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The 2009 annual meeting of ICEM&rsquo;s International Nuclear Workers&rsquo; Union Network, (INWUN) took place in Geneva 25-26. INWUN covers all nuclear workers and not just those involved in electric power generation, but also unionised workers producing medical or industrial isotopes, and workers involved in the reprocessing and enrichment of uranium and uranium mining. 
 
The ICEM&rsquo;s Joe Drexler gave a presentation on the increased investment taking place in uranium mining, as well as a programme on radiological hazards in uranium that began in May in South Africa. 
 
A number of unions attended the network meeting for the first time, showing an increased interest in nuclear power from many countries as a possible contributor to reduced carbon emissions and a &ldquo;nuclear renaissance&rdquo; that is clearly linked to climate change discussions. 

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Indeed, interest was shown by a number of unions in the work ICEM has done following the appointment of Brian Kohler late last year as Safety, Health, Sustainability Officer, and in preparations for the UN&rsquo;s COP 15 Climate Change Conference, scheduled for December 2009 in Copenhagen, Denmark. 
 
A presentation on the sustainability work of ICEM was made by Lars Myhre, chair of the ICEM Energy Industries Section who has also chaired the ICEM sustainable development discussions. 
 
A detailed presentation by Roland Schneider of TUAC on their work at the OECD in Paris and the work of the International Energy Agency (IEA) and Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) of the OECD led to discussions on how ICEM and INWUN can link to the work of these agencies. 
 
The ICEM&rsquo;s Energy Officer, Jim Catterson, is in contact with TUAC to take this further. ICEM made a presentation on the present state of the Energy Industries and the future role foreseen for nuclear power. That was followed by an industry viewpoint from an official of the World Nuclear Association. 
 
Next year&rsquo;s INWUN meeting will be held in connection with the ICEM World Energy Conference, planned for the second half of 2010. This will maximise attendance and increase the input of unions from ICEM&rsquo;s energy sector attending the world conference. 
 
Unions present made detailed presentations of their own national situations, and these presentations will shortly be loaded to the Energy Industry section of the ICEM website. INWUN is presided over by David Shier of the Canadian Power Workers&rsquo; Union (PWU).

Nuclear Workers’ Network Holds Annual Meeting in Geneva

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Some 3,000 people crowded into the Sudbury, Ontario, ice hockey arena on 19 September and enthusiastically greeted global trade union leaders in what was billed as an &ldquo;International and Community Rally in Support of Sudbury&rsquo;s Strikers.&rdquo; 
 
International union leaders, including ICEM&rsquo;s Manfred Warda, Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF) General Secretary Jyrki Raina, Sharan Burrow, President of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), and Ken Georgetti, President of the Canadian Labour Congress, joined others to tell striking miners of the United Steelworkers (USW) that their nine-week strike against Vale has gained worldwide attention, and brought trade union pressure on Vale in all its global operations. 
 
&ldquo;Your struggle has now got the support and attention of the entire global union movement,&rdquo; said the ICEM&rsquo;s Warda. &ldquo;This conflict now has a global dimension, from nickel miners in Indonesia to mining communities in Africa and, of course, to miners and metalworkers in Brazil, this fight is now our fight, and we will assist in every way possible for a sustainable future for you and your families here in northern Ontario.&rdquo;
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USW Local 6500 President John Fera, with rally speakers behind him&nbsp;
The strike started on 13 July after USW Locals 6500 in Sudbury and Local 6200 in Port Colborne, joined in a common labour contract, gave the world&rsquo;s number two nickel producer a ten-week extension back in May. But instead of reaching agreement, based on Vale&rsquo;s vast profit margins despite the global downturn, managers of nickel entity Vale-Inco pressed ahead with concession-ridden proposals that would deflate the livelihoods of 3,500 workers and their families in Sudbury and in Port Colborne, 400 kilometres south on Lake Erie. 
 
Those concessionary proposals, still on the table, include retirement reductions, a two-tiered pension scheme, steep downgrades to a production bonus, and loss of value in cost-of-living adjustments. As well, Vale-Inco is seeking greater flexibility on outsourcing, standing as a serious affront to job security. 
 
On 1 August, 450 workers of USW Local 9508 in Voiseys Bay, Labrador, struck. Miners and smelter workers there, employed at Vale&rsquo;s nickel, copper, and cobalt mines and a processing enterprise, are under a separate labour agreement than the one in Ontario, but Vale&rsquo;s income-wrecking proposals are the same. 
 
