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ICEM&rsquo;s sister trade union organization the International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF), together with the European Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (EMF) organized a joint meeting on steel multinationals and sectoral developments in Cardiff, Wales, 13-14 October 2010. The meeting was hosted by three UK unions, Unite, GMB, and Community. 
 
Delegates discussed labour and industry developments with the Steel Group Strategy Director of multinational Tata, as well as major challenges faced by workers in other steel companies, notably ArcelorMittal. Climate strategies were discussed by delegates as trade unions in the sector look to agree on a common strategy for the transition to cleaner production. 
 
The ICEM, attending the meeting as a guest, discussed the ever-increasing cooperation between the ICEM and IMF, focusing in particular on the coordinated global campaigns against Vale and Grupo Mexico. The need for further work together was stressed, in order to organize worker solidarity and strength along the chain of production. The supply chain for steel production starts with miners taking coal and iron ore out of the ground, while these raw materials are transported often by rail-workers, then by dockworkers and maritime workers, and the steel is manufactured by steelworkers. 
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Photo:EMF 
 
Over 60 delegates from Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Switzerland, Denmark, Germany, Spain, Finland, France, India, Italy, Netherlands, Russia, South Africa, Sweden, and the UK, passed a common statement entitled &lsquo;Anticipating change for a sustainable global and European steel industry&rsquo;, calling for the enforcement of five pillars of sustainability: 
 
1. Long-term investment in plants and workers 
 
We urgently demand guarantees on long-term investment in upgrading our plants, investing in innovation and R&amp;D and providing quality and secure jobs. Considering increasing global demand for steel, investment in the upgrading of plants and processes is fundamental to a sustainable response to climate change. The reinvestment of profits into long-term funding for R&amp;D on low carbon steel technologies and carbon capture and storage, taking pilot projects to full-scale operations, must be delivered by steel companies, in cooperation with public authorities. Investment in workers is crucial to ensuring the sustainability and competitiveness of our industry. Governments can play a key role in helping the steel industry build for a brighter future through supporting programmes that train the next generation of steel workers and ensure that we are not faced with a skills gap in the future. Our aim must be a highly skilled, secure workforce in the future. 
 
2. Employment security and safety 
 
Employment quality is a fundamental indicator of a sustainable industry. The IMF and EMF call on steel employers to act responsibly towards their workforces by committing to the respect of labour rights, negotiated solutions, respecting collective agreements, real wage increases, health and safety at work and worker information and consultation rights (including worker representation bodies). The maintenance and development of the skills and knowledge of workers in the steel sector is the basis to ensure its competitiveness emerging from the global economic crisis. We call for guaranteed rights for all workers to access and the provision of vocational training and retraining, plus better employment rights for contract staff and temporary agency workers, and the strengthening social security systems and employment services. The IMF and EMF totally oppose increasing precariousness at work. 
 
3. Environmental modernisation and social responsibility 
 
At Canc&uacute;n in December 2010, we call for our governments to conclude a binding, comprehensive and ambitious international agreement on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction. We maintain our long-held demands for social justice and long-term employment policies as an integral element of climate policy. Only if employment concerns are effectively integrated into climate policy, can economic, technological and social change be directed towards achieving a low emissions and just society. We are concerned that international regulation on carbon emissions unless binding and applied evenly will lead to carbon leakage (the movement of heavy industries from countries who respect or try to implement international governance to countries with weaker or no measures). Climate change legislation must contain strong provisions dealing with international competitiveness (including border adjustment mechanisms), in order to ensure that nations that lack a strong emissions programme do not receive an unfair advantage, and investment in R&amp;D and technology transfer to ensure that industry globally continually upgrades its environmental performance and responsibility. 
 
4. A trade policy working for workers 
 
Promoting trade cannot be a goal in itself, but must be part of a strategy for growth and development in the developed world as well as in the developing world. The IMF and EMF demand that trade rules and trade defence measures provide a fair level playing field, guaranteeing and enforcing core labour rights and environmental standards. 
 
5. Active routes for worker participation 
 
The IMF and EMF demand that workers and their trade unions be fully informed, consulted and involved in corporate and sectoral industrial strategies with the aim of improving the quality and security of jobs in the industry.

