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Today, the ICEM stepped up its support for the nearly 600 miners of US Borax, in their struggle to defend their trade union rights and working conditions, against an attack from the Rio Tinto subsidiary. 
 
US Borax, located in Boron, California, is one of the few global suppliers of borates, and has the reserves for nearly 40 years more of production. Workers at the mine are represented by ICEM affiliate International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 30. Workers, through their union, have put forth a list of demands. 

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On wages, they seek an increase that will redress their loss of earning power over the past five years in which they saw raises that fell below inflation levels. They also seek to eliminate a two-tier wage structure that was put in place five years ago. On pensions, they are defending a defined benefit plan that the company seeks to eliminate, one that was fully funded until the stock market decline. 
 
On sick leave and medical benefits, the company has systematically reduced levels and Local 30 demands a redress of this trend. 
 
The ICEM is urging trade unions and activists to let Rio Tinto know that these miners are not alone in their fight for economic and social justice in this contract period. Please write and fax a letter (using the model found <a href="/index.php?id=5&amp;la=EN&amp;doc=3428">here</a>) to Rio Tinto CEO Tom Albanese, and be sure to send a copy to Willie Adams, Secretary-Treasurer of the ILWU at <a href="mailto:william.adams@ilwu.org">william.adams@ilwu.org</a>.

ICEM Calls for Support to US Miners in California, Attacked by Rio Tinto

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Mining giant Vale-Inco began production at its struck Clarabelle Mill in Sudbury, Ontario, on 1 October, the first time in Inco&rsquo;s 60-year history that production has occurred during a strike or lockout. 
 
Company management is now working to restart a smelting mill, as well as the Garson Ramp and Coleman mines, using 1,200 replacement workers. 
 
The restarting of production last week occurred without incident. Some members of United Steelworkers (USW) Local 2020, representing office, clerical, and technical workers who work under a separate labour agreement not affected by the strike, are being used to do the struck work inside Clarabelle. This has caused the USW to file a grievance, accusing the company of sending unqualified office workers underground. Such action not only violates a provincial Ontario labour statute, but is seen as extremely unsafe and risky. 

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Wayne Fraser
USW District Six Director Wayne Fraser said the union is very concerned about the safety of its members because they are being assigned work they are not experienced at or are confident in performing. &ldquo;This doesn&rsquo;t just risk their health; it risks the health of the people around them,&rdquo; he said. 
 
Striking steelworkers, numbering 3,500 in northern Ontario and at Port Colborne, Ontario, as well as in Voiseys Bay, Labrador, were incensed with the company&rsquo;s re-start last week. A further incident in Sudbury that provoked anger was the sacking of three employees for alleged picket-line misconduct. 

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USW Local 6500 President John Fera
USW Local 6500 President John Fera in Sudbury was furious with the dismissals, stating in a local news account, &ldquo;Welcome to the new Vale.&rdquo; The sackings have been described as Vale-Inco attempting to impose fear and intimidation, just as it re-starts operations. The fired workers will be protected by the union, will continue to receive strike pay, and their cases will be addressed at the bargaining table when Vale-Inco decides to return to talks. 
 
Fera called Canada Prime Minister Stephen Harper to task for failing to make any kind of public statement over the Brazilian company&rsquo;s assault on the living standards of Canadians. &ldquo;I have not heard a word from our Prime Minister, I have not heard a word from our Industry Minister, and I&rsquo;ve not heard a word from the provincial government,&rdquo; told the Sudbury Star newspaper. 

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Miners and smelting plant workers of Sudbury and Port Colborne walked off worksites on 13 July in their fight to retain pensions, a nickel bonus, and a host of other working conditions, including restrictions on the company&rsquo;s ability to contract out work. Contract talks began 7 April but failed to produce a new collective agreement for Local 6500 in Sudbury and Local 6200 in Port Colborne by the contract&rsquo;s expiration in late May. 
 
Vale-Inco then refused to move from its concessionary posture in a six-week contract extension that expired on 12 July. On 1 August, 450 miners and smelting plant workers, members of USW Local 9508 at Voiseys Bay in eastern Canada who were under a different labour agreement, struck over similar company concessionary demands. 
 
The strikes have taken on international significance as a symbol for trade unions to block a profitable company from taking advantage of a global recession in order to undercut the wages and living conditions of workers and their families.