Saturday&rsquo;s rally by the USW was meant to show strikers &ndash; as well as the rest of Canada and the world&rsquo;s mining industry &ndash; that global labour will stand together to prevent a prosperous mining house from boosting its profit sheet at the expense of workers.
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From left: USW's Leo Gerard; Carolyn Kazdin, USW rep in Brazil; Eduardo Fernando Jardim Pinto (STEFEM-Brazil); and Ken Neumann, USW Canadian Director&nbsp;and ICEM Vice President&nbsp; 

Those attending the rally were energized and excited to hear speakers from across the globe come to northern Ontario to address their issues. 
 
USW President Leo Gerard, who opened the rally, said the Brazilian company picked the wrong group of workers to start a fight with. &ldquo;This strike will determine what kind of future we&rsquo;ll have, and what kind of future our kids and grandkids will have,&rdquo; said Gerard, a native of Sudbury and a member of USW Local 6500. 
 
Following Gerard, Burrow, who also heads the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), told those assembled, &ldquo;You are standing up to the biggest corporate bully in the world. Congratulations &hellip; you are standing up for yourselves, for your children, and for your community.&rdquo; 
 
Another trade union leader, Artur Henrique da Silva Santos, President of Brazil&rsquo;s Central &Uacute;nica dos Trabalhadores (CUT), said Vale is not living up to the &ldquo;big deal it makes about corporate social responsibilities&rdquo; by its assault on workers in Canada, and vowed that Brazilian workers will stand with the USW throughout and beyond this fight.
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Jack Layton, national leader of the Canadian NDP party, brought striking steelworkers and their families to their feet when he said, &ldquo;You&rsquo;re going to win this battle, my friends.&rdquo; This company &ldquo;cannot take away what working people have built over generations in this country and this town.&rdquo; 
 
Other speakers included General Secretary Jorge Campos of the Brazilian mining union Sindimina-RJ (CNTSM), who is secretary of the Vale Union Network of Workers, and Paul Talbot, Assistant General Secretary of Unite the Union from the Amicus Section in the UK. 
 
USW National Canadian Director Ken Neumann said, &ldquo;We recognise that the only way we&rsquo;re going to win this strike is we&rsquo;re going to need the support from our allies around the world.&rdquo; With Saturday&rsquo;s showing of international union leaders, there is little question that global support for the Canadian strikers is alive, with trade union pressure worldwide beginning to mount against Vale. 
 
More coverage on the strike can be found at <a href="http://www.fairdealnow.ca">www.fairdealnow.ca</a>.

Canadian Nickel Strikers Receive Global Union Leaders in Sudbury, Ontario

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Meeting in Lagos, Nigeria, on 15 September, ICEM&rsquo;s Sub-Sahara African Regional Organisation (SSARO) called for greater security measures to be taken to protect energy workers in the Niger Delta. With representatives from ICEM&rsquo;s two Nigerian affiliates, NUPENG and PENGASSAN present and hosting the meeting, the committee noted that the region has not known peace since oil reserves were first extracted 50 years ago. 
 
The committee differentiated between community and labour groups genuinely seeking career opportunities for the indigenous people of the region and a stop to environmental degradation, and gangs of thugs using kidnappings and ransoms to enrich themselves. SSARO acknowledged that Nigeria President Umaru Yar&rsquo;Adua is correct in calling on global energy companies to halt purchases of bunkered oil from unsavory types, whose only interest is trading cash for weaponry. 
 
The regional committee, chaired by Rayford Mbulu, President of the Mineworkers&rsquo; Union of Zambia, also gave approval to the Nigerian government&rsquo;s offer of amnesty to militants who come forward and lay down their arms. It urged the main militant group, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), to extend its unilateral ceasefire indefinitely.
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&nbsp;Rayford Mbulu 

The committee concluded the Niger Delta debate by identifying the main causes of civil unrest, which has caused cutbacks in production of both oil and gas. They include: a shortage of skill-building, training, and job opportunities by multinational energy companies for people of the region; rampant use of casualisation regarding labour by both local suppliers and multinationals; uneven revenue distribution; environmental degradation; and political marginalization, both at the federal level and within some states of the Niger Delta region. 
 
In other business taken up by SSARO, trade union leaders of Africa called attention to the climate change issue, saying current widespread flooding in many parts of West Africa, including Ghana, Benin, Niger, Senegal, and Burkina Faso, is a direct result of climate change. The committee said such flooding will cause serious famine in parts of West Africa, and called on the governments of Africa to be prepared to deal with the resulting human devastation. 
 