ICEM Participates in International Steel Meeting

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The Council of Global Unions (CGU) sponsored the &lsquo;Quality Public Services&rsquo; Conference in Geneva 12-14 October, bringing together leaders of trade unions, municipal governments, and civil society, to take a strong stand in unity against further cuts to public services. 
 
Public services are under threat throughout the world as many governments look to cut spending and follow austerity measures encouraged by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The members of the CGU, who represent 176 million working men and women, reject this and last week pledged to work together with civil society to promote investment in quality public services as the key solution to the global economic crisis. 
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The 400 conference delegates announced a global campaign, guided by a charter and action plan. 
 
CGU chair Aidan White said, &ldquo;This is a call to the trade union movement to advance its historic responsibility to work in broad social coalitions and act as a force for social change that improves the quality of life for all citizens. We don&rsquo;t have time to lose.&rdquo; 
 
Susan Hopgood, president of Education International, said, &ldquo;We are conveying a powerful message in uniting as advocates for strong schools, decent health services and social services, clean water and proper sanitation, effective fire and security services, affordable housing and utilities, accessible communications and transport, public media and culture, and good public administration and municipal services. Quality public services provide the foundation for sustainable growth, equitable redistribution of wealth, and the means for justice, good governance, and the exercise of democracy.&rdquo; 
 
Kumi Naidoo, executive director of Greenpeace International and council member of Global Call to Action Against Poverty, called for &ldquo;a new activism&rdquo; to back demands for quality public services as the foundation for social justice policies. 
 
Visit <a href="http://www.RadioLabour.org">www.RadioLabour.org</a>&nbsp;for audio links to daily and summary reports of the conference.

Quality Public Services Conference Offers Alternative to Austerity

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The ICEM World Conference for the Chemical Industries will take place on 27-28 October in Istanbul, Turkey, upon invitation of affiliate Petrol-İş, Turkey&rsquo;s Petroleum, Chemical and Rubber Workers&rsquo; Union. Tomas Nieber, Chair of the ICEM Chemicals Sector and trade union leader of Germany&rsquo;s IGBCE, will chair of the sector and will welcome an estimated 250 delegates and guests. 
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Tomas Nieber, Chair of the ICEM Chemicals Sector
The Conference will be composed of six major presentations and panel discussions: 
 
* Presentation on &ldquo;Global Chemical Industries &ndash; An Overview,&rdquo; followed by a panel discussion entitled &ldquo;Global Crisis, Restructuring and Challenges for Trade Unions in the Chemical Industries.&rdquo; 
 
* Presentation on &ldquo;Pharmaceutical Industry: Recent Trends,&rdquo; followed by a panel discussion entitled &ldquo;Opportunities and Challenges for Trade Unions in the Pharmaceutical Industry.&rdquo; 
 
* Presentation on &ldquo;Recent Trends on Employment and Working Conditions and Social Dialogue in the Chemical Industry,&rdquo; followed by a panel discussion entitled &ldquo;Trade Union Rights, Industrial Relations and Social Dialogue in Chemical Industries: Sharing Experiences.&rdquo; 
 
* Presentation on &ldquo;Health, Safety and Sustainability in the Chemical Industries: Trade Union Approach and Response,&rdquo; followed by a panel discussion entitled &ldquo;Global Level Chemical Safety Initiatives and Workers&rsquo; Health.&rdquo; 
 
* Presentation on Changing &ldquo;Work Relationships: ICEM&rsquo;s Campaign on Contract and Agency Labour,&rdquo; followed by a panel discussion entitled &ldquo;Precarious Employment and Trade Union Policies and Actions.&rdquo; 
 
* Presentation on &ldquo;Global Trade Union Response Against Challenges: Global Framework Agreements, Global/Regional Company &amp; Sector Networks, and Campaigns,&rdquo; followed by a panel discussion called &ldquo;Creation of Global Trade Union Power through Solidarity, Support and Cooperation.&rdquo; 
 
Following discussions, ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda will summarize the panel discussions and present the future action plan for the chemicals industry for the coming four years.

