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A full four years after BP paid US$21.3 million in penalties and made promises to the US government to correct safety deficiencies at its Texas City, Texas, oil and petrochemicals refinery, the British energy company is still not in compliance. 
 
On 30 October, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) of the US Department of Labor slapped BP with a further US$87.4 million fine for failure to rectify safety problems identified following a deadly March 2005 explosion at the east Texas refinery. 

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The fine is four times higher than any previous safety fine issued by OSHA in its 39-year history. The previous high was the US$21.3 million penalty assessed BP in September 2005 when the company reached a settlement agreement with the agency to fix the causes of the 23 March 2005 explosion, which killed 15 contract workers and serious injured another 80 workers. 
 
The US trade union representing workers at BP&rsquo;s former Amoco refinery at Texas City, ICEM affiliated United Steelworkers (USW), warned of the industry&rsquo;s reluctance to seriously undertake efforts to improve safety and health in the downstream sector during US collective agreement negotiations early in 2009. Then, the union had made safety the primary issue in negotiations, but the industry stonewalled the union and workers on joint approaches to improve safety. 

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USW Vice President Gary Beevers
&ldquo;Hopefully, Friday&rsquo;s non-compliance fine will serve as a wake-up to the public and industry that oil and gas companies must get serious on safety,&rdquo; said USW Vice President and ICEM Executive Committee Gary Beevers. &ldquo;We intend to continue working closely with BP to improve process safety at all their US facilities.&rdquo; 
 
Late in 2007, the USW and the Tony Mazzocchi Center for Health, Safety and environmental Education published a book entitled &ldquo;Beyond Texas City: the State of Process Safety in the Unionized US Oil Refining Industry.&rdquo; The book critiques operating practices in 51 US refineries and offers sets of &ldquo;Urgent and Critical Actions&rdquo; needed to improve safety. The pdf version of &ldquo;Beyond Texas City&rdquo; can be found <a href="http://legacy.usw.org/usw/program/adminlinks/docs/BeyondTexasCity.pdf ">here</a>. 
 
The US OSHA agency last week issued BP with 270 notifications of failure to stem hazards that caused the 2005 explosion, with total fines of US$56.7 million. Each notification represents a penalty of US$7,000 times 30 days, the period that that the condition have gone unabated. In addition, the US government identified 439 new willful violations for failures to follow industry-accepted safety standards, resulting in further fines of US$30.7 million. 
 
BP said it would formally contest these latest violations and fines before a review commission of OSHA, which can amend and reduce the violations. 
 
Stated US Acting Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA, Jordan Barab: &ldquo;BP was given four years to correct the safety issues identified pursuant to the settlement agreement, yet OSHA has found hundreds of violations of the agreement and hundreds of new violations. BP still has a great deal of work to do to assure the safety and health of the employees who work at this refinery.&rdquo; 
 
The 23 March 2005 deadly blast was caused by a broken gauge and flammable hydrocarbons that overflowed from an isomerisation tower used to boast octane levels of petrol. Those vapors were ignited from the equipment of contract companies that were operating too close to the isomerisation unit.

BP Fails to Correct Safety Errors at Texas Refinery, Ordered to Pay Another US$87.4 Million

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Over 100 participants from Russian trade unions, labour academia, national and regional governments, scientists, and business leaders gathered on 12 October in a Gazprom conference room in Moscow to mark the Tenth Anniversary of creation of a vertically-integrated trade union structure. 
 
That structure is part of ICEM affiliate, the national Russian Oil, Gas, and Construction Workers Union (ROGWU), representing the gas company&rsquo;s workers. They were joined by delegations from oil and gas trade unions from Belarus, France, Norway, Romania, and Serbia, as well as ICEM Energy Officer Jim Catterson, who represented the Global Union Federation (GUF). 
 
The event coincided with a major trade union conference entitled &ldquo;Innovations in the Russian Trade-Union Movement: Practice and Problems.&rdquo; The conference was opened by Vladimir Babkin, President of the Inter-regional Trade Union of Gazprom and a Vice President of ROGWU. Following an extensive opening session, the conference broke into two working groups where participants discussed trade union structures, and their current objectives and challenges. 
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Wide-ranging presentations were heard as participants from Russia and abroad shared their experiences in social dialog and social partnership work, employee representation, and social and labour rights protection. 
 