The ICEM&rsquo;s African regional grouping resolved to bring pressure against global mining and energy giant BHP for its use of replacement workers in a legal South African dispute between the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and BHP at the company&rsquo;s Hozatel manganese mine in Northern Cape State. SSARO also took up the strike by members of the United Steelworkers (USW) in Canada against the Brazilian mining company Vale, and passed a resolution to intervene on mining investment by the Brazilian company in Africa. More on that is <a href="/en/5-Mining-DGOJP/3394-">here</a>.

ICEM’s Sub-Sahara Africa Regional Committee Addresses Niger Delta Security

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Patience by members of ICEM-affiliated Ghana Mine Workers&rsquo; Union (GMWU) has worn thin with the African nation&rsquo;s three largest gold producers, AngloGold Ashanti, Goldfields, and Newmont Mining. The union has been in wage talks with the major producers throughout the summer, focusing mainly on narrowing the wide pay gap between expatriate workers and Ghana staff. 
 
The mining houses have become difficult in talks. Despite gold being one mineral which has maintained high pricing value during the economic crisis, AngloGold and Goldfields, in particular, are cold to the GMWU&rsquo;s proposal to lift base wages of Ghanaian miners gradually over the next three years. The wage agreement for 2009 in mining expired in July. 
 
The mining companies&rsquo; intransigence has already produced GMWU industrial actions. In early August, 4,600 miners staged a two-day strike at AngloGold&rsquo;s three mines and last week, 2,100 Goldfields miners began &ldquo;go-slow&rdquo; industrial actions at the South African-based mining house&rsquo;s two mines, including Ghana&rsquo;s largest producing gold mine &ndash; Tarkwa.
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Talks between GMWU and Goldfields on 17-18 September again went nowhere, and GMWU General Secretary Prince William Ankrah said the union&rsquo;s executive council met over the weekend to assess the situation and plan further action. 
 
&ldquo;The situation is dire,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;There now is a very good possibility that we will conduct nationwide strikes against the entire industry.&rdquo; Such industrial actions would also involve smaller mining concerns. Since Goldfields has applied to the Ghana Labour Commission for intervention over last week&rsquo;s actions, GMWU will now file for arbitration with the commission. 
 
&ldquo;We are realistic that mining companies cannot equalize the pay disproportion between expatiates and local staff immediately,&rdquo; said Ankrah. &ldquo;But we have very clear direction from our National Executive Council that a wage review must now begin, with the disparity bridged over the next three years.&rdquo; 
 
The union is seeking a 24.5% increase over the three years, which would produce a minimum monthly salary of US$500 by 2011. The mining houses have offered an increment of only 3.5%. 
 
GMWU points out that pay of Ghana&rsquo;s AngloGold executives is 289 times that of the lowest-paid worker, while at Goldfields it is 201 times. Mid-level expat workers in the gold mines receive salaries that are above twice that of local staff doing the same jobs. Lower-tiered salary levels for Ghanaian staff are up to 30 times less than that of expat workers. 
 
At AngloGold, junior staff &ndash; numbering about 4,000 workers &ndash; account for 46% of the payroll, while 675 managers account for 35% and 42 expat workers count for 18% of payroll costs. 
 
In Ghana&rsquo;s mining sector, the US dollar is used as the basis for salaries. In bargaining with Goldfields, the company said the weakness of the American dollar had already lifted salaries when converted to cedis (GHC), an argument the GMWU found insulting.

Ghana Miners’ Escalate Pay Dispute with Gold Producers

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3-4 Eyl&uuml;l g&uuml;nlerinde Kolkata'da toplanan Hindistan'daki ICEM &uuml;yesi sendikaların y&ouml;neticileri ICEM Hindistan Koordinasyon Konseyi'ni kurdu. Eyl&uuml;l başlarında bir araya gelen 21 sendika temsilcisi, d&uuml;zensiz istihdam edilen iş&ccedil;ileri sendikalarda &ouml;rg&uuml;tlemek amacıyla ICEM'in Taşeron İş&ccedil;iliği Kampanyası &ccedil;er&ccedil;evesinde bir strateji oluşturdu. 
 
Sekt&ouml;r sendikalarının bir araya geldiği iki g&uuml;nl&uuml;k forum, ekonomik krizin istihdam &uuml;zerindeki etkileri ve sendikaların karşı karşıya olduğu sorunlar konusunda d&uuml;zenlenen bir stratejik planlama toplantısı &ccedil;er&ccedil;evesinde d&uuml;zenlendi.
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&nbsp;ICEM Genel Sekreteri Manfred Warda ve Hindistan sendika y&ouml;neticileri 

Toplantıya ICEM Genel Sekreteri Manfred Warda ile ICEM Malzeme Sekt&ouml;r&uuml; Sorumlusu Phee Jungsun katıldı. 
 