ICEM’s Quadrennial Chemicals Conference in Istanbul Next Week

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ICEM affiliate the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU), this month, has stepped up its campaign for improved safety and health conditions for its members, working at BHP Billiton&rsquo;s operations in Western Australia. The concerns follow two rockslides at the Leinster mine in a month. 
 
Workers refused to work in the unsafe conditions until the mine had been officially declared safe. West Australia Mines and Petroleum Minister Norman Moore had &ldquo;serious safety concerns&rdquo; for the entire site; the Minister raised the possibility that the Perseverance mine could be closed on safety grounds. &ldquo;I have asked the state mining engineer to give me his professional advice whether there is reason to stop the Perseverance mine from continuing operations.&rdquo; 
 
The moral of workers at the site was reported to be low. &ldquo;The crew are not in a good state of mind and are traumatised,&rdquo; stated one mineworker. 

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The first rock fall, on 10 June, triggered by a small tremor, brought down 500 tonnes of rock. Twenty-five tonnes of the rock fell close to a worker, Jason Rose, who was trapped more than a kilometre below ground for 16 hours 
 
The July rock fall was triggered by a seismic tremor, up to ten times more severe than that of the previous month. A driller was trapped underground for more than two hours, and another was injured 
 
AMWU secretary Steve McCartney said that these incidents added to a long string of safety problems at BHP mines. He added that repeated calls by the union to local government, to improve mine safety in Western Australia, had been ignored. 

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Five BHP employees have been killed in the last 10 months on the company&rsquo;s iron ore sites in the Pilbara region, in the north of Western Australia. There are disproportionally more accidents at BHP Billiton mines, in the state, than at mines run by other companies. 
 
Further safety concerns over BHP workers at the Leinster nickel mine have been worrying the AMWU and ICEM. It has emerged that when workers return home for their break, the majority drive long distances after 18 hours without sleep. This is equivalent to taking the road with a blood alcohol level over the limit. The company acknowledge the danger but have refused to change the shift times, or flight times home back to Perth. 
 
&ldquo;It seems that the workers at Leinster are not only subjected to safety problems at work but this latest information shows they are also at risk on their way home,&rdquo; AMWU Secretary McCartney said.

Rockslides at Australia’s BHP Billiton, Concerns over Mine Safety

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Earlier this month 10,500 electricians in Ireland took strike action, seeking an 11 % wage increase, which is three years overdue. The strike affected work at construction sites and factories throughout the country. Pickets were suspended after a week, on 12 July, following Labour Court pay rise proposals. The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) was balloting its members for an all-out strike to support the electricians in the lead up to the compromise. 
 
The compromise deal offered by the Labour Court includes a 5 % pay increase. Employer the Electrical Contractors Association (ECA) accepted the agreement, as did the 10,500 member Technical Engineering and Electrical Union (TEEU); however another employer the Association of Electrical Contractors of Ireland (AECI) derailed the settlement when they rejected the compromise last week. 
 
If the AECI, an association representing three hundred small electrical contractors does not reverse its decision to reject the compromise package, Ireland&rsquo;s electricians will take strike action again from 1 September. The Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Mary Coughlan has announced that she will intervene to encourage agreement between employers and the union. 

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TEEU General Secretary Owen Wills
TEEU general secretary Owen Wills welcomed Tanaiste Coughlan&rsquo;s intervention, but stressed that the investigation must be handled speedily if strike action is to be averted. If the electricians are forced out on strike again, it is highly likely that an all out strike of other ICTU unions will be launched in the construction industry. 
 
Employers in the dispute had sought a 10 % pay cut for their contractors, but abandoned those demands following highly visible picket lines at international companies, such as Microsoft and Intel. 
 
Element Six, formerly de Beers diamonds, dumped 370 Shannon workers out of work last week, and is only giving redundant workers one week's pay for each year worked. Ireland currently has the worst economic situation of all countries in the euro zone and is set to contract by around 8 % in 2009. Taoiseach Brian Cowen is attempting to garner support for the extremely unpopular spending cuts that have been recommended by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). 