USW, Nickel Miners Enraged: Vale-Inco Restarts Sudbury Operations

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ICEM affiliate Oilfields Workers&rsquo; Trade Union (OWTU) of Trinidad and Tobago issued a dire warning last week to the government to stop trampling union rights and threats to full-time employment at state-owned energy concerns. 
 
At a mass meeting at OWTU headquarters in San Fernando on 1 October, President-General Ancel Roget said a week-long national strike, led by the country&rsquo;s most powerful trade union, is imminent by the end of the year if the government and its enterprises do not stop the abuse. 
 
The island-nation has been gripped of late by government enterprises, the Telecommunications Service (TSTT) and the Public Transport Service Corp. (PTSC), taking legal action to decertify trade unions in those sectors because of labour incidents this summer. 

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OWTU members last week 
Photo: Trevor Hackett/Trinidad and Tobago Express
Late last week, just prior to a mass gathering outside the industrial court to protest the union decertifications, the Trade and Industry Minister, upon exiting from a cabinet meeting, said ministers would instruct the state enterprises to drop court actions aimed at decertifying the Communication Workers&rsquo; Trade Union and the Transport and Industrial Workers&rsquo; Trade Union. 
 
That was seen as a tangible retreat by the government to growing discontent by citizens angered by suppression of trade union rights in the public sector. 
 
But despite this, OWTU is waiting for the government and administrators of state-controlled oil and gas companies Petrotrin and Trinmar (Petrotrin&rsquo;s offshore subsidiary) to back away from rhetoric that discredits its full-time workforce. The government has made claims that the energy companies are overstaffed by 2,000 workers, and that retrenchments might be inevitable. 

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OWTU President-General Ancel Roget
OWTU also takes offense to statements made by Petrotrin Chairman Malcolm Jones before a parliamentary committee meeting early last week. At a Public Accounts Committee meeting, Jones said Petrotrin&rsquo;s permanent workforce at its Point-&agrave;-Pierre refinery was not performing well enough during a gasoline optimization project, thus forcing the company to hire temporary and contract workers at the refinery. 
 
At last Thursday&rsquo;s emergency OWTU meeting, Roget called for an audit of the gasoline optimization programme, and said workers face &ldquo;a runaway government&rdquo; intent on imposing &ldquo;all kinds of penalties and hardships for the citizens of Trinidad and Tobago.&rdquo; 
 
The government&rsquo;s union decertification retreat in telecommunications and transport appears aimed at defusing possible mass unrest and mobilizations during the 27-29 November biennial Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Port of Spain. 
 
But the government of Prime Minister Patrick Manning may face those protests anyway if Petrotrin and its bosses do not stand down from its demoralizing anti-worker rhetoric that has clearly irritated Trinidad and Tobago&rsquo;s paramount trade union.

OWTU Will Use Direct Action to Defend Jobs, Unions in Trinidad and Tobago

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World Day for Decent Work (WDDW) actions by the ICEM kicked off last week with two days of activities in Turkey, focusing on the dangers to civil society when full-time employment is eroded and use of contract and agency labour increases. 
 
The ICEM is highlighting actions on curbing the anti-social nemesis of temporary and agency work in Turkey and Thailand as its part in WDDW for 2009, the second year that global labour has marked an October date to herald decent work and decent living standards. 7 October has become fixed as WDDW, and trade unions worldwide are encouraged to use the weeks of early October to publicly rally for sustainable jobs. 

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In Thailand, ICEM-affiliated trade unions, together with the Confederation of State Enterprise Unions, will gather at 10h00 on 7 October in front of the UN Building on Rachadamnoen Road. From there, a march will proceed to the Government House, where a petition will be submitted to the Prime Minister&rsquo;s office calling on Thailand to ratify ILO Conventions 87 and 98, the Freedom of Association and Right to Organise and Right to Collective Bargaining Conventions. 
 
The assembly is being buoyed by the Thai Solidarity Committee, and federated trade unions representing workers chemicals and petroleum, pulp and paper, automotive, electronics, textile and garments, and food workers. Thousands are expected to march. 
 
In Istanbul, Turkey, on 1 October, a delegation of leading global union leaders first met with Turkish trade union officers to let them know that global labour stands with them in preventing re-submission of &ldquo;Private Labour Offices&rdquo; legislation in Turkey. In late June, the country&rsquo;s Parliament moved such a bill to President Abdullah G&uuml;l without hearings or input from civil society. 
 