Catterson gave a presentation that covered ICEM work on social dialog throughout the world, with a particular focus on Global Framework Agreements in the oil and gas industry. The presentations generated considerable discussion and debate that led to a series of draft conclusions that were adopted at a final plenary meeting of the conference, conclusions that will be published by ROGWU in the near future. 
 
During a break in the conference proceedings, foreign participants were given a tour of parts of Gazprom&rsquo;s complex in Moscow, including the dispatch area. 

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Following a discussion on the gas resources of the Russian Federation and future plans regarding production and new pipelines, participants were shown the computerized dispatch room. Here, in front of a screen covering an entire wall, computer operators working on a host of terminals ensure the optimal movement of gas from fields in western and central Siberia through the complex network of Russian pipelines, as well as the export pipelines to and across Europe. The tour of the facility was given by the manager of the unit and the workers&rsquo; trade union representative. It generated a lively and interesting discussion. 
 
ICEM hopes that the conference will help to increase social dialog within the company at the global level that will involve the GUF and our affiliates, since the company is expanding operations in both gas and oil globally.

In Russia, Celebration of 10 Years of Gazprom Union Structure

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The main Ukrainian national labour center, the Federation of Trade Unions of Ukraine (FPU), sent a message to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) last week: stay out of the internal legislative business of the country. FPU leaders, trade unionists, and civil society leaders protested in front of the IMF&rsquo;s regional office in Kiev on 27 October. 
 
The peaceful pickets protested a statement issued two days earlier by the IMF calling on President Viktor Yushchenko to veto a bill passed by the Parliament on 20 October that would lift levels of social benefits, including minimum wage and pension benefits. 
 
The IMF has threatened to pull a &euro;11.5 billion emergency credit arrangement to Ukraine if Yushchenko signs the legislation, which passed Parliament with a 459 to 254 vote. 

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Yushchenko has indicated that he will sign the new social benefits bill, thus lifting the minimum monthly living wage to the equivalent of &euro;73.09 on 1 December 2010 after five increments over the next year; and increase the monthly minimum wage to &euro;77.37 on the same date, with incremental hikes from a proposed &euro;62.43 that is due to take effect once Yushchenko signs the bill into law. 
 
The FPU said in a statement that the IMF &ldquo;is interfering directly in the internal social policy of Ukraine and is trying to weaken social protections, decreasing the level of social guarantees.&rdquo; The trade union federation also said IMF and other international financial institutions in the past have supported limits on Ukrainian pension expenditures, a rise in the pension age by five years, and strict restrictions on rises in citizens&rsquo; incomes. 
 
In a letter presented to the IMF on the day of the protest, the federation demanded that IMF consult with trade unions before changing its conditions on loan guarantees, and said it should work toward alleviating poverty, not promoting it in its guidance policies. 
 
The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), in coordination with all three of Ukraine&rsquo;s national labour centres, held a meeting with IMF resident representative Max Alier on 29 October in Kiev over the IMF&rsquo;s affront to the modest increases in social standards.

Ukraine’s Unions Protest IMF Involvement in Legislative Affairs

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Contract and Agency Workers of the Lipton tea factory in Khanewal, Pakistan, finally saw their long struggle for employment rights end recently. The factory, directly owned by the multinational corporation Unilever, previously employed only 22 regular workers, with many hundreds of staff employed on precarious contracts and denied their right to full and direct employment. 
 
That changed, thanks to a campaign by the International Union of Food, Agricultural Workers' Association (IUF), which now has won work rights for the CAL workers at Lipton in this Pakistan factory. The past seven months of the campaign focused on negotiations carried out under the auspices of the UK&rsquo;s National Contact Point, responsible for application of the OECD&rsquo;s Guidelines on Multinational Enterprises, which require companies to ensure that all its subsidiaries conform to global labour standards, including ILO Conventions 87 and 98. The IUF made a submission to the OECD through the UK in March 2009. 