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SIPTU President Jack O'Connor
Union leaders reacted furiously last week when Brian Lenihan, the finance minister, appeared to contemplate a cut in the minimum wage if the rate is &quot;inhibiting job creation in any particular sector&quot;. Jack O'Connor, the president of ICEM affiliate Services, Industrial, Professional, Technical Union (SIPTU), called on taoiseach Brian Cowen, to &quot;rein in the hawks&quot; in the Department of Finance who were pursuing &quot;slash-and-burn policies&quot;. The government has now called for a two-year freeze in the minimum wage, currently at &euro;8.65 an hour.

Ireland: Electricians Seek Action to Avert New Strike

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Leaders of mining and metal workers&rsquo; unions from around the world on 13 July condemned the Mexican government&rsquo;s failure to bring justice to the families of the 65 mineworkers who died in an explosion at the Pasta de Conchos mine on 19 February 2006. 
 
&ldquo;The Mexican labour authorities are guilty of a triple failure,&rdquo; said Jyrki Raina, General Secretary of the International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF), in Nueva Rosita, Coahuila. &ldquo;They failed to prevent the disaster at Pasta de Conchos, they have failed to accomplish justice for the families of the victims, and they have failed to take the necessary measures to prevent future disasters.&rdquo; 
 
A special committee of the ILO, in a report issued in April, concluded: &ldquo;the Government of Mexico did not do all that was reasonably expected of it to avoid or minimize the effects of the Accident which had such devastating effects with the loss of life of as many as 65 miners.&rdquo; 

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The union leaders from Argentina, Canada, Peru, South Africa, and the US met with family members of the victims and with the rescue team that is working to recover the 63 bodies that remain entombed in the mine. At the entrance to the mine, they placed wreaths in memory of the workers who died. 
 
&ldquo;Mineworkers around the world are one family,&rdquo; said Tim Baker, an occupational health and safety specialist for ICEM-affiliated United Mineworkers of America (UMWA). &ldquo;We mourn the deaths of our brothers at Pasta de Conchos and we are outraged that Grupo Mexico and the labour authorities who are responsible for their deaths have gone unpunished, while the government continues to attack the Mineworkers&rsquo; Union.&rdquo; 
 
United Steelworkers (USW) District 3 Director Steve Hunt pledged his union&rsquo;s support for the families&rsquo; effort to recover the bodies of the victims, and challenged other unions to commit their resources to the cause. 
 
The delegation was organized by the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM), the IMF, and the United Steelworkers.&nbsp; This was the last of the six-day series of events, which included a rally over the weekend.
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Joe Drexler, ICEM Director of Industry and Corporate Affairs, who also met with family members, commented, &quot;we believe that the refusal of the government and Grupo Mexico to recover the bodies is an effort to cover up the real causes of the mining disaster and the inadequacy of rescue efforts.&quot;
In addition to the USW and UMWA, the other ICEM affiliates to meet with the widows were the National Union of Mineworkers, South Africa&nbsp;(NUM), the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA), the Chemical, Energy, Paper, Printing, Wood and Allied Workers Union, South Africa&nbsp;(CEPPWAWU), and the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada (CEP), alongside ICEM affiliate Los Mineros.

Global Union Leaders Demand Justice for Mexican Families at Pasta de Conchos Mine

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A unified strike by members of three unions at Saint-Gobain glass plants in Belgium ended Friday, 10 July. But not before Auvelais workers at the French multinational made a defining stand in this industrial action: no company will be allowed to use the financial crisis as a pretext to implement common restructuring! 
 
Workers returned to their jobs 11 July, after voting 58 to 48% to end the nine-day strike, a strike that saw two plants totally blockaded for most of that time. A mediated agreement was put forward on 8 July. The dispute started in February 2009, when Saint-Gobain proposed 241 job cuts. Over the ensuing months, Saint-Gobain resisted all practical alternatives put forward by social partners. 
 
Some 880 are employed at the twin plants of Saint-Gobain Sekurit and Saint-Gobain Knell near Charleroi, in southern Belgium. 
When the strike started &ndash; 2 July, after months of fruitless bargaining &ndash; the company still wanted 215 job cuts. The unions, including ICEM affiliates Centrale G&eacute;n&eacute;rale-FGTB/ABVV and the CSC/ACV, proposed constructive options to the job cuts. But these proposals were ignored. Saint-Gobain as well sought cuts to worker entitlements, such as pre-pension benefits, transfer compensation, and severance on voluntary departures. 

