant level social dialogue with some positive result. 

<img alt="" src="" width="261" height="154" />
Erhan Kaplan and Hokan Ko&ccedil;ak from Petrol-Iş of Turkey reported their union&rsquo;s organizing activities in general and at unorganized Akzo Nobel plants. They reported a constructive cooperation and solidarity with the Dutch union on doing so. 
 
The situation and activities of the company&rsquo;s European Works Council (EWC) were also discussed by Belgian, Dutch, and German participants. It was agreed to handle the problems and challenges in this context. The meeting also communicated with union representatives from Akzo Nobel in the US, from ICEM affiliate United Steelworkers (USW) via teleconference. 
 
Following the presentation by Kemal &Ouml;zkan on ICEM&rsquo;s activities of networking, it was unanimously decided to form a global network of Akzo Nobel unions. In this, FNV Bondgenoten takes the lead for coordination of the network. It was also decided to develop an effective communications system among the participating unions, with an aim to enlarge it to non-participating organizations. 
 
&ldquo;After the successful organizing of this network, our intention is to develop a dialogue and an interaction with the company, hopefully with the goal to ultimately reach a Global Framework Agreement with Akzo Nobel, &ldquo;said &Ouml;zkan, who used the company&rsquo;s motto regarding this: &ldquo;Today, we find answers of tomorrow.&rdquo;

ICEM Affiliates Move to Form an Akzo Nobel Workers’ Network

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A first-ever, tri-nation forum to unite trade unions struggling for democratic autonomy in Mexico with US and Canadian unions was held in Toronto, Canada, on 20 June. Some 120 trade unionists, NGO representatives, and Canadian civil society activists gathered for the one-day &ldquo;Building Solidarity with the Democratic Labour Movement in Mexico&rdquo; conference. 
 
As Dave Coles, President of the Communications, Energy, Paperworkers (CEP) Union of Canada said, the meeting brought together trade union leaders from Mexico who never would be allowed to similarly gather inside Mexico. Those leaders included Napole&oacute;n G&oacute;mez Urrutia, the exiled President of the National Union of Mine, Metalworkers&rsquo;, and Allied Workers&rsquo; Union (SNTMMSRM), Mart&iacute;n Esparza Flores of the Mexican Union of Electrical Workers (SME), Francisco Hern&aacute;ndez Ju&aacute;rez of the Mexican Telephone Workers&rsquo; Union (Telefonistas), and others mentioned below. 

<img alt="" src="" width="300" height="200" />
Los Mineros General Secretary, Napole&oacute;n Gomez
The conference consisted of presentations by two Mexican-based labour attorneys, who told of the legal and political institutional obstacles to a free and democratic trade union movement in Mexico, and it also detailed the dreaded but common protection contracts, which inhibit true trade union rights. 
 
A central focus throughout the conference was the continuing harmful effects of the now 16-year-old North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) between Canada, Mexico, and the US. 

<img alt="" src="" width="160" height="106" />
Ben Davis, US Solidarity Center
Ben Davis of the US Solidarity Center did provide several inspiring examples on how SNTMMSRM, or Los Mineros, continues to organize workers despite overt suppression by the Mexican government. He also outlined work done at the US federal level to press the Obama administration to take a stronger stance against Mexican trade union repression. And on the global level, Davis told of work being done at the ILO over protection contracts, as well as institutional shareholder pressure against Grupo M&eacute;xico, the major corporate protagonist of Los Mineros. 
 
Jorge Robles of the Mexican Authentic Workers&rsquo; Front (FAT) addressed inherent deficiencies in current labour law reform inside Mexico, while Alberto Espinosa Rocha, Secretary-General of the National Union of General Tire/Continental Workers&rsquo; Union (SNTGTM), spoke on the harmful effects of the free trade agreement. 

<img alt="" src="" width="199" height="182" />
Alberto Espinosa Rocha, Secretary-General SNTGTM
Espinosa said NAFTA has been &ldquo;evil for Mexico&rdquo; since previous good wages and benefits have eroded. He said in both the tyre industry and auto-parts industry, &ldquo;year-to-year, employers are taking contractual rights away.&rdquo; 
 
Espinosa was fired in 2003 for impeding General Tire&rsquo;s agenda during collective negotiations, but remained a union activist for the three years he was off the job. In 2006, he was reinstated as a maintenance mechanic and in 2008, was elected Secretary-General of SNTGTM. 
 
At the conference conclusion, delegates shaped a strategic plan that includes insertion of strict worker protections in NAFTA, continuation of work on Mexican protection contracts, and solidarity and campaign work on specific Mexican labour struggles. 
 
The conference was sponsored by several North American trade unions, the ICEM, the International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF), and Union Network International (UNI).

Mexican Teach-in Charts North American Union Solidarity

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Some 5,400 members of the United Steelworkers (USW) in the US gave approval to a four-year labour agreement on 24 June with Alcoa Inc., the world&rsquo;s second largest aluminum producer. The accumulated vote, by workers at 11 company facilities in eight US states, was 68% in favour, and comes three-and-a-half weeks after USW and Alcoa narrowly escaped a strike. 
 
The new labour accord was a compromise, with the USW fending off a complete overhaul to workers&rsquo; health care coverage that would have included a two-tier system, denying all new hires any future retiree health coverage whatsoever. In return, the union agreed to an increase in worker-paid health premiums and a slight decrease to medical coverage in the existing plan. 
 
The agreement also contains lump-sum payments in the first two years instead of percentage salary increases, with 2.5% increases won for 2012 and 2013. The final agreement also contains an increase in the pension benefit pay-out, and preserves longstanding seniority provisions. 
 
But most significantly, the USW&rsquo;s Alcoa Aluminum Negotiating Council &ndash; consisting of leaders from 11 branch unions in addition to four smaller unions &ndash; rejected Alcoa&rsquo;s &ldquo;Choices&rdquo; health care plan that would have dramatically reduced coverage while increasing workers&rsquo; out-of-pocket costs. 

<img src="" width="156" height="206" alt="" />
USW District 7 Director, Jim Robinson
&ldquo;The new contract does raise employee premiums, but they will still be much less than paid by Alcoa salaried and non-union employees,&rdquo; said USW District Seven Director and Alcoa Negotiating Chair Jim Robinson. 
 
&ldquo;Alcoa was not only insisting on implementing a plan that would have required our members to pay much higher costs for a lower level of coverage, but Alcoa also wanted the right to set future costs and coverage at whatever the company deemed appropriate,&rdquo; said Robinson. 
 
Alcoa US workers covered under the contract will receive a ratification bonus of US$1,250, with another bonus in 2010 amounting to US$1,000. In 2011, they will receive a lump-sum pay-out of US$1,750. 
 
The workers are employed at smelters and rolling-mill operations in Alcoa, Tennessee; two plants in Massena, New York; Badin, North Carolina; Warrick, Indiana; Lafayette, Indiana; Davenport, Iowa; Gum Springs, Arkansas; Point Comfort, Texas; Rockdale, Texas; and Wenatchee, Washington. The facilities comprise 40% of all US aluminum production. 
 
The USW and Alcoa negotiated for six weeks in April and May in Cincinnati, Ohio, to achieve a tentative accord. Late on 31 May, with USW branch unions poised to strike, the two sides extended bargaining for 11 hours into 1 June in a successful effort to avoid a strike. 
 
The contract will be backdated to 1 June and will run to 15 May 2014.

Steelworkers Ratify Four-Year US Labour Agreement with Alcoa

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