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The Lipton/Brooke Bond tea factory in Khanewal had become a symbol of the growing global trend of labour casualisation. The vast majority of employees at the plant were on &ldquo;no work, no pay&rdquo; contracts through one of six labour-hire agencies. They were disallowed the right to organise or bargain collectively. 
 
They were blocked from joining the Unilever workers&rsquo; union, or from bargaining with Unilever, with the Dutch-UK multinational claiming it was not their direct employer. The six labour agencies operated out of the factory and do not supply workers to any other plant. 
 
Under the terms of the settlement, 200 direct and permanent jobs have been created for workers, retroactive to 15 October. Workers that are most senior are given priority for the full-time jobs, as well as the members of the Khanewal Workers&rsquo; Action Committee, which stands as a tribute to those daring to stand up for their rights. This employment process will be jointly implemented and supervised by both IUF and Unilever. 

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Khanewal&nbsp;Workers
The permanent workers received a monthly base wage of PKR 18,000 (US$226), while the daily wage for the contract labourers was PKR 232, less than US$3 a day. Agency workers received no extra pay for overtime and holiday work, no annual or medical benefits, and the majority have been on the job for more than ten years &ndash; some for as long as 30 years. 
 
The IUF campaign has forced Unilever to acknowledge the failure of contract labour agencies in fulfilling their statutory obligations on social security, retirement payments, as well as basic mandatory financial obligations to workers. The settlement therefore includes lump-sum payments to workers and guarantees from Unilever to settle payments to the state, in arrears. 
 
The IUF has passed on a message of warm thanks from the Khanewal workers' Action Committee to all those around the world who supported their struggle with demonstrations, messages to the company, meetings, pickets, and political action. Many ICEM supporters and affiliates sent support messages through the IUF site. The ICEM congratulates the IUF for running a hard and arduous, yet successful campaign to gain the legitimate rights of contract workers.

ICEM Salutes IUF Victory at Unilever Teas in Pakistan

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The UK Labour Government dealt a blow to the country&rsquo;s temporary and agency workers when it announced a two-year delay in the implementing of the Directive on Temporary Agency Work, the year-old EU policy which mandates equal treatment to contract and agency workers. 
 
In May 2008, UK&rsquo;s Trades Union Congress (TUC) and the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) struck a compromise that would give agency workers equal protection rights and similar work conditions as permanent workers after 12 weeks&rsquo; employment. 
 
The compromise, brokered by the Labour Government of Prime Minister Gordon Brown, was intended to take effect in the fourth quarter of 2009. 
 
But on 15 October, the office of Brown Cabinet Minister Peter Mandelson, the Business, Innovation, and Skills Secretary, announced a range of regulations would be delayed, including the granting of new and first-time rights to agency workers. The effective date now is 11 October 2011, the very latest under the EU Directive. 

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The consultation period for the new UK regulation to comply with the EU Directive had closed in July. But with the 15 October announcement by Mandelson&rsquo;s office, that period has been extended until 11 December 2009, allowing businesses more time to carve around the edges in order to gain even greater labour flexibility. 
 
The UK is the leading EU country where employers use the biggest proportion of temporary and agency workers. An estimated 1.4 million people are subjected to low employment conditions and lack of job security through labour-hire firms. 
 
After the inordinately long 12-week waiting period in the UK, temporary or agency workers in Britain would be eligible for equal pay, the same level of holidays as permanent staff, and the same health and safety protections and other statutory social benefits such as child care and work leave. 

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General Secretary Paul Kenny
In response to last month&rsquo;s announced delay, GMB General Secretary Paul Kenny called it &ldquo;a very serious electoral mistake by the Labour Government,&rdquo; referring to next year&rsquo;s British General Election. &ldquo;Agency and temporary workers have been abused and exploited for too long. The only people cheering this decision are from the bodies representing those who have been doing the exploitation.&rdquo; 
 
The UK Business Secretary&rsquo;s office attempted to justify the delay by stating the Labour Government recognized &ldquo;the need to avoid changing requirements on business until the economic recovery is more firmly established.&rdquo; 
 
But TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said &ldquo;agency workers are even more in need of protection during a recession. Vulnerable workers are always the first to suffer when times are hard.&rdquo; 

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TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber 
A recent poll by the TUC found that more and more rogue employees and agencies are using lack of employment rights and the insecurity of agency workers to treat temporary staff badly &ndash; paying them less, avoiding holiday and redundancy pay, and neglecting any training or development opportunities that might land such workers into full-time employment.