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&ldquo;The absence of meaningful dialogue is an insult to what is now demanded,&rdquo; said ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda. &ldquo;We know that Saint-Gobain is guilty of social dumping and we also know that this conduct is not related to the financial crisis.&rdquo; 
 
Trade union strikers blocked access to all company assets at Saint-Gobain Knell throughout the strike, and at Sekurit, a blockade was lifted partially in the sixth day of the strike. Other restructurings have occurred in these Wallonian plants. In May 2008, 100 jobs were cut. The Sekurit plant makes flat glass, while the Knell operation makes glass in building and construction products. 
 
The ICEM extended support to the strikers during the labour action. &ldquo;The ICEM questions Saint-Gobain and its motives in using the world&rsquo;s economic crisis to gain financial strength in the restructuring of the Belgian factories,&rdquo; the Global Union Federation wrote Belgian union members. &ldquo;The ICEM and its family of trade unions worldwide stand with you in Auvelais as you take justified industrial actions.&rdquo; 
 
Saint-Gobain has faced fierce resistance to job cuts in other parts of Europe, as well. Strikes in Italy and France occurred in April and May, and European trade union federations manifested at Saint-Gobain offices in Paris on 20 May. 
 
Currently, CGT in France has called for urgent talks with the company at Mers-les-Bains over 100 proposed job cuts, and social partners at Saint-Gobain Desjonqu&egrave;res in Real Sitio, Spain, began deep discussions over a proposed six-week shutdown in August and September, affecting 180 workers. 
 
In Germany, IGBCE, EWC, and Saint-Gobain completed social talks related to transfer and re-skilling at Saint-Gobain Vetrotex operations.

Financial Stress Brings Industrial Unrest to Belgian Glass Sector

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Workers at the Bridgestone aerospace tyre plant in Frameries, Belgium, will hit the five-week mark on strike this Thursday, 16 July. The strike was brought on by the Japanese-based company&rsquo;s refusal to negotiate. A company decision on whether or not to close down a 140-worker re-treading factory in Frameries has not been communicated to workers and their majority representative, Belgian affiliate Centrale G&eacute;n&eacute;rale-FGTB, and the union exhausted all legal means before striking on 11 June. 
 
That strike came when Bridgestone unilaterally decided to dismiss all 8 workers in one area of the factory without proper social talks. Many of those workers had been on the job for over 20 years. One of the dismissed workers is a senior trade union officer and secretary of the Works Council, who has been working at the plant since 1980. 

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Bridgestone has disrupting social harmony in Frameries, despite a formal commitment to protect jobs in the current collective bargaining agreement. Centrale G&eacute;n&eacute;rale-FGTB insisted that the company exam all options to safeguard employment, including part-time redundancy, early retirement, in-house transfers, time credit, or other such social options. The union also stresses that 14 workers are employed at Frameries on short-term contracts. 
 
Local management at Bridgestone-Frameries has continued its anti-labour practices throughout the strike. Instead of seeking reasonable solutions through dialogue, managers will not even answer telephone calls to address issues. 

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Centrale G&eacute;n&eacute;rale-FGTB condemns such practices, calling them immoral and reprehensible and also condemns the company for criminalizing its own workers who are only defending their rights. 
 
The ICEM also condemns such social behaviour. &ldquo;At the heart of Europe, in Belgium, a multinational company is deciding on issues of employment outside the lawful prerequisites of the social model,&rdquo; said General Secretary Manfred Warda. He added that ICEM&rsquo;s Bridgestone Global Union Network addressed this strike recently in its deliberations and put the issue forward to Japanese senior management. 
 
Bridgestone on the corporate level has not responded. The ICEM is asking global affiliates to send a solidarity message in your own words and your own language to Bridgestone-Frameries workers by clicking <a href="mailto:alain.denooze@accg.be">here</a>.

Bridgestone Tyre Re-treading Strike Continues in Belgium

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The ten-year existence of the ICEM&rsquo;s BASF Workers' Network in South America was celebrated on 30 June 2009 in S&atilde;o Paulo, Brazil. The event was attended by more than 100 guests, partners from the trade union movement, employers, workers, and managers from throughout the chemicals industry in Brazil. 
 