Warda Hindistan'daki ICEM &uuml;yelerine taşeron iş&ccedil;ilerini &ouml;rg&uuml;tleme &ccedil;alışmalarında ve HIV/AIDS'e karşı m&uuml;cadelede yeterli kaynak sağlanacağını vurguladı. ICEM Hindistan'a tamg&uuml;n &ccedil;alışacak bir proje koordinat&ouml;r&uuml; atamaya hazırlanıyor. 
 
Hindistan'daki ICEM &uuml;yesi sendikalar yılda iki kez toplanacak Koordinasyon Konseyi'ne ikişer temsilci g&ouml;ndermeyi kararlaştırdılar. Konseyin g&uuml;ndemindeki konulardan biri, g&uuml;&ccedil;s&uuml;z işkolu sendikalarının mali yapılarının iyileştirilmesi olarak belirlendi. Her ICEM &uuml;yesi sendika mali durumu konusunda Aralık 2009'a kadar birer rapor hazırlayacak. 
 
Toplantıya katılan temsilciler, ayrıca, taşeron iş&ccedil;ilerinin y&uuml;zde 10 kadarını kendi sendikalarında &ouml;rg&uuml;tlemeyi ve &ouml;nceliği taşeron iş&ccedil;ilerine verecek ortak bir sendikal g&uuml;&ccedil;lendirme projesi geliştirmeyi taahh&uuml;t ettiler.
&nbsp;

ICEM Hindistan Koordinasyon Konseyi Taşeron İşçilerini Örgütlemeye Hazırlanıyor

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Young trade unionists around the world marked International Youth Day, on 12 August, around the theme, &ldquo;Sustainability: Our Challenge, Our Future.&rdquo; As young workers struggle everywhere for the right to have sustainable, decent, green jobs, the days was marked as such. 
 
The youth of the international labour movement are focusing more and more on the issue of sustainable jobs in the face of climate change. Climate change is the cause of increased frequency and severity of extreme weather events, of the loss of biodiversity, of the future&rsquo;s food and water supplies, diseases, and employment. These impacts will hit the poor and vulnerable hardest. 

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The voice of the International Trade Union Congress (ITUC) Youth Committee called for intra and inter-generational solidarity in solving climate change. Measures must be taken to move more quickly towards a low-carbon economy. Young trade unionists want to be part of the solution for a fairer, environmentally responsible society, one that respects trade union rights. 
 
Organisers of the International Youth Day stressed the need to support and assist the most vulnerable, and the need to build a sustainable green economy that creates new jobs that combat social inequalities and environmental damage.

Global Labour Celebrates International Youth Day, 12 August

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Golden Misabiko, President of the Association Africaine de d&eacute;fense des Droits de l'Homme in Katanga province (ASADHO/Katanga), has been released from&nbsp;custody in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), following his arrest last month. His organization had recently published a report alleging state complicity in illegal uranium mining in the country. 
 
State intelligence services arrested Misabiko on 24 July in the provincial capital of Lubumbashi, in the south east of the country. He was charged with &ldquo;threatening state security&rdquo; and &ldquo;defamation.&rdquo; Bail was initially rejected, following suspicions that the judiciary bowed to political pressure to keep him in custody. Subsequently, he has been released.&nbsp; 

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Golden Misabiko
The charges against Misabiko relate to the report published by his human rights organization on 12 July. The report alleges that the Shinkolobwe uranium mine, which was closed in January 2004 on national and public security grounds, had been the site of illegal mining in which the government was complicit. The mine should have been secured by the government, but instead mining was continued by parties from the military and from civil society. 
 
The report also criticised the national government for its role in the 26 March agreement with French nuclear energy company AREVA. The agreement grants the company the right to prospect and mine for uranium in the resource-rich country, and the agreement was criticized for a lack of transparency. 
 
Peaceful protests against Golden Misabiko&rsquo;s detention have been carried out in Katanga. 
 
ICEM&rsquo;s 12 mining affiliates in the DRC repeatedly come up against police force and arrests during labour disputes.

Leading DRC Human Rights Defender Arrested

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A dispute between South Africa pulp and paper manufacturer Sappi and affiliate Chemical, Energy, Paper, Printing, Wood, and Allied Workers Union (CEPPWAWU) at the company&rsquo;s Enstra mill there was resolved early in August. 
 