UK’s Labour Government Bows to Business over Implementing Temp Rights

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The nickel and copper strike at three Vale-Inco Canadian locations by miners and metalworkers of the United Steelworkers (USW) has started to have a full global effect, following a burst of international activity in October and judging from scheduled actions in November and December. 
 
Teams of strikers from USW Locals 6500, 6200, and 9508 will, over the next week, be on three continents spreading the message of their strike, and urging Vale&rsquo;s customers, investors, and company workers everywhere to pressure the Brazilian-based company for a fair pair of contracts in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Newfoundland/Labrador. 
 
If their missions are anything near as successful as the ones taken by Local 6500&rsquo;s Aaron Beaudry and Local 9508&rsquo;s Curtis Saunders to Germany and Sweden in mid-October &ndash; following a ship-load of Vale copper to markets &ndash; managers could re-think their game plan that 3,500 steelworkers will swallow concession-ridden contracts and instead decide to return to the bargaining table in the company&rsquo;s better interests. 
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At the three-and-a-half-month point of the strikes, when USW is beginning to focus heavily on Vale&rsquo;s customers and investors, the release last week of the company&rsquo;s third-quarter numbers bear this out. For the quarter, Vale sold just US$31 million of nickel products from its six worldwide operations. This compares to US$79 million in second-quarter 2009, a quarter in which the three Canadian nickel mines were idled for market reasons. Vale&rsquo;s overall net profit for the most recent quarter dropped 65%, while revenues fell 43%. 
 
In a 29 October conference call to investment analysts, Vale admitted to a loss of US$500 million due to the three-and-a-half month strike in Canada. One of the three Canadian mines and smelting operations, Sudbury, is responsible for 5% of the world&rsquo;s supply of nickel products. 
 
What certainly is not helping Vale in the marketplace is what happened after workers Beaudry and Saunders tracked copper shipments from Voiseys Bay, Labrador, to Germany and Sweden last month. (See InBrief No. 142 <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/3448-ICEM-ITF-IGBCE-in-German-Port-Protest-Against-Vale-Inco-Mine-Shipment">here</a>.) Following pivotal work done by German ICEM affiliate IGBCE and the International Transport Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITF), the striking local unions received a direct response from the chairman of the Works Council of the end-user. 
 
Renate Hold of Hamburg-based aluminum-producer Aurubis, whose workers are represented by the IGBCE, wrote that &ldquo;It came as a surprise to us that Aurubis AG accepted a delivery from Vale-Inco &hellip; to give you our support, we have held the first discussions with our Management and drawn their attention&rdquo; to the dispute in Canada. (See the full letter <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/sudbury%20engl%20pdf.pdf">here</a>.) 

<img alt="" src="" width="320" height="189" />
Vale-Inco strikers Aaron Beaudry and Curtis Saunders (at left) with IF Metall workplace leaders at Boliden in Sweden
In Sweden, the result was much the same. Beaudry and Saunders left Germany and arrived in Sweden ahead of the laden with the remainder of the copper concentrate ore. At a copper smelter near R&ouml;nnsk&auml;r owned by Boliden AB, ICEM affiliate IF Metall arranged a meeting with workplace leaders and managers of the metal-producer and Vale customer. The result was similar to Aurubis. 
 
Roland Antonsson, IF Metall R&ouml;nnsk&auml;r local branch President and a Boliden board member, said he would use his position inside the company to urge Boliden to reconsider its market relationship with Vale. Erik Andersson, IF Metall International Secretary, added in a newspaper account of the visit that it is up to Boliden now to &ldquo;take a stand against the Brazilian company&rsquo;s behaviour&rdquo; in Canada. &ldquo;Boliden has a code of conduct. Now they have the evidence.&rdquo; 
 
With USW now having a near-complete global customer list of Vale, the pressure will increase on Canadian managers to return to bargaining and retreat from a concessionary stance that would lower workers&rsquo; take-home pay, reducing pension levels, and create job insecurity through demands for flexible outsourcing. Additionally, USW will bring the campaign to the front door of investors, stressing negative social stigmas attached to investing in Vale. 
 