As the experiences of the first ten years of the network's operations were recalled from both trade union and company point of view. The network coordinator mentioned the main struggles that occurred and went into the network's future challenges. Those include the issues of subcontracting, health and safety, and unfair dismissals. 

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The ten-year anniversary celebration of ICEM&rsquo;s most successful regional workers&rsquo; network came between two, full working days of the Network, on 29 June and July 1. 
 
The presentation by Wagner Brunini, BASF Human Resources Director for South America, gave evidence to the company&rsquo;s commitment to the network and its appreciation to all forms of workers' representation. Brunini defined one challenge: informing and training all management staff to create a new management culture. 

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Michael Vassiliadis 
Thematic panels were also held during the event on social dialogue, presented by IGBCE Board Member Michael Vassiliadis, and on sustainable enterprises, presented by ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda. 
 
Vassiliadis emphasised that the workers' experience at BASF in South America ought to serve as a social dialogue example for other companies. According to Vassiliadis, society's interest in this labour relations practice has to be awakened. 
 
&quot;We need trade unions and trade unionists who cultivate a sensible relationship with companies,&rdquo; he added. &ldquo;It is necessary to define our requirements and to know where we need to go with dialogue.&quot; 
 
Warda pointed to important fundamentals for sustainable enterprises: &quot;Listen to what the other side is saying, comprehend its needs, and exercise mutual respect.&quot; 
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At the end of the ceremony, an excellent publication was distributed, entitled, &quot;Rede de Trabalhadores na BASF Am&eacute;rica do Sul: 10 anos de Solidariedade Sindical e Di&aacute;logo Social,&quot; a homage to those who conceived of and founded the network. 
 
ICEM Latin America/Caribbean Vice President Sergio Novais coordinated the event, which was also attended by the IGBCE International Officer Michael Wolters, and the President of BASF South America, Dr Rolf-Dieter Acker.

BASF South American Network Celebrates Ten Fruitful Years

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An oil workers&rsquo; trade union, affiliated to Peruvian FENUPETROL, showed its indignation last month at violations of health and safety conditions for workers at ECOPETROL-Knoc, a Colombian/Korean joint venture operating in Peru. The company is guilty of failing to enforce safety standards at its Peruvian subsidiaries called Petro-Tech Peruana SA. 
 
The June National Assembly of FENUPETROL analysed the poor record of safety in the industry in Peru. Petro-Tech Peruana owns numerous petroleum companies, including Diving Del Peru Sac. The union there submitted numerous complaints over failed safety and health protections for members by Jaime Velasco, director of Human Relations, by Luis Navarro Vilela, director of Industrial Relations, and by plant manager Finlay Macdonald. 
 
Twenty-two workers at the company were suspended on 18 April 2009 for refusing to work in unsafe conditions. 

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The company failed to even respond to communiqu&eacute;s by the union to address safety concerns, which include placing inexperienced supervisors in charge of dangerous operations. That has led to two serious accidents in the days preceding the union&rsquo;s National Assembly. In one, a worker lost his air supply while cleaning a suction filter under water at an offshore oil rig. 
 
The dangerous, illegal, and lax attitude of ECOPETROL towards workers&rsquo; safety received international condemnation, with the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO) speaking out last month. In a letter to ECOPETROL Vice President Lic Navarrete, following an accident which hospitalized a worker with first and second degree burns, LO called for an immediate change in the safety culture. 
 
Other fatal examples by affiliates of ECOPETROL have seen divers die after being trapped under water without supervisors even noticing. 

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Petro-tech Peruana has also come under heavy criticism for its continued refusal to adopt a social development programme, a plan that would install gas connections to homes. Such a plan would create jobs. The company has made pledges on social responsibility, but has repeatedly refused to enter into dialogue with inhabitants in Talara Province. 
 
The ICEM demands swift improvement to the health and safety policies and practices of ECOPETROL and its subsidiaries. The ICEM will work together with new Colombian oil workers&rsquo; affiliate, USO, to improve health and safety within the company.

ECOPETRO-Knoc in Peru Criticised for Lax Health, Safety Conditions

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