On 9 July, President G&uuml;l vetoed the measure. The bill would have allotted fees to labour brokers in their jobs&rsquo; dispatch of temporary, and allowed any individual or business to certify as a private-hire labour agency with a minimal investment of TL 20,000 (&euro;9,250). 
Last Thursday, ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda, International Textile, Garment, Leather Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITGLWU) General Secretary Neil Kearney, International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF) General Secretary Jyrki Raina, and ICEM Chemicals and Rubber Officer Kemal &Ouml;zkan met with Turkish trade unions, as well as with Confederation of Turkish Trade Unions (T&uuml;rk-İş) General Secretary Mustafa Kumlu to pledge continued resistance to the bill. 

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Trade Union Leaders with Turkish Minister of Labour and Social Security &Ouml;mer Din&ccedil;er
Later in the day, Kumlu, an ICEM Executive Committee member, joined global union leaders in a meeting with Turkish Minister of Labour and Social Security &Ouml;mer Din&ccedil;er. The minister confirmed that the draft bill, at present, is not on the agenda of the Parliament. 
 
Discussion also ensued on trade union rights and freedoms inside Turkey. Din&ccedil;er said his ministry is ready to cooperate with the global trade union movement to modify Turkey&rsquo;s draconian labour code to become more in line with ILO Conventions and European Union norms. The union leaders also met separately on 1 October with Salim Uslu, president of Hak-İş, the Real Trade Unions Confederation of Turkey, and with S&uuml;leyman &Ccedil;elebi, President of DİSK, the Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions.&nbsp;
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2 October Press Conference in Istanbul
On 2 October, International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) General Secretary Guy Ryder joined Warda, Kearney, Raina, and the four presidents of Turkish national labour centers at an 11h00 press conference. The conference was attended by 60 trade union leaders from inside Turkey, and press representing 18 Turkish media outlets. 
 
Again, the message zeroed in on the growing threat to the living standards of workers under the present trend of discarding regular and full-time employees in favour of temporary and agency work. In two days, on 7 October, DİSK will distribute, in all workplaces in which it has membership, an ITUC manifesto on WDDW. 
 
Meanwhile, the T&uuml;rk-İş Confederation will sponsor an international symposium on decent work on that day at Gazi University in Ankara. The Global Union Council will be present for that symposium. 
 
Also in Thailand this week, trade unions are doing vast media outreach around WDDW and are disseminating the IMF&rsquo;s precarious work brochure and poster.

ICEM’s WDDW Activities Start in Istanbul; March Set in Bangkok on 7 October

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ILO'ya bağlı İş&ccedil;i &Ccedil;alışmaları B&uuml;rosu (ILO ACTRAV) 12-15 Ekim 2009 g&uuml;nlerinde Cenevre'de &ouml;rg&uuml;tlenme ve toplu pazarlık hakkı konulu uluslararası bir sempozyum d&uuml;zenledi. 

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Sempozyum ulusal sendikal merkezlerden, ulusal işkolu sendikalarından, k&uuml;resel federasyonlardan ve ITUC'tan, akademik &ccedil;evrelerden ve ILO'dan 60'ın &uuml;zerinde katılımcıyı bir araya getirdi. ICEM'i Jim Catterson ve Phee Jungsun temsil ediyordu. Tartışmalarda, &ouml;rg&uuml;tlenme ve toplu pazarlık haklarının sendikalarda &uuml;ye sayısının d&uuml;şmesinden, &ccedil;alışma ilişkilerinin giderek bireyselleşmesinden ve k&uuml;reselleşme bağlamındaki dizginsiz rekabet ve esneklik arayışından kaynaklanan sorunlarla karşı karşıya bulunduğu olgusu &uuml;zerinde duruldu. Bu sorunlarla başa &ccedil;ıkabilmek, &ouml;rg&uuml;tlenme ve toplu pazarlık haklarını ve diğer temel hak ve ilkeleri yaşama ge&ccedil;irebilmek i&ccedil;in sendikaların g&uuml;&ccedil;lendirilmesi gerekiyor. 

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Sempozyum şunları ama&ccedil;lıyordu: 
- Toplu s&ouml;zleşme ve &ouml;rg&uuml;tlenme haklarının uygulanmasındaki son gelişmeleri ve trendleri incelemek. 
- İnsana yakışır &ccedil;alışmanın sosyal ve ekonomik ama&ccedil;ları ile toplu pazarlık arasındaki ilişkiyi tartışmak. 
- Sendikaların &ouml;rg&uuml;tlenme ve toplu pazarlık kapasitesini g&uuml;&ccedil;lendirecek politika ve stratejileri saptamak. 
- &Ouml;rg&uuml;tlenme ve toplu pazarlık hakkının genel ve yaygın bir bi&ccedil;imde uygulanmasını sağlamanın y&ouml;ntem ve ara&ccedil;larını saptamak. 
 