Strike teams have fanned out in recent weeks to Australia, where the Construction, Forestry, Mining, and Energy Union (CFMEU) hosted them near Vale coal fields in New South Wales and Queensland. The team that went to Australia also went on last week to New Caledonia, where Vale is having difficulty in start-up of the Goro nickel and cobalt mine and processing plant. Cost over-runs have dragged on Vale and the project has soared from US$3.2 billion to US$4.3 billion. The company is struggling to meet yet another start-up date for early in 2010, and there are environmental matters to deal with on the French territory. 
 
Meanwhile, the territorial government of New Caledonia has denied entry visas to migrant workers, staff Vale was counting on for the start-up. 
 
This week, a strike team that will include the ICEM will visit the PT Indonesia Nickel Corp. in remote Sulawesi Province, where Vale controls 59% of a nickel mine and smelting operation that also has faced production problems of late. From there, the USW strike team will visit operations and customers in Korea. 
 
From 11-18 November, another Canadian strike team will return to Brazil where workers will travel to several cities, including Brasilia where they will meet with Brazilian ministry officials about the strike and officials at the Canadian embassy. They will also meet with civil society groups and metalworkers&rsquo; union leaders, who themselves are in dispute with Vale due to company redundancies during the financial crisis. 
 
The USW is also planning an event in early December in New York City. On 21 October, Vale cancelled its &ldquo;Vale Day&rdquo; at the New York Stock Exchange there because Canadian strikers descended on Wall Street for a spirited manifestation. Two days later, a similar event in London was cancelled when the UK trade union, Unite, joined USW strikers from Canada in protest. 

<img alt="" src="" width="160" height="220" />
Manfred Warda
&ldquo;We are encouraged by the global pressure that is building,&rdquo; said ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda, &ldquo;and we hope that Vale and CEO Roger Agnelli are taking notice. As this momentum grows and the effects are felt, the burden will fall on the company to resume bargaining and negotiate a fair collective agreement with these proud workers.&rdquo; 
 
For further information on all activities, as well as Vale-Inco efforts to re-start the Canadian operations with replacement workers, visit the strike&rsquo;s website at <a href="http://www.fairdealnow.ca">www.fairdealnow.ca</a>.&nbsp;

Vale-Inco Mining Strike in Canada Escalates on Global Level

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The ICEM received a report over this past weekend from the Federation of Workers&rsquo; Councils and Unions (FWCUI) that a workers&rsquo; demonstration in Baghdad was fired upon by armed forces. The demonstration and use of armed force occurred on 6 October near the Green Zone in central Baghdad. 
 
The report the ICEM received from the FWCUI said many of the 2,000 protestors were hit with rubber bullets. The ICEM condemns such military action against workers, and calls it one further example why Iraq must enact legitimate labour law and recognise free and independent trade unions. 

<img alt="" src="" width="280" height="161" />
Industrial workers had requested and received a permit from the Baghdad military to hold the demonstration, a protest over pay remunerations since 2008, safety benefits, and to settle cases of workers dismissed from jobs for political reasons under the Saddam regime. 
 
The march on 6 October started at Al Tahreer Square, and crossed Al Jumhoria Bridge towards the Green Zone, where armed forces indiscriminately fired upon and beat demonstrators. Four workers were severely beaten and arrested: Thamir Hameed and Muhammad Khangar from a battery manufacturing industry; Muhammad Khamees from an electrical facility; and Munadhil Attia from the leather manufacturing industry. 

<img alt="" src="" width="287" height="215" />
The FWCUI declared the attack &ldquo;an unprecedented act of terror that will not be forgiven,&rdquo; and called upon authorities to fire the soldiers responsible and to try them criminally. A representative of the Ministries&rsquo; Council admitted of an unprovoked armed confrontation and said the council stood ready to issue a formal statement of apology. 
 
The ICEM has two affiliated trade unions that are part of the FWCUI, and the Geneva-based Global Union Federation calls on workers&rsquo; organizations everywhere to support the FWCUI in their efforts to bring those responsible for this cowardly attack on workers to justice. 
 