The dispute, which had garnered ICEM attention, was over the company&rsquo;s intent to severely discipline and even discharge 19 shop stewards and 24 other workers for engaging in safety strikes late in April and early May. The issue was covered by the ICEM and an earlier report can be found <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/3285-ICEM-">here</a>.&nbsp; 
 
In a negotiated resolve to the issue, Sappi and CEPPWAWU arrived at a four-page memorandum that was signed on 5 August. There were no dismissals, and the union admitted that its shop-floor leaders had engaged in unprotected strikes. Instead, affected shop stewards and others were given relatively short, unpaid suspensions. And &ldquo;final written warning&rdquo; letters will stay in effect for only one year. 

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The ICEM congratulates both parties for using dialogue to resolve what had been a deeply contentious issue. We believe that the agreement is a sign that healing inside the Enstra pulp and paper might begin, as well as a new era in labour-management relations. As part of the memorandum, CEPPWAWU must write a letter to all Enstra workers condemning the illegal strikes. Sappi waives its claims on asset damages stemming from the unprotected industrial actions. 
 
Twenty-three workers received one-week suspensions and returned to work on 18 August 18. Fourteen shop stewards received a 2-week suspension and will return to their jobs this week. Five other shop stewards, plus one other worker, are suspended for one month and will return on 11 September. 
 
Many ICEM affiliates, health and safety activists worldwide, and scores of others issued protests at Sappi and gave the dispute a global voice over health and safety concerns. These protests, CEPPWAWU feels, played the major role in lessening the penalties for what were a series of three illegal strikes. The South African affiliate, as well as the ICEM, conveys sincere gratitude to those who voiced their concerns from every corner of the world.

CEPPWAWU, Sappi in South Africa Resolve Shop-Steward Disciplinary Measures

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Last week, 33,000 electric power workers in South Africa came to terms with state-owned electric provider Eskom, thus averting a string of strikes and industrial actions. ICEM affiliates National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and National Union of Metalworkers (NUMSA) are expected to sign a new labour accord today. 
 
On 19 August, Eskom, which supplies 90% of South Africa&rsquo;s power needs, presented the two unions and a third one with a 10.5% first-year wage increase. That is 2.5% higher than the utility was prepared to pay earlier in August when the dispute went before the country&rsquo;s Commission for Conciliation, Mediation, and Arbitration (CCCM). 
 
The NUM represents 16,000 workers at Eskom, while NUMSA represents 5,000. Eskom employs about 29,000 workers in South Africa. 
<img src="" width="100" height="102" alt="" />&nbsp;&nbsp; <img src="" width="100" height="103" alt="" />
A key item in talks up to and through last week&rsquo;s wage offer was over housing allowances. NUM and NUMSA are seeking a 5,000 rand (US$621) per worker housing subsidy. Resolve of this issue will continue in tripartite talks with the CCCM until 1 December 2009, when a process to finalise and implement the housing allowance will be put in place, said NUM chief negotiator Paris Mashego. 
 
Mashego said the NUM polled its members on the wage offer and housing deferral late last week, and 80% consented to take the offer. 
 
Meanwhile, a NUM strike against Impala Platinum that was set to start today was averted when the world&rsquo;s second largest platinum miner returned to the bargaining table Saturday and raised its offer. The company offered a 10% increase. The NUM, which represents 18,000 ImPlats workers, cancelled the strike and is currently weighing the offer.

South Africa’s Mineworkers, Metalworkers Agree to Wage Terms with Eskom

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The strike by Bridgestone workers at an aircraft tyre retreading plant in Frameries, Belgium, has ended after nine weeks of continuous striking. 
 
After the failure of conciliatory negotiations at the national level, a draft agreement at the local level was finally agreed. Workers ratified the agreement by 57% to 42% on 7 August. 
 
The agreement accepts the closure of the plant, but with a number of conditions. Those conditions include payment of compensation to workers in lieu of plant-closing notice, plus compensation based on seniority. Also, placement of each worker into another job in a different company near the worker&rsquo;s home also was a condition. 

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A bonus pay-out with an advance of &euro;500 was agreed to, as well, to compensate for the loss of job security. The bonus also covers early retirement options. The eight temporary workers were given permanent contracts, this qualifying them for the benefits, and Bridgestone has lifted all sanctions or punishment related to the strike. 
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The strike by all 140 workers, led by ICEM Belgian affiliate FGTB Centrale G&eacute;n&eacute;rale, started on 11 June over eight job cuts. 
 
The Centrale G&eacute;n&eacute;rale-FGTB is proud of its victory, standing up to a huge multinational, with courageous rubber workers earning the respect of many. The achievements were not the goals that the union had set out for, but they are notable. 
 
The FGTB issued a message of thanks to all those who expressed their solidarity during the struggle.

Bridgestone Strike at Belgian Airplane Tyre Factory Ends

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