Toplantının oturumlarından biri k&uuml;resel &ccedil;er&ccedil;eve s&ouml;zleşmeler konusuna ayrıldı. &Ouml;zg&uuml;r Berlin &Uuml;niversitesi'nden Dr. Michael Fichter'in yaptığı genel girişten sonra, Rhodia ile ICEM arasında bağıtlanmış olan k&uuml;resel s&ouml;zleşme &uuml;zerinde duruldu. Bu konuda ICEM adına sunumu Jim Catterson yaptı.

ILO&#039;nun 98 nolu Sözleşmesinin 60. Yıldönümü

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Eyl&uuml;l sonlarında, ICEM, Ortadoğu/Kuzey Afrika B&ouml;lgesi'ndeki (MENA) faaliyetlerini canlandırma &ccedil;alışmaları &ccedil;er&ccedil;evesinde, b&ouml;lgedeki kimya ve petrokimya sendikalarına y&ouml;nelik bir &ccedil;alışma toplantısı d&uuml;zenledi. Friedrich-Ebert Vakfı'nın (FES) katkılarıyla 28-29 Eyl&uuml;l g&uuml;nlerinde L&uuml;bnan'ın Beyrut kentinde ger&ccedil;ekleştirilen toplantıda iki g&uuml;n boyunca at&ouml;lye &ccedil;alışmaları yapıldı. 
 
Enerji ve &ouml;zellikle petrol, b&ouml;lge ekonomilerinin başlıca itici g&uuml;&ccedil;lerinden biri ve ICEM'in b&ouml;lgedeki &ccedil;alışmalarının konusu olmuştur. Ama ayrıca, b&ouml;lgede petrokimya, &ouml;zellikle etilen ve onun polietilen ve etilen glikol gibi t&uuml;revleri alanında genel &uuml;retim kapasitesi artmıştır. 
 
ICEM'in FES ile birlikte d&uuml;zenlediği &ccedil;alışma toplantısının konusu şuydu: &ldquo;Ortadoğu/Kuzey Afrika B&ouml;lgesi'nde (MENA) Petrokimya Sekt&ouml;r&uuml;nde Sendikal Temsilin, &Ccedil;alışma İlişkilerinin ve Sosyal Diyalogun G&uuml;&ccedil;lendirilmesi&rdquo; Semineri L&uuml;bnan Kimya Sendikası Başkanı S&uuml;leyman Hamdan y&ouml;netiyordu. 

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&Ccedil;alışmalara L&uuml;bnan, Mısır, &Uuml;rd&uuml;n, Yemen, Bahreyn, Irak, Fas, Tunus, Libya, Filistin, T&uuml;rkiye ve Fransa'dan 30 temsilci katıldı. ICEM Kimya Sorumlusu Kemal &Ouml;zkan'ın sekt&ouml;rdeki k&uuml;resel trendler konusundaki sunumundan sonra, &uuml;lke raporları sunuldu. 
 
At&ouml;lye &ccedil;alışmalarından birinin konusu şuydu: &ldquo;&Ccedil;alışma İlişkilerinin K&uuml;resel Boyutu: Uluslararası Mekanizmalar, Sosyal Diyalog, K&uuml;resel &Ccedil;er&ccedil;eve S&ouml;zleşmeler ve K&uuml;resel/B&ouml;lgesel Ağlar&rdquo;. &Ouml;b&uuml;r oturumun konusu ise ICEM'in taşeron iş&ccedil;iliği kampanyası bağlamında ş&ouml;yle belirlenmişti: &ldquo;&Ccedil;alışma Koşullarına Y&ouml;nelen Yeni Bir Tehdit: G&uuml;vencesiz İstihdam&rdquo;. 

<img alt="" src="" width="146" height="66" />
Toplantının bitiminde, katılımcılar, bir &quot;ICEM MENA B&ouml;lgesel Kimya/Petrokimya Sekt&ouml;r Ağı&rdquo; kurma kararı aldılar. B&ouml;lge ağı &ccedil;alışmalarını şu alanlarda s&uuml;rd&uuml;recek: sosyal diyalog ve &ccedil;alışma ilişkileri; &ccedil;alışma mevzuatı ve uluslararası ara&ccedil;lar; sekt&ouml;rdeki &ccedil;okuluslu şirketler; taşeron iş&ccedil;iliği ve g&uuml;vencesiz istihdam; iş sağlığı ve g&uuml;venliği. 
 