The ICEM also supports FWCUI in its efforts for security and just economic entitlements for workers of its federation.

Iraqi Armed Troops Fire at Peaceful Demonstration in Baghdad

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Trade Unions in Iraq are faced with increasing interference and outright repression from government as they organize and increase their influence. Despite the right to organize being clearly guaranteed in the new constitution, Iraq&rsquo;s government falls back on blatantly anti&ndash;union legislation, some of it dating to the Saddam era, to hamper and restrict trade union activity. 
 
But trade unions are fighting back. On 24 October, hundreds of workers marched on the streets of Basra. Members of 12 unions gathered in front of the headquarters of the General Federation of Iraqi Workers (GFIW) there with banners demanding the central government stop interfering in internal workers&rsquo; issues, before marching towards the government administration building in Basra. 

<img alt="" src="" width="240" height="251" />
ICEM Executive Committee Member, Hashmeyia Saadawi
The GFIW is a Iraqi national centre of trade unions to which two ICEM-affiliated trade unions are members. Among the leaders of this demonstration was Hashmeyia Saadawi, President of the General Union of Electricity Workers and Technicians (GFIW), and a member of the ICEM Executive Committee. 
 
Slogans prominently displayed during the march demanded implementation of new ILO compliant labour law, as well as abolition of Saddam&rsquo;s Law 150 of 1987, and ministerial Order 8750 of August 2005. 
 
The immediate issue at stake in the 24 October action is the government&rsquo;s attempt to form a government committee to implement workers&rsquo; elections for unions &ndash; under the old laws and without involving GFIW's executive board. This would continue to prevent workers in the public-sector from unionising, since public-sector workers are not officially allowed to join trade unions under the old legislation. 

<img alt="" src="" width="260" height="183" />
Given that both the oil and gas industry, and the electric power industry remain publicly&ndash;owned, this makes elections in those unions, as well as many others, farcical. The problems are compounded by the continued use by authorities of a controversial decree, Order 8750 of 2005, which froze all trade union assets and financial accounts, making it impossible for unions to function effectively. 
 
On arrival at the local government offices, workers met with local officials who promised to support and pass along their demands to the central government. 
 
But this crucial struggle will continue. The Iraqi trade union movement is about to launch a national campaign calling on the government and Parliament to implement a fair and just labour code that gives all workers, in both public and private sectors, the right to join trade unions. Once such a law is in place, then elections must be held, elections that are free from government interference. 

<img alt="" src="" width="260" height="195" />
The campaign has already attracted international attention and support. In the UK, Trades Union Congress (TUC) General Secretary Brendan Barber has written to Foreign Secretary David Miliband asking him to press Iraq to drop its interference, and instead put in place the ILO-compliant labour code that has been drafted, allowing all workers the right to form, join, and have a say in the running of trade unions. That letter is <a href="http://www.tuc.org.uk/international/tuc-17128-f0.cfm ">here</a>. 
 
And LabourStart has begun an electronic campaign, in which workers can show their support. Join this campaign by hitting the link <a href="http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/solidarityforever/show_campaign.cgi?c=588 ">here</a>. 
 
A statement issued by the GFIW can be found <a href="/index.php?id=24&amp;la=EN&amp;doc=3467">here</a>.

Iraq: Confronting Government Repression, Interference of Unions

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Thousands of trade unionists demonstrated at the main square of the Slovenian capital Ljubliana, last Saturday 28 November, to demand higher wages and protest their governments&rsquo; plan to increase retirement age. 
 
Just before this big and important demonstration, the ICEM, through its General Secretary Manfred Warda and Chemical and Rubber Industries Officer Kemal &Ouml;zkan, attended a full day workshop organised by its affiliate KNG, Chemical, Non-Metal and Rubber Workers Union. The meeting was attended 25 participants from the KNG&rsquo;s local offices. 
 
KNG became a fully autonomous and independent trade union in 1990 and represents more than a third of all employees in the chemical, metal and rubber industries in Slovenia. 

<img alt="" src="" width="157" height="209" />
KNG President Tomas Kumer
President Tomas Kumer gave a detailed presentation about the effects of the economic crisis in their sectors. Job losses, lowering wages, problems arising from low value-added were principally mentioned, while the social pact does not seem successful in combating the social problems brought by the economic crisis. 
 
The workshop discussed how to use international mechanisms to put pressure on employers to get more trade union influence. Pharmaceutical, rubber and glass sectors were defined areas for future cooperation. 

<img alt="" src="" width="326" height="172" />
The ICEM also visited production facilities of Sava where KNG represents workers. The President of the Sava Union of KNG, Janez Justin, presented the situation of the factory in the face of global crisis. Justin reported that in 2008, the first indication of global recession came in September. The Union and the employer identified the problem and negotiated on a shorter work calendar, winter collective vacation and agreement on temporary redistribution and uneven distribution of work time through a Flex time Agreement. This allowed the employer high flexibility with the workforce engagement, and the workers the possibility to spend winter holidays with their families while employees managed to secure their jobs with no layoffs. In 2009 market demand reduced by 30% in some segments, for this reason employees are limited to work 306 days. Through intensive social dialogue, carried out on a daily basis, no layoffs occurred; only collective vacation in the summer (14 days) and collective vacation in December were agreed with employers.

Slovenian Unions Demand Higher Minimum Wage, Protest Government’s Effort to Increase Retirement Age

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Strike actions occurred in Europe in recent days against South African pulp and paper producer Sappi. Workers holding memberships in four Dutch unions continue to be in dispute with Sappi at two mills in the Netherlands, Nijmegen and Maastricht. 
 
And at one of two mills in Finland that Sappi purchased from M-real one year ago, Kirkniemi, members of the local branch of ICEM affiliate Paperiliitto took a four-day industrial action 19-23 November over serious safety issues. 
 
At Nijmegen on 26 November, workers staged a 24-hour strike over the company&rsquo;s failure to come to a terms in meeting minimal union demands for a new labour agreement. More actions are expected this week at Nijmegen and Maastricht. 

<img alt="" src="" width="300" height="81" />
On 24 November, Dutch unions FNV Bondgenoten, CNV Bedrijenbond, ACV, and De Unie issued a demand for a one-year wage increase, July 2009 to July 2010, of 1.5%. The unions, representing 800 workers at the two paper mills, also demand retention of &ldquo;seniorendagen,&rdquo; the annual reward days off for workers with long service careers. If this is to be lost in a new collective agreement, the unions said in a demands declaration, a financial equivalent for both senior workers and younger workers for the social benefit must be substituted. 
 
Sappi Europe has been stingy in its pay offer, as well as unfair in benefit takeaways. In mid-September, workers rejected a 21-month Sappi proposal that was deemed inferior by a 95% vote. On 15 October, in a protest joined by ICEM and its global pulp and paper unions, 50 of the two mills&rsquo; workplace leaders took a petition to Sappi&rsquo;s European headquarters in Brussels. (See InBrief No. 142 <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/3455-Pulp-Paper-Unions-Assist-Dutch-Unionists-in-Contract-Dispute-with-Sappi-">here</a>.) 
 
Following a revised company offer a few days later, union leaders again decided to take the proposal to Dutch workers at Nijmegen and Maastricht for a vote. They rejected that with a 99% vote. 

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At Kirkniemi in Finland, earlier this year, Sappi thinned job ranks by 63 workers from a workforce of 400. The 19-23 November strike was over the fact that the remaining workers have taken on more work duties and occupational safety has been jeopardized. Sappi bought five European coated paper mills from M-real in early 2009 and intends to completely close one of those mills &ndash; Kangas, Finland &ndash; by the end of this year, thus giving the sack to 150 members of Paperiliitto. 
 
At a Sappi mill in North America, another labour dispute is coming to a head. Members of the United Steelworkers (USW), early in the week of 16 November, made a statement about a regressive Sappi contract proposal with an 82% rejection vote. Some 600 union members at a pulp and coated paper mill in Cloquet, Minnesota, have been without a current labour agreement since 1 May 2009. Sappi&rsquo;s less than adequate pay offer contains no retroactive wages to that date. It also falls short in meeting pension offsets and the company has ignored a USW request to assist Sappi in finding lower-cost private health care alternatives.

Paperworkers in Finland, Netherlands Take Strike Actions against Sappi

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