&ldquo;Bu girişim b&ouml;lgede ICEM i&ccedil;in yeni bir &ccedil;alışma alanıdır&rdquo; diyen &Ouml;zkan ş&ouml;yle devam etti: &ldquo;Seminerdeki katılımcıların tutumu, b&ouml;lgede kurulacak petrokimya ağının b&uuml;y&uuml;k bir potansiyele sahip olduğunu g&ouml;steriyor. ICEM b&ouml;lgede sekt&ouml;rdeki faaliyetlerini g&uuml;&ccedil;lendirmeyi ama&ccedil;lıyor.&rdquo;

Ortadoğu ve Kuzey Afrika Kimya Sendikaları Ağ Kuruyor

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The ICEM was informed last week of Albanian President Sali Berisha&rsquo;s announcement to the national media, that the government will pass a bill in parliament to sequester all properties of Albanian trade unions. 
 
The announcement was made on 19 August, with the promise to push the Bill through within three months. 

<img src="" width="250" height="115" alt="" />
Trade unions in Albania have suffered continued discrimination from the national government in recent years. On 1 August 2007, both of the country&rsquo;s Trade Union Confederations, the Union of Independent Trade Unions of Albania (BSPSH) and the Confederation of Trade Unions of Albania (KSSH), were expelled from their headquarters and prohibited from exercising their normal activity. All property and documents inside the offices were destroyed by police. 
 
The threat of expropriation and police occupation of trade union premises has been continuous for many years. Since July 2006, the Building and Wood Workers International (BWI) has called on the prime minister to start a dialogue with the Albanian trade union movement, in order to find a solution safeguarding the continuity of the social dialogue in Albania. 
 
The ICEM condemns this attack on the democratic trade unions of Albania. There will be a joint ILO-International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) delegation to Albania starting today, 24 August.

Expropriation of Albanian Trade Unions’ Property Condemned

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The Solvay workers of Brazil met for the fourth time under the auspices of the Solvay Network. The conference met 11-13 August, in Salvador de Bahia, on the northeast coast of Brazil. A new website was launched by the conference, as well as a new Action Plan for 2009-2010. See the new website <a href="http://redesolvaybrasil.ning.com">here</a>. 
 
The new website is designed to assist communication and coordination, and also participation of workers at the 14 Brazilian locations of the Belgian-based company. 
 
The new Action Plan lays out the Network&rsquo;s intentions to consolidate a new database of the different conditions and working relationships currently affecting members, a study into the inclusion of workers in the profits made by the company, and analysis of the commitment made by Solvay to the Charter on Sustainable Development and Corporate Social Responsibility. 

<img src="" width="306" height="176" alt="" />
That was signed in November 2008 between the company and the European Works Council (EWC). 
 
The meeting included visits to Solvay plants at Sim&otilde;es Filho, and brought together workers and trade unionists from organisations such as the Sindicato dos Quimicos do ABC, and Confederac&atilde;o Nacional dos Ramos Quimicos (CNQ/CUT), as well as from CUTMulti Project, Sindicato dos Trabalhadores da Ind&uacute;stria Qu&iacute;mica, Petroqu&iacute;mica, the Chemicals and Plastics Union of S&atilde;o Paulo, the BASF Cama&ccedil;ari, and the Petrochemical and Allied Workers of Bahia Blanca (Argentina). 

<img src="" width="170" height="214" alt="" />
Network Coordinator, Juvenil Nunes da Costa
ICEM Vice-President for the Latin America/Caribbean Region, Sergio Novais, informed the Network that there will be a meeting next month with company management in Brussels, and called for meetings of the Network on training and exchange of experiences, in the month of November, in S&atilde;o Paulo. 
 
There is a strong prospect of a new process of social dialogue with the company. One priority of the Network is to make the Solvay management formally recognise the Solvay Network. 
 
The coordinator of the Network, Juvenil Nunes da Costa, described the meeting as a great success.

Solvay Workers’ Network Meets for Fourth Time in Brazil

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Slovakia declared 11-12 August a period of national mourning, after 20 miners died in an underground explosion in the town of Handlova, central Slovakia. It was the worst mining disaster in the country&rsquo;s history. 
 
All state institutions flew the nation&rsquo;s flag at half mast, starting at 08h00 on 11 August until 08h00 12 August following the 10 August mine blast at the Hornonitrianske Banke Mining Company&rsquo;s lignite coal mine. A public memorial for the departed miners was held on 20 August in Handlova. 
 
Hornonitrianske Banke Prievidza is Slovakia's top brown coal producer, supplying fuel to the nearby Novaky heating plant. 

<img alt="" src="" width="185" height="188" />
Recovery teams continued last week to search for the bodies of the fallen mineworkers, however finding survivors was impossible not a possibility. The mine&rsquo;s Director, Peter Cicmanec, stated that heat caused by the blast, and the high concentration of poisonous gases, put it beyond doubt that any of the missing miners would still be alive. 
 
Cicmanec has been criticised inside Slovakia for not making public condolences on the mine tragedy until the memorial service last week. 
 
The disaster was caused by a methane gas explosion, 330 metres underground, at around 09h30 on 10 August. Several of the deceased were fire fighters, who were in the shaft to put out small fires of self-igniting coal. The gases had been left in the shaft by previous &ldquo;imperfect combustion.&rdquo; 
 
Economy Minister Lubomir Jahnatek stated that nine workers were recovered from the mine and treated in a local hospital on Monday. 
 
Slovakian Prime Minister, Robert Fico, has promised financial aid to the families of the victims in the amount of &euro;33,000. He has also ordered an independent investigation into the cause of the accident. 
 
The mine produces 2.2 million tonnes of lignite per year and Hornonitrianske Banke Prievidza has plans to open new mines in the region after the discovery of deposits of some 7.2 million tonnes. 
 
A total of 445 people have lost their lives in the mines surrounding Handlova since 1915. But over the past 17 years, only 12 have died.

Slovakia Holds National Days of Mourning Following Mine Tragedy

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Seventy-seven Russian electric utility workers are dead following a massive explosion at a hydroelectric plant 17 August in the Khakassia Region of south Siberia. Workers at the site, Sayano-Shushenskaya, owned by the 60% state-run company RusHydro, are organised by ICEM affiliate Electroprofsoyuz. 
 
Russia&rsquo;s Emergency Situations Ministry warned in 1998 that the country&rsquo;s largest hydroelectric plant was desperately in need of major repairs, but little work had been done. The explosion occurred in the turbine hall of the dam, reportedly when a faulty turbine combined with a rise in pressure inside pipes caused the horrific explosion. 
 
On Saturday, 22 August, rescuers recovered 19 more bodies, bringing the death count to 66. Another 11 workers are thought to have perished, perhaps swept down the Yenisei River. 

<img height="110" alt="" src="" width="250" />
A day earlier, on 21 August, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin visited the scene and announced families of the dead will each receive one million rubles (US$31,450) in compensation from RusHydro. Putin said the Russian government will match that amount. 
 
Workers were killed by drowning and crushed by crumbling debris. Some 40 tonnes of transformer oil spilled into the Yenisei. Five of ten turbines were destroyed as the explosion blew out walls and flooded the turbine hall. It is expected that reconstruction will take up to four years, at a cost of US$1.2 billion. 
 
The accident is expected to hike energy prices in the region by as much as 30%. The facility generates one-fourth of RusHydro&rsquo;s total power output and the plant supplies power to two aluminium smelters of RusAl. The company&rsquo;s director of corporate strategy said that 500,000 tons of annual aluminium production capacity is under threat, bringing expected production this year down from 4.4 million tonnes to 3.9 million. 
 
Last Wednesday, 19 August, was designated as an official day of mourning in the Khakassia region, some 3,000 km east of Moscow.

Blast at Russian Electric-Power Dam Kills 77

Archive

ICEM Calls for Support to US Miners in California, Attacked by Rio Tinto

USW, Nickel Miners Enraged: Vale-Inco Restarts Sudbury Operations

OWTU Will Use Direct Action to Defend Jobs, Unions in Trinidad and Tobago

ICEM’s WDDW Activities Start in Istanbul; March Set in Bangkok on 7 October

ILO'nun 98 nolu Sözleşmesinin 60. Yıldönümü

Ortadoğu ve Kuzey Afrika Kimya Sendikaları Ağ Kuruyor

Expropriation of Albanian Trade Unions’ Property Condemned

Solvay Workers’ Network Meets for Fourth Time in Brazil

Slovakia Holds National Days of Mourning Following Mine Tragedy

Blast at Russian Electric-Power Dam Kills 77

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